Looking at the qualifiers for the last CL, we have:
* Celta Vigo vs. Slavia Praha
* Depor vs. Rosenborg
* Marseille vs. Austria Wien
* Newcastle losing to Partizan (oops)
* Dynamo Kiev vs. Dynamo Zagreb
* Chelsea vs. Zilina
* Celtic vs. MTK Hungaria
* Grasshopper losing to AEK Athinai (hmmm...)
* Lokomotiv Moskva vs. Shakhtar Dinetsk
* Sparta Praha vs. Vadar Skopje
* Galatasaray vs. CSKA Sofia
* Anderlecht vs. Wisla Krakow
* Lazio vs. Benefica
* Ajax vs. Grazer AK
* Rangers vs. Kobenhavn FC
* Dortmund losing to Club Brugge (ouch)
So overall, I'd say our chances in the qualifiers are very good. Look at how deep some of the winners went -- and this is true for many eventual CL champions in past tournaments.
If we don't make it past the qualifiers, we'd probably have to screw things up worse than we did at any time this past season.
Total participants for next year to date including those in qualifiers:-
Those already in group stage in bold
2004/05 UEFA Champions League
- Grp FC Porto
ESP Grp Valencia CF
ESP Grp FC Barcelona
ESP Q3 RC Deportivo La Coruña
ESP Q3 Real Madrid CF
ITA Grp AC Milan
ITA Grp AS Roma
ITA Q3 Juventus FC
ITA Q3 FC Internazionale
ENG Grp Arsenal FC
ENG Grp Chelsea FC
ENG Q3 Manchester United FC
ENG Q3 Liverpool FC
GER Grp SV Werder Bremen
GER Grp FC Bayern München
GER Q3 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
FRA Grp Olympique Lyonnais
FRA Grp Paris Saint-Germain FC
FRA Q3 AS Monaco FC
GRE Grp Panathinaikos FC
GRE Grp Olympiacos CFP
GRE Q3 FC PAOK
POR Q3 SL Benfica
HOL Grp AFC Ajax
HOL Q3 PSV Eindhoven
SCO Grp Celtic FC
SCO Q3 Rangers FC
TUR Grp Fenerbahçe SK
TUR Q2 Trabzonspor
BEL Q3 RSC Anderlecht
BEL Q2 Club Brugge KV
CZE Q3 FC Baník Ostrava
CZE Q2 AC Sparta Praha
SUI Q3 FC Basel 1893
SUI Q2 BSC Young Boys
UKR Q3 FC Dynamo Kyiv
UKR Q2 FC Shakhtar Donetsk
ISR Q3 Maccabi Haifa FC
ISR Q2 Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC
AUT Q3 Grazer AK
POL Q2 Wisla Kraków
RUS Q2 PFC CSKA Moskva
SMN Q2 FK Crvena Zvezda
NOR Q2 Rosenborg BK
BUL Q2 PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv
CRO Q2 HNK Hajduk Split
SWE Q2 Djurgårdens IF
DEN Q2 FC København
SVK Q2 FK Dukla Banská Bystrica
ROM Q2 FC Dinamo Bucuresti
HUN Q2 Ferencvárosi TC
CYP Q1 APOEL FC
SLO Q1 NK Gorica
FIN Q1 HJK Helsinki
LAT Q1 FC Skonto
MOL Q1 FC Sheriff Tiraspol
GEO Q1 FC WIT Georgia
BHZ Q1 NK Široki Brijeg
LIT Q1 FBK Kaunas
ISL Q1 KR Reykjavík
MKD Q1 FK Pobeda
BLS Q1 FC Gomel
IRL Q1 Shelbourne FC
MLT Q1 Sliema Wanderers FC
ARM Q1 FC Pyunik
WAL Q1 Rhyl FC
LIE Q1 -
ALB Q1 KF Tirana
EST Q1 FC Flora
NIR Q1 Linfield FC
LUX Q1 AS Jeunesse Esch
FAR Q1 HB Tórshavn
AZE Q1 FK Neftchi
KAZ Q1 FC Irtysh Pavlodar
The only other countries yet to declare their 2003/04 champions are Moldova, Slovakia and Ukraine, with the Ukrainian runners-up also earning a place in the competition. The draw for the first and second qualifying rounds will be held on 26 June with the third qualifying round draw following on 30 July .
The 2004/05 season will see the start of UEFA's club licensing system. In order for a club to be admitted to any of the UEFA club competitions, minimum standards in areas including sporting matters, infrastructure, personnel and administration, legal matters and financial matters must be fulfilled.
++ [ originally posted by Roverbhoy ] ++
From the uefa site:-
The 2004/05 season will see the start of UEFA's club licensing system. In order for a club to be admitted to any of the UEFA club competitions, minimum standards in areas including sporting matters, infrastructure, personnel and administration, legal matters and financial matters must be fulfilled.
++ [ originally posted by Don Bes ] ++
no clue man. i knew they had problems before but with some renovations they were able to make it to the european leagues