Groups were drawn today for the CL. Real Madrid, Dortmund, and Tottenham were all drawn into the same group. Yikes!
2017/18 UEFA Champions League
- Thread starter shagcarpetjesus
- Start date
Not happy as a Dortmund follower, but I am still pretty confident they can get out of that group
The quick Rundown of the Champion's League is that it takes the champions and elite teams from each European country and is a season long tournament to determine the best club team in Europe.
Moves from qualification (just finished) to group stages (just drawn) to the knockout rounds (kind of like the sweet 16)
#YNWA
These articles are a few years old, but do a pretty thorough job of explaining Champions League.
https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2014/9/11/6135491/uefa-champions-league-guide
How is the tournament organized?
A total of 77 teams from 53 of 54 UEFA member associations entered the 2014-2015 Champions League. But by the time most people start watching, only 32 teams remain. That's due to the fact that there are four preliminary rounds prior to the draw for the group stage.
Where a team enters the competition is based on its domestic finish, together with its association's ranking. If a club finishes third in England, Spain or Germany, for example, they still enter directly into the group stage. But if a team tops the table in, say, Wales, they start in the first qualifying round.
While you don't need to worry too much about the qualifying stages, since they've already happened, here's a quick recap. Six champions entered in the first qualifying round, playing two-legged ties, home and away. The winners over both legs progressed to the second qualifying round, where they were joined by 31 more champions, and again played home and away. Then the winners progressed to the third qualifying round, where they were joined not only by more champions, but by the runners-up from some of Europe's better-ranked leagues. Once more, they played over two legs, home and away and the winners went through to the playoffs.
https://www.quora.com/How-does-the-UEFA-Champions-League-work
Awesome - thanks guys. So in terms of pretentiousness, would this league be the top of top? For example, is it a bigger deal for Chelsea to win the Premier League or this League?
Ill try my best:
It is the club championship of the top teams in all of the european based soccer leagues. It is however based on last years results/standing within your respective league .... each league has a set number of allocations ... some make it in automatically, and others are subject to a 2-leg playoff.
The group stage now is a home and away round robin for pts, with top two in each group advancing on ...
Hope this makes sense and if anyone would like to correct me, please do.
Double sided argument ... one indicated your the best team within the EPL and have only managed to beat those teams which you're alligned with. But also i'd assume there is more money to be made by winning the EPL. Other indicates you've beated all the teams of which europe has to offer. That includes the two super teams from Spain.
Which is a bigger deal is probably debatable, probably depends on the club, which league they play in, how often they've won each. Obviously every team would want to win both, but it's a lot harder to plan for a Champion's League title since it's a tournament and many different things can happen along the way. A lot more manageable to plan for and build a team to win a Premier League title, but winning a league title means you were the best team over the course of an entire season rather than the best for a single tournament even if the tournament's level of competition is higher.
I've seen it argued both ways. In the end, the overall competition is tougher in the Champions League, so that would be my vote.
However, you can win the Champions League while not winning your own league. It's a matter of whether you put more stock into a tournament-type result or a league-based one.
Thursdays in Eastern Europe are special. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
