CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW - Aug 26
-
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LOWDOWN: The teams to avoid, plum picks and all you need to know about the group stage draw
12:00am (Fri)
It's the draw that will define the season. We tried to get excited about the Champions League qualifying rounds - but here comes the serious stuff: the draw for the group stage.
At 5pm on Thursday in Monaco, the 32 teams left in the competition will learn who is standing between them and a place in next spring's all-important knockout stages.
Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and new boys Tottenham are flying the flag for England, while Rangers represent Scotland.
As ever, the participants are seeded and put into four pots to keep the best and worst apart. But the vagaries of UEFA's coefficient rankings means that there are dangers lurking in each pot.
Last season, for example, eventual winners Inter Milan were in Pot Two and were pulled out in the absolutely stinking Group F alongside Barcelona, Dynamo Kiev and rookie Russian champions Rubin Kazan.
Rubin won at the Nou Camp a year ago and are once again the team to avoid from Pot Four. Tottenham's relatively poor record in recent European competition puts them alongside Rangers in Pot Three, but teams can't draw others from their own country, so those lying in wait for Spurs in the top pot are Inter Milan, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Lyon.
One team from each pot will be drawn to make up the eight groups of four teams.
Sportsmail looks at who are the club to draw in each group, and who should be avoided!...
POT ONE
Inter Milan
Barcelona
Manchester United
Chelsea
Arsenal
Bayern Munich
AC Milan
Lyon
POT TWO
Werder Bremen
Real Madrid
Roma
Shakhtar Donetsk
Benfica
Valencia
Marseille
Panathinaikos
POT THREE
Tottenham
Rangers
Ajax
Schalke
Basel
Braga
Copenhagen
Spartak Moscow
POT FOUR
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Twente
Rubin Kazan
Auxerre
Cluj
Partizan Belgrade
Zilina
Bursaspor
-
Hope Inter Milan meet Real Madrid
-
And they are pair with Spurs and Twente... lol...
That would make one 'hot' group...
-
wth
Spurs are so suay.
-
Bring it on! Hat-trick hero Crouch targets Real and Inter after Spurs seal £30m spot in Euro elite
Going up: Peter Crouch (left) has set his sights high for Spurs' Champions League opponents
Peter Crouch fired Tottenham into the lucrative group stage of the Champions League before declaring: ‘Bring on Real Madrid and Inter Milan.’
The striker’s hat-trick helped Spurs trounce Young Boys and earn a £30million payday.
He said: ‘This is massive, we played extremely well and we deserved the bonus of Champions League football. We want massive games. We want Real Madrid and Inter. You don’t know how good you are until you play against the best.’
-
Crouch
seriously
tis is no joke leh
-
Best if..........
Man Utd + Rubin Kazan + Tottenham + Real Madrid = Man Utd and Tottenham out................
Chelsea + Auxerre + Schalke + Roma = Chelsea out.............
Arsenal + Twente + Ajax + Bremen = Arsenal out...........
-
Best if..........
Man Utd + Rubin Kazan + Tottenham + Real Madrid = Man Utd and Tottenham out................
Chelsea + Auxerre + Schalke + Roma = Chelsea out.............
Arsenal + Twente + Ajax + Bremen = Arsenal out...........
-
Don't you know clubs from the same country can't be pair together in the 1st and 2nd round?
To be honest, any club from Pot 3 and 4 won't make much difference but hope they get Rangers from pot 3 so we can see a battle of Britain again...
From pot 2, only one to avoid is Real Madrid... The others like Roma, Benfica and Werder Bremen are not very good too but still ok... The rest shouldn't be too much of a problem...
Clubs best to avoid are Rubin Kazan, Spartak Moscow, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Bursaspor cos of the long distant travel needed... could effect the player when they return...
-
Originally posted by zocoss:
Don't you know clubs from the same country can't be pair together in the 1st and 2nd round?
To be honest, any club from Pot 3 and 4 won't make much difference but hope they get Rangers from pot 3 so we can see a battle of Britain again...
From pot 2, only one to avoid is Real Madrid... The others like Roma, Benfica and Werder Bremen are not very good too but still ok... The rest shouldn't be too much of a problem...
Clubs best to avoid are Rubin Kazan, Spartak Moscow, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Bursaspor cos of the long distant travel needed... could effect the player when they return...
what u expect from a NUT???
-
I wanna see Spurs v AC Milan!!
-
Spurs, real madrid, inter, twente
-
hmm
y onli gt one group?
-
Originally posted by Bus&Soccer l0v3r (VO3x 1):
hmm
y onli gt one group?
I think that's just his prediction?
-
hmm i think so
i think 12am then start vote
-
Watch the Champioms League Draw live here...
-
Start liao...
-
Draw is also being shown on mio channel 110 right now...
-
man utd group C
barcelona group D
ac milan group G
bayern group E
lyon group B
inter milan group A
arsenal group H
chelsea group F
pot 1 chosen
-
Group A
Inter Milan
Werder Bremen
Tottenham
Twente
Group B
Lyon
Benfica
Schalke
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Group C
Manchester United
Valencia
Rangers
Bursaspor
Group D
Barcelona
Panathinaikos
Copenhagen
Rubin Kazan
Group E
Bayern Munich
Roma
Basel
Cluj
Group F
Chelsea
Marseille
Spartak Moscow
Zilina
Group G
AC Milan
Real Madrid
Ajax
Auxerre
Group H
Arsenal
Shakhtar Donetsk
Braga
Partizan Belgrade
-
1st time watching champs league draw
-
valencia with man utd
real madrid with ac milan
roma with bayern
benifica with lyon
shaktar with arsenal
panathinakos with barcelona
marseile with chelsea
werde bremen with inter milan
-
Na bei, ManU pick up again! easy one... Valencia!
-
AC gets Real... lol.
-
Real & Ac milan.
Repeat again?
_cropped.svg){kind=spacer}