⚽UEFA Champions League Discussion Thread -- 2023/24 | Prelim Qualifiers

[MK-74]

I'm watching the Galatasaray-Zalgiris game, only Galatasaray played in the first half. Mertens' goal was very good.
I think they tried this position before in training. We need to score at least one more goal.

[1714690119]

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[1714690119]

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[1714690119]

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[notblox1]

BATE won't be repeating past seasons' journey, good riddance. Anyone think Sheriff will be tonight's BATE?

There was no chance for Sheriff and I know you love betting on underdogs.
Servette going in next stage against Genk was amazing, they had red for the card whole match but they managed to hold, and I think they could do serious damage to someone in next rounds.
Do we already have any brackets for next CL round pairs?

update: I found brackets for next week on wiki page


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%E2%80%9324_UEFA_Champions_League

[casperBGD]

-snip
Servette going in next stage against Genk was amazing, they had red for the card whole match but they managed to hold, and I think they could do serious damage to someone in next rounds.

I would not underestimate Servette chances against Rangers, they can pass this step, it will be nice to watch for sure

but heroes of the day come from Faroe Island, after Ferencvaros, Klaksvik eliminated Hacken to pass into next round

Molde should be better, but after these two, I would not sign-off Klaksvik just like that
everybody plays football these days

[Captain Corporate]

I talked about it in our turkish section but I wanted to write it here as well. As a Galatasaray fan, I found this game to be shameful beyond understanding. It was a terrible game and all of the players should feel ashamed for playing like this, they possibly could not have any good reason why they played this badly. I understand that after a while they will end up being a bit better, I understand that its going to get a few games for them to find their shape, but they just can't play like this all game long, this isn't any good at all, it was shameful. I hope we get better, it should be very important for them to realize they need to get in shape, they all came back horrible after the break, they need more training.

[MK-74]

Galatasaray's next opponent is Olimpija. It cannot be said that they played well today. It will not be an easy match against Olimpija. As far as I understand, Galatasaray is not ready yet. If we continue to play like this, we will be eliminated from the Champions League.

[LTU_btc]

Galatasaray - Zalgiris game looked more or less like I expected. Gala had posession, while Zalgiris parked bus and tried to catch their moment on counter attack. They got it, but as usual, Oyewusi wasted it. Mertens goal was amazing, but honestly, expected something more from Galatasaray.
Klaksvik shows that eliminating Ferencvaros was luck. Now they kicked out Hacken after penalties and goes to 3rd round. For me it was strange that Hacken were favoured so clearly by bookmakers, despite that on 1st leg they weren't better team.
Copenhagen 6:3 Breidabik - what was that!? 9 goals in single game, wow. Genk simly bottled today. Servette player got red on 3rd minute already, Genk were leading twice and they still managed to lose.

I talked about it in our turkish section but I wanted to write it here as well. As a Galatasaray fan, I found this game to be shameful beyond understanding. It was a terrible game and all of the players should feel ashamed for playing like this, they possibly could not have any good reason why they played this badly. I understand that after a while they will end up being a bit better, I understand that its going to get a few games for them to find their shape, but they just can't play like this all game long, this isn't any good at all, it was shameful. I hope we get better, it should be very important for them to realize they need to get in shape, they all came back horrible after the break, they need more training.

I wouldn't be that much concerned, after all, Galatasaray still didn't had some big names who will have important role in their squad. But yeah, if on 1st leg they found plastic pitch as excuse of not impressive performance, today I expected something more from them.

[CLS63]

Galatasaray are still not ready for this season yet. This was why they struggled this much against Zalgiris in both legs. The match could have even continued with extra time as Zalgiris also found some significant chances to score. Especially Oyewusi's impressive dribbling all the way from their half to the opponent box was really dangerous. He didn't have good finishing skills and wasted it. It is still nice to see all the Turkish teams in European competitions are maintaining their run.

But especially Galatasaray will need to get ready for their next matchup against NK Olimpija Ljubljana much better than this.

[buwaytress]

-snip
Servette going in next stage against Genk was amazing, they had red for the card whole match but they managed to hold, and I think they could do serious damage to someone in next rounds.

