![]() ![]() Since the Scottish Premiership consists of only 12 teams, the first 22 rounds of fixtures see them play the customary home and away match against each other. Scotland, for example, has three parts to its 'regular season'. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, though. The English Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A and France's Ligue 1 – the other leagues considered Europe's "big five" – all consist of 20 teams, resulting in 38 rounds of fixtures. In the Bundesliga, 18 teams play a total of 34 matches each – two against each team, once at home and once away – in a random order set out by the fixture list. For them, any reference to the 'play-offs' is usually to do with promotion and relegation (more on that later). What may be considered the 'regular season' in the USA is in fact just 'the season' in most European leagues. If needed, teams can also be separated by an additional one-off match, the drawing of lots, or a coin toss. This has been known to go as far as the team with the fewest yellow cards. Some leagues, however, use the head-to-head record between rival teams as the first criteria after points, including away goals, before continuing with other season-spanning statistics. The first of those is often who has the higher goal difference (goals scored minus goals conceded) over the course of the season, followed by goals scored and so on. When it comes to teams tied for points, leagues define criteria to determine who is ahead. In any case, it's three points for a win, one for a draw, and the team with the most points after all the games is the champion. Others in colder climates will perhaps run within a single calendar year or have an extended winter break to avoid playing in freezing conditions. That creates the pyramid shape in a diagram.įocusing on the top tier, the most common format consists of each team playing the other twice – once at home and once away – from fall to spring. Depending on population size and the number of clubs, divisions will either remain nationwide or eventually split to become regional. ![]() Below that, as the pyramid widens, is where things differ. This is sometimes referred to as the 'pyramid', with a nationwide first division at the top. With the exception of the small Alpine nation of Liechtenstein, all UEFA members run their own domestic league system. ![]() That is European football.īayern Munich became the only German club to truly master Europe’s complex system when it won the Bundesliga, DFB Cup and UEFA Champions League, as well as the Supercup, under Jupp Heynckes in 2012/13. Imagine if all 50 US states, plus territories like Guam and Puerto Rico, had their own governing bodies deciding how their soccer leagues – consisting of numerous levels – should operate. For some people, that's like having Australia compete in Eurovision… Some, such as Kazakhstan, are not geographically recognized as being in Europe. Some of those are not even sovereign nations, such as Gibraltar and the Faroe Islands, while sovereign states like Monaco and the Vatican City are not represented. There are 55 national association members in UEFA. This has created a range of differing leagues, as well as qualification processes for the UEFA Champions League and Europa League. Although governing body UEFA oversees continental competitions, individual nations are able to operate their domestic leagues and cups in a manner best suited to the country. The structure of European football is complex. How is European soccer structured with leagues and cup competitions? ![]()
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