2013-14 Uefa Champions League

Turtwig

Chelsea and Atletico Madrid appear to have very nice groups. Haven't seen Bayern Leverkusen play this season yet so no idea how good they are. Real Sociedad were arguably the best team in Spain in the latter half of the season. If they can bring that form United could be in a struggle for first place in their group.

Arsenal have arguably the toughest group. City's group isn't nice. Celtic's is rotten.

Hulk Hands

mike65 wrote: »

That really is like a tramp taking the wrong door and turning up at a nouveaux cuisine do.

Celtic are as big a club as Ajax to be fair

patmac

Group A
Manchester United FC (ENG)
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER)
Real Sociedad de Fútbol (ESP)

United, any of the other 3

Group B
Real Madrid CF (ESP)
Juventus (ITA)
Galatasaray AŞ (TUR)
FC København (DEN)
Real, Juve

Group C
SL Benfica (POR)
Paris Saint-Germain FC (FRA)
Olympiacos FC (GRE)
RSC Anderlecht (BEL)
Benfica, PSG
Group D
FC Bayern München (GER)
PFC CSKA Moksva (RUS)
Manchester City FC (ENG)
FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)
Bayern, City
Group E
Chelsea FC (ENG)
FC Schalke 04 (GER)
FC Basel 1893 (SUI)
FC Steaua Bucureşti (ROU)
Chelsea, Schalke

Group F
Arsenal FC (ENG)
Olympique de Marseille (FRA)
Borussia Dortmund (GER)
SSC Napoli (ITA)
Any of 4
Group G
FC Porto (POR)
Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
FC Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS)
FK Austria Wien (AUT)
Porto, Athletico
Group H
FC Barcelona (ESP)
AC Milan (ITA)
AFC Ajax (NED)
Celtic FC (SCO)
Barca, Milan

So 13 places decided out of 16 as usual, lots of dead matches at the last stage.

Jelle1880

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Celtic are as big a club as Ajax to be fair

In what aspect ?

Trophies ?
Fanbase ?
Money ?

Turtwig

Predictions in bold.

patmac wrote: »

Group A
Manchester United FC (ENG)
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER)
Real Sociedad de Fútbol (ESP)

Group B
Real Madrid CF (ESP)
Juventus (ITA)
Galatasaray AŞ (TUR)
FC København (DEN)
Real, Juve

Group C
SL Benfica (POR)
Paris Saint-Germain FC (FRA)
Olympiacos FC (GRE)
RSC Anderlecht (BEL)

Group D
FC Bayern München (GER)
PFC CSKA Moksva (RUS)
Manchester City FC (ENG)
FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)

Group E
Chelsea FC (ENG)
FC Schalke 04 (GER)
FC Basel 1893 (SUI)
FC Steaua Bucureşti (ROU)

Schalke/Basel.

Group F
Arsenal FC (ENG)
Olympique de Marseille (FRA)
Borussia Dortmund (GER)
SSC Napoli (ITA)

Group of death really.

Group G
FC Porto (POR)
Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
FC Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS)
FK Austria Wien (AUT)

Group H
FC Barcelona (ESP)
AC Milan (ITA)
AFC Ajax (NED)
Celtic FC (SCO)

dfx-

group C and group G will be featuring at the end of the highlights programmes..

Hulk Hands

Jelle1880 wrote: »

In what aspect ?

Trophies ?
Fanbase ?
Money ?

Fanbase and moneywise I'd say so yeah. Bigger stadium and no reputation as a selling club. I said 'as big', and didn't say bigger, so I'm not starting an argument on Celtics merits over Ajax

Pepe LeFrits

Tricky groups for all the British teams bar Chelsea, who get an easy group as usual.

Kirby

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Fanbase and moneywise I'd say so yeah. Bigger stadium and no reputation as a selling club. I said 'as big', and didn't say bigger, so I'm not starting an argument on Celtics merits over Ajax

The fans aren't happy that Celtic have sold a lot this summer and brought in very little.

Johner

Ribery won the best player award. No problem it going to a Bayern player but Ribery? Who else was up for it?

A Dub in Glasgo

As a Celtic fan, that is a real downer - not because it is a tough group but there is nothing different about the games. This whole seeding and country excludion business means the games are nearly the same every year - predictable

citytillidie

Group H only group with 4 previous winners

keith16

When are the fixtures announced?

Professional Griefer

keith16 wrote: »

When are the fixtures announced?

Soon, they're usually out a bit after the draw.

The_Kew_Tour

Celtic fans got their wish. Delighted for them.

