Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

BRING ON MAN U

GONNA BE SWEET, SWEET REVENGE

<font color="maroon"> FORZA </font>
<font color="orange">ROMA!!</font>

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

oh [censored] great, i get to go to romania.

arsenal should cane sevilla. they beat sp*rs in the uefa cup but any old pub team can do that so that shouldn't be a problem.
slavia prague did beat ajax but they must have been at the top of their game to have done that.
steaua beaucherest, [censored] eastern europe, will probs lose that away.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

Decent draw for Benfica, as long as we don't [censored] at Glasgow like we did last year we should be fine.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

Right, I'm happy. Onto the knockout stage.

Go Pool!

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

gonna be tough for all group f teams to go to kiev. cold as sh*t there

October 2, 2007. Mark it down

Roma-Man U rematch. Revenge will be ours.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

av bet for the two matches. Whoever loses on aggregate(I haven't seen the actual schedule, so if either club are through to the KO phase when the second match occurs, then we'd have to question how much that result should count) has to use the av of either of the winners choosing til the new year

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WHgqGlI6KI

Celtic/Spartak highlights.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

Oh, what the hell...

[ QUOTE ]
Group A
LIVERPOOL
Porto
Marseille
Besiktas

[/ QUOTE ]
The two top seeded teams should be able to progress from this group fairly easily I think. Porto, while they've lost their super talented attacking midfielder Anderson to United, is still the best team in Portugal, while Marseille is currently struggling in the French League with nothing much going for them. Besiktas is always tough to meet in Turkey and will probably capture some points there but they'll be virtually without chance to progress to the knockout stage.

Group difficulty: C+

[ QUOTE ]
Group B
CHELSEA
Valencia
Schalke 04
Rosenborg

[/ QUOTE ]
Chelsea is a no-brainer. I think it's going to be close between Valencia and Schalke. The Bundesliga is underrated and Schalke has been one of the most consistently good teams there the last few years. Valencia is obviously a very good team too, but they had a bunch of trouble at the end of last season, and they started this year's season with an abysmal 0-3 defeat at home against Villareal. Schalke for the upset. Rosenborg, as much as I'd like it, stand no chance in this group but might be able to score some points on Lerkendal if the Norwegian winter comes early...

Group difficulty: B-

[ QUOTE ]
Group C
REAL MADRID
Werder Bremen
Lazio
Olympiakos

[/ QUOTE ]
Real Madrid will most likely top it, but both Werder Bremen and Lazio are going to be dangerous. Lazio managed 3rd in Serie A despite having points deducted on account of the match fixing scandal and all the turmoil that caused. Werder Bremen put on a strong performance last year and almost made it through to the knockout stage, but they "only" made 3rd in the Bundesliga, so I'll give the nod to Lazio. Olympiakos is one of the stronger 4th tier teams, and could perhaps have done some damage in a weaker group, but not this one.

Group difficulty: B+

[ QUOTE ]
Group D
AC MILAN
Benfica
Celtic
Shakhtar Donetsk

[/ QUOTE ]
Nothing much going on here. One can usually count on Celtic to put on a good show in Champions League, but not too sure this year. They struggled to progress to the group play against Spartak Moscow (penalty shootouts), and I just don't think they're strong enough to take on Milan and Benfica. Shakhtar Donetsk, uh, no.

Group difficulty: C+

[ QUOTE ]
Group E
BARCELONA
Lyon
Stuttgart
Rangers

[/ QUOTE ]
Barcelona will progress from this group with ease. What's really interesting imo is how Lyon will fare here. They've been kind of struggling lately, and both Stuttgart and Rangers should be capable to take points off them. Stuttgart is the reining German champions and they came pretty close to winning the German cup as well. As far as I know their squad has remained fairly intact, while Lyon on the other hand seems to have traded down. I also have a suspicion that Lyon enjoyed the benefits of positive variance last year, so we're going for another German upset here: Barca and Stuttgart to the knockout stage.

Group difficulty: B+

[ QUOTE ]
Group F
MANCHESTER UNITED
Roma
Sporting Lisbon
Dynamo Kiev

[/ QUOTE ]
Toughish group. Dynamo Kiev might be able to do some mischief in their home games, and both Sporting Lisbon, and especially Roma who had a good season last year, can take points against anyone. Favorite Man U will probably progress, and I think the 3rd best Portuguese team will struggle against one of the top 2-3 Italian teams. No upsets here.

Group difficulty: B

[ QUOTE ]
Group G
INTER MILAN
PSV Eindhoven
CSKA Moscow
Fenerbahce

[/ QUOTE ]
Inter Milan was beastly last year in Serie A and should manage to take down the group win. CSKA might be able to score some points at home, but Koman's PSV Eindhoven will take the 2nd spot due to experience and what seems to be good team building the last few years.

