CL Group A: PSG - Arsenal - Basel - Ludogorets

[Dragonite]

Comments about the teams, predictions…

[bermuda3eck]

Paris
Arsenal
Basel
Ludogorets 0-1pt

Arsenal can be dangerous for 1st but also for 3rd

[Malko]

1) Paris 2) Arsenal

[og2002gr]

Paris Saint Germain: after they got rich and became CL regulars, they have 4/4 quarter-finals participations.
Even if they have only beaten Chelsea, they are considered to be a top 8 (or top 6) team. Previous seasons they didn't have problem finishing above teams like Porto, Benfica, Olympiacos, Ajax, Dynamo Kyiv, so they shouldn't have problem finishing above Basel. Question is will they finish over Arsenal?

Arsenal: they are so comfortable in Group Stage, that they progress even by giving away wins against Dinamo Zagreb, or Olympiacos at home and still qualify! Basel is maybe more experienced and with some "English" success, still Arsenal in last 16 is the most usual thing in CL GS

Basel: established as "the best of the rest" with constant participations in spring knock-outs, they may put pressure in their opponents. Still they don't have much luck in this group, since Arsenal is not Liverpool (2014) and CL is not EL (Tottenham).

Ludogorets: they have already participated in CL, they have already beat teams like Partizan, Steaua and Victoria Plzen. Next level should be pressing teams like Basel and reach 3rd place.

1. PSG 65%
2. Arsenal 60%
3. Basel 45%
4. Ludogorets 30%

[Thunder_PT]

Previous seasons they didn't have problem finishing above teams like Porto

They did, actually. They lost in Porto and if it wasn't for Porto's draw in Kiev (when they didn't push that much for the win as a draw was enough to qualify, but still hit the bar), PSG would have needed more than the 2-1 win in the last matchday to conquer the top spot.

[hertolo]

It's very hard to make predictions before Match Day 1 as you can't really tell the strengths of the teams (at least for me as a casual fan), but my guess is that the success in this group has been already decided by the programme. PSG-Arsenal on MD1 should determine the placement for spot 1, and Basel-Arsenal being on MD 6 means that everything should stay open till the end if all goes "normally". But of course, that never happens. Basel has invested the most in their history, so "we" are definitely ambitious. But then we got two top tier clubs after missing pot 2 by one place... Still, PSG seems to have lost something with the loss of Ibra and that Brazilian Chelsea guy (you see the depth of my knowledge), and Arsenal well has always seemed weaker than the other 3 English Clubs in the CL (whoever they were). This is of course my own optimism wanting to downplay these teams and has nothing rational in it. Still, it's finally time for Champions League again and I'm just happy and interested. (though I really have no idea on how strong Ludogorets will be this time around - history says 6 wins in a row sound unlikely....)

[bugylibicska]

Arsenal better set for deep run in Champions League, says Arsène Wenger
• Manager confident new signings can ensure progress

Arsène Wenger believes Arsenal’s heavy investment this summer and greater experience throughout their squad leaves them better placed to force passage into the latter stages of the Champions League than in recent seasons as he prepares to lead the club into a 19th successive campaign in the competition.

The Premier League club, who have exited Europe in the last 16 in each of the past six seasons, have been handed the daunting task of competing with Paris Saint-Germain in Group A.

(I hope he meant the Europe League, so Arsenal finally have a chance for silverware.)

[BurningStorm]

1. PSG 12
2. Arsenal 11
3. Basel 5
4. Ludogorets 4

1 & 2 and 3 & 4 could change. Don't know if PSG are still that good without Ibra. In the Ligue 1, they are not (so far). And Ludogorets did a good job a few years ago, could be 3rd.

[bugylibicska]

Arsène Wenger’s iPhone artistes

BIG CUP IS BACK, BABY!

Beep, beep! It’s mid-September and that can only mean one thing: time for Wile E Arsène Wenger to embark on another Big Cup group expedition with as much optimism as a cartoon coyote hunting a c0cky roadrunner. Beep, beep!

Wenger goes into his latest campaign hoping it’ll be 958th time lucky and believing that he now has a particularly crafty armoury, Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Pérez having recently been delivered by the Acme corporation. And what more fitting place for Arsenal to begin their latest European adventure than in Paris, city of lights, love and Arsenal goalkeeper malfunctions, from David Seaman being lobbed by Nayim to Samuel Eto’o being mowed down by Jens Lehmann. En garde, Petr Cech!