JPA

Barcelona always seems to play AC Milan.

Dempsey

JPA wrote: »

Barcelona always seems to play AC Milan.

Celtic seem to play one or both of them nearly every UCL campaign in recent years

Jelle1880

Lennon's reaction

Dempsey

Going by Scott Brown's reaction, someone said something smart to him

messinkiapina

Chelsea did by far the best of the English teams there. City will probably be happy enough after their previous draws. United got a fairly tough group, for once! Arsenal really got the short straw though.

8-10

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Fanbase and moneywise I'd say so yeah. Bigger stadium and no reputation as a selling club. I said 'as big', and didn't say bigger, so I'm not starting an argument on Celtics merits over Ajax

If they have a bigger stadium and as big fanbase then why did Ajax have a bigger average attendance last year?

blahfckingblah

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Celtic fans got their wish. Delighted for them.

what was our wish?

Smithwicks Man

Any word on the fixtures? Would love to head over to Parkhead!

Professional Griefer

and

blahfckingblah

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

As a Celtic fan, that is a real downer - not because it is a tough group but there is nothing different about the games. This whole seeding and country excludion business means the games are nearly the same every year - predictable

its designed with a bias towards the bigger clubs to prevent the top clubs from eliminating each other early and allowing others to progress.. this keeps the masses happy... make no mistake its a flaw thats engineered into the competition

Smithwicks Man

The way they keep clubs from the same country apart in the last 16 is ridiculous.

Also, the way they "pair" clubs so that they can't play the same night is an absolute joke! Bayer Leverkusen were the 3rd/4th team drawn from their pot and yet the only group they could go into was United's.

The structure of the draw is even more embarrassing than the fact that none of the assistants can open the wee balls with the team names :pac:

MD1990

Ribery didn't deserve best player
i would have given it to Ronaldo

DubDani

Smithwicks Man wrote: »

The way they keep clubs from the same country apart in the last 16 is ridiculous.

Also, the way they "pair" clubs so that they can't play the same night is an absolute joke! Bayer Leverkusen were the 3rd/4th team drawn from their pot and yet the only group they could go into was United's.

The structure of the draw is even more embarrassing than the fact that none of the assistants can open the wee balls with the team names :pac:

Schalke and Dortmund had to be put apart to ensure that they can't play at home at the same day/week. Too big a rivalry and too close to each other for potential trouble. And I am sure there were also objections from Police, as I am not sure they would be able to cover both games adequately within 24 hours. Same reason that Arsenal and Chelsea are on the same side of the draw.

Rikand

Jelle1880 wrote: »

Lennon's reaction

nice bit of advertisement for Yazoo there

The_Kew_Tour

blahfckingblah wrote: »

what was our wish?

Many Celtic fans were happy to have tough group.

Smithwicks Man

DubDani wrote: »

Schalke and Dortmund had to be put apart to ensure that they can't play at home at the same day/week. Too big a rivalry and too close to each other for potential trouble. And I am sure there were also objections from Police, as I am not sure they would be able to cover both games adequately within 24 hours. Same reason that Arsenal and Chelsea are on the same side of the draw.

Yes but this should be sorted after the draw. There's no reason for A,B,C and D to play the same night.

The fact that this "pairing" of teams affects the outcome of the draw is bizarre. All that administrative stuff should be sorted afterwards

764dak

Smithwicks Man wrote: »

Yes but this should be sorted after the draw. There's no reason for A,B,C and D to play the same night.

The fact that this "pairing" of teams affects the outcome of the draw is bizarre. All that administrative stuff should be sorted afterwards

What I notice is that they never put more than two teams from the same country on the same side of the draw. If they wait until after the draw there's still a possibility of that happening so they want to eliminate that possibility. However, this causes predictable draws.

Ulysses Gaze

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Celtic are as big a club as Ajax to be fair

Celtic have won 4 ECLs then?

A Dub in Glasgo

Ulysses Gaze wrote: »

Celtic have won 4 ECLs then?

Actually they have only won 1 ECL :pac:

JP Liz V1

Champions League Group A: Man Utd, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen, Real
Sociedad

Champions League Group B: Real Madrid, Juventus, Galatasaray, FC
Copenhagen

Champions League Group C: Benfica, Paris Saint Germain,
Olympiakos, Anderlecht

Champions League Group Bayern Munich, CSKA
Moscow, Man City, Viktoria Plzen

Champions League Group E: Chelsea,
Schalke, Basel, Steaua Bucharest

Champions League Group F: Arsenal,
Marseille, Dortmund, Napoli

Champions League Group G: Porto, Atletico
Madrid, FC Zenit, Austria Vienna

Champions League Group H: Barcelona, AC
Milan, Ajax, Celtic

MC and Celtic have tough groups

ArmaniJeanss

Smithwicks Man wrote: »

Yes but this should be sorted after the draw. There's no reason for A,B,C and D to play the same night.

