Liverpool FC Forum

by **Leonmc0708** » Thu May 13, 2004 9:53 am

The draw for the qualifying rounds of the Champions League means UEFA have a chance at an early stage to fiddle the draw and ensure they get plenty of money from the TV companies in the group stages.

Following is a list of all the entrants to the Champions League for next year, in order of country. The first five countries, Spain, Italy, England, Germany and France are seeded for the qualifying stage, (marked with an *) so therefore Liverpool will not face any team from these leagues in the third qualifying round. The only teams we can meet are marked with a > symbol.

*ESP Grp Valencia CF
*ESP Grp Real Madrid CF
*ESP Q3 FC Barcelona
*ESP Q3 RC Deportivo La Coruña
*ITA Grp AC Milan
*ITA Grp AS Roma
*ITA Q3 Juventus FC
*ITA Q3 FC Internazionale
*ENG Grp Arsenal FC
*ENG Grp Chelsea FC
*ENG Q3 Manchester United FC
*ENG Q3 Liverpool FC
*GER Grp SV Werder Bremen
*GER Grp FC Bayern München
*GER Q3 VfB Stuttgart
*FRA Grp Olympique Lyonnais
*FRA Grp AS Monaco FC
*FRA Q3 Paris Saint-Germain FC
GRE Grp Panathinaikos FC
GRE Grp Olympiacos CFP
>GRE Q3 FC PAOK
POR Grp FC Porto
>POR Q3 SL Benfica
HOL Grp AFC Ajax
>HOL Q3 PSV Eindhoven
SCO Grp Celtic FC
>SCO Q3 Rangers FC
>TUR Q3 Fenerbahçe SK
>TUR Q2 Trabzonspor
>BEL Q3 RSC Anderlecht
>BEL Q2 Club Brugge KV
>CZE Q3 FC Baník Ostrava
>CZE Q2 AC Sparta Praha
>SUI Q3 FC Basel 1893
>SUI Q2 BSC Young Boys
>UKR Q3 FC Dynamo Kyiv
>UKR Q2 FC Shakhtar Donetsk
>ISR Q3 Maccabi Haifa FC
>ISR Q2 Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC
>AUT Q2 Grazer AK
>POL Q2 Wisla Kraków
>RUS Q2 PFC CSKA Moskva
>SMN Q2 FK Crvena Zvezda
>NOR Q2 Rosenborg BK
>BUL Q2 PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv
>CRO Q2 NK Dinamo Zagreb
>SWE Q2 Djurgårdens IF
>DEN Q2 Esbjerg fB
>SVK Q2 FK Dukla Banská Bystrica
>ROM Q1 FC Dinamo Bucuresti
>HUN Q1 Debreceni VSC
>CYP Q1 APOEL FC
>SLO Q1 NK Gorica
>FIN Q1 HJK Helsinki
>LAT Q1 FC Skonto
>MOL Q1 FC Sheriff Tiraspol
>GEO Q1 FC Sioni Bolnisi
>BHZ Q1 NK Široki Brijeg
>LIT Q1 FBK Kaunas
>ISL Q1 KR Reykjavík
>MKD Q1 FK Pobeda
>BLS Q1 FC Gomel
>IRL Q1 Shelbourne FC
>MLT Q1 Sliema Wanderers FC
>ARM Q1 FC Pyunik
>WAL Q1 Rhyl FC
>LIE Q1 TBC
>ALB Q1 KF Tirana
>EST Q1 FC Flora
>NIR Q1 Linfield FC
>LUX Q1 AS Jeunesse Esch
>FAR Q1 HB Tórshavn
>AZE Q1 FK Neftchi
>KAZ Q1 FC Irtysh Pavlodar
>AND Q1 TBC
>SMR Q1 TBC

Therefore, this means that:

We have half a chance of meeting one of the following who qualify for the third group stage:
FC PAOK SL Benfica PSV Eindhoven
Rangers FC Fenerbahçe SK RSC Anderlecht
FC Baník Ostrava FC Basel 1893 FC Dynamo Kyiv
Maccabi Haifa FC

A small Chance of meeting the following who qualify for the second group stage:
Trabzonspor AC Sparta Praha
FC Shakhtar Donetsk BSC Young Boys Club Brugge KV
Maccabi Tel-Aviv Grazer AK Wisla Kraków
PFC CSKA Moskva FK Crvena Zvezda Rosenborg BK
Lokomotiv Plovdiv NK Dinamo Zagreb Djurgårdens IF
Esbjerg fB Dukla Banská Bystric

Very Little Chance of meeting the following who qualify for the first group stage:
FC Dinamo Bucuresti Debreceni VSC APOEL FC
NK Gorica HJK Helsinki FC Skonto
FC Sheriff Tiraspol FC Sioni Bolnisi NK Široki Brijeg
FBK Kaunas KR Reykjavík FK Pobeda
FC Gomel Shelbourne FC Sliema Wanderers FC
FC Pyunik Rhyl FC KF Tirana
FC Flora Linfield FC AS Jeunesse Esch
HB Tórshavn FK Neftchi FC Irtysh Pavlodar
3 others to be confirmed.

