Champions League - PSG

[LeeS]

I'd just leave Premier League clubs out of the League Cup from now on

I think I added this to an other football thread a while back but I'd just change it so the conference league place always goes to the league cup winner and then remove all the teams that are playing in Europe from it. It opens it up for more winners and reduces the pressure on teams like us to have players with 50+ appearances for the season.

In rugby there's guidance (that came from a study at Bath Uni) that players should be limited to a set amount of games and minutes over a season and that exceeding these levels leads to rapidly increasing risks of injuries. I think football needs to have a similar study because once you add in all the club competitions and international fixtures 60+ games and 4500+ minutes is not unusual and that's just not sustainable. I'd be looking at soft caps around 3500minutes and 45 games (not an outright ban from playing which could create problems but some form of mandated rest period within a set time frame). It's very easy to dismiss this because "back in day they'd play ...." thinking but we can't ignore the risks because we didn't know they existed in the past.

Yeah, when I'm king of football all teams in Europe will be banned from the league cup, but the league cup winner still gets a Conference League place. I think that'd be a huge improvement over the current state of affairs.

Will there be free beer and pies when you are king, Algy? If so, I’m right behind you.

[Toronto Villa]

Start learning these words.

https://x.com/avfcthereligion/status/1798268900217675810?s=46

[Tayls_7]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7helh4gdgh/?igsh=MTJ5M3g5MG5kMm1oOA==

[Bad English]

Start learning these words.

https://x.com/avfcthereligion/status/1798268900217675810?s=46

There is a mistake in the first line written in French: "Ils sont LES meilleurs".

[Somniloquism]

Start learning these words.

https://x.com/avfcthereligion/status/1798268900217675810?s=46

There is a mistake in the first line written in French: "Ils sont LES meilleurs".

Because of the plurality?

[Bad English]

Tu es le meilleur/la meilleure !

[Brazilian Villain]

Tu es le meilleur!

As SWMBO never tires of saying.

[eamonn]

Tsk!

[olaftab]

I am a little disturbed that the FA Cup final is on 17 May, full two weeks before the Champions League final. It will be difficult to keep the team sharp and in tip top condition with that gap. Worrying😟

[trinityoap]

Wouldn't it be nice if in ten months time olaftab could say "I told you so"?

[Monty]

Wouldn't it be nice if in ten months time olaftab could say "I told you so"?

A little less if he's really right and we lose both from poor conditioning.

[trinityoap]

Hadn't thought of that. The timing is a disgrace.

[cdbearsfan]

Still a while before we find out who Villa will be playing, but the first draw in the competition takes place tomorrow, with teams entering in the First Qualifying Round finding out their opponents.

Teams entering at this stage would have to progress through four rounds to have a chance of playing Villa so fairly unlikely, but you never know I suppose.

British/Irish teams entering at this stage are Shamrock Rovers (Ire), Lincoln Red Imps (Gib) and The New Saints (Wal) in the seeded section, plus Larne (NI) in the unseeded section. Ties take place from the 9th-10th and the 16th-17th July.

Second Qualifying Round draw takes place on Wednesday. Ties take place on 23rd-24th and 30th-31st July. This is the first round featuring teams who aren't champions. Champions and non-Champions are kept apart throughout the qualifying rounds.

Third Qualifying Round draw takes place on 22nd July with fixtures taking place on 6th-7th and 13th August (not sure why the second leg is just one day). "Rangers" enter here and will be seeded.

The final qualifier, dubbed the Play-Off Round, has its draw made on 5th August, with ties being played on 20th/21st and 27th/28th August.

Villa enter at the League Stage, along with Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Celtic and holders Real Madrid. Our opponents are drawn on 29th August with the first of eight group games being played from 17th-19th September.

I assume people have familiarised themselves with the format by now, but, just in case... all teams are placed in one big group of 36 teams. To decide the fixtures, the teams are split into four seeding pots. Each team plays one home and one away game against teams from each seeding pot, including their own. So there is no real advantage to being a top seed any more.

At the conclusion of the League Stage, the top eight teams progress straight to the Round of Sixteen, while teams finishing 9th-24th participate in the "Knock-Out Round Play-Offs", for a chance to join the top eight in the Round of Sixteen.

All knock-out games are played over two legs, up to and including the Semi-Final, before the competition concludes with a Final in Munich on 31st May.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024%E2%80%9325_UEFA_Champions_League

[Sexual Ealing]

Whatever happens, please can people not book hotels for the stupid bastard final before we've qualified for it? Speaking as a rationalist who believes 100% in the football jinx effect, this kind of behaviour is sub-optimal.

[cdbearsfan]

I've already booked a hotel for next year's Super Cup.