Champions League Group Stage Draw 16:45 Thursday 29/08

[Marc Overmars]

Need 6 points from Marseille tbh.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Viktoria Plzen in with Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow and Man City.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Group A
Manchester United
Shakhtar Donetsk
Bayer Leverkusen
Real Sociedad
Group B
Real Madrid
Juventus
Galatasaray
Copenhagen
Group C
Benfica
PSG
Olympiakos
Anderlecht
Group D
Bayern Munich
CSKA Moscow
Man City
Viktoria Plzen
Group E
Chelsea
Schalke
Basel
Steaua Bucharest
Group F
Arsenal
Marseille
Borussia Dortmund
Napoli
Group G
Porto
Atletico Madrid
Zenit
Austria Vienna
Group H
Barcelona
Milan
Ajax
Celtic

[Marc Overmars]

City might actually get out of the group this year.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

We can do Napoli.


Definitely will finish behind Dortmund though.

[Niall_Quinn]

We have the hardest group and you just know higuain is going to be the difference.

[Marc Overmars]

Well at least if we make it out this year we would have done very well.

[Niall_Quinn]

Well, you know, we must be mentally tough and spend no money.

[Munchies]

Do we get a 4th place trophy for this ?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

We'll be group winners tbf.

[Cripps_orig]

Go all out for Europa?

[GP]

Excellent draw.

[GP]

We'll be group winners tbf.

Exactly right.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Go all out for Europa?

if by that you mean go out against a side with a smaller reputation but better players than us....YES!

[Cripps_orig]

When's the last group match - at least we know precisely when our season is over this year.

December 11

[Niall_Quinn]

December 11

Just in time for Christmas. Handy.

[Niall_Quinn]

Go all out for Europa?

Bit embarrassing but yes, we'll have to drop down to the spuds' level and see if we can beat them.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Maybe this will force Wenger to spend some money :(

If Wenger's daughter had been kidnapped in a real to life version of Taken even that wouldn't force him to spend Money.

"The price of the hostage market is inflated.....we will have to be patience...and if there is a chance that my daughter can live....we will try to do it!"

[Cripps_orig]

Just in time for Christmas. Handy.

Hardly over tbh.

Yes we'll be out of the Capital One Cup and Europe and we are already out of the title race in the league but we still have the FA cup to be knocked out of to look forward to

[Niall_Quinn]

I think it would be very easy to have a kneejerk reaction here and be tempted into spending money. We must resist, just a few days to go now.

[Ollie the Optimist]

are dortmund much stronger then the dortmund team we played two years ago? i wouldnt say so, it will be tough but think we can beat them. we really should be beating marsaille, and napoli will be tough. if we can win both games v marsaille, and home wins v the others we will be fine.

i think we will go through. tough group, but bring it on

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I think it would be very easy to have a kneejerk reaction here and be tempted into spending money. We must resist, just a few days to go now.

Arsene must be pacing around like a child waiting for it to be christmas day or their birthday.....only four days to go he says to himself, four days to go and no-one will ask me about spending money for at least three-four months. The relief he will feel when the window shuts will be palpable.....he might even treat himself to a bland meal of rice and chicken.

[Marc Overmars]

are dortmund much stronger then the dortmund team we played two years ago?

Yes, obviously.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Lewandowski will hopefully sulk his way through the season. :lol:

Defensively they can be got at. :Cliché time:

[The Emirates Gallactico]

are dortmund much stronger then the dortmund team we played two years ago? i wouldnt say so, it will be tough but think we can beat them. we really should be beating marsaille, and napoli will be tough. if we can win both games v marsaille, and home wins v the others we will be fine.

i think we will go through. tough group, but bring it on

Come off it Ollie, they were CL finalists last year and destroyed Real Madrid.

Better players and better manager. All there is to it.

I'm not one of the eternal pessimists on here but it'd be a complete upset if we finish above them. I do think Napoli are perfectly doable though ... Higuain aside they don't seem to be that good.

