UEFA Champions League 2018/19 | Discussion Thread

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Hoops exit the <a href="https://twitter.com/ChampionsLeague?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChampionsLeague</a> in Athens.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEKCEL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEKCEL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UCL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UCL</a> <a href="https://t.co/jt9I8NVjwW">pic.twitter.com/jt9I8NVjwW</a></p>— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) <a href="https://twitter.com/CelticFC/status/1029456896531615746?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


https://www.eurosport.com/football/...ut-of-champions-league_sto6888390/story.shtml

 

[MenInG]

Four English clubs will find out their Champions League group stage opponents when the draw takes place on Thursday.

Manchester City will be in pot one, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in pot two, while last season's runners-up Liverpool are in pot three.

The draw takes place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco at 17:00 BST.

Holders Real Madrid are in pot one with fellow Spaniards Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, as well as Bayern Munich, Juventus, PSG and Lokomotiv Moscow.

How does it work?

The Champions League and Europa League winners make it into pot one, alongside the champions in each of the six highest-ranked nations.

It means there are three Spanish sides among the top seeds this season because Real won a third successive Champions League, Atletico Madrid were crowned Europa League winners and Barcelona clinched the La Liga title.

The rest of the pots are decided by club coefficients - a ranking determined by how well a club has done in Europe over the past five years, and also how their association has performed.

Liverpool were hoping for Benfica to be knocked out by Greek club PAOK to move into pot two for the draw, but the Portuguese side emerged victorious 5-2 on aggregate.

One club from each pot will be drawn to make up eight groups of four teams. Clubs from the same nation cannot be drawn together at this stage.

Already assigned:

Pot one: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Juventus, Paris St-Germain, Lokomotiv Moscow.

Pot two: Borussia Dortmund, Porto, Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Napoli, Tottenham Hotspur, Roma, Benfica.

Pot three: Liverpool, Schalke, Lyon, Monaco, Ajax, CSKA Moscow, PSV Eindhoven, Valencia.

Pot four: Red Star Belgrade, Viktoria Plzen, Club Brugge, Galatasaray, Inter Milan, Hoffenheim, Young Boys, AEK Athens.

When does the football start?

The first Champions League group stage games take place on 18 and 19 September, with clubs playing the last of their six matches on 11 or 12 December.

The knockout rounds begin in February, with the tournament concluding with the final at Atletico Madrid's Wanda Metropolitano on 1 June, 2019.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45307017

 

[tonmoy]

Liverpool in Pot 3 is really unfair.. This coefficient **** that UEFA came up with is so stupid.

 

[Darkrai]

Three Spanish teams in pot one.

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The official result of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UCLdraw?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UCLdraw</a>! &#55358;&#56617;<br><br>Toughest group? &#55358;&#56596; <a href="https://t.co/G6rPKtQuU8">pic.twitter.com/G6rPKtQuU8</a></p>— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChampionsLeague/status/1035212610134843393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2018</a></blockquote>
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[adil_909]

 

[adil_909]

Groups B, C, and H are tough. Of course real madrid once again with an easy group stage draw. As a barca fan i'm happy we have a tough group. The players have been taking it too easy in CL recently so will be good to be tested early on!

 

[PakLFC]

Some great matches coming up. Man U versus Juve and Liverpool v PSG are stand out ones. Most of all Barca v Spurs is probably gonna be the pick of the bunch. Man City have it pretty easy and should make the next stage rather easily. Mourinho will be under the most pressure to do well , failing to do so may lead to his departure from Old Trafford.

 

[Saj]

Very tough draw for Man Utd - could see them knocked out in the group stages.

Spurs and Liverpool also with tough draws.

Man City with the best draw amongst the English teams.

