Champions League Pots/Draw

Unearthly

What a fix that draw was tbh.

John Terry(Man Utd fan) and Iniesta(who I think I once read on some website that he adores Man Utd) gave Man Utd decent enough teams, and then Xavi(who we all know is anti Man Utd) gives us Wolfsburg.

Shambles.

Headshot

CHD wrote: »

That group is horrible Headshot.

No it isnt

how the hell do you think that's horrible

adamski8

no "big" sky sports matches ie man u v real, chelsea inter milan, thank god. sky sports news wont actually be hyping up any match involving an english team!!!!

Eire-Dearg

Utd have a lot of travelling to do, and German champions Wolfsburg could get four points out of both games.

Headshot

I wouldn't bank on it

Guy:Incognito

Headshot wrote: »

No it isnt

how the hell do you think that's horrible

The only difficult thing will be avoiding Deep vein thrombosis on the plane.

Tyranax

Happy enough with the draw as a United fan. There's travelling involved, but that's why we have a big squad. Really looking forward to playing Wolfsburg. It won't be the formality of a group that some have made out, but I think that we should be aiming to win the group.

Liverpool and Chelsea both have tough groups. Any of the away days to the second and third seeds could bring defeat, and all are good enough to at least get a draw on the road. I'd still be shocked if either went out at the group stage mind.

Arsenal could, and should, win their group. No strong travellers in any of the sides they face, and a lack of Champions' League experience in some of those teams. Eighteen out of eighteen is not beyond them.


Other standouts are Barca-Inter, Real Madrid-Milan, and Bayern Munich-Juventus. All of those teams should qualify, and there's bound to be good matches between them. Good stuff.

IvySlayer

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

Utd have a lot of travelling to do, and German champions Wolfsburg could get four points out of both games.

You know it's only 3 points for a win...

:pac:

Boggles

adamski8 wrote: »

no "big" sky sports matches ie man u v real, chelsea inter milan, thank god. sky sports news wont actually be hyping up any match involving an english team!!!!

There is about 40 channels carrying the champions league, no one is forcing you to watch Sky or are they? :eek:

Kev_ps3

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

Utd have a lot of travelling to do, and German champions Wolfsburg could get four points out of both games.

what great players do wolfsburg have?!

Eire-Dearg

IvySlayer wrote: »

You know it's only 3 points for a win...

:pac:

You play them twice...

Eddie Murphy talking pure muck on SSN

IvySlayer

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

You play them twice...

I know. But 4 points out of both games sounds funnny.

lisbon_lions

Hey,
Can anyone explain why Wolfsburg the German champions were in pot 4 while Bayern Munich were in Pot 1?

Eire-Dearg

Kev_ps3 wrote: »

what great players do wolfsburg have?!

Edin Dzeko and Grafite are both class players. They didn't win the Bundesliga for nothing.

Tyranax

lisbon_lions wrote: »

Hey,
Can anyone explain why Wolfsburg the German champions were in pot 4 while Bayern Munich were in Pot 1?

Co-efficient. Bayern's previous European Cup wins give them more points.

Jax Teller

Trilla wrote: »

United walk it!? I think its tough enough group. G and H are easier groups for sure

yeah i agree , wolfsburg look decent ,nobody fancys goin moscow or turkey

Headshot

Boggles wrote: »

There is about 40 channels carrying the champions league, no one is forcing you to watch Sky or are they? :eek:

Rupert Murdoch has the his gun locked and loaded

eZe^

Of the Spanish teams;

Sevilla will definitely be the happiest, they have arguably the easiest group bar Arsenal, Sevilla are better all over the park then all those teams, and none are really known for putting in massive performances and getting shock results. Sevilla should easily qualify first.

Atletico Madrid have a very tough group, but I really think Porto without Lopez and Lucho are going to be severely weakened, and even though they'll be far from favourites against Chelsea, on their day Atletico can tear apart any team in the world. I think Atleti are capable of getting 2nd spot, and giving Chelsea one or two scares along the way. (Although ultimately they'll qualify top)

Real Madrid imo have the toughest group by a long shot, Marseille AND A.C Milan are massive games, Morientes will be returning to face his old Real team, and Kaka will be playing at the San Siro once more. Going to be an excellent group, it also means that Pellegrini has even less time to get his team to start clicking together, they desperately need to qualify for this galactico project to be deemed successful.

