Yeah you have a point I guess, qualifying for the champions league is important. And being seeded 1st in your pool, instead of 4th, does significantly increase your chances of advancing to the knock out rounds.

However my point was that it doesn't give much additional reward in itself. Winning that final game, which might catapult you from 2nd to 1st in the league, doesn't really have a reward that makes you care.

If you were playing the top team, and a win would catapult you from 2nd to 1st place (And thus likely win the league), but you also had a cup or champions league game, you probably wouldn't hesitate to rest some of your best players so that you could focus on the champions league/cup game instead. As advancing to the quarter finals of the cup, even if you got knocked out in that round, would provide significantly more reward than the difference between 1st and 2nd in the league (or even between 1st and 4th in the league).

Tokens would be a nice reward to players who have performed well in their leagues. Just anything which differentiates between 1st and 7th a little more.