| The U'sual Champions League Round of 16 Week 1 & 2 13:18 - Feb 16 with 2532 views | wessex_exile |
First off, my profound apologies for not even noticing (or probably caring) that the Champion's League was fast approaching. I have selected an addtional four games for next week from random competitions, to make up the numbers and ensure the full compliment of matches is available. Thereafter, it's back to the Round of 16 fixtures.
Congratulations to all the qualifiers, and commiserations to those who didn't quite make the cut. This will be the (unlucky) 13th season of the UCL, and my last running the competition. Alongside reigning champion RSCOSWORTH, this years competition includes Champions League heavyweight and record points scorer mfb_cufc making his tenth appearance in the finals. Also in the top five all-time points scorers in this competition are thrillseeker and noah4x4, both former winners of the competition. For the second year running, blueeagle, MrHappy2, Lewis_1 and Moor_Pinot have qualified, and it's second appearances for unitedwhites and oxfcolu, previously qualifying in 2021 and 2019 respectively. And finally, making their inaugural appearance in the U'sual Champions League, welcome to Madeira and GOSBTS.
Qualifiers
The qualifiers, in order of rank, are RSCOSWORTH, GOSBTS, mfb_cufc, Moor_Pinot, MrHappy2, noah4x4, Madeira163, Lewis_1, unitedwhites, oxfcolu, thrillseeker and blueeagle
Groups
Using a random number generator, the qualifiers have been drawn into the following 4 groups of 3 (Groups A, B, C, D) and play off against each other predicting all of the Round of 16 matches. The rankings in brackets after holder RSCOSWORTH is based on points tally at the time of qualification.
A: RSCOSWORTH (1)
A: mfb_cufc (3)
A: MrHappy2 (5)
B: Madeira163 (7)
B: unitedwhites (9)
B: thrillseeker (11)
C: GOSBTS (2)
C: Moor_Pinot (4)
C: noah4x4 (6)
D: Lewis_1 (8)
D: oxfcolu (10)
D: blueeagle (12)
Round of 16 matches to predict
21/02/2023: Blackburn Rovers v Blackpool (Championship)
21/02/2023: Plymouth Argyle v Cheltenham Town (EFL Trophy)
22/02/2023: Accrington Stanley v Bolton Wanderers (EFL Trophy)
22/02/2023: England v Belgium (Arnold Clark Cup)
21/02/2023: Eintracht Frankfurt v Napoli
21/02/2023: Liverpool v Real Madrid
22/02/2023: Inter Milan v FC Porto
22/02/2023: RB Leipzig v Manchester City
07/03/2023: Chelsea v Borussia Dortmund
07/03/2023: Benfica v Club Bruges
08/03/2023: Tottenham Hotspur v AC Milan
08/03/2023: Bayern Munich v PSG
14/03/2023: Manchester City v RB Leipzig
14/03/2023: FC Porto v Inter Milan
15/03/2023: Real Madrid v Liverpool
15/03/2023: Napoli v Eintracht Frankfurt
Basic stuff
As always, there will be no first-to-post tie-break deciders, only most spot-ons. However, given the problems encountered in previous competitions with competitors posting too many exact matches, for my final go at running the U'sual Champions League, this time around exact matches are not a thing, so predict as you see fit and we'll see how it pans out.
3pts for a spot-on result, 1pt for the correct outcome (home win, draw or away win). All predictions are the result at the end of normal time, extra-time and/or penalties will not count. Top two from each Group go through.
Quarter-finals
The Group qualifiers will then form two mini-leagues of 4, and play off against each other predicting all of the Quarter-final matches. Mini-leagues will be comprised as follows: Winner A, Runner-Up B, Winner C, Runner-up D and Runner-up A, Winner B, Runner-up C, Winner D.
Semi-finals
The top two from each mini-league will then be drawn from a hat to play off in head-to-head matches, all predicting the semi-final matches.
Final
The finalists will play-off predicting the Champions League Final, this will include predicting different aspects of the game, not just the score.
…and finally, tie-breaks
If a tie-break is needed in the Round of 16 or Quarter-finals, those involved will need to predict the attendance at the very next U's game on the Saturday after conclusion of the round (e.g. next U's game after the Round of 16 is Leyton Orient v U's on Sat 18th March).
Only those involved in the tie-break will need to make a prediction, so this can be done any time before kick-off on that Saturday. The closest to the right amount (above or below) will win the tie-break in their Group, so first to post will count here if necessary.
Tie-break rules for the Semi-final and Final will be announced in due course.
Good luck everyone!
