APOEL of my eye - has Platini got it right?

APOEL Nicosia. Oţelul Galaţi. Viktoria Plzeň. To some, amongst the top 32 clubs in Europe. They are currently in the knockout rounds of the Champions League. APOEL even top their group after matchday four, a group featuring three of the last four winners of the Europa League (Porto, Zenit and Shahktar).

Of course the European Cup (a more appropriate name) has been littered with small teams throughout it's history. Without seeking to disrespect, winners between 1986 and 1991 include Steaua Buchurest, Porto, Crvena Zvezda and PSV Eindhoven - perhaps a time when a smaller club could genuinely have ambitions to go far, albeit with the help of a kindly draw, something the group stages have had a massive effect on.

Porto celebrate in 1987

But from the mid 1990s until the present day, the final stages of the tournament has almost exclusively been the preserve of Europe's elite - perhaps with the exception of 2004, when the final four were Monaco, Deportivo La Coruna, Chelsea and eventual winners Porto, under the leadership of a then little known Jose Mourinho.

In 2007, Michel Platini became UEFA president, and one of his main briefs was to reduce the monopoly of clubs from England, Spain and Italy, and has taken steps to guarantee more places for the champions of clubs from the smaller nations which have swelled UEFA so much. Each season, as well as those places guaranteed for the high finishers in main leagues, 5 places are reserved for the winners of other domestic leagues - this season's such representatives being APOEL (Cyprus), BATE Borisov (Belarus), Plzeň (Czech Republic), Genk (Belgium) and Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia).

 Michel picks the venue for the UEFA Jolly Boys outing

It is certainly a good time if you're a fan of discovering new places - but what are the other benefits?

• Money: The obvious one. Entry into the group stages of the tournament is worth millions to the participents. Even just the guarantee of 6 matches, with the sponsorship, TV and ticket sales that come with it.
• Experience: The chance to face Europe's best players is an opportunity that is rarely replicated at league level - Messi, Van Persie, Ronaldo probably won't play too much in the top flight in Finland, so the clubs relish it.
• National development: The native players from these clubs benefit from the exposure to the world class players, something which may well be behind some of the more surprising rises in Euro 2012 qualifying, with Bosnia, Montenegro and Estonia in the playoff round.
• Shop window: Even with the riches of Europe, some clubs make their living by developing and selling on the best talent (Arsenal?) - a good run to perhaps the knockout round could inflate prices hugely, and let the world know all about their star striker...

 Europe's scouts queue to get into a 1st round qualifier before the days of YouTube

Rumours of a breakaway European super league continue, but isn't football a better place with the risk of the upset? EasyJet would probably go out of business, you know that on the European matchweeks that half their clientele are on their way to pastures new...



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