Chapter 365: Chapter 364 It’s Time to Consider the Issue of the European War Champions
European football fans were thrilled.
They thought this year’s highlight was only the Champions League.
To see whether Bayern Munich, having made it to the semi-finals for three consecutive years, could finally fulfill their aspirations.
Or if Valencia, the surprise Bat Army that had reached the Champions League final two years in a row, could win their first ever Champions League trophy.
But unexpectedly, the Europa League turned out to be just as exciting.
Or even more so.
Liverpool and Sporting Lisbon, whoever became the champion, might follow in Manchester United’s footsteps and become the next "Treble" winner.
Of course, all this was predicated on the successful completion of the last round of the Portuguese league four days later.
It was rumored that Sporting Lisbon had requested a postponement of the final round of the Portuguese league to better prepare for the Europa League final.
Because there was only a two-day gap between these two match days.
It was indeed too rushed.
But this request was ultimately rejected by the Portuguese Football Federation.
The Portuguese league had its own considerations.
The final round had to kick off simultaneously; postponing more than a dozen matches just for one team would be too costly.
And in terms of TV ratings and attendance, it wouldn’t be worth it.
The Portuguese media "Ball Report" explained the scheduling arrangement of the league: "Although the Portuguese league has only thirty-four rounds, according to past data analysis, the ratings and discussion around matches close to the Champions League final are always higher."
"That’s also why all the leagues with fewer rounds, almost without exception, end simultaneously with those that have more rounds, like Serie A and La Liga."
"The final few matches of the league are actually the most important. If these were to be moved up by half a month or even a month, the event organizers would suffer huge losses."
Put simply, the "end of season" is a collective consciousness.
While everybody else is still celebrating New Year’s, you start celebrating Spring Festival, which clearly lacks the atmosphere of Spring Festival that it should have.
Only when everyone celebrates Spring Festival does the festive atmosphere truly become rich.
In the major leagues, only the Bundesliga has the courage to end the season early.
As a result, the prestige, discussion, and credibility of winning the Bundesliga title have been significantly discounted.
For a long time, the Bundesliga was excluded from being considered a top league, and this has a lot to do with their scheduling.
But the Bundesliga insists on doing so because it gives their teams, especially Bayern, enough time to prepare for European competition.
Bayern’s consecutive three-year semi-final appearances and twice reaching the final in those years, the scheduling advantage has played an important role.
But only the Bundesliga dares to do this.
No other league dares to follow suit.
The Bundesliga model and other second-tier league models actually represent different gambling methods.
Smaller leagues, mostly local powerhouses, operate on a "shady business" model, needing a lot of attention to increase the value of their players.
That’s why they dare not end before the "title rush" begins, as that would mean losing traffic.
What is the Bundesliga betting on?
They’re betting on Bundesliga teams, mainly Bayern, being able to reach the semi-finals or even win the finals and championship of European competitions.
The traffic garnered this way was even greater than that of the "championship tide," and it was almost exclusively monopolized.
Not only could players appreciate in value, but the club’s brand image and the league’s influence could also be enhanced accordingly.
But the precondition is that one must be able to take this step, to occasionally win the European competition.
The former is like a casual bet for fun, a stable transaction.
The latter is like staking one’s entire fortune on a big gamble, with life and death dictated by fate, and wealth decreed by the heavens.
The Bundesliga’s brand power was once weak because it did not win enough championships and semi-finals in the European competitions.
However, later on, the Bundesliga’s brand power soared, also because, through this big gamble, Bayern Munich acquired sufficient Champions League titles.
The Bundesliga, and Bayern Munich, had this foundation.
But the Portuguese league... did not have the qualifications for such a big gamble.
The entire Portuguese league could, at most, nurture teams that consistently reach the knock-out stages of the Champions League, not tasting the real massive traffic, hence had to follow the "league championship tide" path.
Many fans of the Portuguese league can’t understand these things, so they always complain that the league’s scheduling is not reasonable.
Others have thirty-eight rounds, and you have thirty-four rounds, yet you insist on finishing at the same time as the others. The earlier fixtures are so dragging, entirely wasting the time meant for preparing for European competitions.
...
On May 22nd, the last round of the Portuguese league kicked off.
Deng Kai expressed his dissatisfaction with the scheduling of the Portuguese league at the pre-match press conference: "I suggest the Portuguese league optimize the schedule for next season."
"I know there’s reasoning behind the scheduling of the Portuguese league, but the Portuguese Football Federation also needs to recognize a phenomenon. That is, Sporting Lisbon is becoming a top European team with first-class combat capabilities."
"This season, next season... and even longer in the future, Sporting Lisbon will have the strength to consistently reach the final four and the finals of European competitions. Including Porto, who are also likely to become regulars in the European knock-out rounds."
"So, how to allow these teams to fight better in European competitions is a problem that the Portuguese Football Federation must consider."
"I’m not saying we should give these teams a green light, but when these teams win battles in Europe, it’s a good thing for the whole Portuguese football environment."
"Just imagine, if the Portuguese league’s European Competition Points surpass those of Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga, becoming the fourth in Europe, wouldn’t all the players, staff, and clubs in our league see their salaries and market values skyrocket?"
"We don’t need the Portuguese league to facilitate teams in the European Union Cup final, but at the very least, it shouldn’t be a drag, right?"
"Portuguese Football Federation, we really should start considering the issue of Portuguese league teams winning European competitions! It’s a happy trouble. You should be very motivated to resolve it, right?"
Laughter filled the venue.
This way of making suggestions was indeed very sophisticated.
And quite a boast at that.
Because these were words only a team at the level of the finals had the right to say.
Deng Kai’s comments were acknowledged by many Portuguese media outlets.
They felt it the most deeply.
In past years at this time, they would, at most, report on who the champion of the Portuguese league was or would likely be.
Outside of Portugal, not many paid attention to these matters; the Portuguese league’s influence was even weaker than the Eredivisie, after all, they had a glorious history.
But this year was different; this year, all of Europe was paying attention to the status of Sporting Lisbon.
Even a local media casually writing "During a passing drill, Ronaldo failed to control Deng Kai’s pass" would garner a dozen times more clicks and shares than usual.
Even after being picked up by other media, it could spawn headlines like "Ronaldo Fails to Receive Deng Kai’s Pass, Is He in Poor Form, Possibly Injured?", "Even Ronaldo Can’t Catch Deng Kai’s Pass, Has the Portuguese League Produced Another Dud Midfielder?", "Ronaldo Ignores Deng Kai’s Pass, Are Relations Between the Two Strained?", "Finally, Internal Strife! Ronaldo Unhappy With Deng Kai Raising the Cup After the Portuguese Cup Final, The Two No Longer Passing to Each Other!" and other such news.