Group difficulty: B-

[ QUOTE ]
Group H
ARSENAL
Sevilla/AEK Athens
Steau Bucharest
Slavia Prague

[/ QUOTE ]
The weakest group? Arsenal clear favorites to go through, and Sevilla will probably qualify and take the 2nd spot. Gotta admit I don't know too much about the current incarnations of Steau and Slavia Prague though.

Group difficulty: C-

DISCLAIMER: These are just my personal predictions. I'm not the most educated football fan out there, so there is a good chance one or more of my picks might be slightly retarded, so don't get yer panties in a bunch, son!

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

[ QUOTE ]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WHgqGlI6KI

Celtic/Spartak highlights.

[/ QUOTE ]

Boruc what a dance my man! recreated it the night. LEGEND. should be the captain by a country mile, keep the rest in line way a swift right hook. Thats the game bud. HAIL HAIL!

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

I think group G is the hardest overall, with groups B, C, and E being the hardest for the second place teams.

As much as I like Celtic, I think Benfica moves on in that group.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

good post zeturd

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

[ QUOTE ]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WHgqGlI6KI

Celtic/Spartak highlights.

[/ QUOTE ]
Epic. Thanks.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

[ QUOTE ]
Saltie,

BRING IT

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

The Champions League Group Stage begins today, here are the fixtures:

A Marseille 20:45 Besiktas
A Porto 20:45 Liverpool
B Chelsea 20:45 Rosenborg
B Schalke 20:45 Valencia
C Real Madrid 20:45 Bremen
C Olympiacos 20:45 Lazio
D Milan 20:45 Benfica
D Shakhtar 20:45 Celtic

*Bold match will be broadcast on ESPN2 at 2:45

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

thanks for the heads up. ESPN doesn't usually show many group stage matches in the US at least in my recent memory.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

Gooooooooooooooooooooo Rosenborg!

(Man, we're gonna get slaughtered...)

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

[ QUOTE ]
Gooooooooooooooooooooo Rosenborg!

(Man, we're gonna get slaughtered...)

[/ QUOTE ]

doesn't look like it

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Gooooooooooooooooooooo Rosenborg!

(Man, we're gonna get slaughtered...)

[/ QUOTE ]

doesn't look like it

[/ QUOTE ]

Christ, Chelsea better get some good finishing in the second half.

KJS

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

Liverpool looked horrible in the first ten minutes. Porto could easily have 3 at the half.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

It's pretty sick. Chelsea obviously has had the ball most and they've had the most chances, but Rosenborg has been keeping their own defensively for the most part and actually managed to build some good offensive play.

If Rosenborg wins this one it'll be one of the biggest upsets in CL history. Gooooooo!

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

sheva levels things

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

LOFL stupid tackle by Pennant, awesome overreaction by the Porto player. htlkshflksf.

(pennant sent off)

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

[ QUOTE ]
LOFL stupid tackle by Pennant, awesome overreaction by the Porto player. htlkshflksf.

(pennant sent off)

[/ QUOTE ]

really dumb since he already had a yellow and was jawing at the ref all game.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

[ QUOTE ]
It's pretty sick. Chelsea obviously has had the ball most and they've had the most chances, but Rosenborg has been keeping their own defensively for the most part and actually managed to build some good offensive play.

If Rosenborg wins this one it'll be one of the biggest upsets in CL history. Gooooooo!

[/ QUOTE ]

30 freaking shots and 1 goal. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

KJS

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

rosenborg_LOL

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

Chelsea AGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. Need to sort it out or we could be in for a long season. And what about the attendence 24k or so that is bad, some coca-cola div 1 teams get more than that!

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

Horrible result for Chelsea, wow.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

[censored]

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

Milan roll 2-1 over Benfica. I missed the match, but it looks like their only goal was a meaningless 90' shot. Could someone PM me with a link to download the game? Thanks.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

not a whole lot of juicy matchups today.

ManU/Sporting Lisbon is on ESPN tomorrow. I believe the Arsenal/Sevilla is on Setanta.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

Chelsea are such a joke

1 time i want them to win for my bet they can't ughhhh

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

[ QUOTE ]
Milan roll 2-1 over Benfica. I missed the match, but it looks like their only goal was a meaningless 90' shot. Could someone PM me with a link to download the game? Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can anyone who watched the game provide some insight? From what I read Benfica played fairly well and had quite a few goal opportunites.

As far as the Porto game it was a terrible result for the home team. When you create more scoring opportunities, have more possession and are up a man for about 30 minutes you have to come away with more than 1 point

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

What is it about Portuguese teams and the flopping?

