Champions League

This is the first year of the new seeding procedures for Pot 1 of the Group Stage draw. Pot 1 consists off the title holders and then the champions of the Top 7 European leagues. Of course since Barca is the title holders and the La Liga champs, it'll be the Top 8 European league champs. This is also the first year in which the defending Europa League champ gets a spot in the group stage.

Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Benfica, PSG, Zenit, and PSV will make up Pot 1.

Should lead to some top heavy groups if the Madrid teams are paired with Chelsea/Bayern/Juventus.

The final will be held at the San Siro.

Europa League

Liverpool and Tottenham have of course qualified for the Group Stage. Southampton will begin in the 3rd Qualifying Round vs Vitessa and West Ham will take on Astra Giurgiu from Romania after surviving on penalties vs Malta side Birkirkara.

The final will be held in Basel, Switzerland.

7/24/2015 11:42:07 PM

Champions League

RvP made his first appearance for Fenerbahçe yesterday in a 0-0 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk. He was subbed on in the 68th minute.

Europa League qualifying

Today's EPL teams:
West Ham vs Astra Giurgiu 2:45 (Eastern)
Southampton vs Vitesse 3:05

7/30/2015 10:25:02 AM

I forgot we do this thread

This link makes more sense in here. Bundesliga TV schedule -

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/thegoalkeeper/Fox-Sports-2015-16-Bundesliga-television-schedule.html

7/30/2015 10:29:04 AM

^^ Juve, while they will still roll shitty Serie A, will not be nearly as good in Europe.

7/30/2015 10:32:54 AM

United to draw Fenerbache in the playoff round. RVP to score at Old Trafford in the 90th minute of the second leg via a Nani cross to advance to the group stage on goal difference 2-2.

I should put a cheeky $5 on this.

7/30/2015 11:40:06 AM

Kukësi-Legia Warsaw match abandoned after Legia went ahead 2-1 and one of their players was hit by a stone.

7/30/2015 4:07:56 PM

Southampton take the first leg 3-0 over Vitesse
West Ham was up 2-0, but it finishes 2-2.
Dortmund won 1-0 at Austria side Wolfsberg.

7/30/2015 5:14:15 PM

APOEL, Dinamo Zagreb, Rapid Vienna, and Monaco to the Champions League Play-off Round.

Midtjylland, Molde, Young Boys, and Ajax to the Europa League Play-off Round.

8/4/2015 4:43:20 PM

Really hope we draw Vienna out of those. Zagreb and Monaco are the worst opponents. Would def be a bit concerned if United got Monaco.

8/4/2015 4:55:24 PM

Champions League Play-off Round

Champions Route

Seeded: Basel, Celtic, APOEL, BATE Borisov, Dinamo Zagreb
Unseeded: Maccabi Tel Aviv, Partizan, Malmo, Skenderbeu Korce, Astana

League Route

Seeded: Manchester United, Valencia, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting CP
Unseeded: CSKA Moscow, Lazio, Club Brugge, Monaco, Rapid Vienna

[Edited on August 5, 2015 at 4:41 PM. Reason : Draw is Friday]

8/5/2015 4:40:50 PM

^^ why? Monaco are trash now that their owner's gotten bored playing Championship Manager with them.

8/5/2015 8:49:42 PM

Monaco still has a pretty decent squad and defensively they are very solid. Lazio is also another one. I think avoiding Lazio and Monaco would be the best. United should be beating the others on that list. Would hate Moscow too for the travel involved.

8/6/2015 9:23:21 AM

Southampton advances with the 6-0 aggregate over Vitesse
West Ham is eliminated by Astra Giurgiu

8/6/2015 3:58:08 PM

wow. West Ham just lost to a Romanian team? Not helping the English European coefficient at all. Italy may take over if Juve manages another good year and none of the English teams can get past the quarters.

8/6/2015 4:10:12 PM

West Ham played like they didn't care one bit about the Europa League.

