Topic: 2017/18 Champions League group stage draw. Thursday 24th August at 5pm

[fudge]

Not so easy draw as a lot of people are saying. We lost a final again Sevilla and going to Moscow playing on a plastic pitch ain't easy plus it's world cup in Russia you never know what are the instructions given to the officials (If you know what I mean)

Yes hate the idea its a done deal. Brendan's champions league opponents were hardly awe inspiring and we know how that ended

[PoetryInMotion]

I'm kind of mildly disappointed we're not competing (yet) with the best teams in Europe but on the flipside, I suppose I'd be complaining that we've gotten a tough draw. Despite it being an easier group than what we could have got, it's still going to be tough like you say but the main thing is that Klopp and the team won't think of it as anything other than that. I don't doubt that that's what'll happen.

There's always time to do that in the Knockout Stages. Group Stage for me needs to be just a trailer of the big thing, a safe and easy passage would do.

[Hazell]

There's always time to do that in the Knockout Stages. Group Stage for me needs to be just a trailer of the big thing, a safe and easy passage would do.

Easy passage? Losing at home to Graz in the qualifiers and being 4 minutes aways from being knocked out of the group stages was rather memorable, no?

But yeah, I'm not complaining, I'm happy we're back in it and I really didn't care who we got. Looking forward to it.

[Samie]

Yes hate the idea its a done deal. Brendan's champions league opponents were hardly awe inspiring and we know how that ended

Different manager and different team playing for us, I mean we had Lambert and Balotelli leading our line up for fuck sakes. We also had Real Madrid in our group.

[MinnyRed]

Bet Luis would have loved that.

Ha. Guaranteed side trip for Luis to "watch" his old squad

[Mizerooskie]

We will have extra motivation against the toughest team in our group after the Europa final defeat.  It's an extremely easy draw and we'll  top the group with 12+ points.

[GBF]

Lol if you think this isn't an easy draw compared to what we could;ve been handed if Sheva picked the other ball then give me the teams you'd have wanted?

It was either Group E or H. Which had Real Madrid and Dortmund in it.

We usually win games against "bigger" teams, hence why I am not so comfortable with this group.  It will depend how well the defense and midfield are during the those games and these teams will be happy to sit back and counter

[Magz50]

let's not get ahead of ourselves, all three teams will be tough regardless. Just need to focus and get through this group phase!

[Risto]

Last time we played Real Madrid was a 4-0 win for us? Last time we played Dortmund was a thriller that we ended up winning. Last time we played Sevilla we lost 3-1. Not sure if we've ever played Maribor before? Think we beat Spartak Moscow last time we played though?

Not that any of that matters, as that is just history that has little to do with teams today and as such, any status goes out of the window once the 90 minutes start.

For bragging rights it would sound better that we beat Barcelona 4-0 than Maribor 4-0, but other than that, it makes no difference, we still have to beat the teams that we come up against. And all the teams in the draw are beatable, some more than others and the ones we got are on paper pretty easy, but that doesn't always translate into practice though.

[TheShanklyGates]

Last time we played Real Madrid was a 4-0 win for us? Last time we played Dortmund was a thriller that we ended up winning. Last time we played Sevilla we lost 3-1. Not sure if we've ever played Maribor before? Think we beat Spartak Moscow last time we played though?

Not that any of that matters, as that is just history that has little to do with teams today and as such, any status goes out of the window once the 90 minutes start.

For bragging rights it would sound better that we beat Barcelona 4-0 than Maribor 4-0, but other than that, it makes no difference, we still have to beat the teams that we come up against. And all the teams in the draw are beatable, some more than others and the ones we got are on paper pretty easy, but that doesn't always translate into practice though.

Fair play to you for erasing the 2014 CL campaign from your memory.

[WanderingRed]

Last time we played Real Madrid was a 4-0 win for us? Last time we played Dortmund was a thriller that we ended up winning. Last time we played Sevilla we lost 3-1. Not sure if we've ever played Maribor before? Think we beat Spartak Moscow last time we played though?

Not that any of that matters, as that is just history that has little to do with teams today and as such, any status goes out of the window once the 90 minutes start.

For bragging rights it would sound better that we beat Barcelona 4-0 than Maribor 4-0, but other than that, it makes no difference, we still have to beat the teams that we come up against. And all the teams in the draw are beatable, some more than others and the ones we got are on paper pretty easy, but that doesn't always translate into practice though.

Don't wanna piss on your parade but we've lost the previous two times we played Real under Brendan.

[Always in a pub barney on christmas eve]

Fair play to you for erasing the 2014 CL campaign from your memory.

