2023/2024 Conference League Knockout Round PO

[naaba]

7 matches in 2024 and 6 defeats for Gent and still 0 win. Since they got richer by selling Malick Fofana, Gift Orban and Hugo Cuypers for a total of 41 millions, they became very poor on a football level. Confidence of the team is down the sewers and they will play home match behind closed doors for "security reasons". I don't know how they are going to turn this around.

Union Saint-Gilloise did a new Union Saint-Gilloise : they were considered brain dead but they came back and almost grabbed the victory. They went to Germany three times last season, and never lost. This team is so unpredictable I don't know if they can win against 2022-EL winners.

I think they both won't make it though, and Belgium will end up with Brugge only. If Brugge plays it seriously, they might have a shot at winning the competition. Belgian season is already a success anyway, they goal now is to maintain the distance with Türkiye.

[emortal]

I think that both remaining Norwegian clubs will be eliminated on Thursday.

Possibly, but quite unlikely in my opinion. I think that at least one Norwegian club will advance to the next round.

Don't know about Molde/Legia, but Ajax is already through.

UEFA and the refs will find a way ...

[Polak]

I think that both remaining Norwegian clubs will be eliminated on Thursday.

Possibly, but quite unlikely in my opinion. I think that at least one Norwegian club will advance to the next round.

Molde could finish the job already in the 1st leg, but they decided to make a step back in the 2nd half and Legia took advantage of it. I guess it was Molde coach decision to defend that lead, but his team simply had no idea how to defend properly so Legia created many chances and scored twice. Even with only a 1-goal margin win Molde are still favorites, I would say chances to progress for them are about 60%.

Bodo/Glimt recorded excellent result in the Netherlands. If we take into consideration such factors like a) artificial pitch b) Norwegian winter c) Ajax stil trying to be back at their normal shape and looking for stability, then I am not sure who is favorite here. Quality is on Ajax side, but I expected them to travel to Norway with at least a 2-goal advantage. Now things became complicated for them. This will be a type of match in which any outcome is possible.

Don't be like me Greyn, be more positive. Legia were very poor in the first half but better than Molde in the second. Also Gual should be back for the 2nd leg so hopefully no Rosolek in the team. Hopefully Kapuadi doesn't get anywhere near the starting line up either. I would say the same for Tobiasz but I'm not sure Hladun is any better. Legia really need a better goalkeeper. Perhaps they could sign Fabianski for free the summer?

[Mack]

I think that both remaining Norwegian clubs will be eliminated on Thursday.

Bodø/Glimt should have a good chance at home in the arctic winter. This Ajax-team had big problems for 90 minutes and it was very close to 0-3 and 0-4. Before Bodø had to make some substitutions and did some mistakes in injury time. Bodø had this match under control for 90 minutes, but got complacent and naive in the last 7 minutes of injury time.

[Greyn]

Don't be like me Greyn, be more positive. Legia were very poor in the first half but better than Molde in the second. Also Gual should be back for the 2nd leg so hopefully no Rosolek in the team. Hopefully Kapuadi doesn't get anywhere near the starting line up either. I would say the same for Tobiasz but I'm not sure Hladun is any better. Legia really need a better goalkeeper. Perhaps they could sign Fabianski for free the summer?

I am usually too pessimistic about chances of Polish teams in Europe and for this reason I already lost too many points in our Prediction Game. Unfortunately despite some efforts to change my attitude, I still have a big problem with being objective in this regard. Too many years of miserable failures and humiliations are probably responsible for that. So when I see that a Polish club will face a non-amateur team, I am automatically worried about the result.

Ślisz and Muci were important part of the spine of the Legia team. With their departures Legia are very weakened. Zyba, who was loaned in order to replace Ślisz, played really bad vs Molde, so he was substituted at the break. As for Muci, there is no any replacement at all. It is logical that quality, particularly in creativity, dropped significantly. Legia were really lucky that Molde are clueless in defending when they need to defend the lead, otherwise it would be already over. I don't know what kind of match to expect in Warsaw, the only outcome which seems to be unlikely for me is a win for the visitors. I think it will be a close one, possibly with the tie going to extra time.

As for Tobiasz and Fabiański. I never heard any rumor in this regard, about Fabiański returning to Legia to end his career there and I think it is very unlikely scenario. First of all Tobiasz has a strong position in the team. Runjaić trust him and people from the club board dream about transferring him out for a big sum of money because he is still young. After Majecki's failure in Monaco, who was much more stable with his form before the transfer, European scouts will be much more careful with making big offers for Legia. I also don't think that Fabiański feels any special emotional relation to Legia, at least I never heard him mentioning Legia in the interviews. It's not like Boruc & Legia, Błaszczykowski & Wisła or Podolski & Górnik. I think that if he gets a better financial offer elsewhere, he will not join Legia this summer or whenever.

[Polak]

I am usually too pessimistic about chances of Polish teams in Europe and for this reason I already lost too many points in our Prediction Game. Unfortunately despite some efforts to change my attitude, I still have a big problem with being objective in this regard. Too many years of miserable failures and humiliations are probably responsible for that.

I know I'm very similar. But you're a Legia fan, you've got to have hope. Surely that comeback in the 2nd half will give Legia players and fans some faith ahead of the second leg.

Legia were really lucky that Molde are clueless in defending when they need to defend the lead, otherwise it would be already over.

Molde were also lucky that Legia were clueless in defending in the first half. They basically received three gifts. I mean the 2nd and 3rd were a complete joke. In the 3rd the guy completely miss kicked it and it still went under Tobiasz's body.

