SpursNetwork
Football Discussion => World Football => Topic started by: Chelmsford_yid on August 30, 2013, 03:04:18 PM
-
Group stage draw -
Group A: Valencia, Swansea, Kuban Krasnodar, St Gallen.
Group B: PSV Eindhoven, Dinamo Zagreb, Chornomorets Odesa, Ludogorets Razgrad.
Group C: Standard Liege, Salzburg, Elfsborg, Esbjerg.
Group D: Rubin Kazan, Wigan, Maribor, Zulte Waregem.
Group E: Fiorentina, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Pacos Ferreira, Pandurii Targu Jiu.
Group F: Bordeaux, APOEL, Eintracht, Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Group G: Dynamo Kiev, Genk, Rapid Vienna, Thun.
Group H: Sevilla, Freiburg, Estoril, Slovan Liberec.
Group I: Lyon, Real Betis, Guimaraes, Rijeka.
Group J: Lazio, Trabzonspor, Legia Warsaw, Apollon Limassol.
Group K: Tottenham, Anzhi Makhachkala, Sheriff, Tromso.
Group L: AZ Alkmaar, PAOK Thessaloniki, Maccabi Haifa, Shakhter Karagandy.
-
Good grouping for Spurs.
-
Let's hope we beat the first 2 and shoot the sheriff
:hide:
-
Love the pun Joolz. :D :up:
-
:D
-
Matchday 1 - My Picks
Valencia 0-3 Swansea
PSV 0-2 Ludogorets Razgrad
Zulte Waregem 0-0 Wigan
Tottenham 3-0 Tromso
-
Matchday 2 (My picks)
Swansea 1-0 FC St Gallen
Ludogorets Razgrad 3-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Wigan 3-1 NK Maribor
Bordeaux 1-2 Maccabi Tel Aviv
Trabzonspor 3-3 Lazio
Anzhi 0-2 Tottenham
Tables - Matchday 3
-
Matchday 3 - My Picks
Swansea 1-1 Kuban Kransnodar
Wigan 1-1 Rubin Kazan
Slovan Liberec 1-1 Sevilla
Apollon Limassol 0-0 Lazio
Sheriff 0-2 Tottenham
Group A -
Swansea lead the way with 7 points
Valencia are just behind on 6 points
St Gallen 3rd - 3 points
Kuban sit bottom with 1 point
Group B -
Ludogorets Rezgrad are 100% with 9 points
PSV in 2nd with 4 points
Chornomorets are in 3rd with 3 points
Dinamo Zagreb are bottom with a single point
Group C -
Red Bull Salzburg are top with 9 points
Esbjerg 2nd with 4 points
Standard Liege & Elfsbrg both have 1 point
Group D -
Rubin Kazan are top with 7 points
Wigan are 2nd with 5 points
Maribor 3rd with 3 points
Zulte Waregem sit bottom with a single point
Group E -
Fiorentina 3 wins from 3, 9 points
Dnipro sit 2nd with 6 points
Pandurii Targu-Jiu & Pacos de Ferreira both have 1 point
Group F -
Frankfurt are top with 9 points
Maccabi Tel Aviv 4 points
Bordeaux 3 points
Apoel 1 point
Group G -
Genk 7 points
Dynamo Kiev 4 points
Thun 3 points
Rapid Vienna 2 points
Group H -
Sevilla 7 points
Slovan Liberec 5 points
Sport-Club Freiburg 2 points
Estoril Praia 1 point
Group I -
Lyon 5 points
Real Betis 5 points
Vitoria Guimaraes 4 points
HNK Rijeka 1 point
Group J
Trabzonspor 7 points
Lazio 5 points
Apollon Limassol 4 points
Legia Warsaw 0 points
Group K -
Tottenham 9 points :up:
Anzhi 4 points
Sheriff 2 points
Tromso 1 points
Group L -
PAOK Salonika 7 points
AZ Alkmaar 5 points
Shakhter Karagandy 2 points
Maccabi Haifa 1 points
Phew that took sometime :P
-
Useful to see at a glance mate, other than us I would really like to see Wigan do well in the competition and Swansea!
If both of those got to the knock out stages that would be great.
For me this comp looses its value when the teams that fail in the champions league get another crack at silverware!
-
Matchday 4 - My picks
Kuban Krasnodar 1-1 Swansea
Rubin Kazan 1-0 Wigan
Apoel Nicosia 2-1 Bordeaux
HNK Rijeka 1-1 Lyon
Tottenham 2-1 Sheriff
Fiorentina & Tottenham have won all 4 games.
Legia Warsaw are the only team on 0 points.
-
The next couple of Europa league games will be to test our youngsters.
