2007/08 UEFA CL - General Discussion

[hitmannq8]

Its too early for this topic I know as we only became champions less than a week ago but there is something I want to ask.

Milan will not play CL qualifying rounds next season and will enter the competition directly - as "Title Holders". I think next season Milan will not represent Italy, this is a big blow for Italy's clubs in Europe. Will Milan's progress next season in Champs League count for Italy? That is my question.

I am also certain of another thing. We may get Inter/Roma in the group stages, there is no rule preventing us from meeting them because we are title holders. But I think we can't meet Inter because they are seed 1 along with us, so we may meet Roma or Lazio.


Another question about next season - how many homegrown players will we need to have in our squad? who will they be?

[zlatanov]

Milan will represent Italy next year and we canNOT be draw into a group with another Italian team ... last year was an exception because Pool set a precedent when a team wins the CL without qualifying thru the domestic competition, that's why they could and were drawn with another English team in the groups, they still represented England though it's just that an exception was made.

Since then, however, the rules have been changed and Milan this year will be just like any other team in the draws - no exceptions, which means that we cannot play with another Italian team in the groups.

As for the homegrown players, I think there is a good chance that the rules from this season will be changed, so I guess we'll have to wait and see what the new ones will say ...

[Tony29.]

Zlatanov's right :)

Btw, Milan will be in pot 1 obviously. Milan is still the leader and top rated European team in UEFA Team ranking in last 5 years.

standings :
1. Milan 133.8 pts
2. Barcelona 119.4
3. Liverpool 112.6
4. Inter 107.8
5. Arsenal 104.6
6. Real Madrid 104.4
7. Chelsea 99.6
8. Manchester 99.6
9. Valencia 99.4
10. Lyon 95.7
etc etc etc

In pot 1 , Milan will be joined by ( if there are no suprises when Liverpool and Arsenal play their CL qualifiers) Inter, Real, Barcelona,Liverpool,Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester utd.
Milan can not be in the same group with these 7 teams

In pot 2 , Lyon, Porto and PSV are for sure while if Valencia, Sevilla, Roma, Benfica and Ajax pass CLQ then these 8 teams will be placed in this pot.
Milan can play against every team from 2nd pot except Roma

In pot 3 there will be (i repeat, if there are absolutely no suprises in qualifying matches) Werder Bremen, Celtic, Schalke, Stuttgart, Sporting, CSKA Moscow, Lazio and Marselle. Milan can play against all of them except Lazio

The outsiders will be in pot 4. Still, some solid teams may find themselves here (Rangers, Rennes, Shakhtar, Olympiacos, Dinamo Kiyv, Sparta Prague, Steaua, AEK etc)

Only Juve and Bayern are missing for another great show :)

[nefremo]

Looking at those pots, even the weakest possible draw looks very tough. It certainly will be another great competition, even though like you said Juve and Bayern would make it unbelieavably interesting.
It is a little weird though seeing all the German sides in the 3rd pot. They definatly will make a few groups very very tough.

[hany.Egypt]

Originally Posted by UEFA Team Ranking
1. Milan 133.8 pts
2. Barcelona 119.4
3. Liverpool 112.6
4. Inter 107.8
5. Arsenal 104.6
6. Real Madrid 104.4
7. Chelsea 99.6
8. Manchester 99.6
9. Valencia 99.4
10. Lyon 95.7
etc etc etc
are you sure about that Tony? if you have the source send the link to me because I think that the right order is
1 Sevilla
2 Bracelona
3 Kuolo Kuolo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4 Milan
this is according to Iffhs

[Samuca]

If Ronaldo don´t get many injuries, Ancelotti don´t ruin so much the team and Milan hire Shevchenko, CL 2007/2008 will have to change the name to "Milan's Show League"

[Stezagud]

are you sure about that Tony? if you have the source send the link to me because I think that the right order is
1 Sevilla
2 Bracelona
3 Kuolo Kuolo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4 Milan
this is according to Iffhs

UEFA has their own system based on team performance in European competition, obviously Colo Colo aren't eligible ;) Im not sure whatcriteria the IFFHS uses but it seems wrong to me. The ranking up to April 30th has Newcastle in 9th :eek: and Barcelona arent even the best side in their own city :dielaugh: Alkmaar above Arsenal, Blackburn above Bayern Munich, Al Ahly are miles ahead of Real Madrid too :D