 

[Varun]

 

[shebimalik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">📽 | Messi's free-kick from the stands. [<a href="https://twitter.com/gerardromero?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@gerardromero</a>]<a href="https://t.co/Z2itpd042Q">pic.twitter.com/Z2itpd042Q</a></p>— BU vids (@BarcaRaw) <a href="https://twitter.com/BarcaRaw/status/1042103905172242432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[shebimalik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">KING <br><br>[: U.S. only] <a href="https://t.co/S4azRkQM3c">pic.twitter.com/S4azRkQM3c</a></p>— B/R Football (@brfootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/brfootball/status/1042104361688752131?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[shebimalik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">25 - Lionel Messi has scored 25 direct free kick goals for <a href="https://twitter.com/FCBarcelona?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FCBarcelona</a> in the last five years, at least 10 more than any other player in the Top 5 European leagues (all competitions). Maestro. <a href="https://t.co/OUW98C7UZ0">pic.twitter.com/OUW98C7UZ0</a></p>— OptaJavier (@OptaJavier) <a href="https://twitter.com/OptaJavier/status/1042107636374753287?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[shaaik]

Barca 1 0...

 

[shaaik]

Barca 2 0
Spurs 1 0

 

[Kroll]

Spurs 1 - 1 Inter: great goal by Icardi

 

[Kroll]

Spurs 1 - 2 Inter: Inter stealing it at the death, goal by Vecino

 

[Kroll]

Full time:

Inter 2 - 1 Spurs

 

[Kroll]

Full time:

Barcelona 4 - 0 PSV Eindhoven, Messi hattrick

 

[shebimalik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lionel Messi scores his eighth Champions League hat trick, breaking a tie with Cristiano Ronaldo for most in the competition's history. <a href="https://t.co/4OHsaCV7l4">pic.twitter.com/4OHsaCV7l4</a></p>— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/1042124585578188801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Kroll]

Liverpool 2-0 PSG

 

[Kroll]

Liverpool 2 - 1 PSG

PSG back in the game.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Top quality first half between LFC and PSG.

I'd bring on Naby and Firmino to kill the game off.

 

[Kroll]

Half time:

Liverpool 2 - 1 PSG

 

[Kroll]

Liverpool 2 - 2 PSG: Mbappe scores

 

[Kroll]

Full time:

Club Brugge 0 - 1 Borussia Dortmund
Monaco 1 - 2 Atletico Madrid
Red Star Belgrade 0 - 0 Napoli
Liverpool 3 - 2 PSG
Schalke 1 - 1 FC Porto
Galatasaray 3 - 0 Lokomotiv Moscow

 

[KingKhanWC]

Bobby with little sight , one eyed sight of the net and smashes in the winner. Great win for the Reds

 

[shaz619]

Skum FC win , ruined my day

 

[MMHS]

Messi was unreal today, that free kick was unstoppable. PSV were not that poor, but Messi was too good for any team. This year, it'll be really tough to take CL from Barca, because Dembele is also playing stunning soccer.

 

[Kroll]

Half time:

Man City 0 - 2 Lyon
Young Boys 0 - 2 Man Utd

Man Utd showing it really is men against boys

 

[Saj]

Shock defeat for Man City. 2 1 against Lyon.

 

[Saj]

CHAMPIONS LEAGUEGROUP E

Ajax3 AEK Athens0

Benfica0 Bayern Munich2

GROUP F

Shakhtar Donetsk2 Hoffenheim2

Man City1Lyon2

GROUP G

Real Madrid3 Roma0

Viktoria Plzen2 CSKA Moscow2

GROUP H

Valencia0 Juventus2

Young Boys0 Man Utd3

 

[KingKhanWC]

Good wins for Lyon and Juve after Ronaldo was sent off.

So far imo Liverpool, Juve, Barca, Bayern and Real Madrid look the teams to beat in this competition.

 

[Dios]

Disgraceful decision to send Ronaldo off.

He was in tears as he will miss his return to Old Trafford.

