New format for the competition of course, the final is in Bilbao. The draws for the first two qualifying rounds were done today - the only British interest is Kilmarnock in qualifying round 2 with a tie against Cercle Brugge - a nice away trip if nothing else. Hearts enter in the playoff round, Spurs and Manchester United are straight in to the group stage. Any other British participants will depend upon what happens in Champions League qualifying I guess.
Yep, same for the Conference League as well. Judging by what it plays like on Football Manager, it’ll be a right chore. Far too many games on top of everything else.
Well exactly and I think players have already complained but money talks doesn't it. Be loads of dead rubbers too and teams playing away for a draw etc. Might as well call it the Super league - 1-2-3 !
Kilmarnock v Cercle Brugge KSV " Live " on BBC Sportscene tonight 7.30 kick off , I'll give that a watch & see how Posh ol' boy Vassell gets on , shame another ol' boy Leo Da Silva Lopes isn't playing after being released by the Belgium club end of last season .
The Belgians were probably the favourites anyway and they'll likely win the second leg at home but the Kilmarnock tie is still in the balance. The New Saints and probably also Shamrock Rovers join us in the next round to add some more British / Irish interest.
I didn't realise that Rangers would bypass a qualifying round and go straight in to the Europa League after their defeat last night. On closer inspection it seems that this is only a benefit for non-champions? There were 10 Champions League ties last night, six of the losers drop in to the Europa League playoff round whilst four non-champions in the same round go straight to the group stages. Bonkers! Anyway, Rangers join Manchester United and Spurs in pot one so there's a good chance we'll see an all British tie this season. Last (and only) time we've played Rangers in a competitive fixture was in 1962 so it has been a while.
With the England v Scotland narrative plus Rangers good relationship with Chelsea it'd probably be best that it doesn't happen but we'll see.
For sure. I think playing different teams is one of the appeals to this and the conference league too. It has been so long since we've played Rangers that it'd be fun to come up against them, I'd be tempted to grab a ticket too. I know the police would be dreading it though.
Ajax doing their best to go out there. Lost on the night to take it to extra time and penalties. 17 penalties each. Ajax had the chance to win the shootout five times and kept missing They did eventually win the shootout though.
British / Irish interest in the final qualifying round and hoping to join Spurs, United and Rangers.. PAOK v Shamrock Rovers Viktoria Plzen v Hearts Realistically I think both lose their playoff toes but Shamrock's win tonight means there will be an Irish team playing group stage football this season, albeit probably the conference league.
Shamrock next to no chances but what a tie for their fans & players going to Greece in that atmosphere. Hearts could beat Plzen.
For me, the result of the night was RFS beating APOEL 2-1. I was pretty sure APOEL would trounce them, given their European pedigree and superior budget.
Manchester United: Rangers (H), Porto (A), PAOK (H), Fenerbache (A), Bodo Glimt (H), Viktoria Plzen (A), Twente (H), Steaua Bucharest (A) Rangers: Tottenham (H), Manchester United (A), Lyon (H), Olympiakos (A), Union SG (H), Malmo (A), Steaua Bucharest (H), Nice (A) Tottenham: Roma (H), Rangers (A), Alkmaar (H), Ferencvaros (A), Qarabag (H), Galatasaray (A), Elfsborg (H), Hoffenheim (A) I think we'll struggle away. Rangers, Turkey and Hoffenheim. Two all British ties and a Mourinho reunion for United.
