2013-14 Club Soccer/Football Discussion Thread

[Keystone Phil]

Group H is looking like the Group of Death. Group B is possible.

[Lief 🗽]

Oh Christ we're in a group with Marseille and Dortmund

[Lief 🗽]

Group F or D are the only ones that can be a super group of death this point, since it doesn't have any Spanish (Real Sociedad) or Italian (Napoli) teams yet.

[Lief 🗽]

oh christ

[Keystone Phil]

Hahahaha

[Keystone Phil]

Poor Celtic (again).

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Mamamia...

Oh Bonne Mère...

I wished so much to see Napoli striking the Qatari team.

And then it finishes with its French alter ego.

Seeing the 2 old glories of the XIXth century of the Mediterranean Sea which kinda became the 2 roughest city of the Mediterannean Sea together is amusing though...

I like such the hard group we have though, compared to the ridiculous Qatari one, that's all what they deserve.

AUX ARMES!

[Tender Branson]

Meh, not one of the big names for Vienna.

But maybe they have a chance for 3rd in that group (lose against A. Madrid and Porto, win against St. Petersburg).

[Tender Branson]

Gruppe A:

Manchester United
Schachtar Donezk
Bayer Leverkusen
Real Sociedad

Gruppe B:

Real Madrid
Juventus Turin
Galatasaray Istanbul
FC Kopenhagen

Gruppe C:

Benfica Lissabon
Paris St. Germain
Olympiakos Piräus
RSC Anderlecht

Gruppe D:

Bayern München
ZSKA Moskau
Manchester City
Viktoria Pilsen

Gruppe E:

Chelsea
FC Schalke 04
FC Basel
Steaua Bukarest

Gruppe F:

Arsenal London
Olympique Marseille
Borussia Dortmund
SSC Napoli

Gruppe G:

FC Porto
Atletico Madrid
Zenit St. Petersburg
Austria Wien

Gruppe H:

FC Barcelona
AC Milan
Ajax Amsterdam
Celtic Glasgow

[Tender Branson]

B or H are the groups that I wanted for Vienna ...

[Keystone Phil]

So Groups B and H are clearly the most difficult. Group F is moderately difficult and will certainly be competitive. United's Group A is probably the one with the largest quality gap. Group C is probably the weakest.

Preliminary predictions:

Manchester United
Real Sociedad

Real Madrid
Juventus

Benfica
PSG

Bayern Munich
Manchester City

Chelsea
Schalke

Dortmund
Napoli

Atletico Madrid
Porto

Barcelona
Milan

[Lief 🗽]

Oh wow, Ribery just won UEFA Best Player in Europe, defeating Messi and Ronaldo. Very cool.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Dortmund
Napoli

With Marseille against big clubs, always expect everything, both Milano clubs know it.

They are in a totally positive dynamic, the opposition to the $$$$$ monarchies is very motivating to them, and they are becoming the base of the national team.

Castres Olympique 1993-2013
Olympique de Marseille 1993-2014!!

I'd be glad to see Napoli and Marseille making it.

And well, sorry, but, again:

Benfica
PSG Q$G

Fixed.

[afleitch]

A very tough group for Celtic, but anything is possible.

[Tender Branson]

Realistic scenarios of the Vienna games:

vs. Porto: 0-2 (home game), 0-3 (away game)
vs. Atletico: 0-1 (home game), 1-2 (away game)
vs. Zenit: 1-1 (home game), 1-2 (away game)

[Franknburger]

I think I know which CL group will be discussed most here on the Forum. Hint: It won't be Group G, sorry Tender

Otherwise, Stuttgart has just managed to concede a completely unnecessary goal in OT,  drawing 2:2 with Zagreb, so they did not make it to the EL group stage

[Lief 🗽]

I think I know which CL group will be discussed most here on the Forum. Hint: It won't be Group G, sorry Tender

Otherwise, Stuttgart has just managed to concede a completely unnecessary goal in OT,  drawing 2:2 with Zagreb, so they did not make it to the EL group stage

goddamnit stuttgart

[Tender Branson]

Otherwise, Stuttgart has just managed to concede a completely unnecessary goal in OT,  drawing 2:2 with Zagreb, so they did not make it to the EL group stage

Rijeka, not Zagreb ...

Vienna was playing Zagreb.

[NewYorkExpress]

I see coming out of each group

A

Man U
Bayer Leveruksen

B

Real Madrid
Juventus

C
PSG
Olmpakyios

D
Bayern Munich
Man City

E
Chelsea
Schalke

F

Arsenal
Dortmund

G
Atletico Madrid
Zenit St. Petersberg

H
Barcelona
Celtic

[Franknburger]

Quite a number of surprises in the EL playoffs aside from Rijeka throwing out Stuttgart. Also out:

Spartak Moscow (2:4 against St.Gallen - Grüezi!)
P. Belgrad (3:0 loss at Thun - Grüezi!)
Udine (1.1 against Liberec)
Nice (1:0 against Limassol wasn't enough)
St. Etienne (0:1 against Esbjerg)
Novi Sad (2:1 loss at Tiraspol)
APOEL Nicosia (1:2 loss to Waregem)

.. and a few more surprises in the making

Feyenoord behind 1:2 at home against Kuban Krasnodar
Braga 0:1 behind against Panduri Targu Jiu (no, they are not from Japan, they are from Romania!)
Firenze 0:1 behind against Grasshopper Zürich (though still leading by away goals)

Safely through: Frankfurt, RB Salzburg, Rapid Wien, Dynamo Kiev, Spurs, Swansea, St. Liege, Genk, Maccabi Haifa, Rubin Kasan, Trabzonspor, Besiktas, Sevilla, Estoril

[Keystone Phil]

It's kind of a shame we have to face Dortmund since I usually end up disliking any team that has the audacity to face us.    I've come to have a small appreciation for Dortmund (to the extent that I can appreciate any team that isn't one of my own). My likely future disgust for them aside, it will be neat to see Napoli play in Dortmund. That's a great atmosphere with incredible choreography. I really like the "Yellow Wall" or whatever. Plus, Italian teams have a history of doing amazing things there so...

[Franknburger]

It's kind of a shame we have to face Dortmund since I usually end up disliking any team that has the audacity to face us.    I've come to have a small appreciation for Dortmund (to the extent that I can appreciate any team that isn't one of my own). My likely future disgust for them aside, it will be neat to see Napoli play in Dortmund. That's a great atmosphere with incredible choreography. I really like the "Yellow Wall" or whatever. Plus, Italian teams have a history of doing amazing things there so...

.. and there is quite an Italian, especially Southern Italian, community in Germany. Won't be like a Turkish team playing there, but probably close to it. Napoli just needs to make sure they don't run up in blue, otherwise they might be mistaken for Schalke ...

[Keystone Phil]

Napoli just needs to make sure they don't run up in blue, otherwise they might be mistaken for Schalke ...

We have actual camo kits for away games this season thanks to our eccentric owner so we don't have that "worry."

[Tender Branson]

Fenerbahce has been banned now !

Salzburg (they lost to Fener in the CL quali), is now going to sue the UEFA - because they ruled so late that the qualis are already over.

Now Salzburg has to play in the EL, when in fact they could have got an easier opponent and advanced to the playoffs (where they would have likely lost against Arsenal anyway - but that's a different story).

[Tender Branson]

Reminder:

Bayern vs. Chelsea is today.