⚽UEFA Champions League Discussion Thread -- 2021/22 winner - Real Madrid!

[Smartvirus]

Well let's see,, this was a double sided sword...that away goal was unfair in the first place and also an advantage to the visiting team if they got things right in the first leg.

Yeah, its actually a double edged sword to that level. The cutting edge is determined by the team that means it the most. Most teams feel its a favour for the away side and it seems so because, all they have to do is to score more goals and defend on the return leg but then, the same thing could be said for the home side. You defend or avoid conceiving any goal and look for a way to score on the away side during the returning leg. Its pretty much the same thing. The side that puts in the more effort on the first leg becomes the decider of it all. Besides, there have been come backs that made this rule pretty much worthless. Like the UCL game between Barcelona and PSG where Neymar Jnr was rubbed of being man of the match. The away goal rule is pretty much fair to me.

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[Juggy777]

UEFA has just made a historic decision:
''Abolition of the away goals rule in all UEFA club competitions''

It took UEFA half a century to change this decision.
What do you think, will this change the way clubs will play in European competitions in the future?
Do you think this is a good decision by UEFA?

Source: https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/mediaservices/mediareleases/news/026a-1298aeb73a7a-5b64cb68d920-1000--abolition-of-the-away-goals-rule-in-all-uefa-club-competitions/

This is a very timely decision. These rules needed to be changed earlier. Changes to these rules will make matches more competitive. Penalty kicks will be given if both teams have the same number of goals even after playing in extra time. As a result, as a general spectator, the match will be more exciting for us.

Some say that the penalty shootout will be the dominant phenomenon in deciding the matches, and this will weaken the competition and reduce its suspense and excitement. But i think its going to get games more exciting as since 09/10 season the average goals per game has remained fairly consistent across European competitions, with an overall average so this move could make teams looking to score more goals.

@DIA7 finally no more confusion as i always found this rule to be idiotic, because many times undeserving teams won due to this rule coming into play. Furthermore I feel the next few transfer windows will be about penalty specialist player’s, because teams would like to strengthen in this department.

[swogerino]

UEFA has just made a historic decision:
''Abolition of the away goals rule in all UEFA club competitions''

It took UEFA half a century to change this decision.
What do you think, will this change the way clubs will play in European competitions in the future?
Do you think this is a good decision by UEFA?

Source: https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/mediaservices/mediareleases/news/026a-1298aeb73a7a-5b64cb68d920-1000--abolition-of-the-away-goals-rule-in-all-uefa-club-competitions/

I agree with UEFA this time,they took a lot of time to fix this flaw in my opinion as why one goal when playing away should have more weight than when playing at home.Now the games will be much better and the chances will be equal for most of the teams and not be decided by away goals.Now we will see a much open play in Champions where usually after the group stages the teams who qualified have played really carefully.I think with this decision this will go away and it is good for all of us sport fans.

[cryptofrka]

I disliked the golden goals rule as well, I'm glad they are scrapping that one. It doesn't matter where you score the goals, if you score an equal amount you should play on until you get the winner.

This removes the calculating aspect of the game and it makes way more sense, it will be a bit weird at first because that away goal rule was so heavily used, but is a great decision overall.

[BlackViruse]

I disliked the golden goals rule as well, I'm glad they are scrapping that one. It doesn't matter where you score the goals, if you score an equal amount you should play on until you get the winner.

The Away goal abolition is a great move from UEFA as this would change the way some teams play whenever they go away with the mindset of scoring a goal and falling back to defence for the rest of the game.

[joker_josue]

The Away goal abolition is a great move from UEFA as this would change the way some teams play whenever they go away with the mindset of scoring a goal and falling back to defence for the rest of the game.

Now all that's left is to create rules to prevent players from simulating injuries and the game being stopped for 2 or 3 minutes without meaning.

[LTU_btc]

Before EURO semfinal, tonight there is Champions league 1st qualifying round games will be played. I know that for most of you, these thems aren't familiar for you, but for me it's not bad opportunity to make some money. My bets for tonight.
HJK Helsinki - Buducnost - over 2.5 @167
Flora - Hibernians - home win @1.67
CFR Cluj - Borac Banja Luka - over 2.5 @1.67
Zalgiris - Linfield - no BTTS @1.55

[morvillz7z]

^ I'm in the same boat as you, love betting on those first/second qualifying rounds, since you can always find good value.