 

[PakLFC]

What a win by Liverpool yesterday evening. After 2-0 up then 2-2 I thought we'd probably end up losing it until Bobby turned up Studge after a long time scored a great header to put us 1-0 up then Milly as usual is calm as a cucumber with a rightly deserved penalty. A team like PSG full of quality would be difficult to contain all evening, as expected they got right back in the contest. Didn't watch any of tonight's action at all so can't comment on Ronaldo's sending off! I bet he wasn't showing his teeth or winking to his team mates when the ref showed him the red card Spurs should have won against Inter in my opinion, they imploded with two minutes to go or something. Lyon defeating City at the Etehad is a big shock.

 

[MMHS]

So far, in last 3 CL games, MCity has lost all 3, conceding 7 goals and 2 of those at home, with a defense line that has over a quarter billion transfer value.

More or less, Pep has spent over half a billion to win one EPL, may be he'll ask Mansoor for another half to win CL ..... his class deserves that indeed.

 

[MenInG]

 

[Saj]

Man Utd 0 0 at half-time.

Seems like another poor performance so far.

 

[Kroll]

Full Time:

Hoffenheim 1 - 2 Man City
Juventus 3 - 0 Young Boys
AEK Athens 2 - 3 Benfica
Bayern Munich 1 - 1 Ajax
Lyon 2 - 2 Shakhtar Donetsk
CSKA Moscow 1 - 0 Real Madrid
Roma 5 - 0 Viktoria Plzen
Man Utd 0 - 0 Valencia

 

[KingKhanWC]

Real Madrid do not look the same without Rondaldo, very poor performance against CSKA.

Ajax have improved this season and could scrape through.

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="de" dir="ltr">Atlético Madrid 3-1 Club Brugge<br>Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Monaco<br>PSV Eindhoven 1-2 Inter Milan<br>Tottenham Hotspur 2-4 Barcelona<br>Paris Saint Germain 6-1 Red Star Belgrade<br>Napoli 1-0 Liverpool<br>Lokomotiv Moscow 0-1 FC Schalke 04<br>FC Porto 1-0 Galatasaray<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UCL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UCL</a> <a href="https://t.co/INDnTvS2oC">pic.twitter.com/INDnTvS2oC</a></p>— PakPassion Sport (@PakPassionSport) <a href="https://twitter.com/PakPassionSport/status/1047594700012769280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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[KingKhanWC]

A little bit dissapointed we couldn't hange on for a point but Napoli played some brilliant football and deserved the win. Im it will be a different game at Anfied.

Good wins for Inter and Porto.

 

[PakLFC]

Liverpool deserved to lose today. We struggled to create any chances with the front three struggling again. Don't see why Klopp is not giving Shaqiri or Sturridge a start. In the middle there seems to be a lack of creativity and dynamism, in particular Henderson just passes the ball sideways. Just hope Keita's injury does not keep him out long term as is the case with Ox. We need much more creativity in the middle of the park when playing better opposition. Trying to defeat Barcelona at their own game is never a wise thing to do as Spurs learned today.

 

[shebimalik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lionel Messi has scored more Champions League goals (22) against English clubs than any other nation.<br><br>9 vs. Arsenal<br>6 vs. Man City<br>3 vs. Chelsea<br>2 vs. Man Utd<br>2 vs. Spurs<br><br>But could he actually do it *in* the Premier League? <a href="https://t.co/lt879cpVtj">pic.twitter.com/lt879cpVtj</a></p>— Squawka Football (@Squawka) <a href="https://twitter.com/Squawka/status/1047595931527462913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 3, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[shebimalik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Does anyone really genuinely think there has ever been a better footballer than Lionel Messi? I mean seriously?</p>— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) <a href="https://twitter.com/GaryLineker/status/1047581264012869634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 3, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[shaaik]

French authorities investigate whether PSG game against Red Star was fixed
• L’Équipe claims Red Star official suspected of €5m bet on loss
• Clubs strongly deny wrongdoing in Champions League
French authorities are investigating whether a Champions League game involving Paris Saint-Germain and Red Star Belgrade was fixed.