Barcelona imo have the 2nd toughest group, the ties against Inter and Mourinho will be very interesting, as it'll be a really good measure of Guardiola's steel. Inters team is weaker in most departments, so it'll be up to Mourinho to do whatever he can to give his team the edge. Then the two games in Eastern Europe are an absolute pest, and could potentially disrupt domestic form. But I already said that a tough group is exactly what Barcelona need to prove that they can retain the trophy, this'll be a good test, and the perfect stage for Ibrahimovic to prove doubters wrong.

Arsenal, Sevilla and Man Utd all have quite straight forward passages to the K.O groups, but it is excellent to see big ties like Inter-Barca, A.C-Madrid, and Chelsea-Atletico all in the group stages. It's great to have football back again after a few month hiatus.


Also, was anybody laughing there ass off when Figo had to give the midfielder of the year award? He was praying it was Gerard so he wouldn't have to give it to a Barca player, his face when he read out Xavi had dread on it, luckily Xavi gave him a warm embrace, can't say I'd do the same for the Judas... =P

CHD

Headshot wrote: »

No it isnt

how the hell do you think that's horrible

Wolfsburg are a good team, Cska are a good team. Besiktas is a tough place to go. It's not a good group at all!

lisbon_lions

Tyranax wrote: »

Co-efficient. Bayern's previous European Cup wins give them more points.

Cheers, that to me is keeping the rich clubs rich with a favourable draw.

Max Power1

Arsenal in with Alkmaar, Olympiacos, & Standard Liege

A very happy arsenal fan here, easy passage to the knockouts it would seem!

Tyranax

lisbon_lions wrote: »

Cheers, that to me is keeping the rich clubs rich with a favourable draw.

Well the idea is that previous good performance is rewarded. If you win the European Cup, or get far consistently, then you should be rewarded for that. But I agree, it's a bit too stagnant. A three year rolling history was suggested, and I think that's a good idea. Means that a cup won a couple of decades ago counts for less than your recent performance, and that's fair enough.

Headshot

CHD wrote: »

Wolfsburg are a good team, Cska are a good team. Besiktas is a tough place to go. It's not a good group at all!

you wont change my mind

those teams are just so so

wolfsburg being the exception,there just a good team

Man utd should walk it

CHD

Headshot wrote: »

you wont change my mind

those teams are just so so

wolfsburg being the exception,there just a good team

Man utd should walk it

I don't want to change your mind. But you will soon see.

Headshot

CHD wrote: »

I don't want to change your mind. But you will soon see.

we'll see

I rather have utd's group than Chelsea's any day

jenno86

When do we find out the matchdays? When the fixtures dates and days decided?

Guy:Incognito

Tyranax wrote: »

Well the idea is that previous good performance is rewarded. If you win the European Cup, or get far consistently, then you should be rewarded for that. But I agree, it's a bit too stagnant. A three year rolling history was suggested, and I think that's a good idea. Means that a cup won a couple of decades ago counts for less than your recent performance, and that's fair enough.

The co-efficient is done over the last 5 years performance, so a cup won a couple of decades doesnt count anyway.

Chardee MacDennis

Headshot wrote: »

you wont change my mind

those teams are just so so

wolfsburg being the exception,there just a good team

Man utd should walk it

have to agree really.

Mr Maroon

We (Juve) should win Group A I think.

Eirebear

Absolutely delighted with our group, although im damn sure the other teams will be saying the exact same thing.

Gives me an excuse to head back to Bucharest this year too!

Raskolnikov

Seriously, what is the point of these group stages? Every year we see the same teams progressing to the knockout stages. I cannot see anything other than 4 English teams, 4 Spanish teams, 3/4 Italian teams, 3/4 German teams, 1/2 French team(s) and a Portuguese team progressing.

UnitedIrishman

Good group draw for United but the last 16 will be tough when you look at the possible top two from each of the rest of the groups. Group G is about the only ones you'd want to get in the next round after the groups.

CHD

Headshot wrote: »

we'll see

I rather have utd's group than Chelsea's any day

Yeah but we have a class squad

Raskolnikov

People are also probably overrating Wolfsburg. Dzeko looks like a class player, Josue is solid and Grafite was on fire last season. The rest are ok, with some dodgy defenders (take a look at some fixtures they were involved in last year).

Quint

Mr Maroon wrote: »

We (Juve) should win Group A I think.

