ender4 Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 Barcelona fallen into Pot 2 now. Milan in Pot 3. We could get Bayern, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Milan, Feyenoord, Galatasary, and Monaco if we wanted all the glamour ties! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted May 24 VT Supporter Share Posted May 24 3 minutes ago, ender4 said: Barcelona fallen into Pot 2 now. Milan in Pot 3. We could get Bayern, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Milan, Feyenoord, Galatasary, and Monaco if we wanted all the glamour ties! Don't think Roma will be there unfortunately. They would be a good one to get in pot one though given the strength of the others. Looking at it, the pots vary in strength enormously, some sides are going to have a much much easier run to the playoffs/last 16. Bologna have been incredible for example, arguably a better side than all the other Italian teams bar Inter. You'd fancy your chances against Benfica, Brugge or Shaktar much more than the others in pot two right? If we get Girona and Bologna out of pot 4 that's extremely hard... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 46 minutes ago, romavillan said: Don't think Roma will be there unfortunately. They would be a good one to get in pot one though given the strength of the others. Looking at it, the pots vary in strength enormously, some sides are going to have a much much easier run to the playoffs/last 16. Bologna have been incredible for example, arguably a better side than all the other Italian teams bar Inter. You'd fancy your chances against Benfica, Brugge or Shaktar much more than the others in pot two right? If we get Girona and Bologna out of pot 4 that's extremely hard... Do they not pick up the "Atalanta" Europa League win CL place? I don't know how it all works I don't watch much Italian football these days, but are Bologna really that good? Gut feel says I'd rather play them that a revitalised Stuttgart and possibly an away trip to Galatasaray, but maybe that's unfair. In any case, you can pull Girona/Bologna and also face Celtic and Young Boys. These are all good teams, but some definitely much less daunting and home/away ties play a much bigger part in the CL now - which I actually think is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 (edited) Whoever we get from pot 1 is going to be daunting. If we can favourable teams from 3 and 4 it gives us a decent chance of getting to the playoff games for the knockout stage. It's going to be very hard to make the top 10 and qualify automatically. Edited May 24 by PaulC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted May 24 VT Supporter Share Posted May 24 53 minutes ago, bobzy said: Do they not pick up the "Atalanta" Europa League win CL place? I don't know how it all works I don't watch much Italian football these days, but are Bologna really that good? Gut feel says I'd rather play them that a revitalised Stuttgart and possibly an away trip to Galatasaray, but maybe that's unfair. In any case, you can pull Girona/Bologna and also face Celtic and Young Boys. These are all good teams, but some definitely much less daunting and home/away ties play a much bigger part in the CL now - which I actually think is good. Bologna are a really nice footballing team yeah, I spose i was just marvelling about how unbalanced the various pots are. If you're unlucky you get great sides in every pot, hopefully it all balances out for us. On La Magica, Roma only get in if Atalanta finish 5th. They'll probs finish fourth... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_AA_786 Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 57 minutes ago, bobzy said: Do they not pick up the "Atalanta" Europa League win CL place? I don't know how it all works I don't watch much Italian football these days, but are Bologna really that good? Gut feel says I'd rather play them that a revitalised Stuttgart and possibly an away trip to Galatasaray, but maybe that's unfair. In any case, you can pull Girona/Bologna and also face Celtic and Young Boys. These are all good teams, but some definitely much less daunting and home/away ties play a much bigger part in the CL now - which I actually think is good. In previous years, the bigger teams from European leagues have then poached better players from the surprise teams (e.g. Bayern previously nabbing Hummels, Goeretze, Lainer etc.). It'll be interesting to see if Bologna, Stuttgart, Brest etc. all are as strong next year as they were this. Hopefully not as then it gives us a better shot of getting past the first stage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke313 Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 1 minute ago, _AA_786 said: In previous years, the bigger teams from European leagues have then poached better players from the surprise teams (e.g. Bayern previously nabbing Hummels, Goeretze, Lainer etc.). It'll be interesting to see if Bologna, Stuttgart, Brest etc. all are as strong next year as they were this. Hopefully not as then it gives us a better shot of getting past the first stage I think they'll likely be stripped apart. Bologna have already lost Motta to Juve, i'm sure some players will follow him out the door. Dortmund are after Stuttgart's Guirassy, who remarkably only has a £17m release clause. We are lucky that we're in PL and have rich owners, so can probably now fend off the vultures. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted May 24 VT Supporter Share Posted May 24 5 hours ago, duke313 said: I think they'll likely be stripped apart. Bologna have already lost Motta to Juve, i'm sure some players will follow him out the door. Dortmund are after Stuttgart's Guirassy, who remarkably only has a £17m release clause. We are lucky that we're in PL and have rich owners, so can probably now fend off the vultures. Yeah both Atalanta dn Bologna will sell, Atalanta have been at it for the best part of 20 years and they are amazing at identifying new talent. Bologna ar newer to it and might be destabilised a bit more. They are more than the sum of their parts though through great coaching (a bit like ourselves). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
