Champions League Wk 6

[Shanks]

In typical TS fashion..

Durham now saying the CL has been devalued, as both Manc clubs are out.

Needs a complete overhaul of the seeding/group system apparently..

[McDermotX]

In typical TS fashion..

Durham now saying the CL has been devalued, as both Manc clubs are out.

Needs a complete overhaul of the seeding/group system apparently..

Looked to me like Basle and Napoli were better sides over the course of a 4 team grouping system.
Otherwise they wouldn't have gone through.
Much the same way no-one would have denied Fiorentina were better than us a couple year back.

[PTP]

haha the other week he was having a right go at darren gough because gough was saying it's a farce that man city could go out, whilst Apeol have gone through and that it's unfair/bad seeding cause man city would be better for the competition in the second round as apeol are crap.

Durham was kicking off saying how could he say that....Apoel are trhough on merit, and if Man City go out it's because they don't deserve to go through

I don't mind durham - he's the ultmate wind up, but when you realise that and see what he's doing....he's decent - Darren Gough tho, I've gone right off him listening too him on talksport.

[Assassin]

I have been so busy in the last 24 hours. I have only just found out that both manc teams crashed and burned

FLMAO

[sean_lfc]

lOl, what you been busy with? Tits? LOL

[Chazza]

Early Champions League exit could cost Man Utd £20m

Manchester United's early Champions League exit could cost the club in the region of £20m, according to a leading football finance expert.

United's loss at Basel on Wednesday saw them fail to progress from the group stage for the first time since 2005-06 and drop into the Europa League.

"The cost is between £14m-£18m, just on the TV cash," Andy Green, who writes the blog andersred, told BBC Sport.

"And you can assume they'll lose a few million pounds on gate receipts."

United confirmed to BBC Sport that season ticket-holders will still be obliged to buy tickets for the Europa League, although they could not confirm if prices would be reduced.

Whether prices are reduced are not, United are likely to struggle to fill Old Trafford on Europa League nights.

"Obliging season ticket-holders to buy tickets was never a great problem when it was the latter stages of the Champions League, where tickets were hot property," said Green.

"But they could face a bit of a backlash if they try that with the Europa League."

However, Green, a critic of the club's owners, stressed that while the losses are not ideal, they are "not fundamental or disastrous" for the club.

"Last year, United were the losing finalists in the Champions League and the further you go in the competition obviously the more TV money you get," he said.

"Last year, for getting to the final, they got about 53m euros [£45m] in TV income and this year they got about 18m euros [£15.3m] less. But if they win the Europa League - a big if - you get £4m.

"The basic way of looking at United's finances is that they turn over about £300m, they've got about £200m of costs, most of which is wages, which leaves £100m of operating profit.

"They pay about £50m a year in interest [on debt still outstanding from the 2005 takeover by the Glazer family] and transfers have got to come out of that as well.

"So if you take that £100m they make and you say that this exit they've made from the Champions League is going to knock off about £20m, that's a bit of a hit."

Meanwhile, Green said that Manchester City's early exit from the Champions League was not ideal either, despite the continued bankrolling of its Abu Dhabi owners.

Uefa's Financial Fair Play Regulations, which came into force on 1 June, essentially mean teams cannot spend more than they generate from the football side of their business, or risk being excluded from European competition.

"In one respect City are fine because they're bankrolled by Abu Dhabi, so financially they can swallow it up," said Green. "But to meet the Financial Fair Play Regulations is very hard for them.

"They absolutely need to be in the Champions League every year and they need to do well. So this is not a great start in that endeavour."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16084594.stm

[Liverpool]

with city going out as well, plus if they go a decent europa run then it wont be that much

[Craig_H]

http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2011/Dec/Europa-League-explained.aspx

[sean_lfc]

Jesus. Christ. luLZz

[Chazza]

Vidic out for the season

[Craig_H]

I wont pretend that brings tears to my eyes.

[Roboklopp]

No big deal, they have Phil "Jesus" Jones, who can do the work of 4 defenders if needed.

[Shaggy]

Vidic out for the season.

[GTi]

There seems to be a lot of nasty injuries this season.

[Reece]

Yeah - lots of ligaments seem to have got done in recent weeks.

I want to laugh at Vidic but it just reminds me that we've lost Lucas for the season too