8/6/2015 4:18:24 PM

Champions League Play-off Round

Manchester United vs Club Brugge
Lazio vs Leverkusen
Sporting CP vs CSKA Moscow
Rapid Vienna vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Valencia vs Monaco

Astana vs APOEL
Skenderbeu vs Dinamo Zagreb
Celtic vs Malmo
Basel vs Maccabi Tel Aviv
BATE Borisov vs Partizan

Europa League Play-off Round

Southampton vs Midtjylland
Dortmund vs Odd

8/7/2015 7:21:31 AM

How is Werder Bremen? Will Aron get a good run out?

8/7/2015 10:07:23 AM

Valencia vs Monaco and Lazio vs Leverkusen are very good match ups.

Glad we have avoided Lazio and Monaco. These fixtures are still a nuisance though this early on in the season but United should be beating Brugge. Lets hope they do.

8/7/2015 10:25:13 AM

They've been mid to low table in the Bundesliga since 09-10, but haven't really been in relegation trouble. It doesn't mention anything about Aron, but here's a preview for them: http://bundesligafanatic.com/201516-season-preview-werder-bremen/

Looking at their roster, they signed forward Anthony Ujah from Koln and their other two forwards have 19 and 5 appearances respectively. The guy with 5 has 15 for the reserve team, but it looks like his is more injury related.
I'd say he should get some decent playing time.

8/7/2015 10:32:28 AM

it's Köln, Cologne or Koeln.



[Edited on August 7, 2015 at 10:51 AM. Reason : c]

8/7/2015 10:49:47 AM

I went with the lazy American version

8/7/2015 11:14:41 AM

Article about Johannsson at Werder Bremen: http://www.espnfc.us/werder-bremen/story/2561788/us-aron-johannsson-needs-time-at-werder-bremen-says-fritz

8/13/2015 10:00:40 AM

Tomorrow! Going to miss the first half but I can't wait to watch Rooney miscontrol every ball, Herrera not starting, and Mata as a right winger!

I am going to predict a bold 1-0 win for Manchester United.

In all seriousness we better fucking show up tomorrow. Glad to see Smaldini playing well in defense though. Hope to see the attack finally linking up. Thank god we have a midfield though, makes us so much better defensively.

8/17/2015 12:05:24 PM

great start

two goals in the first 20. This is the attacking united I have been waiting to see.

[Edited on August 18, 2015 at 3:14 PM. Reason : ]

8/18/2015 2:58:04 PM

Memphis you beauty! Walking in a Memphis wonderland!

8/18/2015 3:33:20 PM

GOLAZOO BITCHES

8/18/2015 4:38:52 PM

Never underestimate the 'fro

8/18/2015 4:41:14 PM

Malmo struck late to get a 2nd away goal against Celtic. Even though they probably don't want to admit it, Celtic has suffered from Rangers having to restart at the 4th level and slowly make its way back to the Scottish Premier League. Without Rangers in the SPL, Celtic basically meanders through league play and to me that has hurt them in Europe. Granted Celtic has a European Cup from the 67 and a UEFA Cup from 03, but I would've thought they could've made more noise recently, but hasn't.

8/19/2015 4:48:31 PM

Expected more from Southampton yesterday, but could be worse than being 1-1 after the home leg.

Dortmund avoided an Odd defeat coming back from being down 3-0 to win 4-3.

8/21/2015 12:28:17 PM

I really like the move by LVG to start Herrera today. I think he knows Brugge have to attack if they have any chance at salvaging today and there is a very good chance for picking up some goals on the counter today. Herrera gives us something I feel our midfield is missing a bit with Basti, Schneiderlin, and Carrick. Herrera can actually pick up the ball and run at the defense. This in turn will allow Rooney to stay higher up.

At least this is what I believe we were missing the first couple of weeks. Lets see if it holds true. Should be an entertaining match I think. Hopefully Smaldini continues his bullish form.

8/26/2015 2:23:19 PM

There it is! Great play by Memphis to bait them in. Want to see more of that from him.

