Topic: Europa League 2023/2024

[ABJ]

Isn't Sheriff pretty close to the Ukranian border - not sure I'd be wanting to go there, mate !? Or do they play somewhere else ?

Yeah its not far, about 10km. No they are still playing in their own stadium thankfully.

[Rhi]

I've been to Tiraspol before. Sleeper train from Bucharest to Chisinau then to Tiraspol by road.

I was leading a tour group at the time so I was "in charge". Went on this "alternative walking tour" with this completely mad bloke who had previously been recommended to us. Anyway. One of the stops was a "viewpoint" at the top of this old Soviet tower block. Half the group got in the lift and half of us went up the stairs. Obviously the lift fucking broke down and I had half of my group stuck in an ancient fucking Soviet lift on like the 14th floor or something, some of them freaking the fuck out. It was a bank holiday and I do not speak Russian so you can imagine the fucking carnage getting an engineer out to fix the lift. They were in there over an hour. The whole time me running up and down 14 flights of stairs manically trying to call the lift from different floors / find someone who knew how to fix it / find someone who had a phone that worked.

Christ. Reckon I aged about a decade that day.

Then on the sleeper train back to Bucharest, the train got fucking torn apart by the Romanian border guards because it's a prime ciggie smuggling route. Literally ripped all the panels off the walls of the cabins we were in. Was about 2 hours late getting in to Bucharest.

Anyway. Probs won't bother with Sheriff if we get them . Don't go up in any lifts if any of you end up going .

Qarabag is the one I want, even though I know it'll be in Baku.

[Thepooloflife]

I've been to Tiraspol before. Sleeper train from Bucharest to Chisinau then to Tiraspol by road.

I was leading a tour group at the time so I was "in charge". Went on this "alternative walking tour" with this completely mad bloke who had previously been recommended to us. Anyway. One of the stops was a "viewpoint" at the top of this old Soviet tower block. Half the group got in the lift and half of us went up the stairs. Obviously the lift fucking broke down and I had half of my group stuck in an ancient fucking Soviet lift on like the 14th floor or something, some of them freaking the fuck out. It was a bank holiday and I do not speak Russian so you can imagine the fucking carnage getting an engineer out to fix the lift. They were in there over an hour. The whole time me running up and down 14 flights of stairs manically trying to call the lift from different floors / find someone who knew how to fix it / find someone who had a phone that worked.

Christ. Reckon I aged about a decade that day.

Then on the sleeper train back to Bucharest, the train got fucking torn apart by the Romanian border guards because it's a prime ciggie smuggling route. Literally ripped all the panels off the walls of the cabins we were in. Was about 2 hours late getting in to Bucharest.

Anyway. Probs won't bother with Sheriff if we get them . Don't go up in any lifts if any of you end up going .

Qarabag is the one I want, even though I know it'll be in Baku.

Ha, great story  !

[Tiz Lad]

Interesting to see who makes the cut. I think PSV will knock Rangers out meaning they're a possibility again 

Pretty good chance of a trip to Belgium if they have three sides in pot 2.

Possibility to get Rangers again now as Dinamo Zagreb got knocked out of CL yesterday so are in Pot 1 with us. So if Rangers lose to Servette they'll be in Pot 2

[disgraced cake]

Possibility to get Rangers again now as Dinamo Zagreb got knocked out of CL yesterday so are in Pot 1 with us. So if Rangers lose to Servette they'll be in Pot 2

PSV you mean, they've already beat Servette 

Would be a bit of a boring draw getting them again but suppose we beat them comfortably twice last year and would hopefully do so again if we get them.

[Tiz Lad]

PSV you mean, they've already beat Servette 

Would be a bit of a boring draw getting them again but suppose we beat them comfortably twice last year and would hopefully do so again if we get them.

Yeah sorry PSV, Servette already in pot 4

[benitezexpletives]

When's the draw for the group stage?

[redgriffin73]

1st September

[tasmichkata]

With both the playoffs in CL and EL confirmed can put now the provisional pots - that's in case the teams with the higher coefficients in the pairs advance.
Bold - already qualified, orange - advanced from EL playoffs.

