Champions League 69!! (2023-24 edition)

[Captain Ron 12862]

This is the 69th edition of the Champions League. NICE!!!

This year's final will be played in Wembley.

The Group Stage teams are all decided, with 78 teams whittled down to 32. The last 6 spots were punched in the last two days.

Matchdays for the Group Stage are:

Matchday 1: 19–20 September 2023
Matchday 2: 3–4 October 2023
Matchday 3: 24–25 October 2023
Matchday 4: 7–8 November 2023
Matchday 5: 28–29 November 2023
Matchday 6: 12–13 December 2023

 

The draw is tomorrow - Noon Eastern. Teams are potted as follows (in Club Coefficient order)

Pot 1
Manchester City (England)
Sevilla (Spain)
Barcelona (Spain)
Napoli (Italy)
Bayern Munich (Germany)
Paris Saint-Germain (France)
Benfica (Portugal)
Feyenoord (Netherlands)

Pot 2
Real Madrid (Spain)
Manchester United (England)
Inter Milan (Italy)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Atlético Madrid (Spain)
RB Leipzig (Germany)
Porto (Portugal)
Arsenal (England)

Pot 3
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Red Bull Salzburg (Austria)
AC Milan (Italy)
Braga (Portugal)
PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
Lazio (Italy)
Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)
FC Copenhagen (Denmark)

Pot 4
Young Boys (Switzerland)
Real Sociedad (Spain)
Galatasaray (Turkey)
Celtic (Scotland)
Newcastle United (England)
Union Berlin (Germany)
Antwerp (Belgium)
Lens (France)

[shnsajax 3591]

Did Rangers really roll out this lineup in todays playoff?

[A-Tex Devil 2446]

Americans are on:

PSV, AC Milan, Union Berlin, Dortmund, Antwerp, Celtic?

Missing anyone?

[The Dog 44017]

 

[ztejas 43411]

4 hours ago, A-Tex Devil said:

Americans are on:

PSV, AC Milan, Union Berlin, Dortmund, Antwerp, Celtic?

Missing anyone?

Knew you were missing at least one. Had to dig a bit. 

Caden Clark - Salzburg.

He of course has yet to see the pitch for them but should get some minutes this season. 

Edited August 31, 2023 by ztejas

[Bottlecap 1523]

Oooft group F 🥵

[Speedtrucker 2071]

Oooft group F

F & B look to be violent groups.

Depending on which version of Galatasary and Shaktar show up to UCL, A & H could also be rough, it’ll probably be the lamb versions this year.

G & D for soft groups

[dieucla98 2942]

Bonmati isn't that short (she's 5'4") but holy hell, she looks like a toddler next to Haaland. 

[shnsajax 3591]

Oooft group F

That’s one of the toughest groups I’ve seen in a while. All four of them could finish first or last and wouldn’t be a real surprise.

[ztejas 43411]

Damn - y'all weren't kidding. Four giants (well - three historical giants plus a huge club that has newfound Saudi money)

PSG seems down this year. I like Castle and Milan of those four - but like y'all said it could be any combination. 

Edited August 31, 2023 by ztejas

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

24 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I like Castle and Milan of those four

Mbappe is going to run around Botman and Schar for fun

[A-Tex Devil 2446]

Found it interesting that Newcastle hasn’t ever played any of AC Milan, Dortmund or PSG.  That is an insane group though. 

[The Dog 44017]

 

[Dutch 4465]

Group of Death has to be F, right? As noted above, I wouldn't be surprised if any of the four got through.  Or didn't make it through.

[ztejas 43411]

Pretty wild fucking draw. There isn't one other group that's even particularly difficult. I mean maybe C or D if you squint a bit?

[Napoleon 8658]

2 hours ago, ztejas said:

Damn - y'all weren't kidding. Four giants (well - three historical giants plus a huge club that has newfound Saudi money)

PSG seems down this year. I like Castle and Milan of those four - but like y'all said it could be any combination. 

This group looks tough, but only one club has…

THE EYE OF THE TIGER!

 

[Captain Ron 12862]

Bump

[ztejas 43411]

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

Looking forward to the Man City vs. Club That Needs To Buy A Vowel

 

[ztejas 43411]

Drink a beer every time City scores. Be too drunk to finish the work day. 

[ztejas 43411]

Milan better in that half - should be up 1-0.

Castle is giving them way too much space in the buildup.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

Did you know Tonali played for Milan and now plays for New Castle?

CBS: Well let me remind you every 2 minutes.

[InkaUtexas 25852]

Milan is pressing. Better watch out for the counterattack. 

[ztejas 43411]

Disasterclass from Leao today. He has to be so frustrating for their fans. 

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

Nice start for Porto

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

3 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

Nice start for Porto

Not so fast...

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

That Lewandowski guy seems good.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

Bye bye Antwerp. 

[beer 3220]

Games about done in 20 minutes, very efficient. 

[beer 3220]

3 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

That Lewandowski guy seems good.

Jewish people and dudes named João

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

That's a goal!!!!!!!

[ztejas 43411]

Slow start to the City title defense. 

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

xG:

Manchester City (2.32) 0-1 (0.05) Red Star

[InkaUtexas 25852]

Lazio's keeper ties it up at 90+5 with a great header. 

[C-Man 27182]

2 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

Lazio's keeper ties it up at 90+5 with a great header. 

That was incredible

[Chapo 104]

Pulisic's corners has been so bad, I don't remember it being better in the WC either. 

[The Maestro 750]

If you don’t have it, Paramount+ is offering a 1/2 price annual subscription right now for new accounts - $30.  

[ztejas 43411]

PSV looks terribad.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

5 minutes ago, ztejas said:

PSV looks terribad.

Not as bad as Onana.

[Firemans4Horn 18034]

United replaced a goalie that was bad with his feet with one that is bad with his hands.  Not sure that’s an upgrade. 

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

CL handball rules are wank.

[Firemans4Horn 18034]

5 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

CL handball rules are wank.

that’s a handball for me no matter the tournament. 

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

1 minute ago, Firemans4Horn said:

that’s a handball for me no matter the tournament. 

Because it's Yanited, I agree. 

If it was Liverpool, I'd be pissed. Way too close to the kick.

[Speedtrucker 2071]

Jude is a midfielder that plays like a poacher.

Man he has far exceeded what I was expecting when we signed him.

[Captain Ron 12862]

On 9/19/2023 at 6:02 PM, Chapo said:

Pulisic's corners has been so bad, I don't remember it being better in the WC either. 

He's very inconsistent with his delivery from corners, with more bad than good. He just shouldn't be a teams primary corner taker. I don't watch a lot of AC Milan, but they have to have a better taker than Pulisic.

[Napoleon 8658]

7 hours ago, Captain Ron said:

He's very inconsistent with his delivery from corners, with more bad than good. He just shouldn't be a teams primary corner taker. I don't watch a lot of AC Milan, but they have to have a better taker than Pulisic.

He strangely had a really strong run of games delivering on corners & free kicks in March (I think) and June. 

There was a whole lot of “Where in the fuck did that come from?” In those windows (I believe… or start of his time with AC) and I didn’t know what the fuck had gotten into the guy. 

I guess that he is returning to his natural state of sucking ass on set piece deliveries.

All is right in the world. 

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

Never change, Kepa

[Firemans4Horn 18034]

Jude Bellingham has turned into a top 3 player in the world this season. 

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

Galatasaray / Man U is lit.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

Erik Ten Games Left might be my favorite of all the names I've heard.