Post by eaststand on May 25, 2012 12:24:46 GMT 1
Roberto Mancini’s team are set to miss out on a place among the top seeds in next season’s Champions League after their group stage elimination in this season’s tournament denied them the chance to boost their Uefa ranking sufficiently.
City, who were paired with eventual runners-up Bayern Munich, Napoli and Villarreal in their debut campaign in the Champions League, finished third in their group despite finishing the six-game stage with 10 points.
And with Uefa finalising their 2011-12 co-efficient table earlier this week following Chelsea’s victory over Bayern in last Saturday’s Final at the Allianz Arena, City will find themselves in Pot Two in August’s group stage draw - with Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal all positioned as top seeds in Pot One.
As a result, City could land a nightmare group with top seeds Barcelona or Real Madrid, Pot Three heavyweights Juventus and German champions Borussia Dortmund, whose ranking in 66th place in the co-efficient table sees them facing a position in Pot Four.
Uefa’s ranking system is based on a club’s performance in each of the last five seasons, from 2007-08 to 2011-12 inclusively, leaving national champions such as City, Juventus and Dortmund suffering from their absence from European competition during that period.
Related Articles
Barcelona, twice crowned European champions during that period, are Uefa’s highest-ranked club, with United -- winners in 2007-08 -- ranked second, ahead of third-placed Chelsea.
Arsenal are also guaranteed a place as top seeds due to their ranking in sixth-place, behind Bayern and Real respectively.
Despite City’s inability to break into Pot One, however, the club has climbed from last season’s third tier ranking to lie 28th in Uefa’s co-efficient table.
And although they could land another hazardous group next season, a more positive scenario could see Mancini’s players paired with top seeds Porto, who they eliminated from this season’s Europa League, and teams from the qualifying rounds, which involve Celtic, Motherwell and minnows from other lowly-ranked European leagues.
____________________________________________________________________________
Would we want a tougher group like last season, that way there isn't the same kind of pressures placed on us to qualify or would we want potentially a group we'd be expected to waltz through and have that added pressure?
Not saying i think we'll take the CL by storm but i do think that a tougher group with one of Europes massive teams would stop us from getting complacent (like we did in first half vs villareal at home), IMO we've got the quality to beat these other top sides and I'm a little worried we'd be lambasted if we didn't qualify from a United group (wonder why they didn't get the stick they should have? Mystery...).
City, who were paired with eventual runners-up Bayern Munich, Napoli and Villarreal in their debut campaign in the Champions League, finished third in their group despite finishing the six-game stage with 10 points.
And with Uefa finalising their 2011-12 co-efficient table earlier this week following Chelsea’s victory over Bayern in last Saturday’s Final at the Allianz Arena, City will find themselves in Pot Two in August’s group stage draw - with Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal all positioned as top seeds in Pot One.
As a result, City could land a nightmare group with top seeds Barcelona or Real Madrid, Pot Three heavyweights Juventus and German champions Borussia Dortmund, whose ranking in 66th place in the co-efficient table sees them facing a position in Pot Four.
Uefa’s ranking system is based on a club’s performance in each of the last five seasons, from 2007-08 to 2011-12 inclusively, leaving national champions such as City, Juventus and Dortmund suffering from their absence from European competition during that period.
Related Articles
Barcelona, twice crowned European champions during that period, are Uefa’s highest-ranked club, with United -- winners in 2007-08 -- ranked second, ahead of third-placed Chelsea.
Arsenal are also guaranteed a place as top seeds due to their ranking in sixth-place, behind Bayern and Real respectively.
Despite City’s inability to break into Pot One, however, the club has climbed from last season’s third tier ranking to lie 28th in Uefa’s co-efficient table.
And although they could land another hazardous group next season, a more positive scenario could see Mancini’s players paired with top seeds Porto, who they eliminated from this season’s Europa League, and teams from the qualifying rounds, which involve Celtic, Motherwell and minnows from other lowly-ranked European leagues.
____________________________________________________________________________
Would we want a tougher group like last season, that way there isn't the same kind of pressures placed on us to qualify or would we want potentially a group we'd be expected to waltz through and have that added pressure?
Not saying i think we'll take the CL by storm but i do think that a tougher group with one of Europes massive teams would stop us from getting complacent (like we did in first half vs villareal at home), IMO we've got the quality to beat these other top sides and I'm a little worried we'd be lambasted if we didn't qualify from a United group (wonder why they didn't get the stick they should have? Mystery...).