Pot 1

Liverpool
West Ham United                                                              
AS Roma
Ajax                                         
Villarreal                                  
Bayer Leverkusen                                 
Atalanta
Dinamo Zagreb         

Pot 2

Glasgow Rangers
Sporting CP Lisbon
Slavia Praha         
Stade Rennais
Olympiakos Piraeus
Real Betis
LASK             
Olympique Marseille

Pot 3

Qarabag FK   
Slovan Bratislava 
Molde       
Brighton & Hove Albion                         
Sheriff Tiraspol
Union Saint-Gilloise
SC Freiburg
Mac Haifa
                           
Pot 4
                                   
Sturm Graz                                                           
Toulouse FC
AEK                                                       
Aberdeen
TSC Backa Topola
Servette FC Genève
Panathinaikos
Raków

[disgraced cake]

Really looking forward to the draw. The Europa League is gonna be a huge part of the season hopefully and ideally we'll win it. Roma are the only side with a co-efficient score anywhere near ours and that's because they've been to two finals in the last two years. We'd probably be one of the top seeds if we were in the Champions League and hopefully we improve it even further if we win this and go back into the CL next season.

West Ham getting into the top pot for beating some really poor opposition is funny. Can understand the Europa League winner getting top pot in the Champions League but for winning such an underwhelming competition it's just not the same.

My predictions for the Champions League final play-off losers are ...

Young Boys
AEK Athens
Rakow
Molde
Rangers
Panithinaikos

Some of the Europa League ties are trickier to guess but I reckon the likes of Ajax, LASK and Olympiakos go through based on opponents.

[Tiz Lad]

Really looking forward to the draw. The Europa League is gonna be a huge part of the season hopefully and ideally we'll win it. Roma are the only side with a co-efficient score anywhere near ours and that's because they've been to two finals in the last two years. We'd probably be one of the top seeds if we were in the Champions League and hopefully we improve it even further if we win this and go back into the CL next season.

We would be in Pot 2 of CL. As only champions CL and Europa League winners are in Pot 1

[ABJ]

I've been to Tiraspol before. Sleeper train from Bucharest to Chisinau then to Tiraspol by road.

I was leading a tour group at the time so I was "in charge". Went on this "alternative walking tour" with this completely mad bloke who had previously been recommended to us. Anyway. One of the stops was a "viewpoint" at the top of this old Soviet tower block. Half the group got in the lift and half of us went up the stairs. Obviously the lift fucking broke down and I had half of my group stuck in an ancient fucking Soviet lift on like the 14th floor or something, some of them freaking the fuck out. It was a bank holiday and I do not speak Russian so you can imagine the fucking carnage getting an engineer out to fix the lift. They were in there over an hour. The whole time me running up and down 14 flights of stairs manically trying to call the lift from different floors / find someone who knew how to fix it / find someone who had a phone that worked.

Christ. Reckon I aged about a decade that day.

Then on the sleeper train back to Bucharest, the train got fucking torn apart by the Romanian border guards because it's a prime ciggie smuggling route. Literally ripped all the panels off the walls of the cabins we were in. Was about 2 hours late getting in to Bucharest.

Anyway. Probs won't bother with Sheriff if we get them . Don't go up in any lifts if any of you end up going .

Qarabag is the one I want, even though I know it'll be in Baku.

Cracking story! 

[ABJ]

We would be in Pot 2 of CL. As only champions CL and Europa League winners are in Pot 1

I don't think that it was implied that we'd be in Pot 1, just that we would be one of the top seeds.

[Tiz Lad]

I don't think that it was implied that we'd be in Pot 1, just that we would be one of the top seeds.

Yep no worries

[VVM]

Who has the biggest capacity stadium from pot 2 down? Betis maybe?

[Tiz Lad]

Who has the biggest capacity stadium from pot 2 down? Betis maybe?

As it stands in Pot 2 - plenty can change after playoffs this and next week

Marseille           67394
Betis                 60270
Sporting CP   50095
PSV                   35119
Olympiacos   32115
Rennes           29778
Slavia Prague   19370
LASK   19080

[PaulKS]

Marseille would be the best tie IMO

[tgi91]

I managed to build up some Euro Away credits between 16-19 but unfortunately haven't been able to do any of them for a few years now, for one reason or another.

