Champions League Last 16 Draw (15 Dec), 11am.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Group winners: Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP), Real Madrid CF (ESP, holders), AS Monaco FC (FRA), Borussia Dortmund (GER), FC Bayern München (GER), FC Barcelona (ESP), Chelsea FC (ENG), FC Porto (POR)


Group runners-up: Juventus (ITA), FC Basel 1893 (SUI), Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER), Arsenal FC (ENG), Manchester City FC (GER), Paris Saint-Germain FC (FRA), FC Schalke 04 (GER), FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)


• Seeded group winners will be away in the round of 16 first legs on 17/18 and 24/25 February and at home in the return matches on 10/11 and 17/18 March.

Arsenal can play: Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Monaco, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Porto.

Come on Arsenal. :bow:

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Hopefully real madrid.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

If we play Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Barcelona we are going out, we do not have the tactical guile to overcome the fact that all three have better sides than us

Atletico Madrid would be favourites to beat us, but I would not rule us out getting the best of them over two legs

Monaco I know very little about other than they are having indifferent form in Ligue 1, have scored four goals in the champions league this season and are without their two key players from last season.

Porto I'd expect us to beat

[AFC Leveller]

Id love to play Real madrid. They would be a big test but at the same time, a team that wouldnt press us all over the pitch like Bayern or Barcelona and i can us getting more joy against them then the other big sides.

[Letters]

Id love to play Real madrid. They would be a big test but at the same time, a team that wouldnt press us all over the pitch like Bayern or Barcelona and i can us getting more joy against them then the other big sides.

Yeah. I'd rather see us in a tie where we're underdogs. Be exciting to see us play them, if we lose then there's no real disgrace in it.

[Özim]

Yeah. I'd rather see us in a tie where we're underdogs. Be exciting to see us play them, ifwe lose then there's no real disgrace in it.

:lol:

[Letters]

:lol: I know, but we can dream :d

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Yeah. I'd rather see us in a tie where we're underdogs. Be exciting to see us play them, if we lose then there's no real disgrace in it.

:lol: Mediocre mindset.

[Letters]

:lol: Mediocre mindset.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


You're a c***!

:tiphat:

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

:lol: Excellent modding.

[Power n Glory]

If we play Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Barcelona we are going out, we do not have the tactical guile to overcome the fact that all three have better sides than us

Atletico Madrid would be favourites to beat us, but I would not rule us out getting the best of them over two legs

Monaco I know very little about other than they are having indifferent form in Ligue 1, have scored four goals in the champions league this season and are without their two key players from last season.

Porto I'd expect us to beat

I don't mind being drawn against. Big team. We're just as likely to go out against Porto or Monaco considering our recent form and the team may underestimate their quality.

Real Madrid. That's a juicy one. I think we'd be better prepared for that sort of game. If we get hammered it's all part of the script. But the boost we'd get if we actually showed up and won....

[Marc Overmars]

Come on Monaco or Porto.

Although I'm not overly bothered just as long as it isn't bloody Barca or Bayern. :doh:

[Niall_Quinn]

Hope the first leg against Bayern is at home.

[AFC Leveller]

I don't mind being drawn against. Big team. We're just as likely to go out against Porto or Monaco considering our recent form and the team may underestimate their quality.

Real Madrid. That's a juicy one. I think we'd be better prepared for that sort of game. If we get hammered it's all part of the script. But the boost we'd get if we actually showed up and won....

Just like the 05-06 season where we'd get beat by any half decent side in the league but a differnet team would turn up in the CL (post groupe stages).

I really hope its not Bayern, as it would be way to predictable and the games against them are usualy boring.

[Globalgunner]

So this is the reason we moved from Highbury to the Emirates. To build a team that is scared stiff of half the other teams in Europe. Bravo Wenger et al

[fakeyank]

Other than Porto or Monaco, I do not think we have a chance in hell against the rest. Let's get one of the big boys and get this seasonal humiliation out of the way.

[Ollie the Optimist]

we are so incredibly shit this year that the only logical conclusion is that we will do a chelsea this year and win the thing.


and you know it, i know it, everyone knows it, we are drawing bayern in the next round

[McNamara That Ghost...]

