So the Champions League and Europa League draws have been made.The conclusions of both competitions will be decided in a festival of European football across the month of August.Given the plethora of talented sides left in each tournament, the draw has delivered some fantastic ties for football lovers.The winner of Manchester City and Real Madrid will play either Juventus or Lyon, while Bayern Munich or Chelsea will take on the victor of Barcelona versus Napoli.In the Europa League, there's also the potential of an all-English semi-final between Manchester United and Wolves if both teams progress to the final four.However, UEFA's second-tier competition was actually ridiculed during the governing body's live stream of the draw this morning.Former Bayern Munich defender Thomas Helmer, who was present at UEFA's HQ in Nyon, labelled the tournament as the 'cup of losers'.
"Do you know what he calls it, no?" Helmer asked the ceremony's navigator Pedro Pinto, pointing to his UEFA colleague Giorgio Marchetti: "The cup of losers."
The look on Marchetti's face afterwards says it all...
Helmer's inappropriate comment was just one of many issues that plagued the draw, with technical problems stemming from club delegates having to tune-in by video call due to social distancing guidelines.
Atletico Madrid's Koke and Real Madrid legend Emilio Butragueno were both called upon to be interviewed by Pinto, but the sound failed to work on both occasions.
Juventus Giorgio Chiellini was interviewed in English with no issues whatsoever, but UEFA's ceremony was far from a success.
The fact a tournament with some of the biggest clubs on the continent participating was labelled as the 'cup of losers' for the public to hear is simply unacceptable.
We get the feeling Helmer won't be invited back to Nyon by UEFA anytime soon...