Taking advantage of Young Boys: Champions League & Europa League 2010/11

http://i37.tinypic.com/2eantzt.jpg

A week of fun:

Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Zenit St Petersburg v Auxerre, PO, L1, 17:30
Dynamo Kiev v Ajax, PO, L1, 19:45
Rosenborg v FC Copenhagen, PO, L1, 19:45
Sparta Prague v MSK Zilina, PO, L1, 19:45
Young Boys v Tottenham, PO, L1, 19:45

Wednesday, 18 August 2010
Basle v FC Sheriff Tiraspol, PO, L1, 19:45
Braga v Sevilla, PO, L1, 19:45
Partizan Belgrade v Anderlecht, PO, L1, 19:45
Red Bull Salzburg v Hapoel Tel-Aviv, PO, L1, 19:45
Werder Bremen v Sampdoria, PO, L1, 19:45

Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Aris Salonika v Austria Vienna, PO, L1, 17:00
Besiktas v HJK Helsinki, PO, L1, 17:00

Thursday, 19 August 2010
Sibir Novosibirsk v PSV, PO, L1, 13:00
BATE v Maritimo, PO, L1, 17:00
Bayer Leverkusen v Tavriya Symferopol, PO, L1, 17:30
CSKA Moscow v Anorthosis Famagusta, PO, L1, 17:30
PSG v Macc Tel-Aviv, PO, L1, 17:30
Rapid Vienna v Aston Villa, PO, L1, 17:45
Slovan Bratislava v VfB Stuttgart, PO, L1, 17:45
AIK Solna v Levski Sofia, PO, L1, 18:00
Debrecen v Litex Lovech, PO, L1, 18:00
Dnipro v Lech Poznan, PO, L1, 18:00
FC Vaslui v Lille, PO, L1, 18:00
Omonia Nicosia v FC Metalist Kharkiv , PO, L1, 18:00
Odense BK v Motherwell, PO, L1, 18:05
Feyenoord v AA Gent, PO, L1, 18:15
Steaua Bucharest v Grasshoppers, PO, L1, 18:45
Galatasaray v Karpaty Lviv, PO, L1, 19:00
CSKA Sofia v The New Saints, PO, L1, 19:30
Club Bruges v Dinamo Minsk, PO, L1, 19:30
Genk v FC Porto, PO, L1, 19:30
Hajduk Split v Unirea Urziceni, PO, L1, 19:30
Lausanne Sports v Lokomotiv Moscow, PO, L1, 19:30
PAOK Salonika v Fenerbahce, PO, L1, 19:30
Palermo v NK Maribor, PO, L1, 19:30
Celtic v FC Utrecht, PO, L1, 19:45
Liverpool v Trabzonspor, PO, L1, 19:45
Politehnica Timisoara v Man City, PO, L1, 19:45
AZ Alkmaar v FC Aktobe, PO, L1, 20:00
Dundee Utd v AEK Athens, PO, L1, 20:00
Getafe v Apoel Nicosia, PO, L1, 20:00
Gyor ETO FC v Dinamo Zagreb, PO, L1, 20:00
Napoli v Elfsborg, PO, L1, 20:00
Borussia Dortmund v FK Qarabag, PO, L1, 20:05
SK Sturm Graz v Juventus, PO, L1, 20:05
Sporting v Brondby, PO, L1, 20:30
Villarreal v Dnepr Mogilev, PO, L1, 21:00

oh a spurscentric title boo hiss etc

Couldn't have been anything else tho surely?

my opinion in this, as in other matters, bears the weight of hunger striking feathers

a- title/shop

generous

man city need to win this i guess

Wankdorf: Taking advantage of Young Boys

levy pulls off the double sponsorship idea. spurs will be sponsored by investec for europe/ domestic cups
http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/uploads/assets/637x335/2010-11/new_kit/new_kit_cup/bale_lilywhite_kit_full637.jpg

Is that the Golden Jubilee kit?

Fifty years.

http://histclo.com/imagef/country/ger/gd/chron/1920/out/han20os.jpg

The Hot Seat

A peculiar feature of the Stade de Suisse is the presence of a single, red seat (the other seats are black and yellow). This was the first seat installed at the new stadium, on January 20, 2005, and the honour of unveiling it was given to former Young Boys player and manager Walter Eich. There are no tickets available for this seat; every game the seat is occupied by a notable personality, often with ties to Young Boys. In a recent tradition, newcomers to Young Boys are sometimes asked to sit in the hot seat, where they are offered a lap dance. While some view this as an important part of team bonding, the tradition is still viewed as optional, as some players have found this offering offensive.

well there you go.

we are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

Saturday's Spurs Performence

- Joe Hart

= Double Figures

Great thread title btw.

it could have been 5 or 6 alright. but 2nd half was not great. don't expect to see modric and huddlestone without palacios again, lacks drive.

451 with pav FTW!

You don't like Defoe?

Match of the Day probably skewed the way the second half looked I suppose. See your point about your midfield, maybe surprising that you overran City so much first half given how combatitive their midfield was. Sounded like they were a little bewildered in general.

defoe's been not himself since maybe the turn of the year. i think his bulking up has made him think he's a different player than he is, and it hasn't improved him. i like him, but not in a 451 i don't think.

was impressed with how city re-asserted themselves in that game. formidable, though not quite got the balance btwn defence/attack yet.

http://histclo.com/imagef/country/ger/gd/chron/1920/out/han20os.jpg

^ Is this Young Boys' home kit or their away kit?

no jokes, that is uncannily like a young darraghmac

Bet you were very popular with the local priest

oh that's in poor taste

^

Such sensitive souls

shocked tbh

Saturday's Spurs Performence

- Joe Hart

= Double Figures

Well yeah, there were like 13 shots on target and if there were no goalkeeper of course it'd be double digits.

Over-confidence or a prank?

Tottenham's official Twitter page posted a message this morning "reporting":

"Spurs thrash Young Boys 6-2"

Subsequent Tweets here and here show that they were quick to apologise for the, ahem, error.

* "The Club wishes to make clear that a Tweet posted shortly before 10am in reference to tonight's game was NOT an official Club tweet."
* "This Tweet in no way represented Club views or opinions - the matter is now being fully investigated."

CMON YOUUOOO SPRUSS

IT'S READY

http://imgur.com/orIT6.gif

i've always had a soft spot for young boys.

although peru's "sport boys" who play in palermo pink are almost as unfortunate.

they all grow up eventually but only some become Newell's Old Boys

Gomes, Corluka, Dawson, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto,
Giovani, Palacios, Modric, Bale, Pavlyuchenko, Defoe

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=337901&cc=5901

Yipes

OMG so close!

Double yipes. 1-0.

1) Can I make my "It's Young Boys against boys" joke yet?

2) Can I point out that the co-commentator said "....with their tails up Young Boys"? Or is that just juvenile?

I predict 4-1 Spurs.

maybe 4-2 Spurs?

LOL

Lol fate tempting. Spurs will still go through though.

oops

1914: Want to know how the Tottenham crew are feeling right now? Here's the first instalment of chat from my mate Pearlo, a massive Spurs fan: "I can express the thoughts of all Spurs fans when I tell you this is destiny. No complacency and no hiding. Win this and we can ruffle feathers in the Champions League. No exaggeration to say our season and future depends entirely on these two games."

well there you go.

we are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmark

Anyone still think Spurs are going through?

I think we can lol now.

tottenham lolspur

OMG 3

haha, oh dear.

Hot Spurts beaten off by Young Boys.

ESPN: Young Boys dominating Spurs

we are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmark

we are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmark
we are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmark

we are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmark
we are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmarkwe are gonna KILL these guys tonight. imo.

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 11:44 (8 hours ago) Bookmark

"Can they keep it up the young boys" - juvenile snigger again

Young Boys taking advantage of Tots

I'm not gonna gloat cos I've seen my own team fail to negotiate Europe in August but, y'know, this ain't Villareal. Bloody hell.

I think we can lol now.

― James Mitchell, Tuesday, August 17, 2010 7:14 PM

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

I laughed at the commentators, "Young Boys are not known to keep clean sheets."

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f14/snouts/683b7fc63dbbf5d3648bfd9647efe0ee.gif

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDKO6XYXioc

full credit to myself for going with my gut and deliberately waiting a half hour til i checked this.

BAE off, THUDD on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkQ1XeTrLvI

lol

http://imgur.com/RSR0o.jpg

Come on, would anybody really bet against Spurs winning 4-0 at WHL?

i'll be honest, what odds are spurs to go through, i fully expect them to.

4-3?

