Champions League 2022/2023

[malvolio]

would be hilarious if we get knocked out to the europa league after all our spending.

What happened last season was an anomaly. The CL format very rarely eliminates the biggest teams from the groups stage.

And even last season, we could have qualified. If we get dumped into the EL again, then Laporta and the whole coaching staff can resign the next day.

 

[Messi983]

Will be announced on Saturday

Why are they waiting so long, aren't fixtures normally released a few hours after the draw?

 

[Kul_z]

Damn. Group of death it is. It would be interesting to see that firepower infront against bayern. But we aint going to war with ancient one, defeat guanteed.

 

[Respekt_III]

What happened last season was an anomaly. The CL format very rarely eliminates the biggest teams from the groups stage.

And even last season, we could have qualified. If we get dumped into the EL again, then Laporta and the whole coaching staff can resign the next day.

Honestly I don't trust this team and the coaching staff. Bayern and inter are both decent teams that can easily beat us especially with some of the tactics being employed recently.

 

[Donauwelle]

Why are they waiting so long, aren't fixtures normally released a few hours after the draw?

Took very long last season for the first round, too. Problem is that you have the TV-pairings that impose on the drawing but now have to take care of the other issues of the teams and cities + and the dates for the Europa League might have an impact, too, in cities or regions with some clubs.

 

[Birdy]

I don' t know if the draw is rigged.
The only thing I know is:

Barca's recent CL groups in contradistinction with Real's:
2018:
Inter Spurs PSV for Barca: a tough group
Roma CSKA Plzen for RM LOOOOL

2019:
Dortmund Inter and Slavia for Barca, group of Death
PSG, Galata, and Brugges for RM, only 1 strong opponent

2020:
Juve, Dynamo, Ferencvaros for Barca, easier with 1 strong team
Inter, Shaktar, Gladbach for RM, no top opponent but 3 tricky

2021:
Bayern, Benfica, Dynamo for us, 1 strong
Inter, Shaktar, Sherif for RM, no top 2 tricky

2022:
Bayern, Inter, Plzen for us. group of death
Leipzig, Shaktar, Celtic for them, cruising

So, in 5 recent seasons,
Barca had thrice a group of death (Spurs-Inter, Inter-Dortmund, Bayern-Inter now), once a group with a clearly superior elite opposition (Bayern) which meant 2nd spot is ceiling, and only once (vs Juve) a group where 1st spot was clearly achievable

On the contrary,
Real NEVER had a group of death,
Twice (2018 and now) EL-level group,
Twice (2020, 2021) a group where they were clearly favorites for 1st spot, and only them fucking up badly like in 2020) could cause them trouble
Only once (2019) a group with a strong side that could challenge them for the 1st spot

LEVELS between these draws...

 

[Andresito]

Poor Inter lol, always Barca or Madrid.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Benfica was actually good that season. You have to put them to strong.

 

[Messi983]

Took very long last season for the first round, too. Problem is that you have the TV-pairings that impose on the drawing but now have to take care of the other issues of the teams and cities + and the dates for the Europa League might have an impact, too, in cities or regions with some clubs.

I was thinking about this as well but they could just announce fixtures for CL and then adapt schedules for Europa/Conference leagues if needed. Don't think there are many teams who share stadiums for example. Milan and Inter probably the only ones and they're both in the CL so UEFA already knows in advance they can't schedule their home games on the same matchday.


Anyway, fixtures have now been released. Starting at home against Viktoria before travelling to Munich.

Mi?rcoles 07/09 (21.00 h.): FC Barcelona-Viktoria Plzen
Martes 13/09 (21.00 h.): Bayern M?nich-FC Barcelona
Martes 04/10 (21.00 h.): Inter de Mil?n-FC Barcelona
Mi?rcoles 12/10 (21.00 h.): FC Barcelona-Inter de Mil?n
Mi?rcoles 26/10 (21.00 h.): FC Barcelona-Bayern M?nich
Martes 01/11 (21.00 h.): Viktoria Plzen-FC Barcelona

 

[Catta]

3rd and 4th rounds against Inter are the most important. We must get at least 4 points from those games to advance to the knock outs.

 

[vegitot]

Tricky group. Bayern are like Barca's kryptonite so prepare for anothet loss.

Inter are weaker but in UCL you can't know everything.

 

[Mrgandalf]

Tricky group. Bayern are like Barca's kryptonite so prepare for anothet loss.

Inter are weaker but in UCL you can't know everything.

I am against promoting this spirit. We are either preparing for the win or all the plans of the team since the return of Laporta until now are absurd, including our presence in this forum. What does it mean to prepare for another lose? All I know is that we smashed Bayern on our good days and they smashed us also on our bad days. So how is Bayern our kryptonite? All these activities, plans and spending were for us to return to the path of victory, and you are talking as if there was never a victory.

 

[MTL_Barca]

We definitely have to aim for 1st place in the group. Would be laughable not to after spending so much, including getting on of the best strikers in the world for short term success. You don't invest like that and worry about the group stage, it has to be about how far we go in k.o. stages.

That being said though stylistically Bayern is very dangerous for us imo. For years we were (and still kinda are) awfully slow and weak vs counters, and that Bayern team is ridiculously fast and aggressive.

Their defense is shit as well though, so yeah could end either way.

 

[Kul_z]

We definitely have to aim for 1st place in the group. Would be laughable not to after spending so much, including getting on of the best strikers in the world for short term success. You don't invest like that and worry about the group stage, it has to be about how far we go in k.o. stages.

That being said though stylistically Bayern is very dangerous for us imo. For years we were (and still kinda are) awfully slow and weak vs counters, and that Bayern team is ridiculously fast and aggressive.

Their defense is shit as well though, so yeah could end either way.

Yep. If we stretch them enough, and with dembele and raphinha we would for sure, it would be more or less mf battle or no mf at all, playing long passes to wings from both sides. But busi at dm is what concernes me the most, he's capable of playing very good passes from deep, and without his disposession fuck ups, we might have an upper hand.

 

[Andresito]

A total of eight clubs have been handed fines by UEFA.

Biggest ones are:
65m - PSG
35m - Roma
26m - Inter
23m - Juventus
15m - Milan

Big fines, but they are mostly conditional. PSG will pay 10m and the rest depends on how they comply with UEFA's demands. Roma will pay 5m for example.

19 clubs are being monitored: Barcelona, Basel, Chelsea, Dortmund, Fenerbahce, Feyenoord, Lazio, Leicester City, Lyon, Manchester City, Napoli, Rangers, Real Betis, Royal Antwerp, Sevilla, Trabzonspor, Union Berlin, Wolfsburg and West Ham United.