Barely three weeks after the final was played we are up and running again with qualifiers starting. Matches were played late June with teams from Andorra, San Marino, Montenegro and Iceland kicking off the competition. Will keep an eye on Wales's entry getting knocked out yet again in the 1st qualifying round. Of course the tournament is of more interest to most when the big teams enter at the groups stage but do like to see how the smaller clubs are getting on. June 1st 2024 is the final game.
Happy days, had forgotten about that. Summer is for the Euro's and World Cup and not bloody December.
Yup, TNS knocked out 5-1 on aggregate by Swedish champions Hacken. Norn Iron champions Larne likely to follow them out tomorrow against Finland's HJK (1-0 down after the first leg, although they do have home advantage in the second) and Rep of Ireland champions Shamrock Rovers also out, beaten by Icelandic side Breidablik.
Hope Brendan doesn't shit the bed and we have a go again. Realistically hoping for 3rd spot and possibly a europa run. When does the group stage start?
From 2.Bundesliga to Champions League in a few weeks? Just read that in the CL Qualification for this season, Poland's Champion Rakow Tschenstochau (hopefully correctly written) won due to a goal in the 90+1 minute with 3-2 against Qarabag from Azerbaijan. So far so good and why am I writing this? Because the deciding goal in stoppage time came from former HSV player Sonny Kittel who played for us for 4 seasons until the ****ing management decided this summer that he is no longer needed. He was my favourite HSV player for the past 4 seasons, one of the few in our squad who could treat the ball perfectly and not like a lumberjack. I miss him at HSV and still think it was a big mistake to let him go this summer. Anyway, I have to accept it. I'm glad that he found a new club so soon. Tbh I didn't even know that he's now playing for the actual Champions of the Polish Ekstraklasa. He came just in the 81st minute as substitute and 10mins later he scored the 3-2 winner. Well done, Sonny! All the best for you! Now I'm following the CL qualification a bit more than before. Filmreifes Debüt: Joker Kittel erzielt umjubeltes Siegtor in der Nachspielzeit
First year out of Europe in yonks so haven't been following the qualifiers as religiously as I usually do. One result that stood out in this round for multiple reasons was the 11-5 aggregate win for Aris Limassol. Obviously the scoreline is one noticeable factor but they've knocked out BATE who have a bit of pedigree in Europe in recent years. Losing that heavily to a Cypriot team was a bit of a surprise but it appears that they're being bankrolled by the Russians. They're obviously not going to compete in the competition itself but might be a potential newbie as far as qualifying for the groups go - interesting to see if much fuss will be made about them being bankrolled by a Russian if they do make the group stages.
History for a team from the Faroe Islands. Into the final qualifying round of the Champions leagte where they will play Molde. And they are guaranteed a place in the Conference league at least! Soccer-Klaksvik become first Faroese team to play in group stages of a European competition
Been watching Rangers making heavy work against 10 men Sevette on BBC Scotland , Rangers really are poor in defence , they don't convince me at all & need strengthening before the window closes across the back 4 .
Would be amazing if did reach the group stages. Gives the rest of the teams that are not super duper rich that anything is possible. If they do get through more then likely they play Galatasary in the playoff round to decide who do enter the group stages.
BBC Scotland showing Servette v Rangers 2nd leg which kicks off at 7.30 & then on Thursday 2nd leg of Hearts match where I'll be keen to see if Posh ol' boys Frankie Kent & Jorge Grant get in the team .
Unfortunately KI edged out 3-2 on aggregate by Molde after extra time. Rangers struggling in Switzerland- lucky to just be 1-0 down . EDIT: Tavenier leading by example.
Servette better team 1st half with Butland making some good saves but Rangers upped their game 2nd half & albeit at times still looked like strangers to one another deserved the aggregate win though PSV will be a sterner test than the Swiss outfit .
PSV will hammer them I fear. They don't look good at all this season. Bar an unexpectedly poor Celtic season, they will probably beat Rangers by 20 points.
Panathinaikos have somehow managed to beat knock Marseille out of the Champions League on penalties. To make matters worse, Guendouzi gave away a last minute penalty to take the game to extra time and was the only Marseille player who missed their spot kick in the shootout. Possibly the most one-sided match I've seen in years. No idea how they manage to feck it up so badly.
