For two reasons: 1, we get to see the three teams the Gunners face in the first group stage, and 2, we get to see when the games are played, and hopefully get dealt an ideal date for the potential November ArseAm trip, i.e., one that falls on a Tues/Wed either immediately before or after an Arsenal November home match. The draw takes place at 10 a.m ET Thursday morning - might already be over by the time some of you read this. There are 32 teams to be placed, with 8 teams placed in 4 pots. Each group is represented by one team from each of the four pots. When all is said and done there will be a total of 8 groups (A through H). The pot you're placed in is determined by some sort of equation/coefficient that takes into account how well you've done in the competition in the recent past, not just last season, so Man United are ranked 3rd while Arsenal are ranked 7th (both in the first pot). I don't think you can face another team from your country in the first group stage (or the second, for that matter). The UEFA CL rankings are here: http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/news/Kind=1/newsId=31360.html The official site has its own explanation, but it doesn't have the updated UEFA CL rankings of the 32 teams. Here it is for the heck of it, though: http://www.arsenal.com/sportsappcon...e&type=com.sportapps.news.NewsItem&id=2990597 For grins, I thought I'd come up with some possible permutations for Arsenal opponents: The Group of Death This one was pretty simple - Arsenal plus the highest ranking teams in pots 2-4. In this case it would be: ===== Arsenal Deportivo la Coruna AC Milan Rosenborg The Easy Group (The Group of Life?) Didn't necessarily take the last place team in pots 2-4. For example, I think Lyon would be easier than Dortmund, even though they're ranked one spot ahead of the Germans. I think AEK might be easier than Ajax, although I'm not really sure about that one. No offense to the many Ajax fans out there, but Greece can be a bear to play in: ===== Arsenal Olympique Lyon AEK Basel The Hooray, Dennis Can Play! Group Travel considerations for our non-Flying Dutchman. Trips to be made in the comfort of his luxury automobile with his father-in-law at the wheel*: ===== Arsenal Dortmund Ajax Lens *Geographical knowledge of the Continent not exactly being my strong suit, I'll gladly listen to suggested substitutions in this case.
Good stuff Dan. An easier draw is critical for us. We'll be missing some key players in the first group stage - Pires, Ljungberg, DB10 away. We have to take 9 points from our home games and steal a point or two away. By the second group stage we should have some players healthy. The bottom line regarding the Champions League is this: At some point we are going to have to figure out how to nut up and get 3 at home and 1 away against a Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, ManU, etc. Right now I can't say I'm confident we can do that. I still see us as a 2nd tier European team. Perhaps that will change this season.
Please no spanish sides We all remember how poorly they opened in Mallorca last year...although truth be told football was about the last thing on my mind that day Why do Arsenal seem to have such a problem with la liga?
One of the strangest things Ive seen is that Arsenal and Manchester United get in the first group stage without facing a fellow number 1, while Liverpool, who got an automatic bid as last years second place team, are not awarded such comfort. Liverpool could very well be placed with Madrid Juventus, Valencia, etc......any other non-English number one. Manchester United, who had to go through a playoff to get to the CL, will be a group top seed and have no other top seeds in their group. If this makes sense than youll see that this is not fair to Liverpool who deserves the easier first round.
No, Ive not jumped over to the dark side, simply pointing out how Manchester Utd seem to live by their own rules.
If you go to www.uefa.com, you can watch the draw live. We've been drawn with Borussia Dortmund so far.
I think Pot 3 is next, with teams like AC Milan (or maybe Inter....it just reads "Milan"), Eindhoven, Ajax, two Greek teams, Lokomotiv Moscow, Spartak Moscow, and Dinamo Kiev. We'll get one of these next.
Ok, we were just drawn with Eindhoven. So... Arsenal, B. Dortmund, and Eindhoven so far. Next up: Rosenborg Lens Newcastle Brugge Auxerre Genk Maccabi Haifa Basel
And Auxerre is the last one. So, it's Arsenal, Dortmund, PSV and Auxerre in Group A. Very Bergkamp friendly, and we should make the 2nd stage with this group. Also, it's pretty Arsenal America friendly if we decide to road trip to an away match.
Indeed do-able for Bergie perhaps. More importantly, we avoided some potentially nasty opponents. No travel to Greece, Turkey or Eastern Europe. Nor do we face a Spanish or Italian side. All four English teams have decent shots of advancing.