[zlatanov]

UEFA has their own system based on team performance in European competition, obviously Colo Colo aren't eligible ;) Im not sure whatcriteria the IFFHS uses but it seems wrong to me. The ranking up to April 30th has Newcastle in 9th :eek: and Barcelona arent even the best side in their own city :dielaugh: Alkmaar above Arsenal, Blackburn above Bayern Munich, Al Ahly are miles ahead of Real Madrid too :D
I guess it would be in everyone's interest if the people at the IFFHS responsible for these rankings just stop wasting server space and think about a career change. :grinser:

[hany.Egypt]

can any one pass me the link to the UEFA ranking?

[zlatanov]

http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method3/trank2007.html

it's not from uefa.com but should do

[hany.Egypt]

Thanks Zaltanov

[Tony29.]

It is a little weird though seeing all the German sides in the 3rd pot.
It's very hard all German teams to find themselves in 3rd pot, but if no suprise happens in qualifiers then Milan, Inter, Real, Barcelona,Liverpool,Arsenal, Chelsea ,Manchester utd, Lyon, Porto, PSV, Valencia, Sevilla, Roma, Benfica and Ajax will be in first 2 pots, because all of them have more points than the Germans.
But if only 1 of these 16 teams won't make it to CL groups stages, then Werder Bremen will be in 2nd pot. If 4 teams from the above mentioned 16 teams won't make it to CL, then all 3 german teams will be in 2nd pot.

[Ryo]

I have a question about the calculations of the points thing.
Why do we get fewer points in 06-07 than Liverpool?
We won the Trophy for freak sake!

Actually, same goes for 04-05 where we get more points than Liverpool....
How in the world do they count the thing?

[zlatanov]

I have a question about the calculations of the points thing.
Why do we get fewer points in 06-07 than Liverpool?
We won the Trophy for freak sake!

Actually, same goes for 04-05 where we get more points than Liverpool....
How in the world do they count the thing?
I think they have that on the uefa.com site ...
I am not completel sure but believe that these coefficients/points reflect the overall performane of the teams - how many games were played, how many points did the team win in those games - 3pts for a win, 1 for a draw - and probbaly also goals scored and meybe even YC and RC that the team players got, not sure about the last one ...
so, one team can win the competition but if in the previous stages that team had more draws and losses that the other finalist, the winner may end up having fewer pts than the loser in the final

[Tony29.]

I think they have that on the uefa.com site ...
I am not completel sure but believe that these coefficients/points reflect the overall performane of the teams - how many games were played, how many points did the team win in those games - 3pts for a win, 1 for a draw - and probbaly also goals scored and meybe even YC and RC that the team players got, not sure about the last one ...
so, one team can win the competition but if in the previous stages that team had more draws and losses that the other finalist, the winner may end up having fewer pts than the loser in the final
Correct, as always, Zlat :)
Even more, Espanol is the leader of this year, while Sevilla, Liverpool and Chelsea all have more points than Milan.


1.Milan won 2 matches against Red Star in CLQ. Win in CLQ brings only 1 point. (2 wins against Red Star bring 2 points . But these 2 points taken in Q stages don't count for team coefficient but count only when counting Country coefficient, so forget these 2 points )
2.Qualifiying for CLgroups brings 3 more points
3.Milan won 3 matches in CLgroups, drew 1 and lost 2, and in the groups a win brings 2 points while a draw 1 point ( 3 wins and a draw bring 7 points)
4.Passing the groups and passing every other knock-out round brings 1 point ( so Milan got 1 point from passing the group, 1 point for passing Celtic, 1 for Bayern and 1 for Manchester. Winning the final brings no extra points.
These makes it 4 more bonus points)
5. In knock outs every win brings 2 points and every draw brings 1 point. Milan won against Celtic, Bayern, ManU and Liverpool and drew against Celtic and Bayern.
4 wins and 2 draws bring 10 points)
6. Italy as a country brings 3.936 to every Italian team, even to those who don't play in Europe ( Juve for example, didn't play in Europe but has 3.936 points for this season).

