Villarreal 2-2 Wolfsburg
Well, this game was pretty awesome. Many chances on both sides, while Wolfsburg having the best ones. They should have won this game and I was pretty angry, because the last goal of Villarreal was a gift. Nevertheless, it is an excellent result for the Wölfe.
Twente 1-0 Werder
I watched parts of it (because of the Olympics) and it seems like I didn't miss anything. The game looked quite boring to me. Twente earns the advantange now, but I think it is better for Werder, if they really have to do something in the 2nd leg. That was the case so often and I'm pretty sure Werder can beat the hell out of Twente at home.
Hamburg 1-0 PSV
This game wasn't as easy as it sounds. PSV defended well, while HSV tried and tried. It was a very important game for Hamburg, because Ze Roberto did make his comeback after his injury. Ruud only played about 30 minutes and unfortunately Elia wasn't able to play at all. A few more goals would have been better, but I'm convinced HSV can progress to the next round.
Hertha 1-1 Benfica
I watched a summary of the game. I was simply shocked. Worst game I watched since a very long time. Both teams just sucked very hard and could have done so much better. There were quite some good chances to score on both sides, but I don't see how Hertha can beat Benfica in Portugal, especially because Hertha must concentrate on not to be relegated and besides they have to play 3 games in just 5 days (UEFA sucks).
In the end, it was quite a good matchday for Germany. The four teams managed to get 0,666 points while Italy only got 0,285. On the other hand it will be hard for Werder and especially Hertha to qualify, but Roma isn't for sure either. So this battle stays interesting (~ 2,1 points left).
EL Round 2 (round of 32)
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AlanK
- Senior Member
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- Location: Salem, Oregon and Barcelona, Spain; occasionally Lisboa
Musings after a day which didn't go so well in Europe:
What an awful matchday for Spain
I think I must be a futbol solipsist--only I exist, because what I do seems to cause the Spanish teams to do well or poorly. Every winter I spend in Oviedo, they come up flat--2003, 2005, 2008, and now 2010. Look at the record: 2003--one team to semis; everybody else bombs out in cuartos (Barsa, Valencia, Malaga); 2005--even worse; only Villarreal gets as far as cuartos, where they lose to AZ; 2008--a little better: Getafe gets to cuartos, Barsa to semis; 2010--what can I say: first week's balance is three ties (all at home), two losses (both on the road, both by only one goal). This must all be about me, right 
There is clearly some evil 
futbol intelligence which seeks to punish me for something I did in another incarnation or even in the present one. Do you think I take this too seriously 
Maybe my presence in Lisboa next week will help the Spanish teams (oops, now I sound even more ridiculous than before)
What an awful matchday for Spain
I think I must be a futbol solipsist--only I exist, because what I do seems to cause the Spanish teams to do well or poorly. Every winter I spend in Oviedo, they come up flat--2003, 2005, 2008, and now 2010. Look at the record: 2003--one team to semis; everybody else bombs out in cuartos (Barsa, Valencia, Malaga); 2005--even worse; only Villarreal gets as far as cuartos, where they lose to AZ; 2008--a little better: Getafe gets to cuartos, Barsa to semis; 2010--what can I say: first week's balance is three ties (all at home), two losses (both on the road, both by only one goal). This must all be about me, right There is clearly some evil futbol intelligence which seeks to punish me for something I did in another incarnation or even in the present one. Do you think I take this too seriously Maybe my presence in Lisboa next week will help the Spanish teams (oops, now I sound even more ridiculous than before) Missed the early games but watched Fulham-Shakhtar.
Fulham started well but anyone watching the last 35-40 minutes of the first half would never have believed the final result. 3-1 to Shakhtar would have been a far more sensible half-time prediction as the Ukrainians were brilliant for that period of the match .
Credit to Fulham for harrying Shakhtar much better in the second half - & Zamora's goal was tremendous. But still I couldn't help feeling that Shakhtar should have gone for the jugular far more in the second half.
Hopefully Fulham can work some magic/miracle next week but I'd still have to have Shakhtar as big favourites to progress at this point.
From an English perspective I'm more disappointed by Everton's failure to put Sporting to bed on Tuesday. Everton seem to be a much better team (fewer injuries especially) now than they were in the autumn so I have some hope they might have a decent run if they put their minds to it. But "only" 2-1 against a team doing poorly domestically by their own standards isn't a great start.
Fulham started well but anyone watching the last 35-40 minutes of the first half would never have believed the final result. 3-1 to Shakhtar would have been a far more sensible half-time prediction as the Ukrainians were brilliant for that period of the match .
