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

[tokeweed]

^  Nono.  Not that early in the KO stages.  It would be a lot better and a lot more exciting to see those clubs go against each other in the quarter finals and the semi finals.  Lol. 

I think the clubs that have a real shot to go to the finals and win it are Man City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.  Not really sure about the rest but Liverpool could be a dark horse and may Napoli too.  I'll prolly start watching the CL a lot more closer as the KO stages awaits!

[BITCOIN4X]

I think the clubs that have a real shot to go to the finals and win it are Man City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.  Not really sure about the rest but Liverpool could be a dark horse and may Napoli too.  I'll prolly start watching the CL a lot more closer as the KO stages awaits!

The three teams you mentioned will probably advance to the semi-finals if they manage to qualify from the last 16 against the unseeded teams. I hope Manchester City really prove their worth this season against their opponents even though last season they had to be stopped by Real Madrid. I'll see the odds after the last 16 draw, at least I don't expect them to fail this season.

My guess is that there will be an early final in the semi-final which should be a final between teams like Real Madrid, Manchester City or Bayern Munich. We will see later.

[Luzin]

I think the clubs that have a real shot to go to the finals and win it are Man City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.  Not really sure about the rest but Liverpool could be a dark horse and may Napoli too.  I'll prolly start watching the CL a lot more closer as the KO stages awaits!

They missed the UCL because so long not to come, so Man City bought Haaland for quite a expensive.  Pep really longs to be able to bring a big ear to Man City. If I'm not mistaken, Man City have never been able to win when coached by Pep.   I agree that those three teams have a great chance of advancing to the semifinals. But I'm a big favourite with Man City, although there may be a lot of surprises that I can't predict. I'm looking forward to the draw for the first knockout round. When will it be done?

[arimamib]

Champions league is main for tough team unlike average teams that didnthwur best to qualify for the round of 16. Any team that makes it to the round of 16 is consider a big club and their formation tight, ready to matchup fights for the title. Real madrid remain my favorite to win the league this season because their form this season is incredible with winning last night game 5-1. The los blancos are not taking chances when it comes to games in UEFEA.

Undeniably, Real Madrid as defending champions will be in the list of favorite teams this season. Real Madrid performances are also very consistent, one of Real Madrid best performances in the group stage when they beat Celtic 5-1.
But you must not forget the other clubs, Bayern Munich, Manchester City and PSG. This club can be the toughest competitor for Real Madrid in the title race, their performance in the group stage is also very convincing. Bayern Munich is one of the teams to watch out for in the UCL, in the group stage they were able to win from all matches.

Napoli can be the underdogs this season, his performances during the Group stage were very good, Luciano Spalletti men managed to beat Liverpool by finishing as group winners. Real Madrid must always perform optimally to get to the final while defending the title, Ancelotti also must not underestimate other teams, because they can be a team that can eliminate Real Madrid from the UCL stage.

[bullrun2024bro]

The last 16 is now in the draw and I should have wanted to see a match between Real Madrid and an equal club like PSG, Bayern Munich or maybe Man City. The results of the draw which will take place on November 7, 2022, make the clubs have to be prepared to face quite a complicated possibility. In this phase, I expect something more challenging for a giant club.

Below you will find the probabilities for the draw of the matches for the round of 16 in the CL:



Source: https://twitter.com/footantic/status/1588060575673745408

Pretty crazy that FC Bayern, as group winners without a loss, can only face four different teams. And that includes PSG (20%) and Liverpool FC (37%). WTF.

If Bayern had lost a few games and only finished second in their group, that would probably have been better for the draw. 

[Rockstarguy]

Champions league is main for tough team unlike average teams that didnthwur best to qualify for the round of 16. Any team that makes it to the round of 16 is consider a big club and their formation tight, ready to matchup fights for the title. Real madrid remain my favorite to win the league this season because their form this season is incredible with winning last night game 5-1. The los blancos are not taking chances when it comes to games in UEFEA.

Champions league is one of the toughest league. If you check teams that are able to qualify are teams that are doing well in their various home league. But I don't still expect Barcelona to perform well in the Champions League because they are doing well in laliga even better than last season. Barcelona is so complicated to understand what made them to perform bad in the Champions League.