So....count all the bolded points from above ( except for the 2 points Milan took in CLQ against Red Star) and you'll get how many points Milan has this season ( 27.936)

Milan made 7 wins (x2 points) 3 draws (x1 point) and 7 bonus points = 24 points ( + the country coefficient points)

Liverpool made exactly the same results.
8 wins, 1 draw and 7 bonus points = 24 points
But English teams have bigger starting coefficient that Italians (5.486) and that's the only treason why Liverpool has more points than Milan.


Did someone understand this ? Because if someone explained this to me the way i explained it to you, i doubt i would understand anything :)

[Giorgos]

I understood it Tony, come on it wasn't so bad....

[zlatanov]

The explanation was perfect, I think :5ok:
2pts for a win and no pts for winning the last game of the competition? ... that's interesting ... I guess Uefa don't wanna have a team fully dominate in one season and then rely heavily on that for years to come.

No wonder UEFA cup teams have higher pts as they play more games than CL teams - and with the high country coefficient Spain has, oh boy - but UEFA must think of a way to equate this as this gives unfair, I think, advantage for UEFA cup teams when they eventually participate in the CL as a team, which wins/plays a final in UEFA cup may end up having higher coefficient that many if not most teams, which have performed regularly at a much higher level in the CL.

Are you sure, Tony, there isn't some scheme to take care of that - say for example - 1pt won in CL = 1.5pts won in UEFA CUp ... or something of the kind?

[Tony29.]

The explanation was perfect, I think :5ok:
2pts for a win and no pts for winning the last game of the competition? ... that's interesting ... I guess Uefa don't wanna have a team fully dominate in one season and then rely heavily on that for years to come.

No wonder UEFA cup teams have higher pts as they play more games than CL teams - and with the high country coefficient Spain has, oh boy - but UEFA must think of a way to equate this as this gives unfair, I think, advantage for UEFA cup teams when they eventually participate in the CL as a team, which wins/plays a final in UEFA cup may end up having higher coefficient that many if not most teams, which have performed regularly at a much higher level in the CL.

Are you sure, Tony, there isn't some scheme to take care of that - say for example - 1pt won in CL = 1.5pts won in UEFA CUp ... or something of the kind?
I'm 100% sure !
Every win in CL counts the same as every win in UEFA, and you have a great point here : UEFA teams have an advantage when they participate in CL.

Look at New Castle for example. They always do good in UEFA and they are 11th placed in the rankings. If they made it to CL next year they would have found themselves in 2nd pot, with more points than Juventus, Porto, psv, Bayern who are regulars in CL.

While New Castle plays teams from Estonia, Lithuania and other lower league teams ( and easily beats them) , Bayern plays against top class teams in CL.
And imagine this : If New Castle was 4th in England and got the right to play in CL, while Valencia, Arsenal and Liverpool failed to qualify for CL, then New Castle would have been a seeded team in 1st pot while CL regular and winner from 3 years ago, Porto, would have been in 2nd pot .

UEFA is favouring UEFA Cup teams on purpose. That's just to make the competition more interesting and to make the UEFA Cup participants push more to win every single match and get more points that will eventually help them in some following year when they find themselves in CL.
It's good idea to make Uefa Cup more competitive but not fair towards CL regulars.

[zlatanov]

well, a better way to make it more competitive would be to give more money to the clubs and spend more on marketing the tournament rather than feed second rate clubs points they may very well never get to use ... and less money into UEFA's own pockets might help as well .... better that than stick it to teams that perform year-in-year out in the CL and then find themselves with Newcastle as the group leader ... although, on second thought, who wouldn't want that :D

[Hasan Rossonero]

Great thread guys and great explanations.

[Ryo]

Correct, as always, Zlat :)

Did someone understand this ? Because if someone explained this to me the way i explained it to you, i doubt i would understand anything :)

I understood perfectly Tony, thanks so much! :5ok:

[hany.Egypt]

well, a better way to make it more competitive would be to give more money to the clubs and spend more on marketing the tournament rather than feed second rate clubs points they may very well never get to use
yes exactly I cant understand how could they count points in that way ,on Eurosport channel there is a programme called top24 they classify the club by giving them 3 points for any win in the league and 9 for the CL one ,however the dont differentiate between winning in the Italian league and in the Dutch one as example so my question is does UEFA do the same in classifying the Europian chanpionships?