[Niall_Quinn]

are dortmund much stronger then the dortmund team we played two years ago? i wouldnt say so, it will be tough but think we can beat them. we really should be beating marsaille, and napoli will be tough. if we can win both games v marsaille, and home wins v the others we will be fine.

i think we will go through. tough group, but bring it on

Bring it on, like a snail fronting up a steamroller. We are definitely going through, there's no way we'll finish bottom of this group unless the quality of the teams and squad sizes come into play.

[Cripps_orig]

Hamsik pisses on any of our midfielders.

Reina is better than all of our keepers.

[Munchies]

They got rid of their judas, and got in a £20m Armenian captain. (Might be shit donno)
Got in Aubamayang for £10m and he scored a hat-trick on his debut.

Dortmund are still as strong.

[Zerlathon]

We have the hardest group and you just know higuain is going to be the difference.

I don't think we have the hardest group at all, I think we have dodged some Teams that we would have a seriously tough time with. I feel sorry for poor old Copenhagen...

I do feel that Higauin is going to make us regret not buying him though. :(

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Hamsik pisses on any of our midfielders.

Reina is better than all of our keepers.

Sorry not having that!

REINA!?

Reina is the most overrated keeper ever to play European football, you think SZCZESNY is bad? (And i know from our conversations that you do think that)...the guy has been a disaster for years, his positioning is terrible...the amount of goals for Liverpool that a competent goalkeeper could have prevented but he didn't.....Liverpool didn't farm him out on loan just for the fun of it.

Reina for me is the Aaron Ramsey of goalkeepers, even at his best is ordinary and yet seems to be forever lauded.

[Niall_Quinn]

Hamsik pisses on any of our midfielders.

Reina is better than all of our keepers.

Plus all three of our opponents has a manager that understands at least the basics of football. They could use tactics and all sorts of shit against us, it's worrying.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

Hamsik pisses on any of our midfielders.

Reina is better than all of our keepers.

No not really.

Santi shits on Hamsik and Reina has been poor for the past few seasons. There is a reason why Liverpool got rid of him.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Hamsik pisses on any of our midfielders.

Reina is better than all of our keepers.

Reina hasn't kept a clean sheet against us in god knows how long.

[Marc Overmars]

When are the fixtures out?

Hoping for Dortmund away first like we had 2 years ago.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Should be within the next 20 minutes. Doesn't take too long generally.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Should be within the next 20 minutes. Doesn't take too long generally.

We want the fixtures we are most likely to lose out of the way first

Dortmund and Napoli at Home

[Ollie the Optimist]

Come off it Ollie, they were CL finalists last year and destroyed Real Madrid.

Better players and better manager. All there is to it.

I'm not one of the eternal pessimists on here but it'd be a complete upset if we finish above them. I do think Napoli are perfectly doable though ... Higuain aside they don't seem to be that good.


and we beat bayern 2-0 (only team to win at bayern all season) . they lost to bayern every time last year i think. im not saying they are a bad team, but two years ago they were a good team, but have sold a lot of their best players. kagawa, goetze for example. on our day, we are a very good team and can beat the best. no reason why we cant beat dortmund or the others.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

and we beat bayern 2-0 (only team to win at bayern all season) . they lost to bayern every time last year i think. im not saying they are a bad team, but two years ago they were a good team, but have sold a lot of their best players. kagawa, goetze for example. on our day, we are a very good team and can beat the best. no reason why we cant beat dortmund or the others.

Different circumstance...Bayern had effectively already won the tie by the time we played them in Munich and didn't know how to approach the game. Plus the away games won't be a problem, i fancy us to get draws in Napoli and Dortmund. It will be at home where Wenger is blind to our midfield deficiencies where we will be slaughtered on the counter attack.

[Niall_Quinn]

Lots of good chat here, but we're losing sight of the main reasons for being in this tournament. Anyone any idea how much cash we (by we I mean they) will claw in?

[Ollie the Optimist]

Different circumstance...Bayern had effectively already won the tie by the time we played them in Munich and didn't know how to approach the game. Plus the away games won't be a problem, i fancy us to get draws in Napoli and Dortmund. It will be at home where Wenger is blind to our midfield deficiencies where we will be slaughtered on the counter attack.

the argument that bayern had already won so didnt know how to play is rubbish imo. htey went barca 4-0 up and won 3-0. we were just better then them that game and came close to winning overall.

