Each Cup was very tough to win then, first you had to qualify and finish top 2-3 at most in your league then you could go out in the first round in September... Today the big clubs have so much margin for error it kills a lot of the fun.
I remember when Liverpool won the UEFA Cup in 2001 beating Alaves in the final 5-4 they had to beat in previous rounds Barcelona and soon to be crowned Serie A Champions As Roma, that was arguably tougher than Porto's 2004 CL win. Certainly more memorable.
I would say get rid of the 3rd place CL team switching to Europa but then the CL group stage would be even more boring, often times the only real interest is knowing who'll finish in the 3rd spot...
Take Atalanta this year, they had their run in CL QF, would 10-15 years from now their fans and neutrals prefer and remember more if they won the Europa by beating teams like Manchester United, Sevilla,Inter? It also depends on who you faced and who you beat to get to a certain round. Last year Ajax demolished Real in Madrid and beat Juventus to make the 1\2 and came so close to the final while sometimes a surprise team can get a weaker draw and squeeze through like Leipzig this year and get hammered in the 1/2. So it's not totally black/white.
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