Champions League Draw - 29th August '24 | Opponents (pg69) | Fixtures (pg128)

cptaidan88 said:
If everyone ends up playing two teams from each Pot, surely there is no advantage to being in Pot 1? I don't get it.
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There is no advantage anymore. The pots are just ways of grouping teams for the draw so that no team can be drawn against 8 top teams or 8 weaker teams.
 
Lavinda Past said:
With increased squad numbers, I'd agree.

As it stands, the limits on numbers and the number of games (not least increasingly unimportant ones) will do nothing but wear players out.

The Carabao Cup should be ditched for any club that's involved in European competition. The expansion of European tournaments will ultimately kill the domestic game.
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I don't think it should be ditched but it should be understood what it is - a cup whose prestige is way down on the totem pole. We should use it as a cup to get recovering players game time, backup keepers some time, and youth players developed.
 
KnaresboroughBlue said:
There is no advantage anymore. The pots are just ways of grouping teams for the draw so that no team can be drawn against 8 top teams or 8 weaker teams.
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That's kind of what I figured.

I don't understand how there will be a physical draw though - you certainly can't have 4 equal groups of 9. If we play two of everyone, that would be 3 from Pot 1, 2 from the others. However, if eg Villa are in that group they would play 3 pot 1, 1 pot 4, and 2 from Pot 2 & 3. It's unbalanced.

The only way everyone can play 2 teams from each pot is for it to be effectively randomised. So even the team from Pot 1 you "draw" will most likely end up playing completely different teams from pot 2, 3, and 4. You definitely can't have 4 groups of 9 which is what I originally thought was going to happen.

I'm kind of intrigued to see how it works in reality but I don't think it's an improvement, and for those that believe UEFA have manipulated (fixed) draws previously, I suspect they will realise how transparent it actually was before.
 
ysmsa said:
Looking forward to this, not a bad thing to revamp things every now and again. The old format had become a bit stale and we had dead rubbers at the end of the group stage.

Until players start withdrawing from shitty International shite then I'm not arsed about their complaints of too many games.

The Rags for example made themselves unavailable at the end of the season but appeared for the Cup Final.

Hopefully more game time for squad players and avoidance of promising talent having to move on to play (Palmer).

Final is in Munich btw. City v Vinnie, it could happen.
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Agreed it needed a bit of a refresh and the possibility of playing in the same group as the Dippers or Arsenal will certainly make it a lot more interesting.

I was gutted when we went out to Madrid this year and would love to win it next season.
 
Looking forward to seeing how this pans out and like others hoping we get to do some new grounds but you can bet we will get Leipzig and Shakhtar.

I cant see the World Club Cup going ahead in 2025, our players will be on their knees by then.
Was looking forward to going but think its right if it does not go ahead.
 
Tbilisi said:
Looking forward to seeing how this pans out and like others hoping we get to do some new grounds but you can bet we will get Leipzig and Shakhtar.

I cant see the World Club Cup going ahead in 2025, our players will be on their knees by then.
Was looking forward to going but think its right if it does not go ahead.
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When do they plan to do it in summer the club World Cup? Immediately after the season ends or July August when it could be in place of any friendlies they play around the world?
 
Gray said:
Yes all countries with four or more qualifiers can get another club from their own country.
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They did say they would try and avoid it but it may not be possible for countries with 4+ teams.

I take from that if it is unavoidable for a couple of teams, it’s most likely to be those with five rather than four.
 
Gray said:
With one match to play (CL Final) the new format champions league is beginning to take shape.

We will be in the highest seeded pot of nine teams along with Bayern, Real Madrid, PSG, Liverpool. Inter Milan, Dortmund, Leipzig and Barcelona.

Under the new format we will play two of those teams along with two seeded 10 to 18. two seeded 19 to 27 and two seeded 28 to 36.

As England has four qualified teams we can also play one of the other three Arsenal, Liverpool or Aston Villa.

You play eight league matches four at home and four away against eight different teams.

With our luck we will probably end up with Bayern, Real Madrid, Athletico Madrid and Arsenal plus four others.

Points are awarded as at present and the top eight teams out of the 36 go through to the knock out stages.

Teams placed 9th to 16th play the teams placed 17th to 24th on a two legged system with the higher ranked teams playing the return leg at home. The winners then play one of the already qualified teams home and away in the first knock out round.

This adds an extra two matches to the already insane schedule, no wonder players are contemplating going on strike.
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We can only play them from the knock outs - inc now from the last 16.

Edit - Just seen that as a rule you won’t play a team from the same country but if the draw works out that it’s absolutely the only option then you might have to.
 
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HelloCity said:
This isn’t accurate.

We can only play them from the knock outs - inc now from the last 16.
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I'm sure I read you can play one from the same country.

Edit - From https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/37628341/champions-league-revamp-how-competition-work

As a general rule, clubs from the same association will not be drawn against each other. However, to avoid deadlocking, the leagues with four or more clubs could play one match against another team from the same country.

As England has 4 representatives, it could affect us.
 
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Withnail said:
Agreed it needed a bit of a refresh and the possibility of playing in the same group as the Dippers or Arsenal will certainly make it a lot more interesting.

I was gutted when we went out to Madrid this year and would mw love to win it next season.
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Me too. I am just a bit confused re the new format. For example could we play eg Dippers and Arse in the mini league ( up to January) then potentially get them again in the knock outs?
BTW I know Dips are not brilliant, but they fill me - and our team coach driver with dread during knock out stages!!
 
Brightwell Bros. said:
From the pure perspective of being a punter on the cup scheme, I prefer it tbh. More interesting games, more interesting opponents, higher stakes.
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Your view on what constitutes interesting may differ from mine but ultimately:

Its an extra home game, and if we finish 9th-24th it's an extra 2 home games.

Fundamentally it will be the same opponents. Some have qualified that haven't qualified before (Girona, Graz, Stuttgart, Bologna etc) but not because of the rule changes, they've just done well in their respective leagues. The extra home game is likely to be against an established side eg Real, Bayern, PSG. All of whom we have played recently but the price we have to pay will be higher than what we usually have to pay for a group stage game because it's a "glamorous" game.

The stakes will most likely be lower in my opinion as the top 24 out of 36 teams go through. Only the top 2 out of 4 currently go through. Time will tell but I suspect something like 8 points from 8 games might get you through to the knockout stages. So if you win your first 3 games, where is the jeopardy for the remaining 5?
 
cptaidan88 said:
Your view on what constitutes interesting may differ from mine but ultimately:

Its an extra home game, and if we finish 9th-24th it's an extra 2 home games.

Fundamentally it will be the same opponents. Some have qualified that haven't qualified before (Girona, Graz, Stuttgart, Bologna etc) but not because of the rule changes, they've just done well in their respective leagues. The extra home game is likely to be against an established side eg Real, Bayern, PSG. All of whom we have played recently but the price we have to pay will be higher than what we usually have to pay for a group stage game because it's a "glamorous" game.

The stakes will most likely be lower in my opinion as the top 24 out of 36 teams go through. Only the top 2 out of 4 currently go through. Time will tell but I suspect something like 8 points from 8 games might get you through to the knockout stages. So if you win your first 3 games, where is the jeopardy for the remaining 5?
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I guess my thinking is if you draw one team you've played a lot from pot 2, 3 or 4 then you've got two games of them. And we don't get a "blockbuster" game before the QFs these days. Just feels like we are guaranteed a couple of more interesting games or new opponents. Also feels like more teams will have more to play for, and that you can potentially impact other teams by forcing them to play a knockout game or two. Winning your first two games probably does put you in a comfortable position, but one of those will be against another top European side so that has knock ons.
 
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