Champions League 2012/2013 Thread

(28-08-2012 19:21 )mitchell Wrote:  I'd have to say I see the winners coming from Barca, Bayern, Dortmund or Real.

Barca are Barca & Messi's had a full summer off & has started like a train.... Well he hasn't actually as a train starts slow (Thought I'd state that before some witty shit did!), Bayern Munich look strong & Dortmund's young side have another years experience, Man city will be hard to beat & their defence should sort itself out by the knockout stage. As much as it looks like Chelsea have changed tactics I still think he'd apply the same as last season in this comp especially if they get out of the group.

I don't see Juve causing any more of a problem than say Porto or Arsenal.

Are United not in the Champions League this season mitchell?!

(28-08-2012 17:29 )iamthatjack Wrote:  I really can't see how Juve are thought of as similar to those teams. They are just a little notch away from the Top 6 mentioned, surely (bar Milan now you mention it)

The way i see it there's Barcelona, Madrid, City, United, Chelsea and Bayern. Top quality teams, i'd expect to win their groups and challenge to win it.

Then there's Arsenal, Dortmund, Valencia, PSG and Porto. Good teams, dark horses that could win it.

Juventus come in the next group in my opinion along with Milan, Ajax and Benfica. Some of the biggest clubs in Europe, but i'd be really surprised if any reached the last 8.

I'll give you whatever price you want on the rest.

(28-08-2012 22:10 )groundnpound Wrote:  

(28-08-2012 17:29 )iamthatjack Wrote:  I really can't see how Juve are thought of as similar to those teams. They are just a little notch away from the Top 6 mentioned, surely (bar Milan now you mention it)

The way i see it there's Barcelona, Madrid, City, United, Chelsea and Bayern. Top quality teams, i'd expect to win their groups and challenge to win it.

Then there's Arsenal, Dortmund, Valencia, PSG and Porto. Good teams, dark horses that could win it.

Juventus come in the next group in my opinion along with Milan, Ajax and Benfica. Some of the biggest clubs in Europe, but i'd be really surprised if any reached the last 8.

I'll give you whatever price you want on the rest.

Fair enough, I just see Juve in the Arsenal set of teams. I think they will surprise you, but then, it all depends on the group draw!

I think I read somewhere there could potentially be a group of death consisting of:

Barcelona (Pot 1)
Man City (Pot 2)
Juventus (Pot 3)
Borussia Dortmund (Pot 4)

Are City pot 2? English champions. Aren't all 4 of them top seeds?

(28-08-2012 22:26 )groundnpound Wrote:  Are City pot 2? English champions. Aren't all 4 of them top seeds?

Here's a valid reason from the article

Quote:The pots are calculated, based on UEFA's co-efficient system. This scores European performance over a five-year period with points awarded for results and progress in the Champions League and Europa League, plus 20% of the national league coefficient over the same period (33% before 2009).

Your spot on mate. Just checked the seedings.

(28-08-2012 15:07 )groundnpound Wrote:  Serie A's not the same anymore, it's a pale shadow of the league it used to be.

There are only 2 clubs from Serie A in the Champions League group stage this season, the first time this has happened since 1998-99.

(28-08-2012 22:10 )groundnpound Wrote:  The way i see it there's Barcelona, Madrid, City, United, Chelsea and Bayern. Top quality teams, i'd expect to win their groups and challenge to win it.

Then there's Arsenal, Dortmund, Valencia, PSG and Porto. Good teams, dark horses that could win it.

Juventus come in the next group in my opinion along with Milan, Ajax and Benfica. Some of the biggest clubs in Europe, but i'd be really surprised if any reached the last 8.

I'll give you whatever price you want on the rest.

Juve for me are much better than the teams in bold above, went unbeaten last season, have just spent a good €50m and many of their players just reached the Euros final

Whereas the others, bar PSG, who are a bit of an unknown quantity this season, have all been weakened severly losing their best player/s this summer (Porto may lose Moutinho/Hulk)

I think Juventus are the dark horses to win it, if they can get out of their group, I reckon they'll go far

(29-08-2012 12:09 )Phoenix Wrote:  [quote='groundnpound' pid='1120695' dateline='1346191837']

Juve for me are much better than the teams in bold above, went unbeaten last season, have just spent a good €50m and many of their players just reached the Euros final

Whereas the others, bar PSG, who are a bit of an unknown quantity this season, have all been weakened severly losing their best player/s this summer (Porto may lose Moutinho/Hulk)

I think Juventus are the dark horses to win it, if they can get out of their group, I reckon they'll go far

They were unbeaten in a nonsense of a league. Manager is banned for the full season. They were supposed to be buying a new fantasy forward line, that didn't happen. No Suarez, no Cavani, no Van Persie.

PSG have some top players but more importantly, a top manager. A master with an immense record in the european cup.

Porto's squad is still intact and there's no argument for Juventus being a better team than Arsenal, Valencia or Dortmund in my book. Arsenal , 3rd best team in the prem are a better team than the serie a champions these days, even without the greedy dutchman! The German league is stronger than serie a now as well for me, making a Dortmund outfit with some fantastic players a better side. Then Valencia, 3rd in la liga the past 3 seasons, quality football team lad. I'll give you Porto, if they sell Hulk, Defour or Moutinho then they drop down a notch for sure.

I guarantee if they come over here this season or go to Spain or Germany, they'll get destroyed. They're a Last 16 team at best in my opinion.

You might be right, but i don't think they're up to much. We'll find out when the competition gets started!