I have the favorites in my main ticket, Ferencvaros (0:1) + CFR Cluj to win + Linfield Clean Sheet NO at around 1.88

@LTU_btc, Zalgiris scoring at least one tonight, right?  

If i'm not mistaken they play at home on artificial turf, those guys from Northern Ireland will have trouble adjusting to it imo, plus Linfield's season hasn't started yet.

[LTU_btc]

@LTU_btc, Zalgiris scoring at least one tonight, right?  

If i'm not mistaken they play at home on artificial turf, those guys from Northern Ireland will have trouble adjusting to it imo, plus Linfield's season hasn't started yet.

Yep, that's my expectation .
And yes, game will be played on artificial turf and it's hot there, almost 30C degree, so, it won't be easy to play.
It's advantage for Zalgiris that Linfield season didn't started yet, but also, squad of Zalgiris looks better, just check market values of both teams on Transfermarkt.

[DU18]

I disliked the golden goals rule as well, I'm glad they are scrapping that one. It doesn't matter where you score the goals, if you score an equal amount you should play on until you get the winner.

The Away goal abolition is a great move from UEFA as this would change the way some teams play whenever they go away with the mindset of scoring a goal and falling back to defence for the rest of the game.

true, with the elimination of away goals in the champions league of course the match (second leg) will be more interesting to watch, we know so far the team that acts as the host will prefer to survive and try not to concede at all, so the match will be relatively more boring according to me, but after this rule, it is certain that both teams will play aggressively to attack each other to score the winning goal, but with this rule of course we will no longer see teams making surprising comeback, because equalizing on aggregate is no longer counted as a way to smooth out the move a team and the winner will be determined by the number of goals.

[snipie]

Now all that's left is to create rules to prevent players from simulating injuries and the game being stopped for 2 or 3 minutes without meaning.

Stopping the watch like in handball or basketball? That would be great and let soccer looks more professional imo.

@LTU_btc, Zalgiris scoring at least one tonight, right? 

If i'm not mistaken they play at home on artificial turf, those guys from Northern Ireland will have trouble adjusting to it imo, plus Linfield's season hasn't started yet.

Yep, that's my expectation .
And yes, game will be played on artificial turf and it's hot there, almost 30C degree, so, it won't be easy to play.
It's advantage for Zalgiris that Linfield season didn't started yet, but also, squad of Zalgiris looks better, just check market values of both teams on Transfermarkt.

In this first qualifying round, I barely recognise a team apart from Dinamo Zagreb at the opposite of the second qualifying round. I guess I will just take a look on scores but checking stadium details and Transfermarket to get a better idea about the game is a wise move. After all Zalgiris scored more than a goal

[cryptofrka]

I recognize most of the teams, betting-wise it's a guessing game though. Better to skip a few of these early rounds, these low-tier teams can vary by a huge amount from season to season.

Dinamo is expected to progress easily against Valur, the game is just before the Euro semi so I'll watch a bit to see how the team is set up for this season. On paper they look good, not much changes compared to last year.

[Juggy777]

I recognize most of the teams, betting-wise it's a guessing game though. Better to skip a few of these early rounds, these low-tier teams can vary by a huge amount from season to season.

Dinamo is expected to progress easily against Valur, the game is just before the Euro semi so I'll watch a bit to see how the team is set up for this season. On paper they look good, not much changes compared to last year.

@cryptofrka you seem to watch football a lot, because baring few teams I barely know the rest and hence I’m adopting a cautious approach for the qualifying rounds. Also I too believe that Dinamo shall win their match, and I expect couple of goals from them.

[LTU_btc]

I forgot to post my bets tonight, but same like yesterday, I won 3 of 4 my bets. Only Malmo disappointed - I had over 2.5 goals on this game.
Tomorrow I will post my bets in Europa Conference league thread. 30 game will be played, so, even more options to bet. Though, most of teams are known even less and there is some names which I see first time.

In this first qualifying round, I barely recognise a team apart from Dinamo Zagreb at the opposite of the second qualifying round.

Dinamo Zagreb probably is most famous team starting tournament so early. But there is some more teams which are known more or less, because they play almost every season in group stage of Champions league - Malmo, Cluj, Ferencvaros, Legia or Ludogorets.

