UEFA Europa League 2014/2015

Puro wrote:

Isco Benny wrote:If UEFA could go a step further and remove the CL drop outs and the utterly pointless group stage from this competition, it would get the full respect and attention it deserves. I know plenty of fellow Spurs fans happy we are out of it now due to the impact on fixtures, which irks me as I love European football and this cycle of qualifying for and then not respecting the competition is so tiresome. Lots of great teams in this competition, it should be a privilege to both play in it and try to win it.

The EL already commanded the full respect and attention this season. Just because you and people like you were not aware of the importance of the tournament it doesn't mean the EL was not seriously sought after this season. You never see things coming, my friend.

Pochettino knew how important it is to win it, but the guy is so smart he thought he'd have a much better chance of gaining entry to the CL via a fourth place finish in the EPL than beating Napoli, Roma, Fiorentina, Sevilla, Villarreal, Wolfsburg, Zenit...etc. etc. you know running the gauntlet in the EL.

It's that simple. Me and Pochettino KNEW he'd never win the EL, but me and him always KNEW he had a chance in the EPL for fourth. Shut the f**k up with that bullshit "not respecting the competition". Spurs are not good enough to win it!    

Adding the incentive of CL has helped, but if you seriously believe the Competition is fully respected then you are deluded. As long as it takes 17 games to win and accomodates failed CL teams it will remain devalued
Compare it with the original UEFA cup ffs. How many fans do you think can name the last 2 winners without looking it up? Please try and avoid answering as though its 2005 and I give a shit which domestic league is or isnt the best

[quote="Forza Italia!Forza Milan!"]

Isco Benny wrote:

It's a very exciting competition.  I mean at the very top football is becoming stratified like never before. A handful of clubs can buy all the best players and compete for the Champions League.  Tier 2 and Tier 3 are much more exciting now for me.



Forza Italia!

I've been saying this for years, now that the winners get to play in the CL it will be even more intense.

De Bruyne best player in the world atm?

That miss from Lukaku I'm writing him off, I was never convinced.

Yeah at a time certain Arsenal fans on here called him a bigger talent then de Bruyne, though Lukaku is tailormade for the DPL.

Unai Emery.

Done a good job with Valencia by succeeding in getting them to the CL every year. Now that he's at Sevilla he has already won the Europa League and is challenging Valencia for 4th place. They are solid at the back and are dangerous on the counter attack, probably the best you could do with the talent at Sevilla at the moment.

Though I hope Valencia finish 4th because they have more talent in their team and no longer have to sell players.

Dynamo Kyiv 3-1 Everton
D. Moscow 0-0 Napoli
Roma 0-3 Fiorentina


Decent night of football so far. Let's see if Inter can join Fio and Napoli by doing the improbable, and Torino by doing the near impossible.

Poor Asians. Here's hoping they go to bed thinking that their "best league in the world" was not really interested in Europe's CL and EL competitions. Poor bastards.

D Kyiv absolutely skinning Everton here.

This is serious aggression.

Some ridiculous (in good and bad way) goals in Dinamo - Everton match. Antunes strike for 4-1 was just absolutely amazing, but Yarmolenko and Lukaku goals weren't far behind.

Everton with Martinez-like defensive performace

Roma

Meanwhile DE BRUYNE beste player in the world struck again with a lethal assist.

As we speak, there are more Belgian clubs in Europe then English.

It's like the 90's all over again.

Everton got destroyed in the end then? Didn't see it. That's their season over and you'd probably have to say Martinez is in trouble. He's made Moyes look like a footballing God now.

Luis wrote:Everton got destroyed in the end then? Didn't see it. That's their season over and you'd probably have to say Martinez is in trouble. He's made Moyes look like a footballing God now.

Liverpool were knocked the f**k out of Europe TWICE in this season. Rodgers is in good company though since Sluralex achieved the same embarrassment when Bielsa's Bilbao absolutely destroyed him, totally gave the Purplenose a free football clinic with a team that cost what Rooney earns in one season.

Brugge

Get the BeNeliga please, that would rival with the serie A.

Roma Ultras walked out of the Curva Sud

Spurs losing to Fiorentina wasn't such a disgrace in the end it seems.

Fey wrote:Brugge

Get the BeNeliga please,  that would rival with the serie A.

But Serie A is doing so well this year, behind only to Spain and even that by a small margin.

Good year for Italy, one that they can build on.  UEFA did very well to give proper incentive.

It would be unthinkable a few years ago for Torino to beat Zenit at home, or Fiorentina to brush aside Tottenham with ease. CL football is huge incentive.

Forza Italia!Forza Milan! wrote:

Fey wrote:Brugge

Get the BeNeliga please,  that would rival with the serie A.

But Serie A is doing so well this year, behind only to Spain and even that by a small margin.

Good year for Italy, one that they can build on.  UEFA did very well to give proper incentive.

It would be unthinkable a few years ago for Torino to beat Zenit at home, or Fiorentina to brush aside Tottenham with ease.  CL football is huge incentive.