Credit to Fulham for harrying Shakhtar much better in the second half - & Zamora's goal was tremendous. But still I couldn't help feeling that Shakhtar should have gone for the jugular far more in the second half.
Hopefully Fulham can work some magic/miracle next week but I'd still have to have Shakhtar as big favourites to progress at this point.
From an English perspective I'm more disappointed by Everton's failure to put Sporting to bed on Tuesday. Everton seem to be a much better team (fewer injuries especially) now than they were in the autumn so I have some hope they might have a decent run if they put their minds to it. But "only" 2-1 against a team doing poorly domestically by their own standards isn't a great start.
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Dragonite
- Senior Member
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- Location: Lisboa, Portugal
- Contact:
Everton 2-1 Sporting: Pathetic Sporting... they were losing 2-0 and only scored one thanks to an inexistent penalty kick. Most likely, they’ll lose again next week. 
Rubin Kazan 3-0 Hapoel Tel-Aviv: I expected Rubin to win the game and qualify, but with such difference, it’s already over.
Ajax 1-2 Juventus: Expected win for Juventus, too. Ajax’s defenders aren’t good enough to stop Juventus’ forwards.
Club Brugge 1-0 Valencia: Surprising result, I guess Silva’s red card and Moyá’s blunder sort of explains it... Valencia should still recover in Spain, though.
Villarreal 2-2 Wolfsburg: I expected Wolfsburg to win this one 2-1, Villarreal’s 2nd ruined my prediction. Still, Wolfsburg has the advantage to the second leg.
Standard Liège 3-2 FC Salzburg: Salzburg first defeat in the EL, and after being 2-0 up. Can they recover in Austria and qualify? I’m not so sure anymore.
Twente 1-0 Werder Bremen: Other surprising result. Last season Twente also had a 1-0 lead (against Marseille) and they wasted it, maybe they’ll do it again?
Lille 2-1 Fenerbahçe: Expected result here. Why wasn’t Gervinho in the starting XI? And great goal by Wederson, the Brazilians from Fenerbahçe are good from long range shots; they learned it from Roberto Carlos?
Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Anderlecht: Expected result here too. The Spanish press is reporting that Athletic fans pissed over Anderlecht fans. UEFA should do something about this. Just because one of Belgium’s symbols is the statue of a pissing boy, it doesn’t justify the behaviour of the Spanish trolls.
FC Copenhagen 1-3 Marseille: I predicted away wins in many games (Valencia, Wolfsburg, Salzburg, Werder Bremen, Roma, Shakhtar, Benfica, and Juventus)... yet, in this one, I thought that FC Copenhagen would at least not lose the home game. Marseille is already through.
Panathinaikos 3-2 Roma: Other surprising result. Will Roma recover in Italy? We shouldn’t forget that Panathinaikos is usually stronger in away games.
Atlético Madrid 1-1 Galatasaray: Expected result here. Will Galatasaray “do the rest of the job” in Istanbul, like they did against Bordeaux last season, or will they ruin everything, like they also did last season, in the following round against Hamburg?
Fulham 2-1 Shakhtar Donetsk: One of the most surprising results of the round, perhaps the most surprising. How could Shakhtar lose against these guys?! Are they respecting the competition already, or are they still playing with reserves? Anyway, Shakhtar should recover in Ukraine.
Liverpool 1-0 Unirea Urziceni: Expected win for Liverpool here. The evil English teams are so mean, now they also haunt the poor Eastern Europeans in the EL.
Hamburg 1-0 PSV Eindhoven: Expected result here too. PSV released their top scorer, Jonathan, because of a positive test for drugs?! Weren’t drugs supposed to be legal in Holland?
Hertha Berlin 1-1 Benfica: Shameful result for Benfica... This was just Hertha, not Bayern!! 1-1 with 10 minutes to go, and Jorge Jesus (Benfica’s coach) replaces a forward (Saviola) for a defender (Miguel Vítor)?! The other guy was so bad, and this one is so good, and yet both get the same result in Berlin? What comes next, elimination against the French team, just like he did last season with Braga?
Rubin Kazan 3-0 Hapoel Tel-Aviv: I expected Rubin to win the game and qualify, but with such difference, it’s already over.
Ajax 1-2 Juventus: Expected win for Juventus, too. Ajax’s defenders aren’t good enough to stop Juventus’ forwards.
Club Brugge 1-0 Valencia: Surprising result, I guess Silva’s red card and Moyá’s blunder sort of explains it... Valencia should still recover in Spain, though.
Villarreal 2-2 Wolfsburg: I expected Wolfsburg to win this one 2-1, Villarreal’s 2nd ruined my prediction. Still, Wolfsburg has the advantage to the second leg.
