Arsenal's CL Opponents - Group Phase

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BrunelGunner

BrunelGunner

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Jul 10, 2020
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Bayern Munich (H)
Inter Milan (A)
Atletico Madrid (H)
Club Brugge (A)
Olympiacos (H)
Slavia Prague (A)
Kairat Almaty (H)
Athletic Club (A)

What are your thoughts on those opponents? Some pretty tough ties there on paper. I'm not sure if the fixtures will be in that specific order, but if they are, we will playing our 3 toughest opponents in the opening 3 games lol.
 
Just saw Spurs' run and they have (on paper at least) a very favourable fixture list. Definitely the best from all the English slides. They should easily be targeting a top-8 finish.
 
How the **** is Kazakhstan in Europe? The country borders China FFS.

Tough ties but some fun games.
 
BrunelGunner said:
Bayern Munich (H)
Inter Milan (A)
Atletico Madrid (H)
Club Brugge (A)
Olympiacos (H)
Slavia Prague (A)
Kairat Almaty (H)
Athletic Club (A)

What are your thoughts on those opponents? Some pretty tough ties there on paper. I'm not sure if the fixtures will be in that specific order, but if they are, we will playing our 3 toughest opponents in the opening 3 games lol.
Click to expand...

The group stage is a joke TBH.
24 of 32 teams qualify.
It's just a money making exercise.
Sure, some teams will have to play an extra round - 9th to 24th - but that's just more cash to pocket.

PSG finished 15th last year and won the tournament.

We just need to be in the top 24 and for that we'll need to pick up c12 points from 24 available.
4 wins and 4 losses will likely do it.

We could do something like this at it would be fine

Bayern Munich (H) - draw
Inter Milan (A) - lose
Atletico Madrid (H) - draw
Club Brugge (A) - win
Olympiacos (H) - draw
Slavia Prague (A) - win
Kairat Almaty (H) - win
Athletic Club (A) - lose

12 points.

Get through - pick up form - win the tournament.
 
Jayramfootball said:
The group stage is a joke TBH.
24 of 32 teams qualify.
It's just a money making exercise.
Sure, some teams will have to play an extra round - 9th to 24th - but that's just more cash to pocket.

PSG finished 15th last year and won the tournament.

We just need to be in the top 24 and for that we'll need to pick up c12 points from 24 available.
4 wins and 4 losses will likely do it.

We could do something like this at it would be fine

Bayern Munich (H) - draw
Inter Milan (A) - lose
Atletico Madrid (H) - draw
Club Brugge (A) - win
Olympiacos (H) - draw
Slavia Prague (A) - win
Kairat Almaty (H) - win
Athletic Club (A) - lose

12 points.

Get through - pick up form - win the tournament.
Click to expand...

The obvious kicker is that if you don't finish in the top-8, you have to play an extra 2 games. Given how packed the fixture schedule is these days, we could do without the congestion. Plus, you'd rather have your qualification guaranteed to the RO16.
 
Jayramfootball said:
The group stage is a joke TBH.
24 of 32 teams qualify.
It's just a money making exercise.
Sure, some teams will have to play an extra round - 9th to 24th - but that's just more cash to pocket.

PSG finished 15th last year and won the tournament.

We just need to be in the top 24 and for that we'll need to pick up c12 points from 24 available.
4 wins and 4 losses will likely do it.

We could do something like this at it would be fine

Bayern Munich (H) - draw
Inter Milan (A) - lose
Atletico Madrid (H) - draw
Club Brugge (A) - win
Olympiacos (H) - draw
Slavia Prague (A) - win
Kairat Almaty (H) - win
Athletic Club (A) - lose

12 points.

Get through - pick up form - win the tournament.
Click to expand...


Quite a conservative points prediction, I'd say at worst we are looking at 17-19pts from the 24 pts available, possible slip up's (draws or losses) to IM, AM, BM, CB.

16 pts got you straight through to the KO's last year so I am confident we will do it again.
 
Fixture scheduling is confirmed:

Athletic Club v Arsenal - September 16, 5.45pm
Arsenal v Olympiacos – October 1, 8pm
Arsenal v Atletico Madrid – October 21, 8pm
Slava Prague v Arsenal – November 4, 5.45pm
Arsenal v Bayern Munich - November 26, 8pm
Club Brugge v Arsenal - December 10, 8pm
Inter Milan v Arsenal - January 20, 2026, 8pm
Arsenal v Kairat Almaty – January 28, 2026, 8pm
 
My thoughts on the outcomes of each match

Athletic Club v Arsenal - September 16, 5.45pm - 3pts
Arsenal v Olympiacos – October 1, 8pm - 3pts
Arsenal v Atletico Madrid – October 21, 8pm - 3pts
Slava Prague v Arsenal – November 4, 5.45pm - 3pts
Arsenal v Bayern Munich - November 26, 8pm - 1 pt
Club Brugge v Arsenal - December 10, 8pm - 1pt
Inter Milan v Arsenal - January 20, 2026, 8pm - 1 pts
Arsenal v Kairat Almaty – January 28, 2026, 8pm[/QUOTE] - 3pts

total points - 18 pts ;) = Straight through to the knockout stage, easy peasy!
 
Jayramfootball said:
The group stage is a joke TBH.
24 of 32 teams qualify.
It's just a money making exercise.
Sure, some teams will have to play an extra round - 9th to 24th - but that's just more cash to pocket.

PSG finished 15th last year and won the tournament.
Click to expand...

How's that any different to a team finishing 2nd in their group (old version) and then going on to win it? That happened many times.

I actually think we had better games last Season with this new format - the 'league stage' game felt more meaningful and competitive.
 
BrunelGunner said:
The obvious kicker is that if you don't finish in the top-8, you have to play an extra 2 games. Given how packed the fixture schedule is these days, we could do without the congestion. Plus, you'd rather have your qualification guaranteed to the RO16.
Click to expand...

2 extra games means more money too , though. PSG were fine with it. Don't get me wrong, i would rather we finished top 8, but finishing 24th is no real problem.
 
cini65 said:
PSG were fine with it because they can win ligue 1 playing their B team all season.
Click to expand...
Cini, I don't think that was it at all - I think PSG's form was totally different in the second half of the season. They were transformed.
The group stage meant absolutely nothing to them - they just needed to be in the top 24 whilst they were off their peak.
 
TheBear said:
How's that any different to a team finishing 2nd in their group (old version) and then going on to win it? That happened many times.

I actually think we had better games last Season with this new format - the 'league stage' game felt more meaningful and competitive.
Click to expand...

It's harder IMO to finish 2nd in a 4 team group than it is to finish in the top 24 of a 32 team group - marginally I admit, but then the CL has always been pretty average in the group stages in terms of quality. The new format would be like the top 3 (in half the groups) of 4 making it through to knockout stages - basically to qualify now you just need to finish above a minnow.
 
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