[LittleBitFunny]

Champions league is main for tough team unlike average teams that didnthwur best to qualify for the round of 16. Any team that makes it to the round of 16 is consider a big club and their formation tight, ready to matchup fights for the title. Real madrid remain my favorite to win the league this season because their form this season is incredible with winning last night game 5-1. The los blancos are not taking chances when it comes to games in UEFEA.

Champions league is one of the toughest league. If you check teams that are able to qualify are teams that are doing well in their various home league. But I don't still expect Barcelona to perform well in the Champions League because they are doing well in laliga even better than last season. Barcelona is so complicated to understand what made them to perform bad in the Champions League.

Every team that has qualified for the knockout rounds of the Champions League is strong. There is no chance to think of any team as weak here. Each team managed to qualify for the knockout round by performing well. So I would say the second round will be more competitive than the first round.
Barcelona's performance was not satisfactory. Their squad was strong. Even then they did not play well. The Barcelona team is still a fairly stable team. They have a lot of talented players. I think Barcelona need more time to stabilize.

[Oluwa-btc]

Champions league is main for tough team unlike average teams that didnthwur best to qualify for the round of 16. Any team that makes it to the round of 16 is consider a big club and their formation tight, ready to matchup fights for the title. Real madrid remain my favorite to win the league this season because their form this season is incredible with winning last night game 5-1. The los blancos are not taking chances when it comes to games in UEFEA.

Champions league is one of the toughest league. If you check teams that are able to qualify are teams that are doing well in their various home league. But I don't still expect Barcelona to perform well in the Champions League because they are doing well in laliga even better than last season. Barcelona is so complicated to understand what made them to perform bad in the Champions League.

Barcelona are suffering bad a result of injuries and also maybe the midfielder's, I feel it's time they let go of Sergio Busquet and drop Gavi a little while and give a trail to De Jong.
Xavi Hernandez needs to find ways to use and manage the current players he has so they can fight Real Madrid until the end for the tittle.
They've been dumped to the Europa League, they failed to win last year, let's see if they sure can.

[BITCOIN4X]

Pretty crazy that FC Bayern, as group winners without a loss, can only face four different teams. And that includes PSG (20%) and Liverpool FC (37%). WTF.

Even if Bayern Munich will only meet one of those 4 clubs, I think they will still be favourites. Bayern Munich are a strong team in the Champions League who in my opinion will have a greater chance of qualifying for the last 16 regardless of whether they face Liverpool or PSG who are actually strong.

I really think Bayern will qualify from the round of 16 because of his good form, but really if Liverpool and PSG are the opponents then the odds will be a bit different compared to the other 2 clubs.

[Bananington]

Barcelona are suffering bad a result of injuries and also maybe the midfielder's, I feel it's time they let go of Sergio Busquet and drop Gavi a little while and give a trail to De Jong.

Injury management is a skill associated with the coaching job, Most teams are facing injury challenges as well, but their coaches do not have any replacements unlike Barcelona that has a team packed with talented players who can stand in as replacements before the transfer window. Barcelona desperately needs a suitable replacement for Sergio Busquets who has been in the club for years. I think they should be looking to get a young defensive midfielder who has some experience and can grow in the club, not going after another player who is getting close to retirement.

[Vinaa77]

The last 16 is now in the draw and I should have wanted to see a match between Real Madrid and an equal club like PSG, Bayern Munich or maybe Man City. The results of the draw which will take place on November 7, 2022, make the clubs have to be prepared to face quite a complicated possibility. In this phase, I expect something more challenging for a giant club.

It is likely that PSG and Liverpool will meet sooner in the season. Considering PSG and Liverpool only qualified as runners-up, while Real Madrid was the group winner. And last season, Real Madrid met PSG in the round of 16. But I don't want Real Madrid to meet PSG sooner, so the match will be more exciting in the round of 8. I think Real Madrid have met PSG several times in the round of 16, but Real always win one step and get a ticket to advance to the round of 8.
Round of 16, 2021
Agg: 3-2 Real Madrid
Round of 16, 2017
Agg: 2-5 Real Madrid
And have met PSG in the group stage twice, but PSG are superior.

in 2021, PSG be strengthened by great players, such as Neymar, Messi and Mbappé. However, the three best players were not able to bring PSG through to the top 8.
Maybe this time they will do better, because considering that PSG have not bagged a UEFA champion during their career in football.