Wish I could 

[stejay007]

To be honest lads, we've lucked out a bit there. If we had Spurs' group half the people here would be having panic attacks, the other half would be wanting to face anyone. Why the pessimism? If we're good enough to go to the Bernabeau and tear Madrid a new arsehole like some are suggesting we would, why wouldnt we do the same to Maribor and Spartak Moscow. Sevilla isn't the worry, we know how to play attacking teams. But let's be realistic here. Spartak Moscow can be dangerous, as Russian sides always are. But Maribor are Championship level at best. Spartak Moscow wouldn't be mid table in the PL, and I think Sevilla would struggle to qualify for Europe from the Prem. So lets stop being so fucking pessimistic, we should be looking at this like this is a chance to go far in this competition rather than whinging about teams we should beat easily. Making everything sound like a fucking Cold War movie. How do we not know that Maribor and Spartak aren't managed by crumpets like that child last night, and think we are a spent force? Why assume they are ultra defensive because theyre Eastern European. And fuck it, even if they are, we're Liverpool Football Club. Can't be worried about Maribor away when we're meant to be challenging for a title this season, and we'll be playing tougher opponents than any of the teams in the group every week (well, barring Newcastle and Brighton).

[elsewhere]

S. Moscow-Sevilla-Liverpool-Maribor

and

Real Madrid-United-Napoli-S.Lisbon

I got our group right, wish Utd's group was correct too

[fudge]

Different manager and different team playing for us, I mean we had Lambert and Balotelli leading our line up for fuck sakes. We also had Real Madrid in our group.

Its the attitude i have issue with not the team we had or have now

[TomDcs]

Just remembering our earlier games in the Europa gives me confidence - it's easy to forget the journey and the fact we got to the final due to the Sevilla defeat. Klopp and the players will be out for revenge and are 18 months odd further on with their development together and I'm confident we'll take almost all points at home. I get the slightly underwhelming feeling of not facing a bigger side in the group, but the 'shinier' ties will be waiting for us in the knock out rounds.

[Dim Glas]

Its the attitude i have issue with not the team we had or have now

Fans though innit! That's how many react.  I'm not keen on it either!

For some balance, Kloppo's reaction to the draw:

The draw was exciting – to be part of it is obviously really special. We watched with a few of the lads together. There are groups with Barcelona, Bayern, Juventus and Real Madrid, and not to get them is of course more good than bad. But I don’t think that after this long way we should think about the opponents. We have to go and prepare. With Sevilla, there is an open bill, I would say. But we all know how good they are in European competition. Moscow is a long trip. And Maribor, in this moment you don’t know a lot about them; a lot of people would underestimate them, we will not. So we don’t think about the opponent, we just think about the competition. We’ll analyse and take everything seriously – we want to go as far as possible. But it’s the Champions League, so that means they all earn our 100 per cent respect, how we earn 100 per cent respect from them. That’s what we will show and hopefully we have a few really good games, which we 100 per cent need.

Rest of his comments here: http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/273140-jurgen-klopp-s-verdict-on-lfc-s-champions-league-draw

[Risto]

Fair play to you for erasing the 2014 CL campaign from your memory.

Now that you mention it...

Although I wouldn't be calling it anything as nice as a campaign.

It had slipped my memory though as the 2014/15 season really left very little in terms of positives to remember, especially after the highs from 13/14, so really can't remember the opposition, but frustration at how our attack struggled, while we were still shipping too many goals.

At least we have come a long way since... (I hope)

[deFacto please, you bastards]

A couple of things.

I hope that the atmosphere at Anfield is rocking like, despite who we face, because as we have seen over the last several years, getting here is very difficult. For a long time we took it for granted, whether we realized it or not. We got used to beating the big sides, winning it, going to the final, being competitive and then things change drastically.

We gave a very poor accounting of ourselves in 2014/2015 on many different levels. What is different now is the manager, who has relative experience and success compared to Rodgers [who was out of his depth imo at the time and was a huge negative the way we performed during that period]. We have a much better side, we are playing much better football.

The first fixture is against Sevilla at home, and it's right after we play City away [after the international break], so it will be interesting how we handle these games in midweek through these first couple of months in combination with the league as well.


enjoy it lads, it's been a while. We should make it out of the group if we play to our potential, whether it be 1st or 2nd it really doesn't matter as big clubs await either way in the following round.

[babraham]

I'd struggle to hand pick a better draw for us. Awesome!

[deFacto please, you bastards]

oh and in the draw simulator prior to the match, I actually got both Sevilla and Spartak in mine, the other side there tho was Feyenoord Would have loved to see them here, with Kuyt and al

[alvaro]

oh and in the draw simulator prior to the match, I actually got both Sevilla and Spartak in mine, the other side there tho was Feyenoord Would have loved to see them here, with Kuyt and al

Didnt Kuyt retire ?

