Mock Draw 2007/2008 76 Cl entrants (52 champions/24 non-champions) Round 1 (two legs) *champions from 24 countries with lowest co-efficients. Hb v Rustavi SK Tirana v Sarajevo FH v Khazar Astana v Ventspils Derry v Bate Kaunas v Sheriff Pobeda v Marsxlokk Linfield v Dudelange Tampere v Pyunik Zeta v Murata Tallinn v Domzale Rangers of Andorra v New Saints Round 2 *24 non-champions v 24 champions with lowest league coefficients. * Non-champions must play one-legged tie away against champions. * Non-champions in CAPS. FC Copenhagen v SPARTAK Dinamo Zagreb v AEK Ventspils v BESIKTAS Zaglebie v SLAVIA PRAGUE Levski v CHELSEA Linfield v LIVERPOOL SK Tirana v AJAX Rustavi v STEAUA BUCHAREST Debrecen v BARCELONA fh v LAZIO Beitar v SHAKHTAR Derry v WERDER BREMEN Kaunas v SPORTING Marsxlokk v SEVILLA Nicosia v GENK Pyunik v ARSENAL Murata v VALENCIA Ziline v BENFICA Red Star v RANGERS Zilina v SCHALKE Elfsborg v MILAN Salzburg v ROMA Rosenborg v TOULOUSE New Saints v MARSEILLE Note: Losers go into UEFA Cup. Round 3: Group Stage *16 champions from the countries with the highest league coefficients are seeded and drawn randomly and evenly into 8 groups. *Teams from the same country are separated. * 4 games are played with home advantage being determined on league placing. Example: 1. Champions (4 home) 2. Champions (3 home) 3. Runners-up(2 home) 4. Third Place(1 home) 5. Fourth Place(0 home) *Non-champions in CAPS. * denotes seed. A Anderlecht* 4 home Man Utd* 3 home 1 away FC Copenhagen 2 home 2 away SPARTAK 1 home 3 away LAZIO 4 away B Sparta Prague* 4 home Lyon* 3 home 1 away SLAVIA PRAGUE 2 home 2 away BREMEN 1 home 3 away LIVERPOOL 4 away C PSV* 4 home Stuttgart* 3 home 1 away STEAUA BUCHAREST 2 home 2 away SPORTING 1 home 3 away SEVILLA 4 away D Inter* 4 home Olympiakos* 3 home 1 away CHELSEA 2 home 2 away SHAKHTAR 1 home 3 away TOULOUSE 4 away E FC Zurich* 4 home Cska * 3 home 1 away GENK 2 home 2 away BENFICA 1 home 3 away ARSENAL 4 away F Porto* 4 home Dinamo Buch* 3 home 1 away ROMA 2 home 2 away AJAX 1 home 3 away VALENCIA 4 away G Celtic* 4 home Madrid* 3 home 1 away Red Star 2 home 2 away SCHALKE 1 home 3 away MILAN 4 away H Kiev* 4 home Fenerbahce* 3 home 1 away BARCELONA 2 home 2 away AEK 1 home 3 away MARSEILLE 4 away Note: 3rd placed teams go into UEFA Cup. Round 4: Last 16 *1st placed clubs drawn against 2nd placed clubs as usual. *Teams from the same country are separated. *Champions have home advantage in one-legged ties against non-champions. *Champions v champions over 2 legs. * Non-champions in CAPS. Man utd v Stuttgart FC Copenhagen v CHELSEA Lyon v BARCELONA Psv v LIVERPOOL Inter v Fenerbahce Real Madrid v ROMA Celtic v BENFICA Porto v CSKA QF Man Utd v CHELSEA Lyon v ROMA Porto v LIVERPOOL Celtic v Inter SF *Both semi-finals are two-legged ties. Man Utd v Roma Porto v Celtic F Man Utd v Porto Thoughts?
without a level playing field (home games) how would a team/country every realistically hope to improve their coeffecient and standing in this tournament?
Exactly. My local newspaper today headlines on the sports pages: "Champions league? Yawn" The 16 clubs that qualified for the next stage include 9 of the 10 richest clubs in the world (the only top 10 rich club that didn't make it is Milan). It's getting more and more predictable and what's worse is that it seems set up to get even more predictable.
Boring is what it is. I haven't even watched all Barca CL games this year, let alone any others. Wake me up when the knock-out stages start.
You don't think that the Dutch reaction might have been shaped by their poor showing this year, or the fact that PSV were the highest seeded team not to make it through, or that the finished bottom of their group. This season actually had quite a few interesting games and groups, including some great showings from the minnows.
One. Aalborg. But ultimately that's not the point is it? Only 16 teams make it through, only 8 make it to the UEFA Cup. Those numbers are a constant every year. What does matter is how exciting the football is on the way to finding those teams. I actually felt inspired to blog for the first time on how those minnows did.
