I'm not understanding why that is unfair? It is unlucky maybe, but not unfair. You said it yourself: Porto failed to progress from a EL-style group. Why would they deserve special treatment in the draw?
"There it is for all to see. It's beyond me how anyone can question this anymore. Chelsea and Arsenal get the two glamour clubs from the runners-up pot while City and United get anything but easy ties. Even Stevie Wonder can clearly see that UEFA/Platini hate England. This shouldn't even be up for debate anymore. Absolutely disgusting how they continuously get away with all this fixing." "Remember when UEFA called Mourinho an 'enemy of football'? So what do they do? Send him to Russia in the dead of winter. That's UEFA for you." "Basel v Bayern. UEFA are already counting the money from the huge tv ratings that'll come out from the southern Germany and Switzerland region."
Anyone and everyone who is a paranoid conspiracy theorist here on Bigsoccer (or any other football related thread for that matter). And so accurate by the way. Props.
You could have a million different draws and people would still say it was rigged. Now, having said that, some draws do look a little fishy.
England and Italy got it tough in the CL (though the English sides got stitched up more, as they finished first). This would have been seen as another walk through for the English sides any of the past few years.....now it's a close 50\50 call. As for the Europa....Man Utd and City should fear nobody left if they decide to take it seriously....so it matters not who they are drawn against. Edit: In fact it's a great draw for the 2 Manchester clubs. The last thing they wanted was long trips. Netherlands and Portugal will do just fine.
One thing that would help United and City (and Stoke) is if the Premier League schedules their fixtures for Sundays on the weekends following the Thursday EL games. Otherwise I can see those clubs fielding very weakened sides in Europe if they have to play a league encounter 48 hours later. Has the Premier League helped such clubs in the past? I know the Bundesliga and La Liga do everything they can to help out their EL participants from the group stage on.
If my memory serves me...I believe the teams playing in the Europa, generally get their matches pushed to a Sunday (though probably not 100% of the time). I'm not expecting a lot from the English teams in the Europa: I think Mancini would like to win it, and has enough squad depth for a serious challenge...I'm not sure all their players will really be up for it though. Fergie has serious squad depth issues with the injuries and lack of purchases...He will not risk the league challenge for the Europa (like Spurs). Expect to see some poor B\C teams playing. Stoke are out-gunned by Valencia, but they are a hard team to beat at home.
how the fvk city was seeded and Porto was not Porto the current holders of EL, Once again uefa fvks the smaller nation in fav of the bigger
I being a Bayern fan am happy with the draw.. Hope Gomez scores a hat-trick in each leg and keeping Messi far far behind!
Exactly. Porto wasn't a seed therefore there was a possibilty of getting drawn against the big fish. I don't see any conspiracy here, although I would have preferred to avoid the Manchester clubs.
I don't really beleive in the conspiracy theory. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but I honestly don't think this draw was fixed.
The real reason for these conspiracy theories is because most of the clubs at this stage tend to get to this point of the competition so there is usually some link/former history between them. That said Platini fixed the Lyon-Apoel draw.
its that time again! champions league draw, it happens in 2 hours... i urge you to look at this before the draw : http://tenmillionslaves.com/champions-league-draw-quarter-finals/
cant wait fr the milan vs barca match... gona b an intense match !! doubt barca should hav much trouble