UEFA’s format changes to the Europa League have been slammed, with Aston Villa already well on their way to qualification despite losing last week.
Villa lost 2-1 to Go Ahead Eagles, with Evann Guessand‘s early opener cancelled out by goals either side of the break from Mathis Suray and Mats Deijl.
Unai Emery‘s side had won their first two matches in the competition, beating Bologna and Feyenoord, but could not continue the streak against their Dutch opposition.
Jadon Sancho started and impressed against Go Ahead Eagles, but was brought off in the second half.
The winger made an appearance off the bench on Sunday as Villa beat Manchester City 1-0, replacing the injured Emi Buendia, but was subsequently substituted back off in the second half.
Andy Dunn calls out ‘farcical’ UEFA decision
Last season saw the first introduction of the new format for the Europa League, Champions League and Conference League.
UEFA have ditched the traditional four-team group stage in favour of a 36-team league stage style, in which every team plays eight different opponents just once.
| Villa – Europa League | Date |
| Maccabi Tel-Aviv (H) | 6 Nov |
| Young Boys (H) | 27 Nov |
| Basel (A) | 11 Dec |
| Fenerbahce (A) | 22 Jan |
| RB Salzburg (H) | 29 Jan |
With the change, Champions League teams can no longer drop down to the Europa League, meaning Villa will likely benefit from an easier run to the latter stages should they progress.
Writing in the Sunday Mirror, page 65, Andy Dunn was critical of the new format and suggested that it played a part in Emery’s decision to start Sancho against Go Ahead Eagles.
“Emery was happy to let Sancho play in the Europa League,” Dunn explained. “And that is because, like the Champions League, the format is utterly farcical.
“Villa have five more Europa League fixtures to play and four more points will almost certainly see them through to a play-off game ahead of the knockout stages.
“No wonder they seemed to take the game against the Go Ahead Eagles lightly. It is harder to get out of the Europa League than it is to get in it.”
Unai Emery in disagreement over UEFA format change
Speaking about the format change last season, when Villa were in the Champions League, Emery said: “I prefer this one, but of course I didn’t play before in this competition.
“I think it needed a change. It needed to change and I think this one is going to be better. We’re playing more matches, interesting matches during the process. It’s not like a knockout – so quick.”
Certainly, this season, Emery will be grateful for the change. The lack of drop-downs from the Champions League should hand Villa a much-improved chance of going all the way.
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