Some interesting points here. In every league it's the prospect of winning it (and being relegated from it) which generates the excitement. Leicester City won the Premier League in 2015-16 and legitimately big clubs (Leeds United, Sunderland) have been relegated to the third tier of English football in very recent memory. Atalanta are third in Serie A.

If you take away that potential for great things to be achieved by ANY club (and the inverse) then what fans are left with is a competition which would feel like a pre-season tournament with nothing truly at stake except money.