Liverpool's 10 possible Champions League play-off opponents have been confirmed Viktoria Plzen They finished second in the Czech league, narrowly beaten by champions Slavia Prague. Plzen have reached the Champions League group stage twice, facing Manchester City twice and losing both games in 2013/14. Last season they were knocked out in the Europa League group stages. CSKA Moscow Came second to city rivals Spartak in Russia, their best Champions League showing saw them in the 2010 quarter finals. Last season they were the seeded team in their group, but finished bottom without a win. They even lost to Spurs at Wembley. Club Brugge Anderlecht pipped them to the Jupiler League title by two points. Liverpool won the European Cup in 1978 by beating the Belgians in the final 1-0. Brugge have never got out of the group stage in the Champions League era; last season they lost home and away to Leicester City. Steaua Bucharest Viitorul Constanti won their first ever Romanian title last season, beating usual front-runners Steaua. They won the 1986 final on penalties after frustrating Barcelona for 120 goalless minutes, and also reached the 1989 showpiece. Last season they were crushed at this stage by Manchester City, 6-0 on aggregate. Young Boys The snigger-inducingly named Swiss side were a distant second to Basle, 17 points behind the champions. They have never reached the Champions League group stages. Nice Will Super Mario still be on Nice's books when these games are played? Mario Balotelli has rehabilitated his reputation in France after a disastrous spell at Anfield, but is out of contract this summer. Nice were a surprise third in Ligue 1 after a great season, and will compete in the Champions League for the first time. Istanbul Basaksehir These minnows have an average crowd of 2,000, but still knocked heavyweights Galatasaray and Fenerbahce well back to come second to Besiktas in Super Lig. Their best known player is Emmanuel Adebayor, who joined in January. No surprises that they, like Nice, are competition debutants. AEK Athens The Greek Superleague use a four-team play-off to decide who gets the second Champions League spot behind perennial champions Olympiakos, and it was AEK - fourth in the regular season - who earned the right. They last reached the group stage in 2006 and have not played at this level since 2007. Sporting Lisbon Beaten in Portugal by rivals Benfica and Porto, Sporting Lisbon were dire in last year's Champions League, finishing bottom of their group behind Legia Warsaw, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund. Hoffenheim Under 29-year-old manager Julian Nagelsmann, Hoffenheim hit new heights this season. They claimed a best ever fourth place in Bundesliga, having not lost until January after a 17 game run. This is their European debut. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...pions-League-play-opponent.html#ixzz4inckWpHD
Nah, there's no way the boys will take any of them lightly. Not after what we've been through to get here.
not really the point, though, burning. we had to take the lower-level prem teams seriously and look how that worked out. these banana skin games can kill ya, and I'm not taking anything for granted. when is the draw?
Did some googling. Draw is 4 August. 04/08/17: Play-off draw 15–16/08/17: Play-off round, first leg 22–23/08/17: Play-off round, second leg For more dates: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=2435148.html
Not being too arrogant but really? If Liverpool cannot win any of those sides then the team ain't good enough for the champions league proper
Normally that would be good logic, but we are talking about the team that went undefeated against the top 6 in the Premier League, but couldn't beat the likes of Bournemouth and Swansea.
If I had to guess (which I do because I am too lazy and busy to open up a map), I'd wager that there can't be more than 100 miles or so difference ion th edistance from Liverpool to Athens and Liverpool to Bucharest..... I'll have a look later
i get where you're coming from, but i don't wanna play a team with nothing to lose. i've looked at a couple of sides that i'm not familiar with, Viktoria and Istanbul Viktoria is a team that had 50% clean sheets and scored 20% of their goals after the 75th minute. Istanbul is a high-scoring team that had almost 50% clean sheets and scored 25% of their goals after the 75th minute.
August 4. Of course you didn't even need to google it or start this thread since there was already a thread on this not even half way further down the page. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/champions-league-qualification-playoff.2055935/
but what if it was on the 2nd page, or the third one....??? Hence, why bother when I know someone more interested in scrolling about these pages in their near entirity will be forthcoming with an answer.... (hence freeing up my valuable analytical time for other more important things!