Champions League draw 17.00 BST

[fishhhandaricecake]

And most importantly all pretty close to home. No long haul flights to the back of beyond.

Good point, hadn’t even thought about that, another bonus of the draw.

Having the Italian Mafiso run our club is certainly paying off with decisions and draws in our favour so far ?? ?? ? ?

We couldn’t have hoped for a better group than this. Not to say it will be easy, no group in the CL is ever easy but it’s given us a half decent chance.

When we first broke into the CL we were a pretender and a newcomer and I was all for the glamour ties of which we were lucky enough to have amazing nights and games against : Real Madrid, Barca, Juventus, Both Milan’s, Dortmund etc but now we have Conte in charge and are building a serious squad, forget the glamour ties, I want the easiest best draw possible to give us the best chance to progress and dare to do to try and win the thing.

COYS

 

[nipponyid]

Some top away days there for our traveling hordes!!

 

[Lumiere]

Marseille was definitely the toughest team from pot 4.

I'm not sure about that. They lost their manager and their best defender in the summer, and have been pretty rubbish in Europe in recent history.

I would rather Marseille than Rangers for sure.

 

[ronzalo]

When are the actual fixtures announced in terms of times? I'd love to get out to Lisbon for the away game.

 

[mr ashley]

I'm not sure about that. They lost their manager and their best defender in the summer, and have been pretty rubbish in Europe in recent history.

I would rather Marseille than Rangers for sure.

I don’t agree. I’d have chosen an away tie in Glasgow over an away game at the stage velodrome.
from pot 4, Haifa or plzen were the ideal teams but we got the weakest pot 1 team and sporting have just sold their best player (nunes) so the group is ours for the taking.
we just have to careful of home draws, as I believe we will be seen as the team to beat (especially if we maintain our current league form) and so teams will set up to defend a 0-0 when they come to us.
9 points is rarely not enough to qualify though, so I’m confident we will be playing knockout CL football this season

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Fucking hell, do some of you lay awake at night thinking of a new tiny detail to be disappointed about?

Although to be fair, i'm a bit cheesed off that we didn't draw a team with a name starting with the letter B or one from a country beginning with the letter S.

I'm also not a fan of being in Group D, that one's proper pissed me off

 

[ralvy]

Happy with the draw. Just hoping we play our first game on 6th not 7th Sept, as the 7th is my wife's 30th. ?

Maybe you could be taking her to, say, Lisbon as a birthday present?

 

[cwy21]

Here's the Europa League pots. The worst ranked side from our group (Marseille) are on 44 pts which means everyone from our group would be pot 1. So far from a Europa League group.

 

[Azza1985]

So on a Marseille forum, someone has reported they know the default callendar although official announcement on Saturday. If correct I've listed our fixtures up to to the world cup. Games will come thick and fast very soon. Obviously TV means games will probably move.

Fixtures
28/8 Nottingham forest (A)
31/8 West ham (A)
3/9 Fulham (H)
6 or 7/9 Sporting (H)
10/9 Man City (A)
13 or 14/9 Frankfurt (A)
17/9 Leicester (H)

International Break

1/10 Arsenal (A)
4 or 5/10 Marseille (H)
8/10 Brighton (H)
11 or 12/10 Marseille. (A)
15/10 Everton (H)
19/10 Man U (A)
22/10 Newcastle (H)
25 or 26/10 Sporting (A)
29/11 Bournemouth (A)
1 or 2/11 Frankfurt (H)
5/11 Liverpool (H)
8/11 Nottingham forest ELF (A)
12/11 Leeds (H)
World Cup

 

[cookiemonster]

Don't agree we have got the easiest group

Frankfurt is the easiest of the top seeds but Marseille is also the hardest of the bottom seeds

 

[rabbikeane]

Don't agree we have got the easiest group

Frankfurt is the easiest of the top seeds but Marseille is also the hardest of the bottom seeds

Agree, no heavy hitters, but all of them can hurt us. There's no walk overs.

 

[Adam456]

I'd really prefer that we get somebody a bit glamorous from Pot 1 as that is what it's all about - being in the CL. So not Frankfurt (and not Bayern as they are tough as well as less glamorous). Madrid, Milan, PSG, maybe Ajax

Beyond that we want to go through to the knockout stages so probably want beatable teams without travelling too far. E.g. Bruges, Marseille, Leverkusen

As much fun as the Glasgow clubs would be they will always have a point to prove and will probably be a lot tougher than the rest of Pot 4

Bleep well I didn't want Frankfurt but I did want Marseille and Sporting also ok so reasonably happy I guess

 

[Mate]

With regards to Frankfurt, if West Ham can give them a run for their money then we shouldn't be too concerned

 

[dontcallme]

It’s the CL so naturally it won’t be easy. Definitely a favourable group though.

 

[YiddoBirdy]

Anyone know how many loyalty points are needed roughly to attend Cl away group stage matches?
Can’t seem to find any history on it.

 

[rabbikeane]

Total of 10 points tend to be a guarantee to progress, 3 wins and a draw. More to win the group ofc.

 

[hughy]

Total of 10 points tend to be a guarantee to progress, 3 wins and a draw. More to win the group ofc.

We wouldn't want to rely on it, but in a tight group with lots of draws you can get through with as few as 8 points. As there isn't really a clear favourite in our group (admittedly we are probably the strongest) I could easily see a number of drawn games.

As you mention 10 points would more or less guarantee we'd progress, but it would be nice to pick up some early results to be able to rest/rotate for the last couple of group games.

 

[Romulus]

just seen Marseilles have signed Eric Bailly too.

he's a tough shit to play against

 

[Cavehillspur]

just seen Marseilles have signed Eric Bailly too.

he's a tough shit to play against

Played the full 90mins for United when we smashed them 6-1 at OT the other season, hopefully has another couple of off days when we play Marseille.

 

[waresy]

Last seasons ECL adventure certainly hit our coefficient, 5000 points compared to 15000 being knocked out in the 2nd round of the EL. Better than not being in a UEFA competition but not by much.