Our Clubs In Europe Thread............ All Competitions.

[LeungKen]

you've had your fair share of difficult opponents in the latter stages, same as anyone else has. there aren't any 'easy' draws per se at this stage but some are easier than others.

as i say though i'll be happy against whoever so long as we're away first leg.

In that case Stevie I wish Barcelona upon you, and you are at home in the first leg... .

Ps My feelings have nothing to do with last Saturday's game

[StevieH]

In that case Stevie I wish Barcelona upon you, and you are at home in the first leg... .

Ps My feelings have nothing to do with last Saturday's game

i'd be pretty confident against barca over two legs ken.

[Macclad]

I reckon its gonna be :

Bayern Munich v Chelsea

Arsenal v Liverpool

FC Porto v Man United

Villareal v Barcelona

and

Shakhtar Donetsk v Man City in the UEFA Cup.

[bkkjames]

Found this on goal.com which is interesting..

It doesn't take a statistician to see that the draw is once again Premier League-dominated - but a closer look at the numbers suggests that there is a good chance of it producing some interesting ties.

All things being equal, and assuming a random draw, there is a a mere eight in 35 chance - or 22% - that no English team will meet another in the Champions League quarter-final draw on Friday lunchtime (LIVE on Goal.com.) Needless to say, that gives a 78% probability that a Premier League side will meet any other Premier League side.

In other words, just like last year - when Arsenal met Liverpool - we face the prospect of an all-Premier League tie when the matches are drawn in Nyon at 12:00 CET on March 19th.

But for Arsenal or Liverpool individually - and we can take this for the other English sides, too - to meet another Premier League outfit is 43% likely at the start of the draw. As for the prospect of a foreign team coming up against any given Premier League outfit, well, that's 4/7, or 57%.

As for Arsenal coming up against Liverpool themselves, well, that's easy - it's a one in seven chance that any given team will meet any other, so it's 14.3% before the draw begins. So, when you see that first team come out of the hat, take your guess for the second one and you have that much chance of being right.

But what if you sit down before the draw, write down the four combinations of teams in all four matches, and then see that they're all correct? You've just managed a one-in-105 shot, or a 0.95% chance of success come true - and that's before we take home and away advantage into account.

[bkkjames]

anybody able to watch this on the internet?

http://www.uefa.com/live/competitions/ucl/...draw_basic.html

Edited March 20, 2009 by bkkjames

[StevieH]

fuc_king fix.

[bkkjames]

fuc_king fix.

haha, i called it and very happy (lp and chelsea)

[StevieH]

fuc_king knew we were going to get chelsea. and we're at home first. about as bloody bad as it could have been. united get a fuc_king gimme route to the final.

[bkkjames]

fuc_king fix.

haha, i called it and very happy (lp and chelsea)

its getting better by the minute

[bkkjames]

You have a tough road there stevie - good luck and hope to see you in the final, have a good weekend boys.

[StevieH]

ah well we won at stamford bridge this season and beat them pretty comfortably at home, plus whenever we do anything worthwhile we do it the hard way.

united getting feeble porto followed by the winner of arsenal / villareal in the semi sticks in the craw though. that's an absolute gimme.

[bkkjames]

ah well we won at stamford bridge this season and beat them pretty comfortably at home, plus whenever we do anything worthwhile we do it the hard way.

united getting feeble porto followed by the winner of arsenal / villareal in the semi sticks in the craw though. that's an absolute gimme.

Not as simple as that but look at this way stevie, if we make it to the final it will be against one of four very good teams on your side. feel better now?

[JacknDanny]

ah well we won at stamford bridge this season and beat them pretty comfortably at home, plus whenever we do anything worthwhile we do it the hard way.

united getting feeble porto followed by the winner of arsenal / villareal in the semi sticks in the craw though. that's an absolute gimme.

Agreed!!

Barcelona have it tough now

[LeungKen]

QUARTER-FINALS: Ties to be played April 7/8 & 14/15

Villarreal v Arsenal

Manchester United v FC Porto

Liverpool v Chelsea

Barcelona v Bayern Munich

SEMI-FINALS: Ties to be played April 28/29 and May 5/6

Manchester United or FC Porto v Villarreal or Arsenal

Barcelona or Bayern Munich v Liverpool or Chelsea

Edited March 20, 2009 by LeungKen

[Devil]

fuc_king fix.

What The F... Yes and second leg away. Like you said never anything easy for LFC but I think we will be ok to be honest.

[Macclad]

United and Arsenal fans must be pretty pleased with that draw !

Barcelona will be very wary of Bayern Munich.

Chelsea v Liverpool....again....you couldnt make it up ! Two 0-0 draws then decided by a penalty shoot out.....step up John Terry and Nicholas Anelka !

[StevieH]

i think the only fans who will be really pleased with that will be united's to be honest.

easiest draw in the FA Cup Semi Final

easiest draw in the CL QF

easiest draw in the CL SF

something smells fishy.

