Champions League draw: composition of baskets and layout for Shakhtar. Europa League draw coming soon
The qualifications for European club tournaments are entering their final stages. Four of our teams have already decided on the European autumn - Lokomotiv, CSKA, Krasnodar and Spartak, two have to decide and try to qualify for the Europa League group - Zenit, Ufa. With the seeding in the Champions League, everything is already clear for our teams; regardless of the outcome of the playoff round, Lokomotiv will be in the first pot, and CSKA in the third.
The Europa League is a little more confusing. The draw itself will take place on August 31. 48 teams will take part in it, which will be divided into 4 baskets of 12 participants each. Representatives of the same basket, as usual, will not meet each other. The seeding may be affected by all 27 remaining qualifying matches, but some options can already be considered.
Option 1 Critical
This option will happen if all seeded, high-rated opponents will qualify for the UEFA Champions League qualifying matches, and, on the contrary, all unseeded, low-rated opponents will qualify for the Champions League qualifying matches. Sowing in this case will be like this
“Krasnodar” and “Spartak” fall into the third basket, “Zenith” into the first, and “Ufa”, which is the seeded representative of its pair, falls into the fourth.
Option 2 Ideal
This option will happen if all seeded opponents with high ratings are eliminated in the UEFA Champions League qualifying matches (except for ours, of course), and in the Champions League qualifying matches all seeded opponents will advance to the group. Then the sowing will be like this
In such an incredible scenario (well, what is the Europa League without Sevilla), our teams end up in the following baskets - Zenit in the first; "Krasnodar" in the second; “Spartak” and “Ufa” in the third. Personal fans of the red and white also have a super option - the relegation of Zenit and all other seeded players will allow Spartak to jump into the second basket.
Thus, Zenit, when entering the group, has a 100% first basket, Krasnodar and Spartak either 2 or 3, and even Ufa, when entering the group, has a modest chance of winning the 3rd basket.
It makes sense for Krasnodar to sink for Salzburg, PSV, Rapid, Atalanta and Astana.
Option 3 Most likely
If we consider as a criterion for passing not the rating of teams, but the odds of bookmakers, which, you will agree, very clearly reflect the strength of the teams here and now, then you can see the following picture.
Ufa is not considered by the bookmakers to be the leader of its pair and is not included in this virtual draw, but if it passes, it will end up in pot 4. “Zenit” in the first, “Krasnodar” in the second, “Spartak” in the third. I think this is the most realistic option and I sincerely wish our clubs to make such a unique “square” in the baskets at the draw.
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The European club season in football is almost over. Only a few countries will still host the finals of cup competitions, the last rounds of national championships and repechage tournaments in which tickets to European competitions are awarded. Almost all participants in the Champions League and Europa League have already been determined, as well as their club coefficients, which will be taken into account when drawing the qualifying and main rounds.
Therefore, we can already imagine what awaits six Russian clubs in the upcoming European Cup season and which opponents they will definitely avoid at various stages of the tournament, and with whom there will be a theoretical opportunity to measure their strength.
Lokomotiv is among the best in the Champions League
Lokomotiv Moscow was honored to be included in the first basket of the draw for the group stage of the Champions League. The Russian champions have a recently adopted rule to thank for this, according to which the best seeding goes to the current winners of both European cups, as well as the strongest teams from the first six leagues in the UEFA coefficient table. Russia is in sixth place, slightly ahead of Portugal.
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Lokomotiv will definitely not play in the group stage with Atlético Madrid, Bayern, Barcelona, Juventus, PSG and Manchester City. The eighth team in the first pot will be known on May 26th - it will be either Real Madrid or Liverpool. Whoever loses in the Champions League final may become a rival for Yuri Semin's team.
If reservations for the Russian champions did not exist, then Lokomotiv would only be in the fourth pot - this is due to the small and unsuccessful experience of playing in European competitions in recent years, which resulted in a rather low coefficient (22,500). The Russian champions could then be sure that they would not play with Inter and Hoffenheim.
It is worth noting that if UEFA continues to separate Russian and Ukrainian clubs, then Lokomotiv will not play with Shakhtar Donetsk, which received a ticket to the second basket.
CSKA - third Champions League pot
CSKA has improved its performance compared to last season - if a year ago the army team ended up in the fourth pot during the Champions League draw, now they still deserve the more prestigious third thanks to the coefficient (45,000). However, two years ago the Muscovites were also in the first place, when they became the champion of Russia.
The army team will definitely not play against Schalke, Lyon, Monaco and, probably, Shakhtar. Liverpool could also get into the third pot if they lose to Real Madrid in the Champions League final, and Benfica or Basel reach the group stage.
If Liverpool wins and gets into the first pot, then Roma and Tottenham can drop into the third (depending on whether one of the Benfica-Basel pair or both teams overcomes the qualifications). In certain situations, Brugge and Galatasaray, who already have tickets to the group stage, can still get into the third basket.
Spartak is unseeded in the Champions League
Moscow “Spartak” will begin its performance in European competition with the Champions League and will follow the path of the league representatives. Seven more teams will play here together with Massimo Carrera’s team, that is, there will be four pairs of opponents in total.
