UEFA Champions League 2005-2006

[naervod]

I haven't seen one yet, so this will be the official CFC thread for this year's CL competition, seeing as one leg of the last qualifying round has been completed. This thread will be the discussion thread for all things related to the road to Paris on May 17, 2006.

​

 

[naervod]

Results from 3rd Qualifying Round, 1st Leg:

Manchester United 3-0 Debrecen
Everton 1-2 Villarreal
Wisla Krakow 3-1 Panathinaikos
Anorthosis 1-2 Rangers
Vålerenga 1-0 Club Brugge
Betis 1-0 Monaco
Malmö 0-1 Thun
Brøndby 2-2 Ajax
Artmedia 0-0 Partizan
Anderlecht 2-1 Slavia
Basel 2-1 Bremen
Rapid Wien 1-1 Lokomotiv Moskva
Shakhtar 0-2 Inter
Steaua 1-1 Rosenborg
Sporting 0-1 Udinese
CSKA Sofia 1-3 Liverpool

---

Some expected results, and some interesting ones. Man United, Villarreal, Liverpool, Inter, and Rangers have made good steps towards the group stages. Wisla looks like it has built up a good lead against Panathinaikos, though it could be difficult to hold on to. Vålerenga-Club Brugge and Betis-Monaco could go either way, though the former clubs in the ties have the slight advantage. FC Thun of Switzerland scored a bit of an upset, and have a good chance of getting through if they can defend their 1-0 lead in the tie at home against Malmö. Ajax looks to have the upper hand in their tie against Brøndby. It would be interesting to see Artmedia go through, but even with a clean slate in going into second round, it will be hard to win in Belgrade. A more realistic result could be to have a draw and go through on penalties or away goals. Anderlecht-Slavia could be interesting as Anderlecht leads 2-1 but Slavia has an away goal, and same with Basel-Bremen with Basel leading. Loko Moscow has a slight advantage against Rapid as well as Rosenborg against Sporting, though at 1-1 the ties could go either way. Udinese gave themselvea a good advantage with a 1-0 away win in Lisbon.

 

[classical_hero]

I wonder if Everton can reverse the tie away at Villareal. The Loser of this match is very unlucky to have met the other team.

 

[farting bob]

The current odds of winning the champions league 2005/6 (from william hill):

Chelsea 11/2
Barcelona 13/2
A C Milan 7/1
Real Madrid 8/1
Juventus 9/1
Man Utd 10/1
Arsenal 10/1
Inter Milan 16/1
Bayern Munich 16/1
Liverpool 18/1
Lyon 20/1
Villarreal 25/1
Real Betis 40/1
P S V Eindhoven 40/1
Schalke 50/1
Ajax 50/1
Werder Bremen 66/1
Fenerbahce 66/1
Benfica 66/1
Udinese 80/1
Rangers 80/1
Porto 80/1
Olympiakos 80/1
Lille 80/1
Lokomotiv Moscow 125/1
Club Brugge 150/1
Anderlecht 150/1
Sparta Prague 200/1
Panathinaikos 200/1
Monaco 200/1
Wisla Krakow 250/1
Valerenga 250/1
Thun 250/1
S Lisbon 250/1
Basel 250/1
Slavia Prague 300/1
Partizan Belgrade 300/1
Rosenborg 400/1
Shakhtar Donetsk 500/1
Brondby 500/1
Steaua Bucharest 750/1
Rapid Vienna 750/1
Everton 750/1
Artmedia Petrzalka 750/1
Malmo 1000/1
Anorthosis 2000/1
Debrecen 5000/1
C S K A Sofia 5000/1

Im surprised about barca personally. They havent looked like potential winners for a long time, and i wouldnt back them right now. My money this time is going on AC milan, with a small bet on bayern (always do well at this level). Also, i'll put my usual £5 bet on the biggest odds, which is for CSKA sofia this time. £25k if they win....

 

[naervod]

I personally don't think it will be a Spanish team this year. Villareal and Real Betis have little experience at this level, and I agree that Barca don't look too great. Real Madrid has the best chance, but I can't see them topping teams like Chelsea, Milan, or even Bayern. I'm also surprised that Man. United is up there. Although they have been the best English team in Europe in recent history, possibly bar Liverpool, they made few good signings and have internal problems. I predict a 2nd Knockout or Quarter-final exit for them, though if they won it all, that would do wonders for the Glazers.

As for my thoughts on who will win, I will go with Chelsea, though I have a feeling Liverpool will go far again and Bayern or Milan might suceed. I would have said Lyon, but after most likely losing three good players in Essien, Diarra, and Govou, I don't see alot of hope for them, since their only confirmed signing is Gerard Houllier as a manager, which is not the greatest acquisition (though he did win a UEFA Cup back at Liverpool), and the only big rumoured signing according to Eurosport is Baros, who is a good player, but can't replace all three of them.

