Champions League 2016-17

[DeLorean]

Celtic losing 1-0 after an hour in Gibraltar. Griffiths just hit the bar but Lincoln Red Imps (!) have been reasonably comfortable otherwise.

I was curious to see what kind of a setup they had in the Gibraltarian league and found out they have ten teams in the top division. They obviously play each other three times like the LOI because they finished up on 27 matches. Lincoln only dropped five points and had a GD of +130!!

The guy who scored for them here is the same fella that scored for Gibraltar at Hampden, Lee Casciaro, the scourge of Scotland!

[pineapple stu]

Into the last 15 now. This would surely be one of the greatest upsets of all time? I know celtic aren't the team they used to be - but their average crowd is more than twice Gibraltar's population

[pineapple stu]

Result. That's hilarious

[NeverFeltBetter]

I'm trying to think of a lower point for Scottish football....

[DeLorean]

Into the last 15 now. This would surely be one of the greatest upsets of all time? I know celtic aren't the team they used to be - but their average crowd is more than twice Gibraltar's population

I can't think of anything that comes remotely close to be honest.

Edit- Their captain thinks so (http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36769392)

[DeLorean]

UEFA.com (http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=2389907.html) had an interesting little preview.

[NeverFeltBetter]

"I was surprised Lincoln are through, if I'm honest," Rodgers added. "From our reports, [Flora Tallin] were the better side in the first leg. Our only issue is that it gives us a day less. If we'd been playing in Estonia, we'd have been on Wednesday."

You know, I have a feeling Brendan Rodgers might not prove a success in Celtic.

[DeLorean]

I thought they were strange comments myself. The standard thing to say there is that the opposition are there on merit, that they beat a decent side in the previous round to get there, etc., etc. The last thing you'd say is that you're surprised they got that far because some other team are better. He was always a good man to set himself up for a fall in interviews though.

And what's with the extra day thing? What difference would that make to a team playing their first game of the season?

[pineapple stu]

Apparently there were no Twitter updates from Lincoln as the guy who manages their twitter was playing left-back.

Sounds like the pitch didn't help though? Similar to Andorra v Wales at the start of Euro qualifying. I reckon Celtic will notch a few in the return leg. But they'll never not have lost tonight though!

[DeLorean]

Yeah the pitch looked terrible, I'd say I've played on better astro surfaces myself, but still....

I presumed that Twitter updates thing was a joke ;)

Paddy Power mentioned as well that Lincoln share that stadium with the rest of the clubs in their league.

Yeah, they'll hit 5-7 goals in Glasgow I'd expect but it really makes no odds.

[nigel-harps1954]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9FUNt-jSHY

[TheBoss]

I just have to say this; Ambrose is probably the worst defender I have ever seen!

How in the heck he is still playing for Celtic for the last 3/4 seasons is beyond me. Every time he seems to play he makes horrendous errors but somehow he always plays, it's just crazy!

[pineapple stu]

Full match - I love the video title!

WGEVoYEc7ko

[OwlsFan]

I just have to say this; Ambrose is probably the worst defender I have ever seen!

How in the heck he is still playing for Celtic for the last 3/4 seasons is beyond me. Every time he seems to play he makes horrendous errors but somehow he always plays, it's just crazy!

Someone write this in Efe Ambrose's Wikipedia site: "At the beginning of the 2016-17 season Ambrose made an appearance against Gibraltar side Lincoln Red Imps in a Champions League 2nd round qualifying match. Ambrose produced his funniest performance to date by flapping like an open vagina at a through ball to concede the only goal of the game in a shock 1-0 win for the Gibraltar side".

I suspect it won't be there for long.

[DeLorean]

He was terrible in the first half too which was quite an achievement seeing as Celtic had most of the ball.

Nothing to be embarrassed about according to Rodgers.

[OwlsFan]

Disappointed to see Crusaders lose 9-0 on aggregate to Copenhagen. They're obviously doing something right in Denmark.

