nyssa@abnji.UUCP (nyssa of traken) (03/28/85)
There are four main European competitions each year. They are: The European Cup The European Cup Winner's Cup The UEFA Cup The Super Cup The European Cup is a competition involving the previous year's league champions, and (if they didn't win their league) the cup holder. As there are about 32 leagues in Europe, there are 5 rounds to this comepetion. All the rounds, except the final, are decided by aggregate, the final being a single match on a usually neutral ground. (Last year Liverpool beat Rome in Rome, but the site had been chosen before it was known that Rome would be playing there.) The European Cup Winner's Cup is a competition to which each domestic cup winner is invited, as well as the cup holder. There is a cup for every league, plus Wales has a separate cup competition. This competition runs exactly like the above. The UEFA Cup is a competition for the best European clubs that weren't invited to either of the first two cups. They have 64 teams, each country sends a number of clubs based on how well their teams have done in earlier competitions. The clubs usually invited are the runners up in the league. Presently, England, West Germany, and Spain send 4, Scotland (and a few others) send 3, many send 2, and a few send one. Italy only sends two teams. All rounds are by aggregate, including the final. The Super Cup is held between the winners of the three above cups. The Cup Winner's Cup winner plays the UEFA Cup winner (aggregate) for the right to play (aggregate) the European Cup winner. In fact, the Super Cup is held permanently by Ajax after the 1972 inaugural competition to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Dutch Football. The competition, which continues, is called the "Super Cup". For the first three competitions, the first round is in September, the second in October. The UEFA Cup plays a third round in November. The quarterfinals are in March, the semis in April, and the finals in May. A team may be in only one of the first three cups in a given year. The trophy for the first three competitions is just a (large) silver cup.