Liverpool have also met Real Madrid in the UEFA final in 2017 and 2021. That is, in the same year they beat PSG. But both were won by Real Madrid. I think it's something interesting for 2022.

[imamusma]

It is likely that PSG and Liverpool will meet sooner in the season. Considering PSG and Liverpool only qualified as runners-up, while Real Madrid was the group winner.

They will not meet in the round of 16 because both are non-seeded teams who will be drawn against the seeded team. I think Liverpool will very likely meet Bayern Munich or maybe Real Madrid, but if this time Real Madrid are still very lucky then they will meet Club Brugge or Frankfurt. But I definitely won't be serious about this. 

Actually there are several sites that assess the probability of the big 16 draw, but I think I'd prefer to watch the draw results live on November 7th. I'm sure there will be a big match in the last 16, maybe PSG and Liverpool will meet the title favorites this season.

[KTChampions]

It would be nice if Simeone himself thought to resign. Didn't those thoughts cross his mind? He has been coaching Atletico for 11 years. Yes, he had great victories, but damn it, first of all, is he really not interested in new challenges? Secondly, Atlético has been degrading for quite some time. Zero new ideas, zero development (although I may be biased, but from the outside it looks like this). I think it's high time to change something here.
Disagree about Scottish football - they are obviously weak compared to the top leagues, but not every weak country can boast two clubs in the Champions League.

Simeone resign himself? Considering how much money he is getting in Madrid, I think it's very unlikely to happen, he would be iditiot if he would do that.
Well, obviously both Scottish clubs were beyond champions league level this season. IIRC, they have two clubs in Champions league after very long break. Celtic qualified as champions, while Rangers unexpected eliminated PSV. But in general, level of their league is far from what they had in best times.

But he's been getting that kind of salary for years now, does he still need it so badly that he can ignore his ambition and the stagnation that has already overtaken him? 11 years! This is an insane term in modern football.

Below you will find the probabilities for the draw of the matches for the round of 16 in the CL:



Source: https://twitter.com/footantic/status/1588060575673745408

Pretty crazy that FC Bayern, as group winners without a loss, can only face four different teams. And that includes PSG (20%) and Liverpool FC (37%). WTF.

If Bayern had lost a few games and only finished second in their group, that would probably have been better for the draw. 

This is real madness for Bayern! The chances of getting Brugge or Milan (which is also not so easy and officially the champion of Italy) is less than half LOL. But there is no one to blame for this - three German clubs (except Bayern) were able to qualify from second place and these are additional points in favor of German football.

[snipie]

-snip-
Pretty crazy that FC Bayern, as group winners without a loss, can only face four different teams. And that includes PSG (20%) and Liverpool FC (37%). WTF.

If Bayern had lost a few games and only finished second in their group, that would probably have been better for the draw. 

Yeah since teams playing in the same group and league cannot face each other then Bayern's choices are limited. When I saw this table, dunno why I hoped that PSG won't face Bayern. These two teams deserve to play in the finals not here!
Now regarding Liverpool, their hope is to avoid Bayern mainly, but also Real Madrid and to face Porto or Benfica. Nothing guarantees they will win against them but at least to be able to advance and maybe until these games start, Liverpool will be better than now..

[CLS63]

It was really unexpected for me to witness PSG finishing the group stage at the second position. I didn't think that Benfica would be able to get a win that would be enough to take the lead. But they really demolished Maccabi Haifa like 6-1 and deserved the lead for sure. They didn't even lose to PSG in both matches so they are one of the dangerous teams now on paper.

It must be really scary for seeded teams to have the possibility of getting a draw against PSG now. Liverpool are also among the unseeded teams and their performance in the Champions League has been impressive recently. They play like the opposite of their Premier League performance. I just wish that we wouldn't see a draw like an early finale. It's more enjoyable when we have such matchups while getting close to the end.