[BonnieShels]

Disappointed to see Crusaders lose 9-0 on aggregate to Copenhagen. They're obviously doing something right in Denmark.

Lamping all resources into one big club?

I would wager it's a typical IL club having a brutal attitude towards Europe.

[Charlie Darwin]

FCK are the Rosenborg of Denmark, as you say. The team that played us was had several players who played at the subsequent Euros and World Cup, even one member of the Iceland team that beat England this year.

[OwlsFan]

Well that "priceless" away goal for the Icelanders http://foot.ie/threads/214152-RTE-Dundalk-undone-by-old-boy-Lennon wasn't so priceless after all because Dundalk got two priceless ones instead. Great result for the Louth men especially with our Nordic friends on a high after the Euros. Celtic will be content with getting through but hardly ecstatic that they couldn't score in the second half. A lot of work there still to do I suspect although not huge scoring round, apart from our Danish friends and a match between Olimpija NK and Trenčín. It's not every day you score 3 away from home and still go out on the away goals !!

[BonnieShels]

In fairness an away goal can be priceless in tight European fixtures such as what we had last night with Dundalk and FH.

[TheBoss]

Going through the winners of the 2nd Qualifying Round, there was no major surprise. There does be at least 1 or 2 over the years, maybe the 3rd Round is the round of the shocks.

[Gather round]

Lamping all resources into one big club?

I would wager it's a typical IL club having a brutal attitude towards Europe

I didn't get to see either leg this year. A lot of Crues fans (as well as the management) are sounding upbeat about the tie. But I'd say 0-9 against anyone, even Barca or Bayern, is embarrassing.

Did you see Crusaders' results in the last two years- won tis against Lithuanian and Estonian teams and a leg against the Albanians. Were they "brutal" too? Did the bookie pay out on your big wager ;)

Glenavon's effort was probably worse. Not because they skimped on warm-up friendlies or chartering a plane, but as the players basically gave up when they went two or three goals behind at home. Hamilton immediately took responsibility. Baxter could/ should have done likewise even if he thought the team kept going until the end.

[OwlsFan]

I see Pat Fenlon thinks Dundalk's plan is to score a crucial away goal http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2016/0726/804904-fenlon-dundalk-capable-of-crucial-away-goal/ Didn't they get one last season and lose ? It's no wonder Rovers sacked him. Surely the plan is not to lose. Good luck to them tonight.

[Charlie Darwin]

I'd say Kenny knows as well as anyone that they'd more than likely need an away goal to get anything out of the game.

[pineapple stu]

Mad result in Cyprus. Rosenborg, holding on to a 2-1 first leg lead, were 0-0 away to APOEL Nicosia going into injury time - and lost 3-0.

So presume they conceded, got caught attacking for an equaliser which would have sent them through, and then got caught again attacking for a goal which would have brought it to extra time.

[OwlsFan]

Crvena Zvezda (aka Red Star Belgrade) 2-4 Ludo Razgd was another interesting one. The George Hamilton of the Belgrade media was no doubt in raptures at the 2 away goals in the 2-2 draw in Bulgaria. Soon wiped out in the home leg but they fight back to 2-2 but the Bulgars score 2 in extra time.

[DeLorean]

Not sure I knew that they were Red Star.

The first European Cup final I ever watched was when the beat Chris Waddle's Marseille in 1991. They had some team but it was a typical 'two teams cancelling each other out' final with not too many risks being taken.

They played Cork City in more recent years, I heard they were very impressed with Turners Cross when they thought it was only Cork's training pitch. No idea if there was any truth in that though!

[CraftyToePoke]

I heard they were very impressed with Turners Cross when they thought it was only Cork's training pitch. No idea if there was any truth in that though!

Ah Jaysus.

[DeLorean]

Don't shoot the messenger. :o

I must admit it seemed more likely to be of an apocryphal nature to me too.

[DeLorean]

Full group stage draw

Group A: Paris St-Germain (France), Arsenal (England), Basel (Switzerland), Ludogorets (Bulgaria).