[hitmannq8]

yeah tony's post makes sense but i can guarantee you that you are missing some info.. im certain that the winner of CL gets around 4-5 bonus points.. im certain of it. in the past few years it is always the winner that gets the most points in that season..

[Tony29.]

yeah tony's post makes sense but i can guarantee you that you are missing some info.. im certain that the winner of CL gets around 4-5 bonus points.. im certain of it. in the past few years it is always the winner that gets the most points in that season..
No, i'm positive. The winner gets no bonus points.
And yes, the winner of CL was usually the team with most points, but lately it's not the case.
Espanol is the team with most points for this season, Milan was the team with most points in 2005, Valencia in 2004 and 2001, Barcelona in 2000, Parma in 1999 etc.

[remote2book]

hey u guys know the addidas t shirts that our players were wearing during the celebrations....any1 kno if i can get them from somewhere?

[claupau]

In pot 1 , Milan will be joined by ( if there are no suprises when Liverpool and Arsenal play their CL qualifiers) Inter, Real, Barcelona,Liverpool,Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester utd.
Milan can not be in the same group with these 7 teams

In pot 2 , Lyon, Porto and PSV are for sure while if Valencia, Sevilla, Roma, Benfica and Ajax pass CLQ then these 8 teams will be placed in this pot.
Milan can play against every team from 2nd pot except Roma
I have a question, how come you don't have Roma for sure if they already are in right?
Second place doesn't need to play another match as far as I know :dontkn:
I thought Lazio are the only ones that need to play a match to get in!

[zlatanov]

I have a question, how come you don't have Roma for sure if they already are in right?
Second place doesn't need to play another match as far as I know :dontkn:
I thought Lazio are the only ones that need to play a match to get in!
I keep sayig that Tony cannot be trusted as a source but people just don't listen :grinser:

yeah, you are right, claupau, Roma is surely in pot 2 and there are only 4 teams left to be determined out of the 8 in pot 2 ... provided that Arsenal and Liverpool (and also Barca and Real given the tight race in La Liga) make it thru to the group stage into pot 1.
If not, then teams like Valencia, Lyon, Porto could end up making it into pot 1 and not 2.

[Hasan Rossonero]

I have a question, how come you don't have Roma for sure if they already are in right?
Second place doesn't need to play another match as far as I know :dontkn:
I thought Lazio are the only ones that need to play a match to get in!

I think what Tony is saying in the highlighted text is that Milan cannot be grouped with an Italian team.

But yes Roma are through to the group stage.

[Tony29.]

I saw my mistake with Roma the same day when i wrote the post. I swear in my children health. But i couldn't edit my message and i didn't think it was such an important thing so i'd write a new message to say i made a mistake.
And i thought someone will notice the mistake sooner or later so then i'll confirm Roma's going directly to CL groups without Qualifications

:)

[Dil dil]

when it will be draw of champoin league 2007-2008

[Reza]

2007/08 UEFA club competitions draw schedule
30.08.2007
16.00CET Monaco UEFA Champions League Group stage


http://www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=64/newsid=551134.html

[hany.Egypt]

when it will be draw of champoin league 2007-2008
dont know but I know that the top club in each group has been chosen, and they are:
1.Milan
2.Barca
3.Liverpool
4.Inter
5.Arsenal
6.Real madrid
7.ManUtd
8.Chelsea
and that means Milan might have teams like Sevilla,any German side, Lyon,Ajax,PSV ....etc in the same group

[Giorgos]

dont know but I know that the top club in each group has been chosen, and they are:
1.Milan
2.Barca
3.Liverpool
4.Inter
5.Arsenal
6.Real madrid
7.ManUtd
8.Chelsea
and that means Milan might have teams like Sevilla,any German side, Lyon,Ajax,PSV ....etc in the same group

The thing Hany.Egypt isn't which will be our opponents but we will appear, because Milan doesn't afraid of no tea except PAOK Thessaloniki :5ok: .

[Giorgos]

So can anyone write down the teams that were qualified from the major leagues, i will write about the Greeks (i know we don't have a major league, just to have a view.).

Olimpiakos Pireues will be in the group stage and AEK Athens in the 3rd qualifying round where they will play with a strong opponent.

