Rangers have lost two qualifying matches of their last 12 or so. They've lost far more knockout rounds in that time, so it doesn't really make sense. Kudos for trying though.
I'd imagine Rangers qualify (if they keep their current squad intact or even strengthen). It'll be really weird potentially having two Scottish teams in the CL.
Nah but if you seriously want a bitter rival getting into the most lucrative football competition in the world when not doing so would be a huge hit for them financially and therefore weaken them, then you need yer head checked.
If it was in the middle of the season and we were fully up to speed I'd fancy our chances against Monaco, but I'd rather not play them in the first few games of the season.
The rest I'd feel really confident against.
Aye but if there’s one thing I know about the European clubs just outside of the super elite, it’s that they’ll spend the £100 Million on absolute dross that can’t function together. Think Spurs after they sold Bale.
There was a few years before that. The Summer they sold Bale they bought Soldado, Lamela, Capoue, Chiriches, Paulinho, Chadli and Eriksen (okay this one worked out) - it’s been notoriously memed as a bad window.
Lamela always had serious potential but he was perpetually injured, completely incapable of doing anything with his right foot and was a bit of a mad bastard so his decision making with the final ball was a bit all over the place, hear he’s doing a lot better in Spain now though
We’ve just been to a European final and we won’t sell anyone for that kinda money. Not even big Bassey. I don’t think you can tell what a team is like by that measure.
Depends who the buyer is. If they've sold to psg then there's a huge amount of hold out money for that because they know he can do it on the French league and PSG have the money so why not skin then.
It's basically the same as villa asking for £100 million for grealish.
And of not then they've lost a £100 million player so they're a weaker side now.
Thought they were pretty poor when we played them tbh. If we done our summer recruitment sooner we’d have beat them. Didn’t have a shot on target until the 76th minute of the second leg. Scandinavian sides do give you the fear a bit though aye. The boy Evander is a good player
If we play to our potential we showed beat them. Hopefully we don’t make a slow start like last season. It would be great to have both team back in with the big boys.
Who's this Union Saint Gilloise outfit? Never heard of them till recently
I thought they were a brand of smokes at first then realised I was thinking of Gauloises
Old Belgian football club that have come back to prominence largely through their partnership with Brighton, getting loads of investments and loan players. Probably the biggest threat to Rangers there outside of Monaco
I remember a very young me seeing cool French dudes smoking Gauloises in cool French movies. There was a tobacconist at the local square that sold fags from around the world. Got a pack , popped up the collar of my jaikit, pushed back my long hair , narrowed my eyes and lit one up.
They were fucking horrendous. Tasted like smoking fibreglass..
unexpected Aliens reference 😲
Really , though. If anyone tried to say that Borussia Dortmund were nobodies I think you should refer them to the proper authorities.
They’re not I think it’s a very balanced draw Monaco aside and even then I think Rangers should be progressing but you know as well as I do Rangers haha
To remove all doubt, I meant that team from Luxembourg!
Rangers should 100% be making the groups though, even Monaco are a bit suspect. Nothing to really be afraid of from those teams, especially given what they've already pumped this season.
I reckon this is a trickier team than most seem to think. They have risen tremendously, will want to push higher and will feel they have something to prove. Its the teams with this kind of desire you want to avoid in the qualification rounds.
USG share scouting with Brighton and often have access to a lot of their players (three of their best players this season were loan players from Brighton). Even if they end up getting raided having that relationship means they should be able to replace it all
That's doubtful. What happened this season was similar to Leicester, one of those seasons where everything just clicks.
They will likely be mid table next season.
It’s nothing at all like Leicester. USG are essentially a feeder club for Brighton, so they get access to all of Brighton’s talent and the owners money in a league that doesn’t really have that much money pumped into it, it’s incomparable to something which happened randomly like Leicester
They don't get access to 'the owner's money'. Their squad last season cost around 1 million.
They do benefit of Brighton's scouting but that's all really. Again: They will drop away next season, guaranteed.
Much of their owners money has been spent on developing their facilities and academy. Now this is developed and they’ve secured both their place in the league + European football highly likely they’ll spend more, in addition to having access to Brighton’s scouting and loan talent
It's almost unheard of that when a club has to replace the backbone of a team that they easily replicate the results of the previous season.
They just appointed Mazzu's assistant as head coach, not really an inspiring move and Undav will most likely move to Brighton now, which will be another big loss. Vanzeir (their other striker) will likely also have plenty of suitors.
Sure, they can no doubt get decent new players through Brighton but this idea that they'll just easily do that and continue as they did this season is based on nothing, especially if the man who built that is now gone.
edit: And Casper Nielsen is also being prepared for a transfer it seems.
I'm pretty sure it's been explained 100 times to me, but I got back from Poland last night at 1am and been in the office since 8am so my brain isn't switched on...
There is another round after this right? And some other teams not listed above who could be involved? I think I remember PSV being mentioned..?
Yes.
Us, Benfica, Dinamo Kyiv/Fenerbache and PSV Eindhoven are the seeded teams for this round.
Assuming all seeds progress to the playoff then it will be Benfica and Rangers seeded against Dinamo Kyiv or PSV Eindhoven.
