FIXTURES - Aug 17: Marseille v Celtic.
Aug 31: Celtic v Barcelona.
Sept 14: Man City v Barcelona; Celtic v Marseille.
Sept 28: Barcelona v Marseille.
Oct 5: Marseille v Man City.
Oct 19: Man City v Celtic; Marseille v Barcelona. Nov 2: Barcelona v Man City.
Nov 9: Celtic v Man City.
Nov 23: Man City v Marseille; Barcelona v Celtic.

FIXTURES - Aug 17: Liverpool v Sporting.
Aug 18: Molde v Wolfsburg.
Aug 31: Sporting v Wolfsburg; Molde v Liverpool. Sept 14: Liverpool v Wolfsburg.
Sept 21: Sporting v Molde.
Sept 29: Liverpool v Molde.
Oct 5: Wolfsburg v Liverpool; Molde v Sporting. Oct 19: Wolfsburg v Sporting.
Nov 2: Wolfsburg v Molde.
Nov 23: Sporting v Liverpool.

FIXTURES Aug 17: Basle v Tottenham.
Aug 31: Basle v PSV; Tottenham v Inter Milan.
Sept 14: Inter Milan v PSV.
Sept 28: Inter Milan v Basle; PSV v Tottenham.
Oct 19: Basle v Inter Milan; Tottenham v PSV. Nov 2: Inter Milan v Tottenham; PSV v Basle.
Nov 23: Tottenham v Basle; PSV v Inter Milan.

FIXTURES Aug 24: Ajax v Rosenborg; A Villa v Fenerbahce.
Sept 7: Rosenborg v A Villa; Ajax v Fenerbahce.
Sept 21: A Villa v Ajax; Fenerbahce v Rosenborg.
Oct 5: Rosenborg v Ajax; Fenerbahce v A Villa. Oct 12: Rosenborg v Fenerbahce.
Nov 2: Fenerbahce v Ajax; A Villa v Rosenborg.
Nov 23: Ajax v A Villa.

RedEyesWhiteBeard wrote:they are decided by who actually wants to join

Eman wrote:No...Arsenal?

Seriously though, this should be interesting.

Manchester City will face Barcelona in the headline fixture of a Champions League-style tournament for Under 19s this season.
Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa are also in the tournament, dubbed the NextGen Series, which will consist of 16 clubs in four groups. City have also been paired with Celtic and Marseille.
After England’s disappointing first-round exit from the Under 21 European Championship, the competition is seen as the ideal platform to improve the quality of opposition for younger players and give them valuable experience of an elite competition.

Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea are waiting to come in next season, along with Ajax.
The inaugural line-up has been determined by invitation and recommendation, influenced by the quality of each club’s academy. There is one more place to be confirmed. NextGen is the brainchild of former Watford academy manager Mark Warburton and will pit some of the best young sides in Europe against each other home and away in a tournament that will start in August with the knockout stages in January. Sportsmail revealed how the project was being formulated last year when Manchester City played Ajax in a friendly in Amsterdam. City are considered to be major players in the development of this tournament as they increase their profile around the world.

All the fixtures are yet to be finalised but it is understood that Villa are in a group with Norway’s Rosenborg and Fenerbahce of Turkey, and City and Barcelona will face Celtic and Marseille. The top two teams in each group will go forward to a finals competition. TV rights are being negotiated and the finals could be staged in Abu Dhabi. Warburton, a former professional footballer who established the Harefield Academy and helped Watford become the first English professional club to combine full-time academic learning and football, pioneered the competition to help prepare promising young players for top-level football. He is now sporting director at League One club Brentford, and said: ‘Apart from the exceptional few who jump straight to the first team, many promising young players graduating from academies were not provided with enough consistent high-quality football challenges.