[Tony29.]

dont know but I know that the top club in each group has been chosen, and they are:
1.Milan
2.Barca
3.Liverpool
4.Inter
5.Arsenal
6.Real madrid
7.ManUtd
8.Chelsea
and that means Milan might have teams like Sevilla,any German side, Lyon,Ajax,PSV ....etc in the same group
This is not definite. It's still not 100% sure that these 8 teams will be the group holders.
Liverpool and Arsenal need to play qualification matches to participate in group stages. If they pass the Q then they'll be the holders. If not then Valencia ( if they pass CLQ) and Lyon are the next on the list, in that same order.

[Tony29.]

So can anyone write down the teams that were qualified from the major leagues, i will write about the Greeks (i know we don't have a major league, just to have a view.).

Olimpiakos Pireues will be in the group stage and AEK Athens in the 3rd qualifying round where they will play with a strong opponent.
I'll do that Giorgios, but i have some things to finish in next 30 minutes. I'll do it later !

[zlatanov]

whatever Tony says, be advised that the info is not 100% reliable.
Use at your own risk !!!!!!

:D

[Tony29.]

Here, Giorgios :

These are the teams that will participate in Champions League and Champions league qualification rounds.

Teams in Black are those who'll go directly to CL Groups. Teams in Green are those who'll start from 3rd round of the qualifications. Teams in Red will start from the 2nd round, while teams in Blue will start their qualifications from the beggining, the first round, in July.

16 teams go directly to CL ( the ones in black) while 16 more teams will go to CL through qualifiers

1. Milan ( Italy)
2. Inter ( Italy)
3. Roma ( Italy)
4. Real Madrid ( Spain)
5. Barcelona ( Spain)
6. Manchester United (England)
7. Chelsea (England)
8. Lyon (France)
9. Marselle (France)
10.Stuttgart (Germany)
11.Schalke 04 (Germany)
12.Porto (Portugal)
13.Sporting (Portugal)
14.PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
15.Olympiacos (Greece)
16.CSKA Moscow (Russia)


1. Lazio ( Italy)
2. Valencia ( Spain)
3. Sevilla ( Spain)
4. Liverpool ( England)
5. Arsenal ( England)
6. Toulouse ( France)
7. Werder ( Germany)
8. Benfica ( Portugal)
9. Ajax ( Netherlands)
10.AEK Athens ( Greece)
11.Spartak Moscow ( Russia)
12.Dinamo Bucharest ( Romania)
13.Celtic ( Scotland)
14.Anderlecht (Belgium)
15.Dynamo Kyiv ( Ucrain)
16.Sparta Prague (Czech Rep.)
17.Fenerbahce (Turkey)
18.Zurich (Switzerland)


1. Steaua (Romania)
2. Glasgow Rangers (Scotland)
3. Genk (Belgium)
4. Shaktar Donieck (Ucraine)
5. Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)
6. Besiktas (Turkey)
7. Levski (Bulgaria)
8. Beitar Jerusalem (Israel)
9. Rosenborg (Norway)
10.Salzburg (Austria)
11.Red Star (Serbia)
12.Zaglebie Lubin (Poland)
13.Kobenhavn (Denmark)
14.Debreceni (Hungary)

1. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
2. Elfsborg (Sweden)
3. Zilina (Slovakia)
4. APOEL (Cyprus)
5. Domzale (Slovenia)
6. Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
7. Ventspils (Latvia)
8. Tampere (Finland)
9. Sheriff (Moldova)
10.Olimpi Rustavi (Georgia)
11.Kaunas (Lithuania)
12.Pobeda (Macedonia)
13.Hafnarfjordur (Iceland)
14.Derry City (Republic of Ireland)
15.Bate Borisov (Belarus)
16.Tirana (Albania)
17.Pyunik (Armenia)
18.Maraxlokk (Malta)
19.Levadia (Estonia)
20.The New Saints (Wales)
21.Linfield (Northern Ireland)
22.Khazar (Azerbaijan)
23.Dudelange (Luxemburg)
24.Astana (Kazakhstan)
25.HB Torshavn (Faroe Islands)
26.Rangers (Andorra)
27.Murata (San Marino)
28.Zeta (Montenegro)

[kastriot]

Here, Giorgios :

These are the teams that will participate in Champions League and Champions league qualification rounds.

