Europa League 2011/2012

Ralaks said:
Yours had cool colours. Rcoobcs is as uninspiring as his football youth draft team...
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, what was that. Remind me who was in my Youth draft again? Dembele, Widly considered amongst me and Stally Cinimon to be widly under rated, Welbeck and Macheda, United's would be saviours today, Cleverley (I think), De Gea, Wilshere (I think)

Ahead of its time, in so many ways including the 3-2-2-2-1 formation I believe.
 
rcoobc said:
I'm sorry, what was that. Remind me who was in my Youth draft again? Dembele, Widly considered amongst me and Stally Cinimon to be widly under rated, Welbeck and Macheda, United's would be saviours today, Cleverley (I think), De Gea, Wilshere (I think)

Ahead of its time, in so many ways including the 3-2-2-2-1 formation I believe.
Click to expand...

Stally Cinimon? Good effort.

Dembele is the bee's knees.
 
rcoobc said:
I'm sorry, what was that. Remind me who was in my Youth draft again? Dembele, Widly considered amongst me and Stally Cinimon to be widly under rated, Welbeck and Macheda, United's would be saviours today, Cleverley (I think), De Gea, Wilshere (I think)

Ahead of its time, in so many ways including the 3-2-2-2-1 formation I believe.
Click to expand...

Only thing I remember from it was you employed it as a 3-4-3 (nice try) and having Welbeck and Sturridge as the wide two in midfield as well as Richards in defence!
 
Ralaks said:
Only thing I remember from it was you employed it as a 3-4-3 (nice try) and having Welbeck and Sturridge as the wide two in midfield as well as Richards in defence!
Click to expand...

I barely remember it, but I think every player I have picked has proven himself this season, apart from Juan Agudelo
 
right lads..if we had qualified, we would have met one of the group winners and most likely have gone out with the way we have been playing.

at least now we will be playing for the old UEFA cup..(thats the way I will always remember it anyways).

personally I could not be too excited about it...but some on here seem to be excited about it...
 
Am I correct in assuming United and City plus the other teams that have dropped out of Champions League will go straight into knockout competition? Please tell me there's not another Group Stage (I'm sure this was the case a few seasons back?)

Is it:

First Knock Out Stage
Quarter Final
Semi Final
Final

That is left?
 
Last 32 - 2 Legs
Last 16 - 2 Legs
Quarter Final - 2 Legs
Semi Final - 2 Legs
Final - 1 Game, 10 days before CL

Whilst the Champions League last 16 is over 4 weeks with a gap week in a middle we would play 4 times over those 5 weeks.
 
Plan M said:
Am I correct in assuming United and City plus the other teams that have dropped out of Champions League will go straight into knockout competition? Please tell me there's not another Group Stage (I'm sure this was the case a few seasons back?)

Is it:

First Knock Out Stage
Quarter Final
Semi Final
Final

That is left?
Click to expand...

Round of 32
Round of 16
and then the QF, SF and Finals.
 
Damien1990 said:
Yep they are.

Last time I properly watched a Europa League game was a few years ago when Liverpool were in the competition. Have seen parts of one or two of Fulham's this year though.

I'd like to see us win the Europa League this year too but it'll be very hard and not sure how much of a priority it would be compared to the other competitions.

More info on the Europa League (from wikipedia):

Round of 32

The first legs will be played on 16 February, and the second legs will be played on 23 February 2012.

Round of 16

The first legs will be played on 8 March, and the second legs will be played on 15 March 2012.

Quarter-finals

The first legs will be played on 29 March, and the second legs will be played on 5 April 2012.

Semi-finals

The first legs will be played on 19 April, and the second legs will be played on 26 April 2012.

Final

The 2012 UEFA Europa League Final will be played on 9 May 2012 at the Stadionul Național in Bucharest, Romania.

