Comments on: This just in: UEFA Cup and Champions League Draw

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 03:27:05 +0000

Please Jan don’t tell me you’ve left…

By: online sports guy

online sports guy — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 22:37:07 +0000

The structure of the UC means it is harder not to qualify from the group than to go through!

By: Jan

Jan — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 20:21:31 +0000

P.S.: Did you mean France instead of Portugal? The Bundesliga has been ahead of the Portuguese league all the time.

By: Jan

Jan — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 20:18:42 +0000

True, Bremen, Bayern and Hamburg have good chances. I’m a bit disappointed that Leverkusen would potentially face Hamburg. They are good quarter final material as well.

I would agree that the UC is a good indicator for league strength. Even the EPL with fixed top four finishers, has more variety when it comes to the teams that compete in the UC each year. That’s why I currently rate La Liga above the EPL in terms of strength and depth.

It’s great to see the Bundesliga playing to its potential in this competition for a change. All four teams qualified for the group stages, all four qualified for the knockout rounds – three topping their groups and Nuremberg coming in second. That’s more than a 100% improvement over previous seasons. Last year Schalke and Berlin didn’t even make the group stages and Leverkusen needed a lot of luck to sneak through on the final matchday – though they made it to the 1/4 finals from there. If the teams continue to take this competition seriously, nobody has to worry about any UEFA coefficients. And it helps the team’s individual UEFA rankings as well, which determine which pot you’re in = fewer groups of death.

Though, Bremen shouldn’t be playing in the UC, they should be in the next CL round. Them being dropped to the UC doesn’t indicate league depth or strength. I give it to Bremen, that they can blame it on the injuries if they want to.

By: Johnny on the Spot

Johnny on the Spot — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 15:28:40 +0000

I think we should see Werder, Bayern and Hamburg through to the final eight (although Leverkusen could surprise). If this happens, it’s definitely a step in the right direction as the UEFA is usually indicative of overall league strength, where as CL indicates just how rich your richest clubs are. And all the wins to get there will aid the UEFA Coefficient, and we could use that to go up so we can pass Portugal hopefully in the next few years.

And I called Schalke/Sevilla in the final of the CL when I was drunk in August. The dream lives on!