Roma forward, Tammy Abraham, has insisted that the UEFA Europa Conference League is “not a little cup” as his team prepares to face Feyenoord in the final of the competition on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, at 20:00.
The Europa Conference League is the third tier of European club football which commenced in the 2021-2022 season. This means that Roma and Feyenoord are the first clubs to qualify for the final of the competition.
To qualify for the competition, a club in Europe’s top five leagues, for instance, must finish a league season on the 7th spot since the clubs that finish in 6th and 5th spots will qualify for Europa League (second tier), while the clubs that finished in the top four will qualify for the UEFA Champions League (first tier).
Any club that wins the Europa Conference League, will automatically qualify for Europa League in the coming season regardless of their position in the league.
All these make most critics of the competition believe that the Europa Conference League is an irrelevant club competition and not as prestigious as the first two tiers.
But Tammy Abraham who won the UEFA Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup while at Chelsea, argued that every final is prestigious.
Tammy Abraham who joined Roma from Chelsea on August 17, 2021, for a transfer fee worth €40 million, stressed that all players would want to win every final they play in.
“For me, it’s not a little cup,” said Abraham in response to suggestions that the Conference League is nothing compared to other European competitions.
“I believe every final is a final, no matter what competition it is. You get to the final, you want to win the final.
“It’s a trophy and these are the moments you look back on in your career, saying you want to win trophies.”
Since Tammy Abraham joined Roma, the 24-year-old English center-forward has scored 27 goals and provided 5 assists in 52 games in all competitions. Interestingly, Abraham’s nine goals this season came in the Europa Conference League.
Roma that have never won a major title after they won the Italian Cup in 2008 and never won a European club title since they won the defunct Fairs Cup in 1961, are banking on Abraham to help them deliver the Conference League title.
Abraham and the rest of his teammates will be guided to the Conference League final in Tirana, Albania on Wednesday by the legendary coach of the club, Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho had led three clubs to four European finals and won all of them – two with Porto (UEFA Cup and Champions League) and one apiece with Inter Milan (UEFA Conference League) and Manchester United (Europa League).
If Mourinho wins the UEFA Europa Conference League this season, the 59-year-old Portuguese tactician will become the first coach to win the title and the first coach to win the three major European club competitions.
In reaction to Mourinho’s track record in European competitions, Feyenoord’s coach Arne Slot said: “His CV makes you wary of his team. He is known for winning many finals.
“But we mainly have to focus on his team, the tactics, and the different ways they play. We shouldn’t pay too much attention to the fact that he has such an impressive track record in finals.”
🏴 Tammy Abraham with the control & finish 😍
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) May 24, 2022
Goalscorer in the #UECLfinal?@tammyabraham | @England pic.twitter.com/CGmfEThRQf
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