And 23 teams have already qualified for the last 32 (Green = seeded, Blue = unseeded, Black = qualified but whether seeded or not will be determined after final game next week):

1. Ajax
2. Anderlecht
3. Athletic Bilbao
4. Atletico Madrid
5. Braga
6. Hannover 96
7. Legia Warsaw
8. Lokomotiv Moscow
9. Manchester City
10. Manchester United
11. Metalist Kharkiv
12. Olympiacos
13. PAOK
14. Porto
15. PSV Eindhoven
16. Schalke 04
17. Sporting CP
18. Standard Liege
19. Stoke City
20. Trabzonspor
21. Twente
22. Valencia
23. Viktoria Plzen

And the teams competing for the remaining slots are (red means we definitely can't play them if they qualify):

Group A: 1 of Rubin Kazan/Tottenham Hotspur
Group D: 1 of Vaslui/Lazio
Group E: 1 of Besiktas/Dynamo Kiev
Group F: 1 of Red Bull Salzburg/Paris SG
Group G: 1 of AZ Alkmaar/Austria Vienna
Group H: 1 of Brugge/Birmingham
Group I: 1 of Udinese/Celtic
Group J: 1 of Maccabi Haifa/Steaua Bucharest/AEK Larnaca
Group K: 1 of Fulham/Wisla Krakow

(I may be wrong about some of the teams in the last list)
Click to expand...

rcoobc said:
1. Ajax
2. Anderlecht
3. Athletic Bilbao
4. Atletico Madrid
5. Braga
6. Hannover 96
7. Legia Warsaw
8. Lokomotiv Moscow
9. Manchester City
10. Manchester United
11. Metalist Kharkiv
12. Olympiacos
13. PAOK
14. Porto
15. PSV Eindhoven
16. Schalke 04
17. Sporting CP
18. Standard Liege
19. Stoke City
20. Trabzonspor
21. Twente
22. Valencia
23. Viktoria Plzen

And the teams competing for the remaining slots are (red means we definitely can't play them if they qualify):

Group A: 1 of Rubin Kazan/Tottenham Hotspur
Group D: 1 of Vaslui/Lazio
Group E: 1 of Besiktas/Dynamo Kiev
Group F: 1 of Red Bull Salzburg/Paris SG
Group G: 1 of AZ Alkmaar/Austria Vienna
Group H: 1 of Brugge/Birmingham
Group I: 1 of Udinese/Celtic
Group J: 1 of Maccabi Haifa/Steaua Bucharest/AEK Larnaca
Group K: 1 of Fulham/Wisla Krakow

Something like that.
Click to expand...

robocop you copycat :lol:
 
x67697dae.jpg


Samir Nasri says he left Arsenal to play in Europa league. :)
 
Wednesday (today)'s matches
6pm
Besiktas - Stoke City
Dynamo Kiev - Maccabi Tel Avi
Lazio - Sporting
FC Zurich - FC Vaslui
PSG - Bilbao
Slovan - Salzburg

8:05
Anderlecht - Lokomotiv
Steaua Bucuresti - AEK
Fulham - OB Odense
Maccabi Haifa - Schalke
Sturm Graz - AEK Athens
Wisla Krakow - Twente
 
rcoobc said:
Wednesday (today)'s matches
6pm
Besiktas - Stoke City
Dynamo Kiev - Maccabi Tel Avi
Lazio - Sporting
FC Zurich - FC Vaslui
PSG - Bilbao
Slovan - Salzburg

8:05
Anderlecht - Lokomotiv
Steaua Bucuresti - AEK
Fulham - OB Odense
Maccabi Haifa - Schalke
Sturm Graz - AEK Athens
Click to expand...

Europes finest
 
The stadium for the final is ace.
Those who made the trip for the Ocelul game have seen it, great stadia with silly rules on flags and flag sizes.
If we draw a greek/turkish team on the way to the final it would be great, I'll probably be able to go :)
 
Watching ESPN's show, did get a few chills watching the opening clips with United and City coming in.
 
Stoke left their first 11 at home having already qualified.
 
rcoobc said:
Stoke left their first 11 at home having already qualified.
Click to expand...

And are still 1-0 up at Besitkas after 35 mins. Not a weak side, shows how far Stoke have come in the past few years.

