UEFA Champions League 2023/2024

Fiorentina lost 1-0 to Rapid Wien in the conference league playoff first leg.

Kenny said:

Molde - Galatasaray what a good game.
If Molde had some better defenders, they would win this easily, because their passing game is amazing. Kinda similar to our 3-5-2 but faster.

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Norwegian small-town teams like Molde have always been a nightmare for Turks especially in home games.

Brehme and Drago, What are the chances of Panathinaikos and AEK overcoming their one goal deficits to qualify for the Champions League?

Puma said:

Brehme and Drago, What are the chances of Panathinaikos and AEK overcoming their one goal deficits to qualify for the Champions League?

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Both need 1 goal to equalize and play at home. Let's see.

AEK plays against a team that doesn't really have any European pedigree in the last years (1993 CWC finalists their highlight), 25 years or so out of Europe and never in a CL group stage ever but they're a strong team.
Panathinaikos plays against a team that's quite got it together and are in their best 15 year cycle of their history, so it'll be a bit trickier.


I'd say AEK is 50-50.
Panathinaikos is 40-60.

If I had to give a score, I'd say AEK should be winning fairly easy if the game goes their way, but Panathinaikos would struggle to go +1 here. It's a 1-1 or 2-1 game imo. I hope it's 3-1 of course

brehme1989 said:

Both need 1 goal to equalize and play at home. Let's see.

AEK plays against a team that doesn't really have any European pedigree in the last years (1993 CWC finalists their highlight), 25 years or so out of Europe and never in a CL group stage ever but they're a strong team.
Panathinaikos plays against a team that's quite got it together and are in their best 15 year cycle of their history, so it'll be a bit trickier.


I'd say AEK is 50-50.
Panathinaikos is 40-60.

If I had to give a score, I'd say AEK should be winning fairly easy if the game goes their way, but Panathinaikos would struggle to go +1 here. It's a 1-1 or 2-1 game imo. I hope it's 3-1 of course

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Honestly i think there are more chances for Panathinaikos than AEK. We have started the season poorly and we struggle a lot to score. Also our defence is trash. I can't see how we're not gonna concede.

Sadly my prediction is both will go out but if i had to bet on someone qualifying it would be Panathinaikos.

Il Drago said:

Honestly i think there are more chances for Panathinaikos than AEK. We have started the season poorly and we struggle a lot to score. Also our defence is trash. I can't see how we're not gonna concede.

Sadly my prediction is both will go out but if i had to bet on someone qualifying it would be Panathinaikos.

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I think Panathinaikos seems more composed than AEK (at the moment) as a team but still very prone to making mistakes that could cost. They sometimes don't because Brignoli is honestly on top of thigs, or because the opposition doesn't execute well. At least we create more chances this season and have a pleasant depth that I don't recall having since 20 years ago where what defenders or strikers playing didn't really matter as much. Now it feels like midfield or attack, whoever plays it's going to be good enough.

The perception that the team is composed is a Jovanovic thing. That's how he wants the team to play, even if the sky is falling on you. And it can work. Team is always determined. So even if we concede a first goal, I can see us turning the result around.

AEK on the other hand who's playing for the first time in European tournaments and his past experience was an overpowered River Plate side in the 2nd tier plus a similar situation with Banfield, then has winning exposure with Mexico but their competition is always weak and a non-Mexican team only won once. And also the MLS is an exhibition tournament mostly. So the mystery is how Almeyda handles these ties and they're nothing like your average Greek cup. Last time Almeyda was in Europe was probably when he was an Inter player, so he's not really someone you'd expect to be on top of things when it comes to knowing the surrounding enviorment

Not sure if either club is CL level, but I don't think Braga or Antwerp are either. And there's still 3 weeks till the CL opener and 3.5 months till the phase lasts, so too early to judge teams. If anything, Marseille based on quality should be there.

Panathinaikos will play in front of 55k fans for the first time in ages. This current team hasn't seen that kind of support (half the people were present in the Cup final of 2022, plus away fans) so we don't even know if playing at home with such a large fanbase is a plus or minus.

AEK has quality up front and I don't think Antwerp is dangerous enough to cause much trouble. It's all about when AEK scores. If it's early, it could go really well. If it's late, they'll need some luck I imagine. Also depends if Antwerp comes to play or sit back. I think they'll sit back.

Braga on the other hand will come to play and they have pacey wingers and a very solid midfield that can cut our strengths there.
It just feels like Braga is a superior team to Antwerp and the situation is such where both PAO and AEK are on fairly level terms now.


Maybe both teams would be better off in the Europa League, but the CL money pool is too big to miss out, especially with a -1 handicap with the final game at home. It's so close for both teams.3

Molde was so close to UCL. Galatasaray was always gonna be the favorites though, Icardi will be back in Meazza? Maybe the last pot will bring him.

Some INSANE atmosphere in the Panathinaikos game.

After mostly watching some top level football, this one notch lower football is a bit...hmm, interesting.

Galatasaray, Braga and Young Boys have qualified.

who is completing the group of death with Barca and Inter on Thursday?

IL Fenomeno said:

who is completing the group of death with Barca and Inter on Thursday?

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We have Bayern and Galatasaray writing on the board already

I don't mind a group of death as long as we have Copenhagen in the group.

I wouldn't be too worried there's a dearth of teams of genuine quality on the european scene due to the financial lopsidness that exists nowadays. Inter would have every chance to top the groups outside of those with city and maybe bayern and real (even then neither look great).

I want easy teams this time. Need the money to advance further, which means top of the group.

Perhaps you would like to hear a fifteen minute audio analysis of the UCL draw? Boy, you're in luck.

Universe said:

Wow, what a transfer! What better way to celebrate than to listen to the latest episode of the Inter Jections Podcast

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Anyway, I'm excited for the draw. Unless we get Newcastle, Lens, or Union from Pot 4 it should be a very straightforward mission. Hopefully Milan gets drawn into a group of death with Bayern, Real, and a team that requires a five hour flight to a 5,000 capacity stadium.

CafeCordoba said:

Some INSANE atmosphere in the Panathinaikos game.

After mostly watching some top level football, this one notch lower football is a bit...hmm, interesting.

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I'd actually call it subpar.

New age fans are a disappointment

I don’t want the new CL campaign to start. Still basking in what happened 2.5 months ago.

Watching PSV vs Rangers after some preliminary Tropical storm clean-up via Hurricane Idalia.

Me too, very very balanced between these 2.