Fighting In The Unsung Corner!!!
Only a lucrative pre-season friendly would have had AC Milan visiting Fratton Park, Portsmouth. These are two sides to the story of how Portsmouth have landed Milan, it is a measure of how hard the Rossoneri have fallen since winning their seventh European Cup 17 months ago and the other is the changing face of the UEFA Cup as represented by the like of Pompey.
The competition has been long derided as a non starter by the giants of the continent and the football authorities have stumbled from one grand design to another to pep it up. The latest UEFA proposal is the flamboyant titled Europe League.
The gist of the re-branding would sweep away the current format which quite strangely require clubs to play each opponent once either home or away, with each side playing four games in groups of five and winners, runners-up and third placed teams/clubs all qualifying to the round of 32 (teams).
In its place in season 2009/10 would be the Champions League format, where 48 clubs are placed in 12 groups of four, with the top two advancing to the knockout stage.
The only stale element in this re-jigged version is that eight third place clubs in the Champions League group stage will enter this phase to swell the number of 32 (teams).
Logic has arrived late at the UEFA and it is a relief to see that every participant is given the home and away advantage and the benefit of synergized marketing plans to help the UEFA Cup shed its consolation prize stigma.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
