OOTP consumed me for rather a long time. You build these dynasties. Then there’s a fuckup and your life is ruined for a day or two.
Arsenal did qualify Europe this season, not Champions League but they are in the Europa League
I think Europa may actually be worse than not qualifying at all, at least for Premier League teams who also have Carabao Cup and FA Cup competitions available. The extra travel and player wear and tear in exchange for next to nothing doesn’t seem worth it. I think last year’s winner picked up $10 million, which isn’t nothing, but I’m not sure it offsets the other things. (Although maybe the picked up $10 for the championship + $4 for advancing out of group + something for each win + something for each draw; the article I read wasn’t very clear about that).
Here are the payouts
- Qualified to group stage: €3,630,000
- Match won in group stage: €630,000
- Match drawn in group stage: €210,000
- 1st in group stage: €1,100,000
- 2nd in group stage: €550,000
- Knockout round play-offs: €500,000
- Round of 16: €1,200,000
- Quarter-final: €1,800,000
- Semi-final: €2,800,000
- Runner-up: €4,600,000
- Champion: €8,600,000
At this point Arsenal has already made €7,880,000.
3,630,000 + (€630,000 times 5 wins in the group stage) + €1,100,000 for topping their group.
If they were to advance to the finals, their total take would rise to €13,680,00. Winning it would bring them to €22,280,00 if they finished runner up €18,280,00
That total is nowhere near what you get for the Champions League, but it is a decent sum of money. The biggest carrot is getting an auto bid to the Champions League for winning the Europa League. The winner also plays in the Super Cup vs the winner of the Champions league, the winner of that gets €5,000,000 the loser €3,800,000.
Thanks for that info. You’re much more concise and easy to understand than the yokels I was reading.
Oops. Thanks for the correction.
I figured you might have looked at the fixtures, which the next ones don’t include Arsenal. Next round is Champions league 3rd place teams vs teams that came in 2nd in their Europa League group. Arsenal will be in the next draw.
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You assume too much…. 
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The draw for the 5th round of the FA Cup is happening momentarily. This is the “Sweet 16” round, and there are only 9 Premier League teams remaining; 2 of whom have to get through a 4th round replay if they want to make it here.
Wrexham, currently atop the National League (L5) and the last remaining “non-league” side, is still in it after their ding-dong battle with Premier League promotion hopefuls Sheffield United (L2).
It’s transfer deadline day in soccer - in Europe at least - and that means that fans will be manically jamming the refresh button to see who their team has brought in and who has be shipped out.
It also means that Sky Sports will have an army of reporters on the ground outside the teams’ training facilities to catch players coming in for medicals. That puts them at the mercy of fans who have gathered there too, probably after a night in the pub, and who enjoy harassing the reporters for shits ‘n’ giggles.
Which leads me to this classic:
Everton is languishing near the bottom of their Premier League, only saved from being rock bottom because their goal difference is -13 vs. Southampton’s of -18.
They desperately need to bring in new talent during the transfer window and so they hit the phones hard and got [checks notes] no one. They were linked with a number of players, all of whom said something along the lines of “no fucking way!”
Oof!
I think they are pretty tight on FFP also, not that a relegation is going to help that…
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I won’t be sorry to see them go.
As the legend goes, the wife of then coach and entertaining loon Neil Warnock had a dream that our fullback won a game for us, so Warnock decided on a whim to play right back Danny Butterfield as striker. Butterfield scored a “perfect hat trick”: one with his head, one with his right foot and one with his left.
Of course, it was “typical Palace” that later we let Butterfield go and signed the hapless goalie who let in those goals.
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Chelsea looked at the Bobby Bonilla contract, and decided that it was a great idea.
I’m about ready to give LeBron the GOAT title. Sorry Michael, Magic, Kareem…
I’d like Lebron better if he wasn’t so whiny. His little tantrum the other night was sickening. Jordan all the way for me.
Who would be dumb enough to trade for him?
So he and Harden both want new teams?