Group B: Benfica (Portugal), Napoli (Italy), Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine), Besiktas (Turkey).

Group C: Barcelona (Spain), Manchester City (England), Borussia Monchengladbach (Germany), Celtic (Scotland).

Group D: Bayern Munich (Germany), Atletico Madrid (Spain), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Rostov (Russia).

Group E: CSKA Moscow (Russia), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Tottenham (England), Monaco (France).

Group F: Real Madrid (Spain), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), Legia Warsaw (Poland).

Group G: Leicester City (England), Porto (Portugal), Club Brugge (Belgium), FC Copenhagen (Denmark).

Group H: Juventus (Italy), Sevilla (Spain), Lyon (France), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia).

[BonnieShels]

Does anyone care?

[DeLorean]

Not really in fairness. Group stages are pretty dull, maybe if they stopped seeding it. It's a bit like the GAA football championship... wake me up for the quarter finals.

[BonnieShels]

Not really in fairness. Group stages are pretty dull, maybe if they stopped seeding it. It's a bit like the GAA football championship... wake me up for the quarter finals.

Even then it's dull. Same teams over and over. At least in the AI I have a team. :)

[OwlsFan]

Does anyone care?

I hear what you're saying but Group C is great. The rest should be predictable. Pity Dundalk didn't make Group F. That would have made two interesting groups.

[pineapple stu]

Group G will be interesting in fairness.

But yeah. The Europa League is where it's at in general. Far more interesting.

[DeLorean]

Group G will be interesting in fairness.

Would it be too mainstream and uncool to suggest Group C might be worth keeping an eye on? :)

[pineapple stu]

Nope. Could be some great matches in Group C. Celtic may even have a say if they can get some a stirring home result or two, though they should still come bottom. The main question is whether Gladbach are of the standard of the other German qualifiers, and can put it up to Real and Man City.

Can only imagine things getting less intereting if there's 4 guaranteed teams from England/Spain/Italy/Germany each season - plus the Europa League winner of course.

I'll tend to watch the final (which is often disappointing), but other than that and LoI teams, I can't remember the last CL game I deliberately watched. Possible Bayern v Man City a few years ago, when Bayern scored twice in the final five minutes. Or was that Real v Man City?

[DeLorean]

Yeah, it seems straightforward enough in terms of where the teams might end up in the group but possibly some okay games in isolation. Celtic travel to Barcelona first, probably not ideal and then host Manchester City. There should be some atmosphere there for that.

The Bayern - Juventus, Atletico - Bayern and Atletico - Barca ties were by a mile the pick of the bunch last season, but particularly the former two.

[BonnieShels]

Yeah, it seems straightforward enough in terms of where the teams might end up in the group but possibly some okay games in isolation. Celtic travel to Barcelona first, probably not ideal and then host Manchester City. There should be some atmosphere there for that.

The Bayern - Juventus, Atletico - Bayern and Atletico - Barca ties were by a mile the pick of the bunch last season, but particularly the former two.

I tend to have a rule of watching Dortmund and Atletico matches first and foremost. But those Bayern-Juve matches were brilliant. Though I was sick to my stomach at the end of the second leg.

[geysir]

The quality of the CL draw doesn't look different from any draw in that past. If a minnow team like Dundalk were in there than maybe there would be some interest here, what an event it was, what a great competition it was and thanks very much for the manna from heaven CL cash subsidy which is paid direct to each club in the top league.:rolleyes:
In all the previous CL group stage match evenings, it would be a rare event for me not to find one game of interest, one game of quality.
I'm looking forward to the group stages.

[DeLorean]

Nothing to be embarrassed about according to Rodgers. [After losing 1-0 to Gibraltar's Lincoln Red Imps]


BBC Sport: Barcelona 7-0 Celtic: No embarrassment in result, says Brendan Rodgers

You'd have to ask yourself then, is there such a thing as an embarrassing result?

[OwlsFan]

What always interests me is how Barca are able to press much better than any other club. Even the likes of Arsenal can't keep the ball against them. Why is that ?