Besiktas

01 Rustu
03 Koybasi
06 Sivok
55 Korkmaz
04 Fernandes
08 Kavlak
13 Hilbert
18 Uysal
28 Ernst
09 Almeida
23 Holosko

Stoke

01 Begovic
03 Higginbotham
20 Upson
28 Wilkinson
15 Diao
24 Delap
32 Arismendi
40 Palacios
09 Jones
10 Fuller
33 Jerome
 
Guardian Europa League comments. They always make me laugh, here are an example:
"I love the Europa. And not just for seeing Fulham come back from 4-1 down on aggregate to beat Juve. Not just for travelling more than 18,000 miles just to make it to the last 32. And not just for getting a free pass to the qualifying rounds because our fans don't swear too much at the ref. And not just because its only shown here sometimes on telelatino, with awesome commentary. No. Wait. It is all those reasons.
Click to expand...

That's why the Europa League is great because you see teams that rarely match-up with each other and you get some wild results as it's difficult to handicap which teams are superior. Imagine how exciting it would be to see a honey badger battle with a hawk. Sure, in real life, their paths would never cross, but through the magic of the Europa League, those very scenarios play out all year long.
Click to expand...
Fairly sure this person reads the Caf

"OK - I'll take the bait," begins Gary Naylor. "I don't like the Europa League because just when a club looks like it's getting a decent side together, they get hit with a ten month season and are so knackered they slide back down the snake and have the ladder to climb all over again. The Champions League clubs can maintain squads big enough and good enough to rotate - the Europa League clubs can't.
Click to expand...

Being Scottish and a fan of the Glorious Glasgow Rangers, I have more reason to like the Europa League than most, but, let's be frank, the format is atrocious,
Click to expand...

The Intertoto Cup at least had the attractive of being (seemingly) deliberately hilarious, whereas the Europa League has all the dull languors of the old two Group Stage Champions League format, without the attraction of Real Madrid, Milan et al. I think that if the Europa League was changed into a proper, random draw, one leg only, proper knock out affair than I can see it being popular. Indeed, if there was only (say) six games from the start to the final (instead of the current bajillion or so) then wouldn't you see even 'Arry taking seriously the chance for a European trophy?
Click to expand...

Before I vote, can anyone tell me just why there exists a tournament that takes a full year to play, over huge swaths of geography, in bad weather, and involving hordes of opponents no one ever heard of?" writes Paul Szabo. "Silliest thing I ever heard tell. Unless you're a small town kid going for that one shot at the city lights.
Click to expand...

As an American, my first exposure to the Europa League whatsoever came when my Knattspyrnufélagið Valur side on Football Manager, the first club I ever managed, made it into the preliminary stages after winning the Icelandic Cup (and were summarily eliminated by a club from somewhere in Eastern Europe that I'd also never heard of)," writes Benjamin McKinney. "I'm not really sure whether all that's an endorsement or a knock on the esteemed League, though.
Click to expand...
"The chance to go away for a crazy few days to somewhere you may never have had the chance to go. Plus, the general camaraderie among fans traveling for hours on hours to some godforsaken dot on a map. Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Berlin, pah. I can go there anytime. But I'd much rather go to Tromso/Rabotnicki/Valletta/Almaty in the middle of December on the lash for a few days supporting anyone.
Click to expand...
Not that the Caf needs more opinions. Its fecking 9 games, big deal. And don't give me that's a quarter of a league season rubbish, sooo what.

The group stages are 3 away games and 3 home games spread out to not impact on the season at all
 
Sir A1ex said:
That was quite an entertaining ending, maybe this Europa business isn't do boring after all!
Click to expand...

Have to say there's been a lot of these frantic finishes, probably because all of the teams are much of a muchness.
 
So our opponents could be:

Porto
Ajax
Trabzonspor
Viktoria Plzen
PAOK/Rubin Kazan
Hannover 96
Legia Warsaw
Lazio
Red Bull Salzburg
AZ Alkmaar / Aust. Vienna
Club Brugge / Braga
Atletico Madrid / Udinese / Celtic
Steaua Bucuresti
Wisla Krakow
Lokomotiv Moscow
 
Can't believe Fulham have crashed out, they where in cruise control when I stopped watching.
 
Did anyone see the first goal Fulham conceded? The one from the free kick. Did the OB player actually move the ball a bit to the right or was the wall just very badly placed? Decent free kick of course, but should never be allowed to get it around the wall and in that easily. I don't mind though, as it got Denmark some points! :D
 
Wisła's reaction to the news from Craven Cottage that Odense scored a 93th-minute goal and Wisła is in the next round.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.