8/26/2015 3:06:30 PM

cancel the Neymar deal, Rooney is back baby

8/26/2015 4:47:01 PM

Seeding Pots for the Champions League Group Stage:

Pot 1
Barcelona
Chelsea
Bayern Munich
Juventus
Benfica
Paris Saint-Germain
Zenit Saint Petersburg
PSV Eindhoven

Pot 2
Real Madrid
Atlético Madrid
Porto
Arsenal
Manchester United
Valencia
Bayer Leverkusen
Manchester City

Pot 3
Shakhtar Donetsk
Sevilla
Lyon
Dynamo Kyiv
Olympiacos
CSKA Moscow
Galatasaray
Roma

Pot 4
BATE Borisov
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Wolfsburg
Dinamo Zagreb
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Gent
Malmö FF
Astana

8/26/2015 4:49:01 PM

^^lol

http://www.espnfc.us/blog/transfer-talk/79/post/2583652/barcelona-raise-neymar-clause-messi-level-man-united-interes

8/27/2015 11:31:15 AM

Bayern. Of course.

And United with PSV. Of course.

[Edited on August 27, 2015 at 12:19 PM. Reason : X]

8/27/2015 12:18:51 PM

hahahah. Arsenal have the worst luck. I will take PSV anyday over the others in that group. PSV was def. the easiest for English clubs as we avoid travelling to Russia for Zenit. Will take Olympiacos or Lyon in group 3.

Would like to avoid Sevilla, Roma, and Gala.

8/27/2015 12:23:58 PM

Have to go to Moscow but really a dream draw. From qualifiers to HEAVY favorite to win group.

Arsenal will finish second and go out to Barca like its their job again...

8/27/2015 12:27:59 PM

Not happy about Moscow but yea given the other possibilities its quiet a good one and United should be winning the group. Need to avoid Wolfsburg and Astana (For travel reasons to Astana). Gent would honestly be perfect I think.

8/27/2015 12:29:52 PM

Group A PSG, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Malmo

Group B PSV, Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Wolfsburg

Group C Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray, Astana

Group D Juventus, Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Monchengladbach

Group E Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Roma, BATE

Group F Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Olympiacos, Dinamo Zagreb

Group G Chelsea, Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Maccabi Tel Aviv

Group H Zenit, Valencia, Lyon, Gent

8/27/2015 12:40:04 PM

PSV, United, Moscow, Wolfsburg.

Tough away trips to Moscow and Wolfsburg so don't think it will be easy to walk it. Away matches to Moscow are always tough. Need to win both against PSV, win out at home, and draw to one of Wolfsburg/Moscow away with 1 loss to one of them away.

8/27/2015 12:41:15 PM

A lot of red in Arsenal's group. Travel to Greece and Croatia will be interesting.

8/27/2015 12:46:00 PM

Wish I could go back to Croatia with Arsenal, beautiful place.

8/27/2015 12:50:35 PM

I'd definitely like to travel to Croatia. Greece was beautiful too, and I'm glad I went there before the shit hit the fan.

8/27/2015 1:29:27 PM

Dortmund advances to the Europa Group Stage. Spurs will be in Pot 1 and Liverpool in Pot 2.

Southampton just looks dead at the moment. Doesn't give much confidence going back into Premier League play.

[Edited on August 27, 2015 at 4:46 PM. Reason : .]

8/27/2015 4:45:51 PM

City draws the group from hell.

8/28/2015 11:10:48 PM

Good to be back! Aguero out tomorrow against Juve, should make it a bit more interesting.

United coming off a big match but no Rooney again. Wilson and Periera in the squad so would be interesting to see if one of them gets in ahead of Fellaini or Fellaini starts with Martial playing next to him. Young should start over Memphis.

9/14/2015 12:51:56 PM

holy shit what a team LVG has put out today. Finally, Mata at number 10! Martial up front! I am excited!

9/15/2015 1:56:30 PM

Best striker they've had since Ruud tbf

9/15/2015 2:06:45 PM

Love the Multimatch 90 on Fox Soccer Plus for the Champions League.

9/15/2015 2:12:15 PM

^^about got me

My new school doesn't get out until 2:55 so I am about to put the game on for my class.

Every Champions league night is going to be like Thursday and Friday of the ACC tournament at school

[Edited on September 15, 2015 at 2:22 PM. Reason : ]

9/15/2015 2:21:18 PM