[Skeeve]

''Sevilla beat Liverpool FC in the Final of the 2015/2016 Europa League!'' That's the status on Sevilla's facebook page  They are feeling confident then 

They should probably try updating it a bit more often then. 

[Mighty_Red]

A fantastic draw all things considered, esp when you think we could've got Spur's group. The group stages is all about getting through to the 2nd round, not thinking about heroics against top teams, which will ultimately count for nothing.

Whilst Sevilla are no longer the side they were 15 months ago, we will have the incentive of gaining a measure of revenge to keep us focused.

[riismeister]

Didn't really know where to put this, so mods please move/delete as appropriate.

Could have a very busy season if we go far in the cups. Will be so until New Year's in any case.

If we advance in the League Cup we'll only have 4+ rest days between match days on 5 occasions (out of 31) between the start of the season and January.
13 times each for 2 and 3 rest days between match days, respectively.

[ScouserAlec]

Anfield needs to be bouncing for these home ties!!

[Gerrard#1]

Didnt Kuyt retire ?

Yes

[Crimson_Tank]

Didnt Kuyt retire ?

Like he would have missed the tie. He would be sitting in the crowd or perhaps with Stevie or Carra.

[Marty McFly]

Probably the best possible draw we could have got and the plus side of playing Spartak away in a month other than December. That said Sevilla have shown themselves to be a very good side in Europe over the past few years. Maribor did well against Chelsea at home last time around. And even Spartak has history against us, dumping us out of the Cup Winners Cup in 1992.

Agreed absolute blinder for us with the usual caveats.

There are "weaker" teams in there but hopefully not too many bus parkers.

Having said that, with 2 wingers and AFCON no longer an issue who gives one

[Miltonred]

I'm okay with the draw. I'm glad we avoided some of the bigger names, not because I would be afraid of playing them, more that those games get over hyped and I'd prefer less distraction from the league games around them.
Its not going to be a cakewalk though, especially since we have a proven and so far unshaken reputation for performing less than out best against teams we should be beating.
I'm sure Klopp will be taking every game as seriously as if we were playing a top, top side.

Either way its fucking great to be looking forward to big European games in Autumn with this team, and a real feeling that we will add even more quality in the next few days.

[alvaro]

Didn't really know where to put this, so mods please move/delete as appropriate.

Could have a very busy season if we go far in the cups. Will be so until New Year's in any case.

If we advance in the League Cup we'll only have 4+ rest days between match days on 5 occasions (out of 31) between the start of the season and January.
13 times each for 2 and 3 rest days between match days, respectively.

There is no way we will field a strong XI in the league cup.

Expect Leicester to be the favorite over us in the betting markets.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Didnt Kuyt retire ?

He did but he would have been at the match for sure. It would have been great

[deFacto please, you bastards]

The league cup is going to be at the bottom of our priorities, there is no way we will be fielding a strong side whilst taking part in the groupstages  in Europe. It's impossible

[KopThat]

It will be a tight squeeze in SLovenia, Maribor's ground holds 12702

[Sir Psycho Sexy]

Sick draw. We shouldn't be getting outdone by Spartak and we have a chance of revenge against Sevilla ... who got fucked by Leicester last season

[Redcap]

Incredible opportunity to top the group and build on our coefficient with a good QF minimum run. Sevilla the only real threat. Nice to have them at home first up. If we dispatch them we'll be looking really solid.

[Suareznumber7]

Didn't really know where to put this, so mods please move/delete as appropriate.

Could have a very busy season if we go far in the cups. Will be so until New Year's in any case.

If we advance in the League Cup we'll only have 4+ rest days between match days on 5 occasions (out of 31) between the start of the season and January.
13 times each for 2 and 3 rest days between match days, respectively.

I fucking love that we have that many games.  Fucking love watching Liverpool play regardless of who we are playing. 

[stevieG786]

I know I'm in the minority, but I'd love it if all English teams went through to the last 16, we're (English teams) are a bit of a laughing stock at the moment in Europe.

[Redcap]

I know I'm in the minority, but I'd love it if all English teams went through to the last 16, we're (English teams) are a bit of a laughing stock at the moment in Europe.

Neither here nor there, except for coefficient purposes. Ideal thing would be if all the English teams knocked out all the Italian teams on their way to the QFs, then all but Liverpool are knocked out at that point.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

I know I'm in the minority, but I'd love it if all English teams went through to the last 16, we're (English teams) are a bit of a laughing stock at the moment in Europe.

You are the minority. I don't give a fuck about other English clubs, just like they don't give a fuck about us. I hope they fail at the first hurdle. Maybe that's because I'm not English, but I've never ever wanted another English club to do well in any competition.