Champions League 2007/2008

Originally posted by smartrrrrs
I suppose it bodes well for English football standards that Arsenal and liverpool have to go through the formalities of a qualification round and then they make them top seeds

The seeding system is a little complicated, and is based on how the teams did in previous champions leagues, as opposed to the current strength of the respective squads.

D

[EDIT] This is from an article written in 2006...
"Uefa, the European game's governing body, seeds the teams based on a coefficient calculated from the performances of the clubs in Europe over the last five years combined with the coefficient of the country they come from, so putting new football powers like Chelsea behind the traditional heavyweights of European football."

Originally posted by Palynka
Here we go!

The groups are:

[b]Group A

Liverpool, Porto, Marseille, Besiktas

Group B

Chelsea, Valencia, Schalke, Rosenborg

Group C

Real Madrid, Werder Bremen, Lazio, Olympiacos

Group D

AC Milan, Benfica, Celtic, Shakhtar Donetsk

Group E

Barcelona, Lyon, Stuttgart, Rangers

Group F

M ...[text shortened]... ow, Fenerbahce

Group H

Arsenal, Sevilla/AEK Athens, Steaua Bucharest, Slavia Prague[/b]

Liverpool and Porto
Chelsea and Valencia
Madrid and Bremen
Milan and Shakhtar
Barcelona and Lyon
ManU and Kiev
Inter and PSV
Steaua and Slavia

Originally posted by Sake
Liverpool and Porto
Chelsea and Valencia
Madrid and Bremen
Milan and Shakhtar
Barcelona and Lyon
ManU and Kiev
Inter and PSV
Steaua and Slavia

Let me guess...Your girlfriend is from Eastern Europe.

Originally posted by Angry Boy
The top seeds should all finish top of their groups but apart from groups A, B & H, the battle for the 2nd qualifying spot looks quite open.

MAN UNITED RULE

Answer

Originally posted by Anthony
Answer

5 games and 8 points. Blackburn are ahead of them with a game in hand.

In conclusion, you're clearly wrong.

Disappointing, but we paid the price for having a poor central defender in João Paulo.

In the end, not a catastrophic result, but leaves that bitter taste when you know victory is possible and you're the underdog. It'll be a tough campaign for Porto, but if we keep this level of performance we should make it behind Liverpool. If our coach realizes that we have better than João Paulo, I think we're on a good path.

Good luck against Marseille and Besiktas.

And this season, for the first time, I see Mourinho attacking a part of his own team. He's shooting himself in the foot in a very atypical way. I'm curious to see how that's all going to finish.

Originally posted by Palynka
Disappointing, but we paid the price for having a poor central defender in João Paulo.

In the end, not a catastrophic result, but leaves that bitter taste when you know victory is possible and you're the underdog. It'll be a tough campaign for Porto, but if we keep this level of performance we should make it behind Liverpool. If our coach realizes that we have better than João Paulo, I think we're on a good path.

I didn't watch the whole match, but from what I saw I was very impressed with Quaresma. He seemed to be everywhere.

Originally posted by mtthw
I didn't watch the whole match, but from what I saw I was very impressed with Quaresma. He seemed to be everywhere.

He must have covered every blade of grass on the pitch. Shame it was mostly with his back, chest and arse though.

Originally posted by Angry Boy
He must have covered every blade of grass on the pitch. Shame it was mostly with his back, chest and arse though.

You mean when Mascherano should have gotten a second yellow for that scissor tackle?

Some people live for prejudice.

Originally posted by Palynka
And this season, for the first time, I see Mourinho attacking a part of his own team. He's shooting himself in the foot in a very atypical way. I'm curious to see how that's all going to finish.

It's his own fault that he created a boring team which can only play using Drogba's strength in the air and Lampards shooting from outside the box.

Even Chelski fans are realising that his teams are boring.

Having said all that, United didn't set the world alight tonight.

D

Originally posted by Palynka


Some people live for prejudice.

Some people have no sense of humour

Back to business.

Two rounds of deciding matches in group A. Anyone nervous? I am!

Originally posted by Palynka
Back to business.

Two rounds of deciding matches in group A. Anyone nervous? I am!

United had an easy win tonight. Another 2 players added to the injury list; Scholes and Evra. We really need to get a few players back. Anderson played well tonight, great tackling, passing and ball retention, but the centre of our midfield is threadbare. We're going to take a hammering against the Arse unless we get at least Hargreaves and Scholes back.

Foster
Neville, Silvestre, Vidic, Evra
Park, Hargreaves, Scholes, Carrick
Saha, Rooney

Italics - Not currently injured. To be second with that many first team strength players missing is a great sign for the rest of the season, IF we can get some fit.

What's the story with the empty stadia though?

I watched Espanyol v R Madrid highlights and behind the goal was draped with flags to hide the empty seats. Same in Kiev for United's visit.

Porto are in a good position for tonights games. It'd be great to see Liverpool eliminated; make space for a watchable team.

D