Um, Auxerre is well south east of Paris. Dortmund is a maybe. Not sure how Dennis friendly that is. We'll advance easily, however. *** The full draw... Groups B, E and G are all tough ones. Group A Arsenal (Eng) Borussia Dortmund (Ger) PSV Eindhoven (Ned) AJ Auxerre (Fra) Group B Valencia (Spa) Liverpool (Eng) Spartak Moscow (Rus) FC Basel (Swi) Group C Real Madrid (Spa) AS Roma (Ita) AEK Athens (Gre) Genk (Bel) Group D Inter Milan (Ita) Olympique Lyon (Fra) Ajax Amsterdam (Ned) Rosenborg Trondheim (Nor) Group E Juventus (Ita) Feyenoord (Ned) Dynamo Kiev (Ukr) Newcastle United (Eng) Group F Manchester United (Eng) Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) Olympiakos Piraeus (Gre) Maccabi Haifa (Isr) Group G Bayern Munich (Ger) Deportivo La Coruna (Spa) AC Milan (Ita) RC Lens (Fra) Group H Barcelona (Spa) Galatasaray (Tur) Lokomotiv Moscow (Rus) Club Bruges (Bel)
I can't see Newcastle coming out of a group featuring Juve, Feyenoord and Kiev! This is about as good as it gets. Dennis should be able to get to all the games. Dortmund and Feyenoord will be tough teams to beat, but we should get the required draws away and at least one win at home against them. But we'll be looking to beat Auxerre both times. I was really hoping to avoid the Eastern European teams after the 4-1 panning we got on a frozen pitch away at Spartak Moscow a couple of years ago. Roll on matchday 1!
Group G looks to be the toughest. We should be able to win all our home games against these opponents. Dortmund will be very difficult in Germany and PSV should be a game we can get a draw.
https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10488 Sounds like those in the UEFA forum are rating our group tougher than we are.
How long is that bullet train to Paris? Is it 4 hours? If he leaves in the morning and hops on the TGV from Paris, i think the can be there by nightfall.
great result I'll take a look but this draw looks extremely Arsenal friendly. Aside from Dortmund I don't see any problems with or without DB10 for the away legs.
Quotes from the teams... 'It's a strong and attractive group which promises much. The clubs are also ones that our fans can realistically reach. Our goal is passage to the second round, we simply have to do that,' said Michael Zorc, commercial manager of Borussia Dortmund. *** Arsenal vice chairman David Dein said his club were looking forward to their fixtures against clubs they have had little experience of playing against. He said: 'We have never played Borussia Dortmund before or PSV, apart from in a pre-season game. 'We have played Auxerre before in the Cup Winners' Cup, when we beat them, thanks to Ian Wright. 'I would like to think we have the squad capable of winning the competition. It is the one competition that has eluded us when considering what we have won. 'There is that extra pressure to see how well we can do in Europe - but we have got a strong squad and hopefully they can deliver.'
Provisional dates for fixtures (subject to change) MATCH DAY 1 - Tuesday 17th September - Arsenal v Borussia Dortmund MATCH DAY 2 - Wednesday 25th September - PSV Eindhoven v Arsenal MATCH DAY 3 - Wednesday 2nd October - Auxerre v Arsenal MATCH DAY 4 - Tuesday 22nd October - Arsenal v Auxerre MATCH DAY 5 - Wednesday 30th October - Borussia Dortmund v Arsenal MATCH DAY 6 - Tuesday 12th November - Arsenal v PSV Eindhoven
http://www.psv.nl/show?id=747 http://borussia-dortmund.lycos.de/index_start.html http://www.aja.fr/index.htm The squads we'll be facing. The Auxerre list may be wrong as they list Djibril Cisse but I believe he's playing in England now, unless there are 3 Cisse's. At first glance BD should be the strongest opponent, but PSV can't be overlooked with a striker like Kezman. I haven't seen them play in a while, but he kept the team near the top of the Eredivisie while Van Nistelrooy was injured a few years back. Hiddink's coaching there, and we all know what wonders he worked with SK last summer. I'm really curious as to how Van Bommel will do against the team that courted him for a year.
Apparently Cisse is as common as Jones or Smith, I saw this on a Football Show as there were 3 Cisses in the French League at one time. Camara is also popular among Senegalese and Nigerians also. Kezman has not been himself lately and has been in a scoring drought starting around the new year. When he was playing well he was as good as anyone.
I pulled this off the official website: Tue Sep 17 H B. DORTMUND Wed Sep 25 A PSV Wed Oct 2 A AUXERRE Tue Oct 22 H AUXERRE Wed Oct 30 A B. DORTMUND Tue Nov 12 H PSV So, how does a Newcastle/PSV ArseAm doubleheader look? Or PSV/Sp*rs? I'd be all over that if the powers-that-be could pull it off. You'd get to see two fairly high-profile teams in less than a week - can't ask for much more than that.