Standard Liège 3-2 FC Salzburg: Salzburg first defeat in the EL, and after being 2-0 up. Can they recover in Austria and qualify? I’m not so sure anymore.
Twente 1-0 Werder Bremen: Other surprising result. Last season Twente also had a 1-0 lead (against Marseille) and they wasted it, maybe they’ll do it again?
Lille 2-1 Fenerbahçe: Expected result here. Why wasn’t Gervinho in the starting XI? And great goal by Wederson, the Brazilians from Fenerbahçe are good from long range shots; they learned it from Roberto Carlos?
Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Anderlecht: Expected result here too. The Spanish press is reporting that Athletic fans pissed over Anderlecht fans. UEFA should do something about this. Just because one of Belgium’s symbols is the statue of a pissing boy, it doesn’t justify the behaviour of the Spanish trolls.
FC Copenhagen 1-3 Marseille: I predicted away wins in many games (Valencia, Wolfsburg, Salzburg, Werder Bremen, Roma, Shakhtar, Benfica, and Juventus)... yet, in this one, I thought that FC Copenhagen would at least not lose the home game. Marseille is already through.
Panathinaikos 3-2 Roma: Other surprising result. Will Roma recover in Italy? We shouldn’t forget that Panathinaikos is usually stronger in away games.
Atlético Madrid 1-1 Galatasaray: Expected result here. Will Galatasaray “do the rest of the job” in Istanbul, like they did against Bordeaux last season, or will they ruin everything, like they also did last season, in the following round against Hamburg?
Fulham 2-1 Shakhtar Donetsk: One of the most surprising results of the round, perhaps the most surprising. How could Shakhtar lose against these guys?! Are they respecting the competition already, or are they still playing with reserves? Anyway, Shakhtar should recover in Ukraine.
Liverpool 1-0 Unirea Urziceni: Expected win for Liverpool here. The evil English teams are so mean, now they also haunt the poor Eastern Europeans in the EL.
Hamburg 1-0 PSV Eindhoven: Expected result here too. PSV released their top scorer, Jonathan, because of a positive test for drugs?! Weren’t drugs supposed to be legal in Holland?
Hertha Berlin 1-1 Benfica: Shameful result for Benfica... This was just Hertha, not Bayern!! 1-1 with 10 minutes to go, and Jorge Jesus (Benfica’s coach) replaces a forward (Saviola) for a defender (Miguel Vítor)?! The other guy was so bad, and this one is so good, and yet both get the same result in Berlin? What comes next, elimination against the French team, just like he did last season with Braga?
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I expected more from:
> Hapoel Tel Aviv: after their great presence in group stage, it seemed they will struggle more against Russian champions
> Shakhtar: title-holders lost from a mean english team
> Atletico Madrid: after beating Barca, they seemd in a good form, and playing in their home I expected them to win. It remains the most interesting pair of the "32"
> Benfica: Herta is almost a 2-division team, while Benfica is a champion favourite. The result doesnt suit.
Great great wins for Club Brugee and Panathinaikos
> Hapoel Tel Aviv: after their great presence in group stage, it seemed they will struggle more against Russian champions
> Shakhtar: title-holders lost from a mean english team
> Atletico Madrid: after beating Barca, they seemd in a good form, and playing in their home I expected them to win. It remains the most interesting pair of the "32"
> Benfica: Herta is almost a 2-division team, while Benfica is a champion favourite. The result doesnt suit.
Great great wins for Club Brugee and Panathinaikos
fewer spots weaker leagues fewer spots weaker leagues fewer spots weaker leagues
http://kassiesa.net/uefa/forum2/viewtop ... 52#p359852
weaker leagues fewer spots weaker leagues fewer spots weaker leagueshttp://kassiesa.net/uefa/forum2/viewtop ... 52#p359852
I guess you mean me?Legionista wrote:Yeap, especially someone who had logo of Unirea as an avatar. Where is he?Cirdan wrote:I just wanted to say that's because the Romanian clubs are all already out, but Urziceni is still there... so it is kind of weird.
Well, I've been away from Internet this week, but I followed Unirea and I was very satisfied with their performance. Too bad their best player, Pablo Brandan, is suspended for te return leg. Without him, the chances for Unirea to score drop dramatically. Still, it seems Liverpool just can't score more than 1 goal/game against Romanian teams. 
Pretty much expected results elsewhere...
Are you satisfied with the appointment of Ronni Levi as Unirea coach?Executor wrote:I guess you mean me?Legionista wrote:Yeap, especially someone who had logo of Unirea as an avatar. Where is he?Cirdan wrote:I just wanted to say that's because the Romanian clubs are all already out, but Urziceni is still there... so it is kind of weird.
