Champions League 2014/15

[Baddar]

I actually agree with that.

[stokeriño]

Hard to argue against, certainly.

(The Russian champions would love it - the top 7 nations are Spain, England, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Russia, France.)

I assume by implication that the remainder of the pots would continue to be under coefficient rankings. Here's what this year's alternative Pots would look like under that system:

Pot 1

Real Madrid

Atletico Madrid

Manchester City

Bayern Munich

Benfica

Juventus

CSKA Moscow

Paris Saint-Germain

Pot 2

Barcelona

Chelsea

Arsenal

Porto

Schalke

Borussia Dortmund

Shakhtar Donetsk

Basel

Pot 3

Zenit St. Petersburg

Bayer Leverkusen

Olympiacos

Ajax

Liverpool

Sporting Lisbon

Galatasaray

Athletic Bilbao

Pot 4

[the same]

[Baddar]

Why couldn't Pot 2 be the 2nd place teams in leagues that automatically qualify?

[stokeriño]

Why couldn't Pot 2 be the 2nd place teams in leagues that automatically qualify?

Do they come above the champions of Ukraine, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, etc.?

Do the 3rd place automatic qualifiers from Spain/England/Germany come above or below those?

Where's the line?

One good thing about this proposal, if it is just for Pot 1 - it's simple...

[Baddar]

Fair point. Moving on.

[Lineker]

Manchester City's fine for breaching Uefa's financial fair play rules is to be shared out around the other clubs in the Champions League. City were fined £50m for the FFP breaches but will only have to pay around £20m if they comply with the break-even rules in future seasons. The first payments from City, Paris St Germain and Zenit St Petersburg will total £20m and will be split among the Champions League and Europa League clubs who did comply with the rules last season.

UEFA, noted Robin Hood.

[King Ellis]

If Robin Hood's mantra was 'Steal from the absurdly rich, give to the conventionally rich'.

[stokeriño]

If it goes to the clubs from the qualifiers as well as the group stage clubs, some of them could probably do with the cash...

[Gazz]

It wont.

[stokeriño]

I thought not.

[Rich]

If Robin Hood's mantra was 'Steal from the absurdly rich, give to the conventionally rich'.

Can I get money? I am conventionally Rich

[Gazz]

There is nothing conventional about you, my little teacup.

[stokeriño]

Most recently in UEFA's sterling efforts to undermine the credibility of their own punishments, the requirement of Manchester City to reduce their Champions League squad from 25 to 21 senior players has been tweaked so that they now only need to select one club-trained player in said squad (as opposed to to normal four).

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/uefa-rewrites-rules-to-allow-city-to-dodge-ffp-sanctions-9725033.html

[DavidMarrio]

What a farce.

[Lineker]

Nice article on the rise of Ludogorets. Their defender-cum-emergency goalkeeper is having a new stand named after him!

[Nerf]

Liverpool team vs. Ludogorets: Mignolet, Manquillo, Lovren, Sakho, Moreno, Gerrard, Henderson, Coutinho, Sterling, Lallana, Balotelli

Subs: Jones, Enrique, Kolo, Lucas, Suso, Borini, Lambert

[FLiam]

Bellerín gets the nod at right back for us tonight. Arteta in for Flamini and Gibbs back.

Looking forward to seeing how Bellerín does, looks very good going forward, not so sure about his defensive work though.

Think we could get a result tonight looking at Dortmund's XI. Glad Kagawa isn't starting.

Flamini travelled but won't be on the bench as he's got a groin injury......

[DavidMarrio]

Atmosphere...immense. It's good to be back at Anfield on a Champions League night

[Colly]

Nice of the ref to put an Arsenal top on.

[brenchill]

Atmosphere...immense. It's good to be back at Anfield on a Champions League night

It's one of those magical European nights at Anfield.