Brendan Rodgers’ decision to rest players for Liverpool’s Europa League clash with Bordeaux is an all too familiar sign of the competition’s lack of prestige. More and more, managers are choosing to leave out key players in view of other more important matches on the horizon. But Rodgers, like others, can be forgiven for largely ignoring a competition that has never been held in high regard.
The issue is largely down to the awkward beefed up fixture list. If you had to begin the competition from match day 1 (which admittedly would only be the case for teams such as the runners up of the Welsh Premier League) there would be 23 matches including the final.