How far do you think / expect us to get in the Europa League?

Fortitude

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The last time we won it, it was kind of expected, wasn't it?

I'm not sure the same can be said now.

However, if we do manage to get a full complement of players fit for the K.O. rounds, is backdoor entry into the CL feasible, or is the competition beyond us this year.

Bear in mind the strong sides in the competition as well as those from the CL who will dropping down into it.

Final list of Europa League demotees.

Inter Milan
RB Salzburg
Ajax Amsterdam
Benfica
Bayer Leverkusen
Club Bruges
Olympiakos
Shakhtar Donetsk
 
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romufc

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If we cant beat a third place CL team, we don't deserve to be in it.
 

Judas

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Depends on the draw, and how our form is later into the season, we could get lucky. Honestly by the time the tougher games come around we could have a new manager, some players in January come in, and the club might feel totally different.
 

PyroMan

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The biggest competition I see so far to our challenge, apart from the teams dropping from CL, are Arsenal and Wolves. Maybe Monchengladbach if they qualify.

Doubts creep in when one looks at the teams who will drop into the competition from the CL: Bayer Leverkusen/Lokomotiv Moscow, Red Bull Salzburg, Inter/Dortmund, Zenit/Benfica, Valencia/Chelsea/Ajax.

All the teams listed above will certainly cause us a lot of problems.
 
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Raw

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It's very difficult to estimate at this point when we don't know who's dropping in from the CL.

The current 3rd and 4th placed teams in the CL groups are Brugge/Galatasaray, Red Star/Olympiacos, Shakhtar/Dinamo Zagreb/Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen/Lokomotiv Moscow, Red Bull Salzburg/Genk, Inter Milan/Slavia Prague, Zenit St Petersburg/Benfica, Valencia/Lille. Though it's still relatively close for some groups so there's a chance of maybe a giant team dropping down.

I'd like to think we'd be at least semi finalists but again it depends on who we face.
 

Bilbo

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We'll be one of the favourites even on current form. The competition isn't that strong and even the 3rd place CL clubs are going to be less than optimal. A lot will depend on the draw just like in any cup competition, but teams with strong defences tend to perform well over 2 legged ties and we do have a strong defence at this level.
 

w1thout

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11 games into the season and we're already 10 points off top 4.
Ole needs to take this competition with the utmost respect, as we have to win it and get a CL place in order to be attractive for players next summer.
 

VP89

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Only Inter I reckon would be threatening dropouts from CL, and we can beat them.
 

bosnian_red

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I think we're the strongest team in the competition right now, and it currently looks like Inter and then one of Chelsea, Valencia or Ajax will drop down, so I'd say in a 2 legged tie we are still the strongest side. Heavily dependent on fitness though. I think our team is a lot more suited to these cup competitions currently, and definitely more likely to win it than it is to finish 4th. Should be the priority.

I'd say the only team who could come down and overtake us as favourites would be Dortmund, but I'd say we would/should beat everyone else over 2 legs.
 

Paul_Scholes18

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I think we can win it. Need to find form when it matters though. Inter might be the hardest team we will play against. Would be sick if lukaku knocks us out.
 

Alabaster Codify7

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We will be comfortably eliminated by the first good team we face. I'm gonna predict we'll get past the first knockout stage then fall short in the following round.
 

JustAGuest

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This looks like the competition to potentially save our season. The current 3rds in the CL groups don't look that impressive, and we are certainly among the better sides qualifying from the EL groups. We should be aiming to win this. I expect us to make the final if we are given a decent route.
 

Raw

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At what stage can you meet Arsenal or Wolves? Not say that they will beat you but they could beat you.
Round of 16 is when we can meet English teams. Got knocked out by Liverpool at that stage under LVG.
 

Judas

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I won't forgot how hard we made it look last time we won it. Played well in the final, but should have been knocked out numerous times before we got there.
 

Raw

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I won't forgot how hard we made it look last time we won it. Played well in the final, but should have been knocked out numerous times before we got there.
I remember Romero pulling off a monster save in the last minute against Rostov. Plus Guidetti's feck up when we faced Celta Vigo, which would have knocked us out had he scored.