Silly at the best. You have totally disregarded fairness of the sports. Just because a team holds a lower league position and coefficient is not reason enough to give them fewer home games. The principle of fair play demands equal opportunity at each level. P.S. Are Dynamo playing Fenerbahce at home in Group H, like they did yesterday?
Like Aalborg last night? Or when they played Villarreal? Or when Anorthosis played Inter at home? Or when Cluj went to Roma? Or when BATE played Juventus? If you don't want to watch the minnows because you don't know their players, then fine, but don't write them off as boring if you haven't watched them play.
This is a local Dutch paper - hardly likely to take an interest in Ajax or PSV's CL achievements, not 10 years ago and not now either, and realistic enough to know that local club Twente won't ever be in it. Look Comme I know you don't like to hear this but it is a fact that the CL is very heavily criticised in countries outside the top leagues - and even within those top leagues. A growing number of people just can't be bothered with it anymore, it's got to be too cynical. This isn't a problem for you personally but it is a problem for UEFA.
Exactly. No non-seeded minnow will ever survive a CL qualification and group stage set-up. Which makes you wonder why UEFA bother with it all in the first place.
I wouldn't read too much into the results of Matchday Six. Most of the top teams in Europe treated them as friendlies. The other posters are right. The group-stage was extremely boring and predictable, apart from perhaps 6-8 matches out of the 96 that were played. I don't think there was a single surprise when you look at the two teams advancing in each group. Not even a mild surprise. But that's not even the biggest problem. The biggest problem is that we all knew there would be no surprises before matchday 1.
No its just you and Belgian fan, ofcourse it will be disliked in Holland because Dutch clubs have been a disaster in it for a long time, if you don't like it then stop constantly talking about it.
The whole tournament seems to be designed specifically to minimise the risk of upsets. Make rich clubs richer, that seems to be the target of it all.
You misunderstand Zippy. I care so little about the CL that if it were up to me Dutch clubs wouldn't be in it at all. I don't give a fiddler's fart about the stature of Dutch club football in Europe, I just want to see entertaining football. UEFA is robbing us of precisely that with the CL, and that's what bothers me and that's why I post on these threads.
Whatever, you're just mad that the Dutch Clubs are unable to play the high standard of football needed to do well in Europe.
No I'm not, not as long as a high standard of football equals boring predictable football. Let me ask you this Zippy: who would you be more entertained with at at a dinner table, Albert Einstein or Mrs Rooney.
You have to admit that most CL matches this week could not even match the intensity and importance of the Chelsea v MLS all-stars preseason challenge in 2007.
So if this newspaper is so local, why is it concerning itself with the CL? What I don't quire get about all this is exactly what people want? A knock out tournament with lesser teams? Then watch the UEFA Cup. A fierceley competitive and balanced league? The watch the Championship A load of hoofers and an old style atmosphere? Then watch the Conference A real load of old hoofers and getting rained on? The go and watch the dog and duck If you are so uninterested in it then what do you want from it? There is no shortage of football on TV these days, there really is something for everyone out there. To give a semblance of competition. You're right though. Why don't we just invite the top 4 from England, Italy and Spain, plus Lyon, Bayern, Porto and the UEFA Cup winner each year. We know the winner will come from that group so why waste our time with the rest anyway.
The BATE-Juve game was an early match-day. The one that ended 2-2. That's 5 exciting games just there, and that is only looking at the minnows. The group with Bayern in had quite a few interesting games too.
well, I think the main problem is that the longest round of the CL (i.e. the group-stage) is also the least competitive round. There would be a higher proportion of quality matches in the CL if there were more knockout rounds at the start followed by the group-stage once the field is reduced to 16 teams. But I think this proposal would generate less revenue due to fewer matches. So I don't see it happening... But here's what the group-stage might look like: Group A Roma Pananthinaikos Athletico Arsenal Group B Barca Porto Chelsea Inter Milan Group C Man United Bayern Real Madrid Sporting Portugal Group D Juventus Liverpool Villarreal Lyon A tad more interesting, innit?
You do realise that that was effectively what the second group stage was like before the last format change? And everyone complained how boring the second group stage was then. The reason they have the group stage at that point is to maximise revenues. Also the group most similar to those that you have included (the one with Liverpool, PSV, Atletico and Marseille) was actually one of the most boring! So go figure.
people who despair about the group stages of the cl as moneymakers for the elite are missing the point. all the smaller clubs want the group stage as well. if it was a straight ko competition their European season would often be over after 2 games. and they don't want that. the six games the group stages provide are more important financially for steaua than for man united. the elite get most of their money elsewhere, while for the smaller clubs the cl group stage is a crucial source of income. their is a large disparity between Europe's 7-8 richest clubs and everyone else, but the group stage is not the cause of that, the difference in size of Europe's few largest football markets and everyone else is. no matter how you organize the cl, or if you even scrap it altogether, the world's best players would still play for the same 7-8 clubs they do today because they have attained dominant positions in the strongest football markets.