The Intercontinental Cup (south america x europe winners) used to be a big deal since the 60's. But if your team never won the Champions League, or barely had the chance, I can see why you'd disregard it.
This. Even thought it's not inclusive, I argue that the tournament should have been left they way it was (Europe vs. South America). I know Mazembe beat Internacional last year, and you can use that to argue for the new format, but I'm knowingly being a snob on this one. Look back at the history of the Intercontinental Cup. There were almost always exciting match ups and results.
With the new format, the CWC, the majority of the teams are so unknown that the tournament loses some of its already faint shine. Plus, decades of prestige out the window. Anyways... the only way to stay happy is to keep moving forward and stay positive. There's no reason to fight over this.
Now let's all enjoy Santos x Barca!
Edit: One more thing: the amount of competition, difficulty to win and high level play found in the Champions League AND the Libertadores, I believe, overwhelms that of the other qualifying measures for the new CWC. Not that the other teams 'don't deserve' to be there, but I would just prefer if it were a more tightly kept event.
Now, playing devil's advocate on myself, I would have to argue that if it still
were just Europe vs. South America, it would make many feel the way
I do when people belittle South American club play.