908 14 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Champions League 2009/10 Same group format as before, third placed teams in December still go into last 32 of Europa League. Now 22 teams automatically go into group stage, including Rangers. This leaves just 10 places up for grabs. These 10 are divided into 2 sections - Champions and non-champions. The 1st and second qualifying rounds feature champions of countries where only 1 team from that country can qualify: http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/forma...sid=841704.html These 17 are joined by 3 other champions (Olympiakos, Slavia Prague and Zurich) in the 3rd qualifying round for champions. They play each other leaving 10 in the final play-off, then the 5 winners go into the group stage as champions. http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/forma...sid=837576.html At the 3rd qualifying stage, 'non-champions' from the countries highest ranked enough to have 2 or more entrants come in. Celtic will be seeded at this stage. They will meet one of 5 clubs: Sparta Prague, Twente Enschede, Moscow Dynamo, Timisoara or Sivasspor. The five winners go into the play-off round, where they will be joined by Arsenal, Lyon, Stuttgart, Fiorentina and Atletico Madrid. Celtic won't necessarily meet one of these 5, but they cannot be seeded as all 5 have a higher co-efficient than celtic. So if Shakytar Donetsk, Sporting Lisbon and Panathinaikos win their 3rd round matches, they will be seeded instead of the last 3, and Celtic would meet one of them or Arsenal or Lyon. The draws do not take place in between rounds any more, so seedings are guaranteed. And none of the teams in celtic's half of the draw will have to play in the 1st or 2nd qualifying rounds. The 5 winners from the two halves join the other 22 in the group stages. THE CHAMPIONS Rangers currently have the 14th highest co-efficient of the clubs already qualified, but that will change. If every qualifier goes with co-efficient (and they are seeded) then the group stage line up looks like this: TOP SEEDS: BARCELONA(Esp)-Liverpool(ENG)-Chelsea(ENG)-MANCHESTER UNITED(ENG)-Sevilla(ESP)-AC.Milan(ITA)-Arsenal*(ENG)-Bayern Munich(GER) 2ND: Lyon*(FRA)-INTERNAZIONALE(ITA)-Real Madrid(ESP)-Shakytar Donetsk*(UKR)-CSKA Moscow(RUS)-PORTO(POR)-Sporting Lisbon*(POR)-AZ ALKMAAR(NED) 3rd: Juventus(ITA)-Panathinaikos*(GRE)-RANGERS(SCO)-OLYMPIAKOS*(GRE)-Marseille(FRA)-DYNAMO KIEV(UKR)-BORDEAUX(FRA)-BESIKTAS(TUR) 4th: COPENHAGEN*(DEN)-SLAVIA PRAGUE*(CZE)-LEVSKI SOFIA*(BUL)-PARTIZAN BELGRADE*(SER)-WOLFSBURG(GER)-STANDARD LIEGE(BEL)-RUBAN KAZAN(RUS)-UNIREA URZICENI(ROM) Champions in CAPITAL letters, *denotes need to qualify. So the lowest Rangers could be seeded is 3rd (alongside Juventus) and if 3 higher ranked teams (out of Arsenal, Lyon, Donetsk, Sporting and Panathinaikos) get knocked out we could be up to 2nd - avoiding Real Madrid! So celtic would nudge us up a place if they qualify.. Also all the bottom seeds have won their own domestic leagues. You could get a group with the Spanish, Italian, French and German champions playing each other! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan_1 1,132 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Donestk, Sporting and Panathinaikos are all capable of going out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
willboy1873 0 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Sporting yes, Pana and Donetsk not, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie! 8 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 How can Inter be 2nd seed, and Milan 1st? How does it work regards to seeding? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrymorrison1 1,002 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 How can Inter be 2nd seed, and Milan 1st? How does it work regards to seeding? i think it goes on past performances, over at least five years. they r past winners 2007, and beaten finalists in 2005. if it goes further back, also winners in 2003. i may well b wrong, but this is my belief. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFlyingPig 0 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Whole thing is a joke where 2 of the top seeds are the only ones to have won their leagues and a team that needs to qualify can also end up top seeds. Nothing like widening the gulf in European football. Anyway avoiding Inter, Real and Donetsk,from the 2nd seeds, will do us no harm. I have a feeling we will be drawn against Real though and am pretty confident the Tims wont be in Europe very shortly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigyboy86 0 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 How can Inter be 2nd seed, and Milan 1st? How does it work regards to seeding? i think it goes on past performances, over at least five years. they r past winners 2007, and beaten finalists in 2005. if it goes further back, also winners in 2003. i may well b wrong, but this is my belief. Co-efficients are based on the last 5 years of European Competition. here is season 08-09's top 10 .... 1 Shakhtar Donetsk Ukr UC 15 20.00 0.00 6.00 26.00 29.3250 2 FC Barcelona Esp CL 13 19.00 0.00 7.00 26.00 28.6624 3 Manchester United Eng CL 13 18.00 0.00 7.00 25.00 28.0000 4 Chelsea Eng CL 12 16.00 0.00 6.00 22.00 25.0000 5 Werder Bremen Ger UC 15 16.00 0.00 6.00 22.00 24.5374 6 Hamburger SV Ger UC 14 20.00 0.00 2.00 22.00 24.5374 7 Liverpool Eng CL 10 15.00 0.00 5.00 20.00 23.0000 8 Bayern München Ger CL 10 15.00 0.00 5.00 20.00 22.5374 9 Dinamo Kiev Ukr UC 14 14.00 0.00 5.00 19.00 22.3250 10 Arsenal Eng CL 12 13.00 0.00 6.00 19.00 22.0000 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRodgA2k8 542 Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I still want the dream line up of.... Chelsea Real Madrid Rangers *some whipping boys form pot 4* Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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