Heck, I remember 2 years ago when Ajax played Auxerre, the French FA gave Auxerre the weekend off to prepare for the CL game!
The problem is some national associations are still in control of their game and therefore see it as a club representing the league, they do well and its presents a good picture in terms of the health of the league. The PL run things here and their stock is so high they see no need to pander to any such notions! Definite handicap but I suppose it means our younger players will be exposed and given an opportunity to gain some really useful experience.
