2013/14 UEFA Europa League

Game on

Game off

Ha ha was not a half bad performance.

AZ-Benfica
Olympique Lyon - Juventus
FC Basel - Valencia
FC Porto - Sevilla

Good draw. Expected Salzburg to beat Basel, and how harsh on Betis...

Would be nice for Juve to win it in their own stadium this year.

Watching Sevilla against Porto, and one cant deny that La Liga is so far ahead to other leagues when it comes to football. A two horse league it usually is, but everything from top to bottom can play football. Compare that to the EPL, which is more entertaining. But compare the likes of Everton and Spurs to lets say Sevilla and Valencia, and you see the difference.

Anyway 2-0 Sevilla.

PACO!!!!.

finding back the form, when he was a kid and linking up with delou and jese

spain with four teams in the SF in europe.

what a league.

Sevilla-Valencia
Benfica-Juventus

Good draw for Juve. Looks more likely to get to the final in their own home.

Garray is awesome 1-0 Benfica so far. God I hope we sign him, him and Benatia to replace Rio and Vidic would be a lucid dream.

How bad have the Serie A become, it shows you how much it has gone down the drain, since Juve that walks the serie a, was unable to create chances against Benfica.

Also how overrated is Pogba?

It's all Conte's fault, he has to stop playing 3-5-2.

He is like the new Mancini in Europe.

sneaky from Sevilla.

Fey wrote:How bad have the Serie A become, it shows you how much it has gone down the drain, since Juve that walks the serie a, was unable to create chances against Benfica.

Also how overrated is Pogba?

Juve were fairly unfortunate, deserved a draw in the first leg and lost it to a phenomenal strike then bossed the return. Poor performances from Vucinic away and Llorente/Giovinco at home and Vidal coming back from injury robbed them of goal threat.

Pogba has the ideal physique and lovely touch but somehow has found a position where he neither crosses nor reaches the box. Weirdly he might benefit from a reshuffle post Pirlo. Like Murray says, the formation is a problem because the centrebacks are so limited on the ball. I can see how players like Tevez still just overwhelm weaker teams - it's alarming how well he's maintained his fitness compared to Rooney.

I am somehow unable to find info on it. Will Sevilla get a Champions League place with a win? Would it mean that Athletic will be gone or Spain would have 5 teams in next season Champions League in this case.

Sevilla: Beto, Fazio, Carrico, Moreno, Pareja, Coke, Mbia, Rakitic, Vitolo, Bacca, Reyes. Subs: Varas, Navarro, Figueiras, Marin, Iborra, Trochowski, Gameiro.

Benfica: Oblak, Luisao, Pereira, Siqueira, Garay, Amorim, Sulejmani, Gaitan, Gomes, Lima, Rodrigo. Subs: Artur, Vitoria, Jardel, Almeida, Djuricic, Cavaleiro, Cardozo.

Referee: Felix Brych (Germany).

CL spot for winning this doesn't start til next season

Very average final so far. Im kinda hoping Benfica can lift their curse tonight.

Not sure who is the biggest idiot Emery or Jorge Jesus..they move more then some of their players.

Fey wrote:Very average final so far. Im kinda hoping Benfica can lift their curse tonight.

Both teams really went for it in the first 25 mins of the second half. Quite amazing that nobody managed to score given the wealth of chances created. After that both teams became more cautious.

Cardozo misses...but that keeper was almost on the spot himself.

Fey wrote:Very average final so far. Im kinda hoping Benfica can lift their curse tonight.

  

3 Europa League/Uefa Cup titles in 8 years  

Fey wrote:Cardozo misses...but that keeper was almost on the spot himself.

It you twat it into the top corner it doesn't matter what the keeper is doing. These guys that go slowly and wait for the keeper to move are giving him a chance he shouldn't have.

8 european final loses in a row for Benfica. CURSED!

