Champions League - 2021/22

[M Gaudino]

offtopic a bit but is this the first time we’ve not been champions league favourites since Pep came in?

I feel like every year i’ve regularly checked and we’re favourites up to the point we get knocked out

currently PSG 3/1 city more like 4/1

 

[cptaidan88]

Group Stage Draw takes place 2 weeks today.

6 teams (in italic) to come through qualifiers but if you assume the side with the higher co-efficient progresses, the pots as it stands are as below.

Pot 1
Chelsea
Villarreal
Atletico Madrid
Manchester City
Bayern Munich
Inter Milan
Lille
Sporting

Pot 2
Real Madrid
Barcelona
Juventus
Manchester United
Paris Saint Germain
Liverpool
Sevilla
Borussia Dortmund

Pot 3
Porto
Ajax
Shakhtar Donetsk
RB Leipzig
RB Salzburg
Benfica
Atalanta
Zenit St Petersburg

Pot 4
Besiktas
Dynamo Kyiv
Dinamo Zagreb
Club Brugge
Young Boys
AC Milan
Ludogorets Razgrad
Wolfsburg

Draw simulator can be found here

 

[frothy]

Couple of bottle jobs in the 3rd Round of qualifying, notably Rangers but also Red Star Belgrade, whose elimination denies us the spectacle of Red Star Belgrade v Dinamo Zagreb which I was genuinely looking forward to. UEFA will breathe a huge sigh of relief I'm sure.

Olympiacos and Slavia Praha's elimination means the provisional pots have changed with them being replaced by Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria) and Young Boys (Switzerland) in Pot 4.

The winners of each of the below ties will qualify for the group stages. I've updated the provisional Pots on page 1.

Play Off Round Champions Route (17/18th August & 24/25th August)
RB Salzburg v Brondby
Young Boys v Ferencvaros
Malmo v Ludogorets
Sheriff Tiraspol v Dinamo Zagreb

Play Off Round League Route (17/18th August & 24/25th August)
Monaco v Shakhtar Donetsk
Benfica v PSV Eindhoven

Wouldn't mind Zegreb again, one of the best aways we've been to even though it was fucking freezing

 

[cptaidan88]

Wouldn't mind Zegreb again, one of the best aways we've been to even though it was fucking freezing

Yep, thoroughly enjoyed that one, and should be a bit easier getting there this time as Ryanair have added a Manchester to Zagreb route.

Would prefer Besiktas though as I've got a voucher to use to go to Istanbul!

 

[N1985]

I'd happily take this

 

[Gray]

 

[MAG]

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UEFA Champions League
Group Stage Draw

The group stage draw takes place on 26 August in Istanbul, Turkey.
(You can find your local time in the map above)


How the Draw Works?​

• The draw features 32 teams - 26 teams given direct entry to the group stage and the six winners of the play-off ties.​
• The teams will be split into four seeding pots. Pot 1 will consist of the holders, the UEFA Europa League winners and the champions of the six highest-ranked nations who did not qualify via one of the 2020/21 titles; Pots 2 to 4 will be determined by the club coefficient rankings.​
• No team can play a side from their own association. Any other restrictions will be announced ahead of the draw ceremony.​
• In the case of associations with two representatives, clubs will be paired in order to split their matches between Tuesdays and Wednesdays. In the case of associations with four representatives, two pairings will be made. These pairings are to be based on TV audiences.​
• The top two teams in each group advance to the round of 16.​
• The third-placed sides in each group transfer to the UEFA Europa League knockout stage, where they will face the UEFA Europa League group runners-up for places in the last 16.​

What are the Key Dates?

The group stage games will take place on the following dates:

Matchday 1: 14/15 September
Matchday 2: 28/29 September
Matchday 3: 19/20 October
Matchday 4: 2/3 November
Matchday 5: 23/24 November
Matchday 6: 7/8 December

The exact dates for City's games will be updated in the Fixtures Calendar Thread as soon as the actual fixtures are announced. These used to be an hour or two after the draw, but lately have been announced a day after the draw.


Who's in Which Pot?

The pots for the English teams are pretty much confirmed (as in the thread header above) but the rest will only be finalized after the Play-off round, that gets played on Tue 24th and Wed 25th August 2021. Will post the updated pots here when finalized, so watch this space.
​

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[Alfie Budd]

Thanks as ever for the update. One thing to bear in mind is that this draw more than any other has an intolerable amount of UEFA introductions, self-congratulations and general waffling. They say 17:00 but it’s usually at least 20 minutes after that before the draw gets underway and then they waste another 5-10 minutes just determining which group each of the pot one teams is going into. It’s close to 17:30 before anything that’s significant actually happens. And each pot then gets drawn by someone different who doesn’t get to do anything until we’re told how wonderful they are.
Be prepared for a sugary sweet love-in and constant reminders of how great the Champions League is and how much better it makes all our lives!

 

[Gray]

Thanks as ever for the update. One thing to bear in mind is that this draw more than any other has an intolerable amount of UEFA introductions, self-congratulations and general waffling. They say 17:00 but it’s usually at least 20 minutes after that before the draw gets underway and then they waste another 5-10 minutes just determining which group each of the pot one teams is going into. It’s close to 17:30 before anything that’s significant actually happens. And each pot then gets drawn by someone different who doesn’t get to do anything until we’re told how wonderful they are.
Be prepared for a sugary sweet love-in and constant reminders of how great the Champions League is and how much better it makes all our lives!

Don't forget that A can not play in the same group as B, C is ar war with D and fellow country men have to be kept apart. The whole competition is a farce and purely a money making racket.

 

[berryblue]

Thanks as ever for the update. One thing to bear in mind is that this draw more than any other has an intolerable amount of UEFA introductions, self-congratulations and general waffling. They say 17:00 but it’s usually at least 20 minutes after that before the draw gets underway and then they waste another 5-10 minutes just determining which group each of the pot one teams is going into. It’s close to 17:30 before anything that’s significant actually happens. And each pot then gets drawn by someone different who doesn’t get to do anything until we’re told how wonderful they are.
Be prepared for a sugary sweet love-in and constant reminders of how great the Champions League is and how much better it makes all our lives!

Don't forget the following two hour wait for the date and KO times!!!