I managed to get on the ladder by going over to Beşiktaş, and off the back of that, got Dortmund away, then Roma away (CL Semi) and finally Barca away.

However, never managed to get more than 1 Euro Away per season, and now totally fallen off the ladder.

Is there any possibilities of getting back on via the EL do you think, perhaps if we got Marseille in the group stage?

[Tiz Lad]

I managed to build up some Euro Away credits between 16-19 but unfortunately haven't been able to do any of them for a few years now, for one reason or another.

I managed to get on the ladder by going over to Beşiktaş, and off the back of that, got Dortmund away, then Roma away (CL Semi) and finally Barca away.

However, never managed to get more than 1 Euro Away per season, and now totally fallen off the ladder.

Is there any possibilities of getting back on via the EL do you think, perhaps if we got Marseille in the group stage?

Biggest allocation likely to be 3370 at Marseille. Think it'll be tough personally, but there are people on here with better knowledge than me

[VVM]

I'd feel somewhat confident of getting a ticket if we get Marseille or Betis. Any allocation that's over 3k would be in with a chance.

[tasmichkata]

The biggest allocation last season was Napoli with - 2,736, so practically any over that should go to all members. Getting Qarabaq also will give you a chance as there will be pre-register to see how many will defo want to go.

[30fiver]

The biggest allocation last season was Napoli with - 2,736, so practically any over that should go to all members. Getting Qarabaq also will give you a chance as there will be pre-register to see how many will defo want to go.

it'll be over a few seasons tho be some with napoliin previous seasons or atletico from years before who have 1

[tasmichkata]

They won't need them.

[Origi-nal]

They won't need them.

would it not depend on the match order?

if we get a smaller away first they will need to go back to previous seasons, and any games after that will use that as one of the criteria

[tasmichkata]

would it not depend on the match order?

if we get a smaller away first they will need to go back to previous seasons, and any games after that will use that as one of the criteria

Ye, if we get smaller than Real then they will get back to previous seasons.

[ScubaSteve]

Just curious as to why they go back so many seasons for the away ticket sales?

It should be credits from the previous season and then any left over go on sale to those with the home games. Gives more people a chance to get to an away game. 

Edit: Obvs with the smaller capacity stadiums, they may need to. Next season though there’ll be bigger allocations if we’re in the CL

[ABJ]

Just curious as to why they go back so many seasons for the away ticket sales?

It should be credits from the previous season and then any left over go on sale to those with the home games. Gives more people a chance to get to an away game. 

Because they'll go back as far as they need to in order to find the guaranteed sale, same as they do with every cup competition. Lets say 2K have all euro aways from last season (hypothetically) but we get an allocation of 600, is it fair that none of the 2K are guaranteed a ticket or is it fair that if lets say 500 of those 2K that haven't missed a euro away in 5 or so years get that that loyalty rewarded with a guaranteed ticket out of the 600?

Again people will always suggest what would suit them best personally without giving a second thought to those that put the hard yards in and have done for years.

[stueya]

The biggest allocation last season was Napoli with - 2,736, so practically any over that should go to all members. Getting Qarabaq also will give you a chance as there will be pre-register to see how many will defo want to go.

Don’t agree with all members though, should be STH’s and 13+ credit members first, why is it fair that anyone can get a membership not go any other game but have as much chance of getting on the euro away ladder as someone that spends serious money all season

[ScubaSteve]

Because they'll go back as far as they need to in order to find the guaranteed sale, same as they do with every cup competition. Lets say 2K have all euro aways from last season (hypothetically) but we get an allocation of 600, is it fair that none of the 2K are guaranteed a ticket or is it fair that if lets say 500 of those 2K that haven't missed a euro away in 5 or so years get that that loyalty rewarded with a guaranteed ticket out of the 600?

Again people will always suggest what would suit them best personally without giving a second thought to those that put the hard yards in and have done for years.