So Sevilla have won 3 european cups in the last decade, and they've done it without getting relegated, and they've done it without spending huge amounts of money......... must confuse the fuck out of our board, though they probably weren't aware of the game tonight.

Kimbo wrote:

Fey wrote:Cardozo misses...but that keeper was almost on the spot himself.

It you twat it into the top corner it doesn't matter what the keeper is doing. These guys that go slowly and wait for the keeper to move are giving him a chance he shouldn't have.

8 european final loses in a row for Benfica. CURSED!

Oh come on now

The keeper is clearly breaking the rules so I feel bad for the takers who are cheated out of a clear opportunity. You can't expect players to be able to thunder it up in the corner. I think you're biased from all those years of Shearer.  

Super Progress wrote:

Kimbo wrote:

Fey wrote:Cardozo misses...but that keeper was almost on the spot himself.

It you twat it into the top corner it doesn't matter what the keeper is doing. These guys that go slowly and wait for the keeper to move are giving him a chance he shouldn't have.

8 european final loses in a row for Benfica. CURSED!

Oh come on now

The keeper is clearly breaking the rules so I feel bad for the takers who are cheated out of a clear opportunity. You can't expect players to be able to thunder it up in the corner. I think you're biased from all those years of Shearer.  

That PK should have been retaken. End of story. Feel sorry for Benfica.

3th Euroleague for Sevilla already, what a club!

It is mental that the keeper on the line rule is so often broken. Two fucking assistants stood on the line and neither flagged.. What's the point of them? Why have the rule?

Kimbo wrote:So Sevilla have won 3 european cups in the last decade, and they've done it without getting relegated, and they've done it without spending huge amounts of money......... must confuse the fuck out of our board, though they probably weren't aware of the game tonight.

They are a club, just like the smaller clubs in La Liga, that have the right attitude. Accept you're probably unlikely to get near winning the title or even into the CL, so don't forfeit your trophy cabinet with focussing purely on the league. If there is a trophy - particularly a European trophy - on offer, go fucking get it. Fair play. They and Atletico Madrid have been wonderful in this competition over the years, winning multiple times. Why fuckos like Redknapp et al are so disrespectful of this competition annoys me. I hope we go full tilt at winning this next season.

Isco Benny wrote:

Kimbo wrote:So Sevilla have won 3 european cups in the last decade, and they've done it without getting relegated, and they've done it without spending huge amounts of money......... must confuse the fuck out of our board, though they probably weren't aware of the game tonight.

They are a club, just like the smaller clubs in La Liga, that have the right attitude. Accept you're probably unlikely to get near winning the title or even into the CL, so don't forfeit your trophy cabinet with focussing purely on the league. If there is a trophy - particularly a European trophy - on offer, go fucking get it. Fair play. They and Atletico Madrid have been wonderful in this competition over the years, winning multiple times. Why fuckos like Redknapp et al are so disrespectful of this competition annoys me. I hope we go full tilt at winning this next season.

It's even more than that though because clubs like Atletico and Sevilla during their EL triumphs a few years back (we'll see how it works out this time) used the successes in EL to build a winning mentality and they really used the experience as a spring board to then finish in the top 4 and go on to have success in the CL itself. I think it just gets the momentum going in the right direction and people start to believe in their own success and the confidence becomes contagious. Ten of the players that were in the Atletico side that won the EL are in the side now that is on the verge of winning the league and losing the CL final.

If the goalkeeper moving off the line is going to be ruled more strictly, then the Balotelli 'stutter-step' of players taking penalties should be as well.... even moreso.

Xavier wrote:If the goalkeeper moving off the line is going to be ruled more strictly, then the Balotelli 'stutter-step' of players taking penalties should be as well.... even moreso.

Agree!

Hull and future England legend, Tom Huddlestonne, has his penalty saved and skies the rebound from a couple of metres out:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jul/31/as-trencin-hull-city-europa-league-match-report

Here's the video:
https://vine.co/v/MEDmQIK1npT