Teams in Black are those who'll go directly to CL Groups. Teams in Green are those who'll start from 3rd round of the qualifications. Teams in Red will start from the 2nd round, while teams in Blue will start their qualifications from the beggining, the first round, in July.

16 teams go directly to CL ( the ones in black) while 16 more teams will go to CL through qualifiers

1. Milan ( Italy)
2. Inter ( Italy)
3. Roma ( Italy)
4. Real Madrid ( Spain)
5. Barcelona ( Spain)
6. Manchester United (England)
7. Chelsea (England)
8. Lyon (France)
9. Marselle (France)
10.Stuttgart (Germany)
11.Schalke 04 (Germany)
12.Porto (Portugal)
13.Sporting (Portugal)
14.PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
15.Olympiacos (Greece)
16.CSKA Moscow (Russia)


1. Lazio ( Italy)
2. Valencia ( Spain)
3. Sevilla ( Spain)
4. Liverpool ( England)
5. Arsenal ( England)
6. Toulouse ( France)
7. Werder ( Germany)
8. Benfica ( Portugal)
9. Ajax ( Netherlands)
10.AEK Athens ( Greece)
11.Spartak Moscow ( Russia)
12.Dinamo Bucharest ( Romania)
13.Celtic ( Scotland)
14.Anderlecht (Belgium)
15.Dynamo Kyiv ( Ucrain)
16.Sparta Prague (Czech Rep.)
17.Fenerbahce (Turkey)
18.Zurich (Switzerland)


1. Steaua (Romania)
2. Glasgow Rangers (Scotland)
3. Genk (Belgium)
4. Shaktar Donieck (Ucraine)
5. Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)
6. Besiktas (Turkey)
7. Levski (Bulgaria)
8. Beitar Jerusalem (Israel)
9. Rosenborg (Norway)
10.Salzburg (Austria)
11.Red Star (Serbia)
12.Zaglebie Lubin (Poland)
13.Kobenhavn (Denmark)
14.Debreceni (Hungary)

1. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
2. Elfsborg (Sweden)
3. Zilina (Slovakia)
4. APOEL (Cyprus)
5. Domzale (Slovenia)
6. Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
7. Ventspils (Latvia)
8. Tampere (Finland)
9. Sheriff (Moldova)
10.Olimpi Rustavi (Georgia)
11.Kaunas (Lithuania)
12.Pobeda (Macedonia)
13.Hafnarfjordur (Iceland)
14.Derry City (Republic of Ireland)
15.Bate Borisov (Belarus)
16.Tirana (Albania)
17.Pyunik (Armenia)
18.Maraxlokk (Malta)
19.Levadia (Estonia)
20.The New Saints (Wales)
21.Linfield (Northern Ireland)
22.Khazar (Azerbaijan)
23.Dudelange (Luxemburg)
24.Astana (Kazakhstan)
25.HB Torshavn (Faroe Islands)
26.Rangers (Andorra)
27.Murata (San Marino)
28.Zeta (Montenegro)


Tony either you`re wong or u hate the Fact that dinamo kicked Hajduk`s ass this season and u put them in the Blue group,meaning they will start from first phase of qualification,

I`m quit sure Croatian teams(read Dinamo) :grinser: have started from the second phase, in the previous seasons

[Tony29.]

They did Kastriot, but things change you know. The awful results of Croatian teams in last 2 years put them where they are now, 1st round of Q :(

[zlatanov]

Uuuhooo, forza Levski :devf:
:grinser:

[Tony29.]

Just to explain how things will go :

Look at the 28 blue teams. There will be 14 pairs. The teams placed from #1 to #14 in my list are the holders and they'll face a team from #15 to #28.
All 14 winners will go to the 2nd round where they will face one of the 14 teams waiting there ( the red teams).
So, again we will have 14 pairs.

The winners from these 14 duels will go to the 3rd round where 18 teams are waiting for them ( 14+18 = 32 teams).
Depending on the points each of these teams have in UEFA rankings, 16 of them will be holders and they won't be able to play against eachother, but they'll play against one of the other 16 teams.
The winners of the 16 duels will go to CL groups !

