1992-93: Juventus
1993-94: Internazionale
1994-95: Parma
1995-96: Bayern Munich
1996-97: Schalke 04
1997-98: Internazionale
1998-99: Parma
1999-00: Galatasaray
2000-01: Liverpool
2001-02: Feyenoord
2002-03: Porto
2003-04: Valencia
2004-05: CSKA Moscow
2005-06: Sevilla
2006-07: Sevilla
2007-08: Zenit St. Petersburg
2008-09: Shakhtar Donetsk
2009-10: Atletico Madrid
2010-11: Porto
2011-12: Atletico Madrid
The list of winners makes very interesting reading. Many of the clubs have a strong European pedigree with huge reputations and have gone on from the Europa League/UEFA Cup success into successful Champions League campaigns.
Not only has it helped clubs grow in stature, but it has been used by managers like Houllier, Mourinho and Benitez and of course players such as Falcao to launch their own personal careers to the next level.
Platini seems to have a desire to make everything bigger and more inclusive – just look at his ideas for the European Championships international tournament – which is not only odd for a man of such small stature (little man syndrome??), but is under the miss-guided assumption that bigger means better. What it actually means is that bigger means more crap teams. Crap teams can be found locally all over Europe, fans watch them every week. TV audiences don’t want to watch crap teams – we want to watch the best teams do things that our local lads can only dream of.
And let us be honest. If the Champions League was opened up to 64 teams, just how many of those 64 teams have a realistic chance of winning it? A dozen at best I reckon. How long would it be before audiences switched off from the early rounds and certain teams happily accepted their group stage fate, took the money then concentrated on their domestic league to simply try and get back to the same level next year?
So yes, whilst something needs to be done to change the Europa League from a laughing stock back into a serious competition, I doubt Platini is the man to sort the problems.
Therefore, I’d be interested to hear what the reading community think? Like me, do you yearn for the arrangement of years gone by with title winners in a European Cup and a parallel UEFA Cup competition? What about granting the winners of the Europa League a place in next years Champions League? Or do you think Platini is right and it should be scrapped altogether? Please comment with your ideas!
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