-
Matchday 5 - my picks
Swansea 0-1 Valencia
Ludogorets 2-0 PSV
Wigan 1-2 Zulte
Tromso 0-2 Tottenham
Ten sides secured qualification for the round of 32 on matchday five, making it 18 in total. With 17 clubs now eliminated, six places are left to be contested by 13 teams, with Group D the only one of the eight sections in which all four sides can still qualify. Not one of the eight clubs to be transferred over from the UEFA Champions League is yet known.
• The 18 qualified teams come from 14 member associations. Just three nations are assured of multiple representation in the round of 32 – Spain, with three sides (their full complement), and Italy and Russia, with two apiece. Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Turkey and Ukraine all have one guaranteed representative.
• This number will definitely be increased to 15 nations as either Cyprus or Israel will take a team through. The maximum number of countries that could be involved in the round of 32 is 19, with possible qualifiers from Czech Republic (http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=2030691.html#), Slovenia and – via the UEFA Champions League – Portugal and Switzerland.
• Six of the 12 pools already have confirmed group winners – Valencia CF (Group A), PFC Ludogorets Razgrad (B), FC Rubin Kazan (D), Eintracht Frankfurt (F), KRC Genk (G) and Tottenham Hotspur FC (H). Three of these clubs have finished top of the pile before – Valencia in 2009/10, Rubin and Genk in 2012/13. Ludogorets and Eintracht have both achieved the feat on their competition debut.
• Tottenham are one of two sides with a 100% record in this season's group stage. FC Salzburg (http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=2030691.html#), in Group C, have also won all five of their matches and remain on course to become the first team to claim the maximum 18 points in a UEFA Europa League group for the second time, having become the first in the inaugural 2009/10 tournament. The only other clubs to have won all six group fixtures are FC Zenit (2010/11) and RSC Anderlecht (2011/12).
• Legia Warszawa suffered their fifth defeat out of five in Group J and remain not just without a point but also without a goal. Only Shamrock Rovers FC, in 2011/12, have previously lost all six group games, and no side has ever gone through the entire group stage without scoring. The record low is one goal, set jointly by PFC Levski Sofia (2009/10) and Salzburg (2010/11).
• Legia, FC Sheriff and R. Standard de Liège both endured a ninth successive UEFA Europa League match without a win, equalling the competition record held by three other teams – Salzburg, FC Steaua Bucureşti and PFC CSKA Sofia.
• Trabzonspor AŞ's 4-2 home victory against Apollon Limassol FC has made them this term's top-scoring club, with 13 goals – one more than Salzburg and Rubin. They will need to keep up their prolific run against Lazio on matchday six to equal the group phase record of 18 goals, owned jointly by Zenit, PFC CSKA Moskva and Anderlecht.
• Trabzonspor were spearheaded to that success over Apollon by a hat-trick from Olcan Adın, the 23rd treble in the competition. That enabled him to join Tottenham's Jermain Defoe as the UEFA Europa League's leading marksman in 2013/14 with five goals.
• The tournament's leakiest defence is that of FC St Gallen, who have conceded 13 goals in Group A. They will have to be in extremely charitable mood at home to Swansea City AFC on matchday six, however, to match Shamrock Rovers' record group stage tally of 19.
PAOK FC extended their record sequence of away fixtures without defeat to nine (three more than any other side) with their 2-0 win at FC Shakhter Karagandy. The team from Kazakhstan are one of seven newcomers to the competition this season still awaiting a first victory, the others being Estoril Praia, HNK Rijeka, CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu, Tromsø IL, IF Elfsborg and FC Paços de Ferreira.
• Two debutant clubs did, however, gain their first three points on matchday five – FC Kuban Krasnodar and SC Freiburg – but there were first ever reverses for Swansea City, FC Slovan Liberec and Real Betis Balompié.
• PSV Eindhoven's Sweden forward Ola Toivonen played in the UEFA Europa League for the 35th time in the 2-0 loss at Ludogorets, thus moving ahead of Eduardo Salvio at the top of the competition's all-time appearance charts. Rubin's Israeli international Bebras Natcho is third on the list, two outings behind Toivonen.
-
Matchday 6 (my picks) -
St Gallen 1-0 Swansea
PSV 0-1 Chronomorets
Maribor 2-1 Wigan
Tottenham 4-1 Anzhi
Draw procedure
The draws for the round of 32 and round of 16 take place in Nyon at 13.00CET on Monday. There will be two pots for the round of 32 draw: the 12 group winners(http://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png) (http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=2032417.html#) and the four best third-ranked teams in the UEFA Champions League group stage are seeded. They will be drawn against the 12 group runners-up and the remaining third-placed UEFA Champions League sides. No team can play (http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=2032417.html#) a club from their group or a side from the same association. Games will be played on 20 and 27 February.