Therefore there will be 26 teams in the third group stage, so the chances of us meeting Rangers, Basel, PSV or Fenebache are 1:26. Not bad odds, so IMO there is no need to be worrying about wether we will qualify for the group stages or not. Thirteen teams will go thru the third qualifying stage to meet the fifteen already quailified for the group stages, and then the fun begins......

by **woof woof !** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:17 am

Great post Leon,christ mate you do put some work into this forum. THANX

Looking at the teams we have the biggest chance of meeting (on your list)
I wouldn't mind playing Basle again if only for revenge. Also fancy a comfortable win against PAOK, BANIK OSTRAVA and MACABBI HAIFA.
Over two legs we should get past RANGERS,ANDERLECHT and KIEV.
The remaining teams BENFICA, PSV and FERNEBACHE could make it hard for us.
Who knows we might get lucky and draw Sliema Wanderers

by **112-1077774096** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:24 am

good post leonn.

Rangers would be good for TV, although I hope we maybe will get Rhyl, we used to have a caravan there so it will bring back memories

Seriously there are some difficult teams there, i just hope we are up to it at that point. do you know roughly when we will play Leonn, im thinking about Euro 2000 so a lot of our players will either be knackerd or on top form by then.

by **ckay** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:27 am

Great post Leonn, loads off hard work but I have to say that you have too much spare time mate, but as I said, great post.

by **ICE-MAN** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:31 am

great post leon, there are some potential banana skins in there for us but im very confident the lads wont mess it up like newcastle! :cool:

especially with the quality were gonna bring in this summer woohoo

by **Redtribe** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:36 am

Cheers Leon

I fancy us beating everyone on there!

nice post

by **Paul C** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:50 am

Great post Leon, you don't waste any time do ya *thumbs up*

Their are a few supprise packages their, I see Baros' old team is their in the list.

by **anfieldadorer** » Thu May 13, 2004 11:03 am

on paper, we can qualify this stage.., can't we?

by **Stan Laurel** » Thu May 13, 2004 11:05 am

Excellent post, Leon!!

It will be nice for us to play Rhyl FC, so we can stay there in caravan (my grandparent got their own caravan there in Rhyl, so we don't have to pay for hotel!!!

by **anfieldadorer** » Thu May 13, 2004 11:07 am

..and it's a fantastic post from leon..!

by **Leonmc0708** » Thu May 13, 2004 1:25 pm

Obviously there are some teams on there whose qualification has yet to be confirmed, with the difference in the league finishing dates across Europe. Most of them are now confirmed, and IMO it does not look too bad.

Last time we had to qualify, we faced FC Haka, and we breezed past them over the two legs. The only real banana skins in there are Basle, (revenge mission as pointed out by woofmeister), PSV, (Chelsea's new feeder club), Benfica (probably poorest Portugese side in contention) and Fanerbache (everyone hates Turks). Rangers would be ideal, as they are in a real downwards spiral at the moment, but as is always the way in football, there always seems to be an uncanny knack of re-uniting players and clubs in cup competition, so I have a funny feeling we may draw Banik Ostrava in the qualifiers. That will then set it up nicely for Milan and Vladi (if Smicers still here) to pop up with a goal againt their old team, another unwritten rule of football.

The qualifiers are usually take place in the first month of the season, ie August, the first leg the Wednesday before the first weekend of the season, and the second or return leg is two weeks later. This means our first competitive game of the season will be the first leg and we will have played two league games before the second leg. The final of the Euro championships is in Lisbon on the 4th July, so Michael, Stevie, Carra, Bruno, Emile (if still an LFC player) and any other French or English Liverpool lads who contest the final will have around five weeks rest before the CL qualifiers.

by **stmichael** » Thu May 13, 2004 1:34 pm

realistically, the only thing that can knock us out in the qualifiers is complacency, as newcastle found out this season. we're as good as anything in that draw.

by **simic_ie** » Thu May 13, 2004 1:40 pm

Better than most if not all teams in that draw. Oh and Leon, what a sh*t post I mean in fairness get a life........ only messin just tin to make sure you don't get a big head with all the compliments :;):

by **ckay** » Thu May 13, 2004 1:48 pm

We'll all have to see how the lunch time meeting goes regarding investment. From there we'll know how much money GH will waste, sorry I mean spend to give us a shout at a Champions League Semi Final.

by **Leonmc0708** » Thu May 13, 2004 3:03 pm

Whats with this lunchtime meeting

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