Although the costs will be high, clubs have jumped at the idea as they look to improve the quality of players graduating from their academies and, crucially, tempt top young players from other clubs with the chance of playing in Europe.
Liverpool and Chelsea are among the clubs to have raised concerns about the level of investment in their academies and how it has failed to correlate with the end product. Now they hope this can help bridge the gap in the development of young stars.
It is expected that the competition will grow as more heavyweight clubs rush to join in. The early European Cup, launched in 1955-56, also started as a relatively small competition and then mushroomed.

bhends wrote:guiltybystander who were you on the old forums?

totalvoetbaal? smoochy?

Sportsmail's Simon Jones answers the key questions after revealing the news that Premier League sides Manchester City, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Liverpool will be part of the NextGen Series - a Champions League style tournament for Under 19 teams...


So, the NextGen Series. A Champions League tournament for teenagers. Can you throw a few ringers in?


No, not quite. The organisers want to lay down strict guidelines for the Under-19 tournament but, similar to the Under-21 set-up, they will allow three players over-aged players (no older than 20) to join the squad. The idea is to encourage the use of younger players too, such as 16-year-old Raheem Sterling at Liverpool.

Where are they going to play? In the park next to the swings?

Er, no. NextGen want the tournament to mimic the Champions League where possible. Fenerbahce and Molde want games to be played in their grounds and Liverpool may allow their first match to take place at Anfield depending on pre-season fixtures. Celtic will try to use Celtic Park but Manchester City's stars of the future will walk out at Hyde's ground for home games. Playing at smaller venues is seen as a good idea if it helps generate good crowds and provides a good atmosphere.

Why aren't Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United in it?

Organiser Mark Warburton, who is also Brentford's sporting director, and his business partners already had good relationships with certain clubs from his academy days at Watford. That has played a part in the initial invites but plans are afoot to bring in other teams from next season if all goes well as they look to expand to 24 teams. As Liverpool, Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester City are already in the competition there was a strong desire to bring in more foreign sides to improve the variety of opposition.

So, how often will they be playing?

No, It will be similar to the Champions League, with fixtures starting from September 15 and scheduled for two or three week intervals. There are four groups of four teams who will play each other home and away. So that's six games each up until the end of November. The top two teams from each group will go through to a finals tournament in January that is likely to be held in Abu Dhabi.

But does this mean the end for reserve teams?

No. Manchester City have stopped playing in the reserve league but it is to tailor the needs of their elite development squad. City academy director Mark Allen said: 'Far from the reserves going away, it is actually getting stronger and more focused, and what the fans will see is more relevant football for that development stage.' As Warburton points out it is more to do with consistency of opposition. Some clubs do not want their young players turning up to face a load of first teamers coming back from injury. They believe playing against similar level opposition on a consistent basis is more beneficial.

Can I watch it on the telly?

Negotiations are underway but due to scheduling demands it is more likely to be on an ad hoc basis if at all this season. There may be a deal sorted for the finals. Clubs wanted flexibility with fixtures so that it doesn't cut across any domestic programme either. Strict TV scheduling would get in the way just now. If the tournament is a success then next year may see more TV coverage.

Won't it just be a feeding frenzy for the big clubs to lazily pick up the best talent?

It is to an extent but some of the clubs taking part such as Molde and Sporting Lisbon rely on producing good young talent to keep their club alive. They often have to sell and this is an ideal showcase for any talented players coming through. By the same token, if you are young and already playing in a top level tournament you may decide this club is where you should stay.

What's the main objective? Money?

The more cynical fans may think that. But clubs have struggled to agree to it in the first place because of the expense of taking teams round Europe and putting them up in hotels. As Chris McCart of Celtic's youth set-up said: 'Our purpose is to try and develop a Champions League player and it will expose them to that and replicate what that’s like at first-team level. We are confident the players will gain experience which will be vital to them in terms of the style of play and the travelling. We can also offer players the opportunity of playing against the likes of Barcelona and Man City on the big stage and in stadia, so it’s excellent from our recruitment point of view, too. We have signed up to it for the next three years and we are really excited about it.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2006964/Q-A-NextGen-Series.html#ixzz1Seo5U6fg

Crimson wrote:No Madrid, no Manchester United, no Juve, no Milan, no Bayern; no party