Seeded
AZ Alkmaar, FC Basel 1893*, SL Benfica*, Eintracht Frankfurt, ACF Fiorentina, KRC Genk, PFC Ludogorets Razgrad, Olympique Lyonnais, SS (http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=2032417.html#)C Napoli*, FC Rubin Kazan, FC Salzburg (http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=2032417.html#), Sevilla FC, FC Shakhtar Donetsk*, Tottenham Hotspur FC, Trabzonspor AŞ, Valencia CF.
Unseeded
AFC Ajax*, FC Anji Makhachkala, Real Betis Balompié, FC Chornomorets Odesa, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, FC Dynamo Kyiv, Esbjerg fB, Juventus*, SS Lazio, Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC, NK Maribor, PAOK FC, FC Porto*, FC Slovan Liberec, Swansea City AFC, FC Viktoria Plzeň*.
*Transferred from the UEFA Champions League
-
Round of 32 draw
FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (UKR) v Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG)
Real Betis Balompié (ESP) v FC Rubin Kazan (RUS)
Swansea City AFC (ENG) v SSC Napoli (ITA)
Juventus (ITA) v Trabzonspor AŞ (TUR)
NK Maribor (SVN) v Sevilla FC (ESP)
FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE) v FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
FC Chornomorets Odesa (UKR) v Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
SS Lazio (ITA) v PFC Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL)
Esbjerg fB (DEN) v ACF Fiorentina (ITA)
AFC Ajax (NED) v FC Salzburg (AUT)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) v FC Basel 1893 (SUI)
FC Porto (POR) v Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)
FC Anji Makhachkala (RUS) v KRC Genk (BEL)
FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) v Valencia CF (ESP)
PAOK FC (GRE) v SL Benfica (POR)
FC Slovan Liberec (CZE) v AZ Alkmaar (NED)
Round of 16 draw
Liberec/AZ v Anji/Genk
Lazio/Ludogorets v Dynamo/Valencia
Porto/Eintracht v Swansea/Napoli
Chornomorets/Lyon v Plzeň/Shakhtar
Maribor/Sevilla v Betis/Rubin
Dnipro/Tottenham v PAOK/Benfica
Maccabi Tel-Aviv/Basel v Ajax/Salzburg
Juventus/Trabzonspor v Esbjerg/Fiorentina
-
My thoughts:
Spurs vs. Dnipro - not a terribly hard match, but not one to take lightly, either. On paper, I favour Spurs, but the game ain't played on paper! ;)
Betis vs. Rubin - if both teams play their best football this will be very close. That said, Betis is dead last in La Liga while Rubin is lower-mid-table in Russia, so I wouldn't necessarily count a Rubin win as an upset.
Swansea vs. Napoli - The Serie A may be a slightly weaker league than the Prems, but unless Swansea ups their game, Napoli have this one.
Juventus vs. Trabzonspor - going on current form, Juve should have this easily. Trabzonspor, who are usually the best non-Istanbul side in Turkey, are not playing up to their usual standard, plus Juve have lost just once in Serie A this season.
NK Maribor vs. Sevilla - one word. LOPSIDED. Maribor will have to pull off a miracle to win this. Yes, they beat Wigan. Wigan is mid-table in the Championship this season, which is indicative of their form. Yes, they beat Zulte-Waregem. So flipping what? Sevilla, who are 7th in Spain right now, are a superior opponent to both sides.
Viktoria vs. Shakhtar - I favour Shakhtar in this one, but Viktoria aren't as far removed from them as Maribor is from Sevilla, so they may be able to pull something off.
Chornomorets vs. Lyon - With Lyon's sub-par league form, who knows? Chornomorets are even with Dnipro in points in the Premyer Liha and facing a team with worse form than Spurs, so they have a better chance of pulling this off IMO. Still, Lyon can't be written off.
Lazio vs. Ludogorets - Ludogorets won a weak group and Lazio finished behind a league-lagging Trabzonspor. Who knows how this is gonna turn out. To be blunt though, I hope Lazio loses, if only to stick it to their eejit fans. :P
Esbjerg vs. Fiorentina - Esbjerg are in the red zone of the Danish Superligaen, which is not the strongest of leagues to begin with. Fiorentina are fourth in a respectable league. Upsets happen, but I honestly think the Gigliati have this one. And so much the better - I happen to like Fiorentina.
Ajax vs. Salzburg - Ajax has the name, Salzburg has the smokin'-hot form. This match should be a classic. I'd pick Ajax to take this simply because they didn't miss the Champs League knockout stage by that much.
