2023/24 - The Race For..................

[cjsimba]

Straight in the league stage. No more groups from next season.

Oh yeh, forgot about the format change. Thanks!

 

[wadewill]

We'll be 4th or 5th, don't want to be worrying in the final weeks though whether the English teams in Europe "do us a favour" hasn't gone well in the past

Agree with a few earlier posts that no CL would seem disappointing, but I'm 100% rather winning the EL than getting knocked out the 1/4s of the CL

Think the new CL format is going to be dogshit anyway, it'll be back to normal in 4 years, bit like when they had that stupid 2nd group stage

 

[Ruffinthepuffin]

The over egging on Man U recently was cringeworthy.

Villa where the better side when they played and they got lucky, but for some reason some couldnt see the wood from the trees.

Was never worried because their performances havnt been good enough.

Totally agree.

 

[Nayim60yards]

Straight in the league stage. No more groups from next season.

I didn't absorb what the changes to the Champions League were and had to look it up. If any one else out there was also unaware here's the lowdown and rationale from the official UEFA site:

New format for Champions League post-2024: Everything you need to know | UEFA Champions League

The 2024/25 edition of the UEFA Champions League will follow a new format. We explain what will change, what will stay the same, what it means for fans and how it impacts UEFA's other club competitions.

www.uefa.com

How will the Champions League format change from 2024/25?​

The pivotal change in the reforms announced by the UEFA Executive Committee is the departure from the current format's group stage system. The present Champions League group stage includes 32 participants divided into eight groups of four. From the 2024/25 season, 36 clubs will participate in the Champions League league phase (former group stage), giving four more sides the opportunity to compete against the best clubs in Europe. Those 36 clubs will participate in a single league competition in which all 36 competing clubs are ranked together.

Under the new format, teams will play eight matches in the new league phase (former group stage). They will no longer play three opponents twice – home and away – but will instead face fixtures against eight different teams, playing half of those matches at home and half of them away. To determine the eight different opponents, the teams will initially be ranked in four seeding pots. Each team will then be drawn to play two opponents from each of these pots, playing one match against a team from each pot at home, and one away.

This gives the opportunity for clubs to test themselves against a wider range of opponents and raises the prospect for fans of seeing the top teams go head to head more often and earlier in the competition. It will also result in more competitive matches for every club across the board.

How will the four extra Champions League group stage spots be allocated?​

Qualification for the Champions League will continue to be open and depend on a club's final position in the previous season's domestic league competition combined with each association's position in the association club coefficient ranking. The basis of the access list will remain the same as for the current season, and the additional four slots available in 2024/25 will be allocated as follows:

• Slot one: This place will go to the club ranked third in the championship of the association in fifth position in the access list, which is determined by the UEFA association club coefficient ranking.
• Slot two: This place will be awarded to a domestic champion by extending from four to five the number of clubs qualifying via the Champions path of the competition's qualifying process, which will consist of four qualifying rounds.
• Slots three and four: These places will go to the associations with the best collective performance by their clubs in the previous season (i.e. the association club coefficient of the previous season, which is based on the total number of club coefficient points obtained by each club from an association divided by the number of participating clubs from that association). Those two associations will each earn one automatic place in the league phase ('European Performance Spot') for the club ranked next-best in their domestic league behind those clubs that have already qualified directly for the league phase.

How will teams reach the Champions League knockout phase and will the format for the knockout phase change?​

The results of each match will decide the overall ranking in the new league, with three points for a win and one for a draw still applying.

The top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the round of 16, while the teams finishing in 9th to 24th place will compete in a two-legged knock-out phase play-off to secure their path to the last 16 of the competition. Teams that finish 25th or lower will be eliminated, with no access to the UEFA Europa League.

The new format, with all the teams ranked together in a single league, will mean that there is more to play for all the way through to the final night of the league phase.

In the knockout phase, the teams which finished between 9th and 16th will be seeded in the knockout phase play-off draw, meaning they will face a team placed 17th to 24th – with, in principle, the return leg at home. The eight clubs which prevail in the knockout phase play-offs will then progress to the round of 16, where they will each face one of the top-eight finishers, who will be seeded in the round of 16.

To strengthen the synergy between the league and knockout phases, and to provide more sporting incentive during the league phase, the pairings of the knockout phase will also be partly determined by the league phase rankings, with a draw which likewise determines and lays out the route for teams to reach the final.

From the round of 16 onwards, the competition will continue to follow its existing format of knockout rounds leading to the final staged at a neutral venue selected by UEFA.

All games before the final will continue to be played in midweek, recognising the importance of the domestic calendar of games across Europe, while the final will continue to be played on a Saturday.

 

[Westmorlandspur]

Ajax are BAD now. They should not have got past Bodø/Glimt and when you look at their squad there are only four or five names you'll have even heard of, none of whom are elite standouts. Villa should go through, in fact I'd say 90/10 they go through.

