Champions League 2015/6

[OwlsFan]

Not much to set the pulse racing. Crusaders are well beaten. Celtic don't quite put the Icelanders away and Dundalk are still in the tie as are Lincoln Red Imps from Gibraltar.

FK Qarabag 0-0 Rudar Pljevlja

Malmö FF 0-0 Zalgiris

BATE Bor 2-1 Dundalk

Celtic 2-0 Stjarna (22 shots to 2 apparently)

Dinamo Zagreb 1-1 Fola Esch

FK Ventspils 1-3 HJK Helsinki

Apoel Nic 0-0 Vardar

FC Midtjylland 1-0 Lincoln Red Imps

Ludo Razgd 0-1 Milsami Orhei

Hibernians FC 2-1 Maccabi Tel Aviv

Molde 5-0 FC Pyunik

Skenderbeu Korce 4-1 Crusaders FC

The New Saints 0-1 Videoton

AS Trencín 0-2 Steaua Bucharest

NK Maribor 1-0 FC Astana

Partizan Belgrade 1-0 Dila Gori

FK Sarajevo 0-2 Lech Poznan

[DeLorean]

Griffiths missed a penalty to make it 3-0 Celtic as well, after a dispute with Johansen over who should take it. Deila wasn't impressed at the lack of professionalism but indicated that Johansen was the one in the wrong, as Griffiths has taken penalty kicks in the past.

[Real ale Madrid]

Not much to set the pulse racing.

Unless you are from Malta! - Hibernians beating Tel Aviv was a massive shock. Also Fola Esch of Luxembourg getting a 1-1 draw away in Croatia.

A few other surprising results - APOEL failing to beat Macedonian opposition - big pressure on them now.
Also Ludogarets who nearly beat Liverpool in the champions league last season losing at home to Moldovan side Orhei

[DeLorean]

They didn't actually beat Liverpool, just embarrassed them a little bit.

[KK77]

Unless you are from Malta! - Hibernians beating Tel Aviv was a massive shock. Also Fola Esch of Luxembourg getting a 1-1 draw away in Croatia.

A few other surprising results - APOEL failing to beat Macedonian opposition - big pressure on them now.
Also Ludogarets who beat Liverpool in the champions league last season losing at home to Moldovan side Orhei

Incorrect they didn't beat Liverpool!

[DeLorean]

Calm down, calm down!

[DeLorean]

Very tasty looking tie down the bottom given Fenerbahce's recent business. Shakhtar might still have a bit too much though.

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[Kingdom]

Allowing myself to delve into fantasy land here, if Dundalk overcame Borisov, and see off Videoton (not that it's unrealistic, but improbable given Irish football history) do they face one of the other winners listed above? Would there be seeding in the Play-off or is it an open draw?

[TheBoss]

Allowing myself to delve into fantasy land here, if Dundalk overcame Borisov, and see off Videoton (not that it's unrealistic, but improbable given Irish football history) do they face one of the other winners listed above? Would there be seeding in the Play-off or is it an open draw?

They would be unseeded in the play-off round against teams that won their league.

[pineapple stu]

And would be in the Europa League group stages at worst.

[OwlsFan]

Lincoln Red Imps crash out. If Crusaders had managed to keep a clean sheet, they would have gone through. The New Saints, like Dundalk, almost make it. Win for AS Trencín in Bucharest not enough to see them through.