[bitgolden]

Barcelona almost had a hard time against Plzen, let alone being able to go up the group stages. I mean its obvious that they were not good enough in UCL this year, but they are not looking like it would be great for them in Europa neither. Between Ajax, Barcelona, Juventus, Leverkusen, and the king of all Europa cups, Sevilla .

The Europa cup will become quite amazing. This year is unlike any other year, we are going to see seriously great teams playing this time around, it’s like UCL in there. But Barcelona really needs to manage something decent in order to keep this up, otherwise if they play against teams there like they played against Plzen then they will not be able to win that neither.

[hyudien]

Pretty crazy that FC Bayern, as group winners without a loss, can only face four different teams. And that includes PSG (20%) and Liverpool FC (37%). WTF.

If Bayern had lost a few games and only finished second in their group, that would probably have been better for the draw. 

Based on the percentage shown, it is enough to make Liverpool have to prepare a lot of stamina ammunition and Mane definitely wants this to happen. After all Liverpool must know how Mane is now a player who can damage Liverpool's defense also I think I agree that in the end, Bayern Munich must face Liverpool. It's a shame that PSG only has 10.9% with Real Madrid.

[tokeweed]

I think the clubs that have a real shot to go to the finals and win it are Man City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.  Not really sure about the rest but Liverpool could be a dark horse and may Napoli too.  I'll prolly start watching the CL a lot more closer as the KO stages awaits!

They missed the UCL because so long not to come, so Man City bought Haaland for quite a expensive.  Pep really longs to be able to bring a big ear to Man City. If I'm not mistaken, Man City have never been able to win when coached by Pep.   I agree that those three teams have a great chance of advancing to the semifinals. But I'm a big favourite with Man City, although there may be a lot of surprises that I can't predict. I'm looking forward to the draw for the first knockout round. When will it be done?

Oh for sure.  Did anybody itt see the video when they got eliminated at the semi final?  I think it was the UCL season before the one last year or was it the other year..  But anyway, in the video Pep and his coaches were thowing and smashing stuff in frustration and shouting 'why is the Champions League hard?'.  Something like that.

And I'd argue that the price tag for Haaland is 'expensive'.  I mean yes it is but City get what they paid for which makes it worth it.  So in the long run the club will reap more than the expense.

[KTChampions]

It was really unexpected for me to witness PSG finishing the group stage at the second position. I didn't think that Benfica would be able to get a win that would be enough to take the lead. But they really demolished Maccabi Haifa like 6-1 and deserved the lead for sure. They didn't even lose to PSG in both matches so they are one of the dangerous teams now on paper.

It must be really scary for seeded teams to have the possibility of getting a draw against PSG now. Liverpool are also among the unseeded teams and their performance in the Champions League has been impressive recently. They play like the opposite of their Premier League performance. I just wish that we wouldn't see a draw like an early finale. It's more enjoyable when we have such matchups while getting close to the end.

This result was not obvious even after the first half - Benfica needed to score 5 goals (at the same time before this game they scored only 3 goals away), but they somehow managed to do it.
By the way, last year Benfica reached the quarterfinals where they lost to Liverpool in a decent fight. Obviously, unlike Liverpool, they have not become weaker over the past year.
As for high-profile couples in 1/8, I'm sure there will be, since out of 16 teams we have only 4 obviously weak ones: Brugge, Frankfurt, Leipzig and Porto. It turns out that in the worst case we will have 4 very strong pairs.

[arimamib]

The group stage of the Champions League has ended, after this the competition will continue to the round of 16, there is a possibility that the top teams will meet each other in the knockout round. The Champions League always gives a lot of surprises in the knockout round, Drawing the last 16 will bring together the group winners with the runners-up. The scheme will have a big match that will be presented in the last 16 this time.

In the draw rules for the round of 16, teams from the same Domestic league will not be met and teams from the same group will not be met. If pay attention to the scenario of the drawing rules, there is a possibility that a match involving Liverpool and PSG will become a big match.

Liverpool and PSG have to settle for being runners up in their respective groups, they will be met with teams that won other groups. Liverpool might meet Bayern Munich, PSG might meet Real Madrid or Manchester City. Although there is no certainty that this team will meet, the potential for the big match is clearly unavoidable.