3-1!!

precious away goals. 'arry'll 'ave 'em

3-1. Fightback!

good header

*switches on*

*jaw drops*

Fuck, Spurs score while the Vanish ad plays

Whatever the final outcome, even if they go through, this is still fucking hilarious.

I'm going to order the DVD of the first half off the official site.

Halftime, and halfway to the 6-2 on that Spurs press release

As an associate of his BITD I can confirm that his mate Pearlo is indeed a massive Spurs fan

that in a very real sense is all I got

http://img.skysports.com/10/07/218x298/Sky-Sports-Magazine-Cover-August-September-80_2479813.jpg

i just put a fiver on a spurs win tonight at 13-1

backed us at 22-1 to win tie. get fucked!

^ cracking bet tbf, wish i had the spare cash to lay down the same

Fuck, Spurs score while the Vanish ad plays

Is this some special ITV streaming service?

that bet was just after third goal i assume darragh? i tried to find it but no value once it went to 3-1

It's not on itv is it? I can't tell from their website.

their website had "COUNTDOWN TO THE WORLD CUP" on it about 4 days in. well done lads.

It's on Sky Sports 2. (ITV joke ref to Liverpool v Everton, no?)

Ailsa understands

'im sure theres a few of the young boys bottoms twitching right now' - Lawro

they'll be concerned about the belgian referee

Hello guys. There is something important I would like to add to the conversation and that is LOL.

Spurs are really feeling what it is like to be in Young Boy's Wankdorf.

a sticky situation at the wankdorf

Spurs over come by Young Boys' long balls

looking forward to spurs v liverpool in europe

I thought the CL was going to do that 2 linos by the goals thing this season? You know to make sure that when THUDD whacks one off, the Young Boys really feel it.

Robbie Keane to get in amongst the Young Boys now.

mine was a srs question btw

Aye, they were meant to be in at this stage.

That was a peach of a counter-attack. Spurs could easily lose this.

Young Boys have such a fluid penetration, 'Arry must be twitching when he sees it coming so fast.

(just getting it out of my system for spurs boring 2-0 home win.)

SO CLOSE!

that was a cracking shot

<3

o my

(in a way)

Blimey!

Wau, Pavlyuchenko, 3-2, just as I was trying to think up terrible innuendos.

well well

What a goal

Spurs nick a pair off Young Boys

Robbie Earle + Whoever is sat next to him talking as if Spurs are... not losing.

If it's been this hilarious in the qualifying it's going to be side-splitting when they get Inter and Real in their group.

maybe because they now are 99 per cent sure of going through?

young boys beat fenerbache in istanbul

true...and white hart lane is a far more vile place than anything istanbul can throw.

maybe because they now are 99 per cent sure of going through?

― I see what this is (Local Garda), Tuesday, 17 August 2010 21:31 (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Really?

Uh-huh, that leaky defence will never concede away goals, no way.

Just imagine 'arry as England manager taking the country through Euro 2012 qualifying.

http://imgur.com/RSR0o.jpg

i can't see them not going through, even at 3-0 i was scrambling to find somewhere to bet on them.

Yeah I'm *reasonably* confident that they'll improve sufficiently in the second leg but it's Spurs... and I am a Spurs fan ie ferociously pessimistic about everything

yeah think spurs are gonna be going through. young boys players must have even felt like they lost tonight

I only got on this thread just before 3-1 but if you watched the five-minute passage of play around the Bassong goal, imo it was feasible that Spurs were a team who could score four goals in that match! Or at least sufficiently so to make a £5 punt a not-insane idea (hindsight aside obv)

Thudd was the difference, as proven by science, btw

sb

oh ESPN: "Pav pegs back Young Boys"

Oh of course Spurs should go through but... well... I'm betting on the team that plays them the weekend before the home tie.

would bet on stoke anyway tbh

'Arry blaming the astroturf pitch

Want to see Doubai at Arsenal to play alongside Diaby, to go with Song, Frimpong and future signing Bassong.

that was shocking stuff. we made them look like a team of bionic man spinter legends.

dawson and bassong were great for long stretches last year, but dear god.

hope harry gets a left back now!

pav had his worst game for us tonight, maybe modric too.

so lucky to have come away 3-2 it's untrue.

Missed all of this because I was organising a funeral and I'm still not sure watching the game would have been considerably more enjoyable.

Redknapp is a fucking idiot for playing 442 away from home in the Champions League. If we get through, there's going to be at least one hugely embarrassing moment, but I still want to get through. The alternative is that Spurs stop caring about the league from... 25th August.

yes to 442 point, 451 was the ony option there

guys it's ok it was the pitch

(btw i'm sorry to hear of any close loss, if that's the case Matt)

http://i36.tinypic.com/2822u80.jpg

Can't even tell if that is for real or not.

^ just edits out the first 30 mins

Why didn't Huddlestone start? Had problems with Sky at the start then had to watch most of it with the sound down.

Thudd's knees don't like AstroTurf

After refusing to criticise the pitch in the build-up to Tuesday's match, Redknapp made his feelings clear after the clash, revealing the four personnel changes he made were all due to fears the surface would cause serious injury to some of his players.
...
Redknapp, who left injury-prone captain Ledley King back in England because of the pitch, admits several of his players were reluctant to play on the surface, and says he had doubts about giving Tom Huddlestone a run-out for fear of injury.

Risk
"Aaron Lennon wasn't comfortable, Robbie (Keane) had a problem with his knee. Tom Huddlestone, last time he played on AstroTurf, he was out for six weeks - his knee blew up like a balloon," he said.

"So I didn't really want to risk Tom.

Generally, I'm quite supportive of the old Spurs but when that 3rd goal went in last night, oh the hilarity...

More Young Boys, not to mention Blue Boys and Red Boys

Generally, I'm quite supportive of the old Spurs but when that 3rd goal went in last night, oh the hilarity

same as that tbh

if a player plays in these qualifying rounds but his team doesn't make it to the group stage, is he still cup-tied?

I'm pretty sure he is - I saw a headline this morning about Roy planning to tie up Masch for the season, presume this is what it was referring to.

Umm... maybe? For example I know that a player who has been in the Europa League till January is fine to then go to a Champions League team and play and vice versa. Not sure about qualification.

Subsequent registration
18.17 For all matches from the start of the round of 16, a club may register a
maximum of three new eligible players for the remaining matches in the
current competition. Such registration must be completed by
1 February 2011 (24.00 CET) at the latest. This deadline cannot be
extended.
18.18 One player from the above quota of three who has played UEFA club
competition matches for another competing club in the current season may
exceptionally be registered, provided that the player has not been fielded:
− in the same competition for another club; or
− for another club that is currently in the same competition.
Furthermore, if the player’s new club is playing in the UEFA Europa League,
his former club must not have played in the UEFA Europa League at any
point in the current season.

oh hell i'm not even sure that clarifies it, since it seems to be re: only europa league

I think Heinrik Larsen played in the UEFA Cup for Helsingborg and then in the Champions League for Man United.

This Jelavic chappie that Rangers are trying to sign is trying to wangle his way out of playing against Aston Villa in the Europa League play-off for some reason that I can't quite fathom. It seems to be that he could play for Rangers in the Champions League if he plays for Rapid and they get knocked out, but if he plays and Rapid go through, then he wouldn't be allowed to play for Rangers. But I don't quite get why (other than that they probably can't afford him, obv).

no-one watch any games tonight then? Celtic were pretty good.

Couldn't find betfair first scorer on my phone. Was going to go for efra :(

majstorovic is the man.

I went to the Liverpool game. First time I've been in ages, so that was nice, but we were poor. First half anyway, second started a lot better, but couldn't keep the tempo up. Reluctance of Kelly and Aurelio to get forward was very frustrating. Warming to Jovanovic more and more. Biggest cheer apart from the goal was when Nando came on. The fans absolutely love him. Steven Gerrard was sat in an executive box a few rows behind me. The Trabz fans had ticker tape and confetti and balloons.

majstorovic is sort of the man, but his first few involvements seemed to be straight out of the Darren O'Dea school of getting the wrong side of your man and letting the ball bounce over your head.

I think I'm going to like Juarez and Kayal a lot.

balotelli scores on his debut!

I think I'm going to like Juarez and Kayal a lot.

Me too - don't know what the opposite of a headless chicken (aka Scott Brown) is, but
Juarez one of them. Assured debut from Kayal. I'm trying not to get too carried away with one performance by a bunch of guys who don't even know each other but that was very impressive, aside from a few hairy moments at the back.

Majstorovic improved as the game went on. Loovens seems to lack any belief that he was ever any good at this defending lark. Keeper made a couple of good saves along with his couple of OH SHIT moments.

Crikey, Sevilla are heading out - they need three second-half goals

And out they go. 2-0 to Braga. Fabulous counter-attacking.

