The official 2011-2012 UEFA Champions League Thread

[Mathew81]

How does that work that the manchesters will both be in Europa league?

If you finish 3rd in your group in the CL, you go to the Europa League. 4th place gets nothing.

 

[Shzm13]

Knockout match ups and my picks

Lyon v APOEL

Napoli v Chelsea

AC Milan v Arsenal

FC Basel v Bayern Munich

Bayer Leverkusen v FC Barcelona

CSKA v Real Madrid

Zenit St. Petersburg v Benfica

Marseille v Inter Milan

What are yours?

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Knockout match ups and my picks


What are yours?

I'll take your picks, but I'll take Chelsea and Inter Milan. Very torn on the AC Milan/Aresnal game.

 

[Mulli]

Go Gooners!

 

[Shzm13]

I'll take your picks, but I'll take Chelsea and Inter Milan. Very torn on the AC Milan/Aresnal game.

I'm on the Napoli bandwagon, Edinson Cavani is the best striker in the world and that offense is just too fun to watch. They beat City, they can hang with Chelsea.

Inter is playing horrible. I think they're like 7th in the Calcio...I want them to do well, but I don't see it happening.

 

[Mathew81]

Go Gooners!

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[Renz]

Lyon v APOEL

Napoli v Chelsea

AC Milan v Arsenal

FC Basel v Bayern Munich

Bayer Leverkusen v FC Barcelona

CSKA Moscow v Real Madrid

Zenit St. Petersburg v Benfica

Marseille v Inter Milan

RM better win big at home because they will struggle in Russia. Bayern and Barca should advance easily.

 

[Dr. Jones]

This should be a fun 2 days. Pregame just started.

 

[Renz]

Way to show up, Gooners. Embarrassing performance.

 

[Mathew81]

Way to show up, Gooners. Embarrassing performance.

What a no-show performance. I'm glad I recorded it so I could fast forward through a lot of that crap.

 

[Renz]

Messi with 5 today in a 7-1 demolition of Bayer Leverkusen. Awesome.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Chelsea came back after being down 3-1 in the first leg. Crazy.

 

[Dr. Jones]

When do they announce the next round matchups?

 

[Dr. Jones]

Got my answer...... Friday! lol

Here are the matchups:

Quarterfinals
APOEL vs. Real Madrid
Marseille vs. Bayern Munich
Benfica vs. Chelsea
AC Milan vs. Barcelona

Bayern vs. Real in the Semis seems like a lock IMO. That should be a great two match series. AC Milan vs. Barca will be tons of fun. Zlatan back in Barcelona lol

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/story/_/id/7695263/champions-league-real-madrid-barcelona-favorites-reach-final-ravi-ubha

I bolded my predictions.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Barca bounced Chelsea of all teams and Torres scoring the golden goal? Unreal.

 

[Mathew81]

Wow, neither Spanish team makes the final. Crazy.

Whoever finishes in 4th in the EPL needs to root for Munich because if Chelsea win, they'll take that 4th CL spot next season.

 

[slinslin]

The final is in Munich, should be EPIC.

 

[Chaplin]

The final is in Munich, should be EPIC.

Don't think so. I think Bayern is going to wipe the field with Chelsea. I don't see how an undermanned side that probably doesn't deserve to be in the final can beat Bayern in Munich.

 

[slinslin]

Bayern is undermanned a bit as well, they can compensate in midfield but not really on defense.

I was referring to the atmosphere though, which will be epic. I am sure the Bayern supporters will come up with a special choreography like here:

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Don't think so. I think Bayern is going to wipe the field with Chelsea. I don't see how an undermanned side that probably doesn't deserve to be in the final can beat Bayern in Munich.

Agreed. Plus Chelsea is without 3 starters from suspension I believe.

I need to call Shane and tell him to put some money on Bayern for me.

 

[Stout]

Wow, neither Spanish team makes the final. Crazy.

Whoever finishes in 4th in the EPL needs to root for Munich because if Chelsea win, they'll take that 4th CL spot next season.

Which is why I was rooting for Bayern Munich

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Wow, neither Spanish team makes the final. Crazy.

Whoever finishes in 4th in the EPL needs to root for Munich because if Chelsea win, they'll take that 4th CL spot next season.

Interesting. I thought the champion of the league won an automatic bid that didn't factor in the rest of the teams in that home league, meaning that the EPL could have 5 teams represent.

 

[Stout]

Interesting. I thought the champion of the league won an automatic bid that didn't factor in the rest of the teams in that home league, meaning that the EPL could have 5 teams represent.

Nope. The EPL is guaranteed 4 spots exactly. If Chelsea win the CL and finish top 4, it wouldn't matter. It happens with the Europa League spots too. Had Everton or Sunderpuke gone to the FA Cup final, it would have erased one spot for the teams higher on the table, since they aren't going to finish in a Europa League spot (at least, I don't think Everton can reach one at this point).

I don't mind the system of a lower-ranked team knocking a higher-ranked team out, per se, but the process is sooooo labyrinthine, and there are soooo many competitions, that it is just too confusing. Not only do fans get confused as to whether or not their teams will qualify for something, but the teams have to ask the different officials as well. Newcastle officially has asked UEFA questions on this topic. Now, that's just ridiculous, that a team can't even figure out the system.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Nope. The EPL is guaranteed 4 spots exactly. If Chelsea win the CL and finish top 4, it wouldn't matter. It happens with the Europa League spots too. Had Everton or Sunderpuke gone to the FA Cup final, it would have erased one spot for the teams higher on the table, since they aren't going to finish in a Europa League spot (at least, I don't think Everton can reach one at this point).

I don't mind the system of a lower-ranked team knocking a higher-ranked team out, per se, but the process is sooooo labyrinthine, and there are soooo many competitions, that it is just too confusing. Not only do fans get confused as to whether or not their teams will qualify for something, but the teams have to ask the different officials as well. Newcastle officially has asked UEFA questions on this topic. Now, that's just ridiculous, that a team can't even figure out the system.

If Chelsea somehow wins, they deserve to be there next year over the 4th place team anyway IMO.

 

[Stout]

If Chelsea somehow wins, they deserve to be there next year over the 4th place team anyway IMO.

I don't think anyone would argue with that. I just hate the process with all of the different competitions. There should be a formula or a set of guidelines a team can follow to know what spots in the table can or cannot possibly qualify them for what tournament. Clear enough so that the team itself can figure it out. The one that's the stupidest for me is that the English FA has determined that not only do the FA Cup winners get a European spot, but the FA Cup runners up get one as well. Since when does second place in a tournament mean anything?