Really made hard work of what was a very easy route to the final. Yet the final against Ajax turned out to be pretty comfortable :lol:
 

cyberman

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Win it. Its a poor competition truth be told. 2 legs is too much for smaller sides to pull off major upsets
 

Gandalf Greyhame

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Potential CL Group Stage Dropouts:
A: Club Brugge / Galatasaray
B: Red Star / Olympiakos
C: Shakhtar Donetsk / Dinamo Zagreb
D: Bayer / Lokomotiv Moscow
E: RB Salzburg
F: Inter / Dortmund
G: Lyon / Zenit / Benfica
H: Ajax / Chelsea / Valencia

All of the bolded teams would be favourites to knock us out, IMO.
And then there's Sevilla, Arsenal and Monchengladbach/Roma in the mix as well.

We aren't the favourites, despite what the bookies say, that's for sure. Once we have the last 16, we can take a guess, again. It would be brilliant from Ole if we managed to win it somehow given how things look right now, and would change a quite a few opinions about his abilities.
 

wolvored

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I think q/f will be when we come unstuck. The 7 best teams left will probably have some dropped from the Champions league. Knowing Utd though we will probably draw and go out to an English team.
 

Zlatattack

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The moment a decent team parks the bus and attacks us on the counter, we're out. Until then we're OK.
 

DarkRed

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We, Sevilla and Arsenal are the biggest clubs Mönchengladbach looking good, if we avoid them all should easy go to semi.

Inter and Valencia/Chelsea looking like the only good clubs to drop out from the ECL.

But of course, if we don't buy a good DM, it will be extra hard ( I know we need more but no DM at all in a team is just ... ).
 

Green_Red

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Based on how we did against last years CL winners a couple of weeks ago we should be expecting to win it imo.
 

GBBQ

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Potential CL Group Stage Dropouts:
A: Club Brugge / Galatasaray
B: Red Star / Olympiakos
C: Shakhtar Donetsk / Dinamo Zagreb
D: Bayer / Lokomotiv Moscow
E: RB Salzburg
F: Inter / Dortmund
G: Lyon / Zenit / Benfica
H: Ajax / Chelsea / Valencia

All of the bolded teams would be favourites to knock us out, IMO.
And then there's Sevilla, Arsenal and Monchengladbach/Roma in the mix as well.

We aren't the favourites, despite what the bookies say, that's for sure. Once we have the last 16, we can take a guess, again. It would be brilliant from Ole if we managed to win it somehow given how things look right now, and would change a quite a few opinions about his abilities.
I don't think any of those are insurmountable though, even in our current form. If anything Ole performs better against the bigger clubs as well so I wouldn't fear any of them. Put another way, i don't think any of those teams would fancy drawing us either.

Given the Top 4 is probably already gone, we need to prioritise this competition and with that in mind finalists would be a minimum.
 

Craig Ward

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I expect to win it.

If you expect anything but you really do have low expectations.

winning this comp should be the very minimum expectation
 

Bestietom

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It really depends on IF we can get any good players here in January and all our injured players back. A top midfielder or 2 and a Striker would give us a better chance, imo.
 

Fully Fledged

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The biggest competition I see so far to our challenge, apart from the teams dropping from CL, are Arsenal and Wolves. Maybe Monchengladbach if they qualify.

Doubts creep in when one looks at the teams who will drop into the competition from the CL: Bayer Leverkusen/Lokomotiv Moscow, Red Bull Salzburg, Inter/Dortmund, Zenit/Benfica, Valencia/Chelsea/Ajax.

All the teams listed above will certainly cause us a lot of problems.
Yeah because we haven't beaten Chelsea anytime over the last 2 seasons.
 

Lee565

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Not far with Ole in charge, that's reality when he cant get us to beat the likes of wolves, Southampton, Newcastle etc..

The minute we face a half competent side in defence and attack, we will be screwed.
 

Jacckk1985

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Impossible to tell, next games that matter will be in Feb. That's what, 10-15 Premier League games until that?
 

Al-T

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Could go all the way, however, depends on sides that drop from Champions League, how the seedings work out and also how our thin squad is holding up..
 

Withnail

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Not far with Ole in charge, that's reality when he cant get us to beat the likes of wolves, Southampton, Newcastle etc..

The minute we face a half competent side in defence and attack, we will be screwed.
The issue under Ole over the last while was that we can't break down the lesser teams who sit back.

We've looked good against the decent sides we've played. The top sides will come out and attack us leaving space for the counter.

I'd be confident we can do well in the tournament and get to the semis or finals.