djcarlosf Posted June 10 Report Share Posted June 10 Liverpool will defend European crown LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) - Liverpool will be allowed to defend their Champions League trophy next season and UEFA has changed its rules for future competitions, European soccer's governing body said on Friday. Benitez: In for a busy summer. (Photography/Empics) Liverpool's failure to finish in the Premier League's top four meant they were not entitled to a place in next season's Champions League, despite lifting the trophy after a penalty shootout win over AC Milan in last month's final. UEFA's executive committee decided, however, in 'an exceptional decision' to allow them into the competition's first qualifying round, with their opening match on July 12 or 13. The draw for the first qualifying round takes place on June 24. To retain the Champions League title next season Liverpool would have to play 19 matches. It means that England will have five representatives in the competition, champions Chelsea, runners-up Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton and Liverpool. It is the first time any country has had five representatives in the continent's premier club competition and, according to UEFA, will be the last. UEFA's statement said the number of clubs allowed per national association 'will remain stable based on coefficient ranking.' From next season, a club winning the Champions League but finishing outside their country's allocation will qualify automatically at the expense of the lowest of the clubs above them. Liverpool's presence next season means that the four other English clubs' financial share in the Champions League will be reduced as the pot is cut five ways. 'There will be no country protection for Liverpool,' UEFA said, meaning they could be drawn against another English side, including city rivals Everton, if they progress to the latter stages. 'It was decided reasonably quickly, it was a consensus position,' UEFA spokesman William Gaillard told Sky Sports. 'The executive committee felt it was the best and wisest decision.' It is also good news for Fenerbahce, Wisla Krakow, and the teams vying for the Romanian league title. Because UEFA had always allocated a slot in the group stage for the holders, Liverpool's absence opened a slot that will now be filled by Turkish champions Fenerbahce, who originally would have had to play in the third qualifying round. Polish champions Wisla move up from the second qualifying round to the third, while the as-yet-unknown Romanian champions move up from the first qualifying round. Manchester City, who finished eighth in the Premier League, had hoped to take the UEFA Cup slot vacated by Liverpool but UEFA said that would not be the case and no extra club would go into the second-tier competition. The thorny problem of Liverpool's participation in next season's competition looked to be a non-issue at halftime in the final in Istanbul as Milan cruised into a 3-0 lead. But Liverpool's stunning three-goal blitz in six minutes turned the game on its head and a goalless period of extra time was followed by the English side's 3-2 victory in a penalty shootout. Liverpool's fifth European Cup provided a glorious end to what had been a frustrating domestic season. It meant a real headache for European soccer's ruling body, however, and its regulation of a maximum of four teams per country. England's Football Association had already made it clear that it would not follow a Spanish precedent by putting Liverpool forward at the expense of the Premier League's fourth-placed finishers, Everton. Real Madrid were crowned European champions in 2000 but finished fifth in the Primera Liga, prompting the Spanish FA to enter them for the following season's Champions League and relegate fourth-placed Real Zaragoza to the UEFA Cup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyface Posted June 10 Report Share Posted June 10 whos gives a shyt... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcodavalos Posted June 10 Report Share Posted June 10 It is great news for Liverpool , nevertheless ...It will be tuff for them to start in mid-July, it means getting ready for only 3 weeks, as June 27th was the start of training.The pre-season will be interrupted, and can take a toll towards the end of the season. The new contract with Gerard is not even finalized. Benitez has loooooots of planning to go thru.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digital7 Posted June 10 Report Share Posted June 10 Rumors have it that Milan Baros is on the way out to Valencia.. especially now that the Patrick Kluivert deal has hit a snag due to a pending knee injury. Dietmar Hamann has signed a one year contract keeping the CM in Ansfield one more season. CDM Igor Biscan is rumored to be on the way out along with CB Mauricio Pellegrino and Josemi. Im not sure how much longer CM Vlademir Smicer will be around either, the man is 32 years old.. Ive also heard rumors out of Liverpool that Benitez is trying to get CAM Pablo Aimar from Valencia.. possibly in conjunction with Milan Baros Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcodavalos Posted June 10 Report Share Posted June 10 Yep Danny ... that's quite accurate, eventhou Houlier is also trying to take Baros to Lyon, his new club.Milito, from Zaragoza is also being talked to come to Liverpool, along with Villareal's goalie Reyna.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcarlosf Posted June 10 Author Report Share Posted June 10 id keep baros Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digital7 Posted June 10 Report Share Posted June 10 id keep baros there wouldnt be a need for him.. especially if we land Pablo Aimar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcarlosf Posted June 10 Author Report Share Posted June 10 you mean YOU land aimar...remember im a red devil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digital7 Posted June 10 Report Share Posted June 10 fuck Manchester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mursa Posted June 10 Report Share Posted June 10 $$$$ talks ...and the English Association lobbied for 5 teams in the CL .........the right thing to do was send Everton to the UEFA cup , as did the Spanish league when the same senario occured in 2000 with Zaragoza giving up their spot to Real Madrid , and they played in the uefa cup . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcodavalos Posted June 10 Report Share Posted June 10 $$$$ talks ...and the English Association lobbied for 5 teams in the CL .........the right thing to do was send Everton to the UEFA cup , as did the Spanish league when the same senario occured in 2000 with Zaragoza giving up their spot to Real Madrid , and they played in the uefa cup .That will be the case next year, as per UEFA's decision today. The fact that the TV revenue will be divided into 5 and not 4 was already being protested by Everton In 2000, the FEF decided to allow Real Madrid to defend the title as their own decision, punishing Zaragoza. We all know the power of Real Madrid in La Liga and at FEF levels.It is fuct up as well that Brasil have to play the WCQ for Germany ... .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcarlosf Posted June 10 Author Report Share Posted June 10 fuck Manchester jealous much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcodavalos Posted June 11 Report Share Posted June 11 $$$$ talks ...and the English Association lobbied for 5 teams in the CL .........the right thing to do was send Everton to the UEFA cup , as did the Spanish league when the same senario occured in 2000 with Zaragoza giving up their spot to Real Madrid , and they played in the uefa cup .I think my buddy Chelseafan71 explained it best in another messageboard:Originally Posted by oceanicfrankly disgusting to me.English muscle at work at uefa, disgusting. Disgusting disgusting disgusting, i guess this is english fair play, one rule book for you guys and one rule book for everyone elseenglish muscle at UEFA???? you have to be kidding me - UEFA have taken every opportunity presented to shaft england and english teams for 2 decades - this decision is taken despite the fact that liverpool are english not because the are - and even then, they are earning less money, and having to play extra games earlier in the decision.But why was the decision taken at all? read on......Quote:Originally Posted by NellyOf course,it's all about the money.It's no surprise that immediately after the final,people from Milan were calling for Liverpools inclusion,backed up by the presidents of Madrid,Bayern and all the other major clubs in Europe.Why?.....because they realise that the same thing could happen to them and no one wants to miss out on the big bucks.This is just another example of UEFA crumbling under lobbying from the major clubs of Europe.It's got nowt to do with the prestige of the trophy being at stake.Well let's see if we can come up with any connection between Milan, madrid, Bayern and liverpool - - -wait a second - aren't they all part of "g14" - the group of 18 clubs that was organized to influence UEFA into putting their interests over those of other clubs - and extract the maximum amount of money from it (by periodically threatening to start their own league).Quote:Originally Posted by oceanicSecondly liverpool didn't deserve it, they were given a freebie, not for their hardwork, but becuase they are english. Real Zaragoza and real Madrid wern't given a place so where does the fairness come in? Liverpool didn't get a "freebie" because they are english, the FA were just clever enough to force UEFA, to cave in to the G14, where the spanish FA simply bowed to Real Madrid pressure. - and real madrid and real zarogoza were given a place - real madrid took it and it was entirely pdictable that real Madrid were going to get it - liverpool however do not have the same dominance over the FA, that real madrid enjoy over the spanish autorities.I believe that what we have here is NOT uefa crumbling before the influence of the FA (which is laughable considering the contempt in which eufa has traditionally held english football), what we have is the FA actually being a little clever, and playing the g14 against uefa. The FA had managed to put itself in a position, where it couldn't take the place away from everton without making itself look bad, but they knew that the g14 would be able to win the fight for it - strange as it may seem, the FA have managed to put one over on uefa, by getting someone else to do the work for them.Unlike in spain, where the spanish FA caved in to pressure from madrid, the FA decided not to give liverpool what they wanted, but to let the G14 fight the battle for them. - Arguably if the spanish FA had the balls to defy real madrid, this whole mess would have been sorted out 5 years ago with the same results and we could have saved a lot of time and effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mursa Posted June 11 Report Share Posted June 11 It is fuct up as well that Brasil have to play the WCQ for Germany ... .For what ....so teams like Bolivia or Venezuela can go instead ?? Cmon marco .......... South America is more or less spoiled in terms of WC teams that participate ...5 teams qualify in one big group of 10 . Europe they get around 17 spots but among nearly 60 nations . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digital7 Posted June 11 Report Share Posted June 11 actually, the top 4 qualify automatically from the group of 10...the 5th place team plays Oceania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcodavalos Posted June 11 Report Share Posted June 11 Mursa ... everytime we have a World Champ from South America, SA gets one less qualifying spot. Afterall ... since the modern days of football ... 1958 ... out of 12 WCs, 7 went to South America. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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