Champions League

[peterhague]

We're back in it - that's great, isn't it?

I'll try to list most of the teams already qualified:

Man City
Liverpool
Chelsea
Atletico Madrid
Barcelona
Real Madrid
Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund
Schalke
PSG
Monaco
Juventus
Roma
Benfica
Sporting Lisbon
Ajax
Olympiakos
Galatasaray or Besiktas


The ones going to the qualifiers from those leagues are

Arsenal
Athletic Bilbao
Bayer Leverkusen
Lille or St Etienne
Napoli
Porto
Feyenoord

 

[Athens]

Liverpool are in pot three, what teams can they be grouped with?

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

One from pot 1, one from pot 2 and one from pot 4

 

[Athens]

One from pot 1, one from pot 2 and one from pot 4

Cheers. That's cleared that up for me!

 

[peterhague]

http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/club/

 

[Shadey]

It's fate we'll be grouped with Rafa's Napoli.

And it's good to see no teams you can't pronounce.

 

[Skullflower]

i couldn't even give a shit. the whole thing about getting back in the cl was to atrract better players, have more money etc......... with the idea of one day building to win the league. we just fucked up the best chance we'll have for another ten years these last couple of weeks. couldn't give a shit about cl.

 

[peterhague]

Best guess from that

Pot 1

Real Madrid
Barcelona
Bayern Munich
Chelsea
Benfica
Atletico Madrid
Arsenal
Porto

Pot 2

Schalke
Borussia Dortmund
Juventus
PSG
Shakthar Donetsk
Basel
Man City
Bayer Leverkusen

Pot 3

Olympiakos
Napoli
Ajax
Liverpool
Sporting Lisbon
Galatasaray
Athletic Bilbao
Anderlecht


I can't be arsed trying to work out Pot 4.

 

[Hansern]

You could draw Porto and Basel, bu then again draw PSG and Bayern Munchen.

Fuck it, just so happy to be back. We'll deal with anyone.

 

[Shadey]

I take it we won't be grouped with Napoli then.

 

[Dreambeliever]

And even better Utd aren't in it

That does make me happy.

I hope we get the easiest possible draw and make the last 16 and beyond

 

[OLD_Lewy]

i couldn't even give a shit. the whole thing about getting back in the cl was to atrract better players, have more money etc......... with the idea of one day building to win the league. we just fucked up the best chance we'll have for another ten years these last couple of weeks. couldn't give a shit about cl.

Im surprised you havent decided to exclusively watch victorian recreations of popular sports such as 'pass the typhoid' or 'cock the monarch', all this modern day football must be killing you

 

[King Binny]

[article=http://www.espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1826368?&cc=4716]
Just as in past seasons, pot 4 will have a sting in the tail for a couple of groups as it features both AS Roma and AS Monaco -- runners-up to worthy domestic champions in Juve and PSG.

Arsenal, Porto, Bayer Leverkusen and Napoli will be seeded in the non-champions route playoffs, along with Zenit St Petersburg if they come through the third qualifying round. Athletic Bilbao, Lille and FC Copenhagen are among the teams the seeds could face for a place in the group stage. But Bilbao will definitely be in pot 3 if they qualify as the La Liga club will have to beat a seeded team to get through, which will elevate them from the bottom pot.

Liverpool
Favourable draw: Porto, FC Basel, Champions route playoff winner
Unforgiving draw: Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Roma

Man City
Favourable draw: Porto, Olympiakos, Champions route playoff winner
Unforgiving draw: Real Madrid, Napoli, Monaco

Arsenal and Chelsea
Favourable draw: FC Basel, Olympiakos, Champions route playoff winner
Unforgiving draw: Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Monaco

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW POTS
* Team in playoffs. Should this team fail to qualify for the group stage the others below would move up a position. So for instance if FC Porto fail to qualify then Schalke would move into pot 1, and therefore Leverkusen into pot 2.

Pot 1
Real Madrid
Barcelona
Bayern Munich
Chelsea
Benfica
Atletico Madrid
Arsenal *
FC Porto *

----------------------

Pot 2
Schalke
Borussia Dortmund
Juventus
Paris Saint-Germain
Shakhtar Donetsk
FC Basel
Zenit St Petersburg *
Man City

---------------------

Pot 3
Bayer Leverkusen *
Olympiakos
CSKA Moscow
Ajax
Napoli *
Liverpool
Sporting Lisbon
Galatasaray

---------------------

Pot 4 (outline)
Athletic Bilbao *
Anderlecht
Salzburg *
Lille *
FC Copenhagen *
AS Roma
AS Monaco

There is far more uncertainty over this pot, though Anderlecht, AS Roma and AS Monaco will all feature. Athletic Bilbao, Salzburg, Lille, FC Copenhagen, Steaua Bucharest, APOEL, Standard Liege, Celtic and BATE Barisov are among the main teams to feature in the playoffs.[/article]

 

[Judge Jules]

You could draw Porto and Basel, bu then again draw PSG and Bayern Munchen.

Fuck it, just so happy to be back. We'll deal with anyone.

This. So much this.

 

[#roadred]

Oh Lordy, looking at the coefficients even when we win it outright next year we might not attain enough points to get into pot one the year after.
Fuck it, it's gonna be so much fun.

 

[Frogfish]

What is the point of being in it if we are only going to face less than optimal quality teams ? I want to see how our style of play matches up to the Reals, Barcas, Bayern and PSGs of this world.

Fascinating and exciting !

 

[Oncy]

Nice post Pete. Cant wait mate.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

It'll be fun to get: Barca (I), Dortmund (II) and Roma (IV). I don't know much about Roma, but pitting our style against Barca and Dortmund would be interesting.

 

[gene hughes]

Yea I wanna play good teams. Not fucking Basel.

 

[Oncy]

 

[Mersey86]

i couldn't even give a shit. the whole thing about getting back in the cl was to atrract better players, have more money etc......... with the idea of one day building to win the league. we just fucked up the best chance we'll have for another ten years these last couple of weeks. couldn't give a shit about cl.

Yep - that about sums it up for me too.

 

[Judge Jules]

Yea I wanna play good teams. Not fucking Basel.

Basel would be a tough nut to crack, gene. They're probably never going to win it but they're an awkward bunch who can turn bigger names over.

 

[jexykrodic]

i couldn't even give a shit. the whole thing about getting back in the cl was to atrract better players, have more money etc......... with the idea of one day building to win the league. we just fucked up the best chance we'll have for another ten years these last couple of weeks. couldn't give a shit about cl.