2023/2024 CL (and UYL) Group B: Sevilla - Arsenal - PSV - Lens

[Dragonite]

UYL:



Congratulations Lens!


They already won the group.

Arsenal at the moment is the second worst team in UYL group stage, only Antwerp is worse.

Every time that they play the UYL they regress: quarterfinalists in their first participation, eliminated in the last 16 round in their second participation, eliminated in the playoff in their third participation, eliminated in the group stage in third place in their fourth participation, and now eliminated in the group stage bottom of the group in their fifth participation. They've reached rock bottom!

Congratulations Sevilla!


They are in a great position to advance from this group, all they need is a win in France, and even if they don't win in France they'll still advance if PSV doesn't win against Arsenal.

Even if they are eliminated here, at least they'll have more points than the senior team in the CL, and they also have already a 100% improvement compared to last season.


CL:



Congratulations Arsenal and PSV!



Arsenal won the group, and got the second biggest win in its CL history, alongside 6-0 vs Braga in 2010 and 6-0 vs Ludogorets in 2016. The biggest win is still 7-0 vs Slavia Praha in 2007.

It was also the biggest defeat in Lens' CL history, above 1-3 vs Dynamo Kyiv in 1998 and 1-3 vs Deportivo in 2002.

PSV "only" won 3-2, not 6-0, but it was actually much more remarkable!

They were losing 0-2, the turning point was Ocampos' red card in the 66th minute. After that they scored thrice and won the game and advanced from this group!

It's the first time that they advance from a CL group with three "top top whatevers".

Last time that they were in a CL group with three "top top whatevers" they finished bottom without a single win.

Perhaps these three "top top whatevers" aren't as much "top top whatevers" as the previous three were, and we should look at teams invididually and not just at where they come from.

Lens vs Sevilla will be a direct battle for the third spot, Lens must avoid defeat to keep it, while Sevilla must win to get it.

Actually Lens must win to avoid being the worst ever Lens in CL history, and a simple win won't suffice, they must win by at least five goals difference.

Sevilla must also win to avoid being the worst ever Sevilla in CL history. They're currently in the longest winless streak in their CL history, 6 matches (Manchester City, Lens, PSV, Arsenal x2 and PSV), alongside another winless streak of 6 from 2021 (Dortmund x2, Salzburg, Wolfsburg and LOSC x2), and in the second longest losing streak in their CL history. only behind 4 from 2015 (Juventus, Manchester City x2 and Mönchengladbach).

So if Sevilla wins in France I suppose that we can say that not only they "kill two birds with one stone", they'll actually kill an entire flock!

[mspm89]

So if Sevilla wins in France I suppose that we can say that not only they "kill two birds with one stone", they'll actually kill an entire flock!

Quite the right expression. One win and they'll go on to win the bloody EL again. Yawn.

[matt]

So if Sevilla wins in France I suppose that we can say that not only they "kill two birds with one stone", they'll actually kill an entire flock!

Quite the right expression. One win and they'll go on to win the bloody EL again. Yawn.

Sevilla hasn't won a game (Copa del Rey early rounds excluded) since September 26th!
In 9 away games (CL and league) they didn't win a single one.
Out of 9 home games (CL and league) Lens lost only one.

Having said all of this, do i still think Sevilla will win in Lens on Tuesday and will go all the way in the EL again? Yes, i do.

[Firnen]

Prediction

1. Arsenal
2. PSV
3. Sevilla
4. Lens

I'm very pleased to miss a perfect prediction here with Lens getting 3rd place ahead of Sevilla!

[aekFC4everNEW]

Prediction

1. Arsenal 12-15 points
2. PSV 8-12
3. Sevilla 7-10
4. Lens 4-7

I overestimated Sevilla here. A LOT...

[Dragonite]

UYL:


Congratulations Sevilla!


They could have been eliminated here after only getting a 1-1 draw in France. PSV vs Arsenal started one hour after Lens vs Sevilla's start, and PSV only needed a win against last placed Arsenal to get the second spot.

However, PSV lost, so Sevilla kept the second place.

Now Sevilla will play its next UYL match in France again, this time against Nantes.

It will be their fifth different French opponent, after Lyon (2-0-0), LOSC (1-1-0), Paris (0-0-1) and Lens (0-1-1).

For PSV it's the end of the road. First time that they lost two UYL games in a row.

Arsenal at the moment is the second worst team in UYL group stage, only Antwerp is worse.

Arsenal at least interrupted its winless streak of 8 UYL matches (Ludogorets, Paris, Basel, PSV, Lens, Sevilla x2 and Lens), and instead of being the second worst team in UYL group stage became the second best last placed team, only behind Paris.

UYL Prediction:
1. Lens
2. PSV
3. Arsenal
4. Sevilla

I was right about Lens winning the group, and wrong about the rest.


CL:


Congratulations Lens!


Third time that they play the CL, and third time that they finish the group stages with 8 points. This was actually the worst of the three, goal difference was -1 in the first in 1998/1999, 0 in the second in 2002/2003, and this time it was -5.

Sevilla must also win to avoid being the worst ever Sevilla in CL history. They're currently in the longest winless streak in their CL history, 6 matches (Manchester City, Lens, PSV, Arsenal x2 and PSV), alongside another winless streak of 6 from 2021 (Dortmund x2, Salzburg, Wolfsburg and LOSC x2), and in the second longest losing streak in their CL history. only behind 4 from 2015 (Juventus, Manchester City x2 and Mönchengladbach).

So if Sevilla wins in France I suppose that we can say that not only they "kill two birds with one stone", they'll actually kill an entire flock!

Worst ever Sevilla in CL history.
Longest winless streak in Sevilla's CL history
Joint longest losing streak in Sevilla's CL history

Diego Alonso, the incompetent (partially) responsible for this humiliation, already fired.

Compared to Erik Fourteen Hag, I only can't say that Diego Alonso is fully responsible for what happened here because:
1) He only arrived after round 2 so these aren't "his players"
2) Unlike Manchester United, Sevilla didn't spend 450M€ over the last two seasons in new players, they "only" spent 48M€.

He had to win the match in France to stay alive, only had 7 players in the subs bench instead of the allowed 12, and only used one substitution!!

This is the same guy that last year in charge of Uruguay couldn't even progress from the World Cup group stages.

He may have been successful in CONCACAF, but looking at his results in Uruguay and Sevilla, I think he'll be in trouble to get a job at a meaningful club or national team.

Prediction:
1. Sevilla
2. Arsenal
3. PSV
4. Lens

I was wrong about everything here. Still hard to believe that a team that only a few months ago won EL eliminating PSV, Fenerbahçe, Manchester United, Juventus and Roma, now here couldn't win a single game!!!

Do they need to play on Thursdays and listen to a different anthem to play properly?

[Polak]

1. Arsenal
2. PSV
3. Lens
4. Sevilla

I guessed Sevilla would choke in the CL once again, as they often do. I did not expect them to be so bad as to finish below Lens though. Perhaps things would have been different if not for that red card when they were 2-0 up against PSV. That seems to have changed the match. Ifs and buts though. The red card happened and Sevilla fell to pieces. Well done PSV for qualifying as I predicted. And well done to Lens who most people probably expected to be bottom of the group, for finishing 3rd.