Goalie lets a dribbler through his hands just as I click 'submit'.

2-2 now. Sevilla are playing 2-3-5 and need 2 goals in four minutes.

Make that 3. 3-2 to Braga.

4-2 to Braga. Not a bad game, this.

4-3

Sampdoria vs Werder also pretty exciting! 3-1 at about 92 minutes, levelling it up completely.

(from 3-0)

Righto, I'll get the extra time on

There were some terrific goals in Samp-Bremen. Partizan-Anderlecht are also in extra-time

Jeezo, that would've been better than any of them!

Yeah, Marin's looked pretty useful.

Fabulous goal again, Marin is some player. Werder Bremen have been just brilliant since I switched on, for a team who were three-nil down after ninety minutes.

Haha - commentator just explained that Cassano scored the Samp winner with five mins left and then got taken off to a standing ovation to waste time, only for them to immediately concede an equaliser and have to face extra time without him

Yeah, it was quite a masterly example of (apparent) timewasting... Shortly after the goal, he went down VERY INJURED to German protestations, was carried off with a substitute standing ready. But wait! Substitution is off Cassano is back on! ...for about half a minute, when the substitution went through after all. :D

Off to Brussels for penalties now - I feel like that fat diner in Magical Mystery Tour

Fuck! What a ridiculous miss!

And again!

did zidane puke on this penalty spot an' all?!

It's a bit ridiculous, but it's making for great penalties

shiiiiiiiiit!

And a third one! Did the other guys not think to warn him?

plz to explain for someone watching Big Brother instead?

Anderlecht-Partizan went to penalties. Partizan won the toss and selected one end. Anderlecht's captain protests vigorously but no-one knows why. They go up that end anyway. When Anderlecht's first kicker steps up the spot gives way and he skies it a la Beckham in Turkey. The same thing happens to their second kicker. Anderlecht then manage to sneak their third and fourth in while their keeper makes saves to put it into sudden death. Inevitably, Anderlecht's guy steps up, the spot gives way again and he skies it. Partizan go through.

Anderlecht had a late winner chalked off wrongly for offside too - got to feel for them really

Thanks!

Poor Anderlecht.

A slow day for sports news in Liverpool.

Could it be that Braga are not a bad team? <--------- Celtic fan clutching at straws

Braga are not a bad team, but they were playing against a bad team when they played us a few weeks ago. Would fancy another crack at them now that our tails are up and we've got rid of Charlie Mulgrew and taught Scott Brown what a midfielder should do. Stupid playing-qualifiers-before-the-season-even-starts rules :-(

Still suspect they'll get thru to the group stages and get hammered 7-0 by Chelsea or Aresnal

nah braga are actually a good team - a 4-0 at most.

They were good last night - really incisive countering, good in possession, but though they were strong enough at the back they didn't look terribly composed and they definitely have a dodgy keeper. Third in their group against the big boys, may sneak a second spot at a push. Still an excellent performance, though Sevilla did make it easy for them at times - 2-3-5 is a formation which ain't coming back any time soon.

btw, the other reason the penalties was such great drama last night was that the teams had adopted totally different styles. Anderlecht were taking as normal and basically trusting to fortune that the ground would hold, whereas Partizan were tiptoeing up to the spot in a straight line to keep their balance. As a consequence Partizan's were quite weak kicks hence the two saves, and while Anderlecht scored two good ones, three went vertical

really incisive countering, good in possession, but though they were strong enough at the back they didn't look terribly composed and they definitely have a dodgy keeper

Could be describing nu-look Celtic here tbh.

2-3-5 is a formation which ain't coming back any time soon.

Celtic tried this against St Mirren on Sunday (OK, was more 2-5-3 changing to 4-3-3, and actually technically more 2-8-0, but the two man defence was definitely a thing).

The more I read, the more I wish Celtic v Braga had come a wee bit further on in the season (or that we didn't have to play qualifiers at all, thanks a BUNCH, Mowbray!)

Losing the toss were Anderlecht's downfall really. It's just playing to their strengths to let Partizan pick sides.

anderlecht's downfall was fucking woeful scottish officials. chopping off a perfectly good goal and then ignoring the anderlecht captain's remonstrations that he didn't want penalties taken down that end.

not that anyone other than the first guy has an excuse for falling afoul of the divet.

also the sampdoria game was heartbreaking (for me).

and then ignoring the anderlecht captain's remonstrations that he didn't want penalties taken down that end.
― Efraqueen Juárez (jim in glasgow), Wednesday, 25 August 2010 11:58 (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

and also tossing the coin incorrectly as to allowing the other team to choose which end for both sides to do the shootout.

Torres, Gerrard, Jovanovic and Agger all out tonight. Could be even more tricky!

Tomorrow even. Maaaan, don't even know what day it is.

Tottenham are playing in the World Cup final tonight, though?

So who's with me?

doesn't seem very interesting

they'll probably win 3-0 vs super limited opposition while the commentators crow that barcelona/inter MIGHT HAVE SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT

I like Young Boys bumblebee outfits.

Crouchy 1-0 up already.

bumblebee kits are shit, as any students of recent Celtic history will tell you. I predict a drubbing.

COYYB

BAE practically breaking someone's rib with a wonderstrike :D

Spurs look shaky as all get out right now

I mean for Palacios to do the exact same suicide pass twice in two games is... smh

Should have loaned them Fabianski for the night as a good luck gesture.

ah there's lovely

ah there's a handball, lovely.

lawl he knew it as well... IN THE EVENT of a win he will wave it away in comically dopey post-match interview fashion

What happened to Gomez?

He hurt his groin on a goal kick. Didn't slip or anything - just kicked it and fell over a few steps later.

that's one for LJ to field xpost

I rue the recovery in Berne now - would've made for a storming second half

the ads on this stream are kind of hypnotic

aw, Mallika's gone

I don't get Arry won't just put Cudicini on.

that lassie was slamming.

Have ITV really made a cop drama called YOU BE DEAD? I feel old.

young boys don't like balls coming at their heads

xpost that's U BE DEAD btw

not U B DED?

young boys don't like balls coming at their heads
― avramglazershair (cozen), Wednesday, August 25, 2010 7:38 PM (34 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

so bad in the air

http://i36.tinypic.com/16kqkjq.jpg

not U B DED?

Gotta break oldies in gently. Ant and Dec vehicle titled OMGWTFLOL???!?!?!?!?!? scheduled for Autumn next year.

Second series: U B MO DED

spurs p much won this thing already rite?

Yeah turns out they were grooming the Young Boys in that first game then took full advantage when they took them home.

young boys out of europe

it's like watching arsenal

Am I right in thinking Real Madrid will be in pot 2? Should make for a proper GoD (e.g MAN U, REAL MADRID, HOTSPURS, SPARTAK - or more preferably replace SPURS with RANGERS).

ah we're gonna get hammered whoever we play, no need to be cruel.

can't draw teams from same country in 1st rnd iirc, but yeah 4-4-2 w/ craaatxi & defoe chasing dawson shanks in the nou camp/san siro will be fun

Spurs will make the semis

Still thinking about Young Boys?

can they draw man u?

no

thanks, yeah, found the answer here
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/seedcl2010.html

good = milan, panathinaikos, tel aviv
bad = inter, real, rubin kazan

any objections?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anicet_Andrianantenaina

lol

lol wth

appears to be a fairly popular malagasy surname

apolz any mal dudes reading :/

still tho!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar_national_football_team

needs 1x england friendly

FW Praxis Rabemananjara 9 September 1981 Pamplemousses SC

sorry but new fave guy ever: ur name is praxis and u play for grapefruit fc?

Anicet Andrianantenaina is playing for some League 1 side in my current game of FM2010

Mamisoa Razafindrakoto (born August 13, 1974) is a Malagasy footballer currently plays for USCA Foot.

He is known for letting in 149 own goals as a protest to the referee.

"I'll just go home and have a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea," Redknapp said, after watching his team win 4-0

5 ever going to roll around, i want to lol already

needs 1x england friendly

David Pleat still pronounces Modrić as Modrick, so I think his head would explode if presented with that teamsheet

<3 Jos Hooiveld, pre-match press conference for Utrecht v Celtic.

When asked how special it was to be back playing in his homeland by the assembled Dutch media, he left them stunned.

"It's 11 against 11 here too, so it's not that special," said Hooiveld.

Also, he forgot his passport, the fool:

"It's terrible that you need papers to travel to your own country – you should be able to travel without them," said Hooiveld.

"To be honest, I'm not the sharpest at 7.45 in the morning."

An unkinder person than me might suggest he's not the sharpest after 3pm either, but I'm not going to do that. He is great value in press conferences though.