The fact that this "pairing" of teams affects the outcome of the draw is bizarre. All that administrative stuff should be sorted afterwards

Its the only way they can guarantee that the 4 English (or Spanish or German) don't all play on the same gamenight, ditto for the countries with 3 or 2 teams in the draw.
If it was 'open' such that a team could go into any group A-H then you would be able to do the game day split for some countries but not for others.
And thats not what the broadcasters sign up for, the Russian broadcaster hasn't paid 70 zillion roubles to have Zenit and CSKA both playing on Tuesday and nothing on Wednesday.

MaroonAndGreen

Chelsea have gotten a really soft group.

Manchester United cant really complain either

Smithwicks Man

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Its the only way they can guarantee that the 4 English (or Spanish or German) don't all play on the same gamenight, ditto for the countries with 3 or 2 teams in the draw.
If it was 'open' such that a team could go into any group A-H then you would be able to do the game day split for some countries but not for others.
And thats not what the broadcasters sign up for, the Russian broadcaster hasn't paid 70 zillion roubles to have Zenit and CSKA both playing on Tuesday and nothing on Wednesday.

Yeah I understand the basis behind it. i just think that it interferes too much with the openness of the draw! Can't have it both ways I suppose!

Smithwicks Man

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

MC and Celtic have tough groups

City hardly have a tough group?

MaroonAndGreen

Smithwicks Man wrote: »

City hardly have a tough group?

Id say City have a very tough group.

Okay home and away wins v Plzen should be guaranteed.

CSKA Moscow away will be very tricky.

And both Bayern games will be tough.

If City slip up once at home, its hard to see them getting the points away from home. Theres not much room for error at all

GLaDOS

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Id say City have a very tough group.

Okay home and away wins v Plzen should be guaranteed.

CSKA Moscow away will be very tricky.

And both Bayern games will be tough.

If City slip up once at home, its hard to see them getting the points away from home. Theres not much room for error at all

They're third seeds, it was never going to be easy. OK drawing Bayern's a stinker, but they couldn't have gotten much better in terms of a 2nd and 4th seed. Would expect them to get 2nd on paper.

Smithwicks Man

Ajax, Zenit, Dortmund, Olympiakos and Galatasaray were all 3rd seeds and got tougher draws than City

When you consider they couldn't be in group A or E , they arguably got the easiest draw they could have got given the way things went

I wouldn't say City got a tough draw at all for a 3rd seed team

Lawrence1895

I can't complain about Borussia Dortmund's group at all.

Napoli, Marseille and Arsenal can all be beaten, and Tomas Rosicky will be back in the Westfalenstadion. A couple of Borussia Dortmund supporters still have fond memories of 'Schnitzel'

eagle eye

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Chelsea have gotten a really soft group.

Manchester United cant really complain either

United didn't get an easy group by any stretch.

MaroonAndGreen

eagle eye wrote: »

United didn't get an easy group by any stretch.

Didnt say easy, I said they cant complain.

They avoided all the big hitters and teams that nobody wanted to draw.

They should be happy.

SweepTheLeg

eagle eye wrote: »

United didn't get an easy group by any stretch.

Could have got PSG, Dortmund & Napoli. Think United will be happy with their group.

764dak

To be honest, the seeding of teams is rubbish. There should be no seeds.

citytillidie

Tonights games

Group A
Manchester United FC (ENG) 4 V 2 Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER)
Real Sociedad de Fútbol (ESP) 0 V 2 FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)

Group B
FC København (DEN) 1 V 1 Juventus (ITA)
Galatasaray AŞ (TUR) 1 V 6 Real Madrid CF (ESP)

Group C
SL Benfica (POR) 2 V 0 RSC Anderlecht (BEL)
Olympiacos FC (GRE) 1 V 4 Paris Saint-Germain FC (FRA)

Group D
FC Bayern München (GER) 3 V 0 PFC CSKA Moksva (RUS)
FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE) 0 V 3 Manchester City FC (ENG)

GTR63

Some of this passing by Pirlo is give me a cigarette stuff. Blunt as feck up top though even with Tevez.

klose

Madrid have been excellent tonight