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No, our owners reduced their stake in Vitoria, from 46% to 29% and at the same time left the board of directors, so they no longer had any influence over the club. UEFA have no objections if you own a minority stake in a second club if you have no control or influence over that club. The solution is always to not have control or influence over two clubs that compete in the same UEFA competition.

The UEFA rules are: Article 5 Integrity of the competition/multi-club ownership 5.01 To ensure the integrity of the UEFA club competitions (i.e. UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League), the club must be able to prove that as at 3 June 2024 the below criteria are met and the club must continue to comply with the below criteria until the end of the competition: No club participating in a UEFA club competition may, either directly or indirectly: hold or deal in the securities or shares of any other club participating in a UEFA club competition; be a member of any other club participating in a UEFA club competition; be involved in any capacity whatsoever in the management, administration and/or sporting performance of any other club participating in a UEFA club competition; or have any power whatsoever in the management, administration and/or sporting performance of any other club participating in a UEFA club competition. No one may simultaneously be involved, either directly or indirectly, in any capacity whatsoever in the management, administration and/or sporting performance of more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition. No individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition, such control or influence being defined in this context as: holding a majority of the shareholders’ voting rights; having the right to appoint or remove a majority of the members of the administrative, management or supervisory body of the club; being a shareholder and alone controlling a majority of the shareholders’ voting rights pursuant to an agreement entered into with other shareholders of the club; or being able to exercise by any means a decisive influence in the decision-making of the club In other words it isn’t about how many shares you own, but how much influence you have over the club. Even if Ratcliffe only has a minority stake in ManU, he controls the football decisions. That means he has to sell enough shares in Nice so he no longer has control or influence in the decision making of Nice.

There are two parties involved in this contract. For Maresca it makes sense to have a long contract, because when he gets sacked in October, he needs the large payout until he can secure a new job. Poch would have no problem securing a new job, so he can live with a shorter contract and a smaller payout. Anyway this should ensure that we are above Chelsea again at the end of next season, so please let the madness continue.

Wonder what most fans want, either the top teams from each pot and potential knocked in the group stage, or get the weakest team from each pot and get top 8 in the league stage and go do directly into the round of 16. My view is that is nice to play top teams, but even nicer to be winning.

I’m really unhappy about this. Only 5 years, should have been 10 years at least.

I’m sure ManU will sign somebody expensive and not very good, either they are in Europe or not. I’m more worried about Newcastle that can concentrate on the League without the distractions of mid-week matches in Europe. But hopefully they will be forced to sell a few key players, with the lack of income from Europe.

No, our only aim the next few years should be Champions League qualification. I know it’s not very glamorous with 3rd or 4th place finishes in the premier league, but football is now all about money. To improve our squad and keep Emery, we need the prize money and sponsorship that comes with being a top 4 premier league side and playing in CL each year. Sadly winning either the FA cup or the league cup generates next to nothing when it comes to income. Yes, I would absolutely love it, if we won something, but if it comes at the expense of failing to qualify for CL, it would be costly for the club.

When you have a squad of 30+ players that costed billions to assemble, injuries have less of an impact. What improved Chelsea was that they found a style of play that fitted the players they had in the second half of the season. Most teams have a limited quality in their squad, meaning that performance drop when fatigue/ burnout/ injuries impact key players. Teams that have more quantity of quality in their squad can do more player rotation, providing them with rested players in the second half of the season. This is one of the reasons ManC is performing better in the second half compared to first half. The team they play is weaker second half of the season, while they themself is equally strong in both half’s. Next season we could get a boost in the second half of the season if Kamara comes back fully fit.

Or we could get Roma, Leipzig, Club Brugge, Benfica, Celtic,Young Boys, Sparta Praha and Sturm Graz and have a chance to get top 8, and go directly to round of 16 without the qualifying round.

Just read that Chelsea is considering rehiring Potter, if they miss out on McKenna. That would take this to a new level of stupidity.

I have seen this mention in different news outlet on the internet. I do not agree, but I could be wrong here. Here is how I believe it will work: If Atalanta end up in 5th place in the league, Italy will get 6 teams in Champions League, the teams placed from 1 to 6 in the league. Since Atalanta is qualified for Europe League with their 5th place finish, Italy will lose one Europa League spot, meaning 7th place will get Europa League and 8th place get Conference League. See section 3.03 If Fiorentina wins the Conference League final they qualify for Europa League next season. But since Fiorentina is qualified for Conference League with their 8th place in the league, Italy would lose their Conference League spot. Giving Italy a total of 8 teams in Europe. See section 3.07