But Villa having to go away there on the Thursday before they play us on the Sunday is something that we might be able to take advantage of.

Didn’t realise that . Early kick off 1pm on the Sunday. Stand by for Klopp like whining about tired players.
I believe Pau Torres was injured again yesterday

 

[Ginola+Tonic]

Liverpool winning that means an extra European spot in the league.
Could be the top 8 if we get the extra champions league spot.

I think we get top 8 boys, European football is back!!

 

[tevezito]

Liverpool winning that means an extra European spot in the league.
Could be the top 8 if we get the extra champions league spot.

I think we get top 8 boys, European football is back!!

Gotta admire your anti-Chelsea-ness, I mean, they're only three points off eighth with a game in hand...

 

[Ginola+Tonic]

Gotta admire your anti-Chelsea-ness, I mean, they're only three points off eighth with a game in hand...

It doesn’t matter what Chelsea do?

If we finish top 8 we’re in Europe, not sure what you’re saying unless you’re suggesting Chelsea will catch us LOL

 

[tevezito]

It doesn’t matter what Chelsea do?

If we finish top 8 we’re in Europe, not sure what you’re saying unless you’re suggesting Chelsea will catch us LOL

Just suggesting that Chelsea may well finish at least eighth and if they do then Liverpool winning yesterday instead of them makes absolutely no difference to the Status Quo.

 

[Westmorlandspur]

It doesn’t matter what Chelsea do?

If we finish top 8 we’re in Europe, not sure what you’re saying unless you’re suggesting Chelsea will catch us LOL

Top 8!! That’s ambition for you. We did that last year.

 

[Styopa]

Top 8!! That’s ambition for you. We did that last year.

Top 8 would legitimately be a good achievement for them now. They would need to finish above all of Newcastle, West Ham and Wolves, which would no mean feat for this Chelsea team.

Although if they win their game in hand, they might even start dreaming of finishing as high as 7th!

 

[KirstyG]

Top 8 would legitimately be a good achievement for them now. They would need to finish above all of Newcastle, West Ham and Wolves, which would no mean feat for this Chelsea team.

Although if they win their game in hand, they might even start dreaming of finishing as high as 7th!

Sadly that will also help them in their quest to afford fines/points docking though surely? As that will bring in extra funds.

 

[Tucker]

Sadly that will also help them in their quest to afford fines/points docking though surely? As that will bring in extra funds.

Can’t see it making a dent. Would be like rolling a ping pong ball down a bowling alley when you need a strike.

 

[bubble07]

Would be good to be involved in the new CL format

 

[Westmorlandspur]

Sadly that will also help them in their quest to afford fines/points docking though surely? As that will bring in extra funds.

Top 8 would legitimately be a good achievement for them now. They would need to finish above all of Newcastle, West Ham and Wolves, which would no mean feat for this Chelsea team.

Although if they win their game in hand, they might even start dreaming of finishing as high as 7th!

That game in hand is against us. We can play them with a proper team

 

[RuskyM]

That game in hand is against us. We can play them with a proper team

I fully assume the team will contract leprosy the day before. Their ability to have the last laugh over us is something supernatural.

 

[mightyspur]

I think ManU will be much more consistent now, no Europe. I actually have them losing only once to Citeh.
7 wins and 6 draws. So 68 points. You can guarantee me that won't happen Trix?
Then for us it's 5 5 4 so 67 points. We have had some very lucky wins lately and I don't fancy us in 4 of those games.
OK so this is probably on the pessimistic side but it's still why I'm hoping for that 5th place to be CL.
Villa, I agree we'll stay above.

You got the city loss prediction correct!

 

[wpmcg]

You got the city loss prediction correct!

I did, didn't expect them to lose at home to Fulham though. I'd love to be wrong about all this, it was only a go through the games, predict the scores exercise. Don't we all do that sometimes?

 

[Styopa]

I did, didn't expect them to lose at home to Fulham though. I'd love to be wrong about all this, it was only a go through the games, predict the scores exercise. Don't we all do that sometimes?

We do. Although it is quite funny that they have lost twice in three matches since you made that prediction. It was a brave prediction.

Of course I don’t know for sure, but I predict they will lose a few more games before the end of the season. They still have to play Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle, Chelsea and Brighton. Even matches like Everton and Palace and Brentford are potentially very awkward for them. I just can’t see them going undefeated to the end of the season.

Today was their eleventh league defeat of the season, and I don’t see any massive improvement with them. They won a few matches in a row and lots of people got carried away imo. If they lose another two or three matches that will probably be about right for how they have been this season.

 

[CookieYiddo]

Im confident we get top 5. We have a very tough patch coming up but so do Utd.