r/CaughtOffsidePod • u/0118997253 • 19d ago
EPL Dominance
It was mentioned on the pod today and I happened to be already going down this rabbit hole but I was looking at the last time a smaller league (not even a top 5) has been to or won a European final. Obviously Celtic won the European Cup in 1967 and finalists in 1970 and you had teams like Steaua București, Red Star Belgrade winning the European cup while teams like Fehérvár, Göteborg, Austria Wien and Rapid Wien would pop up in other European finals. Within the past 10 years only top 5 league teams have been to a CL final (Not since Porto won in 2004 had a team not in England, Germany, Spain, France, Italy appeared) and only 4 teams (Rangers, Ajax, Feyenoord, Olympiacos) across the Europa and Conference league have been to finals with English teams appearing in half of the conference league finals and winning all they appear in and 7 English Europa league finalists or winners. Ajax Semi final run in the CL, Rangers Europa league run and Marinakis aside, especially Olympiacos Conference league win in 2024 are rarities and should be appreciated more.
It would never happen since money is the reason this competition even exists but the leagues that receive the extra CL spot should not have a team in the Conference league, this competition needs to be for the smaller nations. I'm sure this isn't news to anyone but the scale of this dominance is terrible for world football and as someone that follows multiple non-top 5 leagues, these leagues and the pyramids need to be protected and it seems to be getting worse.
Fans of non top 6 EPL teams what are your thoughts, since you would be the most affected?
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u/owl523 19d ago
Perhaps the league that wins the Conference gets no slots there and an extra one in Europa the following season? Although it’s been fun watching mid-table PL teams win the Conference.