I’m waiting eagerly for the hysterical media reaction to Jermaine Defoe’s handball last night. After all, we remember what happened a year ago when Eduardo dived at a far less crucial stage of our qualifiying tie. Defoe can now expect to roundly derided as a cheat and an enemy of the game, right?

tbf, I don't recall 'Arry ever climbing up on his high white horse to loftily proclaim that handling the ball is a curse on the game that must be stamped out and then make up some lame excuse when one of his own players is caught doing it

tbf, I don't recall 'Arry ever climbing up on his high white horse to loftily proclaim that handling the ball is a curse on the game that must be stamped out and then make up some lame excuse when one of his own players is caught doing it

Be nice to hear what Robbie Keane thinks then...

Defoe committed 19 handballs in the league last season. 'arry's probably OK with it.

... and he's courting luis fabiano, so

Also having the ball hit you on the hand and carrying on is maybe a teeny tiny bit different to diving, a field where Eduardo's effort sits on something of a pedestal

Eduardo's effort sits on something of a pedestal

or balances precariously

was going to watch the draw but holy hell this is some tedious shit

Yeah, I'm sort of looking at it disinterestedly.

Man Utd get Valencia in their group.

Real Madrid go in with AC Milan.

Gary Lineker pretending the balls are warm, ahahaha.

Gary Lineker pretending the balls are warm

:/

he's a wag and no mistake. Voiceover bloke playing along. I suspect no-one is laughing.

i want the huns in group E. Think about the shenanigans they'll get up to in Rome.

Eduardo returns!

Arse v Shakhtar

Chelsea v Marseille

are there more crap teams this year or is it just me?

there are always a lot of crap teams. i think there's a few names in here that we haven't seen in the last few years, if at all, thus making the field appear shitter, but obviously since those teams qualified in front of the better known regulars they're just as crap or marginally less crap than them?

Zola looks weenier than usual next to Amazonian presenter woman.

Maicon got defender of the year. Missed who got the goalie award.

Wesley Sneijder is yr midfielder of the year.

cesar

got goalie

Right, cheers.

Rangers go in with Man Utd and Valencia. Bet Greater Manchester police are looking forward to that.

Revenge time

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

lol tottenham pwned by uefa's weird rules

hopefully the scum manure fans are looking forward to it to :)

tooooo

yeah nothing but kudos to them of course, but seeing barca get panathinaikos and fc köbenhavn is pretty ridiculous xp to jim

RAFALUTION GONNA GETCHA

Braga in with Arsenal & Shakhtar (glad we didn't get through, really, sick of sight of them tbh)

group g of death

also we are :DDDDDDDDDDDDD EASY

warm balls from this.

^ TMI

kazan for A pls, auxerre for C, partizan/twente into G

The Arse get Partizan B

The Hotshpursh get Twente

ooh, Rangers get Bursaspor, look at their away kit :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bursaspor

Group A: Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, TOTTENHAM, FC Twente
Group B: Lyon, Benfica, Schalke, Hapoel Tel Aviv
Group C: MANCHESTER UNITED, Valencia, RANGERS, Bursaspor.
Group D: FC Barcelona, Panathinaikos, FC Copenhagen, Rubin Kazan
Group E: Bayern Munich, AS Roma, FC Basel, CFR Cluj
Group F: CHELSEA, Marseille, Spartak Moscow, MSK Zilina
Group G: AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, Auxerre
Group H: ARSENAL, Shakhtar Donetsk, SC Braga, Partizan

Bold = my predictions

A & G Group of Deaths

ooh, Rangers get Bursaspor, look at their away kit :-)

O_o

ha I'm getting one

http://tinyurl.com/383bael

liking this

these groups always look so familiar. like... you'd never get man u, chelsea and arsenal in each others groups u know?

or maybe it's all in my mind.

because clubs from the same association can't be drawn together and all those teams are in the same pot.

yes thanks i knew that - wasnt what i was saying

sorry, didn't understand

like how about....

Group C: CHELSEA, Valencia, RANGERS, Bursaspor
Group F: ARSENAL, Marseille, Spartak Moscow, MSK Zilina
Group H: MANCHESTER UNITED, Shakhtar Donetsk, SC Braga, Partizan

.... eh no ok yeah i probably am exaggerating.

Unless you're following a side who are on the cusp of qualifying/not qualifying, the group stages are dull. The English sides hardly ever are, but Spurs might be quite interesting this year.

i think there's a few names in here that we haven't seen in the last few years, if at all, thus making the field appear shitter, but obviously since those teams qualified in front of the better known regulars they're just as crap or marginally less crap than them?

Last year's introduction of groups of champions in qualifying ensures champions from nations not often represented have a better chance of qualifying - leading to some less familiar names getting in - this in turn had made it harder for e.g. Scottish runners-up - who can no longer face the champions of Eurominnowvia but have to face teams who finish 4th in England or Spain.

I think this is mostly a good thing for the tournament, apart from Celtic not getting to play with the big boys.

Someone just told me there's a chance the Celtic game's off due to v heavy rain in Utrecht :(

After all the Young Boys jokes I hope no one finds out that the manager of FC Twente is Michel Preud'homme.

xpost, where you hearing that from? I'm just about to head for the pub...

lolverpool 1-0 down, btw

Woy out

I met a mate when I got off the train and he'd heard it on the radio. Rain's off now so I assume it's going ahead.

Woy in. I must say he isn't pulling off this drenched look, however. Bit of a belligerent grandmother vibe to him.

RIP Scottish coefficient.

Wiliam Hill put Liverpool at 7.5/1 to win at half time, slightly sad I only had a couple of quid in my account.

wth

Good 'going to ground' there, Emile but dreadful follow-up to an horrendous penalty. He was always gonna miss with a run up like that.

That'll do, Emile. That'll do.

needs an Emile hat trick.

Eventful ten minutes of football. Villa are really not very good.

"Not very good" might be a kind overestimate based on the last week's worth of football. I'm bummed.

Well at least you're not letting the football distract you from your work.

Shame avram grant's already taken, innit?

Today's game was on the players not the manager. Over the weekend, on the other hand...

And I'm very happy Avram isn't available. He creeps me out.

Lord take me now.

I am remarkably upbeat (well, not downbeat) about the gubbing. When you set out to not do worse than 3-1 then concede 2 iffy penalties within 20 minutes, it's hard to react effectively when that wasn't in your gameplan.

btw, Premiersports can eat a bag of dicks.

Starting to think Spurs already have six points on the board without a ball kicked as Silvestre will be playing for Werder Bremen.

I should point out that Celtic were still totally rubbish, but the level of kneejerkery everywhere else in the pub/on the internet/probably in the papers that I will be avoiding today is doing my nut in, so I am being a (massively ineffective) counterbalance to the whole thing.

Kneejerkery entirely understandable in the circumstances - but I'm trying to let it go as I didn't have high expectations of us doing anything in Europe before this tie. Last week's excellent performance gave me a bit of hope but proved to be another false dawn. Still, there's always abject failure in the league to look forward to, and maybe meeting Ross Co in the cup again.

Group A
Juventus
Manchester City
FC Salzburg
Lech Poznan

Group K
Liverpool
Steaua Bucharest
Napoli
FC Utrecht

how many go through again?

The group winners and runners-up will advance to the round of 32, where they will be joined by the 8 third-placed teams from the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League group stage.

Group A: Juventus, MANCHESTER CITY, Salzburg, Lech Posnan
Group B: Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Rosenborg, Thessaloniki
Group C: Sporting, Lille, Levski Sofia, Gent
Group D: Villarreal, Club Brugge, Dinamo Zagreb, PAOK
Group E: AZ Alkmaar, Dynamo Kiev, BATE Borisov, FC Sheriff
Group F: CSKA Moscow, Palermo, Sparta Prague, Lausanne-Sport
Group G: Zenit St Peterburg, Anderlecht, AEK Athens, Hadjuk Split
Group H: VfB Stuttgart, Getafe, Odense BK, Young Boys
Group I: PSV Eindhoven, Sampdoria, FC Metalist Kharkiv, Debreceni
Group J: Sevilla, Paris St Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Karpaty Lviv
Group K: LIVERPOOL, Steaua Bucharest, Napoli, FC Utretcht
Group L: FC Porto, Besiktas, CSKA Sofia, Rapid Vienna

I was going through some stuff in my bedroom a few days ago and I came across an FC Utrecht pin badge. I vaguely remember emailing them for some free stuff. So now ya know.

Was it an unsolicited email? Nice of them. Maybe that's what Guimarães sent one to United?

Group J looks group-of-deathish, but otherwise both competitions could do with one more knock-out round to set up a storming group stage.

