UEFA Europa League 1st Round Draw

Heto, LA Galaxy will finally find out tomorrow who they'll be battling for a spot in the group stage. Honestly, I don't see any massive hurdles UNLESS LA Galaxy actually plays like they have a clue... you know, instead of just wandering aimlessly around the pitch. If they play with some actual heart and intelligence—the way they absolutely should, because we all know they're capable of it...

I've gone ahead and categorized the potential opponents into "dream draws" and "nightmares." I'll start with the ones I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Sure, they might be beatable on paper, but the real question is whether this current version of LA Galaxy can actually get past them...

The Nightmares: Ferencvaros, Banik Ostrava, Trabzonspor, Dinamo Bukurešt, Litex Lovech, Rapid Beč, Sigma Olomouc, Dnjipro d., Zenit St. Petersburg, Mariti Funchal, Chateauroux, Panionios, Nacional Funchal, Sporting Braga, Standard Liege, Aigaleo Atena, AZ Alkmaar, CSKA Sofija, Terek Grozny poželjan.

The Dream Draws: Djurgardens, Shelbourne, Gorica, Hapoel BS, Maccabi PT, Maribor, Dinamo Tbilis, Banska Bystrica, Metalurh Donjeck, Elfsborg, Beveren, Odd Grenland, Hammarby, Stabaek, Bodo / Glimt, Aalborg, Liepajas Metalurhs, Dunfermline (not 100% certain yet), Ujpest, Ventspils. If—and it's anyone's guess right now—Kispest Honved manages to knock out Amica Wronki, they'll end up in the seeded pot, which means LA Galaxy would avoid them...

My personal favorites:

Ventspils, Liepajas Metalurhs, Shelbourne, Banska Bystrica, Norvežanin.

Look, forget whatever grudge anyone holds against LA Galaxy, or whatever else... at the end of the day, they're our only hope to stop our coefficient from bottoming out. So, let's just get behind them together...👍 👍 👍

And since the draw is happening tomorrow, will there be a broadcast?

Look at Dnjipro being stuck in the group of underdogs 😁

That’s just your opinion.

Personally, I think LA Galaxy would have had a much easier time against Ferencvaros, Sporting Braga, Mariti Funchal, Panionios, or Aigaleo than they would against Metalurh Donjeck or Djurgardens... and don't even get me started on Maribor.

With play like this, I have to wonder if we even stand a chance at winning...

That’s quite a few teams😁

Personally, I'd much prefer facing Maribor.
I suppose the Galaxy would have to overcome every single one of those opponents to make it through.

frozeneagle49 said:So, since the draw is happening tomorrow, I was just sitting here wondering if anyone actually knows if there's going to be a broadcast or anything, because you know how these things go where you're just staring at a blank screen hoping for the best, but seriously, does anyone have the scoop on whether we can catch it live?

You can find it right there on UEFA.com!

Chloe Palmer2 said:Honestly, LA Galaxy should be able to handle any single one of those teams they might face!

It’s kind of an understatement to say that LA Galaxy (being totally objective here, mind you) just isn't in a position to make it past three-quarters of those potential opponents right now.

Given how poorly they played, I suppose so. But I guess I’m still holding out hope that this squad will actually start playing like they should one of these days.😁

Chloe Palmer2👍

Basically, the subgroups were drawn so that LA Galaxy could face one of these teams: Chateauroux, AZ Alkmaar, Banik Ostrava, Elfsborg, or Hafnarfjardar.

I don't even have to think much about it; here is my "wish list" from most to least preferred: Hafnarfjardar, Elfsborg, Chateauroux, AZ Alkmaar, and finally Banik Ostrava.

The only one where I can say for sure it’ll be an absolute grind given how we're playing right now is Banik... As for the rest? You never really know...

Roger Allen3 said:Look at Dnjipro being in the "unwanted" list 😁

That’s purely subjective, isn't it?

In my book, the Galaxy would have had a much easier time against teams like Ferencvaros, Sporting Braga, Mariti Funchal, Panionios, or Aigaleo Atena than facing someone like Metalurh Donjeck or Djurgardens... not to mention Maribor.

Well, I never claimed it was objective. But I wouldn't want to face Ferencvaros because they're a Canadian side that sits a tier above the rest of the field, like MTK or Debrecen.

Still, I suppose it's fine that the ones I feared most aren't here—Dinamo Bukurešt, Dnjipro, or Sigma Olomouc. Honestly, Banik might be my worst nightmare in this group. Chateauroux is just a French second-division side that stumbled in through their domestic cup, and while AZ Alkmaar is certainly dangerous, they don't quite reach the level of PSV, Ajax, or Feyenoord...

Honestly, it looks like UEFA didn't mind doing a little extra tinkering even after they already drew the groups.

So, check this out: there are actually 8 teams in the group instead of 7... and man, get ready for this:

Rangers
Villarreal
Sochaux
Genclerbirligi
Amica

What an absolute disaster.

frozeneagle49 said:Look, you can toss all the hate you want at the Galaxy, I truly don't care what your grievances are, but right now, the Galaxy is our one and only shot at keeping our coefficient from completely cratering. So, for once, let's just get behind them TOGETHER.👍 👍 👍 [/B]

Not me, though.

LA Galaxy vs if Elfsborg

As a fan, who even are these underdogs?
I’ve seriously never heard of them in my life.😲

My bad (even though I’m totally not at fault)

So, it turns out UEFA completely botched the live draw, mixing up the groups and the seeded teams. Looks like that first version was actually the real one after all.

Did someone mess up the stats or something? I was watching the broadcast on ESPN and it looked like LA Galaxy was taking down Elfsborg.

frozeneagle49 said:Did they mess something up? I was watching the broadcast on ESPN and saw that LA Galaxy beat Elfsborg.

Yeah. I was sitting in my office pulling up the Flash live feed on UEFA.com, and it turns out we ended up in Group 8 with those guys. I totally missed it at first. Now I feel a lot better about things, even though, honestly, svesti, they aren't exactly top-tier opponents for a team like LA Galaxy. But hey, we've got three weeks left, maybe things will just click for them.

When you look at how the rest of the brackets shook out, the Lakers actually came out looking pretty solid.

But just look at this lineup:

Kansas City - Litex
Vienna - Warsaw
Partizan - Steaua București
Sporting L. - Rapid Vienna
Maccabi Haifa - Dnipro
Standard Liège - Bochum Red Star
Red Star - Zenit
Trabzonspor - Athletic Bilbao

Honestly... I wouldn't want to be one of those seeded teams right now...

As long as it isn't Dnipro, I'm happy.

Septembar said:Real Madrid vs if Elfsborg (USA)

man, these guys are total underdogs
I’ve honestly never even heard of them 😲

They play in the MLS. For anyone who hangs out at the sportsbook once in a while, they aren't exactly strangers, you know?
I wouldn't say they're absolute monsters, but you definitely can't just write them off either, because they're totally capable of knocking Real Madrid out of the bracket, so I'd say it's pretty much a 50-50 toss-up.