2011/12 Champions League details - key dates

[Super_Ally 0]

wtf - a play off round? I thought it was a straight route to the group stage from the 3rd round?

 

What the hell is the play off round?

 

Just the fourth qualifying round with a daft name. Will still be seeded if we are in and we still be "only" against other champions. No Arsenal etc.

[Danny 0]

My mind has either done a blank or I've never heard of the fourth round before. I always thought the 3rd round was the final one.

 

That all said, I share the sentiments elsewhere in this thread. Even against the lesser sides of Europe, we are going to struggle. I mean quite honestly I have confidence in our midfield and attack - it's looking rusty in pre-season but these are players I rate highly and have confidence in when it counts. It's the defence which we all know is an absolute shambles, and unless we get in 2 good CL quality CB's before the 3rd round, we simply aren't going to progress. I know not of this Rodriguez guy, but it is a bit strange that a decent La Liga outfit would let go a 23 year old for only half a million.

[Super_Ally 0]

My mind has either done a blank or I've never heard of the fourth round before. I always thought the 3rd round was the final one.

 

Only been about a couple of years I think since Platini restructured the qualification process. I dont know precisely how it works for the non-champions route that Celtic failed to negotiate last year and whether or not their final round of qualification is called a play off but I think this is the first year a Scots team has gone through the champions qualification route and is perhaps why we are first hearing this term and the 4 rounds of qualification.

[johnnyk 158]

23/24 August will be the end of our CL run this season. Best we can hope for is the Europa League qualification.

 

I would hate to be as pessimistic as you Gazza

[Zappa 0]

For more details on the 3rd qualifying round for Champions and non-champions look here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80%9312_UEFA_Champions_League#Third_qualifying_round

 

For more details on the Play-off round for Champions and non-champions look here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80%9312_UEFA_Champions_League#Play-off_round

 

Personally, I don't think the new CL structure is quite right because it's still giving non-champions from the top 5 leagues an unfair advantage over clubs like ourselves who are Champions. With clubs like Bayern, Arsenal, Lyon, Villareal and Udinese all going straight into the Play-off round as non-champions while we as Champions have to play in the 3rd qualifying round I think UEFA are having a joke by still calling it the 'Champions League'. It's designed to get as many teams as possible from the top leagues into the group and later stages for commercial reasons such as sponsorship, advertising and tv rights. They don't give a shit if the Champions of countries like Scotland will struggle to negotiate 2 rounds of qualifying even although we're Champions. They supposedly restructured the CL to make it more fair, but there's 3 teams who were 4th in their league going straight into the Play-off round - Arsenal, Villareal and Udinese and 2 teams who were 3rd in their league going straight into the Play-off round - Bayern and Lyon. Champions League my arse!!

[54andcounting 0]

For more details on the 3rd qualifying round for Champions and non-champions look here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80%9312_UEFA_Champions_League#Third_qualifying_round

 

For more details on the Play-off round for Champions and non-champions look here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80%9312_UEFA_Champions_League#Play-off_round

 

........I think UEFA are having a joke by still calling it the 'Champions League'.

 

They should rename it the "The Rich Big clubs Champions and Runners-up and 3rd and 4th places League"

[Zappa 0]

They should rename it the "The Rich Big clubs Champions and Runners-up and 3rd and 4th places League"

 

Aye or the 'Not Champions but Clubs from the best leagues League'.

[Danny 0]

tbh the name did indeed comprise champions to start with, but once they decided to expand the number of groups to eventually include non champions they really should have considered rebranding it back to the European Cup.

[Guest Dutchy]

Well we should at least hope to get into the play-off round as if we fail there, we automatically drop into the Europa, as septic did last year. Hopefully we won't get the same result as them last year.

 

I know we are seeded and it was either on this site, or the UEFA site, where it tells you possible opposition.

[Zappa 0]

Well we should at least hope to get into the play-off round as if we fail there, we automatically drop into the Europa, as septic did last year. Hopefully we won't get the same result as them last year.

 

We'll drop into the Europa League Play-off round even if we get knocked out of the CL 3rd qualifying round mate. All 15 losers from the Champions League third qualifying round (10 champions and 5 non-champions) will go straight into the EL Play-off round. If we get through to the CL Play-off round and lose we would go straight into the Europa League group stage.