[morvillz7z]

I forgot to post my bets tonight, but same like yesterday, I won 3 of 4 my bets. Only Malmo disappointed - I had over 2.5 goals on this game.

3/4 not bad, congrats!

I'm hella pissed at Malmo, they ruined two tickets of mine, i had them live bet at the half (red card for Riga) to score O1.5 but they couldn't at 22 to 1 goal attempts at the end, this should have been 3 or 4 to nil. The Swedes and Maccabi Haifa screwed my hail mary parlay with almost 100/1 payout, this one was so close, as you can see from the screenshot. My only win x2 btts at around 5 total odds...it could have been better.

The story of the night was Dinamo Zagreb conceding two late goals from Valur (88' and 89' minute), AH -1.5 /-2.5 bettors on suicide watch. 

[cryptofrka]

@cryptofrka you seem to watch football a lot, because baring few teams I barely know the rest and hence I’m adopting a cautious approach for the qualifying rounds. Also I too believe that Dinamo shall win their match, and I expect couple of goals from them.

I used to bet a lot and I play a lot of football games, I wasted my entire childhood on Football Manager games
Also, I am from Croatia, our teams are mostly shit so when they get to Europe they play against all kind of weak opponents from all over Europe.

__________________________

Regarding Dinamo yesterday, if I wasn't following them for a while, I'd be amazed by yesterday's result. Because I am following them, it seemed perfectly normal to miss a penalty and then concede 2 goals in 2 minutes. Happens every time.

[Karartma1]

CL comes back! Seven days ago, the first leg of the first round of the Champions' preliminaries was played. In the return leg, we will see the first effects of the new rule, introduced last May, that no longer takes into account goals scored away from home: in case of a tie, the match will go to extra time and then possibly to penalties. I did some research and will share my next betslip:
Borac Banja Luka-Cluj
Hibernians-Flora Tallinn
Prishtina-Ferencvaros
Valur Reykjavik-Dinamo Zagreb
Buducnost Podgorica-HJK

[snipie]

Borac Banja Luka-Cluj
Hibernians-Flora Tallinn
Prishtina-Ferencvaros
Valur Reykjavik-Dinamo Zagreb
Buducnost Podgorica-HJK

Tallinn and HJK @around 2
Ferencvaros and Cluj @around 1.5
Zagreb @around 1.3 = not interesting but BTTS around 2 isn't bad imo considering the 3-2 in the first leg?
I am not very familiar with this stage so I will think about it, thanks for sharing

[swogerino]

CL comes back! Seven days ago, the first leg of the first round of the Champions' preliminaries was played. In the return leg, we will see the first effects of the new rule, introduced last May, that no longer takes into account goals scored away from home: in case of a tie, the match will go to extra time and then possibly to penalties. I did some research and will share my next betslip:
Borac Banja Luka-Cluj
Hibernians-Flora Tallinn
Prishtina-Ferencvaros
Valur Reykjavik-Dinamo Zagreb
Buducnost Podgorica-HJK

Sound like a good choice.The problem is we have always seen surprises during the preliminary stages as we don't know thoroughly each team,we know who is stronger by the name of the team but we don't really know their players.Sheriff Tiraspol has always been a good team which has about 1 mln Euro budget which is a big one for teams at this level and in fact they crashed their opponent in the first leg by winning 0-4 away.So surprises happen but I would also bet a parlay with three teams in Champions as this has always been the case with me since a lot of time,2001 or something like that was the beginning.

[tyz]

CL comes back! Seven days ago, the first leg of the first round of the Champions' preliminaries was played. In the return leg, we will see the first effects of the new rule, introduced last May, that no longer takes into account goals scored away from home: in case of a tie, the match will go to extra time and then possibly to penalties. I did some research and will share my next betslip:
Borac Banja Luka-Cluj
Hibernians-Flora Tallinn
Prishtina-Ferencvaros
Valur Reykjavik-Dinamo Zagreb
Buducnost Podgorica-HJK

Always hard to bet on prelims because you never know where a team stands. So basically everything is possible and the makes betting hard on prelims. However, I would follow your bets on a win of Cluj, Ferencvaros, Dinamo Zagreb and HJK. On your second match I would rather for a win of Hibernians because they played a good last season in the Scottish Premier League.