UEFA Club Rankings - Leverkusen at 24th place

Cooperfan said:
We were 206th in Europe last summer. We're now 94th based on results this season. There won't be any further jump unless we win more coefficient points.

I think we were ranked top 20 when we went into administration.
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We were 50th that season, 08/09 really killed our 5 year average.
 
govwalker said:
This lot ain't a Barcelona or Juve or Liverpool like some are making out.

A slight step up but we've taken 4 points already off a team even higher ranked.
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And they spanked Porto home and away. They're not in the Liverpool or Barca bracket, but they have already beaten Atletico Madrid this season too. The truth is they are somewhere between this and the best team in Europe. They're more than a slight step up - not many teams win at both Dortmund and Bayern as they have done recently, and we'll have to be at our best - but we can do this
 
Seen them a few times this season and their forwards Bailey and Volland are dynamite, clinical. Not so great at the back and have a couple of benders in the team.
 
At Europa league level, we have a fighting chance versus anyone. Maybe not against top CL teams but this level isn't beyond us at all.
 
Tough tie for sure but at this stage, nobody is easy. Leverkusen sit below Porto who we’ve both disposed of and similar standing to Villarreal who we would have put out in a head to head last season due to away goals. We know we have improved from last season and I don’t think anyone can tell where we truly sit in the current rankings or how well we will fare. Suffice to say all teams are capable of going through at this stage and there’s never a round go by without a surprise or 3. We’ve pulled a few ourselves this season, including the dumping of an in form, top scoring team of the tournament home and away. League form, coefficient ranking and history has had little bearing on our success so far. Long may the surprises continue.
 
Interesting point from the round of 32 - only 5 of the 16 teams qualified having played at home in the 2nd leg. Of those teams only one - Istanbul - overcame a 1st leg deficit. All others had a positive result in the first leg and took at least an away goals lead into the second leg.

To look at it another way - 9 teams took a lead into the second leg after playing at home first. Of those only Sporting failed to qualify and that required an injury time equaliser to get to extra team and then a very late penalty to knock them out.

So if we can get a positive result at Ibrox, it does put us in a strong position.
 
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A tough draw but I think we have a decent chance of progression, the way our team is set up for euro ties I reckon playing away in the second leg suits us , any kind of positive result at Ibrox in the first leg and we will be hard to beat over in Germany
 
To proceed in any competition, you can only beat who stands in your way regardless of stature or reputation.
We go into this tie on our own merits not those of our opponents.
 
Billiericky said:
We go into this match with no fear. The players will love playing and, if nothing else, will learn a lot about playing against big players in big teams in big matches. They will be better players after the match than they are now. A great education for them.
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Agreed. This stage for us is a free hit. Would we have thought we would get this far last July when we started?
The players can go out and enjoy themselves and give it their all and who knows.
 
We have a fantastic opportunity in this tie. A positive result at Ibrox would set things up for us in the return.
 
Clay Davis said:
Kaiserslautern the year after Dortmund as well.

Second leg of that was pretty grim. Sure it started before I’d even finished school
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Yeah, I only saw extra-time and the penalty shootout as I was at work. Think they got a last minute goal to take it extra-time.
 
drgriffen said:
Yeah, I only saw extra-time and the penalty shootout as I was at work. Think they got a last minute goal to take it extra-time.
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That was an awful game! I was still at school at the time and I remember being absolutely gutted as they were not a good side and we absolutely blew it. Better results against German sides since though.
 
Clay Davis said:
Kaiserslautern the year after Dortmund as well.

Second leg of that was pretty grim. Sure it started before I’d even finished school
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Just read that Kaiserslautern are in the 3rd division. Didn't realise things had gone so bad for them.
 
bigy said:
Interesting point from the round of 32 - only 5 of the 16 teams qualified having played at home in the 2nd leg. Of those teams only one - Istanbul - overcame a 1st leg deficit. All others had a positive result in the first leg and took at least an away goals lead into the second leg.

To look at it another way - 9 teams took a lead into the second leg after playing at home first. Of those only Sporting failed to qualify and that required an injury time equaliser to get to extra team and then a very late penalty to knock them out.

So if we can get a positive result at Ibrox, it does put us in a strong position.
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Good post. I think it suits us to play home first. Any kind of lead from the first leg gives us a chance as we should be looking to score with our pace on the break, especially a 1-0 lead. We dont want to be chasing the game against this mob at any point.
 
In 2007 we looked alarmingly poor against FK Zeta as we expected to beat them with ease but most of the games that year went pretty much the same way regardless of the opposition.

0-0 at home to Barcelona with two decent chances to win it. Only game that was different was Lyon at home but I'd argue that we were chasing an equaliser at that point, which we should have got with Darcheville squandering a chance that was harder to miss. Then of course the run to the final.

This year we didn't beat Progres or Legia convincingly and a lot of us would have been happy with a respectable amount of points on the board in the group that we were in. Porto, Feyenoord and Young Boys are all quality teams and that shouldn't be dismissed. The tie against Braga was all but over after a screamer of a goal and a mistake but we've never say died ourselves past them as well.

It doesn't happen every year but when we're on it we give ourselves a chance against anyone. We've lost one game in Europe this year from a goal in the last minute in a place that some big teams have found to be a nightmare.

We've shown that we can defend after Braga, we have Allan McGregor and players in attack who can hurt teams.

Leverkusen is daunting but so were the last four teams we've faced, the win at the Knew Camp can be included in that. Let Leverkusen think we're no problem, I much prefer when we're underdogs anyway. It can be done.
 
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