Champs League Draw

[Anonymous]

Txiki's right we should fear anyone, even if it is the group of death we can still top it.

Were one of the big boys and we can beat anyone on our day, no nerves this year. Were have earned the right to be there so i hope this year we show our true potential.

Spend some time in the Cellar and you'll find no one believes in you mate.

 

[Bewar3them00n]

It's another version of The Sky 4 or FFP, a away of protecting the big money teams ( the biggest audience pullers)
We have had a group of death for the past 4 years almost, 2 of which we were/are champions, and probably the most consistent Prem team of the past 3/4 years 3rd, 1st, 2nd 1st, I doubt even Real Madrid could match thape last 3 years.
But, look at it another way, no team will want to play us, we beat Bayern away, and should be wiser, and stronger this season, a little more smarts, and who knows

 

[Castiel]

Chelsea's last 7 CL draws

you can't possibly be suggesting roubles could be passed on to the footballing authorities?

Of course not, its totally impartial, its not like Gazprom are a sponsor or anything ?

Given current events in and around Ukraine, UEFA should have banned any Russian teams, especially given the EU sanctions against said country.

That's just how it works in Pot 1. You generally only draw a hard team around every other season, and sometimes you get 2 like when we got Shaktar and Juventus a few years ago. Bayern have been incredibly unlucky recently. I'd actually prefer Martin Samuel's idea because the group stage is a farce. It used to be completely random (United got Bayern and Barcelona in their group in 1999), they introduced this protectionist system in 2004.

It'd make it much more interesting to do it his way, so clubs can't rest on their laurels and poor domestic performances really punish you. So what if 4 huge teams are drawn in the same group one year? It'd be more interesting and dramatic. It's getting so predictable and boring. I understand the logic behind the coefficient system, but that combined with the TV influences has just made it a foregone conclusion. It's not random if there are 100 rules restricting the draw. While it does grade you on a performance scale in Europe, it makes it so much harder for other teams to move up the table.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

The biggest problem with the co-efficient system is that teams get rewarded about the same amount for the europa league as they do for the champions league. That's why a lot of the smaller teams like Porto, Shalke, Benfica, Valencia etc have such high point totals, kind of a joke really.

How else do you reward teams for consistently doing well without quite making champions league level when they do make the step up?

That's not what it's about though. It means that even if an established club has a bad year and goes out of a group that's already been heavily stacked in their favour, they can then go into the Europa League and continue to pick up points again the minnows of Europe to keep their position in pot 1. People suggest the draw is fixed, but the system is so bent, it doesn't need to be.

 

[sambo86]

Yes the draw is tough but like previously stated we have to be good enough to get out of it now either 1st or 2nd. The only thing that pisses me off is the buyern game is sandwiched between playing arsenal and Chelsea- so that hinders preparation massively - so we play arsenal, buyern and Chelsea in 7 days! Great! And I spose the next round of fixtures will be 3 days before we play the scum! Does anyone have an idea when it will be?

 

[Rösler von Stretfordbömber]

you can't possibly be suggesting roubles could be passed on to the footballing authorities?

Of course not, its totally impartial, its not like Gazprom are a sponsor or anything ?

Given current events in and around Ukraine, UEFA should have banned any Russian teams, especially given the EU sanctions against said country.

That's just how it works in Pot 1. You generally only draw a hard team around every other season, and sometimes you get 2 like when we got Shaktar and Juventus a few years ago. Bayern have been incredibly unlucky recently. I'd actually prefer Martin Samuel's idea because the group stage is a farce. It used to be completely random (United got Bayern and Barcelona in their group in 1999), they introduced this protectionist system in 2004.

It'd make it much more interesting to do it his way, so clubs can't rest on their laurels and poor domestic performances really punish you. So what if 4 huge teams are drawn in the same group one year? It'd be more interesting and dramatic. It's getting so predictable and boring. I understand the logic behind the coefficient system, but that combined with the TV influences has just made it a foregone conclusion. It's not random if there are 100 rules restricting the draw. While it does grade you on a performance scale in Europe, it makes it so much harder for other teams to move up the table.

There is a lot of truth to what you say I think.

What Samuel says is very sensible about making the champions of the strongest domestic leagues be Pot A. But that is never going to happen while City are champions here.

Of course if the rags or Arsenal or another cartel club had their coefficient drop to the point where they would be out of Pot A and then they happened to win the EPL........ Well obviously the time for reform would have arrived then! League champions into Pot A!

We won't have anything done that is in any way remotely favourable to us by UEFA for a generation. No change to how the seedings are set. No tweaks to the ridiculous coefficient system that has us one ahead of Spurs and behind all sorts of clubs that we'd just run riot all over.

These are - after all - the coonts that passed a set of bent financial rules solely to hamper us and then applied them far more severely to us than to PSG - who were far, far more egregious violators of same.

So fuck them! We'll just have to win their bent farce of a competition in spite of all their shady garbage.

 

[Maldeika]

you can't possibly be suggesting roubles could be passed on to the footballing authorities?

Of course not, its totally impartial, its not like Gazprom are a sponsor or anything ?

Given current events in and around Ukraine, UEFA should have banned any Russian teams, especially given the EU sanctions against said country.

That's just how it works in Pot 1. You generally only draw a hard team around every other season, and sometimes you get 2 like when we got Shaktar and Juventus a few years ago. Bayern have been incredibly unlucky recently. I'd actually prefer Martin Samuel's idea because the group stage is a farce. It used to be completely random (United got Bayern and Barcelona in their group in 1999), they introduced this protectionist system in 2004.

It'd make it much more interesting to do it his way, so clubs can't rest on their laurels and poor domestic performances really punish you. So what if 4 huge teams are drawn in the same group one year? It'd be more interesting and dramatic. It's getting so predictable and boring. I understand the logic behind the coefficient system, but that combined with the TV influences has just made it a foregone conclusion. It's not random if there are 100 rules restricting the draw. While it does grade you on a performance scale in Europe, it makes it so much harder for other teams to move up the table.

There is years with a lot of surprises and years in which there is none. 2 years ago - when Dortmund went to the final - there were some teams out of each pot surviving the group stage. Yes - the big teams always seem to survive - but that is maybe because they really are stronger... ???

 

[ianw16]

I think there should be more emphasis on the country co-efficient. Make it a larger number, and then allocate it based on league position. For arguments sake, England get 50 points, and it is split 40% for the champions, decreasing by 10 percent for each place, so 40, 30,20,10. Get rid of coefficients for previous performance altogether. We all know that the team that wins La Liga is going to be bloody good, even if it isn't one of the usual cartel. No point putting them in pot 4, it just skews the draw. There would need to be other bits and bobs to work into the system, but this should ensure a fairer draw.

 

[Castiel]

There is years with a lot of surprises and years in which there is none. 2 years ago - when Dortmund went to the final - there were some teams out of each pot surviving the group stage. Yes - the big teams always seem to survive - but that is maybe because they really are stronger... ???

You have to admit we're well protected. Chelsea, Bayern, Barca and Madrid are practically fortified in pot 1 unless we fail to qualify like United recently. Atletico may have taken their seat because of their domestic disaster, but short of that we're not being dislodged. It's absurd that we've got teams as good as Roma in Pot 4 to begin with, and Champions of some of the best leagues in Pot 3 while the likes of Arsenal are in Pot 1.

 

[tenententen]

It seems like playing in the Europa League gives more benefits as the coefficient reward is very good.

Nevertheless, other clubs will be nervous about playing one another. Roma might actually beat Bayern as well.