CL Lille at home Tuesday 21st Jan @ 8pm

[The_weatherman]

The downside is, he has a face you would never get tired of slapping

Yeah, pretty sure Edwards won't ignore that tbh.

[Sus]

Yeah, pretty sure Edwards won't ignore that tbh.

[leftpeg]

https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsle...draw-where-is/

There's a diagram at the bottom of this page that makes the draw a bit clearer. We'll be on one side or the other. Given how crazy some of the results have been through the league phase, you could end up meeting almost any team once the knockout rounds begin. As far as I can tell, the main advantage to an automatic round of 16 place is to avoid having to play two extra matches. That most of the teams still in contention don't know whether they are going to finish in the round of 16 or the playoffs means that there's going to be a lot to play for in the final round.

I was skeptical at first, but I dare say that UEFA might have actually gotten something right for once. It seems like they've found a good balance between the old European Cup knockout format, and doing away with the meaninglessness of many of matches in the previous format.

[SB]

https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsle...draw-where-is/

There's a diagram at the bottom of this page that makes the draw a bit clearer. We'll be on one side or the other. Given how crazy some of the results have been through the league phase, you could end up meeting almost any team once the knockout rounds begin. As far as I can tell, the main advantage to an automatic round of 16 place is to avoid having to play two extra matches. That most of the teams still in contention don't know whether they are going to finish in the round of 16 or the playoffs means that there's going to be a lot to play for in the final round.

I was skeptical at first, but I dare say that UEFA might have actually gotten something right for once. It seems like they've found a good balance between the old European Cup knockout format, and doing away with the meaninglessness of many of matches in the previous format.

So am I right in assuming some teams still drop down to the Europa or is it its own competition completely now?

[Mr Pink]

https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsle...draw-where-is/

There's a diagram at the bottom of this page that makes the draw a bit clearer. We'll be on one side or the other. Given how crazy some of the results have been through the league phase, you could end up meeting almost any team once the knockout rounds begin. As far as I can tell, the main advantage to an automatic round of 16 place is to avoid having to play two extra matches. That most of the teams still in contention don't know whether they are going to finish in the round of 16 or the playoffs means that there's going to be a lot to play for in the final round.

I was skeptical at first, but I dare say that UEFA might have actually gotten something right for once. It seems like they've found a good balance between the old European Cup knockout format, and doing away with the meaninglessness of many of matches in the previous format.

Thanks, that diagram helps a lot! So ya, it looks like finishing 1st doesn’t give any advantage over finishing 2nd?

[Norbs]

It would he nice if 1st got to choose which side of the drae they wanted after GW8

[BigChief]

It would he nice if 1st got to choose which side of the drae they wanted after GW8

I wonder if they'll introduce something like that to prevent the final few games becoming meaningless near the top?

[Norbs]

I wonder if they'll introduce something like that to prevent the final few games becoming meaningless near the top?

[BigChief]

And that diagram really makes it clearer. So we're essentially playing a team that finishes between 15-18 in the next round. Having a quick look as things stand City won't be finishing in those positions if they qualify at all.

Bayern and Real occupy those positions currently but hopefully they will both win their final games and move further up the table because I'm sure they will want to avoid us or Barca.

[memzey]

I read somewhere that statistically it was most likely to be PSG.

[leftpeg]

So am I right in assuming some teams still drop down to the Europa or is it its own competition completely now?

No teams drop down any more. If you finish 25th or below, you are just ****e and will be out of European competition altogether. Seems a lot fairer than the previous setup.

[SB]

No teams drop down any more. If you finish 25th or below, you are just ****e and will be out of European competition altogether. Seems a lot fairer than the previous setup.

Awesome that’s a good change. Never liked how the 3rd team from each group dropped down to make more money