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Only 2 small surprises this evening with Copenhagen hanging on against Juve to draw and Shakhtar winning handy in Spain.
I ended up watching the Copenhagen Juve game, mandated by having a Danish visitor to the house, but glad to as it turned out.
I didn't know Tevez was now with Juve, he missed a sitter late on, Pirlo is still there, still finding an acre of space and the killer passes.
Shakhtar winning possibly isn't as surprising as it seems. Sociedad are a quality team but so were Dortmund when they first entered the competition and they were dominated by such sides as Marseilles and Olympiakos. There aren't many teams that do well in the Champions League at the first attempt and Shakhtar are still a good side despite losing several top players.
I said a 'small surprise' to lose the game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
Possibly you can argue just how small.
a small surprise
or
a small surprise on the little side of small,
or
a small surprise on the larger side of small :)
I still think it's a bit of a surprise that Shakhtar won there. Yes Sociedad are new to the CL (I think they were last in it around a decade ago), but so were Malaga last year (who I think topped a group with Milan, Zenit and Anderlecht) and they breezed past Lyonnais in the playoff and Shakhtar have floundered a bit in the last few Ukrainian league games, losing at Karpaty and Dnipro and drawing home with Metalist. Also away in the CL Shakhtar dont have a great record, they've only won 2 games away in the CL in the last 2 years (vs Nordsjealland last year and against an already qualified APOEL), and have lost away against teams of similar strength to Sociedad (like Zenit and Porto) as well as big ones (Chelsea, Dortmund).
Shakhtar's weakness in defence last year seemed to be from set pieces / balls into the box (Dortmund destroyed them on this) by Sociedad never really exposed those weakenesses. Overall I'd probably expect Shakhtar to finish above Soceidad, but I was surprised they werent given more of a test in Spain.
RTE's pundit preamble to Milan v Celtic kicks off with 'sure Celtic have a bad away record in the CL they have never won away from home'
(hand slap to the head smilie goes here)
Eamon to the fore as expert on Scottish football speaks and doesn't suss that the Celtic players are in the wrong position in the team sheet.
Why would Lustig be at Centre Half and the Dutch guy at Right Back?
Indirect free kick to Celtic after the goalkeeper infringed in the box.
George and Ray think the ref got it wrong, but the camera in the replay (I suspect) shows the ref got it right.
The Milan goalie controlled the ball with his hand along the ground, then later he picked the ball up into his hands. I presume more than 6 seconds elapsed since he first touched it with his hand, or something to that effect.
It's 4 seconds these days apparently.
And Lustig is R/B, not that it much matters, just the TV use some dubious criteria to pick out their 'formation'.
I wasn't pointing out the tv error, I was pointing out that the rte expert didn't cop on to the glaringly obvious error.
Hey, but that's nothing new...
First time i've ever heard Ray say 'he used the right option there',
but not until after first examining about 4 other possibilities, re Samaras' effort.
Milan come good in the end against Celtic. Stokes came close with a bullet free kick.
Basel dump on Chelsea, anybody who knew anything about football knew that Basel were more than a match for Chelsea ;).
Looks like Chelsea fans might regret wanting Benitez out and Mourinho in... Last year they won at Goodison, Old Trafford and saw off Basel, this year its not quite the same. Benitez on the other hand is still winning European matches.
I did think last season's triumph by Chelsea over Basel was (in the main) down to the the tactical acumen of Benitez.
But I thought some people were saying it was because Basel were not worthy ;)
They're a moderately competent side, I don't see a huge amount of invention in their play. But if Chelsea are going to defend (or not defend) corners like that then Basel will take advantage, as probably most other sides would.
I'm sure Basel will be delighted by your accolade that they are a moderately successful side and will take on board that they need a bit more invention in their play. But it does sound like a Daily Sun review of a Kurosawa film.
Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Seen Basel a few times this season, seem to be very well coached and are getting better with every game. God knows what they will be like come the end of the season!
Very solid team, with excellent wingers, and no big name players (Apart from Salah I guess).
Got my CL tkts, so looking forward to seeing them in the flesh again soon:)
I see Celtic's Ambrose has rediscovered his football personality since it mysteriously disappeared for months after the ACON final. He has a good partner in the Dutch signing Van Dijk. I thought the game was a sure fire draw as both teams were struggling to create chances. Milan looked like a team who had been asked to work overtime, on normal pay. It just shows you, how out of nothing a game can be won late on, cruel but that's football, them's the breaks.
Matthews was uncomfortable all night with his passing and deliveries.
