UEFA Europa League Football Betting 2011-2012
The UEFA Europa League 2011-2012 will be the third staging of the UEFA Europa League since it was rebranded from the UEFA Cup.
The tournament began with the first legs of the first qualifying rounds on 30 June 2011 and will conclude with the final at Stadionul National, Bucharest on 09 May 2012.
194 teams from across Europe entered the competition with a series of qualifying rounds and play-offs resulting in the Group Stages where 48 teams (including 10 losers from the UEFA Champions League play-off rounds) are split into 12 groups of four teams.
Porto are the defending champions, but they begin the season in the UEFA Champions League 2011-2012 and will therefore not defend their title unless they are moved into the Europa League by finishing third in their Champions League group.
UEFA Europa League Winner Betting 2011-2012
Spanish and English teams dominate the early UEFA Europa League Football Betting 2011-2012 markets with Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and Tottenham all leading the way. They are closely followed by Rome rivals Roma and Lazio and French side Paris St Germain.
Given the long and complex nature of the tournament UEFA Europa League Football Betting 2011-2012 is subject to plenty of fluctuation. As teams from the Champions League are entered into the competition at various stages there are often new additions to the top of the Europa League betting markets.
Four of the last eight Europa Leagues (previously UEFA Cup) have been won by a Spanish side – Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Sevilla (2) – Russian teams have won two in the same period while Porto are the only other multiple winners this millennium.
The last English club to achieve UEFA Europa League Football Betting success were Liverpool in 2001. Arsenal, Middlesbrough and Fulham have all lost in the final since the turn of the century. England’s UEFA Europa League Football Betting 2011-2012 representatives are Tottenham, Birmingham and Fulham.
UEFA Europa League Group Stages 2011-2012
The Europa League group stages is where the competition proper begins. Up until this point clubs are battling it out in the qualifying rounds for a passage through to the lucrative group stages. All remaining Europa League entrants are required to play in the two-legged play-off round following the three qualifying rounds, regardless of their country’s UEFA coefficient.
38 winners from the play-off rounds are then joined by 10 losers from the Champions League play-off rounds and make up the 48 teams that enter the group stages of the Europa League.
Once the draw is made in Nyon, Switzerland to determine which teams will be in which group bookmakers begin pricing up the group winner UEFA Europa League Football Betting 2011-2012. As well as markets on which teams will achieve a top-two finish that is required to progress to the knockout stages.
Europa League Knockout Stages
The Europa League knockout stages include the 12 group stage winners and 12 group stage runners-up, along with the eight third-placed teams from the Champions League group stages.
The 32 teams are then drawn against each other and play each round over two-legs home and away, apart from the final, which this year is to be played at the Stadionul National in Bucharest, Romania.
Two separate draws are made for the knockout stages. The first, scheduled for 16 December 2011, draws the round of 32 and round of 16, the second, scheduled for 16 March 2012, draws the quarter finals and semi finals.