UEFA Champions League 2015/16

[Egert]

Teams who are in the play-off round:

(s) - seeded

-League route

ManU (s)
Valencia (s)
Leverkusen (s)
Shakhtar Donetsk (s)
Sporting CP (s)
CSKA Moscow
Lazio
Club Brugge
Monaco
Rapid Wien

-Champions route

Basel (s)
Celtic (s)
APOEL (s)
BATE Borisov (s)
Dinamo Zagreb (s)
Malmö
Partizan
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Skënderbeu Korçë
Astana

Draw on 7th August.
1st legs to be played on 18th and 19th August and 2nd legs on 25th and 26th August.

*The losing teams of the ties will play in 15-16 Europa League.

 

[Galning]

Plastic team Salzburg out, MFF through!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fucking crazy. Two seasons in a row they kick Salzburg out after losing the first game 2-0. Insane.

 

[StarLord]

Valencia with the short end of the stick in today's draw.

They will have to beat AS Monaco to get into the CL group stages. United, quite lucky to draw Club Brugge, and another tough draw is Lazio vs Leverkusen. Shaktar Donetsk were the luckiest of all to get Rapid Vienna.

 

[Chainsaw]

Lazio v Bayer Leverkusen
Valencia v Monaco

Well done UEFA.

 

[Egert]

Draw results:

Astana(KAZ) v APOEL(CYP)

Skënderbeu(ALB) v Dinamo Zagreb(CRO)

Celtic(SCO) v Malmö(SWE)

Basel(SUI) v M. Tel-Aviv(ISR)

BATE(BLR) v Partizan(SRB)

Lazio(ITA) v Leverkusen(GER)

Man. United(ENG) v Club Brugge(BEL)

Sporting CP(POR) v CSKA Moskva(RUS)

Rapid Wien(AUT) v Shakhtar Donetsk(UKR)

Valencia(ESP) v Monaco(FRA)

First legs on 18/19th August, 2nd legs on 25/26th August.

 

[Sterlingfan2000]

lol at Lazio vs Leverkusen and Valencia vs Monaco...

 

[StarLord]

Lazio v Bayer Leverkusen
Valencia v Monaco

Well done UEFA.

Platini's stupid rule that separates so-called "champions" from the minor leagues from proper teams like those that finish 3rd/4th in the major leagues means that you get match-ups like Valencia vs Monaco, Lazio vs Leverkuzen on the one hand, and on the other you get Apoel vs Astana or Zaghreb vs Skenderbeu.

The most appalling rule regarding the CL.

 

[S7_MUFC]

Platini's stupid rule that separates so-called "champions" from the minor leagues from proper teams like those that finish 3rd/4th in the major leagues means that you get match-ups like Valencia vs Monaco, Lazio vs Leverkuzen on the one hand, and on the other you get Apoel vs Astana or Zaghreb vs Skenderbeu.

The most appalling rule regarding the CL.

I think it's a fair rule considering how it's called the Champions League so the Champions of the league should be qualifying directly and the teams finishing 3rd,4th should be facing tougher challenges to get in...

 

[StarLord]

I think it's a fair rule considering how it's called the Champions League so the Champions of the league should be qualifying directly and the teams finishing 3rd,4th should be facing tougher challenges to get in...

What you are saying is romantic and all, but the bottom line here is that clubs like Apoel, Bate, Zaghreb, Basel etc etc get to enter the CL GS, while clubs like Lazio/Valencia/Monaco/Leverkusen have to knock out other strong teams in order to take their place in the CL proper.

Just have a look at the performances of said "champions" in last season's CL:

Apoel - 0 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses. They scored only one goal from the penalty spot in 6 games! They are just in the CL, in order to park the bus.

BATE - Conceded something like 50 goals in 6 games. Actually, it was 24, but you get the picture.

Malmo - 1 win, 5 losses

Ludogorets - 1 win, 1 draw, 4 defeats

Maribor - 0 wins, 3 draws, 3 losses


So, out of 30 games, all those "champions" managed 3 wins out of 30 games. All 5 of them finished bottom of their group, while clubs such as Napoli, Besiktas and Lille were eliminated from the "league route".

In my opinion, this is a travesty.

 

[TornAndFrayed]

I think it's a fair rule considering how it's called the Champions League so the Champions of the league should be qualifying directly

dat argument

 

[Chainsaw]

Nothing fair to get into the Champions League group stage just to become the punching bag of the stronger teams. Ridiculous rule.

 

[S7_MUFC]

dat argument

Only League winners qualified for the tournament in the past so why shouldn't league winners get some favourable treatment?, if you start favouring stronger teams than teams from weaker leagues will never qualify for the group stage. The idea behind current system is to encourage investment in the weaker league by making CL money available to them..

 

[StarLord]

Nothing fair to get into the Champions League group stage just to become the punching bag of the stronger teams. Ridiculous rule.

For the small clubs that get into the CL via the "champions route" that is still a colossal triumph since for them, playing the likes of Barca/Real/Juventus etc etc is an earth-shattering occasion. Moreover, the money they receive from UEFA for making the GS is an El Dorado (this season, it will be around 17m euros) That is a gargantuan sum for teams from minor leagues that allows them to dominate their own domestic leagues and in turn have their annual very good opportunity at making the GS again safe in the knowledge that they won't have to face any proper CL clubs in order to get there. This generates a vicious cycle for their domestic opponents.

Additionally, the presence of these minor clubs in the CL makes the GS much worse than it has to be.

 

[StarLord]

Only League winners qualified for the tournament in the past so why shouldn't league winners get some favourable treatment?, if you start favouring stronger teams than teams from weaker leagues will never qualify for the group stage. The idea behind current system is to encourage investment in the weaker league by making CL money available to them..

Like I said above, this generates a very negative vicious cycle for the domestic rivals of those clubs that manage to get into the CL a couple of times. Platini's rule ends up helping a few clubs from small countries, degrading the CL group stage, and also harming some very strong clubs from major leagues that finish 4th/3rd in the continent's strongest leagues. Total travesty in my mind.

 

[Hamzah]

i like this rule. champions should be rewarded, and teams from lesser footballing nations should have a chance to qualify.

i take it the reason most people are bitching is that valenica have to play monaco, so what? if they are good enough they'll make it.