Both clubs have strongly denied wrongdoing after L’Équipe reported that a Red Star official was suspected of betting €5m (£4.4m) on the team losing by five goals in a match PSG won 6-1.

The newspaper said French authorities were warned by Uefa of a possible manipulation of the result days before the 3 October game at the Parc des Princes in Group C, which also includes Liverpool and Napoli. France’s financial prosecutor’s office confirmed an investigation had been opened but declined to comment on the report.

Red Star, who drew their opening group game 0-0 at home to Napoli, said: “It is with the greatest anger and resentment that Red Star deny today’s report in the French newspaper L’Équipe in connection to doubts about the outcome of the Paris Saint-Germain-Red Star match and the involvement of anyone from Red Star in possible improper actions.


“The allegations from this report can cause great damage to the reputation of our club, and therefore Red Star insists both Uefa and the competent investigating authorities in Serbia and France investigate these doubts to the end and come to the truth.

“Today’s technologies and various other mechanisms have progressed so much that it is simply not possible for this case to be left unresolved. Red Star expects that the truth about this must come in as short a time as possible and that any doubt about the involvement of any member of our club in any possible disruptive actions must be removed.”

PSG expressed “amazement and indignation” and added: “Paris Saint-Germain reiterates its commitment to a fundamental principle of sport, that of the integrity of competitions and therefore refutes any form of practice that could call into question that integrity.”

ARJEL, the body in charge of regulating online gambling in France, told L’Équipe it did not notice any suspicious bets on the game.


A Uefa spokesperson said: “Uefa never comments on potential, or the existence of, investigations into alleged match-fixing as to not compromise the process of such investigations.

“Uefa only communicates on specific cases/matches once disciplinary proceedings have been opened and/or decisions have been taken.


https://amp.theguardian.com/footbal...match-fixing-claims?__twitter_impression=true

 

[MenInG]

ManU vs Juventus soon

 

[Abdullah719]

 

[WengerOut]

Mourinho : Juve are on another level.

Pep: We are not ready to win Champions league

Both statements can be expressed in a single statement

"We need more expensive stars "

 

[Abdullah719]

 

[PakLFC]

Man Utd's misery continues after Juv rolled them over so easily Liverpool made short work of their hard to pronounce and spell opponents. Mane missed a penalty, we had other chances as well to increase the deficit. Man Utd lose, Liverpool win and Pak defeat the Aussies at the Cricket. It's been a great two days, alhumdolillah!

 

[adil_909]

Was nervous about Barca being able to get a result with Messi absent, but the team did well to beat Inter. Dembele's days look numbered at Barca though. Hasn't been able to make a consistent impression for some reason. If we do sell him hopefully it's not to another Spanish team

 

[MenInG]

 

[Hasan123]

[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] Arsenal is doomed eh ? Torreira may not adapt to the premier league because he is played in Seria A ? . Always told you he is good enough. Easily looked better than Fabinho on Saturday.

Klopp getting money to spend and still won't win the league or champions league. Can't blame FSG tonight .

 

[MenInG]

 

[Michael Chopra]

What the hell was that? We have been crap since we lost to Napoli. Something needs to be done with Salah. He has been bang on average since WC. A lot was expected from him even in the WC and he underperformed. Couldn't even defeat KSA but losing to this Serbian team whose name I can't even pronounce is pathetic.

 

[Saj]

Liverpool's group wide open now with Belgrade in the mix now.

Spurs struggling again 1 0 down to PSV.

 

[PakLFC]

Terrible performance by Liverpool in a match we should have won. Had Sturridge not missed a sitter we would have probably scored a few in the first half. With Napoli and PSG drawing it means anything can still happen in the group. It could be that the PSG-Liverpool match becomes a knockout one in a few weeks time. Spurs came back in the last few minutes to win 2-1 with Harry Kane at it again, the winner was an own goal.