Maccabi Tel-Aviv vs. Basel - Basel weren't horrendous in CL, but they weren't great, either. Maccabi have something to prove. Although I still favour the Swiss side, it will be close. And Basel need to take the warning from Eintracht - Maccabi beat the top team in their group, so they do have a shot at beating Basel as well.
Porto vs. Eintracht - speaking of Eintracht Frankfurt, they have the lucky loser from a very close CL group, so they can't derp the match up like they did against Maccabi if they want to win this. To their credit, they have the ability to get goals from a number of sources. On the downside, their league form has been deplorable and they are barely outside the red zone.
Anzhi vs. Genk - So you have a second-place team that won only against sub-par opposition and got smoked by the first-place team's A-team, against a first-place team that couldn't beat the team that finished third in their group. But the latter, Genk, has much better league form going for them right now - they are fifth, while Anzhi is dead last. I'd tentatively pick the Belgians to take this one.
Dynamo Kyiv vs. Valencia - Valencia may have lost their opener to Swansea, but they bounced back and didn't lose for the remainder of the group stage, finishing top in one of the tougher groups. Dynamo wasn't bad, but Genk had their number, and I rate Valencia more than Genk in spite of the former's lagging league record this season.
PAOK vs. Benfica - Benfica must see red, figuratively, when they see any team from the blue and white, literally, because of the fact they lost to Olympiakos on goal differential in a group rivalled only by one other in the Champs League for its closeness. If they can't beat the best team in Greece, maybe they can beat the second-best, whose Europa League record was decent but against weaker opposition. Either way, this is gonna be fun to watch, if nothing else. I favour Benfica, but only slightly.
Slovan vs. AZ - if one were looking purely at league form one would think AZ had this one even though the two are about the same in their respective leagues. But consider also that Slovan could not be beat by Sevilla, a team I rate higher than these two both with good reason. Honestly, this could go either way.
-
Round of 32 1st leg (My pick of results)
Dynamio Kiev 0-2 Valencia
Esbjerg 1-3 Fiorentina
Dnipro 1-0 Tottenham
Juventus 2-0 Trabzonspor
PAOk 0-1 Benfica
Ajax 0-3 Salzburg
Swansea 0-0 Napoli
-
Round of 32 2nd leg (my Picks)
Frankfurt (5)3-3(5) Porto - Porto win on away goals
Salzburg (6)3-1(1) Ajax
Napoli (3)3-1(1) Swansea
Tottenham(3)3-1(2) Dnipro
-
Round of 16 - 1st leg
Basel 0-0 Salzburg
Porto 1-0 Napoli
Ludogorets Razgrad 0-3 Valencia
Alkmaar 1-0 Anzhi
Juventus 1-1 Fiorentina
Lyon 4-1 Viktoria Plzen
Sevilla 0-2 Real Betis
Tottenham 1-3 Benfica
-
Round of 16 2nd leg -
Anzhi(0)0-1(1)Alkmaar
Benfica(5)2-2(3)Tottenham
Fiorentina(1)0-1(2)Juventus
Valencia(4)1-0(0)Ludogorets
Viktoria(3)2-1(5)Lyon
Salzburg(1)1-2(2)Basel
Napoli(2)2-2(3)Porto
Betis(2)0-2(2)Sevilla - Sevilla won 4-3 on pens
Draw is later today
-
Quarter Final draw
Alkmaar v Benfica
Lyon v Juventus
Basel v Valencia
Porto v Sevilla
-
Quarter final 1st legs -
Alkmaar 0-1 Benfica
Basel 3-0 Valencia
Porto 1-0 Sevilla
Lyon 0-1 Juventus
-
Quarter Final 2nd legs -
Benfica (3)2-0(0)Alkmaar
Juventus(3)2-1(1)Lyon
Sevilla(4)4-1(2)Porto
Valencia(5)3-0(3)Basel - After extra time
Semi Final draw -
Sevilla v Valencia
Benfica v Juventus
-
Semi Final 1st legs -
Benfica 2-1 Juventus
Sevilla 2-0 Valencia
-
Semi Final 2nd legs
Juventus(1)0-0(2)Benfica
Valencia(3)3-1(3)Sevilla - Sevilla win on away goals
Valencia went 3-0 up,till a injury time goal! :o
The Final will be play at the home of Juventus on the 14th May 19.45.
-
Sevilla 0-0 Benfica - Sevilla won 4-2 on pens
(http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/images/photos/002/894/487/hi-res-9864a62e469214138662ac9daa962587_crop_north.jpg?w=630&h=420&q=75)