Recently I have a feeling that we are only getting new restrictions in the game (no more national teams, associations award rules, negotiations, unreliable relegation system etc) some are justifiable (asso awards) other are downright stupid. It is like the developer is actively trying to punish the player for using the loopholes they created.
So how about instead of constantly trying to punish the players, they actually reward the players who are playing the game in a sportsmanlike manner.
During the game players are awarded skill points (percents) for participating in a match. They should give higher percentage of those points for CL, Super league and Cup. For example, If a player gets 3% in different skill areas for a regular league match, for the same effort he would get 5% in the Cl or 4% in Super league. Or some kind of a multiplier: League match 1x skills, CL 1.5x skills, SL 1.25%.
Basically, if you are trying to win and you play CL, SL and Cup, you get rewarded with more skills for your players. This in combination with better rewards for winning CL, Sl and Cup would increase the competitiveness and decrease tanking imo.