 

[Saj]

Good comeback by Spurs to win 2-1.

 

[Abdullah719]

 

[B@$!T]

Harry kane to the rescue but getting through to the knock out stages is still gonna be tough, beating inter and barca wont be easy.

 

[MMHS]

[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] Arsenal is doomed eh ? Torreira may not adapt to the premier league because he is played in Seria A ? . Always told you he is good enough. Easily looked better than Fabinho on Saturday.

Klopp getting money to spend and still won't win the league or champions league. Can't blame FSG tonight .

True - squad is still not robust enough. Always fade away once 2 games/week hits. Injuries are not helping either. I think, we have Napoli at home & PSG away - need 3 points from the Napoli game to make sure (to advance), and 4 to win the group.

 

[Hasan123]

True - squad is still not robust enough. Always fade away once 2 games/week hits. Injuries are not helping either. I think, we have Napoli at home & PSG away - need 3 points from the Napoli game to make sure (to advance), and 4 to win the group.

2 interesting games. Think liverpool will beat Napoli at home. Can't call PSG game as of now. Could go either way.

 

[MenInG]

 

[MenInG]

Games in progress now

 

[KingKhanWC]

CSKA have equalised 1-1

Was very disappointed by Liverpools performance, the worst I've seen in the last 2 years. Klopp needs to understand the CL is the biggest tournament and you play your best team every time. Leaving Shaqiri at home was another poor decision. Who cares if his presence upsets the opposition, he's in good form and we needed him in the centre last night.

Can't see us getting through the group now.

 

[Saj]

CR7 gives Juve the lead against Man Utd.

Meanwhile Man City cruising at 5 0.

Real Madrid 5 0 up.

 

[Abdullah719]

Quick turnaround by Mourinho's side

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="ro" dir="ltr">CSKA Moscow1-2 Roma<br>Valencia 3-1 Young Boys<br>Benfica 1-1 Ajax<br>Bayern Munich 2-0 AEK Athens<br>Lyon 2-2 Hoffenheim<br>Man City 6-0 Shakhtar Donetsk<br>Viktoria Plzen 0-5 Real Madrid<br>Juventus 1-2 Manchester United<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UCL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UCL</a> <a href="https://t.co/4bvcnpj6HW">pic.twitter.com/4bvcnpj6HW</a></p>— PakPassion Sport (@PakPassionSport) <a href="https://twitter.com/PakPassionSport/status/1060290306069925888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[PakLFC]

Two late goals by Man Utd cancelling a great Ronaldo strike. It was an exciting match this one going from end to end. Juventus missed some good chances to make it 2-0 before United stole the show. Mourinho provoking the home side and their fans at the end with a sarcastic gesture.

 

[Zeeraq]

 

[tonmoy]

big game for LFC tomorrow...
Excited and scared.. would suck if we cant make out of group stage

 

[Abdullah719]

 

[MenInG]

 

[gazza619]

The competition looks very interesting. Who are you guys supporting?

 

[gazza619]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Saj]

Liverpool scenario now:

Complicated Champions League rules state that if teams are tied on points in the group stage, they are separated by the head-to-head record between sides.

Napoli beat Liverpool 1-0 at home in the reverse game.

If PSG beat Red Star in their final game, they will progress, meaning Liverpool need the following against Napoli:

A 1-0 win will take them through, courtesy of a better goal difference.A win by two or more goals will take them through, courtesy of a better head-to-head record.However, a 2-1 or 3-2 win will see them GO OUT, as Napoli will have scored an away goal, so will progress on the head-to-head record.

 

[Abdullah719]

 

[Eagle_Eye]

Awful away performance once again with the same set up of playing essentially 3 defensive midfielders. No creativity in midfield, asking the front three to go and win these away game on their own.

Not very clever from klopp for making the same tactical mistake over and over.

 

[Darkrai]

Barca with yet another poor performance. What is Valverde doing??