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By Walter Broeckx
Why not bring you live updates on the draw I thought a few minutes ago before the draw actually took place. Well why not?
So here we go with the live draw and the comments from myself when something interesting is drawn. All eyes of course fixed on who The Arsenal will draw in the group stages. To know who we could face I suggest to read our article from this morning and then rush back to see the result.
So far much blah blah blah from people who like to talk and who like to hear themselves talk. Oh just get on with it. Don’t forget to refresh!
One thing is for sure: there are not really football supporters in the hall. If you know what I mean. Ah the obligatory lovely lady enters the screen so the balls will come out now I think. No balls yet. Just blah blah. And some more blah. And more images of rich folks in the audience. We are not entering 20 minutes of CL draw and still no ball insight. Oh there they come I think. False alarm, just another person who will have to say something.
But hold on the first ball is drawn!!! Barcelona comes out the bowl and goes in to group E. Other teams from pot 1 follow of course. Benfica in group C. Bayern goes in to group F. And next out comes Chelsea who go in group G. Gee who came up with that. Juventus moves in to group D. Don’t forget to refresh if you follow this live.
Zenit St. Petersburg goes in to group H. Will we see Arshavin again? Does he still play? Next out of the bowl comes PSV and the go in to group B. The B from Broeckx, should be our lucky group! And finally PSG comes out and goes in group A.
That was the first bowl which is empty now. Now we get to pot 2 where Arsenal is in. Interestingly the stream is slower than the actual draw. Out goes a person and some more blah blah on stage and some videos. Time to take a drink I think.
Pot 2 Atletico comes out and will go in the group of Benfica. Okay Arsenal is out and will play Bayern Munich in group F. Who could have thought that….
Meanwhile MU goes in to the group of PSV. Luck of the draw you say… Talking about English clubs: Chelsea draw Porto. Real Madrid will play PSG that also looks a tough group. Valencia goes in to the group of Zenit. Oh and look Manchester City will be in the group of Juventus. A tough draw for the blue team from Manchester. And Barcelona will go to Leverkusen in the autumn to play the local Bayer team. Without ‘n’ of course.
On to pot C I guess but that will first take the necessary blah blah blah in between. Enter a ball of hair also known as Puyol. For pot 3.
Out comes Olympiacos and the go to our group F so we will have Bayern, Arsenal, Olympiacos so far in our group. Could have been worse but a little bit boring to see them again. CSKA Moscow goes in to the group of MU and PSV. Sevilla goes in to the group of Juventus and Man City.
Chelsea will play Dynamo Kiev in their group. Long may they travel. Shakthar Donetsk is placed in the group of PSG and Real Madrid. And Galatasaray is in the group of Benfica and Atletico if you are still with me. Lyon whom I would have preferred in our group goes in the group of Zenit and Valencia. And finally Roma goes to the group of Barcelona and Leverkusen.
So after 3 pots drawn Arsenal will play Bayern and Olympiacos. More blah blah. More blah blah and images of seasons gone by.
Out comes Astana and they go in the group of Benfica group C. Benfica, Atletico, Galatasaray and Astana.
Now Malmö who goes to group A. PSG, Real Madid, Shakhtar and Malmö. Bate Borisov is drawn and goes to group E. Barcelona, Leverkusen, Roma and Bate.
I hold my breath for Gent or Monchengladbach…
Not Tel Aviv they go in the group of Chelsea with Porto and Kiev. Please let us have Gent I pray…
Ah fuck Gent goes in the group of Zenit, Valencia, Lyon and Gent. Damned.
Of course Dinamo Zagreb goes in to our group. Okay not the worst possible opponent but now I am sure of not going to the CL group stage this season and I had 4 teams rather close to home this time. Ah well.
Wolfsburg goes in the group of PSV, Man United, CSKA Moscow. And finally Monchengladbach goes in the group of Juventus, Man City and Sevilla.
So here we have the final result of the draw in the CL.
Arsenal will be in group F and we will play Bayern Munich, Olympiacos and Dinamo Zagreb. It could have been much better but also worse. Well it is what it is and we will see how we do this time.
Oh and you can stop refreshing now. The draw is over. Move along nothing more to see.
No more F5 I told you!
Olympiakos – so a bit better.
MU are unbelievably fortunate, as ever.
This is the problem with the new seedings. Some of the Pot 1 teams are significantly weaker than Pot 2 and even Pot 3.
I mean Zenit and Valencia as 1st and 2nd seeds…?
As we have Bayern we can’t draw the German teams in Pot 4! So should turn out alright now.
Who on earther decided Kazakhstan is in Europe? The country is usually described as being in CENTRAL Asia?
That is ridiculous.
quite amazing- do Utd ever get a tough draw…in anything?
group D is scary :/
Gazprom will be devestaed with the draw that lines them up against the teams from ukraine and their favourite agants favourithe club.
😉
Back into the control of Busacca & his cronies.
Gutted that Gent didn’t came out. And I completely forgot that we couldn’t get Monchengladbach because of Bayern…. pfff disappointed with not getting Gent… and I know a lot over here who had hoped for the same.
Astana in Gala’s group?
A shocking surprise there! 🙂
Peter Schmichael Alphabetical order 1, 2, 3 LOL Numerical you Man U Numpty!!
Not bad at all ! Here we go !
Finsbury – easy manipulation with that group. Loadsa money will be made.
As Walter has indicated it could have been better, but it could have been worst.
I am glad our fans don’t have to travel to Turkey – the Turkish security forces seem to be involved in a very trigger happy security situation, bordering on ethnic cleansing, a censored press and a controlled release of information internationally. The situation could well be further inflamed by the time the matches are being played.
I have a friend who has just returned from holiday there, he (& family) will not go back and is advising everyone to stay clear.
