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The motivation got by the small club to beat the big club will not help a lot. The big is still having the biggest chance to beat the small club. I think that theorically, the big club is still having the biggesr chance to win the game even though the small club gets more motivation to face the big club.
I think that it will be changing the situation a lot. The probability for a club that has been motivated to win the game wills till small. There was no a lot of strong clubs participated in this competition. The best clubs are always competing for the UCL.
europa league was a competition for clubs which have been performing even worst compared to the best clubs which was participated in the UCL. This year is far different compared to the last year coz we have new names to be our favorite club.
I was favoring liverpool among all of clubs participated in europa league caused by i have been seeing how this team has been fully motivated to get UCL spot through winning the trophy.
But you now disregarded what I actually posted. I said that in general you are right, but as we could see last season in the Europa League all the favorites got eliminated one after another. Arsenal, Manchester United, Barcelona...
The reason is that these teams have problems to adjust to the new circumstances. Their dopamine levels aren't the same, the fans aren't the same. When these teams full of superstars play in the Champions League against another team full of superstars, everyone is excited and thrilled to the maximum, but when they play more like mediocre teams, the tension within their bodies is lower. In my opinion this is only natural. Everyone who has played some kind of competitive sport or likes competing in general, knows that it is a totally different world if the opponent is at least the same level or above yourself and you are pumped to beat your opponent. But when they play against seemingly weaker teams, there is not so much positive pressure going on in the brain whereas the underdog is 200% focused. This makes a difference for sure.