Although among those teams that have already reached this stage, Spartak ranks fourth in terms of personal odds (13,500), the Russian club will not be able to become a seeded team. It is behind Benfica, Dynamo Kiev and Fenerbahce, and will definitely lose to Basel, Ajax and PAOK - one or two of these clubs will be in the third qualifying round from the second. “Spartak” will be able to bypass only “Standard”, the vice-champion of the Czech Republic, which has not yet been determined, and “Sturm”, if it reaches this round.
Considering that Russian clubs are unlikely to be able to play with Ukrainian ones, Spartak's potential opponents will be Benfica or Fenerbahce, as well as either Basel, Ajax, or PAOK.
In the playoff round, Spartak has a chance to earn seeding and get an easier opponent. But then all the favorites who beat the Muscovites at an earlier stage must finish their performance and fly into the Europa League. It would be inadvisable to rely on this. Most likely, there, too, Spartak will have to compete with a nominally stronger team.
If Spartak makes it to the group stage of the Champions League, then due to its extremely low coefficient it will only end up in the fourth basket. It will be possible to avoid meetings with Inter, Hoffenheim and Shakhtar, and the remaining teams may well end up in the group with the 10-time Russian champions.
If the red and whites fail in the Champions League qualification, they will be destined for a place in the Europa League group stage. It’s too early to talk about which basket awaits Muscovites there - only 15 participants out of 48 have been identified. Theoretically, Spartak could even end up in the first basket, which will allow them to avoid meetings with Chelsea, Arsenal and other top European clubs . But such a probability is extremely low. Judging by how the list of participants was formed in past years, Spartak will end up either in the third basket or in the fourth.
Krasnodar - unknown Europa League pot
Krasnodar has already reached the group stage of the Europa League. The southern club has some experience of playing in European cups, so its coefficient is not the smallest (23,500). It is not yet possible to say exactly who Krasnodar will play with and who they won’t: as was said earlier, there are too many unplayed tickets left.
Nevertheless, Sergei Galitsky's club has a real chance of getting into the second or third basket. You will only have to fall into fourth place if you are extremely unlucky, if clubs worthy of the Champions League suddenly begin to suffer massive defeats in the qualifying round. At the same time, getting into the first basket will be possible with incredible luck - if the group stage is flooded with teams with tiny odds.
Zenit is the favorite to qualify for the Europa League
Zenit will begin the European Cup season with the third qualifying round of the Europa League and will follow the main, non-championship path. St. Petersburg has the highest coefficient among Russian clubs (78,000), which is quite impressive even by Champions League standards. So Zenit shouldn’t have any problems with the draw.
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The club from St. Petersburg will definitely be seeded in both the third qualifying round and the playoff round. He will not have to face such famous teams as Sevilla, Basel, Besiktas, Ajax, Olympiacos, Sporting, Braga if they end up at the same stage as Zenit "
At the same time, the Russian club will ensure that it gets into the first pot of the group stage, if it manages to reach this stage. This means that meetings with Arsenal, Chelsea and Bayer will be avoided. If we assume that Benfica, Sevilla, Basel, Dynamo Kiev, Ajax, Red Bull Salzburg, Olympiacos or Besiktas will be in the group stage of the Europa League, then they will not come either to St. Petersburg at least until the playoffs.
“Ufa” is a modest newcomer to the European Cup
So its coefficient will be quite low (10.676). However, for the second qualifying round of the Europa League, where the club from Bashkortostan starts, this is a completely normal result.
The Ufa team will definitely be a seeded team at the first stage, which will allow them to avoid meeting with Sevilla, Besiktas, Braga, Steaua (if the Romanians do not immediately get into the third qualifying round), AZ Alkmaar, Leipzig “, “Burnley”, “Rijeka” (if they also don’t jump straight to the next round), “Atalanta”, “Bordeaux” and a strong representative of Belgium, where the last ticket to the Europa League has not yet been played out.
But then Ufa will face serious tests. In the third qualifying round, higher odds will be needed to have priority in the draw. There is a high probability that in the future the Bashkir team will only face opponents who are more titled and stronger on paper.
There are 26 known teams in the group stage of the Champions League. The Europa League has a cosmic roster.
Yuri Semin, Victor Goncharenko, Massimo Carrera / Photo: RIA Novosti/Vladimir Pesnya, RIA Novosti/Alexey Filippov, RIA Novosti/Ramil Sitdikov
Starting next season, the Champions League group will be formed according to new regulations. Four teams each from Spain, England, Germany and Italy received places in the tournament without qualification. There should be fewer close matches in the Champions League.
Russia in the Champions League
The army team (45,000) will definitely remain in the third basket in the company of Schalke, Lyon and Monaco. Valencia (36,000), Viktoria Plzen (33,000), Club Brugge (29,500) and Galatasaray (29,500) could drop to fourth. Everything will depend on the performance in qualifying of Benfica (80,000), Basel (71,000), Dynamo Kiev (62,00), Ludogorets (37,000), PSV (36,000) and Celtic (31,000) .