AZ draws kinda short straw I guess: "unglamorous" but toughish opponents, long travels

A daft idea:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/sep/01/rangers-fans-manchester-united-wigan

Yeah, we touched on that on the SPL thread. Go to Wigan to not watch your team or hang out with guys going to the game! (actually, if it gets them out of Glasgow, I'm all for it, tbh)

(oh, and shame on you Manchester for running out of drink and making those poor thirsty Rangers fans angry)

We have a huge following around the globe, everyone, in a way, expects us to be in the top four or certainly contending to be in the top four,” Levy said. “We have a great player base and a fan base that is the size of a top-four club. Yet we haven’t been here for such a long time, let’s hope we stay there.”

At the same time, Levy is taking little for granted. “There are only four Champions League places in England and there are seven or eight clubs competing,” he said. “There are probably two clubs who you could say are guaranteed to be in that top four. You then have two places for six clubs. You have to be realistic. The odds are stacked against you. But what we won’t do is jeopardise the club to challenge to be one of those two.”

Sensible approach there, well done Levy.

Heartened that Redknapp appears to be opting for 4-5-1 with Crouch for the Bremen game, hopefully with VDV playing off him.

except that crouch is pretty hopeless in the air!

but yeah 4-5-1 is the right call to start it off with

Is Pav out-of-favour again?

hasn't had the best few games tbf.

that said i don't think a striker has scored a league goal this season yet so there's none of them garnering massive meas lately or anything

crouch is pretty hopeless in the air!

Crouch's lack of prowess in the air vs Crouch's goalscoring record in the Champions League. Dunno, he just seems to be a big game player.

Watch him score an own-goal and get sent off now I've said that.

no proper team would field a player like crouch

it's a damn shame cuz if spurs bought someone like fabiano they'd be better than a lot of middling cl teams like bremen

younes kaboul as lone frontman imho

he's quicker, stronger and technically better than crouch

i'd fall a long way short of describing crouch as 'hopeless'- his passing, touch and positional play alone make him a good PL level striker imo. add in his height (and it's an advantage, even if he doesn't know how to use it AT ALL) and he's worth having round.

wasn't actually joking about kaboul - I reckon he's quite a good emergency striker

Don't think you play defenders as "emergency" strikers in your biggest game in forever when you have three fit strikers sitting around, even if one of them is Robbie Keane.

Bremen have a bit of an injury crisis as well, both their first-choice centre-backs are out, as is Claudio Pizarro. I still expect them to win tonight fwiw.

even if you start off playing like holland 74, crouch's presence ensures an entropic collapse into long ball nonsense before half time

he's not even very good at it, players like drogba are invaluable cuz they can retain the ball under huge pressure but crouch will usually lose it

robbie keane as lone striker >>>>> robbie keane dropping back into midfield in a 442, these days- that's as long as he doesn't pull a defoe on it and all of a sudden think he's going to beat centre halves for strength

i lose the head at crouch sometimes, but at my worst i've never been able to blame him for ekotto/dawson just lumping it at him when he's on the field. that's down to the two players or the manager to sort out.

Crouch is good, c'mon - his CL and England records are excellent and I'm sure he does well in domestic big games too. It's just that any player with that physique will always *look* rubbish, unless playing basketball.

I'm glad Spurs qualified, it makes the group stages interesting for once assuming they don't immediately crash and burn/run away with the group.

that goal keane scored playing for liverpool vs arsenal should give him a chance of starting, he may be easily patronized but he's yr most gifted forward

scored 5 goals in half a season at liverpool, ~10 goals for a withdrawn forward playing their first season at a new team isn't all that bad

should never have been bought by liverpool but he deserved more

Yeah but Crouch has 14 Champions League goals in 31 appearances. That's not to be sniffed at.

true, i guess

he may be easily patronized but he's yr most gifted forward

attitude isn't a 'gift', i suppose.

Is Pav out-of-favour again?

― Ismael Klata, Tuesday, September 14, 2010 9:23 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

hasn't had the best few games tbf.

― k¸ (darraghmac), Tuesday, September 14, 2010 9:25 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that said i don't think a striker has scored a league goal this season yet so there's none of them garnering massive meas lately or anything

― k¸ (darraghmac), Tuesday, September 14, 2010 9:26 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

* Roman Pavlyuchenko has not scored in his last 12 Premier League appearances.

* Only four teams (Chelsea, Arsenal, Newcastle and Manchester United) have recorded more shots on target than Spurs this season. But they have scored with just three of their 23 efforts. By way of contrast, Man United have scored 11 from 25 shots on target.

inspired GK performances against City and Wigan tbf

not very scientific i know but i just feel crouch has "got the knack" as it were.

sometimes feel as though 'better' defenders have more trouble with Crouch tbh. maybe they overthink it and assume they'd better stand off and let him take it down?

Mikael Silvestre is probably playing tonight, fwiw.

FOR US??!!!???!

We've also signed Gilberto Silva, Pascal Cygan and Tony Adams for the occasion.

^ all better left backs than ekotto tbh

gallas captain?

fair point!

yeah dunno what all the fuss is about - you are playing a team with silvestre in it, a real challange will come some other time.

dunno if i should watch this, lyon v. schalke or twente v. inter

you're completely fronting and will definitely watch spurs

barcelona vs panathinaikos should be fun, boumsong, cissé, luis garcia!

yeah most prob. still want to see raul at schalke and rafa's inter tho.

Only a dozen of teams that made the group stages last season, including Barca, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United and the two Milan teams, have done it again 12 months later.

Six teams - Portugal's Braga, Turkey's Bursaspor, Israel's Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Dutch champions Twente Enschede, Slovakia's MSK Zilina as well as Spurs - appear at this stage of the competition for the very first time while England is the only country to have four teams still in contention.

This year, 18 countries are represented among the 32 teams at this stage, meaning that while the likes of FC Copenhagen and Zilina will be gallantly flying the flag for Denmark and Slovakia, and aiming just to nick a few points off the next weakest member of their groups, namely Panathinaikos and Spartak Moscow, there is every chance of a few unusual names cropping up in the last 16.

I'm not suggesting for one minute that they can go all the way and inherit the trophy Jose Mourinho's Inter lifted in May but I'm quietly wondering what Benfica and Braga can do.

Braga looked impressive in eliminating Celtic and then Sevilla to get their place in a group alongside Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk and Partizan Belgrade.

It has been six years since Porto won the Champions League so maybe it's time for another good run from a Portuguese team.

Another potential candidate to provide a few shocks could be Russian champions Rubin Kazan, with Barcelona fans needing no reminding of how useful they can be on their day.

Rubin beat Barca 2-1 in the Camp Nou and held the then European champions to a 0-0 draw in Kazan and they also gave Inter a run for their money last year. A year on, and with a year's more experience under their belts, Kurban Berdyev's cosmopolitan squad - consisting of 15 different nationalities - could cause some surprises again.

As luck would have it, Kazan have been drawn against Barcelona again but this time have got the less awe-inspiring FC Copenhagen and Panathanaikos in their group - so a place in the last 16 could beckon for the first time.

from the bbc european blog, something that is usually smh material.

Bremen always worth watching imo. Whether it's for their suicidally high defensive line, baby faced goalie possibly fatter than Paul Robinson, or the skillz of Hunt and Marin. Shame no Oezil 'tho.

12/32 reappearing is surprising but nice to get some variety

conversely, the locus of power has centralised yet more sternly to the absolute elite - as with the Premiership, there's a wider range of well-drilled, skillful outfits who can theoretically beat anyone (Everton, Spurs, Villa?, City) but there's an extremely specialised top-tier whose coagulation of talent will ultimately prevail

don't think i'd describe spurs as well drilled tbh, even if we're improved on other years.

I'm not sure I'd have put Inter in that absolute elite this time last year.

mourinho = absolute elite of one

Umm... that team who won the third best league like 5 times in a row and had Jose in charge?

was gonna say

Was thinking more about their record in the CL itself.

the 09/10 inter was obviously very different to the 07-09 mancini inter

i didn't think they'd beat chelsea tho

then surely real don't count either?

not in cl terms, they've lost in the 2nd round since 2005 iirc (vs arsenal)

was thinking the other day baout the best teams in europe (as you do), something like

barcelona
chelsea
inter
real madrid
manchester utd
bayern munich
arsenal
ac milan
lyon
juventus
liverpool
marseille
manchester city

Real Madrid still won it like three times in the last 15 years.

i'd agree w/ that order (although juve? over athletico?) but i'm also certain its going to rapidly change soon

yeah i was thinking of atletico, they could well be placed below lyon there, tho you never know what yr going to get with atleti

How about the best teams outside the top five leagues? i.e. the sides who're getting screwed by the present system. Feel like I'm badly lacking in knowledge here. Maybe something like:

shakhtar
benfica
rubin kazan
ajax
zenit
cska
fenerbahce

schteeeve's twente >>> ajax >>> twente.

also think anderlecht may become everyone's favourite team outside the big five nations for the 10s.

