UEFA Cup round 1

Inter's performances in europe in the last 5 years are ranked as 4th best in europe by UEFA. While they haven't won it, thats not a poor performance. Juve were also regularily among the top 7-8 in europe till they got demoted.

Nah, Palermo should have easily beaten a side like that...

Fey wrote:Maybe Italian teams arent good enough? I mean with all do respect, bar Milan italian teams rarely impress in Europe!!

bluenine wrote:Thats a good article and I completely agree with you... Can't believe that Palermo played to an empty stadium!!! Platini needs to revamp UEFA Cup, the money/prestige has to increase else more and more teams from other countries will start giving it the same treatment as the Italians do now.

27000 in attendance (including 2000 FC Groningen fans if our local press got it right) and it sounded like a real good athmosphere.

I really enjoyed the match and don't begrudge Fiorentina the win even though I thought FC Groningen was slightly better : the ref didn't influence the outcome one bit and in no way do I feel cheated by Fiorentina.....so cheers to la Viola in the next round

(I do still think Mutu is a c**t though )

Tweedle wrote:Well thats funny, because for all the EPL games the stadiums were over 75% full, the Spurs and Everton games sold out (and Bolton and Blackburn have famously low attendances anyhow) and last night, Metalist, the team Everton were playing, broke their capacity record.

Yeah but English and Spanish attitudes towards sport aren't as cynical as in Italy. Sevilla knew that a UEFA Cup win wouldn't generate much income, but they still fought their way to a win two years running.

Let it be said that Everton were a whisker away from elimination, and we would have been talking about Everton AND Blackburn out of Europe. There is no way anyone can convince me that the teams that almost/did beat them were better. Absolutely no way.

bluenine wrote:Inter's performances in europe in the last 5 years are ranked as 4th best in europe by UEFA. While they haven't won it, thats not a poor performance. Juve were also regularily among the top 7-8 in europe till they got demoted.

Nah, Palermo should have easily beaten a side like that...

Fey wrote:Maybe Italian teams arent good enough? I mean with all do respect, bar Milan italian teams rarely impress in Europe!!

True, Blue. But we all know Juve didnt played fair! They were doped when they won it in 1996.

Inter has always had great players, but now they have a great team as well. IMO they are the main favo to win it this year. But getting further in the UEFA-cup means more money...so I cant imagine that the boards of these Italian teams that got knocked out, are happy with this.

Or is it just arrogance?

There is very little money in UEFA Cup, and teh gate reciepts for these games in Italy don't bring in much either.... I don't think its arrogance, its just like Italian sides don't think its worth the bother anymore.

If UEFA makes the competition leaner, and puts in more cash, things will change.

UEFA should just replicate teh CL format, and have a qualifying tournamnet for the smaller sides, so that when it comes to the group stages there are bigger teams and more money for everyone.

Yeah, Juve = cheats

Fey wrote:

bluenine wrote:Inter's performances in europe in the last 5 years are ranked as 4th best in europe by UEFA. While they haven't won it, thats not a poor performance. Juve were also regularily among the top 7-8 in europe till they got demoted.

Nah, Palermo should have easily beaten a side like that...

Fey wrote:Maybe Italian teams arent good enough? I mean with all do respect, bar Milan italian teams rarely impress in Europe!!

True, Blue. But we all know Juve didnt played fair! They were doped when they won it in 1996.

Inter has always had great players, but now they have a great team as well. IMO they are the main favo to win it this year. But getting further in the UEFA-cup means more money...so I cant imagine that the boards of these Italian teams that got knocked out, are happy with this.

Or is it just arrogance?

When is the group draw? I'm praying that Spurs anf the Viola are in the same group

tuesday 12.00pm CET

That will be a good game

Tweedle wrote:When is the group draw? I'm praying that Spurs anf the Viola are in the same group

bluenine, there already is a qualifying tournament for the smaller teams,the "bigger" teams arrive in round one, then it goes into a group stage.how much more like the cl can it get.if the italians or any other so called big teams dont want to take uefa seriously, let them stew. why should competitions be structured to suit certain teams or countries? leave it to the teams who want to take it seriously, or fine the teams who put out reserve sides for abusing the competition and taking up a place they dont want,then ban them from taking part again for a few years if they happen to qualify again and give their place to a team who does want it.

cska sofia 1 toulouse 1
This game was quite ordinary as a spectacle,but provided the dramatic end that only straight knockout football can provide.Both teams had good spells, but neither could take overall control as toulouse looked for the away goal to take them through and cska were wary of that, and were reluctant to throw men forward and get caught on the break.Toulouse had slightly more creative and individual qualities, but clear chances were scarce until midway through the second half, dimitrov had a run into the box, got caught from behind, and cska scored the penalty.(Claudinei).

Toulouse then forced a good save from petrov ,hit the top of the bar, and saw cska reduced to 10 men for a second yellow card offence,(Udoji).They looked resigned to going out ,when deep into added time,goalie douchez brought the ball to the half way line, launched it,it was touched on and gignac appeared from out of nowhere to stoop and head in to absolute silence.

As the french team and bench celebrated with their fans at the front on the half way line,cska fans launched part full water bottles at them in disgraceful scenes,maybe 10-20 being thrown.The game had barely time to restart before the final whistle, and more missiles launched at the toulouse players celebrating with the fans.Racial abuse of their black players followed as they made their way to the dressing room with a police escort in front of the cska fans.
There is no place for what happened in football, and uefa should act with a punishment against cska fans,either a fine or playing to empty stadium.If this is how they react to losing a goal and going out of the comp.,it will be well deserved.

briz wrote:cska sofia 1 toulouse 1
this game was quite ordinary as a spectacle,but provided the dramatic end that only straight knockout football can provide.both teams had good spells, but neither could take overall control as toulouse looked for the away goal to take them through and cska were wary of that, and were reluctant to throw men forward and get caught on the break.toulouse had slghtly more creative and individual qualities, but clear chances were scarce until midway through the second half, dimitrov had a run into the box, got caught from behind, and cska scored the penalty.toulouse then forced a good save from petrov hit the top of the bar, and saw cska reduced to 10 men for a second yellow card offence.they looked resigned to going out when deep into added time,goalie douchez brought the ball to the half way line, launched it,it was touched on and gignac appeared from out of nowhere to stoop and head in to absolute silence.as the french team and bench celebrated with their fans at the front on the half way line,cska fans launched part full water bottles at them in disgraceful scenes,maybe 10-20 being thrown.the game had barely time to restart before the final whistle, and more missiles launched at the toulouse players celebrating with the fans.racial abuse of their black players followed as they made their way to the dressing room with a police escort in front of the cska fans.there is no place for what happened in football, and uefa should act with a punishment against cska fans,either a fine or playing to empty stadium.if this is how they react to losing a goal and going out of the comp.,it will be well deserved.

Excellent input on an otherwise unfancied game.

However, have you ever heard of the term "paragraph"? Also, it helps if you start each sentence with a big letter, ie. A instead of a. For the reader

ok TRWP,i am still a bit tired from the journey to and from the game, and wanted to do a quick report while it was still fresh for readers.Have to think more about punctuation next time!
Now edited, after waking up.