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My Pick To Win The 2023 Champions League

What's awesome about that is the draw hasn't really made you hedge to this point. Very well done, we all know anything can happen in a one game final but hope your hedge is victorious!
 
helluva call, who for 2024
Transfers are gonna be hot and heavy but if they don't lose their base Napoli have to be up there

Madrid getting Bellingham makes them the obvious choice, Barca are in ruins and Germans are shambolic. Dortmund might not even be good enough to beat Bayern the next ten years and what quality team in Europe actually sells a centerpiece?

City will be favorites and rightfully so, really only see Bernardo moving on. Gundo is out of contract but pretty sure he gets retained now. Newcastle could make waves as an underdog PL side in CL
 
Transfers are gonna be hot and heavy but if they don't lose their base Napoli have to be up there

Madrid getting Bellingham makes them the obvious choice, Barca are in ruins and Germans are shambolic. Dortmund might not even be good enough to beat Bayern the next ten years and what quality team in Europe actually sells a centerpiece?

City will be favorites and rightfully so, really only see Bernardo moving on. Gundo is out of contract but pretty sure he gets retained now. Newcastle could make waves as an underdog PL side in CL
but NUFC may not get a lot of money to spend and they definitely need it

EPL huge advantage not being drawn against another EPL for a few rounds of the knockouts, Benfica and Porto looking on par with the rest of these
 
but NUFC may not get a lot of money to spend and they definitely need it

EPL huge advantage not being drawn against another EPL for a few rounds of the knockouts, Benfica and Porto looking on par with the rest of these
Why wouldn't Newcastle get the funds?

They might well be the richest club in the world. City are UAE so there are limitations. United are up in the air being on the market. Arse are Kroenke, fuck them. Liverpool are Glazers so that a complete wild card...Chelsea are living in a basement right now. Spurs will at least be consistent.

Not sure why Saudi money will get stiffed at Newcastle, they've literally bought their way into competing for things. Golf, football...NBA is next.
 
Transfers are gonna be hot and heavy but if they don't lose their base Napoli have to be up there

Madrid getting Bellingham makes them the obvious choice, Barca are in ruins and Germans are shambolic. Dortmund might not even be good enough to beat Bayern the next ten years and what quality team in Europe actually sells a centerpiece?

City will be favorites and rightfully so, really only see Bernardo moving on. Gundo is out of contract but pretty sure he gets retained now. Newcastle could make waves as an underdog PL side in CL
Disagree that Barca are in shambles, they won the league quite easily and they shouldn’t be losing too much this summer.

Dortmund has a rough go of it this season but I would say Bayern are a massive mess right now with tons of drama all around the team. Tuchel sounds insane in half of his press conferences

Newcastle also does not have unlimited funds, I think there was a report that they have 80 million to spend. They are doing this more the right way, then let’s say Chelsea. Building a super team with no chemistry
 
Why wouldn't Newcastle get the funds?

They might well be the richest club in the world. City are UAE so there are limitations. United are up in the air being on the market. Arse are Kroenke, fuck them. Liverpool are Glazers so that a complete wild card...Chelsea are living in a basement right now. Spurs will at least be consistent.

Not sure why Saudi money will get stiffed at Newcastle, they've literally bought their way into competing for things. Golf, football...NBA is next.
i saw something that said they were gonna only get like 60mm euros

Seemed off to me, but maybe the kitty isn't as deep when they just bought the PGA tour
 
  • Haha
Reactions: KJ
Barca were probably the least deserving title winners in the big-5, i'm with KJ

if Dortmund couldn't do it this year with the lead as a 2.25 goal favorite on the final day at home against a team with nothing to play for then i don't think it's them whow ill do it. Would have been nice to say I went to a game the same season BVB ended the streak and won the meisterschale, but of course not

I think Leipzig is better
 
Barca were probably the least deserving title winners in the big-5, i'm with KJ

if Dortmund couldn't do it this year with the lead as a 2.25 goal favorite on the final day at home against a team with nothing to play for then i don't think it's them whow ill do it. Would have been nice to say I went to a game the same season BVB ended the streak and won the meisterschale, but of course not

I think Leipzig is better
Dortmund might be wrecked for the next 10 years after that

We talk like they're big time but big time clubs don't sell Bellingham
 
I'd rather any of the top 7 in England, top 3 and Seville in Spain, top 5 in Italy, Bayern and Leipzig in Germany, PSG, top 3 in Portugal over Dortmund

Not even sure how they're optimistic going in to next season.
 
Dortmund might be wrecked for the next 10 years after that

We talk like they're big time but big time clubs don't sell Bellingham
They've done this a bunch already though

They had to sell hummels, Lewandowski, gundogan, Diallo, gotze, mkhitaryan, PEA, pulisic, haaland, sancho, dembele

All in the last decade, they always reload

They will reinvest the Bellingham money very well if their history has anything to do with it
 
They've done this a bunch already though

They had to sell hummels, Lewandowski, gundogan, Diallo, gotze, mkhitaryan, PEA, pulisic, haaland, sancho, dembele

All in the last decade, they always reload

They will reinvest the Bellingham money very well if their history has anything to do with it
Do you think they challenge Bayern even Leipzig in the near future? I think the failure at the end of the season sets them on the back burner for a few years. Hard for me to see them challenge for that trophy anytime soon.
 