Tottenham midfielder Sandro turned up early to catch his flight to Germany for the Champions League clash with Werder Bremen - only to be told he was not even in the squad.

The bungling Brazilian, an £8 million summer signing from Internacional, is still learning English so relies on Portuguese and Spanish-speaking team-mates to help him out.

Honduras midfielder Wilson Palacios told him to get to Stansted airport "bright and breezy" on Monday morning, according to the Daily Mail, and he eagerly followed instructions.

But the 21-year-old was not named in Spurs’ A-squad for the Champions League and needs to have been at the club for two years to be considered for the U21 exemption list.

wonder why he wasn't named FFS

I remember seeing a stat which was something like Anderlecht and maybe Kiev had appeared in more QFs than any other club, before the CL appeared and changed the playing field. Of course they've barely had a sniff since. Something very good seems to have happened in Belgian footy in the past couple of years though.

cska moscow were fantastic last season

                          necid
gonzalez               dzagoev                  krasic
    
                     honda   aldonin
schennikov ignashevitch berezutski berezutski
                           akinfeev

fie! fe for fun

aw wtf, rong thread

yea yea, mo edu in the champions league

did 'edu something?

Rangers have set their stall out very defensively

No shit, BBC live update guy :-)

HERE WE GO

oh look it's a Bale assist

younes kaboul is definitely better up front than crouch

big game player

Eto'o just scored a beaut and had a proper Arshavin photoshop celebration. 2-2. Rafa doesn't flinch. Terrific game.

loooooooooooooooooooooooool

BAE with 30 glorious seconds there

Check out Cisse's flick to set up Govou's goal v Barca.

The passing buildup leading to the second Messi goal was mesmerizingly good. Can't wait to see that from a few different angles.

Whoever's playing down the right for Twente looks a cracking player. Twente like an inch from making it 3-2. Both teams look a lil uncomfortable getting used to new managers and that first 45 was all over the place.

Who's had a worse game, Silvestre or BAE?

I missed Barca's goal dammit.

It won't load, but I want to know what this ENPPI Cairo v Arab Contractors at the top of the list is. I'm hoping it's coming live from the Commercial Court.

xp to a hoy hoy: is that http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Ruiz? dude's been amazing for CR in concacaf

Some classic brawls right now on the simulcast

dan dunno tbh. foreign commentary + spending about five minutes confused by him seemingly calling maicon 'douglas' when twente also have a player called douglas and he seems to be in love w/ maicon even when he doesn't go near the ball for minutes at a time, he's still talking about him when exciting other stuff is happening.

Also been quite impressed with this McDonald fella for Inter. Should I stick with this or is there a chance for lols in the Spurs second half?

Stick with Spurs

That Marin fellow was sensational late on against Sampdoria

:D

a bit messiesque that goal from marin

Messianic is the preferred adjective I believe.

oh spurs.

I believe Kirk Broadfoot has snapped Valencia's leg in half.

I believe you're right. Eeesh.

Can't bring myself to rewind it to watch it, they aren't going to show it again - I'm not sure it was intentional, Broadfoot is a big clumsy oaf, I don't think he's, ahem, That Kind Of Player.

yowch, just thinking about leg breaks turns my stomach

Damn. I like Valencia.

looked accidental to me too

really don't know how players can mentally get over breaking their legs and go back to playing and committing 100% again week in week out

Can't bring myself to rewind it to watch it, they aren't going to show it again - I'm not sure it was intentional, Broadfoot is a big clumsy oaf, I don't think he's, ahem, That Kind Of Player.

I rewound it - it didn't even look like a foul. Quite innocuous, except he ended up with his foot in an impossible angle.

wouldn't wish that on anyone except eduardo/derlei j/k j/k

I've been so busy with work / forgetful that I didn't even realise there were European games on tonight until just before half time. It doesn't seem that I missed anything from Old Trafford.

really don't know how players can mentally get over breaking their legs and go back to playing and committing 100% again week in week out

― should i watch robocop y/y (cozen), Tuesday, 14 September 2010 21:07 (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

because otherwise the terrorists win

Right, sorry if it looked like I was blaming Broadfoot - wasn't really watching, looked up to see him looking sick and Valencia on the ground, assumed he'd been involved more than he was, didn't have the guts to rewind having seen enough footballer legs hanging off to know I don't need to see any more. I've heard and read enough in the intervening period to know that it was a freak accident.

xpost, thanks NB&S

broke my ankle when I was about 15 and not a day goes by when I don't think about it

Rangers retaining all the flair and skill that took them to the UEFA Cup Final a couple of years back, btw. Effective, but fucking terrible to watch. And now actually physically horrible to watch since Kyle Lafferty came on.

I had a nasty fall in February and get nervous every time I step over a kerb/break into a trot/walk on cobbles - god knows how Eduardo leaves the house in the morning

like a shit inter
xpost

(I don't really think abt my broken ankle e/day btw ;))

My pc decided to die on me for no good reason (too much spurs and silvestre most probably), did I miss anything in the past five minutes?

that's cold

I take weird panic phobia things sometimes that I imagine a bone snapping, and it makes my blood run cold. (worst I've done was snapped my wrist, I went into shock and didn't even feel any pain, I don't think, or if I did, I've forgotten it). This possibly stems from looking at too many Eduardos/Steve Bussts/Henrik Larssons/Aaron Ramseys in my life, tbh.

United don't look very good. Rangers seem to be pinning them back fairly easily now.

didn't even break my ankle playing football: jumped for a rope swing and it blew out the way loooooooool

broke my arm and nose playing football tho, bloody sore.

xpost

Man Utd really look like a team 700m in debt this season, non?

Two vital away goals for the Spunts.

They can win this thing in the second leg.

Valencia seem to be faring quite well without villa and silva so far.

I don't know what was wrong w/United but that was desperate. Am feeling NBS's apolcalyptic visions a little more right now.

If Rangers play that well in their other games they could end up with six points.

Two vital away goals for the Spunts.

They can win this thing in the second leg.

i'm confused, i thought this was a league system. or is the CL some kind of crazy rules going on?

ohhhh shit they're rolling that valencia tackle now. was not prepared for that.

Two vital away goals for the Spunts.

They can win this thing in the second leg.

i'm confused, i thought this was a league system. or is the CL some kind of crazy rules going on?

― F-Unit (Ste), Tuesday, September 14, 2010 4:44 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

think that was humour

ah

btw speaking of the team valencia, this new guy costa seems more than decent

xp I was inspired by the commentator's hilarious "As good a performance as you're likely to see in the Champions League, especially away from home" line.

Man Utd really look like a team 700m in debt this season, non?

That plus Sralex deciding he didn't need Nani, Berb, Scholes or Giggs to beat wee Rangers. They were reduced to watching Gibson miss the target from increasing distances. I think Rangers probably had more efforts on target and had a wee penalty shout as well.

http://static.bbc.co.uk/homepage/ic/mediazone/strap/www/image/p00b14cv_640_215.jpg

When did Kenny Miller get fat?

It's kind of diminishing returns from these Anglo-Scottish ties. When Leeds got drawn against Rangers in 1992 it was A BIG DEAL and the media endlessly hyped about the forthcoming Battle of Britain. It was much more of an even contest then (well, actually a bit uneven, seeing as Rangers were still good but Leeds were doing their best to get relegated while champions) and was champions v champions in a straight knockout and was something we hadn't seen in my lifetime (as far as I know).

When United got drawn against Rangers in 2003 that was pretty exciting and made for an interesting couple of matches: the atmosphere seemed pretty intense at Ibrox (from what I could tell watching on TV in an Irish pub in Paris) and the thrashing handed out at OT was entertaining. Since then United have had Celtic twice and I can't really remember anything about those four matches apart from the fact that Celtic had a Japanese player and he scored from a free kick. Or maybe he just took a free kick. Or watched someone else take one. I can't even remember what seasons they were.

Tonight so failed to capture my imagination that I missed 40 minutes due to not even knowing the game was on, in fact not even realising the group stages started this week. Watching fifty minutes of a semi-reserve United team failing to break down ten-men behind the ball won't really live long in the memory.

ur boys took one helluva beating
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RINJSHKN7qY

lest we forget this tho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzZ0k8fZZTg

Celtic had a Japanese player and he scored from a free kick

He scored free kicks in both legs.

