Champions League Qualification Round

[PedroSpecialK]

Fantastic individual effort by Tom Rogic leads to what looks to be an own-goal for Astana

Sinclair in alone now, and it's 2-0 Celtic

And Sinclair makes it 3-0 immediately after a clash of heads between Rogic and an Astana player. Pretty controversial given that it was a clear head injury for both players, though on the flip side neither player seemed to be in immediate danger of getting run over by other players.

 

[Joe D Reid]

4-0! Celtic haven't hammered anyone in Europe like this for a minute.

 

[PedroSpecialK]

Make it 5, probably Astana's second own-goal of the night, deflected Griffiths shot

 

[PedroSpecialK]

On vacation in Prague, and of course Liverpool's second leg home to Hoffenheim and Slavia Praha's home return leg against APOEL Nicosia coincide.

Luckily found a pub that claims to only be showing the Liverpool match. Guessing the following lineup:

Mignolet
TAA - Matip - Lovren - Milner
Henderson - Can - Wijnaldum
Salah - Firmino - Mané

 

[pedro1918]

Almost. Swap Milner with Moreno.

Lord knows why, but it's true.

 

[CPT Neuron]

I thought Gomez played well at the weekend and would have paired him with Matip and dropped Lovren, and kept Roberston as well. There is an arguement for Milner in the midfield, but there would be less than ZERO creativity with a 3 of Milner/Henderson/Can.....man, missing Llanna and Couthino is brutal!

 

[Conigliaro's Potential]

Heh - I'm in Vienna, about to watch the Liverpool match on Austrian national television (ÖRF) in my hotel room. Unlucky, PSK...

 

[SoxFanInCali]

I envy you guys watching foreign TV and not having to hear the 1-877 Kars for Kids jingle every commercial break.

 

[Zomp]

K A R S kars for kids.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

2 great chances in the first 3 minutes.

 

[InstaFace]

K A R S kars for kids.

Burn in the circle of hell reserved for televangelists.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Deflected goals are still goals!

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Nice....

Man, I forgot how much I missed Champions League games at Anfield.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Yeah, this is fun.

3-0.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

That was coming. Hoffenheim couldn't miss them all.

 

[PedroSpecialK]

Heh - I'm in Vienna, about to watch the Liverpool match on Austrian national television (ÖRF) in my hotel room. Unlucky, PSK...

Nice! Was there Friday-Sunday

Which area are you staying in?

 

[SoxFanInCali]

4 goals and a sub...yet only 1 minute of added time.

 

[PedroSpecialK]

With a back line of Moreno, Lovren, Matip, and TAA nothing is guaranteed... but that was pretty encouraging. Moreno even looked OK, though Gnabry really should have bagged at least one in addition to the Uth goal.

I've got to believe Klopp gives zero view towards Sunday, at least until minute 75 or so. Wouldn't be surprised to see Wijnaldum swapped for Milner but that's about it coming out of half time.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Even Liverpool at their Benny Hill worst would have been embarrassed to concede that one.

4-1.

 

[PedroSpecialK]

...and release

 

[Conigliaro's Potential]

Nice! Was there Friday-Sunday

Which area are you staying in?

I'm staying near the Hauptbahnhof - same hotel I stayed in last year on my other work trips here. (Great ice hockey weather out there right now...)

Meanwhile, this match has been pretty weird. Hoffenheim has at least kept trying, I guess, although I wish Liverpool had been forced to expend rather more energy ahead of the weekend.

 

[Conigliaro's Potential]

Oh, and nothing I saw from Gnabry tonight makes me sad Arsenal let him go.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Draw is tomorrow

POT 1: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Benfica, Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk, Monaco, Spartak Moscow

POT 2: Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, PSG, Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla, Manchester City, Porto, Manchester United

POT 3: Napoli, Tottenham, Basel, Olympiacos, Anderlecht, Liverpool, Roma, Besiktas

POT 4: Celtic, CSKA, Sporting CP, APOEL Nicosia, Feyenoord, NK Maribor, FK Qarabag, RB Leipzig

Dream draw: Spartak, Porto, Maribor
Nightmare draw: Real, PSG, Leipzig

 

[MiracleOfO2704]

I am so confused how Shakhtar and Spartak are in the same pot as some of the giants of UEFA, but Dortmund, Atletico, and Sevilla aren't.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

I am so confused how Shakhtar and Spartak are in the same pot as some of the giants of UEFA, but Dortmund, Atletico, and Sevilla aren't.

