CL PO vs Olympiakos/Ludogorets if we beat Malmo- EL Draw Kairat/Alashkert if we lose.

Olympiacos tend to qualify for the CL and get more football from it (drop into UefaLg etc) No one else in the draw does that. That is impressive. It will be a tough tie should we meet them and anyone suggesting otherwise needs to dampen their enthusiasm. They were the toughest team in the draw. It's teams like this we have to beat though and it'll be a great challenge should we make it.
 
No idea of the Covid situation in Greece but would be good if the away leg was played in front of a vastly reduced crowd.
 
Probably wouldn’t have done the treble right enough if we had a long European run that year.
Why not ? In 1992/93 we done a treble and went unbeaten in Europe , defeating the English champions Leeds and coming within a whisker of the CL final . Doing well in Europe often helps domestic success . We didn’t do too badly in Europe last year either .
 
With it looking likely the Tim’s will be in conference, I’m not totally against it. Get them playing Thursday Sunday against a jobbers in Europe. Hopefully hibs and Aberdeen can get in aswell
That scenario will see us play Saturday, them play Sunday for at least six weeks. Pressure, pressure, pressure.
 
Every year this guy does my head in just get the balls out ffs
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Salzburg were the ones to avoid. Olympiacos are a tough challenge but it's a winnable game.

Ultimately it's the last stage before the CL proper. There was no "Easy" draw and the brief remains the same for Gerrard and the team whoever it is. We've got to earn that spot and Olympiacos are an appropriate challenge to overcome, but we can do it. No fear and approach it the right way.

It's not an easy draw for Olympiacos either.
 
Too much overconfidence from some posters.
If we do face Olympiakos it's be a tough game, 50/50 i'd say.

I'm old enough to remember this lot of sides:

Levski Sofia, AEK Athens, IFK Goteborg, Fenerbahce, CSKA Moscow. Even Malmo.

All put us out on our arse in the qualifiying stages of the Champions League.

We have no place to be writing off anyone.
Sensible post
 
Gerrards Rangers brings me confidence and trust in Euro games. Our team have proved themselves over the last 3 years and we will be absolutely desperate to fight for a Champions League group place and the excitement and prestige that brings.

Bring it on!
 
Salzburg were the ones to avoid. Olympiacos are a tough challenge but it's a winnable game.

Ultimately it's the last stage before the CL proper. There was no "Easy" draw and the brief remains the same for Gerrard and the team whoever it is. We've got to earn that spot and Olympiacos are an appropriate challenge to overcome, but we can do it. No fear and approach it the right way.

It's not an easy draw for Olympiacos either.
We could be playing Ludogretz.
 
They've been back since end June, perhaps a week or 2 before us, played more friendlies than we did arguably against better opposition, and aren't losing too many goals there. Wouldn't read much into their league starting date.

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They've played 1 good team there and got slapped 3-0
 
They've been back since end June, perhaps a week or 2 before us, played more friendlies than we did arguably against better opposition, and aren't losing too many goals there. Wouldn't read much into their league starting date.

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I think you need to look at those results and opponents again.
 
Olympiacos tend to qualify for the CL and get more football from it (drop into UefaLg etc) No one else in the draw does that. That is impressive. It will be a tough tie should we meet them and anyone suggesting otherwise needs to dampen their enthusiasm. They were the toughest team in the draw. It's teams like this we have to beat though and it'll be a great challenge should we make it.
RB Salzburg were the toughest team by a distance. If you look at the Olympiakos friendly fixtures, you will see they just got pumped 3-0 by Salzburg.
 
Olympiacos tend to qualify for the CL and get more football from it (drop into UefaLg etc) No one else in the draw does that. That is impressive. It will be a tough tie should we meet them and anyone suggesting otherwise needs to dampen their enthusiasm. They were the toughest team in the draw. It's teams like this we have to beat though and it'll be a great challenge should we make it.
100% agree.

Olympiacos record in europe over the past 5 years is far superior to any other team we could have potentially drawn.

Really don't see how people have come to the conclusion this is the easiest draw?
 
100% agree.

Olympiacos record in europe over the past 5 years is far superior to any other team we could have potentially drawn.

Really don't see how people have come to the conclusion this is the easiest draw?
For the same reason Rangers of 2016 isnt really relevant to Rangers of 2021
 
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For the same reason Rangers of 2016 isnt really relevant to Rangers of 2021
Well is last season relevent?

