Let's talk Europa League

[vasilli07]

Valencia v AZ
Bilbao v Schalke
Metalist v Sporting
Hannover v A.Madrid

Leaning to Valencia -1 or -1.25 and Hannover 0

Would Metalist ML be a good bet too?

[TheRedGambler]

I like Bilbao over 2,75.

[Lookingtostart]

Serious question, do teams give a shit about europa league? Where does it stand?

[jmf]

Of course they give a shit. Money, reputation and also players care about self-promotion. Some teams play better in european competitions than in domestic leagues.

[Wotton]

Serious question, do teams give a shit about europa league? Where does it stand?

The first thing you have to keep in mind concerning Europa League is that there is not much money in it until you reach the quarters (and even then it's better to make 4th or 5th in your domestic league than semifinal in Europa League+10th in your league money wise). So a lot of teams will drop it on these grounds:

1) if they are cash strapped compared to their competitors for european places in their domestic leagues, they won't have a good bench so they need their A team all the time to win matches.
2) They don't care about prestige and have a short term vision of where the club is going (what's happening in France where all clubs drop it for 1) and 2))
3) It's better for a team from a championship like Premier league or Ligue 1 or Serie a to say "we did not really try" and fail than try and fail because then it shows that you're quite weaker than everyone thought you were (Psg this year basically )
4) Teams have no direct incentives to help their Uefa coefficient.

You can explain Portugal getting in front of France in the Uefa ranking of domestic leagues simply by the fact that teams in Portugal didn't make the short sighted reflexions I made above while the clubs in France did.

[Nova99]

Portuguese and Spanish clubs seems to care the most, Spanish side's only shot at a trophy with the domestic league and cup domination by Real Madrid and Barcelona. Eastern European clubs seems to care as well, probably to promote their club.

I like Bilbao ML, taking down manu and schalke away, they seem to really want this title.

[Glada Tartan]

Valencia is blazing hot!