There’s going to be some really strong teams in the 3rd qualifying round and not all of them are seeded either.
The paramount importance of Celtic winning the league and getting straight through to the CL proper cannot be underestimated with the huns having to negotiate 2 qualifying rounds.
We’re on course to be 3rd seeds for the draw but we saw it probably doesn’t make much difference as in 2006/07 we were 2nd seeds and got Benfica as 3rd seeds and then last season we were 3rd seeds and drew Benfica as 2nd seeds. Also, you won’t get a tougher team than Shakhtar Donetsk from pot 4.
As we talked about before, it shows that there’s far too much weighting on UEFA Cup results and CL victories should be awarded more than they are at present. Zenit and the Huns, for example, would slot ahead of us in pot 3 based on going through UEFA Cup rounds.
UEFA have announced that Porto will not be allowed to take part in next season’s Champions League as a result of bribery in the Portuguese domestic league dating back to 2003/04. I’m not sure what team will get their spot and how they’ll work it out. From uefa.com:
Porto not admitted to Champions League
The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body has decided FC Porto will not be admitted to the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League after studying a matter involving alleged bribery of referees in Portuguese domestic matches in 2003/04.
Further information
In two cases, the Portuguese champions were last month deducted a total of six points and fined €150,000 by the disciplinary committee of the Professional Portuguese Football League. Following reports published in the Portuguese media about the issue, UEFA contacted the Portuguese Football Federation to obtain further information.
Admission criteria
The matter was subsequently referred to the UEFA judicial bodies for further examination, as there was felt to be a doubt over whether Porto fulfilled the admission criteria, notably Article 1.04 (d) of the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League regulations. The article states that to be eligible to take part in the competition a club must, among other things, not be or have been involved in any activity aimed at arranging or influencing the outcome of a match at national or international level.
Portugal judgement
The Control & Disciplinary Body considered that the offences related to the judgement in Portugal corresponded with “an activity aimed at arranging or influencing the outcome of a match,” as stated in Article 1.04 (d), and that the condition set out in this provision would therefore not be met by Porto. The decision is open to appeal within three days of the sending of the decision.
didnt some team get relegated in the portugese top flight this season despite finishing mid table…their name escapes me…had it anything to do with this…
SK Brann are 2nd last seeds in the 2nd round of qualifying. Bring it on!!! Jaysus if the Drogs got through and they were matched off I’d be made. Rangers top seeds in 2nd round of qualifying. Dirty Huns…
Kiev are 1-0 up on Drogheda at the moment. Missed the start of the game but the goal was a complete giveaway, with the 'keeper flapping at a corner and the Kiev centre half knocking the ball home. Ollie Cahill had a good effort for Drogheda but they’re on the back foot and Kiev look like they could get a couple more. The Croatian midfielder that Celtic were trying to sign, Ognjen Vukojević, is playing well in their midfield.
The longer the game goes on the better Drogheda are playin. Baker is having some game. Good advertisement for the LOI, Drogheda are playing attractive football, no lumping it up the field
[quote=“padjo”]Roddy Collins is some ungracious bastard, fuck sake its Drogheda Unt v Dynamo Kiev! Give the lads some credit.
They will have it “tough in Russia”, muppet.[/quote]
Thought Richardson was worse. His comment before the game that one nil to Drogheda would be a decent result was a bit of a joke. If it were a EPL/Seria A team playing them that would be an acceptable thing to see but give Drogheda some credit. He seemed overly anxious to make sure that praise of Drogheda was kept to a minimum as if to show how unbiased they were or something.
No, for not giving a team from a small rural Irish town any credit for playing well against a team who compete in the champions league year in year out. Dynamo were the better team obviously, but Roddy could give Drogheda some credit for competing