[Munchies]

Lots of good chat here, but we're losing sight of the main reasons for being in this tournament. Anyone any idea how much cash we (by we I mean they) will claw in?

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/23/article-2375157-1AF545C1000005DC-61_634x493.jpg

£31m :bow:

More for Gazidis's bonus :coffee:

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Lots of good chat here, but we're losing sight of the main reasons for being in this tournament. Anyone any idea how much cash we (by we I mean they) will claw in?

Surely the big money comes from qualifying from the group stage.

If we are likely to lose two of our home games that makes that pretty difficult

[Niall_Quinn]

the argument that bayern had already won so didnt know how to play is rubbish imo. htey went barca 4-0 up and won 3-0. we were just better then them that game and came close to winning overall.

Please Ollie, could you be optimistic by PM or something? After 8 years of the same old shit with nothing ever changing it's a bit difficult to envisage anything more than the same old shit for year 9. I mean great if some sort of miracle happens but let's just focus on what is achievable, which is banking cash.

[Marc Overmars]

To be honest I agree with Ollie in that there's no reason why we can't go through but it's certainly the toughest group I can remember us having for a long time.

Playing down Dortmund, a side who've progressed a heck of a lot more than we have over the past 5 years to rationalise it though just seems a little churlish. I also wouldn't underestimate Rafa's prowess in Europe, it's fair to say he has more nous than Wenger.

Looking forward to the challenge though.

[Niall_Quinn]

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/23/article-2375157-1AF545C1000005DC-61_634x493.jpg

£31m :bow:

More for Gazidis's bonus :coffee:

So job done then. Excellent.

[Munchies]

didn't we have Marseille/Dortmund 2 years ago ? Also had olympiacos , but they were shit compared to Napoli

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Surely the big money comes from qualifying from the group stage.

If we are likely to lose two of our home games that makes that pretty difficult

If we made it through and all other English sides bombed out we'd get a greater share. I sometimes wonder if the board realise you get more money for advancing further in competitions.

[Niall_Quinn]

Surely the big money comes from qualifying from the group stage.

If we are likely to lose two of our home games that makes that pretty difficult

Yeah but £25mill transfer window profits on top, so I think it's a bit strong to say we haven't done really well.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

the argument that bayern had already won so didnt know how to play is rubbish imo. htey went barca 4-0 up and won 3-0. we were just better then them that game and came close to winning overall.

Again you seem to fail to understand that the 4-0 agg lead they took to the Nou Camp was a 4-0 lead that they managed at home instead of away from home, when your defending a 3-1 lead in your home leg....it's hard not to mentally take your foot off the gas...especially against a side like Arsenal.
All i am saying is Schalke, Bayern, Man City, Chelsea.....there is a bit of a trend of us losing to teams with pace and counter attacking abilities at home.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/23/article-2375157-1AF545C1000005DC-61_634x493.jpg

£31m :bow:

More for Gazidis's bonus :coffee:

What does it mean by Market Pool?

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Yeah but £25mill transfer window profits on top, so I think it's a bit strong to say we haven't done really well.

No what i am saying is there will be disappointment in the board that the money from being in the Champions League in 2014 won't be there.
In fact the board will be disappointed when they realise that there will be no Champions League Football after December until at least September 2015.

[Cripps_orig]

No not really.

Santi shits on Hamsik and Reina has been poor for the past few seasons. There is a reason why Liverpool got rid of him.

:lol:

No

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

And that is dependent on Wenger leaving next summer

[Niall_Quinn]

No what i am saying is there will be disappointment in the board that the money from being in the Champions League in 2014 won't be there.
In fact the board will be disappointed when they realise that there will be no Champions League Football after December until at least September 2015.

But what better reason to stick up ticket prices? Just as we share in the glory we will all have to chip in if revenues dip.