Shittiest defending ever for that MacManamanamanamanamanaman goal. I'd have dragged him down by the hair on the half way line. Mahe not fouling him still baffles me, he fouled *everyone*.

I reckon I've post those exact sentences on the Internet at least 10 times :(

Speaks more about the changing distribution of wealth than anything. United's group in 94 was a big thing and finished IFK Gothenburg - Barca - Utd - Galatasaray. Barca would still be exciting today, Gala routine, but IFK have just disappeared. It's these little leagues who are getting shafted.

wowowow result aside that was fuckin woeful

btw, there were a couple of decent Anglo-Scottish ties in the UEFA Cup in 2002-03. Just saying, like.

Also Celtic v Arsenal last year: Gary Caldwell o.g./Eduardo "diving". Just in the interests of remembering them all and not just the ones you remember.

Quick, tight passing for Barca's 3rd goal - watch it before it's gone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNXRtjeddg4

btw auxurre 8-1 to beat milan tomorrow even though milan lost to a newly promoted team with a full strength side this weekend.

Wow Spurs had a let-off there but I'm sort of pleased with the result because a) it was better than I'd expected and b) I hope everyone, including Redknapp has LEARNED THEIR FUCKING LESSON. Namely don't play Tom Huddlestone as a sole defensive midfielder in the Champions League and don't play Jenas at all. Also Assou-Ekotto... *head in hands*

That said, we got away with it. Malin looks an incredible player and we really should have been closing him down more. At the same time the wisdom of signing Van Der Vaart is really showing, without him or Modric on the pitch, Spurs just look like a load of dudes running up and down the pitch in straight lines. But we still could have had a winner.

scary that bremen can sell ozil and replace him with another amazing player, and one who's just 20 years old. gotta be worth putting a bet on them for euro 2012.

'scary' or just sensible?

Ailsa, I think what I'm getting at is the diminishing levels of excitement *pre*-match as much as anything. The build up to the Leeds v Rangers game was massive, whereas the only kind of media interest in the build up to last night's match was "Oh noes are drunken Glaswegian hordes going to lay waste to Manchester (again)" rather than any real excitement about the actual match. This was exacerbated by Ferguson's team selection, which made it look like he was expecting a Carling Cup tie, and then the game itself which was something of a non-event. I think the relatively high frequency of these ties nowadays means they don't seem like anything special any more. But then I find the whole group stage section boring anyway and I'd rather it was a straight knockout from the off.

I def remember the leeds/rangers game being a massive deal at the time

No, that makes sense. I don't get any more excited at the prospect of being gubbed by an EPL side more than by one from anywhere else these days. Though is still nice to beat them, just to prove we aren't parochial wee pushovers (though doing it by boring half a team into submission probably isn't the way to win any friends). I'm a bit sad that the sole thing you've taken from four Celtic v Man Utd games is "a Japanese bloke was involved", which goes to show that it's maybe not working as well as it used to in my head.

Optajoe says "Spurs are the first English side to surrender a two-goal lead abroad in the Champions League."

"What lessons can I learn because they score? What can I do?'' Redknapp said. "How can they learn lessons? We're always talking about lessons - 'Did you learn a lesson? Was it a lesson in Champions League football?'

"No, it's a game of football. We're 2-0 up; they've got a goal out of nothing - it happens. It could happen at Hackney Marshes on Saturday afternoon.

"We went away to play Young Boys of Bern, we went 3-0 down. We came back and got two goals back that won the tie for us. It happens in football. If we play like that every game, we won't go too far wrong.''

Indeed, Redknapp insisted his side could not have played better than they did for the opening 43 minutes. "It was a perfect 43 minutes,'' he said. "If we'd have been three or four goals up, it would have been a fair reflection of the play.

"From never having a shot or bothering the goalkeeper, they suddenly found themselves 2-1 and they had something to go for. They got that goal when, really, they were struggling to live with us and it gave them a lift.''

"What can you do? I can't be angry. Yes, frustration. We came here for an away game in a very difficult place to come and play. That first half was as good as you could wish to see from us. Barcelona might be better than that, but that was as good as Tottenham can do.''

Leeds-Rangers was a bigger thing for all sorts of reasons:

- both teams were champions
- it was a straight knock-out
- novelty of the two clubs meeting, it used to be a once-a-decade thing
- English teams in Europe was still novel in itself
- Rangers as a club were really organised, English football as a whole really disorganised, which made it a pretty even contest
- lots of top English playing for rangers

None of that really applies any more

Love the last line:

--

Bremen boss Thomas Schaaf was at a loss to explain his side's dismal first-half display, which followed Saturday's impressive goalless Bundesliga draw at Bayern Munich.

"I constantly ask myself how can something like this happen after such a great game in Munich last weekend,'' he said. "We just have to look at the first half of what happened today. How can something like this happen?

"Then you have to remember that we have a great team, a team that has great qualities and that never gives up. So I'm like the result tonight; I'm 'drawn' in my opinion.''

Tottenham appeared to be playing their German dopplegangers last night - terrific little playmaker, exciting attacking talent, still ropey at the back.

People have been talking about the injuries to Defoe and Dawson but I think Gomes would have saved at least one of those Bremen strikes.

Valencia out for the season by the looks of things. He created so much for United last year, it's a huge loss for them.

Dear the guardian, do not illustrate an article talking about how the injury was so horrific that Sky didn't show the incident with, um, a large picture of the incident. And on the front page of the website as well. Blee! (have seen a lot worse, but still, am squeamish!)

CO SIGN

united are fucked.

whereas the only kind of media interest in the build up to last night's match was "Oh noes are drunken Glaswegian hordes going to lay waste to Manchester (again)"

Probably more Lanarkshire (+the rest) and Belfast than Glaswegian

Blatant penalty on Sex Faberge already.

Make that two.

oh no what next they will try and break your legs and dave right will have to make a likkle movie about it

MURDER

Taking advantage of Braga.

FUCKING...FUCKING NEARLY ENDED CHAMAKH'S CAREER

god you're gonna win 7-0

GLEICHE ALTE ARSENAL, STETS BETROGEN

*7-2

Yeah, sounds about right. You're never too sure with Concede-a-Goalmunia in the sticks.

Adamlapthorn on Twitter: "Is it just me or are Arsenal playing even more beautiful football than usual this season?"

Too right.

too right yr playing a team who can't defend

I was thinking 'oh look someone shd pick up arshavin' for like 2 seconds before the pass there

Braga could have really done with having an actual free kick for offside there instead of playing on and immediately losing possession

yeahbut nasri plainly ignored the ball

http://imgur.com/p7NTF.jpg

THRILLSHERE

hahahaha was that intentional if so wd wilshere

hmmmm a bit scrappy for a barcelonagoal but nicely done

xp to LJ I wasn't contesting the decision, just that they are so abject in their own half that they could do with having as many dead balls there as possible

academic now I daresay

"Is it just me or are Arsenal playing even more beautiful football than usual this season?"

somehow this being in "tweet" form makes it *less* vile. I think it at least suggests a degree of spontaneity

IK is on a storming run of OTM - gonna have to read his ROP article

I have a bet on with a Chelsea mate that Arsenall will score more tonight, and if I lose if because of a ref not giving Arsenal the three penalites they should have had I won't be a happy camper.

you'll make a video with an irksome soundtrack and draw attention to braga's 'progressive football'

Think those videos only get made when Arsenal are playing against honest and solid English sides instead of another bunch of bleedin' foreigners like Braga.

That middle tier empties fast. I sat in there once for a friendly and iirc there was a carvery back there

you're gonna lose that bet, sgt. biscuits

sgt biscuits' bet keeping it interesting.

Shocking two footed studs up tackle from an gasp shock Arsenal player!!1!

oh shit daniel sturridge? thought he was a city player

In other news, either the Messicopter is back over Hackney or Messi has been stabbed and the police are out looking for the culprit.

lol @ braga's defence

lol wtf defending where are you?

(Celtic clearly much much worse than I thought going out to Braga)

you're gonna lose that bet, sgt. biscuits

oh shit daniel sturridge? thought he was a city player

You sho' bout dat? x2

yeah apparently daniel sturridge signed for chelsea, I just looked it up o_O

niiiiice

braga are so shit tho

Want to know what Sgt Biscuits has won.

2 tickets to bolton - blackburn

Remember to take your shin pads and a cheeky smile.

FUCKING BAN HIM BAN HIM THROW BRAGA OUT OF FOOTBALL

hahahaha wtf the goalie there

lol cesc looking delighted i see

is there anywhere i can purchase a FREE CESC t-shirt

well someone's cocky

I think ILX's supporters of unreasonably successful clubs should have a thread of their own called Easy, Easy, Easy

fabregas just doesn't want to be out there imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wZCpZAvLUI&feature=player_embedded

This was a bit of a beauty from Muller.