FC Astana 3-1 NK Maribor
(agg 3-2)

Fola Esch 0-3 Dinamo Zagreb
(agg 1-4)

Steaua Bucharest 2-3 AS Trencín
(agg 4-3)

Videoton 1-1 The New Saints
(agg 2-1)

Dundalk 0-0 BATE Bor
(agg 1-2)

Lech Poznan 1-0 FK Sarajevo
(agg 3-0)

Rudar Pljevlja 0-1 FK Qarabag
(agg 0-1)

Stjarnan 1-4 Celtic
(agg 1-6)

Dila Gori 0-2 Partizan Belgrade
(agg 0-3)

FC Pyunik 1-0 Molde
(agg 1-5)

Milsami Orhei 2-1 Ludo Razgd
(agg 3-1)

HJK Helsinki 1-0 FK Ventspils
(agg 4-1)

Maccabi Tel Aviv 5-1 Hibernians FC
(agg 6-3)

Lincoln Red Imps 0-2 FC Midtjylland
(agg 0-3)

Vardar 1-1 Apoel Nic
(agg 1-1)
Apoel Nicosia win the tie

Zalgiris 0-1 Malmö FF
(agg 0-1)

Crusaders FC 3-2 Skenderbeu Korce
(agg 4-6)

[Real ale Madrid]

To think one of Milsemi (MLD) or Skenderbeu (ALB) will be in the Europa League Group Stages.....

[OwlsFan]

Dundalk's conquerors secure a draw away to the Hungarians. Squeaky bum time for Celtic in their away leg after a narrow win at home. Basel as ever get a good result.

HJK Helsinki 0-0 FC Astana

FC Red Bull Salzburg 2-0 Malmö FF

Steaua Bucharest 1-1 Partizan Belgrade

Celtic 1-0 FK Qarabag

Lech Poznan 1-3 FC Basel

SK Rapid Vienna 2-2 Ajax


Cw CSKA 2-2 Sparta Prague

FC Midtjylland 1-2 Apoel Nic

Milsami Orhei 0-2 Skenderbeu Korce

Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-2 Viktoria Plzen

Fenerbahçe 0-0 Shakt Donsk

Panathinaikos 2-1 Club Brugge

BSC Young Boys 1-3 Monaco

Videoton 1-1 BATE Bor

Dinamo Zagreb 1-1 Molde

[OwlsFan]

Dundalk's conquerors go through. Great come back by Maccabi and good win for Rapid Vienna. Cream coming to the top.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - QUALIFYING - THIRD ROUND

FC Astana 4-3 HJK Helsinki (agg 4-3)

FK Qarabag 0-0 Celtic (agg 0-1)

Sparta Prague 2-3 CSKA (agg 4-5)

BATE Bor 1-0 Videoton (agg 2-1)

FC Basel 1-0 Lech Poznan (agg 4-1)

Club Brugge 3-0 Panathinaikos (agg 4-2)

Malmö FF 3-0 FC Red Bull Salzburg (agg 3-2)

Partizan Belgrade 4-2 Steaua Bucharest (agg 5-3)

Shakt Donsk 3-0 Fenerbahçe (agg 3-0)

Skenderbeu Korce 2-0 Milsami Orhei (agg 4-0)

Viktoria Plzen 0-2 Maccabi Tel Aviv (agg 2-3)

Apoel Nic 0-1 FC Midtjylland (agg 2-2) Apoel Nicosia win the tie

Molde 3-3 Dinamo Zagreb (agg 4-4) Dinamo Zagreb win the tie

Ajax 2-3 SK Rapid Vienna (agg 4-5)

Monaco 4-0 BSC Young Boys (agg 7-1)

[DeLorean]

Draw starting shortly

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[DeLorean]

Astana(KAZ) v APOEL(CYP)

Skënderbeu(ALB) v Dinamo Zagreb(CRO)

Celtic(SCO) v Malmö(SWE)

Basel(SUI) v M. Tel-Aviv(ISR)

BATE(BLR) v Partizan(SRB)

Lazio(ITA) v Leverkusen(GER)

Man. United(ENG) v Club Brugge(BEL)

Sporting CP(POR) v CSKA Moskva(RUS)

Rapid Wien(AUT) v Shakhtar Donetsk(UKR)

Valencia(ESP) v Monaco(FRA)

[geysir]

Anytime I hear of Bruges, I think of Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson there.
That's an okay draw for Celtic, probably good to avoid Partizan Belgrade.

