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It may be the poor cousin of the UEFA Champions League, featuring as it does the teams that did not make the cut for European club football`s premier competition, but it throws up a decent ante-post bet in the form of Atletico Madrid.

Punters can be reluctant to place UEFA Europa League winner wagers before the start of the tournament`s knockout phase because that is when the eight sides that finish third in the eight UEFA Champions League groups enter the secondary competition as something of a consolation prize.

Therefore, it is possible that punters who get stuck into the UEFA Europa League now and are not even able to bet on the winner. Last season, for example, Ajax, Manchester City, Manchester United, Olympiacos, Porto, Trabzonspor, Valencia and Viktoria Plzen went out of the UEFA Champions League early and found refuge in its sister tournament.

However, none of those eight aforementioned teams went on to win last term`s UEFA Europa League, with only one of them - Valencia - getting as far as the last four. Overall, UEFA Champions League rejects have a relatively poor record in the secondary competition. Maybe it is something to do with not being able to overcome the disappointment of bowing out of the major event and getting focused on the minor prize.

Bookmakers are probably offering inflated odds about many of the 48 teams competing in the UEFA Europa League group stage because they are overestimating the impact that the eight UEFA Champions League imports will have in the second half of the tournament. So now is, actually, a good time to bet.

Examine UEFA Europa League trends closely and one comes to the conclusion that a strong Spanish side is the one to back. Whereas England, Italy and Spain have shared the UEFA Champions League silverware over the last nine years, only one of those countries has provided a UEFA Europa League title winner during the same period. Spain is the country in question and there is a sensible, plausible explanation as to why La Liga teams have won five of the last nine finals.

Spanish sides take the UEFA Europa League far more seriously than their English and Italian counterparts because, quite understandably, they view it as their best chance to win a major piece of silverware. Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Valencia got stuck into their UEFA Europa League quests because they knew that they had no chance of beating Barcelona and Real Madrid on their domestic scene.

Bookmakers have got Atletico Madrid as this term`s UEFA Europa League favourite going into the group stage, with the Mattressmen as big as 11-1 to win the tournament for the second season in a row and the third time in four years. Unbeaten so far in the Spanish La Liga and motivated to retain the title that it won so impressively in 2011, Atletico is worth an interest at double-figure odds.

With regards to this first batch of UEFA Europa League group matches, Internazionale looks too big at around 10-11 to beat Rubin Kazan in Milan. The Italian club is not in the greatest of form but quotes of close to even money seems somewhat generous given that its Russian opponent is not travelling all that well in its domestic league and its results away from home are distinctly ordinary.

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20/09/2012     © Frixo 2026