with the CL draw almost upon us

[Lancet Fluke]

How about Bayern - Atletico - MCFC - Napoli, lets have it!

You should look at last year's CL draw thread, full of stuff like that. It will be a catastrophe if we don't get through again, Pellegrini wouldn't stand a chance, the club would probably be all over the place for the rest of the season and our confidence in Europe will continue to ebb away. Not to mention that playing a league game after a really tough CL game is a bit of a nightmare, so 6 tough games is not needed. One "glamour" team and the worst team out of the other pots would do or maybe even the worst team from 3 pots. Anyone who actively wants a tough group again is a fucking maniac..

 

[sam-caddick]

UEFA should keep the draw simple; Champions go to pot 1, second place in the league go to pot 2, third place in pot 3 and 4th place in pot 4.

Something on the lines of this should be happening.

If UEFA want a more exciting competition, particularly in the group stage, then they need to event he groups out like I have proposed.

Look how entertaining our group was last year, if UEFA wanted they could have nearly if not all the groups like that.

 

[Bill]

The bias against City is not deliberate but it's even more significant than most football fans realise because we can't be drawn against an English Team from Pot One, therefore we get drawn against Europe's crack sides - which are for the moment better than the English clubs.

City are guaranteed to draw one of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Inter and Porto

It's still possible that City could get an easier draw than Man Utd. They have been extraordinarily lucky in recent years.

Ideally we get Porto or Inter

How odd

 

[MadchesterCity]

The bias against City is not deliberate but it's even more significant than most football fans realise because we can't be drawn against an English Team from Pot One, therefore we get drawn against Europe's crack sides - which are for the moment better than the English clubs.

City are guaranteed to draw one of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Inter and Porto

It's still possible that City could get an easier draw than Man Utd. They have been extraordinarily lucky in recent years.

Ideally we get Porto or Inter

Marvin, I thought it was Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Benfica and Porto??

 

[Carver]

UEFA should keep the draw simple; Champions go to pot 1, second place in the league go to pot 2, third place in pot 3 and 4th place in pot 4.

Something on the lines of this should be happening.

If UEFA want a more exciting competition, particularly in the group stage, then they need to event he groups out like I have proposed.

Look how entertaining our group was last year, if UEFA wanted they could have nearly if not all the groups like that.

You are right, of course, but, and it's a big but....
UEFA want the clubs that draw the biggest TV audiences to be still in the competition in the later stages. That is why the competition is seeded (rigged) to give these teams the best chance of getting through to the latter stages of the competition.

 

[davymcfc]

I think the atmospheres have been quite flat in the champions league so far. I always dreamed that we would play in Europe under the lights with the fans going wild and so far it has been disappointing. However I think we will be playing attacking football in the champions league and the crowd might become more vocal. I'm hoping for something like the hamburg game.

 

[Pigeonho]

The bias against City is not deliberate but it's even more significant than most football fans realise because we can't be drawn against an English Team from Pot One, therefore we get drawn against Europe's crack sides - which are for the moment better than the English clubs.

City are guaranteed to draw one of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Inter and Porto

It's still possible that City could get an easier draw than Man Utd. They have been extraordinarily lucky in recent years.

Ideally we get Porto or Inter

No club can be drawn against a club from it's own country though, so that applies to everyone...

 

[cibaman]

I think the atmospheres have been quite flat in the champions league so far. I always dreamed that we would play in Europe under the lights with the fans going wild and so far it has been disappointing. However I think we will be playing attacking football in the champions league and the crowd might become more vocal. I'm hoping for something like the hamburg game.

That's because we haven't reached the knock out stages yet. Or played a home game that has secured qualification to the knock out stages. Or played a vibrant home game.

 

[Carver]

With tonight's results we are confirmed to be in Pot 3 for Thursday's draw.

No, it's not confirmed yet. If Olympic Lyon, AC Milan and Zenit St Petersburg all fail to qualify we will be in pot 2. PSV do not overtake us based on this season's rankings, it's those that stood at the end of last season.

Lyon are 0-2 down and away to Real Sociadad, Milan & PSV are 1-1 with an away goal and Zenit are at home 4-1 up on Paços De Ferreira. This last game kicks off at 5pm UK time, so it should be confirmed just before 7pm. There is a good chance that Lyon and Milan will be knocked out but Paços have not yet scored an away goal in Europe, so a turnover is unlikely.

Summary: only 99% certain we are in group 3.

 

[German Blues]

Porto, Schalke and Vienna would be a nice draw for City. Good trips and a fair chance to get through the group stage.