UEFA Champions League Qualifying Rounds 2020-21

[Corto]

Corto will know better than me but most of the mainstream sports media seem to be 'pro' Mamic because Dinamo is successful, believe me he has his supporters, I would say small but vocal. It's largely based on politics as well depending on what side you lean on but I won't get into that

I wouldn't say there's anyone really pro Mamic anymore.
The guy is convicted and awaiting sentence abroad. Well, "awaiting". A fugitive.

The biggest news portal is very much against Mamic (the quality of the portal is very much up for debate, but they are the #1 portal by some distance).
The biggest papers sort of just ignore Mamic at this point and they ran with Dinamo's success for 2 years.

In the process of making Dinamo his little project, Mamic lost the fans. Dinamo stadium is laughably empty in the domestic league and only gets a lot of fairweather fans if they do well in Europe.

The biggest problem is he still runs the club, and all his little cronies will stand with him until he loses power.

 

[HajdukSplit]

I guess you are talking Index, which is anti Mamić and HNS. I was thinking mostly Sportske Novosti which seems to have a neutral stance on him and at times positive while always going overboard with their Hajduk articles (I frequently see SN give away freeDinamo tickets as well, seems weird for a “national” paper)

 

[bluesfan94]

I didn't realize that Vertonghen was at Benfica or that Chuba Akpom was at PAOK

 

[Live in the Now]

Well, Benfica are out. So are Alkmaar.

 

[HajdukSplit]

Benfica have really struggled in Europe the last few seasons, few years back remember them losing all six CL group matches and past few years been knocked out fairly early in the EL knockout rounds

 

[Savi]

Gent played pretty bad but luckily Rapid aren't Salzburg/LASK level

I think they go out vs Kiev

 

[Savant]

Well, Benfica are out. So are Alkmaar.

Benfica elimination completes Pot 2. Ajax get the last spot.

Pot 1

Bayern
Sevilla
Real Madrid
Liverpool
Juventus
PSG
Zenit
Porto

Pot 2

Barcelona
Atletico Madrid
Man City
Man United
Shakhtar Donetsk
Dortmund
Chelsea
Ajax

Guaranteed Pot 3

RB Leipzig
Inter Milan
Lazio
Atalanta

Guaranteed Pot 4

Istanbul Basaksehir
Rennes

 

[Pouchkine]

Mircea Lucescu with Dynamo Kiev could make a huge difference for them.

 

[Evilo]

Rennes will hope for Bayern, Barcelona and Inter.

 

[Live in the Now]

I would very much like to play Ajax, Inter, and Monchengladbach who were for some reason left out of that list. It's better to see Liverpool play against teams they haven't played much in the last 20 years.

 

[Savant]

I would very much like to play Ajax, Inter, and Monchengladbach who were for some reason left out of that list. It's better to see Liverpool play against teams they haven't played much in the last 20 years.

I omitted the teams that don’t have confirmed Pots.

Teams that can be in Pot 3 or Pot 4:

Lokomotiv Moscow
Marseilles
Club Brugge
Monchengladbach

as for Liverpool, When it comes to these (probably rigged) a European draws I have two ‘rules’.

1. I would rather have a very tough Pot 2 team than tough Pot 3 and 4 teams. For example, I would rather Dortmund from Pot 2 than Leipzig in 3 and/or Monchengladbach in 4

2. I would prefer not to travel to Russia/Ukraine/Turkey; just want to be in decent proximity to the UK.

So yeah give me LFC, Dortmund, Lazio & Brugge based on who we know is in.

 

[Moncherry]

Benfica spends €80 million this summer, didn't lose any significant players, and they don't even qualify for the Champions League.

And even funnier is that Zivkovic who they released a few weeks ago scores the winner.

 

[Savi]

Teams that can be in Pot 3 or Pot 4:

Club Brugge

we can still go to Pot 3?? What needs to happen for that?

 

[Savant]

we can still go to Pot 3?? What needs to happen for that?

I am not 100% sure but it looks like the following teams need to lose.

Dynamo Kiev (vs Gent), RB Salzburg, Olympiakos, Krasnodar (vs PAOK) and Zagreb need to lose.

 

[Pouchkine]

Any chance Ferencvaros can beat Zagreb today?

 

[HajdukSplit]

I would say yes, but Dinamo heavy favorites. Last season Dinamo beat them easily in Budapest but apparently Ferencvaros are better than last season while Dinamo are equal at best

 

[HajdukSplit]

Red Star are out, losing on penalties to Omonia Nicosia, Red Star were in the group stages last two seasons.

 

[Prntscrn]

So pissed when we lost to Ferencvaros, but now they are moving on to the next round beating Dinamo Zagreb and Celtic before that. Guess I underestimated them. Still don't look spectacular on paper though..

 

[Savant]

With Ferencváros beating Zagreb, the winner of Gent vs Dynamo Kiev is guaranteed Pot 3. I think.

I also think Red Star being out impacted this too

 

[Jersey Fresh]

Maccabi through to play Salzburg. They'll get worked, but good to get to the playoff after a lot of disappointment in Europe last few seasons.

 

[Savi]

Maccabi through to play Salzburg. They'll get worked, but good to get to the playoff after a lot of disappointment in Europe last few seasons.

Wouldn't count them out just yet, weird stuff always happens when Salzburg have to go through qualifiers

 

[HajdukSplit]

Molde go through on penalties after they were totally out played in Azerbaijan. They face Ferencvaros which is historic opportunity for both

As for Dinamo they dominated the first half but became conservative for some reason and conceded a sloppy goal. Even though they eliminated Celtic and Dinamo now I think Ferencvaros would be absolute whipping boys in the group stage

 

[Savant]

Updating the Pots (not 100% sure)

Pot 3 Guaranteed:

• Winners of Gent - Dynamo Kyiv CC: ≤55.000
• RB Leipzig CC: 49.000
• Inter Milan CC: 44.000
• Lazio CC: 41.000
• Atalanta CC: 33.500

Pot 4 Guaranteed

• Winners of Slavia Prague - Midtjylland CC: ≤27.500
• Borussia Mönchengladbach CC: 26.000
• İstanbul BaşakşehirCC: 21.500
• Winners of Molde - Ferencváros CC: ≤15.000
• Rennes CC: 14.000

In Pot 3 if they win:

• RB Salzburg
  
• Olympiakos
• Krasnodar

In Pot 4 if they win

• Maccabi Tel Aviv
• Omonia
• PAOK

Pot 3 or Pot 4 based on other results

• Lokomotiv Moscow
• Marseilles
• Brugge

 

[Savant]

Dortmund is the best team to draw from Pot 2

 

[HajdukSplit]

Playoffs (Sept 22/23 & Sept 29/30)
Slavia Prague (CZE) vs. FC Midtjylland (DEN)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR) vs. Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)
Olympiakos (GRE) vs. Omonia Nicosia (CYP)
Molde (NOR) vs. Ferencvaros (HUN)

Krasnodar (RUS) vs. PAOK (GRE)
Gent (BEL) vs. Dynamo Kiev (UKR)

These matchups are two legs so we might not see as many upsets. In the champions route Midtjylland and Omonia looking to make the group stage for the first time ever, though both heavy outsiders. Molde-Ferencvaros is a matchup with two teams looking to return after a long absence, Molde last playing in the group stage in 1999 while Ferencvaros did in 1995. In the league path, Krasnodar looking to make the CL for the first time along with PAOK. Gent don't have a great record against Ukrainian sides, hammered twice by Shakhtar a few years back and they did play Kiev in the CL qualifying about 10 years ago losing both matches (they did beat Oleksandriya last season though)