I take the point you're making, Serie A is killing at the moment. But having watched both legs I'll have to contend this as I don't agree Fiorentina brushed us aside with ease. 2 utterly horrific defensive errors ended us, alongside a Soldado shit show in the first half in Florence when really we should have gone 1-0 up away from home, Sandra Redknapp could have scored the chance Robbie missed. The tie at WHL was one we should have won on the balance of the game. Certainly wasn't the drilling that Fiorentina just handed out to Roma. Or the one Man United handed out to us on the weekend....

Incidentally, I'm hoping they go on and win the thing. Always had a soft spot for Fiorentina.

Isco Benny wrote:

Forza Italia!Forza Milan! wrote:

Fey wrote:Brugge

Get the BeNeliga please,  that would rival with the serie A.

But Serie A is doing so well this year, behind only to Spain and even that by a small margin.

Good year for Italy, one that they can build on.  UEFA did very well to give proper incentive.

It would be unthinkable a few years ago for Torino to beat Zenit at home, or Fiorentina to brush aside Tottenham with ease.  CL football is huge incentive.

I take the point you're making, Serie A is killing at the moment. But having watched both legs I'll have to contend this as I don't agree Fiorentina brushed us aside with ease. 2 utterly horrific defensive errors ended us, alongside a Soldado shit show in the first half in Florence when really we should have gone 1-0 up away from home, Sandra Redknapp could have scored the chance Robbie missed. The tie at WHL was one we should have won on the balance of the game. Certainly wasn't the drilling that Fiorentina just handed out to Roma. Or the one Man United handed out to us on the weekend....

Incidentally, I'm hoping they go on and win the thing. Always had a soft spot for Fiorentina.

Fair enough--I overstated a bit.

I didn't expect them to win, to be honest, so maybe I exaggerated a bit.

YES! a CL ticket for winning the EL was all that many good teams from Serie A needed to stop fielding subs in the EL. One of the biggest crocks of shite witnessed in sport in recent memory is Bundesliga getting an extra CL spot for accumulating points in the EL WITHOUT actually winning the tournament. The correct thing was to give them an extra EL spot since that's where they earned most of their points.

Now, with a CL ticket given for winning the EL, expect a Serie A team to reclaim that fourth CL spot which they never should have lost. Everyone knows I'm a fan of the Bundesliga, but the way they got their 4th CL spot was BULLSHIT! It's just as laughable as making Arsenal a top seed in the CL year after year after every damn year WITHOUT having to win the EPL.      

T.R.U.E.       F.U.C.K.I.N.G.           S.T.O.R.Y.

bluenine wrote:Everton - Dinamo Kiev
Dnipro - Ajax
Zenit St Petersburg - Torino
Wolfsburg - Inter
Villarreal - Sevilla
Napoli - Dinamo Moscow
Club Brugge - Besiktas
Fiorentina - Roma

Tough draw for Inter. At least we got the 2nd leg at home. But I don't think we are ready to play someone as strong as Wolfsburg yet. I blame Puro's kiss of death

Here's one more: WOLFSBURG TO WIN THE EUROPA LEAGUE THIS SEASON.



Sorry, I like Hecking, one heck of a coach, but there it goes.

Sevilla FC - Zenit
Dnipro - Club Brugge
Dynamo Kyiv - Fiorentina
Wolfsburg - Napoli

Semi for Brugge is possible!!! Sevilla v Zenit could have been the final.

Napoli 0-2 ahead already...1st one was offside...but 2nd one was legal

0-4...what a rape....what a BUNDESLIGA DESTRUCTION...

Italian clubs are having a good season in Europe... Napoli are through to semis. Fiorentina and Juventus are starting to look like favourites to make it to the semis as well. A favourable draw, and we might have 1-2 Italian teams in the finals.

This means that in the last 3 seasons, Serie A has got as many co-efficients as Bundesliga and Premier League. So if Serie A clubs outperform either of these two leagues in the next 2 seasons, Serie A gets its 4th CL spot back!

Thing is as soon Italy has a 4th spot...they will lose it again due to the fact most of the points can be gathered in the Euro league.

Its a weird system.

Fey wrote:Thing is as soon Italy has a 4th spot...they will lose it again due to the fact most of the points can be gathered in the Euro league.

Its a weird system.

I don't think so. I think Italy has started to take the EL far more seriously since the CL incentive.

I do not believe it is merely a coincedence that Torino, Fio, Napoli, Roma and Inter had decent campaigns for once.

Also I believe potentially you can earn more points in the CL because of bonus points that are awarded for making the group stage, second round, quarters, semis and final etc.

Fey wrote:Thing is as soon Italy has a 4th spot...they will lose it again due to the fact most of the points can be gathered in the Euro league.

Its a weird system.

I think you may not have noticed the change in points system in the last 4 years. The bonus point system has completely changed that, and now CL is the best place to earn points.

That said, since a country's coefficients are an average of what its clubs get in Europe, going from 6 teams to 7 will hurt - increases the denominator, and the 7th team will usually bring down the average. That is the main reason why Serie A is doing as well as the Bundesliga & EPL in the last 3 seasons. The Italian clubs may not have performed as well, but the denominator is smaller.

Damn, Vargas can still play. I forgot about him. He just dribbled past a Dynamo Kiev (remember them? they utterly destroyed Everton) defender and put the Ukrainian giants to the sword.

So, Fey, I'm looking forward to Copa América. Vargas will give Carrillo a good battle for that left wing position.