[zlatanov]

and the dream goes on ... after all, why not - it's free:
http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/SerieA/Squadre/Inter/Primo_Piano/2007/06_Giugno/22/moratti_2206.shtml

:D

[kastriot]

Uuuhooo, forza Levski :devf:
:grinser:

I can`t believe Levski in the Red group And Dinamo is in the third!!! :mad:


This is the end of the World :grinser:

[Tony29.]

and the dream goes on ... after all, why not - it's free:
http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/SerieA/Squadre/Inter/Primo_Piano/2007/06_Giugno/22/moratti_2206.shtml

:D
They won't even pass the group this time !

[kastriot]

They did Kastriot, but things change you know. The awful results of Croatian teams in last 2 years put them where they are now, 1st round of Q :(

I wouldn`t call them awful, loosing the tie to Arsenal with a draw in Emirate Stadium its not that bad.... loosing to Auxere, its bad but not awful,

On the other hand What Hajduk did two years ago, was disaster loosing to Debrecin 8- 0 in aggregate.... :stupid: When a year after Rabotnicki kicked their ass 4-1 in Skopje!!!!

[Tony29.]

I wouldn`t call them awful, loosing the tie to Arsenal with a draw in Emirate Stadium its not that bad.... loosing to Auxere, its bad but not awful,

On the other hand What Hajduk did two years ago, was disaster loosing to Debrecin 8- 0 in aggregate.... :stupid: When a year after Rabotnicki kicked their ass 4-1 in Skopje!!!!
The awful results of Croatian teams, not Dinamo's results.
Look at the results of last 2 years :

2005/06
CL :
Debrecen-Hajduk 3:0 - 5:0

UEFA :
Inter (:)) Zapresic - Crvena Zvezda 1:3 - 0:4
Litex - Rijeka 1:0 - 1:2

On 6 matches Croatian teams won only 1 match which brings 1 point, or 0.333 points in UEFA list ( Croatia was placed on 49th place out of 52 teams in this season)

2006/07
CL :
Ekranas-Dinamo 1:4 - 2:5
Arsenal-Dinamo 3:0 - 2:1

UEFA :
Varteks - Tirana 1:1 - 0:2
Rijeka- Omonia 2:2 - 1:2
Dinamo - Auxerre 1:2 - 1:3

These results brought us 1 point from UEFA and we were placed on 42nd place for this season.

For last 5 years Croatian teams have 10.708 points and it's enough only for 26th place in UEFA list ( teams from 1st to 25th place don't play in 1st round. With our luck, we're 26th :) )

Edit : And Dinamo didn't draw in London. They conceded a goal in last secund and lost 2:1

[Giorgos]

It is our of subject but Tony do you have pictures or sthing elese from the great Croatian national team of 1998? and why Klasnic plays so well in Werder but so bad in national team?.

[Tony29.]

The Champions League and European qualifying for the 2010 World Cup undergo changes, announce UEFA.

From 2007-08 the Champions League will also have a seeding system in the draw for the quarter-finals.

This is to prevent teams who are already qualified from resting their players in the final one or two Group games, as that will affect their standing.

Clubs will receive two points for a win and one for a draw in the seeding system drawn up at the end of the first knock-out round.

------------
Good !
This starts from this season.

[zlatanov]

I would guess it has something to do with who will play at home first and who will host the return leg.
Otherwise, I don;t see things changing much as at the 1/4 finals you have to play strong teams anyway, so no point in trying to stack up points when you could just as easily face ManU, Inter, Bayern, Real, Lyon etc, etc ... especially once those teams have made it past the 1/8 finals, which is the first knock-out round and most of the weaker teams get elliminated anyway.

[Tony29.]

True. The real advantage will be playing the 2nd leg at home. But if the strongest teams give it all on every match, then it may mean something to be a seeded team in the 1/4 finals.
Of course, all 8 teams there are strong and everyone can be eliminated by everyone, but still :

Barcelona
Chelsea
Manchester United
Milan

Bayern
Roma
Liverpool
PSV

I guess, if Milan can chose, they'll like it this way instead of going in the 2nd group, changing their place with Liverpool !

[Blacktop]

Oh, woe is Chelsea, they're so sick and tired of drawing Barca every year that UEFA are going to make sure that there's no huge matchups in the early stages.

[zlatanov]

So, so far Rangers, Lazio and Liverpool have made it into the groups of the CL.