As for Tobiasz and Fabiański. I never heard any rumor in this regard, about Fabiański returning to Legia to end his career there and I think it is very unlikely scenario. First of all Tobiasz has a strong position in the team. Runjaić trust him and people from the club board dream about transferring him out for a big sum of money because he is still young. After Majecki's failure in Monaco, who was much more stable with his form before the transfer, European scouts will be much more careful with making big offers for Legia. I also don't think that Fabiański feels any special emotional relation to Legia, at least I never heard him mentioning Legia in the interviews.

Yeah I didn't realise Fabianski actually went to Legia from Lech. I assumed he was raised at Legia so thought he may want to return near the end of his career. Of course if he got a better offer he would go somewhere else. I suspect Boruc would have done the same, but he probably didn't get any better offers from anywhere.

[bugylibicska]

Odds for the 2nd legs:

Gent v Maccabi Haifa 1.91 3.60 3.60
Bodo/Glimt v Ajax 2.62 3.90 2.30
Dinamo Zagreb v Real Betis 2.50 3.25 2.70
Ludogorets v Servette 2.00 3.50 3.40
Eintracht Frankfurt v Union St Gilloise 2.05 3.40 3.40
Ferencvaros v Olympiacos 2.25 3.40 3.00
Legia Warsaw v Molde 2.10 3.60 3.10
Slovan Bratislava v Sturm Graz 2.70 3.50 2.37

[amirbachar]

Odds for the 2nd legs:

Gent v Maccabi Haifa 1.91 3.60 3.60
Bodo/Glimt v Ajax 2.62 3.90 2.30
Dinamo Zagreb v Real Betis 2.50 3.25 2.70
Ludogorets v Servette 2.00 3.50 3.40
Eintracht Frankfurt v Union St Gilloise 2.05 3.40 3.40
Ferencvaros v Olympiacos 2.25 3.40 3.00
Legia Warsaw v Molde 2.10 3.60 3.10
Slovan Bratislava v Sturm Graz 2.70 3.50 2.37

Ajax being favorite is pretty crazy, the first match was very one sided.

[EarlofBug]

I'm hoping that only Sturm Graz and Haifa will progress from the EL 3rd placed teams. It will be great.

[Korgutt]

And I am hoping for Norway top 15. Israel out and Molde with Bodø/Glimt advancing to round of 16.

[Firnen]

And I am hoping for Norway top 15. Israel out and Molde with Bodø/Glimt advancing to round of 16.

There is Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Round of 16.

[Korgutt]

And I am hoping for Norway top 15. Israel out and Molde with Bodø/Glimt advancing to round of 16.

There is Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Round of 16.

I know. They won the group against Gent, Zorya Luhansk and Breidablik. Do you know if all home matches for clubs from Israel will be played in Hungary?

[babaluj1]

Odds for the 2nd legs:

Gent v Maccabi Haifa 1.91 3.60 3.60
Bodo/Glimt v Ajax 2.62 3.90 2.30
Dinamo Zagreb v Real Betis 2.50 3.25 2.70
Ludogorets v Servette 2.00 3.50 3.40
Eintracht Frankfurt v Union St Gilloise 2.05 3.40 3.40
Ferencvaros v Olympiacos 2.25 3.40 3.00
Legia Warsaw v Molde 2.10 3.60 3.10
Slovan Bratislava v Sturm Graz 2.70 3.50 2.37

Ajax being favorite is pretty crazy, the first match was very one sided.

Not even Dinamo in Zagreb is a favorite against Betis. With a lot of luck, they won in Sevilla. Betis played very poorly, and Dinamo was well positioned defensively. However, Betis is the sixth team in La Liga and will probably play better in Zagreb, so I think they are still favorites at least 60:40. Dinamo fluctuates a lot and is only third in the HNL.
I would say that the only sure club passing is Sturm, everything else is uncertain.

[wannabeontop]

FT Olympiacos-Ferencvaros 1-0.

Olympiacos show a pulse in the 1st home match after 2+ months and in the debut match of coach Mendilibar. They got away with murder in the 1st minute when Ferencvaros got their defense sleeping and scored with a header, but Varga was slightly off-side. Both teams had their chances, but in the 2nd half Olympiacos pushed more for the win and found the goal with CF El Kaabi in the 83th minute.

The tie is still open, but the promisign sign for the Greek team is that David Carmo (on loan from Porto) seems a definite upgrade to the rest of the error-prone CBs.

Excellent performance from Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg, I have seen him in a few other matches in the past and he is a very good referee.

Much agreed, Nyberg is a fantastic referee. Euro final material if you ask me.

Fradi were unlucky, also they are not used to this kind of tempo - one could call it EL/CL tempo. In the last 20-25 minutes they grew tired and Oly capitalised.

I don't think I'll be able to catch the second game but Oly are favourites now. A very dangerous second leg for Fradi, this could end in an ugly way.

[naaba]

Not even Dinamo in Zagreb is a favorite against Betis. With a lot of luck, they won in Sevilla. Betis played very poorly, and Dinamo was well positioned defensively. However, Betis is the sixth team in La Liga and will probably play better in Zagreb, so I think they are still favorites at least 60:40. Dinamo fluctuates a lot and is only third in the HNL.
I would say that the only sure club passing is Sturm, everything else is uncertain.

The difference is not huge (2.50 for Dinamo and 2.70 for Betis). You are not a clear favorite when you only have 2.50 for a home win. Dinamo Zagreb managed to win at Sevilla so a home win is supposed to be an "easier task".