 

[farting bob]

Man united generally always have a good run. They got to the final 10 times in the last 9 years, and once it once in that time. But unless they get lucky draws, i cant see them progressing beyond the semi's or even Quarters.
Liverpool wont win again. They were lucky in several rounds last year (chelsea and AC both outplayed them overall). everton will probably go out early, chelski should be semi finalists at least, although i suspect that last year was their peak.

 

[naervod]

I agree with you about Manchester United, but as for Liverpool, I feel that while they did get lucky last year, they are stronger this year, with some new signings and Morientes not being cup-tied. Even if they don't win, I expect at least the quarter-finals. I think Chelsea have a stronger squad already, with del Horno, Wright-Phillips, and possibly the rumoured signings of Owen, Fernando Torres, and Essien among others. Everton will most likely go out against Villareal on the 23rd and not even make the group stage, though they have made two solid signings in Arteta and Per Kroldrup. While we're on the subject of English teams, Arsenal probably won't go far past the group stage, a Round of 16 or quarterfinal finish at best, especially without Vieira and Edu, among others.

 

[antonio]

I perosnaly would think inter would be a good bet 16-1 thats good odds. They are probably a stronger this season they were getting alot better later on in the season. Suggests that Mancini was geting his defense and his team sorted out. They had the best squad in italy argualby last year but the defense just never played well. If they hadn't sold canavaro to juve I'd say they would have won the scudetto and maybe the cl to. This season I think they will be very strong I think. If you want a real suprise package could be betis beinfica or perhaps rangers. Betis have alot of quility throughout there team. Benfica could suprise a few people much like Porto did but without Trapatoni who knows how there new manager will do. Rangers well they've got some realy quilty players who have been there before like Prso and Rodriguez both finalists with monoco. Adding others like Fanfan and the guy whos name I cant spell. Plus the ibrox crowd behind them they might jsut spring a suprise. I very much doubt tany of them will but there my best bet for an upset.

 

[naervod]

Inter always seems to have a strong squad on paper, but that never translates to results. It has been a habit of theirs to dish out bags of money to get very few results. In 16 years, the sole silverware in Inter's cabinet is a UEFA Cup and more recently, a Coppa Italia, even though the latter competition is declining in importance. With such star-studded rosters as they've had, shouldn't they do better? All I'm saying is that Inter does look great on paper, they always do, but when it is crunch time they choke.

 

[Inter4]

Not this time. I'd gladly put my money on inter.. 16/1 those are excellent odds for a smart better (is that a word?).


Suddenly you know Serie A's history for the past 15 years? I'm sure you know little about Serie A 1997/1998 or 2001/2002. Those two scudettos belong to Inter. Too bad Juventus (particularly those two seasons) plays with 14.

 

[naervod]

16-1 are definitely good odds, I'm just saying I have my doubts.

And now now, no need to get bitter, and why do you say suddently? I actually know more than you would think about the Serie A in the past 15 years, I am not some ignorant American as you might paint me out to be. I could probably tell you if a certain team did or didn't compete in a certain year, I could tell about Napoli's glory days and their scudetti, I could tell you about Berlusconi and his influence on the Italian game, or I could even tell you about Juve's own eight-year title drought. Sure its not as long a drought, but its still a drought none the less. Or I could go on about how even though Inter has largely lost out on silverware courtesy of Juve and Milan that many referees in Italy are so provincially minded, that they will defer to the big teams, and not just Juve and Milan, but Inter, Lazio, and Roma as well. Or I could tell you about the night of the watches and point out that Juve is not the only big club to have been accused of bribing the referees. My point is, although it is the tendency of football fans to cast the blame for failure off their team and onto other intangibles or the referees or what have you, the fact remains that the blame for Inter's title drought does not rest solely on Juve. There are so many other teams involved in the corruption of Italian soccer, through match fixing or otherwise (and not just Genoa, I'm talking about the various teams under investigation in the 03-04 season) that it is hard to blame it solely on Juve, which is what you seem to be doing. Oh and my bad, make that three UEFA Cups for Inter in that period, while Juve win 1 Champion's Cup title, 2 UEFA Cups and go to three more CC finals. Do you honestly think we bribed European refs too?

And on the topic of European soccer, this is a thread for Champion's League 2005-2006, not Serie A 1980's through present, which I would be more than happy to discuss elsewhere.

 

[antonio]

I think this year they actualy will do well. They have a great manager who was getting everything in place the end of last season and have got rid of some dead weght in there team and brought in some new players. The problem for last season was the continuos drawing and a average defence. As the season progressed though they got better and this season it should be sorted completely. Remember what thye were doing in the champions league up until they met Milan. They destoryed everyone 5-1 at the mestia (spelling) was the most impressive result they had. Against Milan they were very lack luster and didnt do themselves justice. A 2-0 win over shaktar away is a very good result. Maybe its a dignal of there quility this year.