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It's pretty sick. Chelsea obviously has had the ball most and they've had the most chances, but Rosenborg has been keeping their own defensively for the most part and actually managed to build some good offensive play.

If Rosenborg wins this one it'll be one of the biggest upsets in CL history. Gooooooo!

[/ QUOTE ]

30 freaking shots and 1 goal. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

KJS

[/ QUOTE ]

The goal fear has set in. As someone who has played alot of football competitively (Newlyn Non Athletico in Mining League 2 FTW) I can testify the million occasions when I have had a clear shot on goal, and were I just passing into a space I would have scored easily but the fact that I am shooting at goal makes me scuff or slice etc etc. Players at all levels will testify to this, and this is what makes strikers strikers, the relative lack of the goal fear.

A goal is a big big big target, ask most EPL players just to kick a ball and hit a target area even under pressure from defenders and they will hit that area 90%+ of the time, the reason you get so many off target shots is the goal fear.

If goals have been hard to come by, and you are under pressure to score the the goal fear becomes even worse. This is the problem Jose must solve. He must conquer the goal fear in the mind of the team.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

I'm really looking forward to Sevilla and Arsenal who are definitely two of the hottest teams right now and in the Lyon-Barca game I think it will be very interesting to get a pointer on how good Lyon will be this year.
They were excellent for most of last year but have lost some good players since.

Yesterday I watched mainly Real Madrid - Bremen which I thought was pretty good.
Bremen is definitely weaker, their Bundesliga results show that as well, than last year where I thought they were almost as good as Chelsea and Barca who they were unfortunate to have in their group.
Especially their defence was full of holes and I've rarely seen a high level game where the off side trap collapsed as consistently as Bremen's did yesterday.
In Diego who is just excellent to watch they still have one of the best players in the world though.

Madrid really looks improved especially attacking wise where they seem much better organized this season than under Capello.
Defensively they of course had some trouble but that mainly happened when Gaga was finally running out of steam and someone like Ramos seemed more interested in 3-1 than trying to save the win.

I saw some of Milan - Benfica too where Milan played really well.
Oddo and Jankulowski with well timed forward rushes non stop and as usual Pirlo orchestrating the whole thing.
Kaka was good too and Inzaghi was Inzaghi.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

I want to see the Arsenal/Sevilla game so bad, I hate that Setanta is so damn expensive. It should come in the sports package. Personally, I think ESPN Deportes should to, but I can live with that. I just hate that I spend $12 a month for the "sports" package, and have to spend another $15 on - a sports channel.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

[ QUOTE ]
Bremen is definitely weaker, their Bundesliga results show that as well, than last year where I thought they were almost as good as Chelsea and Barca who they were unfortunate to have in their group.

[/ QUOTE ]

In Bremen's defense, they were missing their best player (Frings) and arguably their second best player (Borowski, who may or may not be better than Diego, it's hard to say) and other key components from their rotation (Clemens Fritz, Wome, and Klasnic and Hunt). Bremen is almost as good as they were last year, and certainly much better than yesterday's team.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Milan roll 2-1 over Benfica. I missed the match, but it looks like their only goal was a meaningless 90' shot. Could someone PM me with a link to download the game? Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can anyone who watched the game provide some insight? From what I read Benfica played fairly well and had quite a few goal opportunites.

As far as the Porto game it was a terrible result for the home team. When you create more scoring opportunities, have more possession and are up a man for about 30 minutes you have to come away with more than 1 point

[/ QUOTE ]

Benfica missed a fantastic opportunity to tie the game 1-1, got unlucky there and immediately after Milan made it 2-0. After that Milan is just too good protecting a two goal lead, we didn't create a lot of chances.

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

[ QUOTE ]
I want to see the Arsenal/Sevilla game so bad, I hate that Setanta is so damn expensive. It should come in the sports package. Personally, I think ESPN Deportes should to, but I can live with that. I just hate that I spend $12 a month for the "sports" package, and have to spend another $15 on - a sports channel.

[/ QUOTE ]

QFT

Re: **** OFFICIAL Champions League 2007-08 Thread!*****
 

I hate being the only Roma fan here, but....

<font color="maroon"> FORZA </font>
<font color="orange">ROMA!!</font>

Roma v. Dynamo Kiev
Anything but 3 pts at home is a disappointment because it won't be that easy traveling to Ukraine in the winter.

Playing amazing calcio in Serie A (Super Coppa winners, 3 for 3 in season play, no goals allowed)

Be ready everybody. You've been warned.

Sevilla v Arsenal should be a great match IMO