My initial reaction too, but the rule for the 5th coefficient spot is that it is allocated to the highest ranked club in the league not already qualified for Champions League. If Atalanta is 5th then the 5th coefficient spot will go to Roma. But Italy will lose one of their Europa League spots , giving them a total of 8 clubs in Europe. 3.03: Additionally, the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League titleholders are each guaranteed a place in the league phase even if they do not qualify for the competition through their domestic championships. If the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League titleholder qualifies for the UEFA Europa League or UEFA Conference League through one of its domestic competitions, the number of places to which its association is entitled in the UEFA Europa League or UEFA Conference League is reduced by one 3.07: Finally, the two associations whose affiliated clubs achieved the best collective performance in the previous season of the UEFA men’s club competitions (i.e. best season club association coefficient), in accordance with the season coefficient principles (see Annex D.3), are each entitled to an additional place in the league phase, known as a European performance spot (EPS). The EPS is allocated to the club that finishes the relevant association's domestic championship in the highest position of all those that do not qualify for the league phase of the UEFA Champions League via the domestic championship (after any vacancies have been filled in accordance with Paragraph 3.04 to Paragraph 3.06). The two associations' overall quota of clubs qualifying to UEFA club competitions are each increased by one club. UEFA rules for CL qualification

Germany will also get six teams in CL if Dortmund wins the CL final.

The coefficient used in the league stage is the 5 year club coefficient, while the coefficient used for the non-European value pillar (see: https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/028b-1a7880138a24-7a993e2e33d1-1000/20240322_circular_2024_13_en.pdf) is the 10 year club coefficient. But the non-European part is only 25% of the total value pillar, and since our coefficient is very low, we would end up with peanuts. We should get a good portion of the European value pillar, since I believe England is ranked as number 1 media contributor. That would give us something like €31 millions, only the 3 other English teams will get more than us.

Yes, you are correct, only the CL winner now gets a reserved spot in pot 1. Still Bayer Leverkusen will overtake Barcelona in the coefficient ranking as long as they don’t lose the EL final after 90 minutes. Meaning Bayer Leverkusen is most likely to end up in pot 1 and Barcelona in pot 2.

There will be played Champions League on one Thursday, 19th September. Each of the 3 UEFA completions will have their own special week, where the two other competitions aren’t played. For CL that week is the 17th to 19th September. The week after 25th to 26th September is for Europa League only. And Conference League get their dedicated week on 19th December.

Short answer: Yes. The rules for the draw are that teams from the same country cannot be drawn against each other and a team can only be drawn against max two teams from one country. In other word we cannot be drawn against an other English team and we can be drawn against three Spanish teams, as an example. Then there is a rule that say that if there is a scheduling deadlock, the two previous rules can be overruled and that can result in two teams from the same country getting drawn against each other. The condition for this is that there are too many teams from the same country in the same pot (think 4 or more teams). In other words it do not apply to England. If Bayer Leverkusen win the European League final, Germany will have 4 teams in pot 1. That would put some challenges on the draw to avoid scheduling deadlock.

Barcelona will end up in pot 2, because the winner of the Europa League final will be moved into pot 1, most likely Bayer Leverkusen.

Months later the manager got sacked, and the club went from mid table to relegation candidate.

I have looked into this some more, and I’m now 100% certain that we will not be drawn against an other English club. Most media outlets have reported that there is a small possibility that teams from the same association could be drawn against each other for association with 4 or more teams. What UEFA actually said was that associations with too many teams in one pot could be drawn against each other to avoid scheduling deadlock, and that only apply to associations with four or more teams. Since England have two teams in pot 1, one team in pot 2 and one team in pot 4, it does not apply to us, we do not have too many teams in a pot. Germany could potentially end up with 4 teams in pot 1, but even then UEFA believes that they can avoid drawing two German teams against each other.

Gabri Veiga; rumour from givemesport.com, so not very reliable. And according to givemesport.com he is more likely to sign for Atletico Madrid. They have an other rumour on their website, that we are after left back Bradley Locko. I’m considering if having “Locko” on the back of my shirt would be nice.

Here are the UEFA rules: https://documents.uefa.com/r/Regulations-of-the-UEFA-Champions-League-2024/25/Article-16-Draw-system-league-phase-Online Article 16.02 - says that in principle we shouldn’t be drawn against an other English team. Article 16.03 - says that UEFA can change the draw rules if they decide it is needed. My take it is that it is very very unlikely we will be drawn against an other English team. I would expect that if a deadlock occurred, it is more likely that we would see two Italian or German team drawn against each other, since they have 5 teams in the competition. The way I understand the draw will take place, is that a person will pick a ball with the name of a team, then a computer software will take over and select the opponent’s for that team. I’m sure that the software will be built to avoid deadlocks that could result in two teams from the same league are drawn against each other. However, this is the first time they are doing this complex draw, and 16.03 is just there if things get too messed up.

Not possible. One team from each of the 4 pots at home and a different team from each of the 4 pots away. We could have PSG at home and Real Madrid away, since both teams are in pot 1, but we cannot have both teams away.

Why think so small, rename Birmingham to Unaiton.

There will be 4 pots of 9 teams, ranked by the UEFA club coefficient. Each team will be drawn against two teams in each pot, and play one of them at home and one away. The teams in pot 1 are all what could be called elite sides, meaning we will at least playing two elite sides.