OT: Reax to UCL group draw

Submitted by superstringer on

Using up the last of my OT mojo... plus, lots of soccer fans here.

Your UCL groups for the 2016-17 season

Group A
Paris Saint-Germain
Arsenal
FC Basel
Ludogorets Razgrad
 
Group B
Benfica
Napoli
Dynamo Kiev
Besiktas
 
Group C
Barcelona
Manchester City
Borussia Monchengladbach
Celtic
 
Group D
Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid
PSV Eindhoven
Rostov
 
Group E
CSKA Moscow
Bayer Leverkusen
Tottenham Hotspur
Monaco
 
Group F
Real Madrid
Borussia Dortmund
Sporting
Legia Warsaw
 
Group G
Leicester City
Porto
Club Brugge
FC Copenhagen
 
Group H
Juventus
Sevilla
Lyon
Dinamo Zagreb
 
Is there a Group of Death?  C is pretty stocked -- poor Celtic.  B is pretty balanced, no superheavyweight and four teams that all probably think they can get out of the group.
 
Did anyone from a big league get a remarkably easy draw?  Leicester City, still blessed -- they get a remarkably easy group for their first time ever in the UCL.  Spurs are in a pretty escapable group too.
 
EPL looks good to get all four teams out. although Monchengladbach could be the surprise challenge to City.
 
One last question.  If you're watching for teams with players in the US National Team, who are you rooting for?  I think only Monchengladbach (Fabien Johnson) and Dortmund (wunderkid Christian Pulisic, although he's not a guaranteed starter).

MaizeJacket

August 25th, 2016 at 3:25 PM ^

after Manchester City and Barca in the same  group (Pep v old team), but both teams should get out of that group.

 

Tottenham also got a very manageable group, good for them.

Hab

August 25th, 2016 at 3:43 PM ^

The draw should provide for some interesting ties.  I am hoping for an early arsenal exit because ... well, Arsenal.

You are spot on with poor Celtic, but in all honesty, isn't that said every year?

Last, none of my opinions matter because I am busy watching EFL football this year with Newcastle being in the Championship.  But hey, I get to hopefully watch Rafa coach up Yedlin, so I've got that going for me.

 

Ronnie Kaye

August 25th, 2016 at 5:17 PM ^

Arsenal fans have become really fucking brainless. Every item on their Facebook page - no matter the topic - is just full of fans whining and screaming about the manager. 

Wake up. It hasn't changed anything. Hasn't made the team play better. Hasn't made the board get a new manager. Hasn't made the manager change how he views the transfer window.

And yet these fans procede to bitch. Very productive lot.

gopoohgo

August 25th, 2016 at 3:42 PM ^

Can't emphasize enough how good a job Simeone has done with Atletico.  That is a tough out for any team.

Celtic got f*cked...they beat Barca once @ Celtic Park, but you can bet your ass Barca remembers, and will bring the hammer down.

Group C has to be the group of death; Mochengladbach is a pretty good team, and I could possibly see City losing points to them.

Could easily see Tottenham and Monaco winning group E.  Kind of a joke that the Russian league champs get a Pot 1 placement.  Especially when you see the likes of Athletico, Borrusia Dortmund, and City in Pot 2.

Rabbit21

August 25th, 2016 at 3:32 PM ^

Wow! Speaking as a Spurs fan I am very conflicted. Very escapable draw, but no real heavyweights in the group to measure themselves against. Real and Dortmund is going to be a fascinating matchup and I am also looking forward to Barcelona - Man City.




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Dylan

August 25th, 2016 at 3:41 PM ^

Is there some sort of safeguards they put up for the group draw? It seems that, no matter what, it's always two powerhouses and two "meh" teams.

gopoohgo

August 25th, 2016 at 3:46 PM ^

Yeah, you can't have two teams from the same country in the same group.

Otherwise, there are seedings:

Pot 1: League champs, plus last year's UCL champ

Pot 2: Teams with historical UCL success (highest UEFA seeding)

Pot 3: Middle of the road seeding

Pot 4: Lowest seeding

 

Waka

August 25th, 2016 at 3:41 PM ^

Don't forget Julian Green is still with Bayern as well. He might not be the flashy name like Pulisic anymore, but he's not a bad bet to break out as a post-hype sleeper with Ancelotti in town now. As a USMNT and Bayern fan, I'm not giving up on him yet. He probably won't turn into the US version of Hazard or Ribery, but he's still got some time before he becomes Adu 2.0.

gmoney41

August 25th, 2016 at 3:48 PM ^

Of course my City boys get a tough ass draw, what else is new.  I don't think Monchengladbach will be that tough.  City were not great last year and won home and away against them.   City are much stronger this year.  Celtic should prove no match, but the away game and their atmosphere will be tough.    Of course I think Barca will walk away with first place as City still has a lot of time before they are fully grasping Pep's tactic's and philosophy.  Overall, I think it is a very tough group, but second place should very doable, and they avoid Barca in the round of 16.  Bayern's group looks the toughest.  Arsenal should be ok to advance, and good lord Leicester and Totenham got creampuff draws.  I wish City would get one of those one of these years.

SCS100

August 25th, 2016 at 3:53 PM ^

That's the one team I wanted to avoid in the draw. PSV won't be an easy out and Rostov just finished thrashing Ajax so the group is trickier than it looks.

turtleboy

August 25th, 2016 at 4:19 PM ^

So arsenal doesn't mysteriously draw Barcelona for the 18th year in a row. That's cool. I like Leicester's chances of advancing. I still think they should change the type of draw because there are always a couple cake wall groups and a couple groups of death, and millions of dollars riding on advancing for each team.

Hornsgoblue (not verified)

August 25th, 2016 at 6:41 PM ^

Would be nice to see some of the small frys go deep into the tournament.
Go Brugge, Legia, Beşiktaş

Piston Blue

August 25th, 2016 at 7:05 PM ^

I think is overall the most competitive, as it doesn't have a top level team in it. Group B looks like the worst. On top of that, it'll be interesting to see how the Premier league holds up, I'm wondering if any of them even make it to the quarter finals. Portugal's gonna have 2 teams in the knockout rounds too.

skurnie

August 25th, 2016 at 7:25 PM ^

Leicester got a good draw...Citeh got another rough group. Pep vs Barca should be great.

After Ajax crashed out of qualifying yesterday to Rostov, I have no rooting interest but CL is always the best.