Still suspect they'll get thru to the group stages and get hammered 7-0 by Chelsea or Arsenal

― It dreamed to Tom D. of the Caucasus (Tom D.), Wednesday, 25 August 2010 11:27 (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

... Braga that is ... I don't wanna say I told you so but...

I do believe I was bigging them up a few posts later, but only because I didn't realise just what beautiful football Arsenal can play.

anyways i missed both the spurs discussion and our first goals in the champion's league. still don't know how inter did.

lol

he'll take that

Jim Rosenthal has signed up to be the face of football on Channel 5. He will front the channel's coverage of the Europa League.

daniel sturridge playing himself into a move to a big club since the start of the season imo

he needs to move on from man city

haven't you heard? thee's talk of an emergency loan to QPR

juve 2-2 against... lech poznan? lol?

Joe Cole's on fire early doors
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll276/TopRedCafe/Colefire.gif

anyone got a stream for the villareal match, by chance?

Looks like being a good'n at Anfield. 1-1 after 13 minutes.

(can't find a Villareal link dan)

yeah |raqgoals seems to be down

Are there no 'pool fans at Anfield? All the noise is coming from Bucharest.

villareal game is over

doh! thx

Joe Cole looks lively. There seems a new urgency about a few of them tonight - Maxi, Kelly, even Babel for a moment there. Good to see.

cole's done ok but could have done without the fancy flicks and subsequently giving the ball away. shite 1st half, good 2nd half seems to be how things have gone thus far this season, so should win 4-1.

also nice to see considerably less hoofs and longballs carra-stylee.

don't know about that xp, a draw would be okay I think, Steaua look good. The style of play suits them though. There seems an awful lot of space & time out there, but not in a slow, lazy way - either the game's stretched or there's a lot of midgets out there.

yeah shite was a harsh, seem to be getting numbers forward a lot quicker, but still a sense of 'eh, now what'. meireles doesn't seem to have been as snappy as he was on sunday, could do with him ripping at their defence a bit.

The extra space & time is just due to good touch & technique all round I realise - I'm not familiar with it these days.

Kyrgiakos has a bit of previous for that.

looking less stonewall with every replay

4-1 could be right after all. Good strike, though it helps when you can take a ten-yard run-up I guess

Good call.

fucking bollocky shit wank. should've put a bet on. i never predict scores either!

Just watched the Arsenal-Braga match and sure, boring boring arsenal but what impressed me is that we were always first to the ball, always closing down players as soon as they had a sniff, strong on our feet, committed in their half - we've been doing this all season and I love seeing it. Dunno if we'll be able to keep it up till May but its as important as having another man to pass to.

Oh and Braga only started to look SHIT after our 4th. The goals we scored in the first half, they were tight as hell on us and we needed shit like that Wilshere flick (intentional? who cares?) to hammer them. Their tactic of putting two men on Cesc fucked up big time as it meant Nasri or Wilshere had hella space for him to pass to, turn their heads and give him some space to then move into.

'course it was intentional - it didn't look very elegant but you don't pull stuff like that off by accident.

Almunia has an "arm injury".

I'm imagining Wenger chinese burning him after the game on Saturday. Wait, does this mean Fabianski's in?

Funny how Lehmann had the nickname 'Mad Jens' when Almunia is the bonkers one.

yes. unless he's also 'injured', like that time last season when mannone got a string of games because they were both so shit (although it turned out almunia had some time off for family issues as well as being shit.)

Mannone was alright when he was given a chance too, wasn't he? Sure he made a dozen or so mistakes, but such is life in the Arsenal goal.

I can only remember one or two mistakes. Really we need to just give it to Chesney (esp. as his contract is running out). Bob Wilson says he is the shit and if there is anyone we should be listening to in these times, it's him.

who's Ari?

redknapp?

ha, i just looked up ari, youngish brazilian forward who has "trained with the brazil squad" according to wiki. struggled to get in to the AZ squad full name Ariclenes da Silva Ferreira

led the swedish league in goals in 2006

Can something be "against the run of play" if Terry scores 5 minutes in, Alan Green?

terry knocks one in from a tight angle under no pressure after early setpiece

against the run of play btw

malouda bundles with conviction

was gonna say we are looking shit and then andrey scores.

yet another clol jack wilshere backheel assist.

It's lovely to see Ajax stroking the ball around well on the big stage again. I know they, like, still exist and play matches every week and stuff, but they've retreated into a kind of legendary netherworld for me, like Melchester Rovers or the Harlem Globetrotters.

1-0 Ajax. They're playing some lovely stuff.

lovely lovely lovely

chelsea 2-0 peno

goaline clearance! this game isn't half bad. arshavin should have 4.

channel for arsenal match?

athde.net

why does every yugoslavian team have someone in a protective mask, is their league that violent?

Robinho keeps it at 1-0 with an utter howler, one-on-one about forty yards clear of the last man, dinked over the goalie and about five yards wide. He's got a great face for the shock-horror looks.

tbf as a neutral i'm sure ajax-milan, auxurre-madrid or basel-bayern are more exciting choices.

Karadzic-style beards not practical for playing footy xp.

ffs partizan penalty for denilson handball

1-1

chelsea should have had another one there (peno)

I'm way behind you, if that was 1-1 when you posted that!

I am using my sky multi-room sky player thingie on my PC with two windows open with Chelsea on one, Arse on the other, and this open as well. What was that on the prem thread about paying attention to too many things in full-on football anorak mode?

who scored for milan?

zlatan

its almost like he's a 60m footballer

partizan player sent off for last man tackle on chamakh, dunno ifs a pen or free kick. ok arshavin pen.

SAVED! ffs.

this partizan keeper has been terrific but chamakhattack

2-1 Arse, Chamahkh. Good time for my picture to pack in, cheers.

ok now we've won it can we bring on some kiddies, we've got chelsea at the weekend to rest players for.

yaaaaa!

i've flicked between 4 different games tonight and not seen a single goal!

ok i am a bayern and real goal away from getting the tonight part of my 50p accumulator right, come on fellas

Squiggle scores his first Arsenal goal.

Preston currently 5-4 up against Leeds (from 4-1 down) if you can find a stream of that.

wtf third penalty of the night, missed what happened

flappyhandski saves it!

Still haven't shown the tackle, wonder what happened.

yes real, now come on bayern

schweini just scored. congrats!

2133: Basel 1-2 Bayern Munich (Schweinsteiger)

wooooooooo. if i do this well tomorrow then i'm buying the ilf crew a beer.

also fabianski looking awesome? must be drawing his defence into a false sense of security before the lols at stamford bridge.

i've flicked between 4 different games tonight and not seen a single goal!

I do this every week. Managed to miss both penalties (just like the takers, ba-dum-tish) in the Arse game.

ha, 7/7 tonight (couldn't figure braga-shakthar) but still only 7/15.

real highlights are fkn INSANE

jeez and when they score there's a blatant handball in the buildup

tv3 coverage is grim as fuck tbh, but there's a girl doing links and roundups/emails etc and i think i'm in love

screenshot please

of my tv?

have sadly already checked the web and it doesn't know her

Barca losing to Rubin Kazan 0 30th minute penalty about as "against the run of play" as it gets.

puyol is so gross

jesus rubin nearly stole it there with a brilliant attack

I reckon it should be compulsory for the players to sing the Champions League anthem.

Anybody know how much Valencia spent on the new stadium before abandoning it?

puyol is so gross

― party central (con suelo), Wednesday, September 29, 2010 1:43 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/puyol-photos-marie-claire.png

Anybody know how much Valencia spent on the new stadium before abandoning it?
Was reading an article about that a couple of hours ago funnily enough. Let me find it...

United en route to a right pasting here

Here it is:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/markogden/100012756/valencias-grim-monument-to-footballs-financial-madness/

£250m according to that.

I read the Telegraph one, if it's that - I presume the £250m or whatever is the finished cost, I was wondering how much a shell costs

xp sorry, trying to save you a job there

ismael, here's a little bit more information, but it's not totally clear

http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/nou-mestalla/

Valencia still owes €15m to the players and €19m to the company constructing the Nou Mestalla.

The overall cost of the land is €45m. Valencia CF has paid €28m, leaving €17 left to be paid.

still doesn't say exactly how much they've spent, but somewhat more concrete numbers

xp ha no worries.

"somewhat more concrete numbers".
ba-dum-tssh.

Thanks. It sounds good if we ever see it, but a full Mestalla on a clear night looks like the best ground in the world