[OwlsFan]

Anytime I hear of Bruges, I think of Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson there.
That's an okay draw for Celtic, probably good to avoid Partizan Belgrade.

Are you saying that Celtic can't do what Rovers did ? ;)

[geysir]

It must be of some consolation Owls, that seeing as you haven't got much of a present, you can always delve into the past and find a few morsels of comfort:)

[Stuttgart88]

How much of an idiot is Leigh Griffiths?

[osarusan]

How much of an idiot is Leigh Griffiths?
Very stupid and very lucky.

As were Malmo with the handball/disallowed goal.

Overall Celtic were woeful though.

[TheBoss]

Yes, Griffiths was extremely petulant, he seems that kind of person.

Also, massively surprising that Basel were eliminated.

[bennocelt]

Yes, Griffiths was extremely petulant, he seems that kind of person.

Also, massively surprising that Basel were eliminated.

They are muck this season. No quality at all in the team. But not the end of the world considering the final of the Europa is in Basel this season so thats a big incentive

[DeLorean]

Nice incentive alright but they haven't much hope of making it if they are muck. Just out of interest, how many teams have played a European final at their home ground?.... three off the top of my head would be Feyenoord winning the UEFA Cup against Borussia Dortmund sometime in early 2000's, Bayern losing to Chelsea in 2012 and Roma losing to Liverpool in the 80's. Juventus came pretty close in the Europa last year but lost the semi to Benfica.

[bennocelt]

Nice incentive alright but they haven't much hope of making it if they are muck. Just out of interest, how many teams have played a European final at their home ground?.... three off the top of my head would be Feyenoord winning the UEFA Cup against Borussia Dortmund sometime in early 2000's, Bayern losing to Chelsea in 2012 and Roma losing to Liverpool in the 80's. Juventus came pretty close in the Europa last year but lost the semi to Benfica.

Thats true but I can only dream:D
The Europa looks really tough this season, a lot of quality in it this year

[Real ale Madrid]

Nice incentive alright but they haven't much hope of making it if they are muck. Just out of interest, how many teams have played a European final at their home ground?.... three off the top of my head would be Feyenoord winning the UEFA Cup against Borussia Dortmund sometime in early 2000's, Bayern losing to Chelsea in 2012 and Roma losing to Liverpool in the 80's. Juventus came pretty close in the Europa last year but lost the semi to Benfica.

Sporting Lisbon lost the UEFA Cup final to CSKA Moscow on their own patch 3-1 in 2005.

[DeLorean]

Oh yes, I remember that actually. Must have been a seriously underwhelming evening for them. I wonder are Feyenoord the only team to actually win a European trophy on their own patch so? (Bar the two legged UEFA Cup finals of course).

[OwlsFan]

As many as two decided on the miraculous away goal. Have to hand it to Shaktar. They seem to make it through again. No luck for Apoel this year. Celtic miss out on a trip to play Real Madrid. Group H looks more like Europa League than Champions League.

Apoel Nic 1-1 FC Astana (agg 1-2)
Bayer Levkn 3-0 Lazio (agg 3-1)
Club Brugge 0-4 Man Utd (agg 1-7)
CSKA 3-1 Sporting (agg 4-3)
Partizan Belgrade 2-1 BATE Bor (agg 2-2) BATE win the tie
Dinamo Zagreb 4-1 Skenderbeu Korce (agg 6-2)
Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-1 FC Basel(agg 3-3) Maccabi Tel Aviv win the tie
Malmö FF 2-0 Celtic (agg 4-3)
Monaco 2-1 Valencia(agg 3-4)
Shakt Donsk 2-2 SK Rapid Vienna (agg 3-2)

Group A: Paris St-Germain, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Malmo
Group B: PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, VfL Wolfsburg
Group C: Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray, Astana
Group D: Juventus, Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Monchengladbach
Group E: Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma, BATE Borisov
Group F: Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Olympiakos, Dinamo Zagreb
Group G: Chelsea, Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Group H: Zenit St Petersburg, Valencia, Olympique Lyon, Gent

[Real ale Madrid]

Oh yes, I remember that actually. Must have been a seriously underwhelming evening for them. I wonder are Feyenoord the only team to actually win a European trophy on their own patch so? (Bar the two legged UEFA Cup finals of course).