This says they have up to 150 million


They are targeting a center back, left back, DM, and wide forward

They need depth more than anything because they are gonna have probably an extra 10-15 games compared to this year
 
Also next year prem gets a 5th CL team, so I think that factors in too in their need to spend
 
Do you think they challenge Bayern even Leipzig in the near future? I think the failure at the end of the season sets them on the back burner for a few years. Hard for me to see them challenge for that trophy anytime soon.
Yep, they have a proven history of recovering from setbacks and players leaving

Wouldnt make them favorites, buy they will definitely compete
 
With utah on barca too

They allowed only 20 goals in la liga, had clean sheets in over half their games

Their base is very strong, xavi has said building that around pedri has been priority and now they can focus on adding some more attacking

Not saying they are a CL favorite, but people are talking about madrid as if they have the league locked up for the next decade
 
Barca were probably the least deserving title winners in the big-5, i'm with KJ

if Dortmund couldn't do it this year with the lead as a 2.25 goal favorite on the final day at home against a team with nothing to play for then i don't think it's them whow ill do it. Would have been nice to say I went to a game the same season BVB ended the streak and won the meisterschale, but of course not

I think Leipzig is better

With utah on barca too

They allowed only 20 goals in la liga, had clean sheets in over half their games

Their base is very strong, xavi has said building that around pedri has been priority and now they can focus on adding some more attacking

Not saying they are a CL favorite, but people are talking about madrid as if they have the league locked up for the next decade

Respect your opinion G but I think Barca had a pretty impressive year after a tough start. They won the league by 10 points - wrapped it up with 3 weeks in the season to spare. Counter to your point, I think they won the league before anyone else in the top 5 (Napoli maybe?). As Teed pointed out - 20 goals, Ter Stegen just won player of the league. They clearly have financial problems and some players will go this year, but they will compete next year in La Liga. I think the loss of Benzema is a big one for Real - he clearly lost a step this year but if they don't bring in someone to replace him they might have some issues too.
 
They've done this a bunch already though

They had to sell hummels, Lewandowski, gundogan, Diallo, gotze, mkhitaryan, PEA, pulisic, haaland, sancho, dembele

All in the last decade, they always reload

They will reinvest the Bellingham money very well if their history has anything to do with it
yeah I think I saw they already have some Norwegian wunderkid on his way. In the moment and the day of BvB seemed finished for life - but they have a consistent business model of reloading. At this point I would be surprised if Bayern doesnt fire Tuchel by Christmas. You could say something about RB Leipzig also having a sustainable business model but if you want to talk about BvB losing a step without Jude - Leipzig is losing Nkunku and they will likely lose Gviardol as well - unquestionably their best players
 
i saw something that said they were gonna only get like 60mm euros

Seemed off to me, but maybe the kitty isn't as deep when they just bought the PGA tour

To be fair the Saudi soverign wealth fund reportedly has 620 billion ready to spend. Theyve made smart pickups and have not dropped a major bag thus far - I expect that to be the case. City has never made massive signings with the exception of Grealish. A lot of money, yes - but spread out wisely. I expect Newcastle is following that business plan
 
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With utah on barca too

They allowed only 20 goals in la liga, had clean sheets in over half their games

Their base is very strong, xavi has said building that around pedri has been priority and now they can focus on adding some more attacking

Not saying they are a CL favorite, but people are talking about madrid as if they have the league locked up for the next decade
Mbappe will be there soon enough. Question for me is midfield but they obviously have the resources to replenish
 
Respect your opinion G but I think Barca had a pretty impressive year after a tough start. They won the league by 10 points - wrapped it up with 3 weeks in the season to spare. Counter to your point, I think they won the league before anyone else in the top 5 (Napoli maybe?). As Teed pointed out - 20 goals, Ter Stegen just won player of the league. They clearly have financial problems and some players will go this year, but they will compete next year in La Liga. I think the loss of Benzema is a big one for Real - he clearly lost a step this year but if they don't bring in someone to replace him they might have some issues too.

Barca winning was more about the problems in the rest of La Liga, not sure that has changed much with the Benzema loss though Atleti closed the year like the best team in the league

Everyone was afraid of them, it certainly wasn't the Barca defense that was responsible for that lack of conceding. Marcos Alonso was hiding back there lest we forget

I'm guessing they're favorites and have to be after last year wasn't close, but my point was more to their winning was not because they were any good
 
are you sure? I thought they only get an extra if the winner wasn't already in a guaranteed spot






How does this impact qualification from the Premier League?

As it stands, four Premier League teams can qualify for the Champions League, but such is the English top flight’s dominance, they are almost certainly guaranteed five slots from 2024 onwards.
 
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