Yeah, was hoping we'd get Bayern. Wonder when the fixture dates are announced? Wouldn't mind a trip to Munich!

citytillidie

jenno86 wrote: »

When do we find out the matchdays? When the fixtures dates and days decided?

They are decieded already

Before the Liverpool V Man Utd game

Liverpool play home to Lyon on the Tuesday while United play in Moscow on the Wednesday.

Just go to your teams website for the fixtures
Liverpools are
Match 1 Debrecen H Sept 16
Match 2 Fiorentina A Sept 29
Match 3 Lyon H Oct 20
Match 4 Lyon A Nov 4
Match 5 Debrecen A Nov 24
Match 6 Fiorentina H Dec 9

8-10

^ happy enough with that order. We should get through handy enough if we get a result away to Fiorentina.

Mossy Monk

Arsenal share their match day with Manchester United so forget about television coverage on RTÉ

Soby

Pritty much what i feel will be the last 16..Easy enough to pick from the groups.
Bayern Munich
Juventus

Manchester United
CSKA Moscow

AC Milan
Real Madrid

Chelsea
Atletico Madrid

Liverpool
Lyon

Barcelona
Inter Milan

Sevilla
Rangers

Arsenal
Olympiakos

Mr Maroon

Quint wrote: »

Yeah, was hoping we'd get Bayern. Wonder when the fixture dates are announced? Wouldn't mind a trip to Munich!

Or even Bordeaux. Maybe not Haifa though! :P

rossie1977

CHD wrote: »

Wolfsburg are a good team, Cska are a good team. Besiktas is a tough place to go. It's not a good group at all!

wolfsburg had a good season last year but like marseille or blackburn when they won the league years ago do you really see wolfsburg in the last 8 or even the last 16, i don't

besiktas are decent at home however last time in england 2 seasons ago they lost 8-0 at anfield which says it all about their away form :eek: no chance besiktas qualify for last 16 unless they win all their home games and even then

that leaves us with cska moscow, nothing but a glorified uefa cup team imo, there are better teams in the uefa this season, like turkish teams russians don't travel well, when you think utd could have got lyon or real or inter instead of moscow, wow

utd to walk this group, qualified by fourth game

Bandit12

Raskolnikov wrote: »

Seriously, what is the point of these group stages? Every year we see the same teams progressing to the knockout stages. I cannot see anything other than 4 English teams, 4 Spanish teams, 3/4 Italian teams, 3/4 German teams, 1/2 French team(s) and a Portuguese team progressing.

Agreed. The Champions league group stages are a complete bore nowadays. Very predictable. The clubs with the big money alway's progress.

rossie1977

Bandit12 wrote: »

Agreed. The Champions league group stages are a complete bore nowadays. Very predictable. The clubs with the big money alway's progress.

man city should walk it this season so...................................;)

Quint

Mr Maroon wrote: »

Or even Bordeaux. Maybe not Haifa though! :P

Bordeaux: famous for wine
Munich: famous for beer
Munich wins:)

dubmick

brutal draw for United! loads of travelling and we got the best team by a mile from pot 4

rossie1977

dubmick wrote: »

brutal draw for United! loads of travelling and we got the best team by a mile from pot 4

a team that are playing their 3rd ever european campaign, Magath was a miracle worker there but now he is gone, first season in champions league is a huge step up for wolfsburg, liege have played here before, liege winning 23 of 44 champions league matches, haifa knocked out cska moscow from the uefa cup 2 seasons ago so neither are pushovers and have tonnes more european experience than wolfsburg

UnitedIrishman

CHD wrote: »

Yeah but we have a class squad

And evidently also arrogant supporters.

cson

I'd imagine most of the English clubs supporters on this website would be expecting their team to make the Semi-Finals at the least, a lot of you will be hopeful of winning it. Therefore the group games should be a non-event; if you expect to win/go far in the cup then Wolfsburg/Fiorentina/CSKA etc away shouldn't be an issue.

ROCKMAN

If you look at the teams the English clubs avoided , They should all be happy
No real problems (on paper at least) They all should have the squads to deal with the group stages .
Also away from the English clubs there is a couple of great games in the other groups

Juventus v Bayern
Milan v Real :D
Barca v Inter :D:D

And with that six teams facing each other in the group stage. It will/could make for some great/big games in the knockout stage for any(all)English clubs that make it through.:D