[Niall_Quinn]

Truth is, if only the greedy cocksucking scumbags has given just a few quid back and made some non-handicapped signings we could get excited about we could also get a bit excited about this draw. If we even had a prayer, some sort of hope. I bet people are thinking of out first 11 going up against Dortmund and Napoli? Well don't bother, knock half of them out, you know how it goes. We're going to have Gnabry and Zelda trying to get a result in Germany and Italy. It's going to be an epic farce. Because the ultra misers couldn't bring themselves to do one single positive thing for this club.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

But what better reason to stick up ticket prices? Just as we share in the glory we will all have to chip in if revenues dip.

I feel totally safe and secure having a country and a football club run by Oxbridge educated Etonian Blue Bloods from the Old Boys Network, i don't have to worry about anything ever changing.
Well apart from not seeing us play in Europe's most elite competition for the foreseeable future but that's the kind of "we are all in it together" mentality that makes life worth living.

[kas]

They DO NOT run the club. It's run by a Yank & Wenger end of.

[Cripps_orig]

Sorry not having that!

REINA!?

Reina is the most overrated keeper ever to play European football, you think SZCZESNY is bad? (And i know from our conversations that you do think that)...the guy has been a disaster for years, his positioning is terrible...the amount of goals for Liverpool that a competent goalkeeper could have prevented but he didn't.....Liverpool didn't farm him out on loan just for the fun of it.

Reina for me is the Aaron Ramsey of goalkeepers, even at his best is ordinary and yet seems to be forever lauded.

He was the best keeper in England for years and brilliant during that time.

Not as good now but still much better than our lot

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

He was the best keeper in England for years and brilliant during that time.

Not as good now but still much better than our lot

Been inconsistent and error prone since 2009 for me

[milla]

Does anyone know when the proper schedule will be release by EUFA? Dortmund and Napoli games shouldn't an A band games, good value for money IMO. :coffee:

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

http://i.minus.com/iBCmPHGYHud6K.gif

:lol:

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

They DO NOT run the club. It's run by a Yank & Wenger end of.

No the board run the club, Kroenke runs his ranch in Montana and watches his Share prices rocket...and Wenger runs the football aspect which is the least important aspect of the Club's existence.

[Marc Overmars]

Does anyone know when the proper schedule will be release by EUFA? Dortmund and Napoli games shouldn't an A band games, good value for money IMO. :coffee:

Fixtures should be out soon and yeah I shall try to attend one of those games as well.

[Cripps_orig]

Excitement is back.

CL is truly alive

[milla]

Fixtures should be out soon and yeah I shall try to attend one of those games as well.

Cool, might as well meet up with you lot. :coffee:

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Fixtures should be out soon and yeah I shall try to attend one of those games as well.

A classic example of Cognitive Dissonance!

[Niall_Quinn]

No the board run the club, Kroenke runs his ranch in Montana and watches his Share prices rocket...and Wenger runs the football aspect which is the least important aspect of the Club's existence.

Unfortunately football remains a necessary evil, it probably wouldn't be possible to get rid of the football department because it's linked to so many other aspects of the business.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Unfortunately football remains a necessary evil, it probably wouldn't be possible to get rid of the football department because it's linked to so many other aspects of the business.

It could rebrand itself as a bank!

[Niall_Quinn]

http://i.minus.com/iBCmPHGYHud6K.gif

:lol:

They aren't winning it so for me it's a good draw. Some big matches.

Theoretically the same for Arsenal, except it's hard to go from having some hope to none at all and accepting being at Celtic's level in this competition.

[Niall_Quinn]

It could rebrand itself as a bank!

The North Bank, kick all the pesky fans out and put some tills in. Apply for too big to fail status and go from fucking the fans to fucking everyone.

[Static]

Napoli :haha:

Atleast what's his face didn't end up going there.

[Master Splinter]

Dortmund should rightly be seen as favourites for this group. They won two consecutive Bundesliga titles and their performances in the CL were outstanding last year. I'm not sure the current Napoli team is as dangerous as the one headed by Cavani and Lavezzi a few years ago. They have loads of new players to bed into their team, although Rafa has a good record in setting up his teams in Europe. But he still has other Rafa quirks which could be beneficial for us. Obviously getting six points from Marseille is essential.

