UEFA Champions League Knockout: How far do you think we can go?

This thread can double up as the live draw thread for next Friday, if it doesn't die before then...

Anyway, after having a good laugh at the expense of the Manchester clubs - and Nasri's - expense, I got to thinking about our chances in this year competition. If we take a look at the teams that went through:

Bayern Munich
Napoli
Inter Milan
CSKA Moscow
Benfica
Basel
Real Madrid
Lyon
Chelsea
Leverkusen
Arsenal
Marseille
APOEL
Zenit
Barcelona
Milan

It's clear to me that the tournament is Barcelona's and Real Madrid's to lose, with Milan and Bayern being in with a very good chance.

Now if we look at the teams who we can draw in the last 16:

Napoli
CSKA Moscow
Basel
Lyon
Leverkusen
Zenit
Milan

Apart from Milan and maybe Napoli, I'd fancy our chances against any of those teams. They'll be tricky ties, but I think we're well capable of getting through.

Now if we avoid Barcelona, Real Madrid, Milan or Bayern in the quarter-finals, suddenly we'd be in with a chance to reach the semi's... and if you're in the semi's, you've got just a good a chance of winning as everybody else has.

At risk of getting carried away, I believe that, now that both United and City have failed to qualify, we've got a good chance progressing far this year provided we avoid the big boys. The same could be said for the likes of Chelsea, Napoli, Lyon and Moscow too. It's quite an even tournament beyond the big boys.

So what do you think? Are the semi-finals realistic for us this year? Or do you see us struggling in the last 16 and crashing out?

I am going to play devil advocate here....i want us to go out and concentrate on the league.

We just don't have a team strong enough to win the competition, our best shot at a trophy is the FA cup.

FINAL FFS..

WIN IT FOR LIVERPOOOL

NO AJAX
JUST GO THROUGH quarter final for our coefficient then get RM AND thats fun atleast going out on hands of best teams
---------
and RG you prefer Lyon to Ajax
how on eatrh you enjoy watchin FRANCE NT im france fan but with na$$ri and evra

It's between us and Basel

Seriously though, we could win it, but we'll need to be consistent and not lose key players to injury if we want any shot at it. We should do our best to get top 4 between now and when the knockout stages resume so that we can afford to focus on the CL a little bit more - at the moment, winning the EPL isn't a realistic target.

January injections are necessary if Wenger really wants to go as far as the semis or the big final.

highburied wrote:January injections are necessary if Wenger really wants to go as far as the semis or the big final.

If Wenger doesn't strengthen and refresh the squad in January....he will undo all the good work he has done with the team

Napoli, CSKA Moscow, Basel, Lyon, AC Milan, Leverkusen and Zenit.

Zenit and CSKA are the ones we want.

All trick in their own right though.

Avoid AC and Napoli at all costs.

gunnerlistick wrote:

highburied wrote:January injections are necessary if Wenger really wants to go as far as the semis or the big final.

If Wenger doesn't strengthen and refresh the squad in January....he will undo all the good work he has done with the team

Completely right.

First 11 wise, we can beat anyone. But that's in ideal conditions with everyone fit, in form and happy, which is doubtful.

The league and CL are a war of attrition where usually only the big teams have a fair chance, due to huge squad depth and quality. We don't have the squad depth, although we do have the quality. We definitely need some reinforcements come January, because as we saw yesterday our bench is very mehtastic. We're also still fighting on 4 fronts and this saps strength and energy.

Get a few new players in, and we can go far, I'd say. Semi finals sounds fine to me. What I'd rather have is us not imploding as usual in the 2nd half of the season. I'd like to think our usual implosion ocurred at the start of the season and we'll be fine and dandy until it ends. No more Carling Cup Collapses, please

As long as we dont face Barcelona I dont care who comes our way.

Dick http://pic.twitter.com/UGzWGz1s

Samuelj29060 wrote:Dick http://pic.twitter.com/UGzWGz1s

Kompany wants Europa League success.

Raptorgunner wrote:

Samuelj29060 wrote:Dick http://pic.twitter.com/UGzWGz1s

Kompany wants Europa League success.

:arrow: Europa league is this way

I wouldn't be mad if we bowed out in the semi's. There's every chance of winning it, but I think we'd seriously need to prioritise on securing a top four finish. With spud and l'pool still in the mix, the league is definitely looking like a solid top six-mix.

p.s. what a fickled blinkered fan. Thinking citeh would do the CL. I bet that prick also put a fat wager on them to win it too. Not to mention...Shit tattoo!

Arsenal have the ability and can go all the way to win it. Their performances have dictated they can as the defence looks better then ever while the mid is a great combination of silk'n steel.

The problem atm is depth, which is why Wenger will need to dive into the mercato once again and see out his options with his solid transfer fund.

We don't even need THAT many players, just 1-2 ! Like Wenger said, if he's going to buy someone, he should only buy someone with remarkable ability.

Evra: "Even if it is a friendly, when I pull on United shirt I do my best to win that trophy. But it is embarrassing to be in the Europa League."

Well i guess that's the difference between Arsenal and Man Utd; they're playing in the boys league, we're playing in the mens league.

semi finals is a good possibility if we can avoid ac milan in the first tie.. And we can defeat anyone but doing it consistently against top teams might be a problem.. So with some luck with the fixture list we can even win it...

Call me crazy but provided we have a little luck I think we can take the cake. And by 'a little luck' I mean a lot of luck. And by 'take the cake' I mean draw Milan and lose in the Round of 16

Fingers crossed we should make it to the semis.

imv, the only teams that i am scared of all topped the group.i really dont think Milan\Napoli have what it takes to knock us out. unless we meet Barca or Madrid along the way, we have a good chance of winning it. here is to hoping we avoid them until the final!!!!