CL Open Thread
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WHEN ARSENE DISRESPECTS US WITH HIS TEAM SELECTION, IT MAKES ME SO MAD AAARGH
It’s the final day of the final CL matchday for this year, with plenty of mathematical jostling to determine group winners and runners-up, which is longhand for “figuring out who has to play Barca in the Round of 16.”
Good luck to whoever pulls that poisoned chalice.
Oh, and Norwich are playing Watford tonight as well. It’s all happening!
Will those Canaries shape up and continue their impressive form of the last 5 days? Will Hulk go crazy when faced with so many children in the Arsenal starting XI? Will Alex Ferguson complain about something? Will we ever understand why the Man U game ended up on ESPN2 today? Will Celtic salvage some self-respect and dignity from their dreadful showing in the CL this season?
So many unanswered questions. Let’s find some answers in the comments, shall we?
Come turn green and SMASH with us after the jump.
STARTING LINEUPS:
—–
FC Porto v. Arsenal
Porto: Helton, Fucile, Rolando, Alves, Emanuel, Gonzalez, Fernando, Meireles, Lopez, HULK, Rodriguez.
Subs: Nuno, Stepanov, Guarin, Mariano Gonzalez, Lino, Sektioui, Costa.
Arsenal: Almunia, Eboue, Gallas, Silvestre, Djourou, Ramsey, Diaby, Song, Denilson; Vela, Bendtner.
Subs: Fabianski, Wilshere, Gibbs, Hoyte, Merida, Randall, Simpson.
—
Manchester United v. AaB Aalborg
Man Utd: Kuszczak, Neville, Ferdinand, Evans, O’Shea, Nani, Gibson, Anderson, Giggs, Rooney, Tevez.
Subs: Foster, Park, Vidic, Scholes, Rafael Da Silva, Fletcher, Possebon.
AaB: Zaza, Bogelund, Olfers, Jakobsen, Pedersen, Curth, Enevoldsen, Augustinussen, Risgaard, Due, Saganowski.
Subs: Kenneth Nielsen, Nomvethe, Caca, Braemer, Sorensen, Kristensen, Ronnie Schwartz Nielsen.
—
Celtic v. Villareal
Celtic: Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Wilson, Nakamura, Scott Brown, Hartley, McGeady, Maloney, Samaras.
Subs: Mark Brown, McDonald, Loovens, Mizuno, O’Dea, Caddis, McGowan.
Villarreal: Viera, Angel, Fuentes, Rodriguez, Bruno, Cani, Senna, Edmilson, Fernandez, Franco, Ibagaza.
Subs: Diego Lopez, Eguren, Pires, Santi Cazorla, Cygan, Nihat.
—
The draw for the next round is at noon on Friday, December 19. Remember: teams from the same country can’t play each other. I eagerly await Spartak London getting the easiest draw possible. No really, I can’t wait for that.
Written by Darkvader on December 10th, 2008 with no comments.
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Today is the first of two matchdays which are the last of the group stage. Most of us are hoping for a Bordeaux win coupled with Chelsea failing to secure all three points in Group A. Autoglass, of course, is not. If that scenario happens, Chelsea would drop to the UEFA Cup.
Group breakdowns, matches and selected lineups after the jump.
Group A
Chelsea-CFR Cluj (ESPN 2)
Roma-Bordeaux
As stated above, Chelsea need all three points at home to secure passage to the knockout round. Bordeaux will not get an easy game at Roma, however, as Roma could still drop to the UEFA Cup with a loss and Chelsea win or, depending in the result, draw.
Group B
Panathinaikos-Anorthosis
Werder Bremen-Inter Milan
The game to watch is the one between the Greeks and the Cypriots. Contrary to a belief held by some, this is not a tilt with political undertones, as Anorthosis reside in the Greek-backed half of Cyprus. Still, a spirited match will be expected between the two as a place in the knock outs is at stake. Panathinaikos need just a draw, while Anorthosis need the unlikely away win. In the other match, Inter are through, but still need points to secure first place. Werder could still make the UEFA Cup with a convincing win coupled with a Anorthosis loss.
Group C
Barcelona-Shakhtar Donetsk
FC Basle-Sporting Lisbon
Barcelona are through as group winners, while Shakhtar will go through with a win and Sporting loss. Don’t count on it. Basle are playing out the string, already eliminated from moving on in Europe.
Group D
Olympique Marseille-Atletico Madrid
PSV Eindhoven-Liverpool
Atletico and Liverpool are vying for first in the group, both on 11 points at this time. Atletico have a single goal advantage. L’OM and PSV are similarly on equal points at the bottom and cannot move on in the competition. L’OM have the decided advantage of a five better goal differential for a UEFA Cup slot, but need to equal PSV’s result today to make sure of going through.
From wikipedia: Tiebreak rules in the group stage
1. higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
2. superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
3. higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;
4. superior goal difference from all group matches played;
5. higher number of goals scored in all group matches played;
6. higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons.
(I think I got it all correct)
Lineups from Sky Sports. Blame them for any mistakes.
Spartak London (4-5-1) Cech. Cole, Terry, Alex, Bosingwa. Kalou, Deco, Obi wan Mikel, Ballack, Cole. Anelka. Subs: Cudicini, Ivanovic, Drogba, Bridge, Ferreira, Belletti, Stoch.
