New Intercontinental Trophy Announced by UEFA and CONMEBOL
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UEFA and CONMEBOL have come together to announce a new competition featuring clubs from the Europa League and the Copa Sudamericana.
The winners of both trophies will play a one-off match against each other for the UEFA-CONMEBOL Club Challenge cup.
The first edition of the trophy will be contested in Spain on the 19th of July and named in honour of former Sevilla player Antonio Puerta.
The match will be between Europa League winners Sevilla and Ecuador side Independiente del Valle.
The match will be played over 90 minutes and if there is no winner, the game will go immediately to penalties.
There will be no extra-time and that is a wise decision given this is an additional fixture for clubs who already have a busy schedule.
Sevilla will also play in the European Super Cup against Manchester City on the 16th of August and that game comes after the first fixture of the season in La Liga.
Independiente del Valle have progressed to the knockout stages of the Copa Libertadores, the top club competition for South American teams plus they have their domestic Liga Pro games and will have to travel to Spain to play this match.
The UEFA-CONMEBOL Club Challenge is much like the Finalissima, which features the winners of the European Championship and the Copa America.
The announcement of the UEFA-CONMEBOL Club Challenge continues the ongoing partnership between the two confederations but is yet another addition to the football calendar fans and players have not requested.
There has been much concern over player welfare in recent years and rather than trying to ease the load on the athletes, fixtures are being added to the schedule.
The UEFA-CONMEBOL Club Challenge can be used by Sevilla as a pre-season match but if that is all it is going to be, is there any need to play the match at all?
Having the game in honour of Antonio Puerta, who died aged 22, after suffering a cardiac arrest, is a nice touch by UEFA and CONMEBOL.
However, it does not take away from the fact this is another obligation for teams to fill in their already busy schedule.
FIFA have been talking about expanding the Club World Cup to include 32 men's teams from June 2025.
The tournament will be played in the United States, with some clubs already qualified for the competition.
Manchester City, Chelsea, and Real Madrid all know they are in for a long season as they will play in the tournament, with Flamengo and Palmeiras having qualified from South America.
With so much football being played across the globe, do we need another match, especially one that is going to include a long journey for one of the teams?
With the new Club World Cup in June 2025, some players are going to be struggling to maintain their fitness and form, with the level of performances dropping as a result.
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