[Post edited 18 Feb 2023 17:21]
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| The U'sual Champions League Round of 16 Week 1 & 2 on 14:57 - Mar 14 with 458 views | wessex_exile |
| The U'sual Champions League Round of 16 Week 1 & 2 on 11:24 - Mar 9 by wessex_exile |
The final two fixtures from Week 3 have finished:
Tottenham Hotspur 0 AC Milan 0 (AC Milan through 1-0 on aggregate)
Bayern Munich 2 PSG 0 (Bayern Munich through 3-0 on aggregate)
Group A
In the tightest group of the UCL, MrHappy2 and mfb_cufc go head to head at the top. MrHappy2 moves level at the top on 11 points, after predicting the Chelsea win spot-on, with another outcome completing an impressive four point haul. However, mfb_cufc remains the other favourite for qualification, with two outcomes from Week 3 to take his tally to an equal 11 points. RSCOSWORTH, with seven points, just about remains in touch for qualification, also with two outcomes in Week 3, but he needs some impressive scoring in Week 4 to achieve it.
Group B
With Madeira163 still a no show, it looks like an unopposed cakewalk towards qualification in Group B. In terms of seeding for the quarter-final draw, thrillseeker moves to the top of the table on ten points, after getting three outcomes in Week 3. unitedwhites, though, keeps him honest with two outcomes of his own to stay just one point behind on nine points.
Group C
With Moor_Pinot also a no-show in Group C, this again looks like easy qualification for the other two in the group. From level on points at the end of Week 2, noah4x4 moves clear top of the group on nine points, picking up an impressive five points in Week 3, including the Bayern Munich victory spot-on. He moves ahead of GOSBTS, despite getting a decent two outcomes of his own. With apparently only seeding to play for, a two point gap going into Week 4 is very slender.
Group D
At the end of Week 3, there are two clear favourites for qualification emerging. oxfcolu remains top with an impressive 13 points, after also picking up five points this week, again including the Bayern Munich victory spot-on. It's really no surprise that blueeagle remains second on ten points, given the two of them had identical predictions in Week 3 - these things will unfortunately happen. In 3rd place, Lewis_1 will probably feel aggrieved to have lost ground on the top two, even though his two outcomes in Week 3 gives him six points. Still, as with Group A, overcoming a four point deficit isn't necessarily impossible in Week 4.
...and finally, bear in mind that even in Groups B and C, where qualification seems a formality, tie-breaks may still be required to determine seeding for the quarter-final draw. As a reminder, the tie-break prediction will be the attendance at Leyton Orient v U's on Saturday 18th March. [Post edited 9 Mar 2023 22:01]
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Just a bump by way of reminder that Week 4 kicks off this evening. | |
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| The U'sual Champions League Round of 16 Week 1 & 2 on 18:01 - Mar 14 with 450 views | RSCOSWORTH |
Round of 16 (Match nights five and six of six)
14/03/2023: Manchester City v RB Leipzig 2-1
14/03/2023: FC Porto v Inter Milan 1-1
15/03/2023: Real Madrid v Liverpool 2-0
15/03/2023: Napoli v Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 |  |
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| The U'sual Champions League Round of 16 Week 1 & 2 on 11:42 - Mar 16 with 321 views | wessex_exile |
Week 4 of the Round of 16 matches concluded last night, with the following results:
Real Madrid 1 Liverpool 0 (Real Madrid through 6-2 on aggregate)
Napoli 3 Eintracht Frankfurt 0 (Napoli through 5-0 on aggregate)
The quarter-final draw will take place tomorrow, so I will start a new thread for the U'sual Champions League once the fixtures are known. As a heads-up, the quarter-finals will start on 11th April.
Group A
Picking up his third spot-on of the Round of 16, with the Napoli 3-0 victory last night, MrHappy2 eases into first place with an impressive 16 points. Consistent scoring from mfb_cufc, including three outcomes out of four in Week 4, means he holds onto the second qualifying place. Commiserations go to RSCOSWORTH, who was left ruing those missed Week 2 predictions. However, he still gave the others a decent run for their money, and with four outcomes out of four in Week 4, was only 3 points off qualification with 11 points.
Group B
As with Group A, this one went to the wire too, with unitedwhites clinching top spot thanks to correctly predicting the Liverpool 1-0 defeat last night, to top the group on 14 points. However, qualification for second place thrillseeker was pretty much guaranteed anyway, with the continued no-show from Madeira163, as he finished with 12 points.
Group C
A similar story in Group B, with noah4x4 consolidating his lead from Week 3 with three more outcomes, to win the group with 12 points. GOSBTS, in his debut in the UCL, takes the second qualification slot, finishing on 9 points. Unfortunately, Moor_Pinot continued to be a no-show through to the end.
Group D
With three outcomes each in Week 4, there were no late surprises in Group D. Equaling Mr Happy's three spot-on predictions, oxfcolu finishes top of the group on 16 points. The second qualifying place goes to blueeagle on 13 points, with commiserations to Lewis_1 who kept plugging away throughout, but couldn't close the gap to qualify with 9 points.
All of the above means there is no need for any tie-breaks at the end of the Round of 16, and the Quarter-final groups are as follows:
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