So long as we avoid Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Absolute torture watching us with 2% of possession or whatever it is.

[Niall_Quinn]

we are so incredibly shit this year that the only logical conclusion is that we will do a chelsea this year and win the thing.


and you know it, i know it, everyone knows it, we are drawing bayern in the next round

If we went balls to the wall and chucked everything at them we could win 8-7. We won't win 2-1 though. I'd rather us get thrashed trying than fail by doing nothing. We can't park the bus like the chavs so we'll need to strap a rocket on it and launch it at the opponent goal.

[Munchies]

Porto / Monaco

:pray:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I won't be watching it live. :rose:

[Munchies]

Yes!!!

PSG v Chelsea

:lol:

[Munchies]

City v Barca again

Lel

[milla]

We got Porto in last 8 :D

[milla]

Arsenal vs Monaco :lol:

[Munchies]

Arsenal v Monaco :haha:

:bow: :jumpnana:

[Marc Overmars]

Monaco!! :lol:

[adzzzbatch]

We might get further for once! :dance:

[Globalgunner]

Xmas comes early to London Colney

[Munchies]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B45IERYCcAAO6Fh.jpg

Maureen :haha:

Citeh :haha:

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

QUARTERS HERE WE COME!!!! :haha: :haha: :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Get the fuck in!

Citeh. :haha:

Chelsea. :haha:

[adzzzbatch]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B45IERYCcAAO6Fh.jpg

Maureen :haha:

Citeh :haha:

Liverpool :haha:

[Marc Overmars]

We deserved a bit of luck with a CL draw.

Frankly, there should be a lot of pressure and expectation to win, it's easy to accept consistently going out against the elite teams, but to lose again to a side well below that standard would be a really poor indictment of where we are.

Must. Win.

Come on you Gunners.

[Marc Overmars]

Dortmund got Juve. :lol:

Wenget for throwing the Anderlecht game. :bow:

[Letters]

QUARTERS HERE WE COME!!!!
Wenger :bow:


;)

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Wenger knew :lol:

Finish 2nd and you get an easier team. With luck like that, it could be our year....

[GP]

Who did Utd get?

[pakgunner]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B45IERYCcAAO6Fh.jpg

Maureen :haha:

Citeh :haha:
As much as it is nice to see our rivals get a difficult draw you'd want them to go as far as possible to keep even in total games, unless we fail against Monaco. But it's nice not to be drawn against a recent champion.

[Munchies]

Dortmund got Juve. :lol:

Wenget for throwing the Anderlecht game. :bow:

Bloody hilarious :haha:

All worked out eh

[Letters]

Wenger knew :lol:

Finish 2nd and you get an easier team. With luck like that, it could be our year....

To be fair, it was about bleedin' time we got a decent draw. Fine, we keep finishing 2nd in the group but that doesn't guarantee a nightmare draw and we kept getting them.
Law of averages says we should get a decent one sooner or later.

[AFC Leveller]

The easiest draw TBH and i honestly cannot see us going out to Monaco.

[adzzzbatch]

I see a few pundits are a bit upset that we got an "easy" draw :rolleyes:

[Niall_Quinn]

I see a few pundits are a bit upset that we got an "easy" draw :rolleyes:

Martin Samuel :haha:

Bet he shit all his pies out in one huge dollop when he saw that draw. What's needed now is an in-depth article that wails about the injustice of the gypos not being able to buy their preferred opponent. Also, sustained slagging of Arsenal and their shitty ability to play by the rules and qualify every year is a must!

All we need to do now is beat Monaco and get the winner of Basel vs Porto. Then the fat man will have a fit.

[Ollie the Optimist]

its happening. This will be the year we don't finish in the top four yet win the champions league.

The ultimate troll from Arsene

[Niall_Quinn]

its happening. This will be the year we don't finish in the top four yet win the champions league.

The ultimate troll from Arsene

That really should be in the classics section of the mindless optimism thread. We have precisely zero chance of winning the CL. None whatsoever. That's why we're happy we didn't draw a big club. We couldn't even fluke our way to a win like the chavs did. There's more chance of Diaby not being injured than us winning the CL.

