Champions League & Europa League draws

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Champions League Seedings

Pot 1 Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Benfica, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Zenit St. Petersburg, PSV Eindhoven.
Pot 2 Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, Porto, Valencia, Manchester City, Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen.
Pot 3 Lyon, Dynamo Kiev, Olympiakos, Galatasaray, Roma, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla, CSKA Moscow.
Pot 4 Borussia Moenchengladbach, Wolfsburg, Dinamo Zagreb, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Gent, Malmo, Bate, Astana.

Prediction:
-- PSV, Man Utd, Olympiakos, Gent << you know this will happen
-- Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Roma, Astana << Wenger's going to whine anyway, so they might as well give him reason to
-- Barcelona, Man City, Galatasaray, Wolfsburg << LOL @ City's shit draw luck again
-- Chelsea, Porto, CSKA, Bate << easy peasy
-- Juventus, Real Madrid, Kiev, Moenchengladbach << the way Benitez likes it - really challenging

 

[King Binny]

Zenit St. Petersburg in Pot 1...

 

[Zlate]

Real Madrid in pot 2, yet Benfica and Zenit in pot 1?

What are the chances the mancs get:

Benfica
Olympiakos
Astana

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Real Madrid in pot 2, yet Benfica and Zenit in pot 1?

They're using the new seeding system starting from this season - Pot 1 is for league winners and the CL winner. Pots 2 to 4 seeded based on coeffs. It doesn't really make much of a difference anyway. Last season, under the old system, they had this:

Pot 1: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, Porto
Pot 2: Schalke, Dortmund, Juventus, PSG, Donetsk, Basel, Zenit, Man City
Pot 3: Leverkusen, Olympiakos, CSKA, Ajax, Liverpool, Sporting Lisbon, Galatasaray, Bilbao
Pot 4: Anderlecht, Roma, APOEL, Bate, Ludogorets, Maribor, Monaco, Malmo

All they've done is give the smaller league champions (i.e. Dutch, Russian and Portuguese) a chance to avoid the league champions in the top 5 leagues (the Dutch champs wouldn't have been in Pot 1 this season if not for Barca doing the double anyway). But we all know that the second and third placed teams in the big 5 leagues would likely overpower these smaller leagues' title winners regardless.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

What are the chances the mancs get:

Benfica, Olympiakos, Astana

Very good I'd say. Although Astana is quite a journey, so I think their luck will probably give them a shorter trip.

Now Wenger, on the other hand, could very possibly have to visit Kazakhstan.

 

[dee]

Liverpool FC relegated to pot two for Europa League draw as coefficient drops

Liverpool will have to settle for a place in the second pot for Friday’s Europa League group stage draw in Monaco.
The Reds’ UEFA coefficient, which is calculated based on their results in Europe over the past five years, has dropped to 47.078.
That puts them outside the top dozen clubs to qualify for Europe’s second-tier competition with the final line-up for the group stage to be confirmed once Thursday night’s play-off round second leg matches have been completed.
As a result, Liverpool could find themselves in the same group as the likes of Schalke, Basel, Napoli, Marseille, Villarreal or Fiorentina. Tottenham are also in the first pot but the Reds can’t be drawn against another English club.

Spurs rank higher than us in Europe. God we've fallen!

 

[Jack D Rips]

Utd get PSV

 

[willby]

Utd get PSV

@studsup !!

 

[Hansern]

Utd are always lucky with these draws. ALWAYS

 

[the count]

Utd are always lucky with these draws. ALWAYS

I'd be happy if they have to travel long distances for their away ties

 

[the count]

Bingo
CSKA Moscow

 

[King Binny]

Group A: Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Malmo
Group B: PSV, Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Wolfsburg
Group C: Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray, Astana
Group D: Juventus, Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Monchengladbach
Group E: Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Roma, BATE
Group F: Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Olympiacos, Dinamo Zagreb
Group G: Chelsea, Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Group H: Zenit, Valencia, Lyon, Gent

 

[Skullflower]

oh my god how fucking shite were we in the cl last year. it's fucking unbelievable how bad we were.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Actual:

Group A: Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Malmo
Group B: PSV, Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Wolfsburg
Group C: Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray, Astana
Group D: Juventus, Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Monchengladbach
Group E: Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Roma, BATE
Group F: Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Olympiacos, Dinamo Zagreb
Group G: Chelsea, Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Group H: Zenit, Valencia, Lyon, Gent