[rixalex]

something smells fishy

You must be dating the wrong women Stevie

[StevieH]

hah.

i'm not so much bothered about playing chelsea as bored of it. what i said earlier about the champions league becoming boring is borne out by this, we've now played chelsea in the CL every year for five years.

2005 - semi

2006 - group stage

2007 - semi

2008 - semi

2009 - quarter

[LeungKen]

hah.

i'm not so much bothered about playing chelsea as bored of it. what i said earlier about the champions league becoming boring is borne out by this, we've now played chelsea in the CL every year for five years.

2005 - semi

2006 - group stage

2007 - semi

2008 - semi

2009 - quarter

Better the Devil you know than the Devil you don't - isn't that how the saying goes Stevie ?........

You're just upset that you and the lads won't be racking up any frequent-flier points..............

[StevieH]

hah.

i'm not so much bothered about playing chelsea as bored of it. what i said earlier about the champions league becoming boring is borne out by this, we've now played chelsea in the CL every year for five years.

2005 - semi

2006 - group stage

2007 - semi

2008 - semi

2009 - quarter

Better the Devil you know than the Devil you don't - isn't that how the saying goes Stevie ?........

You're just upset that you and the lads won't be racking up any frequent-flier points..............

i think it's the hardest draw we could have got ken, chelsea with essien back, drogba looking interested again and hiddink having breathed new life into them. but i'm confident we can do anyone over two legs in europe. it's just so fuc_king boring to have to go through two really boring, tight, dull sets of 90 minutes against them for the tie to be decided by a small mistake or one bit of brilliance. dull, dull, dull.

[LeungKen]

All joking aside - I tend to agree with you.

Though I've been watching football for a goodly amount of years now to know that by this stage of proceedings any tournament gets tricky - and in this case there are some bloody good football teams left and any one of them would be worthy winners I'm sure..

Cheers and may the best team win.

(Fingers crossed for S.A.F & the lads goes with out saying.......almost...

[StevieH]

well the theory, based on uefa's seeding and country protection system, is that you should have the eight strongest teams in europe at this point - not sure many people would consider porto and villareal to realistically be two of them though.

if you lot don't make the final from that draw then ferguson wants sacking.

[rixalex]

if you lot don't make the final from that draw then ferguson wants sacking.

You see looking at it that way Stevie, you could say you are lucky. If Liverpool don't make it, you already have all your excuses teed up. On the other hand, if United stumble you'll be able to ridicule and celebrate their inability to make it through an easy draw.

[bkkjames]

The only thing that smells fishy is the LP whine made from sour grapes stevie.

As for two 90 minute bore fests with chelsea, far be for me to suggest that LP is at least half responsible for this if and when it happens

I am so hungover!

[oldgit]

ah well we won at stamford bridge this season and beat them pretty comfortably at home, plus whenever we do anything worthwhile we do it the hard way.

united getting feeble porto followed by the winner of arsenal / villareal in the semi sticks in the craw though. that's an absolute gimme.

I think you're getting ahead of yourself here,Stevie.Somebody once said that all the successful managers are good but also need to be lucky.This most definitely applies to Ferguson.On the face of it,an easy draw for Man Utd. with complacency their only obstacle.I don't believe,however,that Porto are the pushovers most people believe.They finished top of the group,with Arsenal second,and showed that,at home,they are a force to be reckoned with.They can,on their day,beat anybody but they have an unenviable record of never beaten an English team in England.Most people are assuming that the loss against Liverpool will give them the kick up the ass they need but,it could just work the other way.A 4-1 defeat at the Theatre of Dreams by their greatest rivals is some kick in the b--locks.

Incidently,don't you think that even if we were not drawn against each other in the quarter finals,it was guaranteed that we would meet at some OTHER point of the competition? We're joined at the hip,mate!

[oldgit]

ah well we won at stamford bridge this season and beat them pretty comfortably at home, plus whenever we do anything worthwhile we do it the hard way.

united getting feeble porto followed by the winner of arsenal / villareal in the semi sticks in the craw though. that's an absolute gimme.

Yeah, a piece of piss.

[StevieH]

ah well we won at stamford bridge this season and beat them pretty comfortably at home, plus whenever we do anything worthwhile we do it the hard way.

united getting feeble porto followed by the winner of arsenal / villareal in the semi sticks in the craw though. that's an absolute gimme.

Yeah, a piece of piss.

i'm perfectly happy to be proven wrong in this instance oldgit.

good bit of reverse-mockering on my part though i think.

[oldgit]

ah well we won at stamford bridge this season and beat them pretty comfortably at home, plus whenever we do anything worthwhile we do it the hard way.

united getting feeble porto followed by the winner of arsenal / villareal in the semi sticks in the craw though. that's an absolute gimme.

Yeah, a piece of piss.

i'm perfectly happy to be proven wrong in this instance oldgit.

good bit of reverse-mockering on my part though i think.

Certainly fooled me,mate! I thought your judgement had gone.