The UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League are two of the biggest competitions in world soccer, generating millions of dollars in revenue for the clubs that participate.
While the Champions League is the absolute pinnacle of club competition, the Europa League offers teams a way to test themselves against some of the best teams in Europe.
The winner of the Europa League also automatically gets entered into the following season’s Champions League, which offers an even greater incentive to win.
It’s time to take a closer look at these two premier competitions to see the differences and similarities; is the Europa League just a bargain basement version of the Champions League? How is each competition set out? How many teams are in the group stages? Let’s find out.
UEFA Coefficients
The number of teams that qualify for the Champions League and Europa League depends on the UEFA coefficient for that club’s nation. The rankings are based on a country’s previous five years of the results of the Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League.
The better a nation’s clubs do in these competitions, the more places that become available in future contests.
A nation such as England or Spain will invariably have a higher coefficient than Belgium or Turkey because teams from those countries will have performed better in the competitions over the previous five seasons.
League Format
Each competition has many preliminary rounds, with many teams having to compete in up to five preliminary rounds before the group stages.
Once into the group stages, the competition becomes much more challenging but offers plenty of financial rewards for those competing teams.
Champions League Group Stages
The teams that make it to the Champions League group stages include the previous season’s winner, the last season’s winner of the Europa League, 24 teams from across the European leagues (from 1st in the league down to 4th), and the six winners of the preliminary round.
These 32 teams then break up into eight groups of four and play a mini-league where each team plays the others twice. At the end of the group stage, the top two teams from each of the eight groups progress into the last 16.
In the last 16, the teams are split into two groups; the winners from each group and the teams that finished in second place. The teams are then drawn against each other and play a two-legged game, with the overall winner progressing to the quarter-finals.
The remaining eight teams again get drawn from a pot for the quarter-finals and, as before, play each other both home and away. The winners of the quarter-finals then progress to the semi-finals, and the last four teams are drawn. The winners of the semi-finals are then pitted against each other in the final.
Europa League Group Stages
The Europa league works in precisely the same format as the Champions League, with the 32 teams having a group stage with eight groups of four, before a last 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a final.
The significant difference between the two competitions is who actually qualifies for the group stages, with teams who win certain domestic trophies in their respective countries being entered into the Europa League.
As well as having six domestic cup-winning teams entered into the group, there are five spots for teams finishing 4th or 5th in their respective leagues, the winner of the UEFA Conference League from the previous season, and ten teams who have made their way through preliminary rounds also qualify,
Four teams who lost in the Champions League play-offs for league champions and a final six spots for Champions League third qualifying round losers who aren’t league champions in their respective nations make up the full 32 teams that qualify.
Prestige
There’s no doubt that the Champions League is the premier soccer competition in Europe; the difference between making the group stages and missing out can be massive for clubs.
We will go into the financial implications in the next section, but the cost of missing out sometimes can’t be counted in dollars.
The prestige afforded to clubs competing in the Champions League cannot be underestimated; TV exposure, playing against the best teams in the world and keeping players happy all contribute to the importance of playing Champions League soccer.
Players will always choose a Champions League club over a Europa League club, and no elite player will consider playing for a club that’s not in Europe.
The top players need to be seen in the best competitions, and should their club fail to qualify for European competition, it’s not uncommon to see players try to force a move to another club.
Prize Money
While players crave the prestige of Europe’s premier competition, there are also financial rewards to consider.
A player doing well in Europe can expect to earn bonuses for wins, goals, and progression to the next round. The longer a team is in Europe, the happier the player and the happier the fans.
Champions League Revenue
For the clubs, Champions League soccer is vital; top teams often budget ahead under the assumption that they’ll qualify, and failing to do so can be catastrophic. It’s no surprise either; the numbers involved in the Champions League are huge.
In the group stages, a team will receive €15.6 million just for playing the six group games and earn €2.8 million per win and €900,000 for every game drawn. If a team qualifies from the group stages, there’s an extra €9.6 million just for progressing to the last 16 and a further €10.6 million to reach the quarter-finals.
For those teams lucky enough to reach the semi-finals, it’s an additional €12.5 million in the club’s coffers. And in the final, the runners-up take €15.5 million compared to the €20 million for
the winner. For a team going all the way and winning the competition, that’s a staggering €85.140,000 in prize money. And that’s before you take into account gate receipts.
Europa League Revenue
The prize breakdown for the Europa League works exactly the same as the Champions League; it’s just that the prize money is substantially reduced.
While a team that is used to, and budgets for, Champions League prize money will be financially affected by playing Europa League soccer, a club that’s on its way up and finally reaches the competition, the cash injection is a huge boost.
For group stage qualification, a club earns €3.63 million, with each game won netting a further €630,000, and any games drawn bring in €210,000. A team finishing top of the group takes a further €1.1 million, and the team in second an additional €550,000.
By reaching the last 16, teams earn €1.2 million, and the quarter-finals add €1.8 million to the bank account. Semi-finalists earn their club €2.8 million more, and the eventual finalists earn €4.6 million for runners-up or €8.6 million for winning the Europa League.
While these figures are hardly negligible, there’s a vast gulf compared to the Champions League. It’s easy to see why clubs are desperate to reach the top competition.
The more a team plays Champions League soccer, the more money they earn and the better player they attract. It’s a vicious cycle in which the top four league clubs don’t want others breaking into their monopoly.
Conclusion
Ultimately, there’s not a massive difference in the format of how the Champions League and Europa League are played. It’s the money and prestige that are entirely out of alignment.
A team finishing fourth in the Premier League, La Liga, or Seria A can expect substantial financial benefits from reaching the Champions League group stages.
The team finishing fifth might have just as many games to play over a season but find themselves financially much worse off.
To add insult to injury, the top players will choose the Champions League club over the Europa League club every time, regardless of which club may be the better long-term prospect.