BJT – I went to Turkey last year and it was truly delightful – in a tourist resort on the Med. But like you I would now say, stay well clear. This could be the first CL disrupted by events.
Oh and I should have said thank you to Walter. I totally forgot to ask you Walter if you would be doing this, but you were there doing it anyway. Very much appreciated.
Tony
No problem Tony. Had not much better to do for the moment 🙂
@ Mandy
Yes manure do get a difficult team from time to time.
Last season in the FA up they drew Arsenal and manure lost! 🙂
As far as Arsenal FC is concerned,there is nothing to fear from any team in Europe. The “mini league” in which we have been drawn will be played on an home and away basis and we should be able to finish in first or runner-up position.
By the time the matches begin, we will have struck top form in the EPL.
Overall our results against BM tend to be quite close, so I see this as not too bad a draw.
Utd never get a difficult draw, nor chelski. City, and us, on the other hand….
Ok, happier playing bayern now than later.
This is not an easy draw!!
Marinakis (owner of Olympiakos) is one of the most corrupt people on the planet…there are on going cases against him and his ‘crew’ for bribes of officials in the Greek League.
I wouldn’t put it past this guy to TRY and manipulate things. This is the third time we will meet Olympiakos, and he will want to get one over us in any way.
Bayern is never easy!
Pete: re “Who on earther decided Kazakhstan is in Europe? “.
Presumably the same people who decided Israel is……..
Pete
“Who on earther decided Kazakhstan is in Europe? The country is usually described as being in CENTRAL Asia?
That is ridiculous.”
FIFA regulates borders and nations obviously (as well as all the other ‘little’ things they get up to) 🙂 🙂
I didn’t know that Israel was in Europe either for that matter!!
@Clockendrider
August 27, 2015 at 7:03 pm
We must have been typing at the same time 🙂
colario
August 27, 2015 at 6:19 pm love it. LOL 😉
Not long before India will be in Europe. Maybe like Israel will also join Eurovision.
Channa batura for half time snacks.
Apo armani – we have it all in the F’ed group Tsaziki, Souvalaki & Kamaki.
@Menace
August 27, 2015 at 7:42 pm
hahahahahahahahahaha
And there I was, thinking that politics and sport never mix…?
Didn’t AFC loan Campbell to the dodgy Greek Geezer? He’d better be grateful.
Ozil for one will be glad he gets another shot at Munchen. This time, when the team starts off the tie giving Munchen a fright playin like a dream, let Santi take the spot kick against your old youth team sparring partner (advantage was and always will be with a keeper in such circumstances…).
I have no complaints about Syria, but strangely we never seem to hear about Lebanese football clubs. FUFA must love enclaves;)
On a bit more serious note, the way the draw panned out is not the worst in the World.
The only worrying fixture is the first, Dinamo Zagreb away, followed by Cheatski away 3 days later, and early kick-off. Even the trip to the Stamford Bus is a rather short one, the timing is incredible.
Bayern double 2 weeks apart, meh. By then, both teams should have 6 points, so bar any major surprise the fate of the group should become clear.
Thing is, Olympiakos away is the last match. I can hold a bet with anyone that we will field a half second string team, because we are already qualified, albeit likely from the second place.
@Florian
August 27, 2015 at 7:59 pm
“…Olympiakos away is the last match. I can hold a bet with anyone that we will field a half second string team, because we are already qualified, albeit likely from the second place.”
We did this against the Greeks both the last two times we played them at the end…we fielded makeshift – to give some young guys a go (we knew win or lose we were through)…here is BBShites take on it 🙂 : “Olympiakos – all three of Arsenal’s Champions League away games against the Greek champions have ended in defeat.”
You have to laugh!!!!
We have to beat the Germans at home, beat the Serbs – home and away…beat the Greeks at home convincingly, and then we can send Arsenal Women to Greece 🙂
…and if I’m not mistaken all the 3 games were the last match in the group stage. Funny ol’ game.
Apo – you mean the Croatians…? Dangerous mistake to make!
Read somewhere that Russian and Ukrainian teams couldn’t be drawn against each other.
What happens if they progress to the later stages?
Pete
Living in Greece; to me Criatia,Serbia,Cosovo and Skopje are still Yugoslavia!!!
Croatia** 🙂
Florian…yes they were 🙂
@apo Armani,
Yes, I know what you mean. It was easier to think of just Yugoslavia.
Whether all these separate states are now better off, I leave for their citizens to decide. 😉
Final point.
With England’s country coefficient now behind Germany and only marginally ahead of Italy, it has become quite important for the collective English teams to outperform this season – otherwise the 4th qualifying spot will be lost (not this season – but the one after for the season after that…).
We were lucky in that a German and Italian team met in the qualifiers (the Germans winning), but England’s less impressive recent form needs to be reversed.
Not a bad draw…Personally, I am glad that we are playing one of the glamour sides of Europe. It makes it more interesting. As for the other two…if we can’t take 4 points from both of them then we don’t deserve to advance.
The only thing that really annoys me is that teams have to play grueling matches in the week and then PL on weekends too. Really hate this setup.
@Para…good point…they should scrap international friendlies and play CL in their stead.
Off topic but in the news here Wenger, without specifically refering to anyone (cough-Gary Neville-cough), very clearly showed his mastery of all elements of football including what the role of a journalist should be. “The first mission is to educate people. That is fantastic because the [ex-pros] can explain things that the guy who has not played at the top level can understand and to get people to really love the game.” I wonder if GNeville feels a bit chastened.
The fixtures can be altered but Arsenal will always be penalized with an away PL game after an away CL game. The early game is further attempt to derail any Arsenal success. The Chelski game should be moved to Sunday or Monday. Wenger should call a press conference & ask for reduced congestion.