Predicted:

-- PSV, Man Utd, Olympiakos, Gent << you know this will happen
-- Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Roma, Astana << Wenger's going to whine anyway, so they might as well give him reason to
-- Barcelona, Man City, Galatasaray, Wolfsburg << LOL @ City's shit draw luck again
-- Chelsea, Porto, CSKA, Bate << easy peasy
-- Juventus, Real Madrid, Kiev, Moenchengladbach << the way Benitez likes it - really challenging

Okay, I got just 6 of these right. I did get the spirit of the shit luckless draw for City somewhat though.

Group D is going to be exciting.
Groups A, B, E and F have maybe just 2 interesting games
Groups C, G and H look really, really boring. Like, take out Chelsea, Athleti and maybe Valencia, and they they look like Europa League groups.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

And Heung-Min Son wants to give up the chance to play Barca and Roma in the Champions League, to play for Spurs instead to a 12,000 crowd in some far flung frozen land.

For the next 5 seasons.

 

[Leo]

They're luckier than a tomcat with two dicks.
How the fuck are Psv in pot one?

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

They're luckier than a tomcat with two dicks.

How the fuck are Psv in pot one?

They're using the new seeding system starting from this season - Pot 1 is for the winners of the top 7 leagues and the CL winner. Pots 2 to 4 seeded based on coeffs.

PSV wouldn't have made it if Barca hadn't won both the CL and the La Liga last season. The Dutch league thus got a spot this time in this pot.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

The other thing worth noting, is that both the 3rd place finishers in the French Ligue 1 and Italian Serie A last season got bounced in the CL 3rd round playoffs. Terrible luck with the draw - Monaco went out to Valencia, while Lazio lost to Leverkusen. Meanwhile, Man Utd coasted past Brugge when they could've drawn either Leverkusen or Monaco, or had to play tricky away ties against CSKA Moscow or Donetsk. Devils' luck, as usual.

 

[King Binny]

http://www.skysports.com/football/n...does-europa-league-affect-premier-league-form

Europa League group stage seedings

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

We'll get Dortmund, Monaco and Robot Team.

Makes our scouting job for next season's additions a lot easier.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Wait... so we ended up improving our finishing position in both seasons we were in the Europa League in the past 10 years. Go Europa!

 

[StevieM]

Wait... so we ended up improving our finishing position in both seasons we were in the Europa League in the past 10 years. Go Europa!

Yes - it's turns out that being in the Europa League is a prime motivational tool for making sure we finish higher in the league and avoid being in it the next season.

Unfortunately - being in the Champions League causes depression and we revert to Europa candidates again.

 

[Mystic]

Dortmund, St Etienne and Sion please.

 

[cloggypop]

Ajax please.

 

[Hansern]

Rosenborg or Molde please

 

[gkmacca]

A quick exit at the group stage, please.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

Any team from Turkey and Cyprus please.

 

[FoxForceFive]

A quick exit at the group stage, please.

Yes, very much this.

I get the whole 'we exist to win cups' thing. The European seedings are important too.

More important is getting back into the CL through the league or actually challenging.

That's our bread & butter, not playing 76 gazillion games in far flung Eastern European potato fields to just get to the semi's of a competition. Early exit & concentrate on the league & maybe a nice domestic cup run to get the younger players plenty of real game time should they be needed.

Whilst we are in it I'd like to see the kids played.

 

[the count]

Yes, very much this.

I get the whole 'we exist to win cups' thing. The European seedings are important too.

More important is getting back into the CL through the league or actually challenging.

That's our bread & butter, not playing 76 gazillion games in far flung Eastern European potato fields to just get to the semi's of a competition. Early exit & concentrate on the league & maybe a nice domestic cup run to get the younger players plenty of real game time should they be needed.

Whilst we are in it I'd like to see the kids played.

Does the phrase "Getting into the Champions League" not shout Arsenal just a little bit though?

 

[Comical Aly]

Does the phrase "Getting into the Champions League" not shout Arsenal just a little bit though?

No.

For us it's a milestone on an upwards journey. For them its a raison d'être.