I would not underestimate Servette chances against Rangers, they can pass this step, it will be nice to watch for sure

but heroes of the day come from Faroe Island, after Ferencvaros, Klaksvik eliminated Hacken to pass into next round

Molde should be better, but after these two, I would not sign-off Klaksvik just like that
everybody plays football these days

Lovely results, shame I'm not betting as normal would already be making such a killing before proper seasons already start. In fact, I'll be missing betting markets another whole 2 weeks as am not with usual timezone -- hope you guys are enjoying the big value wins!

Rangers no longer the same for past couple of seasons really. Morelos became more and more of a liability, got rid of him too late and now they can't find goals.

[notblox1]

Molde should be better, but after these two, I would not sign-off Klaksvik just like that
everybody plays football these days

Whole population of Faroe Islands is around 50 thousand people so you cant expect any good quality team coming out from there, this is simple mathematics.
I am not saying Molde is a world class team but they are way above Klaksvik, and Klaksvik wont repeat this result again.
Next rounds of qualifications are going to be much more interesting for sure.

Rangers no longer the same for past couple of seasons really. Morelos became more and more of a liability, got rid of him too late and now they can't find goals.

Many players left them at the end of last season and if they sell Glen Kamara they will have real problems this season.

[MK-74]

Galatasaray are still not ready for this season yet. This was why they struggled this much against Zalgiris in both legs. The match could have even continued with extra time as Zalgiris also found some significant chances to score. Especially Oyewusi's impressive dribbling all the way from their half to the opponent box was really dangerous. He didn't have good finishing skills and wasted it. It is still nice to see all the Turkish teams in European competitions are maintaining their run.

But especially Galatasaray will need to get ready for their next matchup against NK Olimpija Ljubljana much better than this.

Galatasaray definitely needs to be better prepared for tomorrow's game. Everyone agrees that the team is not ready.

Mauro Icardi, Wilfried Zaha and Günay Güvenç reported to UEFA.
These three names will now be able to play in matches.
Most importantly for me, Mauro Icardi, I think our striker problem is solved.

[ILuckyGuyI]

Galatasaray definitely needs to be better prepared for tomorrow's game. Everyone agrees that the team is not ready.

Mauro Icardi, Wilfried Zaha and Günay Güvenç reported to UEFA.
These three names will now be able to play in matches.
Most importantly for me, Mauro Icardi, I think our striker problem is solved.

I'm also really happy to see Icardi and Zaha both being registered for the upcoming game tomorrow. I won't have huge expectations from Zaha in his first official game though. Because this team is totally new for him so he might need to take his time a little to adapt maybe. But it would be lovely to see him making a similar start to Icardi's first times. 

I'm confident about Icardi on the other hand. He didn't have a long time period for a well training to get ready for new season. But I still think this won't be a big hindrance for him to perform well. He loves being here a lot and I think that he will start well to the season by this game.

[LTU_btc]

Today's game between AEK and Dinamo Zagreb was postponed to next week after one AEK fan was killed in fans riots. Or I should said clash of criminals...
It looks like quite safe options to go PSV ML and over 2.5 goals in PSV - Sturm and and Braga Topola games. It looks that Braga good easy opponent on paper who basically don't have experience playing in UEFA cups.
Klaksvik - Molde, I expect similar image like in previous Klaksvik games and 0:0 result wouldn't be surprising at all, so, I go with under 2.5 goals. After what they already did, eliminating Molde doesn't looks like impossible task.
Olimpija - Galatasaray, despite additions to squad, I expect that it will be very difficult game for Gala, but I put some money on their win. And also small stake on Rakow ML.

[morvillz7z]

Today's game between AEK and Dinamo Zagreb was postponed to next week after one AEK fan was killed in fans riots. Or I should said clash of criminals...
<...>

I guess UEFA is now switching both legs. The second will become the first, the first - second, and both will be played within four days.

source: https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/news/0284-18af7f742586-87cde98a7089-1000--uefa-statement-on-aek-athens-fc-vs-gnk-dinamo-match/

The match GNK Dinamo (CRO) vs AEK Athens FC (GRE) in Zagreb will be played on Tuesday 15 August 2023 (20:00 CET) as scheduled.

UEFA confirms that the new date for the rescheduled match between AEK Athens FC (GRE) and GNK Dinamo (CRO) is Saturday 19 August 2023 with kick-off time at 20:45 CET (21:45 local time).

From what i read Dinamo's fans were not even allowed to travel due to UEFA restriction/ban. They got past the Greek border posing as regular tourists with cars. Tragic development but certainly not the first time something like this happens...the Super Cup next week is set to be played in Greece.