[mr_brighterside]

although they are clearly not as good as previous opponents such as munich and barca they are hardly weak, having topped their group.

would love it if psg beat chelsea through a side show bob goal too.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

its happening. This will be the year we don't finish in the top four yet win the champions league.

The ultimate troll from Arsene

The thing is even in the minute chance that happened, there would be fans angry at our failure to finish in the top four.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Vital to keep players injury free now. We've been given a golden ticket to the quarters. Sign the players we need in january and give it a proper fucking go.

[Letters]

Vital to keep players injury free now.
:haha:

[adzzzbatch]

Sign the players we need in january and give it a proper fucking go.

:haha:

[mr_brighterside]

http://www.arsenal.com/news/team-news

should have some of these back for Monaco

[Bumble]

the problem though is that we might win and this will delay our end of season top 4 dash.

[Syn]

That is a concern. Maybe we should throw away this chance for a CL QF to improve our chances of qualifying for the CL group stage next year.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

:haha:

[The Emirates Gallactico]

Can't get complacent here but by all accounts we should have enough to make the QF's for a change.

And if get through and we luck out again in getting either Porto/Basle in the QF's then we have a golden opportunity to make the Semi's and from there it's just three matches to see off to win the thing. You never know ...... weirder things have happened in football. On paper, we really shouldn't be as bad as we have been playing this season.

With a top quality DM in January and the Kos/BFG partnership firing again we may have enough to go the distance.

[Niall_Quinn]

weirder things have happened in football

Name one.

[fakeyank]

Can't get complacent here but by all accounts we should have enough to make the QF's for a change.

And if get through and we luck out again in getting either Porto/Basle in the QF's then we have a golden opportunity to make the Semi's and from there it's just three matches to see off to win the thing. You never know ...... weirder things have happened in football. On paper, we really shouldn't be as bad as we have been playing this season.

With a top quality DM in January and the Kos/BFG partnership firing again we may have enough to go the distance.

:haha:

We also have Wenger, so you know that we wont go the distance :pal:

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Name one.

http://talksport.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/tscouk_old_image/blog/TRAORE.jpg?itok=fL3ZvlD-

[Niall_Quinn]

:getcoat:

[adzzzbatch]

All the BBC have been saying since the draw is "Poor old man city, they can't catch a break in the Champions League, they're so unlucky" :rolleyes:

[The Emirates Gallactico]

Name one.

The chavs and Liverpool winning the CL.

[Letters]

All the BBC have been saying since the draw is "Poor old man city, they can't catch a break in the Champions League, they're so unlucky" :rolleyes:

:violin:

Had they not bought their way in with dirty oil mney they'd probably be in the Championship rather than the Champions League

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Couldn't believe it..... what a touch. Too bad we don't set out to try and win anything these days otherwise we might actually have a chance of winning it.

[Globalgunner]

Realistically this may be our last chance with the current regime. From next season finishing 4th in the league means you`re in pot 4 for the group stages

[Injury Time]

The easiest draw TBH and i honestly cannot see us going out to Monaco.

:ilt:

[The Emirates Gallactico]

Realistically this may be our last chance with the current regime. From next season finishing 4th in the league means your in pot 4 for the group stages

Don't think that's true.

The only change asfaik is that league winners will automatically gain entry into pot one. I think the rest of the pots will be ranked using the same method so most likely with our generally high UEFA coefficient, we'll be stuck in pot 2.

[Globalgunner]

This has been agreed.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/10/uefa-champions-league-seedings-change.

Our 4th place bubble is about to be burst.

On second reading it doesnt say exactly what happens to the 2nd-4th placed teams, but based on extrapolation of logic. There is little reason why the 4th place team should be ranked higher than the 2nd place team

[Letters]

Too bad we don't set out to try and win anything these days
True. We haven't won a trophy for months. :(

[Letters]

This has been agreed.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/10/uefa-champions-league-seedings-change.

Our 4th place bubble is about to be burst.

On second reading it doesnt say exactly what happens to the 2nd-4th placed teams, but based on extrapolation of logic. There is little reason why the 4th place team should be ranked higher than the 2nd place team

:haha:

Spending a billion quid of dirty oil money is 'sporting merit' now, is it?

Fair enough.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

True. We haven't won a trophy for months. :(

That line will only last so long you know.....

