So there’s a very small benefit, home and away leg placement, but it doesn’t sift the strength of the opponents.
If you are going to seed teams, seed them! Not just 8 of them. It seems flawed to me.
Write a letter of complaint to Slaphead, then.
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League standings dictate which pair of teams you can face - 9/10 vs 23/24, and then the draw dictates which specific match up there is out of those pairings. So there is some theoretical advantage to finishing higher up the table in terms of ease of draw, but only if you believe the team who finishes in 6th is meaningfully better than the team who finishes in 8th
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It’s a bit pot luck looking at it currently you’ll get some surprising top 8 sides and some surprising 9-16 sides.
As long as we avoid the two extra games I’m not particularly bothered.
Bit more keen on us playing to win on Wednesday now.
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If the highest placed team gets the lowest placed team in the knock out, and so on and so forth, it is meaningful.
It just seems a weird way of doing it to me, to only seed 8 of them. Finish the job and seed the rest of them!
Even so, the point is well made, there will be lower placed teams in a position that does not reflect their true level. I expect Real Madrid to be a good example of this. They will scrape through but then likely come alive when it really matters. If you finish at the top or near the top of the table, but you end up getting Real Madrid in the round of 16 because they coasted along, you can count yourself unlucky.
I’d hope we play to win no matter what but still be able to rotate a little for some fresher legs…
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Glad I’m not the only one who finds this new format confusing. For the record I absolutely hate it also - carries none of the excitement of the old group stages for me. Probably because I don’t understand it…
I was sceptical when it was first announced, but the extended group stage has worked really well, in my opinion. It means pretty much every team has something to play for in the ce last two group stage games, which wasn’t always the case before. And, of course, it’s great to play a wider variety of opponents.
It’s a pity that it isn’t just the top 16 who go through and it’s BFH for 17-32, but the extra round is all about money.
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Is there something in the water in Indiana or something?
@RedOverTheWater is in Indiana, right?
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Didn’t like the wording so I asked ChatGPT to make it into a song…
With thirty-six teams, a grander stage,
A new era dawns, a thrilling age.
No more groups, a league takes hold,
Matches galore, stories untold.
Eight elite sides, their places set,
The top eight, a guaranteed bet.
Nineteen to twenty-four, a fierce fight,
Playoffs await, with all their might.
Twenty-five and below, their journey ends,
No Europa League, no second amends.
Ten games each, a marathon run,
For glory and fame, under the sun.
A single table, where dreams collide,
Every point counts, every game a tide.
The top eight advance, to the knockout round,
Champions League magic, all over the ground
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There’s this year’s Christmas number one, right there.
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Oh there is lots wrong with the water in Indiana… and I think @RedOverTheWater and I live within a few miles of each other
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And they say AI is coming to take our jobs…
To be fair, it’s still better quality and more accurate than most football writers.
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Next door east in Ohio says hello!
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Might be worth closing this and opening a Girona thread. I only do home CL games.
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No need to close this one.
@RedWhippet
You did the Leipzig thread. Would you like to start the Girona thread?
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I’m actually in Dayton for work this weekend…
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Well it just gets reopened on the new date.
Just cursing it otherwise.
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I can do. Just need to look up the details and fuck up the timezones.
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