Pretty much expected results elsewhere...
I don't think that you will pass Liverpool, but I sure hope so!
Spanish press mentions nothing about Atletic fans while they started trowingDragonite wrote:Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Anderlecht: Expected result here too. The Spanish press is reporting that Athletic fans pissed over Anderlecht fans. UEFA should do something about this. Just because one of Belgium’s symbols is the statue of a pissing boy, it doesn’t justify the behaviour of the Spanish trolls.
bottles and metal towards the anderlecht fans (one child of ten went to hospital. Big mistake by athlectic putting the anderlecht fans under the kop of bilbao. Belgian fans fled onto the pitch after the final wistle. Then bilbao fans came to battle them off again.
Who is to blame for this?
I guess so. He didn't screw the team, that's a positive signEarlofBug wrote:Are you satisfied with the appointment of Ronni Levi as Unirea coach?
He coached at this level before, so he's got to be at least good.I'm not very optimistic either. It will be nearly impossible to prevent Liverpool from scoring. Unless they have a REALLY bad day.EarlofBug wrote:I don't think that you will pass Liverpool, but I sure hope so!
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AlanK
- Senior Member
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- Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 23:48
- Location: Salem, Oregon and Barcelona, Spain; occasionally Lisboa
@gderoo:
I offer my apologies on behalf of some idiot fans--this side of futbol is so ugly that words really fail me. I'm sick of excuses from those in charge; I certainly hope that San Mames gets the kind of punishment this kind of thing deserves. When I attended Euro 2004 in Portugal, I saw what good security measures can accomplish; the idea that it's too expensive or too difficult just won't wash 
The Uefa has to share in the blame--every European game is under their presumed control; they CAN demand strong measures. I've been searched on my way into the Alvalade in the two Uefa Cup games I attended there--no big deal. And the seating arrangements--what were those idiots thinking? Even Liga games for Sporting de Gijon separate ultra groups--as a matter of fact, they put them in opposite corners of the stadium.
Anyway, to repeat: apologies on behalf of the country dear to me for the last 45 years; a few "burros" can spoil it for everybody if we're not careful
I offer my apologies on behalf of some idiot fans--this side of futbol is so ugly
that words really fail me. I'm sick of excuses from those in charge; I certainly hope that San Mames gets the kind of punishment this kind of thing deserves. When I attended Euro 2004 in Portugal, I saw what good security measures can accomplish; the idea that it's too expensive or too difficult just won't wash The Uefa has to share in the blame--every European game is under their presumed control; they CAN demand strong measures. I've been searched on my way into the Alvalade in the two Uefa Cup games I attended there--no big deal. And the seating arrangements--what were those idiots thinking? Even Liga games for Sporting de Gijon separate ultra groups--as a matter of fact, they put them in opposite corners of the stadium.Anyway, to repeat: apologies on behalf of the country dear to me for the last 45 years; a few "burros" can spoil it for everybody if we're not careful
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Lollipoppy
- Posts: 201
- Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 16:59
- Location: Milano, Italia
Pana stronger in away matches? Well that happenned just last year. Anyway, I think Roma will win the game in Italy but with a narrow score. If it was 2-2 I would say it is over but now the 3-2 is very confusing!Dragonite wrote: Panathinaikos 3-2 Roma: Other surprising result. Will Roma recover in Italy? We shouldn’t forget that Panathinaikos is usually stronger in away games.
A Cypriot of Italiano baby
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biagio
- Posts: 307
- Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 03:34
- Location: Hometown : Naples,ITALY. Residence : Pennsylvania,USA
so let me understand this. galatasaray asked to play thursday and not tuesday because they had the big derby sunday against besiktas, and uefa just said yes. couldn't they move the derby to saturday since they knew about the el game on tuesday since dicember? so galatasaray prefer to create a possible dangerous situation(gala and fener playing the same day in the same city) instead of moving a league game a day before... for some reason it doesn't make sense...
Citius,Altius,Fortius
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psychoTurk
- Posts: 469
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- Location: Ankara,Turkey
Galatasaray and fenerbahçe located different sides of Istanbul.biagio wrote:so let me understand this. galatasaray asked to play thursday and not tuesday because they had the big derby sunday against besiktas, and uefa just said yes. couldn't they move the derby to saturday since they knew about the el game on tuesday since dicember? so galatasaray prefer to create a possible dangerous situation(gala and fener playing the same day in the same city) instead of moving a league game a day before... for some reason it doesn't make sense...
who wants to make a problem(i mean fight etc.) must pass the bridge.
Or must come from sea.