Europa League 24/25

Let's be honest if we fail to qualify after those games then we may as well fold the club.
 
Raw said:
Let's be honest if we fail to qualify after those games then we may as well fold the club.
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have you not been following us for the past decade in Europe? Especially last year when we had the easiest group and couldn’t get out?
 
Martial'sEmergingSmile said:
I got Chat GPT to explain it to me.

  • Teams will now play 8 different opponents instead of playing three teams twice.
  • Mass league phase featuring every team instead of multiple seperate groups.
  • Top 8 teams when the league phase is over qualify for the last 16 knockouts.
  • Teams in 9th to 24th will play a straight knockout round to take the other 8 places.
  • Teams 25th or lower automatically eliminated.
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Basically you play all 8 games and then all 36 teams are ranked according to points and GS as if it’s one league.

Top 8 into final 16 knockouts

Teams 9th to 24th play a knockout game to join the top 8 in final 16
 
Before the draw, this whole new system didn't sound any good to me but looking at the draw and the teams, I'm quite excited to see how we do.
 
Martial'sEmergingSmile said:
I got Chat GPT to explain it to me.

  • Teams will now play 8 different opponents instead of playing three teams twice.
  • Mass league phase featuring every team instead of multiple seperate groups.
  • Top 8 teams when the league phase is over qualify for the last 16 knockouts.
  • Teams in 9th to 24th will play a straight knockout round to take the other 8 places.
  • Teams 25th or lower automatically eliminated.
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Too. Much. Football.
 
isn't there meant to be some club world cup tournament this summer too?

It's just absurd now how much football there is. With the actual game being so much more intense and about being physically fit, it's just not sustainable.

I think players are already doping and taking drugs to keep fit and recover faster from injuries, it's just going to happen more and more to meet the demand for these constant games.
 
Should have put money on getting Fenerbache away damn it.

You can see Ten Hag playing his strongest 11 quite a bit throughout this I reckon.
 
Spurs got the football hooliganism group - shame.

Looking forward to the Rangers lads turning up in dark blue ski masks.
 
RDCR07 said:
Isn’t it only 2 extra group games?
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Two extra games they’ve managed to cram in thus far, yes. The European league schedule will now extend itself as far into January before you even get into the knockout rounds. It’s only two extra games but just that alone is going to be brutal. Especially for the English teams who have a second domestic cup and a much shorter winter break.

You’ve already had some players like Varane who have been outspoken on a few occasions about just how mental the playing schedules are, and stuff like this is just UEFA and whoever else finding as many ways they can to clog the year with as much needless football as you can. You can see other pointless amends too in other leagues like the Spanish super cup being moved to Saudi Arabia.
 
You just know Amrabat-Fred midfield is going to somehow dominate ours. Its written in the stars.
 
Tougher draw than I'd have liked. Porto and Fenerbahce away are tough. Bucharest a long away trip that's not ideal. And always prefer us to avoid Rangers or Celtic as they'll be even more up for it and it's similar to drawing another Engliah club.

Can't see much opportunity for going with a weakened team, unless we pull off good results in those tough away games.

I expect us to probably finish outside the overall top 8 and have to take part in the next knockout phase for the teams 9-24.
 
If you don’t finish in the top 8 it’s going to be a crazy slog. 8 group games then a round of 32. That’s 17 games if you want to win it.
 
Actually thought of easiest way to explain the new setup.

Imagine the EPL had 36 teams.

Then imagine the league after 8 league games played.

If you are 8th or higher you get to next round

If you are 9th to 24th you need to play a playoff to get to next round

Anywhere below and your season is over
 
DJ_21 said:
So is it 8 different groups?
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No, all teams are in the same league table. The top 8 teams qualify for R16. The next 16 will have a playoff to try to get to R16. The remaining rest are eliminated from european competitions (no one drops to Conference).
 
DWelbz19 said:
Two extra games they’ve managed to cram in thus far, yes. The European league schedule will now extend itself as far into January before you even get into the knockout rounds. It’s only two extra games but just that alone is going to be brutal. Especially for the English teams who have a second domestic cup and a much shorter winter break.

You’ve already had some players like Varane who have been outspoken on a few occasions about just how mental the playing schedules are, and stuff like this is just UEFA and whoever else finding as many ways they can to clog the year with as much needless football as you can. You can see other pointless amends too in other leagues like the Spanish super cup being moved to Saudi Arabia.
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throw in an expanded club world cup in 2025 and expanded World Cup in 2026
 
Bertie Wooster said:
Tougher draw than I'd have liked. Porto and Fenerbahce away are tough. Bucharest a long away trip that's not ideal. And always prefer us to avoid Rangers or Celtic as they'll be even more up for it and it's similar to drawing another Engliah club.

Can't see much opportunity for going with a weakened team, unless we pull off good results in those tough away games.

I expect us to probably finish outside the overall top 8 and have to take part in the next knockout phase for the teams 9-24.
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Jeez. Don’t think I’ve seen so much negativity in one post. Some of you really have PTSD from the past decade.
 
We really should be winning all our home games if our team is at least a decent one. Same for away games at Plzen and Bukurest. Porto away seems like a CL game, that'll be interesting. No way we'll beat Mourinho's Fenerbahce in Istanbul. With their home support and Jose wanting to beat us it'll be 2-1 Fener with a winner in extra time and knee slide from Mou.

Most important thing is we avoided Spanish teams in Sociedad and Bilbao. Also avoided Galatasaray but Fenerbahce are close enough I guess.
 
RDCR07 said:
Jeez. Don’t think I’ve seen so much negativity in one post. Some of you really have PTSD from the past decade.
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Really? I'm usually a very dull, middle of the road poster.

Before the draw, I just wrote down the teams I'd like to avoid - based on things like travel as much as ability - and the likes of Porto, Fenerbahce, Rangers, Bucharest were in that list. So it felt a pretty disappointing draw.

Maybe it sounded more 'negative' than it should. But I still think we'll have to get positive results from some tough away trips to finish top 8 and avoid the extra knock out round.
 
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