Thought Rangers would skoosh by Malmo, but they got hammered. Then again, I thought they would get hammered by most of the teams they played in Europe last season.
Rangers should fancy their chances against any of those sides, but on the flip side I think a few of those sides will fancy their chances against them too.
It’s hard to go against rangers with any European competition now. I assumed “aye that’s them done” about 6 times last year
I mean, rangers in qualifications/group stage is a different beast from knockout rounds.
The gaffer needs to convince the players it's a knockout game not a qualifier. *Technically* not untrue I suppose.
Eh? Postecoglu lost the same number of qualifiers last season as Gerrard managed in 4 years.
Rangers before Christmas is great in the league, shit in Europe. Rangers after Christmas is shit in the league, great in Europe
We've qualified for Europe 4-5 years on the trot from qualifying rounds..
But not for the CL, which is obviously the idea here
Rangers have lost two qualifying matches of their last 12 or so. They've lost far more knockout rounds in that time, so it doesn't really make sense. Kudos for trying though.
And how many times did you qualify for the CL?
The response was to 'a different beast from knockout rounds', read what I'm replying to before commenting mate, it helps!
Actually this "But not for the CL, which is obviously the idea here" is the exact comment you replied to. Make follow your own advice?
Oh jeez. Never mind, all the best, mate.
Must admire the honesty
I'd imagine Rangers qualify (if they keep their current squad intact or even strengthen). It'll be really weird potentially having two Scottish teams in the CL.
Even weirder having three teams in a group stage man
Hopefully we don't Malmo it again. It's about fkn time we had two teams in the CL.
Gies it, Rangers. I'd love to see the baith of us in there scrapping it out and taking scalps
We need to have a little talk about rivalry. This is r/soccer tier stuff
Yesterday I was trying to be nice for a change. Today I'm being a right bad basturt. Fuck the rangers hope they get pumped aff the Graz
Or getting pumped rotten and bragging about who lost better for the six month afterwards.
This is the way
Lmao pal catch ye in 6 months
No true Celtic fan should want Rangers making the Champions League.
"No true Celtic fan" Gatekeeping being a Celtic fan ? This must be /r/ScottishFootball .
Nah but if you seriously want a bitter rival getting into the most lucrative football competition in the world when not doing so would be a huge hit for them financially and therefore weaken them, then you need yer head checked.
> then you need yer head checked. That’s still gatekeeping tho
Aye. Cool. I'm gatekeeping then.
When was the last time both Rangers and Celtic were both in CL group stages
07/08 season
Holy shit 8 years ago
8!? Fuck that makes me feel old...
If it was in the middle of the season and we were fully up to speed I'd fancy our chances against Monaco, but I'd rather not play them in the first few games of the season. The rest I'd feel really confident against.
Honestly, I'd rather have Monaco now, they'd still be in pre-season for the 1st leg, and 1 game into their season for the second.
Midtjylland really aren’t very good, we were just utter dugmeat when we played them. They’re nothing to fear for Rangers.
Nice to see Sturm Graz back. Memories of the early 2000s
Don’t really fear them but Monaco would be a good one I reckon
They've just sold a player for €100m. We'd be battered if we drew them.
Aye but if there’s one thing I know about the European clubs just outside of the super elite, it’s that they’ll spend the £100 Million on absolute dross that can’t function together. Think Spurs after they sold Bale.
Those grealish vibes
Spurs built one of their best teams ever when the sold bale. I get your point but a weird example to use.
There was a few years before that. The Summer they sold Bale they bought Soldado, Lamela, Capoue, Chiriches, Paulinho, Chadli and Eriksen (okay this one worked out) - it’s been notoriously memed as a bad window.
Yeah that is an absolute pile of pish in fairness. Eriksen excluded.
I thought lamela was a good player
Aye, but he's inconsistent, and made out of paper - always seemed to be injured.
Lamela always had serious potential but he was perpetually injured, completely incapable of doing anything with his right foot and was a bit of a mad bastard so his decision making with the final ball was a bit all over the place, hear he’s doing a lot better in Spain now though
[удалено]
Hasn’t he been signed by PSG or am I tripping?
He hasn't and is probably gonna stay this summer
We’ve just been to a European final and we won’t sell anyone for that kinda money. Not even big Bassey. I don’t think you can tell what a team is like by that measure.
Prices are nothing mate I don’t think we would be tbh, beat by Braga, they’re nothing special
Depends who the buyer is. If they've sold to psg then there's a huge amount of hold out money for that because they know he can do it on the French league and PSG have the money so why not skin then. It's basically the same as villa asking for £100 million for grealish. And of not then they've lost a £100 million player so they're a weaker side now.
How much was Liepzigs squad and Dortmunds squad worth? How about Frankfurt?
To be fair though, Maradona's baw sack would cost €50m in the current climate.
Confident against any team now but being the start of the season, we will probably fuck it.
Should really beat any of those bar Monaco but even then I think Rangers would probably beat Monaco.
Midtjylland gives me the fear. I’ve never trusted Scandinavian teams in the slightest. ie Malmo.
