The mancityfans.net football forum

coming into the competition this year make this look like being quite a tasty competition.

Some really big sides dropped in this year....I shall definitely be watching the latter stages this year....devalued competition or not!

Olympique Marseille
Juventus
Wolfsburg
Standard Liege
Vfb Stuttgart
Atletico Madrid
Liverpool
Rubin

When you add those to the likely qualifiers from the Europa group stages, well it looks like it could be quite entertaining stuff (and it has made me realise how much I am looking forward to European football again....I loved the European nights last season but I didn't feel that we were really ready for it. Next time we will be proper bona fide contenders. Cannot wait!)

It is getting more important for a "normal" member of the european league to be first in their group. So you are not getting one of the CL dropped Teams in the draw for the next round....

My team Werder is playing in Bilbao next wednesday (I think) and has to defend because of the funny UEFA rules (when you are equal it does not go to the goal differents, direct games is what counts) a 3-1 lead.... We will see what we will get....

The new format is more fair as you have home and away games against each of your group, better than in 2008.

Yeah I like the new format better, it was a bit silly to have to play some teams only away and some others only at home. Roma will have to go to Bulgaria to meet CSKA Sofia and try to keep the first place in the group, but we are already through this stage as Fulham and Basel will meet each other and thus whatever the result only one of them can reach/surpass us even if we lose with the Bulgarians.

The next stages will get tough with all that quality opposition from the CL.

Not really too bothered when we're not in these things tbh.

Strangely these days I cant really stand any of our rivals winning anything, probably because it gives their fans a year or 2 crowing material.

Yet when I was a kid we all crowded round the telly supporting the English club. I blame the money/agents/foreign chairmen/Lord Triesman/greedy players/seated stadia/Sky/Platini/Peter Swales and anything else that normally gets the blame.