In the U.S., the season for a professional sport is
very cut-and-dried. For example, in the NBA a team will play an 82-game regular
season. If the team’s record is good enough, it will advance to a playoff
tournament to decide the NBA champion.
While the same concept holds true in soccer leagues
around the globe, the one main difference is that there are normally several
tournaments a club can be involved in, which run separate and simultaneous to
the regular season.
An example is the UEFA Champions League tournament.
Top teams from all the European leagues (based on the previous year’s
standings) battle in a tournament that takes several months to decide. The
results of these games have no bearing on a clubs ordinary league schedule or
standings.
Other tournaments include the UEFA Cup, England’s FA
Cup and South America’s Liberation Cup. Many of the large regional tournament
winners will go on to play in a final “World Club Championship.”