But we both know I was referring to one of the bigger trophies....unless you think we made a concerted charge on the title or CL in our preparations last summer.

[Letters]

That line will only last so long you know.....
It will, but as frustrating as things have been this season, some people are acting like last year didn't happen.

Fact is we're nowhere near good enough to win the CL.
We're not going to fail to win it because we're not interested in winning the bigger trophies, we're just not good enough too.

The CL has got enough sides in who are enough better than us to make it very unlikely we can win it. The top 2 in the league this year will almost certainly be the two clubs with billionaire owners. Utd are now in the mix having spent silly money to buy their way out of trouble.

Meh.

[Niall_Quinn]

This has been agreed.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/10/uefa-champions-league-seedings-change.

Our 4th place bubble is about to be burst.

On second reading it doesnt say exactly what happens to the 2nd-4th placed teams, but based on extrapolation of logic. There is little reason why the 4th place team should be ranked higher than the 2nd place team

There's every reason. And the current method is the the only thing standing between clubs literally paying their way into pot #1. Who's pot 1 and 2 next season then? And the next, and the next and right up until some even more massive crook comes in and buys an Everton or Aston Villa into pot #1. The gypos have been gash in the CL. They aren't being rewarded for their performances, they are being rewarded for their bank balance. Same will go for other comedy outfits such as Barca, Marketing and the ludicrous PSG. Plus it's plain dumb to rank the clubs based on where they finish in their league - who's going to stop Bayern? They are an even bigger joke than the gypos, simply buying up their closest opponents players every season. What if the gypos continue being so gash? Pot 1 or 2 every year simply because they splash cash? Chavs in pot #1 because they have a lucrative extortion racket going in Eastern Asia?

Current way is not ideal but it's infinitely better than just ranking based on cash. Especially when it's a thoroughly corrupt association running the tournament. What's the chances gypo cash was used to bring in these new favourable rules for them? 90% 95% 99%, 101%?

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

It will, but as frustrating as things have been this season, some people are acting like last year didn't happen.

Fact is we're nowhere near good enough to win the CL.
We're not going to fail to win it because we're not interested in winning the bigger trophies, we're just not good enough too.

The CL has got enough sides in who are enough better than us to make it very unlikely we can win it. The top 2 in the league this year will almost certainly be the two clubs with billionaire owners. Utd are now in the mix having spent silly money to buy their way out of trouble.

Meh.

I think you've misunderstood or overlooked what I mean by not interested. I mean, Wenger didn't assemble a squad good enough to challenge any of these major honours last summer. That is first and fore mostly why we're nowhere near good enough to win it presently.....and that's without descending into a diatribe of the usual hang ups people perceive the manager as having....

Last year was what it was and some would have it banished from recollection all together....we know that. But the underlying feeling (for me even if nobody else) was that unless we significantly strengthened in January we would not go on to win the league.....

[Niall_Quinn]

You all know we won't significantly strengthen in January. You know how it goes. We get linked with Hummels and Cavani and Pogba, it goes on and on, eventually we find out we offered £2 for all three, so then we get linked with Ron Vlaar and say hey, fuck it, better than nothing. And then Remi Garde gets brought in on a free because he can play defender and midfield. And we all say, fuuuuck, I wish we hadn't signed anybody at all!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

We may buy players but not in terms of the Champions League; we can only register one new player and that will be Giroud probably.

[WMUG]

We may buy players but not in terms of the Champions League; we can only register one new player and that will be Giroud probably.

Really? Seems strange, so under normal circumstances, only play one player you sign in January could play in the CL?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I think so, I am fairly sure you can't register more than one player in January.

[WMUG]

I think so, I am fairly sure you can't register more than one player in January.

I suppose most players a CL club would sign in January would be cup tied anyway, but still. Seems pretty odd. What's the reasoning behind it?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I just think it's a case of essentially submitted your designated squad to UEFA back in September and there won't be much deviation from that throughout the season.

One is a bit stringent I would say.

[Dein-machine]

[QUOTE=McNamara That Ghost...;435983]I think so, I am fairly sure you can't register more than one player in January.[/QUOTE

Can't we degister Flamini,Sonogo & the long term injured?