I think it's a while since Celtic got beat away in Europe but deserved better on the night, way back to MON's time, against Juve, Bayern and Lyon.
I thought Matthews did okay, there was space on the wide right and he could have made more of it though thats for sure. I was calling for Boerrighter to be brought in much earlier as he is more naturally an attacker and going to make better use of that space (Matthews is a fullback afterall). I can understand why the change wasnt made earlier though, it was still 0-0, Celtic were comfortable, Milan were not looking particularly dangerous. However we were not making the most of our possession and that always comes back to bite you on the ar$e. It did, unfortunately.
Ah, you're being very naive here geysir. If Basel's players were any good they'd be playing in the Premier League.Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Why Premier League? Don't they traditionally tend to sell their best players to the Bundesliga? (Shakhiri, Xhaka, Derdiyok, the Degens)?
All the best players play in the Premier League.
Then possibly you agree with the already mentioned qualitative difference between Rafa and Mourinho, as being the main reason why Basel came away with the points, this time around :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
Myself, I just say these things happen,
out of 4 games, Basel are good enough to win twice and Chelsea good enough to win the other 2 times. Only the top teams manage consistency in the CL, when it's required.
Matthew played well except for his passing and deliveries.Quote:
Originally Posted by Junior
Sometimes that can be said about a player without embarrassment.
Such a shame Celtic had to sell their best players. AC were there for the taking.
Was Basel beating Chelsea such a huge shock ? The Swiss, including their national side, have been putting in some excellent performances over the past few years.
Basel beating Chelsea wasn't a shock, hardly even a small surprise,
but definitely welcome.
Jurgen Klopp's sideline antics makes neil Lennon look like an alter boy.
'when Napoli scored against his club in the first half, Jurgen disappeared and his mentally unstable doppelganger turned up. After his face returned to something resembling human, he applauded the ref and was summarily sent off.'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWoU16D4f4w
Very strange goings on at the St Jacob's Park last night. I keenly tuned in at 7:45, bag of Lindt chocolate in one hand, mug of Rivella in another, enticed at the prospect of this exuberant Basel/Basle vanquishing yet another European team with ease. Imagine my shock at seeing some kind of Milk Tray advert redux, commandos abseiled from the rafters and unfurled a huge banner paying homage to company that sponsors the competition and (possibly) heats the stadium :)
In all seriousness, they could be in a spot of bother over that - it shows a fairly major security lapse. It's one thing for fans to sneak in with small banners or flairs hidden in socks or down the sleeve of a jacket, but it's quite another when half a dozen get onto the roof with a huge banner and full climbing gear... They may end up having to play in an empty stadium.
Good result for Atletico Madrid, nice free kick to win it, although the scorer might have been offside - it looked 50:50.
If you expect that Basel should win every game in the CL group phase against bigger richer clubs, to prove that they're a very good club, playing very good football, then you are bigger fool than I had taken you for :)
I don't see the logic of Basel being punished by playing in an empty stadium and I'd deem it a very unlikely punishment. Possibly a fine for lax security, even if they had regulation approved security in place but were just outwitted by a bunch of determined crafty spiderpeople.
Nobody got hurt except for a sponsor's reputation so Basel will probably be thrown out of the competition.
http://www.footballfans.eu/img?f=3799074&w=1410&h=603
Was at the game - bit weird alright. Otherwise the game was as dull as dishwater. Schalke scored a decent goal, and thats all that really happened in the game. Will be tough for Basel to get out of this group, will be close.
Interesting that RTE have gone with City-Bayern over United-Shakhtar today - they've chosen the better game of football over the more popular team.
I wouldn't give up on Basel just yet, there's an easy 3 pointer against Chelsea to come :)
Joe Hart is and has been a liability. How come this hasn't sunk in yet?
Because England. He'd have been replaced a couple of years ago otherwise. Wouldn't be surprised if Pellegrini tried to pick up a new number one in the winter, but I expect him to give Hart until the summer.
Italian club football is sinking even lower than last year.
Galatasaray ahead tonight at half time against juve. Milan struggling, depending on blatant cynicism to get a draw against Ajax and Napoli going belly up in London last night.
Apparently Mancini and Platt had already decided to replace him with Begovic, but they got replaced first.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...ster-City.html
Comedy goals in the CSKA v Plzen match tonight.
Here is the best one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfZ8tmuW-dU
I'd say Real Madrid and Juve has the makings of the game of tonight. some scintillating football so far, mainly from Juve.
Was coming here to post exactly that. Juventus have swarmed all over them but Real appear able to score goals at will.