The fourth basket is still empty - there are only Inter (16,000) and Hoffenheim (14,285) - the only clubs whose rating is lower than Lokomotiv.
If previously there were 10 tickets for qualifying participants, then under the new format there are only 6. “(13,500) will take part in the draw for league representatives. To reach the group stage, Carrera's team needs to go through two rounds. Possible opponents: Benfica, Fenerbahce, Standard, Slavia + 2 best teams from the previous round: Basel, Ajax, PAOK or Sturm.
If the red-whites manage to advance to the group round, they will fall into the fourth pot.
Russia in the Europa League
The composition of the baskets in the Europa League cannot yet be predicted, due to the fact that there are a lot of high-rated teams in the Europa League qualifications (as well as the Champions League, because the losers will go down to the Europa League). At the group stage we will definitely have “, here are some of the likely opponents: Chelsea, Arsenal, Marseille, Lazio, Bayer Leverkusen, Villarreal, Milan, Sporting.” A powerful lineup is already here, and it will be even more powerful.
Two rounds separate the group stage. Only a few likely opponents are now known: Istanbul, Lucerne, Olympiacos, Rijeka, Brøndby, Braga, Ghent, Feyenoord, Rapid, Sigma (Czech Republic) and University" (Romania).
Ufa will need to overcome three rounds. Together with them, the tournament will begin with Sevilla, Leipzig, Bordeaux, Atalanta, Besiktas, Genk, Sparta, Vitesse Slutsky and many others. You can read more about Ufa’s run to the European Cup below.
Photo: © Edgar Breshchanov / Vasily Ponomarev / Sportbox.ru © RIA Novosti / Mikhail Kireev © FC Krasnodar © Getty Images
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Today in Monaco the draw for the group round of the Champions League will take place, in which Shakhtar will also take part
Photo by East News
An event will take place in Monaco, which Shakhtar players, coaches and fans are looking forward to. Today at 19.00 Kyiv time, the procedure for forming the main draw of the Champions League will begin, where, we recall, the Donetsk club, as the winner of the Ukrainian Premier League, entered directly. And this happened for the sixth time in history. In general, this will be the 12th participation in the group round for the orange-blacks.
Let us note that the head coach of the Ukrainian national team Andrey Shevchenko will take part in the ceremony in which the prize for the best football player in Europe of the 2016/2017 season will be awarded, as the ambassador of the Champions League final in Kiev. The gala evening will take place at the Grimaldi Forum, where the draw for the group round of the Europa League will take place the next day.
Composition of baskets
According to the individual odds, 32 Champions League participants formed three baskets - from the second to the fourth. But the first consists exclusively of the champions of the first eight associations in the UEFA coefficient table. Let us recall that since the winner of the Champions League, Real Madrid, at the same time became triumphant in Example, the vacancy went to the strongest club of the eighth ranked country, in this case, Ukraine.
In this regard, teams such as Benfica and Spartak ended up in the first basket, and Barcelona and PSG in the second. By the way, this situation does not exclude the option in which four representatives of the Big Five countries can gather in one group - for example, Juventus, Barcelona, Liverpool and Leipzig.
According to the regulations, representatives of the same association, even if they fall into different baskets, will be separated from each other. That is, for example, in one group they will not meet: Real - with Barcelona, Atletico and Sevilla, Chelsea - with Man City, Manchester United, Tottenham, Liverpool, etc. In addition, according to the decision of UEFA, Shakhtar will not be included in the same group with the Russian CSKA.
Cart 1
Real (Spain) - 176,999
Bavaria (Germany) - 154,899
Chelsea (England) - 106,192
Juventus (Italy) - 140,666
Benfica (Portugal) - 111,866
Monaco (France) - 62,333
Spartak (Russia) - 18,606
Shakhtar (UKRAINE) - 87,526
Cart 2
Barcelona (Spain) - 151,999
Atlético (Spain) - 142,999
PSG (France) - 126,333
Borussia D (Germany) - 124,899
Seville (Spain) - 112,999
Manchester City (England) - 100,192
Porto (Portugal) - 98,866
Manchester United (England) - 95,192
Basket 3
Napoli (Italy) - 88,666
Tottenham (England) - 77,192
Basel (Switzerland) - 74,415
Olympiacos (Greece) - 64,580
Anderlecht (Belgium) - 58,480
Liverpool (England) - 56,192
Roma (Italy) - 53,666
Besiktas (Türkiye) - 45,840
Basket 4
Celtic (Scotland) - 42,785
CSKA (Russia) - 39,606
Sporting (Portugal) - 36,866
APOEL (Cyprus) - 26,210
Feyenoord (Holland) - 23,212
Maribor (Slovenia) - 21,125
Karabakh (Azerbaijan) - 18,050
Leipzig (Germany) - 15,899
Among the participants there are two debutants - Karabakh and Leipzig, and the first one even opened a window in the Champions League for Azerbaijan.
Options for Shakhtar. TEAM1 version
The easiest ones are Porto, Basel, Maribor.
The most difficult ones are Barcelona, Liverpool, Leipzig.
Sergei PILKEVICH
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