I know, only 4 teams for England, but Liverpool won it last year and came fifth.  The had to start in Qualifying Round 1 because the FA decided to give Everton the spot they rightfullt earned by finishing fourth.  What has changed? England had 5 sides last year in the Champions League (well, they would have if Everton managed the qualifying rounds). Why shouldn't The Arsenal also start their Champions Leauge campaign from Round 1 if they manage to beat Barcelona?  Someone please explain!
200467
Here's the UEFA ruling: Paragraph 1.03 of "Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2005/06"\n At the request of the national association concerned, the UEFA Champions League title-holders may be entered for this competition, as an additional representative of that association, if they have not qualified for the UEFA Champions League via the top domestic league championship. If in such a case, the title-holders come from an association entitled to enter four teams for the UEFA Champions League, the fouth-placed club in the top domestic league championship has to be entered for the UEFA Cup.
168361
Both teams were already knocked out of the Uefa Champions' League this year.\n\nNeither of the teams were in the Uefa cup either.\n\nSo I don't know which game you mean ?!?!?!?!
630349
Why not. england can attack from the very beginning. like germany did yesterday. give no room for ecuador to even breathe. They could leave crouch out though. and i wonder what sven was thinking when he chose the squad, he brought a 17yr old striker who he probably will never use, 2 stylish full-of-class strikers who happen to be coming of injuries and sadly not in form, and a dodo in the form of crouch, who moves so slow and has no dribbling skills, why didnt sven get more strikers?.. with lampard shooting the ball like a trigger-happy cowboy, its left to the midfield to get goals, gerrard,  j.cole and others. hopefully england perform better than they have so far.
631906
the qualifying stages aren't knock out, these are specally kept to tune the teams and clear are the pending warnings like yellow cards and stuff\n\nthe second round is a knock -out stage \nu lose and your out , there is no room for error\n\nlot of really good teams have lost in the second round like netherlands aussies and now spain \n\nfrance will meet brazil next and ofcourse will lose this time :)
484994
Sorry, but aar is actually completely wrong!!! Chelsea v Barcelona is not "considered" to be 3-2 at all, or 4-2 either!!!\n\nThey played two SEPERATE, different matches on a league basis.  Chelsea won at home 1-0, and drew away 2-2. The results are NOT added together at this stage in the competition.\n\nIn the  group qualification stages of the UEFA Champions League, within each group the teams play each other twice. So in a group of four teams, each team will play six matches. The winner of a match gets three points, and a draw gives one point to each side. So Chelsea have got 4 points from their two games with Barcelona, while Barcelona only have one point. \n\nAfter all the matches are played, if two sides are tied on points, the winner is the one with the better goal difference (that is total number of goals scored minus total number of goals conceeded). The top two teams in each group progress to the next stage of the competition, which is then a straight knock-out rather than a league.\n\nONLY when the Champions League enters the later knock-out stages do goals scored by a team away from home count double in the event of the aggregate scores being equal. For instance, let's say Barcelona meet Chelsea in the semi-final. This is over two matches, one in Barcelona which Barcelona win 2-1, and the second leg at Chelsea which ends 1-0 to Chelsea. The total aggregate score is tied at 2-2, but Chelsea would progress to the final because the goal they scored away counts double.\n\nIn the EPL, again each team plays each other twice and each match is regarded seperately. There is no knock-out stage to the EPL, so away goals never count double.
599443
#1  Upsets dont happen every time\n#2  Liverpool had the firepower to score 3 goals, do you honestly beleive England can score 3 against someone like Brazil?\n#3  Look what happened to Arsenal in this year.
572219
2 per group to get into the second round, where it is then all or nothing. \n\nAnd the Champ doesn't have to beat every team they play, in the first round.
631745
All the countries of the uk nth ireland.wales,scotland and england took part as individual countries in the preliminary rounds all were eliminated except england..You have to be english to play for england
279599
not a liverpool fan but you could win any argument about football against the likes of the so called big three . every team has their ups and downs and glory days but the best team prove it througout history .you ve been english champs more times as well .doesn t matter what they throw at you you ll still end up tops .