Looking at the stats, Barca had only 10 shots and scored 7. Not a bad conversion rate.

[DeLorean]

I think it's a natural result of them retaining possession for so long themselves. If you're without the ball for long periods of time there's much more pressure to retain it when you do eventually win it back, particularly when Barca press as well as they do. Arsenal are used to playing against teams that allow them to have the ball as well, even most of the better sides in England play counter attacking football against them.

There aren't many (any?) teams that try to retain possession against Barcelona now either, they all try to soak it up and hit them on the break, even Real Madrid. They're a difficult team to press because they're so comfortable getting out of tight spots and then expose the inevitable gaps that would open further up the pitch. In short, they're just a lot better at keeping the ball, and a lot better at pressing, than Arsenal are.

[pineapple stu]

Looking at the stats, Barca had only 10 shots and scored 7. Not a bad conversion rate.
In fairness, they were walking the ball into the net at times. Messi's second was a futsal goal.

Iniesta's goal and Suarez' first were superb finishes of course.

Celtic could wlel be on course for the worst CL group record ever; a poor team in a nasty group. Currently it's Dinamo Zagreb's record - no points, three scored and 22 conceded. Only two sides have failed to score in the group stages - Maccabi (who only conceded 8 in losing all their games) and Depor (the year they knocked out Shels), though I think Celtic will at least score one.

[OwlsFan]

Will the money be worth the embarrassment?

[pineapple stu]

Well it's not as if Rangers can slag them - so yeah, I guess so.

Makes you wonder what would have happened if Dundalk had beaten Legia and were facing Dortmund tonight, with a trip to the Camp Nou to come...

[DeLorean]

I think Dundalk would have been pretty much exempt from embarrassment, given the scale of such an achievement in the first place. Different story for Celtic, given their history, both recent and distant.

They're still better off being there than not though, it keeps them (and Scottish football) on the map a bit. Even with hindsight, I wouldn't have wanted Ireland to have not qualified for Euro 2012 just because they were hammered in the tournament itself. It's still better than not being there at all and there's always the hope you'll give it a better go the next time, which proved to be the case.

Dundalk's victims BATE would be a decent example of how a small team can progress from year to year. I don't think anybody was really laughing at them but they were conceding some wreckless scorelines in the 2014/15 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014%E2%80%9315_UEFA_Champions_League_group_stage# Group_H) competition, albeit accompanied by one really brilliant result. The experience overall seemed to serve them well and they were much more competitive a year later (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%E2%80%9316_UEFA_Champions_League_group_stage# Group_E). I suppose to progress you need to take that first step, it's a shame Dundalk didn't quite manage it.

[DeLorean]

'Leicester stun Brugge to win their first Champions League game' is the headline on the BBC website. Hardly that stunning considering the Premier League's 4th placed side hammered Brugge 7-1 on aggregate in the qualifying round last season.

Then again, their two headlines yesterday were... 'Rooney left out of Man Utd squad' and 'Aguero returns for Man City', ignoring the likeliness that being left out of the Europa League was probably a show of faith more than a punishment and Aguero was obviously going to play in a game he's not actually suspended for.

[BonnieShels]

Well it's not as if Rangers can slag them - so yeah, I guess so.

Makes you wonder what would have happened if Dundalk had beaten Legia and were facing Dortmund tonight, with a trip to the Camp Nou to come...

They would have replaced Rostov as the lowest ranked team (and in this fantasy would have been drawn out like them) and therefore would have been in the group with Bayern, Atletico and PSV. Rostov lost 5-0 last night to the Evil Empire. Dundalk would have been massacred.

[DeLorean]

Rostov lost 5-0 last night to the Evil Empire.

I would never have been mad about Bayern either for some reason but I'm a big Ancelotti fan so I'd be okay with them winning it this season. It would have the added bonus of showing up Guardiola a little too I think. A good little piece on Ancelotti's reign so far here. (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2665835-how-carlo-ancelottis-bayern-munich-match-up-to-pep-guardiolas)