UEFA holding talks over the launch of a new 3rd tier competition in 2021. The CL stays at 32 clubs, the EL would be trimmed from 48 to 32 and the yet to be named 3rd tier cup would also have 32 clubs. https://sportbild.bild.de/fussball/...-neuer-wettbewerb-ab-2021-56967234.sport.html
LOL, Ajax avoids the Group of Death and PSV land smack into it. Tough draw for Eindhoven; we will see what kind of trainer van Bommel is.
Ajax - AEK = direct confrontation between two frontrunners for 11th place/direct CLGS spot. AEK had the lowest coefficient and they don't seem as shady as Olympiacos (probably because they simply lack the funds for bribes).
Ajax have faced Bayern four times in CL football. The two times that they defeated the German club they won the title. Only once did they meet in Group play with the result of a loss and a draw. Ajax can win this group!
Where do we have Dutch players abroad in the CL/EL in this season? CL De Vrij at Inter. Van Dijk & Wijnaldum at Liverpool Depay at Lyon
CL: not all will be playing I guess. Bayern München: Arjen Robben Manchester City: Philippe Sandler Manchester United: Tahith Chong Tottenham Hotspur: Michel Vorm en Vincent Janssen AS Roma: Justin Kluivert, Rick Karsdorp Liverpool: Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum Olympique Lyon: Memphis Depay, Kenny Tete Club Brugge: Stefano Denswil, Ruud Vormer, Arnaut Danjuma Groeneveld Galatasaray: Ryan Donk Internazionale: Stefan de Vrij Hoffenheim: Justin Hoogma, Joshua Brenet Rode Ster Belgrado: Lorenzo Ebecilio Edit: Josh Zirkzee at Bayern, but probably not in the line up for the first team
The least favourable draw goes to PSV who could not possibly have had a tougher draw (100% resistance) according to the @EuroClubIndex— Gracenote Live (@GracenoteLive) August 30, 2018 1035224024245325824 is not a valid tweet id
If I was van Bommel I would play 5-3-2 and rely on the counter attack with Lozano and Bergwijn at full speed. He has his father in law as a whisperer, so full WC 2010 tactics are possible.
He has played well so far this season. I think I am partially vindicated in that no other team in Europe appears to want him.
Got the feeling we're gonna have a surprising CL season this time with some upsets in several groups. @Brilliant Dutch set your bets accordingly. After the final i'll give you my bank account number for generous thank you donation
Cross posting this website from Aveslacker: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/soccer-predictions/champions-league/ This is a good US stats site and you can sort the ratings by clicking on the various headers. Interesting how low Lokamotiv Moscow, a Pot 1 team, is ranked. EDIT: read this https://fivethirtyeight.com/methodology/how-our-club-soccer-predictions-work/ about how they do the SPI ratings; interesting approach
I'm sure most pot 1 and pot 2 clubs werenot happy with Liverpool being in pot 3, as this ment either of them could end in a group with the best defender and the best striker club of last CL season. I'm sure they all in pot 1 thought "shit, we can't draw Loco and instead we can draw Liverpool...shit...shit.."
I think at the beginning of the summer Ajax stated that Ziyech's transfer fee would be €26M and they would not accept less. Roma was trying to lo-ball the price.
I'm not very confident on the operation of both Ajax and PSV defenses heading for their CL matches. Some individuals in there do well, but in the total composition of the defenses I see too many lapses that get unpunished by the front line suckers of FC Groningen (missed a glaring open chance to equalize and at the end one huge chance too) and ADO, but willnot by the likes in the CL. I really hope they up their performance, otherwise it gets nasty.