They qualified for the Champions League group stage and finished third in a group with Porto, Man City and Marsielle as well as winning the Greek league at an absolute canter.
 
We focus 100% on Malmö first and foremost. If we get by them we have a real fighting chance against whoever we face. Some our best to performances under Gerrard have come on the European stage , it just seems to suit the system we play. The most encouraging thing these days is we go up against teams in Europe with genuine confidence now because we are so well prepared. That in itself gives me a buzz .
 
Olympiakos have definitely benefited in the last decade from the Greek coefficient being high enough to ensure the Greek league winners gain automatic entry. Now it's not the case.

2011/12, 2012/13. 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16 they played in the CL group stage automatically.

2016/17 Put out by Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the qualifiers.
2017/18 they qualified for the CL group by beating Partizan Belgrade and Rijeka
2018/19 they played in the Europa League, didn't play CL qualifiers.
2019/20 they qualified for the CL group by beating Viktoria Plzen, Istanbul Basaksehir and Krasnodar
2020/21 they qualified for the CL group by beating Omonia Nicosia.

Looking at that, we are the toughest side they are going up against in a qualifier for the CL in a decade. They won't be relishing playing us. Yes they've played a lot of CL group stage football however in qualifiers they haven't had any real difficult draws. Now they potentially have one.
 
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Well is last season relevent?

They qualified for the Champions League group stage and finished third in a group with Porto, Man City and Marsielle as well as winning the Greek league at an absolute canter.
Yeah it is, which is why teams Like Zagreb and Salzburg are better than them and people on here are happy to get Olympiakos instead :))
 
The games against Arsenal, Brighton and Madrid show their importance now. Testing ourselves against bigger budgets, playing in better leagues with some real stars (less so the middle one!).

It is a tie we are capable of winning, should we progress past Malmo first. Teams consistently appearing in the Group Stage is the level we should now be aiming at.
 
Well is last season relevent?

They qualified for the Champions League group stage and finished third in a group with Porto, Man City and Marsielle as well as winning the Greek league at an absolute canter.
I’d be confident of coming second in that group to be fair, but I kind of agree with your line of thinking.

No diddy games at this stage, that said, I am happier with them than Prague or Salzburg.
 
Yeah it is, which is why teams Like Zagreb and Salzburg are better than them and people on here are happy to get Olympiakos instead :))
What makes it so obvious that Zagreb and Salzburg are better but?

I just don't get how people are jumping to this conclusion.
 
Mouth watering tie for us and our players, we will need to be 100% to have a chance of getting through. Matters not a jot if we don't take care of the Swedes first though.
 
What makes it so obvious that Zagren and Slazburg are better but?

I just don't get how people are jumping to this conclusion.
Theres not much between any of the teams in the playoffs but Zagreb were class in the Europa League last season knocking out spurs and both them and Salzburg were only knocked out by the eventual winners. Salzburg had a much tougher CL Group too and still managed 3rd place. Id argue both their squads are clearly stronger than Olympiakos too.
 
Malmo tie is the big 1. Get through you're guaranteed EL football and 4.2 million if you don't make CL. Get by Malmo it's all gravy.
 
Theres not much between any of the teams in the playoffs but Zagreb were class in the Europa League last season knocking out spurs and both them and Salzburg were only knocked out by the eventual winners. Salzburg had a much tougher CL Group too and still managed 3rd place. Id argue both their squads are clearly stronger than Olympiakos too.
Devils advocate here, Salzburg only took points off Lokomotive in their CL a group but I do agree with pretty much everything they’ve said.
 
I see Olympiakos as the same sort of calibre as Galatasaray and we were brilliant v them. Never gonna be easy no matter who we play, and we still have Malmö first, but I back our boys all the way.
 
RB Salzburg were the toughest team by a distance. If you look at the Olympiakos friendly fixtures, you will see they just got pumped 3-0 by Salzburg.
Friendlies mean nothing. There is no comparison to be made based on friendlies. I'd say RB and Olympiacos are of a similar standard but going by the Greeks record over the last decade I'd want to avoid a game in Athens in summer against a side who play well at home and have a very strong record of getting through these qualifying ties. It'll be tough whoever...Malmo will be tough as well.
 
Friendlies mean nothing. There is no comparison to be made based on friendlies. I'd say RB and Olympiacos are of a similar standard but going by the Greeks record over the last decade I'd want to avoid a game in Athens in summer against a side who play well at home and have a very strong record of getting through these qualifying ties. It'll be tough whoever...Malmo will be tough as well.