Unless the squad's completely decimated (which it almost already is tbf) I see us getting second place, especially if we can pub some good results against Dortmund again.

Should be fun.

[Letters]

Quite happy with a tougher draw. We're not going to win the thing anyway so we might as well have some fun while it lasts.

Trouble is now I'm tempted to go to some of the games and I don't really want to line the board and Wenger's pockets any more

[Cripps_orig]

Quite happy with a tougher draw. We're not going to win the thing anyway so we might as well have some fun while it lasts.

Trouble is now I'm tempted to go to some of the games and I don't really want to line the board and Wenger's pockets any more
Draw was probably fixed by Wenger and the board for that reason so fans would want to come and give them more money.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Arsenal's Champions League group stage fixtures:

Matchday 1
Olympique de Marseille v Arsenal
Wednesday 18th September 2013
Kick Off: 19.45 UK time
To be played at Stade Vélodrome, France

Matchday 2
Arsenal v S.S.C. Napoli
Tuesday 1st October 2013
Kick Off: 19:45 UK time
To be played at Emirates Stadium

Matchday 3
Arsenal v Borussia Dortmund
Tuesday 22nd October 2013
Kick Off: 19:45 UK time
To be played at Emirates Stadium

Matchday 4
Borussia Dortmund v Arsenal
Wednesday 6th November 2013
Kick Off: 19:45 UK time
To be played at Signal Iduna Park, Germany

Matchday 5
Arsenal v Olympique de Marseille
Tuesday 26th November 2013
Kick Off: 19:45 UK time
To be played at Emirates Stadium

Matchday 6
S.S.C. Napoli v Arsenal
Wednesday 11th December 2013
Kick Off: 19:45 UK time
To be played at Stadio San Paolo, Italy

:popcorn:

[Marc Overmars]

Napoli away is a pig of a fixture if we need a result to qualify.

Looking forward to it though. :popcorn:

[Boss]

Decent draw, qualifying is likely assuming lucky with injures (lol).

Will be good to see us play against proper teams rather than the usual filth.

[Cripps_orig]

When was the last time we got a home game as the last fixture?

[Master Splinter]

When was the last time we got a home game as the last fixture?

http://www.arsenal.com/match/report/1011/post/first-team/arsenal-3-1-partizan-belgrade-match-report

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Good fixture draw

We get off the mark away to Marseille so by the end of matchday three we have a good chance of only having lost twice.

Scrape a draw in Dortmund, Win at Home to Marseille (close run thing) and then the game at Napoli is all to play for.

[Cripps_orig]

Theo :bow:

Nasri :bow:

How he is missed

[Master Splinter]

United's group is quite tough too. Sociedad and Leverkusen are emerging teams with dangerous front threes. Old Men Vidic, Rio, Evra and Carrick could be undone.

If Citeh don't get through they should kill themselves.

Chelsea continue their tradition of getting atrociously favourable draws. Roman's greatest Legacy.

[JonasTC]

Awesome group we're in :)

[Xhaka Can’t]

I've just seen the draw - no way we are finishing in the top 2.

That said - at least we'll see some good teams regularly during group matches for a change.

Too bad we aint one of them

[Xhaka Can’t]

Quite happy with a tougher draw. We're not going to win the thing anyway so we might as well have some fun while it lasts.

Trouble is now I'm tempted to go to some of the games and I don't really want to line the board and Wenger's pockets any more

No pies, no pints, no programmes.

[LDG]

No pies, no pints, no programmes.

:gp:

Is there a # for that yet.

Lots of people posting it.

Make it so Gooners :scarf:

[Letters]

No pies? :upset:

[Niall_Quinn]

Everyone should just piss into the air as a pointless symbolic gesture, including the women. If it all went on Wenger and Gazlizard then it would be accidental.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

To be fair it's a rather self-defeating proposal as they will just remedy the shortfall in matchday revenue by putting up ticket prices again next season.