I had to look it up ( for shame ) - but apart from Feyenoord the answer is three.

1957 European Cup Final - Real Madrid 2-0 Fiorentina
1965 European Cup Final - Inter Milan 1-0 Benfica

1982 European Cup Winners Cup Final - Barcelona 2-1 Standard Liege

[DeLorean]

Nice one, saved me the effort! I wouldn't have known any of those.

[OwlsFan]

Interesting article in today's Daily Telegraph about the nationality of players in the Champions League this season:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/champions-league/11940300/English-players-less-represented-in-201516-Champions-League-than-those-from-Israel-and-Belarus.html

English players in 13th place so what hope have we (we have none needless to say along with Scotland and Norn Ireland while Wales have 2 (Bale and ?)).

[Olé Olé]

Interesting article in today's Daily Telegraph about the nationality of players in the Champions League this season:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/champions-league/11940300/English-players-less-represented-in-201516-Champions-League-than-those-from-Israel-and-Belarus.html

English players in 13th place so what hope have we (we have none needless to say along with Scotland and Norn Ireland while Wales have 2 (Bale and ?)).

That's why I find it strange when people mourn the loss of an Irish contingent among the top 4 clubs in England as there used to be (Kevin Moran the most recent on Second Captains Live).

The England side had the following club make-up for their recent qualifier against Lithuania: Stoke, Spurs X2, Man United, Everton X2, Arsenal X 2, Swansea, Liverpool and Leicester. And, as regards the players with Liverpool, Arsenal and Man United, it says enough that the most likely club starter out of their contingent is Kieran Gibbs (Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lallana and Jones are hardly undisputed?).

[Hitman]

Wales have 2 (Bale and ?)).

Aaron Ramsey.

[OwlsFan]

I believe UEFA are thinking of suing Man City because their fans booed the Champions League jingle at the start of their game with Seville. What a joke.

The German FA also can't give a valid reason why it paid FIFA almost €5 million a year before the 2006 World Cup. A house of cards at the moment....

[OwlsFan]

Have to say Man City played the best I've seen them play in Europe for quite a while. Quick on the break and an enjoyable game. Not sure if this is the first time they've qualified for the knock-out stage.

[DeLorean]

This is their third season in a row making the last 16. They drew Barcelona (and lost) each of the past two seasons.

[geysir]

Last night an TV3 ignored the epl teams and went all continental with their live coverage of RM v PSG.
Was that a first, considering the epl teams still had it to play for to qualify? Has the mould of fawning cheerleading the epl teams been broken?

[DeLorean]

And almost ironically they picked a bizarre night to do it, given Real and PSG were only really playing for top spot.

[OwlsFan]

Last night an TV3 ignored the epl teams and went all continental with their live coverage of RM v PSG.
Was that a first, considering the epl teams still had it to play for to qualify? Has the mould of fawning cheerleading the epl teams been broken?

I suspect most of the Irish viewers turned over to Man C vs Seville or Man U vs (can't remember - Russian or Ukrainian I think) on Setanta or wherever and left TV3 with poor viewing figures. I surfed between the Man C/Seville game, cricket highlights (Pakistan vs England) and Sky Sports to see how Sheff W vs Brighton was going.

Nice to see Arsenal getting stuffed. All this palaver each season about qualifying for the CL as if they had won something and playing reserve sides in cup competitions they might win. Money not medals talk.

[geysir]

And almost ironically they picked a bizarre night to do it, given Real and PSG were only really playing for top spot.
Top spot does have a high value when it comes to the last 16 draw, avoiding the possibility of drawing Bayern or Barca.
Though most probably, if the impressive looking PSG do finish second they will be protected by the lingering remnants of the Platini slight of hand.

