Traditionally, European soccer leagues take a break over the holiday season. In part, this is a concession to midwinter in the Northern Hemisphere, but it's also a chance for the "cups" — single-elimination knockout tournaments — to take center stage. Having two or more competitions at the same time can be one of the most confusing things about soccer for new fans. But it's worth the confusion, because in some ways the cups can be far more entertaining than the day-to-day grind of league play.
Virtually every country in the soccer world has some version of a cup competition. In general, these include — at least in theory — every team in the country. The top teams usually enter toward the later rounds of the tournament, while the tiny semipro teams that play Sunday mornings down at the park have to go through umpteen qualifying rounds. But they're all part of the same sprawling tournament.
Think of the cup competitions like March Madness, with college basketball playing its postseason tournament while the regular season is still going on. And every team in the country — not just 68 qualifiers — makes the tourney. (I can hear the NCAA bean-counters perking up even now: "Wait, more March Madness?'')
A few countries have secondary cup competitions, too. Generally, these are restricted-entry tournaments, like the League Cup in England, which only includes teams from the top four divisions. Happily, virtually everyone agrees that this makes those tournaments less, not more, important, and so they are mostly an afterthought.
For world soccer leagues, it's the closest thing to playoffs that most have, with the excitement of playoffs compounded by the random nature of each round's draw. Every season, almost every tournament has a few top-division teams that get knocked out by lower-division sides.
Just this week, second-division Bristol City took down mighty Manchester United in the League Cup quarterfinals with a late goal, provoking pandemonium in Bristol as the home fans stormed the field at the final whistle. League soccer just does not have that kind of excitement, which is why soccer fans speak reverently of "the magic of the cup."
The Premier League, Bundesliga and their ilk are great at identifying the best team over the long haul, but there tends to be a certain boredom about them. Take this year so far: The titles in England, Germany, France and (maybe) Spain are basically decided already for the season.
Meanwhile, the cups in each country are just getting good. The next round for most takes place the first week of January, though there are a couple of mouthwatering Coppa Italia games next week. Seek them out. Sure, cup competitions are secondary in importance to league competitions, but unlike the leagues, the cup format guarantees excitement.