As for the matches later today, i've got my eyes on btts and O2.5 on the Rakow/Aris match. Will try to live bet it, odds seem like a gift considering how attacking both sides are.

edit; gg

[LTU_btc]

Damn, Klaksvik went above my expectations again. When they were down 0:1, I thought, ok, it'snot worst possible outcome. But then comes Frederiksberg who scored 2 goals and took win for Klaksvik. He already scored 6 goals in qualifiers. And one of it today was simply genius - everyone expected that he will make pass, but he made shot and caught goalkeeper not ready.
As expexted, Braga and PSV took easy wins and almost secured place in next round. Today we also saw different face of Galatasary, especially in 2nd half in comparison with previous round. 0:3 win away is serious statement.

[Lucius]

From what i read Dinamo's fans were not even allowed to travel due to UEFA restriction/ban. They got past the Greek border posing as regular tourists with cars. Tragic development but certainly not the first time something like this happens...the Super Cup next week is set to be played in Greece.
~snip~

The Croatian police informed all the countries through which these hooligans would pass, especially the Greek police, and even sent them the license plate numbers of the cars, but for some reason no one even tried to prevent them from practically reaching the stadium itself. In Greece, after all, mass dismissals of top police officials followed, because if they had done their job, this would certainly not have happened.

However, considering that Croatia and Greece are in the Schengen zone, it is obvious that criminals, hooligans or terrorists can freely cross the borders without any control. I say that all those involved should be punished most severely, but that no conclusions should be drawn before the investigation is completed - and in the riots, along with Dinamo ZG fans, Panathinaikos fans took part together with AEK fans - it is yet to be determined who committed the murder.

Unofficially, three Dinamo ZG fans were also injured with sharp objects, probably knives.

[morvillz7z]

<...>

Yeah, some of the specifics around the incident are rather shocking, especially the bit about the Greek police having all the information about Dinamo fans crossing and basically not doing anything.

As for Panathinaikos' ultras involvement, they actually aided Dinamo's ultras (they have close ties), the so-called Gate 13 fraction. There are rumors that the stabbing was carried out by one of their supporters rather than Dinamo's ultras. I guess that's to be confirmed in the following days...

[LTU_btc]

Panathinaikos made little surprise by winning against Marseille. Quite big factor who helped them was Kondogbia second yellow card in 2nd half, but even before that Marseille didn't looked impressive. Nothing surprising about that - it was first official game for them this season.
Rangers won against Servette, but 2:1 result isn't something very confident. 2nd leg game should be interesting.
Maccabi Haifa took a 1:2 win against Slovan away, it's serious step to playoff round.

[casperBGD]

Panathinaikos made little surprise by winning against Marseille.
-snip
Rangers won against Servette, but 2:1 result isn't something very confident. 2nd leg game should be interesting.

Panathinaikos won important match, not sure that they will pass this round, but this is looking as best fixture in this round

Rangers started good, scored two fast goals, but Servette is obviously good enough to pass through at home, win over Gent wasn't by accident
and Gent won 5:0 their first Conference league match, Pogon paid for early knock-out from CL qualies

[RaltcoinsB]

Panathinaikos made little surprise by winning against Marseille.
-snip
Rangers won against Servette, but 2:1 result isn't something very confident. 2nd leg game should be interesting.

Panathinaikos won important match, not sure that they will pass this round, but this is looking as best fixture in this round

Rangers started good, scored two fast goals, but Servette is obviously good enough to pass through at home, win over Gent wasn't by accident
and Gent won 5:0 their first Conference league match, Pogon paid for early knock-out from CL qualies

I think Panathinaikos got a big win in the first match against Marseille. On paper, Marseille seemed to be the favourite, but missing a red card disrupted all team dynamics. Now Marseille will have to work harder to pass the tour in France. Although the Greek team is more effective throughout the match, I can say that their shooting statistics are weak.

[Lucius]

~snip~

It is unbelievable to me that a relatively small group of people can do so much damage to football clubs, national states and cast such an ugly image on football. I think that these hooligans should not have even left Croatia, although according to some information some of the hooligans joined them in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Of course, now there is talk about the fact that AEK fans will want to take revenge for what happened, and these will be high-risk matches. To make matters worse, tonight is the first match of Hajduk Split against PAOK and according to some announcements, the Greek fans, with the help of their brothers from Serbia, are preparing to riot on the streets of Split.