 

[Fischfang]

Thun has nearly the same odds like Monaco

 

[antonio]

Well Monaco have a tough quilifying match and they aren't nearly the side they were two seasons ago. Just noticed sporting 250-1 thats long odds. Could be worth putting a fiver on them. They might do it uefa cup final last year and have a very good team.

 

[Grisu]

Great, FC Thun beats Malmö at home 3-0 and thus for the first time enters the Champions League

Absolutely great game, Malmö never had a chance, Thun was just better from the start to the finishing whistle.

 

[naervod]

Superb from Thun. And also, Celtic killers Artmedia Petrzalka defeat Partizan to make it to the scored round after extra time and penalties. Props to them.

Today's results:
Lokomotiv Moskva 0-1 Rapid Wien (Rapid advance 2-1 on aggregate)
Partizan 0-0 Artmedia (0-0 aggregate, Artmedia advance on penalties)
Liverpool 0-1 CSKA Sofia (Liverpool advance 3-2 on aggregate)
Thun 3-0 Malmö (Thun advance 4-0 on aggregate)
Udinese 3-2 Sporting (Udinese advance 4-2 on aggregate)
Monaco 2-2 Betis (Betis advance 3-2 on aggregate)
Rosenborg 3-2 Steaua (Rosenborg advance 4-2 on aggregate)
Panathinaikos 4-1 Wisla (Panathinaikos advance 5-4 on aggregate, aet)

Matches tomorrow:

Rangers-Anorthosis
Slavia-Anderlecht
Ajax-Brøndby
Club Brugge-Vålerenga
Debrecen-Man. United
Bremen-Basel
Inter-Shakhtar
Villareal-Everton

 

[Hitro]

Apparently there have been several arrests in the city already. My father who works at the court, told me that eight judges have been called in for special duty this evening.

 

[Grisu]

Apparently there have been several arrests in the city already. My father who works at the court, told me that eight judges have been called in for special duty this evening.

well, I don't know about Bremen, but many Basel-Fans aren't really known for being the peaceful kind....

 

[naervod]

Hehe, that's kind of funny. But anyways, scores from today:

Rangers 2-0 Anorthosis (Rangers advance 4-1 on aggregate)
Slavia 0-2 Anderlecht (Anderlecht advance 4-1 on aggregate)
Debrecen 0-3 Man. United (Man. United advance 6-0 on aggregate)
Club Brugge 1-0 Vålerenga (1-1 aggregate, Club Brugge advance 4-3 on penalties)
Ajax 3-1 Brøndby (Ajax advance 5-3 on aggregate)
Bremen 3-0 Basel (Bremen advance 4-2 on aggregate)
Inter 1-1 Shakhtar (Inter advance 3-1 on aggregate)
Villarreal 2-1 Everton (Villareal advance 4-2 on aggregate)

---

No surprises here. The winning teams will be joined by Real Madrid, Milan, Barca, Bayern, Arsenal, Olympiakos, Schalke, Sparta Praha, Porto, Juve, PSV, Lyon, Chelsea, Lille, Benfica, and Fenerbahçe, in the group stage, and the draw is tomorrow IIRC.

 

[Hitro]

For the group phase draw the clubs are distributed as follows (UEFA coefficient in brackets):

First:

1 Real Madrid CF (ESP) 131.326
2 AC Milan (ITA) 121.191
3 FC Barcelona (ESP) 117.326
4 Liverpool FC (ENG, holders) 115.864
5 Manchester United FC (ENG) 110.864
6 FC Internazionale Milano (ITA) 101.191
7 FC Bayern München (GER) 97.166
8 Arsenal FC (ENG) 93.864


Second:

9 FC Porto (POR) 93.739
10 Juventus FC (ITA) 93.191
11 PSV Eindhoven (NED) 84.145
12 Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) 81.324
13 Panathinaikos FC (GRE) 70.715
14 Chelsea FC (ENG) 68.864
15 Villarreal CF (ESP) 58.326
16 AFC Ajax (NED) 52.145


Third:

17 Club Brugge KV (BEL) 50.476
18 RSC Anderlecht (BEL) 47.476
19 Olympiacos CFP (GRE) 46.715
20 FC Schalke 04 (GER) 44.166
21 AC Sparta Praha (CZE) 43.223
22 LOSC Lille Métropole (FRA) 41.324
23 Rangers FC (SCO) 40.476
24 Werder Bremen (GER) 40.166


Fourth:

25 SL Benfica (POR) 36.739
26 Rosenborg BK (NOR) 36.665
27 Real Betis Balompié (ESP) 34.326
28 Udinese Calcio (ITA) 30.191
29 Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) 23.872
30 SK Rapid Wien (AUT) 15.208
31 FC Thun (SUI) 6.887
32 FC Artmedia Bratislava (SVK) 4.850