I got you. Nice one

[tasmichkata]

Don’t agree with all members though, should be STH’s and 13+ credit members first, why is it fair that anyone can get a membership not go any other game but have as much chance of getting on the euro away ladder as someone that spends serious money all season

Because they are in the same boat as them - have never been to aways but suddenly become inetersted to go to one.

[Shauniboy]

The reason for the interest in doing Euro aways in last few years is that the penny has dropped that it guarantees you a Final Ticket, no-one was arsed when we were not featuring in Finals.

[Origi-nal]

The reason for the interest in doing Euro aways in last few years is that the penny has dropped that it guarantees you a Final Ticket, no-one was arsed when we were not featuring in Finals.

for some maybe, I find most euro aways are much more fun than the finals

[gravy red]

Don’t agree with all members though, should be STH’s and 13+ credit members first, why is it fair that anyone can get a membership not go any other game but have as much chance of getting on the euro away ladder as someone that spends serious money all season

No to this.

I know people that have decided to drop off going to home games (as much) in the league as they cant be arsed with the queuing system of getting tickets as members anymore.  They go to all away games, cup games home and away including Europe. The reason they continue to do these games is because the ticket system (for members with credits) is easier so they have decided to gib going to as many home games in the league.

This is where the credit system forces you to choose which games you are going to commit to continue going to in order to keep YOUR OWN credits.

I'm talking about friends that have been going to the games for 20, 25, 30 plus years too.

Yes I know you can play the system with regards to credits but this shows that just because you have a season ticket or 13+ homes as a member not everyone chooses to do every single match that we play in every coemption.

[Craig S]

No to this.

I know people that have decided to drop off going to home games (as much) in the league as they cant be arsed with the queuing system of getting tickets as members anymore.  They go to all away games, cup games home and away including Europe. The reason they continue to do these games is because the ticket system (for members with credits) is easier so they have decided to gib going to as many home games in the league.

This is where the credit system forces you to choose which games you are going to commit to continue going to in order to keep YOUR OWN credits.

I'm talking about friends that have been going to the games for 20, 25, 30 plus years too.

Yes I know you can play the system with regards to credits but this shows that just because you have a season ticket or 13+ homes as a member not everyone chooses to do every single match that we play in every coemption.

I think he is saying if it drops to 0 away credits. So in that scenario, all your mates would already be boxed with previous credits.

Think he means, someone cannot just buy a membership a week before a sale, with zero history, to then buy a Euro away game.

[VVM]

I think taking into account the bare minimum amount of history would be a good shout. Even if it's just something like you've had the membership 1+ years or attended at least one home game, would still be a massive free for all but would cut down on any accounts buying the membership the week before and getting an away ticket. Suppose the club want to sell memberships though so they'd never go for that.

[Tiz Lad]

I think he is saying if it drops to 0 away credits. So in that scenario, all your mates would already be boxed with previous credits.

Think he means, someone cannot just buy a membership a week before a sale, with zero history, to then buy a Euro away game.

Not sure how this season it will ever get to 0 credits - Marseille will be the biggest allocation 3370 (Max), certainly in the groups. They used Atletico 2020 as credit towards a Paris final ticket and that was 3328. They will go back to that if they need to

[30fiver]

They dont want to merge credit ladders

Dont want to make even more of a close shop

[disgraced cake]

First leg of the qualifiers have been played over the last few days, 6 in the Champions League and the 10 Europa League ones last night to settle the other half of the group stages. Have to say, so many of them look evenly poised. All 6 Champions League first legs ended either a draw or had a winner only leading by one goal. In the Europa qualifiers, Ajax are the only ones I'd say look comfortably through after beating Ludogorets 4-1 away. Slavia Prague, Olympiakos, Union SG, Qarabag and Dinamo Zagreb all won by two goals, so are in command ahead of the 2nd legs. The rest are either goal leads or draws.

[didopich]

I read somewhere that we are gonna be in pot 1 not pot 2 like someone suggested previously.

[ABJ]

I read somewhere that we are gonna be in pot 1 not pot 2 like someone suggested previously.

No its only if we were in the European Cup that we'd be in pot 2. As soon as we qualified, we were always going to be in pot 1 for the UEFA Cup.