[DeLorean]

Yeah I know, but it's hardly as intriguing as who qualifies and who misses out completely. Real can't draw Barca anyway so it's even less of a concern in their case.

[geysir]

I wouldn't understate the concern and extreme pressure that clubs like PSG and RM have to finish top and/or progress to the 1/4. TV3 made a brave choice even though all the omens were good for that game. Like I said, considering that choice by TV3 made at a time when the 2 epl clubs (Man U :pizza:) still had something to play for, is it a first?

[Charlie Darwin]

Last night an TV3 ignored the epl teams and went all continental with their live coverage of RM v PSG.
Was that a first, considering the epl teams still had it to play for to qualify? Has the mould of fawning cheerleading the epl teams been broken?
RTE have passed on an English match to show Barcelona a couple of times, but as far as I remember it was Chelsea at least one of the times and they'd be the least popular of the English CL teams here. Can't imagine they'd pass on Manchester United or Liverpool, so fair play to TV3 for picking the best match.

[DeLorean]

I wouldn't understate the concern and extreme pressure that clubs like PSG and RM have to finish top and/or progress to the 1/4.

There's extreme pressure on Real Madrid to win the whole competition every season, that's common knowledge. Obviously then it goes without saying that there's extreme pressure to reach the quarter finals, but not topping the group is unlikely to jeaporadise that too much in their case. My point was that a match which will determine elimination and progress is obviously more important than a match that will determine who finishes first and second. Even if Real did finish second, what would they have to be afraid of? By a mile the worst draw they could get would be Bayern Munich, a team they beat 5-0 on aggregate eighteen months ago. Ideally they would avoid that possibility but hardly the end of the world, and they'd have to be unlucky to draw them even if they did finish second.

I do agree with the general point that it was refreshing for TV3 to look outside the obvious mainstream English clubs, I just thought it was an unusual night to do it. Whatever about the Manchester United game, Seville v Manchester City was intriguing for a number of reasons, and definitely more at stake for the two clubs than Real v PSG.

[OwlsFan]

I love all the fuss that goes with qualifying for the amazing Champions League and then Man U "crash out" (to use the vernacular) in the group stages. They would have been better off trying to win the League Cup :)

[geysir]

TV3 again picked a winner with live coverage of the ignominious spectacle of Man U crashing out dive bombing out of the Champions League.

Roma get through on 6 points, is that a lowest ever points level for a last 16 qualifier? if it isn't, it has to be a close shave.

[osarusan]

Roma get through on 6 points, is that a lowest ever points level for a last 16 qualifier? if it isn't, it has to be a close shave.
I think they said last night it on RTE was the lowest qualifying total since it became 3 points for a win (can't remember when it was only 2 points for a win, but seems like it was like that before).

Edit: wiki says it changed for the 95-96 season.

[DeLorean]

I love all the fuss that goes with qualifying for the amazing Champions League and then Man U "crash out" (to use the vernacular) in the group stages.

I love the way they're always so shocked when it happens, despite Chelsea (as holders), Manchester City (twice) and Liverpool all failing in the group stages in the previous three seasons.

[OwlsFan]

Gent v Wolfsburg
Roma v Real Madrid
Paris St-Germain v Chelsea
Arsenal v Barcelona
Juventus v Bayern Munich
PSV Eindhoven v Atletico Madrid
Benfica v Zenit St Petersburg
Dynamo Kiev v Manchester City

Juve vs Bayern the stand-out one there. The two money-bags (PSG vs Chelsea) also have to fight it out.

[OwlsFan]

I really enjoyed that PSG vs Chelsea game last night. Ok both teams were assembled on the back of vasts amounts of money but it was a really excellent, fast-moving game with great play from both sides. I even didn't go channel surfing, except very occasionally to see how Hull vs Brighton was going. Chris Hughton is an excellent manager. I suspect some day he'll manage Ireland.