CFR Cluj (4-5-1) You’re not going to recognize anyone.
PSV (4-3-3) Isaksson. Culina, Marcellis, Brechet, Salcido. Mendez, Simons, Dzsudzsak. Bakkal, Lazovic, Amrabat. Subs: Cassio, Rodriguez, Koevermans, Pieters, Nijland, Manco, Wuytens.
‘Pool (4-5-1) Cavalieri. Arbeloa, Carragher, Dossena, Agger. Babel, Mascherano, Lucas, Riera, N’Gog. Keane. Subs: Reina, Gerrard, Xabi, Banayoun, Spearing, Darby, Kelly.
Early prediction: PSV through to UEFA Cup. Enjoy!
Written by Darkvader on December 9th, 2008 with no comments.
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It’s a rainy, boring Tuesday afternoon where I am, but hopefully you our fair reader are close to a television set and can watch this afternoon’s Champion’s League matches. Or there’s always the usual minute-by-minute blogs. Check out the fixtures and share your thoughts after the jump. (Oh, and check out our fancy new URL… but please do not bitch if things go kerflooey.)
Zenit St Petersburg v. Juventus are almost over with a nil-nil draw, the rest of the games start at 2:45 EST (suck it, Greenwich Mean!).
Group E
AaB Aalborg v Celtic
Villarreal v Man Utd (on ESPN)
Group F
Bayern Munich v Steaua Bucharest
Fiorentina v Lyon
Group G
Arsenal v Dynamo Kiev
Fenerbahce v FC Porto
Group H
BATE Borisov v Real Madrid
Zenit St Petersburg 0-0 Juventus
Yes, and as Bigus pointed out, most importantly of all, Norwich v. Crystal Palace.
Please don’t forget Exeter City v. Rotherham either.
Written by Darkvader on November 25th, 2008 with no comments.
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Careful, lads. Gerrard’s fired up today, practically falling all over himself in desperation to get in on the action.
Honestly though, do Celtic have a chance in hell? Do either of these games even matter?
Group E
–
AaB v Villarreal
Celtic v Man Utd
Group F
–
Fiorentina v Bayern Munich
Lyon v Steaua Bucuresti
Group G
–
Arsenal v Fenerbahce
Dynamo Kiev v FC Porto
Group H
–
BATE v Zenit St Petersburg
Real Madrid v Juventus
Lineups:
Celtic v. Man United
Celtic: Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Wilson, Hartley, Scott Brown, Robson, Maloney, McDonald, Sheridan.
Subs: Mark Brown, Naylor, Donati, Hutchinson, Nakamura, O’Dea, Caddis.
Man Utd: Foster, Rafael Da Silva, Ferdinand, Vidic, O’Shea, Ronaldo, Fletcher, Carrick, Nani, Tevez, Giggs.
Subs: Kuszczak, Evra, Anderson, Berbatov, Rooney, Park, Evans.
Arsenal v. Fenerbahce
Arsenal: Fabianski, Toure, Djourou, Silvestre, Clichy, Ramsey, Fabregas, Denilson, Nasri, Bendtner, Van Persie.
Subs: Mannone, Diaby, Sagna, Vela, Song Billong, Wilshere, Gibbs.
Fenerbahce: Demirel, Gonul, Edu Dracena, Lugano, Roberto Carlos, Maldonado, Sahin, Boral, Kazim-Richards, Senturk, Guiza.
Subs: Babacan, Wederson, Yilmaz, Josico, Bilgin, Cakmak, Deivid.
Written by Darkvader on November 5th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Arsenal and CL Open Thread and Champions League and Lingering Bursitis and manchester united.
Where will Kun Aguero end up in January?
Election Day in the USA is more important, as u75 brought up. But it’s still my civic duty to provide a libel-free clearinghouse for CL-related observations!
On Tap Today:
GROUP A
–
CFR Cluj v Bordeaux
Roma v Chelsea
GROUP B
–
Anorthosis Famagusta v Inter Milan
Werder Bremen v Panathinaikos
GROUP C
–
Barcelona v Basle
Sporting v Shakhtar Donetsk
GROUP D
–
Liverpool v Atletico Madrid
Marseille v PSV Eindhoven
If LFC beat Atletico and PSV fail to beat Marseille, LFC secure passage into the next round.
For Chelsea, they’d need a lot to lock it up today. I’ll let Fletch from the BBC explain:“However - if they beat Roma and CFR Cluj draw with Bordeaux - the only way the London outfit could slip up would be if they lost both their remaining CL games and Bordeaux and Cluj won both their remaining games, with Bordeaux beating Chelsea by five clear goals (or 4-0, in which case it would come down to goals scored in the whole qualifying campaign).”
So there you have it.
LFC v. Atletico Madrid
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Mascherano, Alonso, Kuyt, Gerrard, Riera, Keane.
Subs: Cavalieri, Dossena, Benayoun, Babel, Leiva Lucas, Ngog, Degen.
Atletico Madrid: Franco, Lopez, Perea, Heitinga, Pernia, Garcia, Paulo, Simao, Assuncao, Maniche, Maxi, Forlan.
Subs: Coupet, