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2017-18 Champions League Thread

andyt

Canes Moderator
Staff member
Wake up everyone, the Playoff Round is upon us. The draw was held today:

Qarabag (Azerbaijan) v. Copenhagen
APOEL v. Slavia Prague
Olympiacos v. Rijeka (Croatia)
Celtic v. Astana (Kazakhstan)
Hapoel Be'er Sheva v. Maribor (Slovenia)
Istanbul Basakesehir v. Sevilla
Young Boys v. CSKA Moscow
Napoli v. Nice
Hoffenheim v. Liverpool
Sporting Lisbon v. Steaua Bucuresti

Celtic drew the short straw, having to make the 6,000 mile trip to Kazakhstan.

Match day 1 is August 15/16, Match day 2 is August 22/23. The losing teams go to the Europa League Group Stage. Speaking of the Europa League, the Premier League only has 2 teams in it this year because they have 5 teams in the Champions League, due to Man U winning the Europa League last season. Arsenal are in the Group Stage, Everton has gotten through the 3rd Qualifying Round and are in the Playoff Round.
 
Playoff round complete:

Celtic advance over Maribor 8-4 on aggregate
Maribor advance over Hapoel Be'er Sheva on away goals
Napoli advance over Nice 4-0 on aggregate
Olympiacos advance over Rijeka 3-1 on aggregate
Sevilla advance over Istanbul Basakesehir 4-3 on aggregate
CSKA Moscow advance over Young Boys 3-0 on aggregate
Sporting Lisbon advance over Steaua Bucuresti 5-1 on aggregate
Qarabag advance over Copenhagen on away goals. Qarabag is the first team from Azerbaijan to qualify.
Liverpool advance over Hoffenheim 6-3 on aggregate
APOEL Nicosia advance over Slavia Prague 2-0 on aggregate

Group stage draw is Thursday at noon eastern, 18:00 CET.

Here are the unofficial pots:

Pot 1: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Juventus, Benfica, Monaco, Spartak Moscow, Shakhtar Donetsk
Pot 2: Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, PSG, Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla, Man City, Porto, Man U
Pot 3: Napoli, Spurs, Basel, Olympiacos, Anderlecht, Liverpool, Roma, Besiktas
Pot 4: Celtic, CSKA Moscow, Sporting Lisbon, APOEL, Feyenoord, Maribor, Qarabag, RB Leipzig

Had the clubs been ranked by coefficient, this is how it would look:

Pot 1: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, PSG, Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla
Pot 2: Benfica, Chelsea, Man City, Porto, Man U, Napoli, Shakhtar Donetsk, Spurs
Pot 3: Basel, Olympiacos, Monaco, Anderlecht, Liverpool, Roma, Besiktas, Celtic
Pot 4: CSKA Moscow, Sporting Lisbon, APOEL, Feyenoord, Maribor, Spartak Moscow, Qarabag, RB Leipzig
 
And the draw:

Group A: Benfica, Man U, Basel, CSKA
Group B: Bayern Munich, PSG, Anderlecht, Celtic
Group C: Chelsea, Atleticto Madrid, Roma, Qarabag
Group D: Juventus, Barcelona, Olympiacos, Sporting Lisbon
Group E: Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Liverpool, Maribor
Group F: Shakhtar Donetsk, Man City, Napoli, Feyenoord
Group G: Monaco, Porto, Besiktas, RB Leipzig
Group H: Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Spurs, APOEL

Quick thoughts...Spurs will have a tough time advancing out of that group, especially if their Wembley woes continue. They only won 1 European match there last year. Liverpool got a good draw, Spartak has the lowest coefficent of any Pot 1 team. That group could come down to a rematch of the 2016 Europa League final. Celtic? Sorry Bhoys, that group is a killer. Group G got the 2nd lowest seed from Pot 2 and the lowest seeds from Pots 3 and 4. Monaco would have been a Pot 3 team had they not won Ligue 1.
 
Another cash cow year for Celtic in group stage. Another year of going home after the group stage as well. Sigh.
I mean, no biggie really. For 2nd and 3rd tier league champs like my Boys it really is all about the cash. The financial decks are pretty steeply stacked in favor of the top leagues.

Group G isn't a group of death by any means, but that one looks like a free for all to me. Leipzig are VERY good, Porto is one of the weaker 2nd pod teams and Besiktas has always been capable of inflicting damage on pretty much anybody at home. I'd say that second qualifying spot after Monaco could be tight.

Liverpool looks to have gotten a decent draw. And you're right on Spurs. Ugh. Although ... with a change at manager maybe, just maybe, Dortmund will leak some results early in proceedings.
 
Not Champions League related but Ajax was knocked out of the Europa League in the Playoff round today by Rosenborg of Norway. It's the first time since 1965-66 that Ajax hasn't qualified for European competition.

Also, Everton are through to the Group Stage, so both Premier League teams are in.
 
Matchday 1 of the Champions League is in the books. It was a good day for the PL, except Liverpool.

Benfica 1-2 CSKA Moscow
Man U 3-0 Basel - Pogba went down with an apparent hamstring injury and could miss 4 weeks.
Bayern Munich 3-0 Anderlecht
Celtic 0-5 PSG (ouch!)
Chelsea 6-0 Qarabag
Roma 0-0 Atletico Madrid
Barcelona 3-0 Juventus - Juve gave up 3 goals all of last year until the final
Olympiacos 2-3 Sporting Lisbon
Liverpool 2-2 Sevilla - Joseph Gomez from Liverpool was sent off at 90+4 so he's out for the trip to Moscow.
Maribor 1-1 Spartak Moscow
Feyenoord 0-4 Man City - A brace for John Stones?!
Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 Napoli
Porto 1-3 Besiktas
RB Leipzig 1-1 Monaco
Real Madrid 3-0 APOEL
Spurs 3-1 Dortmund - Jan Vertonghen from Spurs was sent off at 90+2 so he's out for the trip to Cyprus. But Spurs break the Wembley jinx.
 
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Match day 2:

Today:
Sevilla v. Maribor
Spartak Moscow v. Liverpool
Man City v. Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v. Feyenoord
Besitkas v. RB Leipzig
Monaco v. Porto
APOEL v. Spurs
Boussia Dortmund v. Real Madrid

Wednesday:
Basel v. Benfica
CSKA Moscow v. Man U
Anderlecht v. Celtic
PSG v. Bayern Munich
Qarabag v. Roma
Atletico Madrid v. Chelsea
Juventus v. Olympiacos
Sporting Lisbon v. Barcelona
 
Sevilla 3-0 Maribor
Spartak Moscow 1-1 Liverpool
Man City 2-0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli 3-1 Feyenoord
Sesiktas 2-0 RB Leipzig
Monaco 0-3 Porto
APOEL 0-3 Spurs
Borussia Dortmund 1-3 Real Madrid
Basel 5-0 Benfica
CSKA Moscow 1-4 Man U
Anderlecht 0-3 Celtic
PSG 3-0 Bayern Munich
Qarabag 1-2 Roma
Atletico Madrid 1-2 Chelsea
Juventus 2-0 Olympiacos
Sporting Lisbon 0-1 Barcelona
 
Match Day 3 results:

Maribor 0-7 Liverpool
Spartak Moscow 5-1 Sevilla
Feyenoord 1-2 Shakhtar Donetsk
Man City 2-1 Napoli
Monaco 1-2 Besiktas
RB Leipzig 3-2 Porto
APOEL 1-1 Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid 1-1 Spus
Benfic 0-1 Man U
CSKA Moscow 0-2 Basel
Anderlecht 0-4 PS
Bayern Munich 3-0 Celtic
Qarabag 0-0 Atletico Madrid
Chelsea 3-3 Roma
Barcelona 3-1 Olympiacos
Juventus 2-1 Sporting Lisbon
 
Match Day 4:

Today:
Basel v. CSKA Moscow
Man U v. Benfica
Celtic v. Bayern Munich
PSG v. Anderlecht
Atletico Madrid v. Qarabag
Roma v. Chelsea
Olympiacos v. Barcelona
Sporting Lisbon v. Juventus

Tomorrow:
Liverpool v. Maribor
Sevilla v. Spartak Moscow
Shakhtar Donetsk v. Feyenoord
Napoli v. Man City
Besiktas v. Monaco
Porto v. RB Leipzig
Borussia Dortmund v. APOEL
Spurs v. Real Madrid
 
Olympiacos 0-0 Barcelona
Sporting Lisbon 1-1 Juventus
Celtic 1-2 Bayern Munich
PSG 5-0 Anderlecht
Roma 3-0 Chelsea
Atletico Madrid 1-1 Qarabag
Man U 2-0 Benfica
Basel 1-2 CSKA Moscow
Besiktas 1-1 Monaco
Porto 3-1 RB Leipzig
Spurs 3-1 Real Madrid
Dortmund 1-1 APOEL
Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 Feyenoord
Napoli 2-4 Man City
Liverpool 3-0 Maribor
Sevilla 2-1 Spartak Moscow
 
Yeah... Spurs finally pull off an epic European win, and it's like a tree falling in the woods in here. I really don't want to have to join a PL board, there are some nice people but waaaaay too many psychoses.
 
Yeah... Spurs finally pull off an epic European win, and it's like a tree falling in the woods in here. I really don't want to have to join a PL board, there are some nice people but waaaaay too many psychoses.

Or the sound of one hand clapping. I didn't update the PL thread with last weekend's games or results and nobody cared. Of course, there are only 7 people who have read this thread at all so...
 
Well I don’t know about anyone else, but the site for a while now has been flagged by the virus checker on my computer. I occasionally check it on my phone, but much less often as it’s not an ideal way to use forums.
 
Well I don’t know about anyone else, but the site for a while now has been flagged by the virus checker on my computer. I occasionally check it on my phone, but much less often as it’s not an ideal way to use forums.

This has been the subject of much wailing and gnashing of teeth for the last two months. Much like what is happening in Italy right now.

Ok, not so much like Italy. I can see the the next Parliamentary vote of confidence in the Government to turn on who does the best job of scapegoating.
 
Well it appears that it is no longer full of viruses so yay. Now I can actually use my computer instead of just being annoyed trying to use it on my phone. Now to get everyone else to come back......
 
Ok, not so much like Italy. I can see the the next Parliamentary vote of confidence in the Government to turn on who does the best job of scapegoating.

Well, the head of the Italian FA was sacked so there’s that...
 
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