³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

But then, you might say, what does it matter? After all, this was the last Uefa Cup final in the competition's present format. As for the , which replaces the Uefa Cup from next season, several Premier League managers have suggested it would not be a disaster if their clubs did not qualify for it.

Reading the English media, it would be hard to avoid the conclusion that the Europa League will be the greatest unwanted European football tournament of all time. Yet such a view would not only be Anglo-centric but counter-productive. Both this season's Uefa Cup final in Turkey and the forthcoming Europa League are important events.

Here's why:

Staging the Uefa Cup final in Istanbul - the second European final to be staged in this city in four years, although Wednesday's game did not compare to the - was significant for Turkey because it touched a core part of the its national aspiration.

As the writer Soner Cagaptay put it in here: "For decades secular Turks put Turkey through painful tests to prove the country's Europeanness. For instance, Turkish soccer teams joined European competitions losing miserably to powerful European teams. The Turks could have competed against the less professional Middle Eastern teams in Asian competitions, but this would have meant that Turkey was not European... The euphoria one witnesses every time Turkey wins a European championship is really joy over the validation of Turkey's European identity."

This latest final was held in the Asian part of , the stadium here being better suited to a big match than the one in the European part of the city where Liverpool performed their miracle. And as one Turkish football official put it, that was significant because it represented yet another Turkish step on the road to becoming part of the European Union. It also, they hope, enhanced their bid to stage the .

Similarly, the Europa League is part of Uefa's long struggle to reconstruct European football in the wake of the success of the Champions League.

I have much sympathy for football romantics who argue that it would be nice if we could go back to three European competitions; a European Cup just for champions, the - in which British teams always did so well - and the Uefa Cup for those not quite able to be champions of their leagues. But that is a bit like my profession calling for a return to the days when we filed our copy via telegrams or telex. It just cannot happen.

The Champions League is the midweek European league the big clubs have always wanted. It was their threat to decamp and form their own league in 1998 which led to the big leagues of England, Italy and Spain securing four teams in the competition.

It has not been easy for Uefa to come up with a format that works. While the Europa League will now have some of the features of the Champions League - centralised television and marketing deals, for example, plus more television income (150 million euros from next year) - accepts this competition will always be the little sister.

The kick-off times for Europa League matches - the first at 1815 British time followed by a second at 2005 on Thursday nights - shows just how difficult it is to find a window for this competition. The other major consideration for Uefa is ensuring that the new league caters to the great mass of European clubs who can only experience the Champions League through a television set.

I realise that all this will cut little ice with English critics. But what always puzzles me is how we in England can be so egalitarian at home and so elitist abroad. The FA Cup is the ultimate egalitarian competition. A non-league side can aspire to win the Cup and, , go on to realise their dream. However much we may want it, such a European competition is impossible.

The Europa League is not ideal, but it provides something for the many who will never be part of the elite.