Salzburg are much better I’d say along with Zagreb.

I’m only going on what I’ve seen with my own eyes though mate.

Saw all three of them last season.
 
Not gonna be easy, Olympiacos have qualified for the CL 20 times in the past 23 years. It is however the best draw we could have got, due to the current state of their squad
I knew they had a good record didnt know it was quite as many as 20 out of 2324.

Wont be easy be one or tough moments in both away legs i think we will get through though no probs, seems an ok draw anyway.. we are one of that group of a dozen sides with a real chance of winning the trophy.:)
 
Agreed.

Was a very favourable draw for us, big name and big name players - but not actually very good.
You look at the Olympiacos starting XI that lost to PAOK in the cup final last season for a good idea of how strong they’ll be.

It’s alright, and they’ve added Onyekuru from Monaco but it is definitely beatable.
 
Agree with many others it will certainly be a tough tie but really glad we avoided Salzburg. Assuming the seeded teams qualify they are the closest to us in terms of co-efficient (2 places above us) with Zagreb, Prague and Salzburg in that order.

Fingers crossed we play to our potential then we will have a decent chance of progressing but should we fall below our normal higher standards we will struggle.

Think Malmo will be a little tougher than some think as well. I dont think they are great shakes having watched them but its just the game comes early for us and we will miss Kamara. If we play at all though we will win.
 
Olympiacos tend to qualify for the CL and get more football from it (drop into UefaLg etc) No one else in the draw does that. That is impressive. It will be a tough tie should we meet them and anyone suggesting otherwise needs to dampen their enthusiasm. They were the toughest team in the draw. It's teams like this we have to beat though and it'll be a great challenge should we make it.
Exactly this.

If both Olympiakos and ourselves get through then there’s no doubt who the favourites are. However I fancy our chances as we have upset the perceived ‘favourites’ on numerous occasions over the last 3 years in Europe.

This will be a real test for Gerrard and the team but I’ve every faith in them.

First though we have another tricky tie against a team halfway thru their season to negotiate safely!
 
I had that very conversation about the EL versus the CL this morning Davie, but given where the club has been, and still is to an extent, financially I really would like us to get there, even though the football wouldn’t be as enjoyable from our selfish point of view.
Agree wholeheartedly, obviously the finances and the glamour of the Champions Leagues trumps the Europa but as a tournament I prefer it as you have a chance of playing more teams we haven’t faced before, albeit less sexy names but more of a chance of beating these teams and progressing, as proven with us topping our group last year.
 
Agree wholeheartedly, obviously the finances and the glamour of the Champions Leagues trumps the Europa but as a tournament I prefer it as you have a chance of playing more teams we haven’t faced before, albeit less sexy names but more of a chance of beating these teams and progressing, as proven with us topping our group last year.

Yes, SATM.

Some CL games I saw last season were quite boring. The teams are so good at keeping the ball it can take the excitement away.

Those Antwerp ties for instance were brilliant, albeit there were a lot of mistakes in the goals.
 
Exactly this.

If both Olympiakos and ourselves get through then there’s no doubt who the favourites are. However I fancy our chances as we have upset the perceived ‘favourites’ on numerous occasions over the last 3 years in Europe.

This will be a real test for Gerrard and the team but I’ve every faith in them.

First though we have another tricky tie against a team halfway thru their season to negotiate safely!
If we both go through, we”ll be favourites. It’ll be a hard tie but let’s not kid ourselves and build them up to be something their not. It’s the best draw we could have hoped for by far.
 
Exactly this.

If both Olympiakos and ourselves get through then there’s no doubt who the favourites are. However I fancy our chances as we have upset the perceived ‘favourites’ on numerous occasions over the last 3 years in Europe.

This will be a real test for Gerrard and the team but I’ve every faith in them.

First though we have another tricky tie against a team halfway thru their season to negotiate safely!
Dont know any of their players still im pretty sure Rangers would be shorter odds or favs to qualify. Not by much right enough, not huge favs but their record for getting there wont mean very much we can pretty much ignore that.

The other way to look at is Rangers aint been there for a long time and so our players, management, support will be as motivated as any side.
 
All our focus is on Olympiacos, but they are only a fairly marginal favourite to beat Ludogorets. The odds suggest it is the most marginal of all this weeks CL qualifiers.

Given there is a every chance we’ll be facing Ludogorets should we despatch Malmö. What is our thoughts on facing the Bulgarians?
 
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