588540
The 32 teams who have qualified for the finals are drawn into eight seperate groups,  with four teams in each group.\n\nWithin each group, the four teams play each other once. So every single team plays a minimum of three matches.\n\nThe winner and runner-up in each group progress to the next stage.\n\nInevitably, if a team loses it first two matches, it is very unlikely to progress even if it wins its last match. But it must still play its last match regardless, because the result still  may effect the rest of its group. Ever match must be completed for fairness, even if there is no mathematical chance of either side progressing.
186220
The reason is because the rules say in England that a game needs to have a least of 5 points to be consider a game with a difference of two points to consider the winner of that specific game.\nIt all goes back to the British
211577
Simply put, no!\n\nRankings have come to prominence over the last couple of years but no-one really takes them seriously. It's difficult to say that a system that puts the USA in fourth just because they win more games that teams like Italy, England, Ukraine etc, whose qualifying competitions are always much harder due to the depth of European football.
647446
In the first round the system of play will be the league system, each team playing one match against each of the other teams in the  same group, with three points for a win, one point for a draw and none for a defeat. The two teams coming first and second in each  group qualify for the second round.\n\nRank\n# The ranking of each team in each group will be determined as follows:\na) greatest number of points obtained in all group matches;\nb) goal difference in all group matches;\nc) greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.\n\nTiebraker:\nIf two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings will be determined as follows:\na) greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;\nb) goal difference resulting from the group matches between the\nteams concerned;\nc) greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned;\nd) drawing of lots by the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup.\n\nFrom this phase on it's one on one. It will all be played in accordance with the knock-out system: the winner of the game avance to the next phase
361556
Good Idea for all teams, it would generate more publicity as a stage cup or final with winners of league playing each other (Scot vs Eng) This would give a good training match for teams serious about winning the Campions League.\n\nthey could create a knock-out cup like that of FA Cup, with Scottish league teams and Welsh league teams and English League team and Irish league teams all fighting to win the Anglo Cup.\n\nOr you could change the FA Cup so it would include participants from the whole UK and not just England, they have made big changes before so why not again.
567138
the  teams  that  have  already  qualified  are  those  that  have  already  played  two  games  and  have won  both  of  them.  that's  six points  a guarantee  for  qualification.  their  third  game  is  to  decide  if  they  are  going  to  proceed  as no. 1  or  no  2 .to  second  round.  for  example  Germany  and  Ecuador.\n  for  teams  like  Ghana, us,  Italy  and  Czech non  of  them  has  won  two  games  and  non of  them  has  lost  two  games, so  their  third  game  is  going  to  decide.  right  now  all  of  them  have  chances  of  qualifying.
319249
once arsenal went down to 10 men it was always going to be very hard for them to hold on to their lead. \n\nyes, arsenal tend to sit back once going a goal up but when they're down to 10 men is there any other real alternative? To be fair, they did have a few chances to finish off the game but didn't take them.\n\nGoing down a man changed the game completely, but if Barca had gone 1-0 up i think they would have the experience and strength to maintain their lead.
234574
First there were 8 seeded teams:\nGermany, England, Argentina, Mexico, Italy, Brazil, France and Spain.  (These were picked based on last champs - Brazil, hosts and then using a point system for the rest.)\n\nOther than Brazil F and Germany A these we randomly placed in pool groups based on the letter drawn.\n\nThen the rest were put in bowls for:\n1. 8 of the 9 European Teams (minus S&M as the lowest ranked European team)\n2. The Asian and Concacaf teams\n3. The African and Combol teams\n4. S&M\n\nEach team from the European bowls were drawn into a pool.\nEach team from the Asian and Concacaf was drawn into a pool but the concacaf teams werew not allowed to join Mexico as the only seeded team from those regions\nS&M was given a group through a random number draw\nEach team from the African&#92;Combol pool was draw into a group but the Combol teams were not allowed to join Brazil or Argentina.\n\nIf you want more details you can check out: