The Europa League 2017/18(Use the SF thread to discuss the current match)

Cristiano Lell said:
Which is the kind of mentality that ensures 100% they won't win the league.
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I don't know. They haven't really got the squad to go far in the EL.

They're putting all their eggs into the league basket, and rightly so. This is a chance they won't get often.
 
Adam-Utd said:
I don't know. They haven't really got the squad to go far in the EL.

They're putting all their eggs into the league basket, and rightly so. This is a chance they won't get often.
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BobbyManc said:
Nah they have a small squad, Sarri's right to not play his best team in the Europa League. They still have a decent chance of winning the league.
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It's ok to rotate. But to pretend that you don't care about winning means, well, you will not win.
The personell wasn't the problem with Napoli, but the performance. A team that performs that poorly in an European knockout game in front of their own fans, it's not the kind of team that wins a league. This never works. This never happens with good teams. Good teams win everything they can.
 
Can anyone let me know if Napoli-Leipzig is worth watching, or should I just grab highlights? No spoilers please. Thanks. I didn't miss a match ratings thread, did I? I tried to start one a while back but it never really got popular.
 
Cristiano Lell said:
It's ok to rotate. But to pretend that you don't care about winning means, well, you will not win.
The personell wasn't the problem with Napoli, but the performance. A team that performs that poorly in an European knockout game in front of their own fans, it's not the kind of team that wins a league. This never works. This never happens with good teams. Good teams win everything they can.
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Aye, Sarri was pretty scathing afterwards:

Maurizio Sarri was bitterly disappointed at Napoli’s attitude when losing 3-1 to RB Leipzig. “I saw a team that played as if it was a job.”

Adam Ounas had opened the scoring in the Europa League Round of 32, but shoddy defending saw the Bundesliga outfit emerge 3-1 winners at the San Paolo.

“You cannot concede a goal like that at the last minute with both centre-backs in the opposition box for three or four minutes,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.

“We were disappointing all round. We didn’t play with the right attitude for the club and history we represent, so that was very disappointing.

“The mentality must always be the right one. You can lose or win, but the mentality must remain the same. Tonight I saw a team that played as if it was a job. There was no enthusiasm, no passion, no focus and that is a really bad sign for our mentality.

“We are wearing the Napoli jersey and it has to be honoured. I am let down by what I saw. RB Leipzig are great at counter-attacking, so we did everything that we were supposed to avoid against this particular team.

“Unfortunately, this evening proves the thought I’ve had since pre-season, which is that we become ordinary when our minds aren’t on the task.

“I hope that this won’t have repercussions going forward, but it proves the team is not mature. We struggle to shake off one game and immediately focus on the next. We stepped on to the field tonight with empty batteries.

“I would be making a mockery of the players if I told them the Europa League was as important to them and the fans as the Scudetto and the players can tell when you’re lying. That doesn’t mean we should play like this.”
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OldTrevil said:
What a goal by depay, looks a reborn player at lyon
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He's not doing that fantastic last few months to be honest. This was a screamer ofcourse, as was the one against PSG, but he's still so inconsistent and his decision making gives you a migraine.
 
The results for the Bundesliga teams went from utter embarrassment to quite good actually :D
 
Classical Mechanic said:
Any team would be disappointed with a 3-2 win at home. Two away goals coceded and a one goal lead is not great. Atalanta will fancy themselves to win the tie I would imagine.
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Yeah, but at least they won after the comical performance for the two goals. Leipzig's part is much bigger in making that evening a good result, massive away win.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
Any team would be disappointed with a 3-2 win at home. Two away goals coceded and a one goal lead is not great. Atalanta will fancy themselves to win the tie I would imagine.
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Any team would be disappointed for winning? :confused:

Atalanta will fancy their chances sure, they're probably about as good a team as dortmund overall and just need to win at home, but dortmund are very much favourites now. All they need do is not lose
 
giorno said:
Any team would be disappointed for winning? :confused:

Atalanta will fancy their chances sure, they're probably about as good a team as dortmund overall and just need to win at home, but dortmund are very much favourites now. All they need do is not lose
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The stats show that a 2-1 result in the first leg has a 50-50% of outcome over the two legs. I'm not sure what the stats for two away goals conceded is but I would imagine it is slightly more in favour of the holder of the two away goals. I have always been disappointed/worried when United ended up in that position and confident when we lost the first leg away by a single goal margin and scored one or more away goals.
 
I think Celtic might be just a little bit disappointed they didn't build a bigger lead for the second leg, very good performance last night from a team who whose form has been a bit patchy recently. Great combination from Musonda and Dembele to set up the goal and an excellent finish by McGregor. Zenit looked a bit rusty and didn't threaten very often but will no doubt be a tougher proposition next week in Russia, Celtic will probably need a goal to have a realistic chance of going through.
Last night provided at least some encouragement.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
The stats show that a 2-1 result in the first leg has a 50-50% of outcome over the two legs. I'm not sure what the stats for two away goals conceded is but I would imagine it is slightly more in favour of the holder of the two away goals. I have always been disappointed/worried when United ended up in that position and confident when we lost the first leg away by a single goal margin and scored one or more away goals.
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First knock-out rounds seed group winners away from home in the first leg, so that probably skews those stats quite a bit. And beside the statistics: a 3-2 win isn't something you can rest on in the second leg, but for a team that's more experienced and that has more individual quality it's still a good result.
 
Thought Lazio could have had their say in the Europa, but they have completely collapsed in the last month. 4 defeats and just 1 draw in the last 5 games for them.
 
KirkDuyt said:
He's not doing that fantastic last few months to be honest. This was a screamer ofcourse, as was the one against PSG, but he's still so inconsistent and his decision making gives you a migraine.
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It was a fantastic strike. I haven't watched much of Lyon actually so I'll go with what you say, which isn't surprising given his time here. The way he took the strike though and generally played with confidence I thought he had completely turned things around.
 
Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87 said:
Thought Lazio could have had their say in the Europa, but they have completely collapsed in the last month. 4 defeats and just 1 draw in the last 5 games for them.
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Perché la fortuna è cieca, ma la sfiga ci vede benissimo
 
4 italian guys visiting edinburgh asked Mancini for free tickets for Celtic-Zenit, and he got them the tickets(including one for their scottish friend)
 
giorno said:
4 italian guys visiting edinburgh asked Mancini for free tickets for Celtic-Zenit, and he got them the tickets(including one for their scottish friend)
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Fair play to Mancini, nice gesture on his part, always come across as quite an affable and likeable sort of guy from what I have seen.
 
DWqA4_NXUAAoTUn


Atletico with a pretty strong lineup, thought they might rest more.
 
How did Napoli lose 3-1 at home to Leipzig? They're 0-1 up here and completely dominating the game. Would be incredible if they comeback now.
 


Bruno Fernandes has scored more great goals this season than some great players have scored in their whole careers.
 
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