So according to this.. we avoid the 4 other BOLD teams..
the bad news is we could still draw Malaga, Borussia M?Ânchengladbach, Lille, Udinese!!
Looking at last year though there are 10 ties in teh play-offs. so even if Malaga, Borussia, Lille and Udinese are in there, there should be 6 other teams who would be less fearsome
We would be seeded and could only be drawn against one of the 5 unseeded teams. Currently it looks as though those 4 will be unseeded, although Udinese (and Lille) could be seeded if 3 (4 for Lille) of the 6 teams ranked ahead of them don't qualify for, or qualify but lose in, the previous qualifying round.
Why is there the possibility of just 5 opponents? Last year there were 10 play-offs, so 20 teams:
http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/matches/round=2000262/index.html
Out of those 5 are seeded, leaving 15 unseeded....or am I missing something obvious?
1 CFR Cluj 32 +31 67
2 FC Vaslui 33 +28 67
3 Steaua Bucuresti 32 +20 62
3rd Qualifying Round for Non-Champions (10 teams)
Seeded teams coef. Unseeded teams coef.
------------------------ --- ---------------- ------------------------ --- ----------------
Sporting Braga Por 63.069 Club Brugge Bel 35.480
Dinamo Kiev Ukr 62.026 FC Vaslui Rom 13.764
Panathinaikos Gre 50.920 Feyenoord Ned 12.603
Spartak Moscow Rus 46.066 FC Nordsjaelland Den 8.005
Fenerbah?ºe Tur 41.615 Motherwell Sco 6.728
4th Qualifying Round for Non-Champions (10 teams)
Seeded teams coef. Unseeded teams coef.
------------------------ --- ---------------- ------------------------ --- ----------------
Tottenham Hotspur Eng >66.857 Fenerbah?ºe *3 Tur 41.615
Sporting Braga *3 Por 63.069 Udinese Ita 38.996
Dinamo Kiev *3 Ukr 62.026 Lille OSC Fra 38.835
Panathinaikos *3 Gre 50.920 M?ílaga CF Esp 16.837
Spartak Moscow *3 Rus 46.066 Borussia M?Ânchengladbach Ger >15.003
I wouldn't mind kicking oil money Malaga out of the thing, but I'll take anyone we as long as we win. Hopefully avoid any long trips to eastern Europe.
Monchengladbach might not be as good next season as they have already lost Marco Reus to Dortmund.
Good news is that Nordsjaelland only managed a draw this Monday, so FC Copenhagen are back at the top in Denmark. Two rounds of matches remaining.
From Greece it will almost certainly be Panathinaikos. If AEK win away at Panathinaikos next game they will qualify instead with a coefficient of 24.420, making Brugge seeded in Q3.
In Romania it looks like this (penultimate round got under way today). Team in 2nd goes into qualifying:
Code:1 CFR Cluj 32 +31 67 2 FC Vaslui 33 +28 67 3 Steaua Bucuresti 32 +20 62
Some very unofficial guess work by me:
Code:3rd Qualifying Round for Non-Champions (10 teams) Seeded teams coef. Unseeded teams coef. ------------------------ --- ---------------- ------------------------ --- ---------------- Sporting Braga Por 63.069 Club Brugge Bel 35.480 Dinamo Kiev Ukr 62.026 FC Vaslui Rom 13.764 Panathinaikos Gre 50.920 Feyenoord Ned 12.603 Spartak Moscow Rus 46.066 FC Nordsjaelland Den 8.005 Fenerbah?ºe Tur 41.615 Motherwell Sco 6.728 4th Qualifying Round for Non-Champions (10 teams) Seeded teams coef. Unseeded teams coef. ------------------------ --- ---------------- ------------------------ --- ---------------- Tottenham Hotspur Eng >66.857 Fenerbah?ºe *3 Tur 41.615 Sporting Braga *3 Por 63.069 Udinese Ita 38.996 Dinamo Kiev *3 Ukr 62.026 Lille OSC Fra 38.835 Panathinaikos *3 Gre 50.920 M?ílaga CF Esp 16.837 Spartak Moscow *3 Rus 46.066 Borussia M?Ânchengladbach Ger >15.003
Every unseeded team that goes through from Q3 will lift one unseeded team into the seeded group. Borussia have not been in Europe for the past 5 seasons and will only have Germany's coefficient, which is an average of all clubs competing and even a Bayern win in the final won't give them enough to be seeded.
I could see Feyenoord and Brugge possibly making it through depending on who they draw in the 3rd qualifying and I would be happy with either of them as they would definitely be unseeded. Potential for trouble against Feyenoord might be an issue though.
fudge me. Couldn't this wait till Sunday morning?
To even things up ...
If Chelsea win the CL final then, in accordance with UEFA's regulations, Tottenham will be transferred to the Europa League "into the latest possible round where there is a vacancy". Presumably that will be direct entry into the group stages of the EL in the FA Cup winners spot which will no longer be required by Chelsea. In that case, we would definitely be in Pot 1 for the EL draw as there are a maximum of 8 teams ranked higher than us that could be in the draw for the 12 EL groups.