But let’s not write off Arsenal. Because PSG can be just as creative as Wenger’s iPhone artistes when it comes to finding ways to muck up in Europe. The Qatari advertising agency’s new manager, Unai Emery, is already wowing Ligue 1 observers with a bold attempt to reframe Laurent Blanc as a tactical wizard and there are reports that he has a novel stunt in store for Tuesday night: French news-peddlars claim that with PSG weakened by knack, Emery plans to trial an avant garde lineup that includes Blaise Matuidi on the left wing. Hatem Ben Arfa, spurned by Emery, will be sitting in the stands, where cameras will no doubt pick him out every time Matuidi looks out of place … or a shot by Olivier Giroud hits him in the face. Beep, beep!

[Dragonite]

PGS’s main novelty compared to the previous season is their new coach Unai Emery. People know him as the guy that won three Europa Leagues for Sevilla. What they may not know is that in the Champions League his results are a lot worse, he lost almost half of his CL matches (12 defeats in 25).
They have a good squad and should advance from the CL groups for the fifth season in a row.

Arsenal makes fun of PSG’s four consecutive group stage qualifications, with its sixteen in a row (only Real Madrid has been doing it for longer). However, their party ends there, since PSG reached more quarter finals in the last four seasons than Arsenal in the last ten!
They were the group’s biggest spender, with over €100M in players like Mustafi, Granit Xhaka and Lucas.
They may have a threat in Basel that eliminated several English teams over the last seasons. But Arsenal is the least “English” of the English teams, just because their neighbours had problems with Basel in the past, it doesn’t mean that Arsenal will also suffer. Just like other English teams like Liverpool, Manchester United or Chelsea all won the CL recently, while Arsenal is still empty handed.

Basel is a club with a clever management. Clever management alone won’t save them here; they need one of PSG or Arsenal to make mistakes. If they don’t make mistakes, the best Basel can hope for is the third spot and continuing in the Europa League.
Finishing fourth and ending the campaign in December would be a disaster, the last time that it happened was in the 2009/2010 Europa League, in a group with CSKA Sofia, Fulham and Roma. It has some similarities with this group, a Bulgarian and an English opponent. The difference is that a third spot in an EL groups means nothing, while a third spot here means continuing in the EL last 32 round.

Ludogorets will play its third group stage in the last four seasons.
They won an EL group with Chernomorets, PSV Eindhoven and Dinamo Zagreb in 2013, and then they finished bottom of a CL group with Real Madrid, Basel and Liverpool in 2014.
This group looks a lot more like that 2014 CL group than with the 2013 EL group – Basel again, plus an English team, and PSG now instead of Real Madrid.
It means that Ludogorets is doomed to finish last? Maybe… But if they can get again four points, like they did in 2014, it will be good. And if they can get a couple more, perhaps they can even finish third and continue in the EL.


Prediction:
1. PSG
2. Arsenal
3. Basel
4. Ludogorets

[Malko]

well all equal after first game. But unluckier than PSG yesterday, nobody can be....even the last secondin extra-time, the ball did not want to enter the goal......but this way, PSG stays favorite of the group.

[Todor]

well all equal after first game. But unluckier than PSG yesterday, nobody can be....even the last secondin extra-time, the ball did not want to enter the goal......but this way, PSG stays favorite of the group.

PCH will be lucky to escape with a point in Sofia against Ludogorets in the next matchday .

[hertolo]

Two remis, meh...

It was to be expected, after 7 wins in 7 games to not get the best start in a real match. Just shows how weak the Swiss League has become. Against Ludogorets we obviously lacked a bit in attacking power, but the game was under control. But of course, you also need to score which we didn't. So it took quite a lot of effort to score that one goal - but maybe Arsenal and PSG will now underestimate us... Can't be happy though, but it's game 1. Hadn't had the time to look at PSG-Arsenal...

Oh, and btw. I would love to hear a Bulgarian comment on what happened in this video: https://twitter.com/ld_1893/status/776007772538302464 . (I'm sorry I can't find any better video at the moment)

[Malko]

Theyeloow/red card of Veratti seems to be invalidated by UEFA after protest from PSG after the game. By viewing the images, it is clear that Veratti did not do anything...it was Marquinhos who pushed Giroudafter the foul, and it should have been Marquinhos who should have got the yellow card. If this is confirmed, Veratti can play the next game of CL vs Ludogoretsk, which would be good news considering the quality of his match vs Arsenal.

[Dragonite]

Basel: established as "the best of the rest"

og2002gr,
What do you mean by “rest” here?
I suppose that “rest” doesn’t include France, since you consider PSG above Basel, and you should also consider the secondary French teams above the secondary Swiss teams (despite things like Sion above Bordeaux).
But does it include Russia? Ukraine? Or only the countries #9 and below?