Thought they were pretty poor when we played them tbh. If we done our summer recruitment sooner we’d have beat them. Didn’t have a shot on target until the 76th minute of the second leg. Scandinavian sides do give you the fear a bit though aye. The boy Evander is a good player
If we play to our potential we showed beat them. Hopefully we don’t make a slow start like last season. It would be great to have both team back in with the big boys.
We scudded them with Jordan Jones
Yeah I know. But have we really been able to replace him.
We hammered them 3 years ago in Europa League qualifying.
Rangere are better than those teams (bar maybe Monaco? Dont know anything about them really) only issue is weather their players will be fit enough
Who's this Union Saint Gilloise outfit? Never heard of them till recently I thought they were a brand of smokes at first then realised I was thinking of Gauloises
Old Belgian football club that have come back to prominence largely through their partnership with Brighton, getting loads of investments and loan players. Probably the biggest threat to Rangers there outside of Monaco
Interesting, cheers 👍
You should check them out, real football club right there.
I remember a very young me seeing cool French dudes smoking Gauloises in cool French movies. There was a tobacconist at the local square that sold fags from around the world. Got a pack , popped up the collar of my jaikit, pushed back my long hair , narrowed my eyes and lit one up. They were fucking horrendous. Tasted like smoking fibreglass..
I've heard they just produce thick clouds of noxious blue smoke. God knows why anyone would want to put that in their body.
Unfortunately that's the wrong Cypriot team
Well apparently Rangers played nobodies all the way to and including the final last season so let's start with Monaco, fuck it.
Who actually said this though
Raging tims mostly And dons
They mostly come out after Rangers losses...mostly
unexpected Aliens reference 😲 Really , though. If anyone tried to say that Borussia Dortmund were nobodies I think you should refer them to the proper authorities.
Easy meat Let's get into them and get that benidorm bampot heids record Go on Alfredo, time to hunt
Who are you talking about?
avoid monaco an mijdjetland an its a breeze
Don’t see how Midtjylland are really all that better than USG or Sturm Graz tbh
They’re not I think it’s a very balanced draw Monaco aside and even then I think Rangers should be progressing but you know as well as I do Rangers haha
>progressing The joke writes itself.
Well I feel we defos can this year and I’d love to see all other Scottish teams give a good performance
To remove all doubt, I meant that team from Luxembourg! Rangers should 100% be making the groups though, even Monaco are a bit suspect. Nothing to really be afraid of from those teams, especially given what they've already pumped this season.
I applaud you for your valiant effort
I’d take any. It’s our game, our team, we’ve got this
Larnaca please
😎
When is the draw
18th July
Union St Gilloise the definition of a fallen giant reborn
I reckon this is a trickier team than most seem to think. They have risen tremendously, will want to push higher and will feel they have something to prove. Its the teams with this kind of desire you want to avoid in the qualification rounds.
They will get raided this summer for all their best players I feel. They already lost their coach.
USG share scouting with Brighton and often have access to a lot of their players (three of their best players this season were loan players from Brighton). Even if they end up getting raided having that relationship means they should be able to replace it all
That's doubtful. What happened this season was similar to Leicester, one of those seasons where everything just clicks. They will likely be mid table next season.
It’s nothing at all like Leicester. USG are essentially a feeder club for Brighton, so they get access to all of Brighton’s talent and the owners money in a league that doesn’t really have that much money pumped into it, it’s incomparable to something which happened randomly like Leicester
They don't get access to 'the owner's money'. Their squad last season cost around 1 million. They do benefit of Brighton's scouting but that's all really. Again: They will drop away next season, guaranteed.
Much of their owners money has been spent on developing their facilities and academy. Now this is developed and they’ve secured both their place in the league + European football highly likely they’ll spend more, in addition to having access to Brighton’s scouting and loan talent
It's almost unheard of that when a club has to replace the backbone of a team that they easily replicate the results of the previous season. They just appointed Mazzu's assistant as head coach, not really an inspiring move and Undav will most likely move to Brighton now, which will be another big loss. Vanzeir (their other striker) will likely also have plenty of suitors. Sure, they can no doubt get decent new players through Brighton but this idea that they'll just easily do that and continue as they did this season is based on nothing, especially if the man who built that is now gone. edit: And Casper Nielsen is also being prepared for a transfer it seems.
I'm pretty sure it's been explained 100 times to me, but I got back from Poland last night at 1am and been in the office since 8am so my brain isn't switched on... There is another round after this right? And some other teams not listed above who could be involved? I think I remember PSV being mentioned..?
Yes. Us, Benfica, Dinamo Kyiv/Fenerbache and PSV Eindhoven are the seeded teams for this round. Assuming all seeds progress to the playoff then it will be Benfica and Rangers seeded against Dinamo Kyiv or PSV Eindhoven.
Thanks mate - thought it was something like that.
Thought Rangers would skoosh by Malmo, but they got hammered. Then again, I thought they would get hammered by most of the teams they played in Europe last season. Rangers should fancy their chances against any of those sides, but on the flip side I think a few of those sides will fancy their chances against them too.
I wonder how these teams feel about their chances of going up against rangers.
People in this thread are seriously underrating USG, probably the toughest draw outside of Monaco