UEFA Champions League And Europa League thread

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Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League are all back this week.
I wondered how I missed that, but I think the Europa League and Europa Conference League games are knockout games to meet the teams who qualified 1st and 2nd in the group stages later. Liverpool are not playing again in the Europa League till 14th March against TBC! ;) :lol:
 
Yeah its a play off round, teams who finished second in the groups meet the teams who finished third in the Champions League groups, group winners get a bye into the last 16.

Its the same for the Conference League as well.
 
So the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League have their quarter final draws tomorrow, here are the teams left in each competition.

Champions League.
Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Man City, PSG, Real Madrid.

Europa League.
AC Milan, Atalanta, AS Roma, Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica, Liverpool, Marseille, West Ham.

Europa Conference League.
Aston Villa, Club Brugge, Fenerbahce, Fiorentina, Lille, Olympiakos, PAOK, Viktoria Plzen.
 
Oddly... I noticed that the BBC had an article about Rangers' chances against Benfica earlier in the day:

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Philippe Clement believes the whole of Europe would take notice if his Rangers beat Benfica at Ibrox on Thursday to make the Europa League quarter-finals.

The Belgian has never managed a team to the last eight in European competition.

Benfica twice came from a goal down to draw 2-2 with Rangers in Lisbon in last week's first leg.

"We need to above our level to qualify. Our fans are amazing, they give so much energy to the team. That can help to go above your level," said Clement.

"We're going to do everything to do that and with the support of the fans, that can give something extra. This game was sold out really fast. We could've sold the stadium two, three times. They're really excited for this game.

"We will be creative. The players are up to that. We are realistic also. We're not naive. We know that Benfica has a really talented squad with a lot of experience.

"They have World Cup winners in their team. They have a lot of young, really big talents, who will go for a lot of money after this season. Players like [Joao] Neves for example.

"We know it would be a really big surprise in all of Europe if we could take out Benfica, but we're really hungry to do that."
Team news

Rangers midfielder Todd Cantwell is fit to play, although Clement's decision will be whether he starts or comes on from the bench.

The versatile Dujon Sterling misses out with the injury he picked up in Sunday's Scottish Cup win over Hibs, while a late decision will be taken on the availability and fitness of winger Ross McCausland, who also limped off at Easter Road.

Oscar Cortes, Danilo, Kieran Dowell, Ryan Jack, Alex Lowry, Abdallah Sima and Scott Wright all remain sidelined.

Benfica will be without left-back Juan Bernat, who has been out of action since October.

Joao Neves, Angel di Maria and Rafa Silva were all rested for the weekend win over Estoril and are set to be recalled.
What they said

Rangers captain James Tavernier: "The fans really come with electric energy, get right behind the team. I expect a different game compared to Benfica [away]. These competitions always really suit us really well because it's always an open game. The boys are just hungry to succeed.

"You've got to really outwork your opponent, really dial into the details and the tactical side of what you need to do into the game. It's about who wants it more as well."

Benfica manager Roger Schmidt: "I expect a game which is more open than last week. Now we start again at zero. There is big motivation for Rangers but also for us. We are still able to do something in three competitions.

"We have to show that we deserve to go to the quarter-finals. It would be a great achievement. We will be ready for extra-time and ready for penalties. We prepare for every situation."
It's odd because the article has been nuked and replaced - same link - with the match report:

 
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Champions League quarter-finals:​


Arsenal v Bayern Munich

Atletico Madrid v Borussia Dortmund

Paris St-Germain v Barcelona

Real Madrid v Manchester City

Semi-finals draw:​

Atletico Madrid or Borussia Dortmund v Paris St-Germain or Barcelona

Arsenal or Bayern Munich v Real Madrid or Manchester City


Some good games in there. Will Kane help to halt Arsenal's progress. ;) Probably not the way Arsenal are playing atm.Real v Man City would have been a good final, though I want neither to win another Champions League. ;)

Europa League quarter-finals draw:​

AC Milan v Roma

Liverpool v Atalanta

Bayer Leverkusen v West Ham

Benfica v Marseille

Semi-finals draw:​

Benfica or Marseille v Liverpool or Atalanta

AC Milan or Roma v Bayer Leverkusen or West Ham

With Klopp leaving, and Alonso one of the managers linked to replace him, it is set up for a Bayer Leverkusen v Liverpool final. Just as likely Marseille v Roma though. :lol:


Europa Conference League quarter-finals:

Club Bruges v PAOK

Olympiakos v Fenerbahce

Aston Villa v Lille

Viktoria Plzen v Fiorentina

The semi-final draw:

Aston Villa/Lille vs Olympiakos v Fenerbahce

Viktoria Plzen/Fiorentina vs Club Bruges/PAOK
 

Champions League quarter-finals:​


Arsenal v Bayern Munich

Atletico Madrid v Borussia Dortmund

Paris St-Germain v Barcelona

Real Madrid v Manchester City

Semi-finals draw:​

Atletico Madrid or Borussia Dortmund v Paris St-Germain or Barcelona

Arsenal or Bayern Munich v Real Madrid or Manchester City


Some good games in there. Will Kane help to halt Arsenal's progress. ;) Probably not the way Arsenal are playing atm.Real v Man City would have been a good final, though I want neither to win another Champions League. ;)

Europa League quarter-finals draw:​

AC Milan v Roma

Liverpool v Atalanta

Bayer Leverkusen v West Ham

Benfica v Marseille

Semi-finals draw:​

Benfica or Marseille v Liverpool or Atalanta

AC Milan or Roma v Bayer Leverkusen or West Ham

With Klopp leaving, and Alonso one of the managers linked to replace him, it is set up for a Bayer Leverkusen v Liverpool final. Just as likely Marseille v Roma though. :lol:


Europa Conference League quarter-finals:

Club Bruges v PAOK

Olympiakos v Fenerbahce

Aston Villa v Lille

Viktoria Plzen v Fiorentina

The semi-final draw:

Aston Villa/Lille vs Olympiakos v Fenerbahce

Viktoria Plzen/Fiorentina vs Club Bruges/PAOK
All Champions League ties should be close.
 