479Villan Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 I'd like the pot 1 matchups to both be away considering the likely gap in quality: if a home tie gives you home field advantage, I would suggest you want to save that for games where on a neutral pitch you'd be slight underdogs, to maximize your advantage. So, away to pot 1 and then split the other 3 pots (or, both pot 4s away, so you could be home against pots 2 and 3). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 12 minutes ago, 479Villan said: I'd like the pot 1 matchups to both be away considering the likely gap in quality: if a home tie gives you home field advantage, I would suggest you want to save that for games where on a neutral pitch you'd be slight underdogs, to maximize your advantage. So, away to pot 1 and then split the other 3 pots (or, both pot 4s away, so you could be home against pots 2 and 3). You get 1 home and 1 away from each pot.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
479Villan Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 48 minutes ago, ender4 said: You get 1 home and 1 away from each pot.. I thought you just got a draw and it was what it was? If that's true, never mind i'm a dumbass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 Give me all the big guns. Bellingham and Barella aren't ready for McGinn's behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post AvonVillain Posted May 24 Popular Post Share Posted May 24 7 hours ago, _AA_786 said: In previous years, the bigger teams from European leagues have then poached better players from the surprise teams (e.g. Bayern previously nabbing Hummels, Goeretze, Lainer etc.). It'll be interesting to see if Bologna, Stuttgart, Brest etc. ... 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viivvaa66 Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 14 hours ago, ender4 said: Barcelona fallen into Pot 2 now. Milan in Pot 3. We could get Bayern, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Milan, Feyenoord, Galatasary, and Monaco if we wanted all the glamour ties! Or we could get Roma, Leipzig, Club Brugge, Benfica, Celtic,Young Boys, Sparta Praha and Sturm Graz and have a chance to get top 8, and go directly to round of 16 without the qualifying round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 16 hours ago, ender4 said: Barcelona fallen into Pot 2 now. Milan in Pot 3. We could get Bayern, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Milan, Feyenoord, Galatasary, and Monaco if we wanted all the glamour ties! Wow could get an incredibly tough draw if we're unlucky. How are Roma the highest ranked Italian side? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 Hopefully the next iteration of the CL changes format to 40 teams with chance for top 6 in PL to qualify. I think 8 groups of 5 teams with the top side going through in each group and the 2nd and 3rd place going into playoffs. Similar to current format in terms of after the group stage. I feel it's fairer when you have groups and everyone plays home and away. I feel European football being expanded especially for PL clubs based on depth of quality in PL is fair. However we really need to scrap the EFL Cup for any teams who are in Europe or change the rules so teams in Europe can only field 3 players from their European squad in any game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brommy Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 44 minutes ago, CVByrne said: Hopefully the next iteration of the CL changes format to 40 teams with chance for top 6 in PL to qualify. I think 8 groups of 5 teams with the top side going through in each group and the 2nd and 3rd place going into playoffs. Similar to current format in terms of after the group stage. I feel it's fairer when you have groups and everyone plays home and away. I feel European football being expanded especially for PL clubs based on depth of quality in PL is fair. However we really need to scrap the EFL Cup for any teams who are in Europe or change the rules so teams in Europe can only field 3 players from their European squad in any game I'm hoping the new format is a success and definitely not thinking about yet another format! I understand some might prefer to play just 3 or 4 teams in a group stage, home and away, but I think I prefer the freshness and increased experience of testing ourselves against 8 different teams. Yes the 'luck of the draw' will be there regarding 'winnable' home/away games but that's the case in any cup format and it's leveled out somewhat by facing 2 teams of each 4 seeding pots. Also, barring 6 losses in the first 6 of 8 games, allowing playoff qualification down to 24th of 36 teams should avoid too many 'dead rubber' games. Certainly no more than the previous combined group stage format. We'll have to see how the new format is received, but my initial, albeit untested thoughts are I hope it's a successful format that gets us seeing a few dozen different European teams over the next few years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regista Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 I could not be seeing something staring me right in the face; but what’s the benefit to pot 1 teams being in pot 1? Obviously up until now, you got to be top dogs in your own group of 4…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alakagom Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 4 minutes ago, Regista said: I could not be seeing something staring me right in the face; but what’s the benefit to pot 1 teams being in pot 1? Obviously up until now, you got to be top dogs in your own group of 4…. There's no benefit, but pots are essential to ensure everyone has a "even" draw with some great teams, good, weak and poor (based on raking ofc) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regista Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 3 minutes ago, Alakagom said: There's no benefit, but pots are essential to ensure everyone has a "even" draw with some great teams, good, weak and poor (based on raking ofc) For sure. It has lost one of two purposes now though (the two being the ones you and I have mentioned) For example Barca dropping down to pot 2 in the old format would likely make their journey to the knockouts more difficult and cause a competitive reaction (perhaps). Now, it matters not. Anyway I digress, just been thinking of the change in dynamics it may cause. Can’t wait for next season UTV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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