The only way to hurt them is to stop going to matches full stop.....in a corporate world where image is everything half empty stadiums don't exactly sell well to potential sponsors.

[Niall_Quinn]

Can the AST force through a signing if the fans directly fund it? Might be the only way.

Of course they would immediately sell him so maybe not a good idea.

[Özim]

Wenger :haha:

He's off

:goodpost: :lol:

Decent group should make for some good matches, can't get p*ss easy groups every year bout time we saw us having to earn our place in the last 16.

[Edinburgh Gooner]

Atleast we aren't travelling as far as we have in the past and facing the usual fodder that we seem to get grouped with. It'll be a test for this "SUPER QUALITY" ultra thin squad we have. Shame we didn't get Celtic as i was definately getting a ticket for that.

[Bergkampwonderland10]

Could have been a lot worse...no trips to Russia or Ukraine in middle of winter!! No Spanish teams - we always seem to get undone there -usually by officials. Dortmund will be the toughest I think but they've lost a few players now...notebly Goetze and a couple of others. If we make a few additions before the transfer window shuts, think we'll do ok. Much rather play against teams that we wont go in underestimating...we always play better when our mentality is not one of complacency!!! Hopefully by Monday we will have any or all of the following....Begovic, Alderweireld, Mata (though more likely Cabaye), Ben Arfa, and Benteke (just buy him out of his Villa contract) on our books and we'll have a bit more depth.

[fakeyank]

Our best bet is to get into Europa.. we will not finish top 2 with the shower of shite in the squad currently! I can see Dortmund massacring the useless goats we have! :lol:

[Japan Shaking All Over]

agree.....more than a couple of signings(Pods out) will see us advance......

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Our best bet is to get into Europa.. we will not finish top 2 with the shower of shite in the squad currently! I can see Dortmund massacring the useless goats we have! :lol:

not unless Shakhter Karagandy do it first

[Özim]

Our best bet is to get into Europa.. we will not finish top 2 with the shower of shite in the squad currently! I can see Dortmund massacring the useless goats we have! :lol:

Every cloud has a silver lining :lol:

[Cripps_orig]

This no pies, no pints and no programmes thing, does that include not buying Pringles and maltesers?

And I need the programmes tbh for the stickers

[Xhaka Can’t]

This no pies, no pints and no programmes thing, does that include not buying Pringles and maltesers?

And I need the programmes tbh for the stickers

You could always buy crisps and confectionary and bring them in with you. They lose and you're quids in.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

never bought food in the ground anyway because it takes like shite.....this is not exclusive to Arsenal either.

[Munchies]

Who even buys programmes nowadays ? They're full of rehashed BS you can get anywhere else

[Cripps_orig]

Who even buys programmes nowadays ? They're full of rehashed BS you can get anywhere else

Me

Lining Wengers and the boards pockets since 2011

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTVspy43xxI&feature=player_embedded#at=25

[Letters]

And I need the programmes tbh for the stickers
Are you 10?

[Marc Overmars]

Who even buys programmes nowadays ? They're full of rehashed BS you can get anywhere else

I do but I rarely read them unless I get into the stadium early and want to pass the time. I just like to collect them so I have a record of every match I've ever been to.

[Cripps_orig]

Are you 10?

Mentally.

Only get them so I have something to read on the way home.

Sometimes at half time. Standing around doing nothing is quite boring for 15 minutes. Need some cheerleaders

[Xhaka Can’t]

Who even buys programmes nowadays ? They're full of rehashed BS you can get anywhere else

Not true at all.

They're full of rehashed BS you probably read the previous month. And the "I won't buy players that aren't any better than the players I have" line goes back to at least the GG days.

[Özim]

Yeah transfers were few and far between in his days too, but at least he used tactics and assessed the opposition.

Rioch was the best for transfers, Bergkamp, Platt and almost Juninho, great summer that was.

[I_Killed_Kenny]

I do but I rarely read them unless I get into the stadium early and want to pass the time. I just like to collect them so I have a record of every match I've ever been to.

I do the same. mostly read whilst having a shit at home tbf