Champions League quarter finals start tonight, its Arsenal v Bayern Munich and Real Madrid v Man City and tomorrow its Atletico Madrid v Borussia Dortmund and PSG v Barcelona.

There is an apparent terrorist threat against the matches this week so security has been beefed up whilst they games will still go ahead.

Europa and Conference League quarter finals take start on Thursday.
 
PSG and Borussia Dortmund are the first teams through to the Champions League semis and will face each other. Barcelona v PSG last night finished 1-4 to PSG and 4-6 on aggregate and Dortmund v Atletico finished 4-2 to Dortmund last night and 5-4 on aggregate, both ties were pretty mad!

Tonight its still all to play for in the other two quarters, its Bayern v Arsenal where its 2-2 and Man City v Real Madrid where its 3-3.
 
PSG and Borussia Dortmund are the first teams through to the Champions League semis and will face each other. Barcelona v PSG last night finished 1-4 to PSG and 4-6 on aggregate and Dortmund v Atletico finished 4-2 to Dortmund last night and 5-4 on aggregate, both ties were pretty mad!

Tonight its still all to play for in the other two quarters, its Bayern v Arsenal where its 2-2 and Man City v Real Madrid where its 3-3.
I'd wager a Bayern V Man City semi final.
 
Quarter finals of all three European competitions are done, here's how the semi finals look.

Champions League.
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
Paris Saint Germain v Borussia Dortmund

Europa League.
Marseille v Atalanta
Roma v Bayer Leverkusen

Europa Conference League.
Fiorentina v Club Brugge
Aston Villa v Olympiakos

Bad week for the English sides, five teams in the quarters but only Villa made it through, the hopes of getting that fifth CL spot for next year are all but over, Italy are guaranteed a fifth spot after the quarters.
 
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I comment so infrequently on football these days but Paris vs Dortmund last night was absolutely stunning. Borussia Dortmund and Edin Terzić produced an absolutely brilliant display.


And I'm going to rub it in by adding that Paris losing in the Champions League again is a huge victory for football. Thirteen years of trying to buy the cup and failing again. Hilarious.
 
And PSG are less likely to win the CL once Mbappe leaves. ;)

Apart from putting the ball in the net, I don't think PSG could have done more in that game.

I'm hoping for a Bayern v Dortmund final at Wembley, a repeat of the 2013 final in the same stdium, but with a different result. ;)

In the 1st half of the Real v Bayern game, Real look most likely, though still 0-0 atm.
 
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Real beat Bayern 2-1 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate, Davies put Bayern ahead but two late goals from former Stoke and Newcastle striker Joselu books Real a a place in the final.
 
Bayern got jobbed. Was a total sham. That corner assistant ref is blind. First, he called a ball out that was cleared and allowed 2 balls to be in play at the same time when RMA threw-in while Rudiger and Bayern were focused on the ball way down in Madrid's half. Then he flags the totally-probably-not-offside final play. Just a total scam job.
 
Atalanta have won this years Europa League beating Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the final at Dublin, it was a magical night for Ademola Lookman who scored a fantastic hat-trick in what was a great performance by Atalanta, Leverkusen were on a remarkable 51-game unbeaten run before tonight but they were out-classed tonight.
 
Olympiakos won the Europa Conference League last night beating Fiorentina 1-0 in extra time.

Its the first European trophy in the clubs history, and they won it in Athens in their league rivals back-yard. Its the second consecutive year that Fiorentina have come runners-up in the Conference League, and they are playing in it next season!

Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund is this Saturday, 8pm at Wembley.
 
Real Madrid have won the Champions League 2024, they beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the Wembley final thanks to two late-ish goals from Carvajal and Vini Jr, Dortmund had a lot of chances especially in the first half but couldn't take them and that's what ultimately cost them, and the second goals was from a mistake from their left back Maatsen who passed to Bellingham who put Vini Jr though.

Its a 15th European Cup for Real and their 6th in the last 12 years, a 6th European Cup for Modric, Nacho, Kroos (one with Bayern) and Caravjal, plus a first for Bellingham in his first season with the club.
 
Modric + Kroos = officially best midfield duo of all time?
 
Real Madrid won the Super Cup last night beating Atalanta 2-0 in Warsaw. A debut goal for Kylian Mbappe and Valverde got Real the win.
 
The new look Champions League draw is later today at 5pm GMT.

Its a new format from this season with no group stage, instead its 36 team league where teams will play eight matches each, four home and four away, teams who finish in the top eight will qualify automatically for the last 16, while those who finish ninth to 24th will compete in a two-leg play off for a chance to join them. Whoever finishes 25th or lower will be eliminated and will not be entered into the Europa League. From the last 16 onwards the competition will use the same existing format.

What's also changed is the way it will be drawn, it will be automated-meaning it will be done by computer, teams are placed in four pots depending on their seeding and each team will face two team from each pot, one home and one away. A team will be drawn out of a pot and then UEFA's software will decide their opponents-and whether it will be home or away.

Its also the same for the Europa League and Conference League, they will also have this new league format and new drawing system.
 
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