Top 8 rated leagues get their champ in Pot 1. That's what makes pot 2 so brutal.

 

[MiracleOfO2704]

That is so UEFA.

And I think my dream draw is similar to yours: Spartak/Porto/Celtic, if for no other reason than hearing YNWA at full volume for both matches. Plus, the press would LOVE the Rodgers vs. Klopp story.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Celtic would obviously be an awesome atmosphere, as would Feyenoord from pot 4. I just picked Maribor as they are the lowest ranked team that isn't actually much better than their seed (Leipzig) or from Azerbaijan (Qarabag).

This is the first time England gets 5 teams into the CL group stages. In 2005-06 they let 5 English teams in because Liverpool were the defending champ while outside the top 4, but Everton lost their qualifying round tie.

 

[Schnerres]

So now, the real part starts...let´s get some nice draws and not perfectly flattened out groups...

 

[PedroSpecialK]

Much more reliable stream so far than the UEFA site: http://www.genti.stream/manchester-city-live-stream.php

 

[PedroSpecialK]

Results thus far:

Group A
Benfica (POR)
Manchester United (ENG)
Basel (SUI)
CSKA Moscow (RUS)

Group B
Bayern Munich (GER)
Paris St. Germain (FRA)
Anderlecht (NED)
Celtic (SCO)

Group C
Chelsea (ENG)
Atlético Madrid (ESP)
AS Roma (ITA)
Qarabag (AZR)

Group D
Juventus (ITA)
Barcelona (ESP)
Olympiacos (GRE)
Sporting (POR)

Group E
Spartak Moscow (RUS)
Sevilla (ESP)
Liverpool (ENG)
Maribor (SLV)

Group F
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Manchester City (ENG)
Napoli (ITA)
Feyenoord (NED)

Group G
AS Monaco (FRA)
Porto (POR)
Besiktas (TUR)
RB Leipzig (GER)

Group H
Real Madrid (ESP)
Borussia Dortmund (GER)
Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
APOEL Nicosia (CYP)

 

[Schnerres]

So..now it gets interesting..

 

[PedroSpecialK]

Porto luck out with Monaco, and MU with Benfica, while Atleti end up with Chelsea and PSG with Bayern.

 

[allstonite]

Pulisic vs Real again

 

[PedroSpecialK]

Groups B, C, D, and H are all pretty scary.

Group E or G for Liverpool please

 

[Schnerres]

This could end up lodsided
Definitely deserving, but was Modric above Kroos in last years CL?

 

[SocrManiac]

Juventus get Barca. Hard to say Barca got anything but worse at this point. Juventus lost Bonucci and the impact is yet to be fully realized.

 

[swiftaw]

Definitely some groups you'd want to avoid if you were Spurs or Liverpool

 

[Zomp]

So Liverpool and Spurs gotta be hoping for G and E

 

[Schnerres]

They just said in the german eurosport stream:
Dembele to Barca for 150mil.€+ possible 30more future payments!
(Bild reporting, so take it with a smile)

 

[Was (Not Wasdin)]

So Liverpool and Spurs gotta be hoping for G and E

E for Spurs please.

 

[Zomp]

Anderlecht to Group B. Good for Spurs/Pool

 

[Schnerres]

With all these Premier League teams, this is getting crazy in the draw...

 

[Zomp]

Basel to group A. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 

[Titans Bastard]

Definitely some groups you'd want to avoid if you were Spurs or Liverpool

And it's worse because the Manchesters got easier Pot A teams, so Spurs+Liverpool have a higher chance of a terrible draw with the six remaining options.

 

[Schnerres]

Liverpool can get E like EASY or H like HAMMER!
and they get EASY ...

 

[PedroSpecialK]

Unreal draw for MU

 

[Zomp]

Besiktas Group G. I think Schnerres is ahead.

 

[Zomp]

Unreal draw for MU

Okay SFIC.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

E! I'll take it.

 

[Schnerres]

Only HAMMER groups for Tottenham remaining..
Okay, Dortmund gets a killer draw
Real, Dortmund, Spurs so far...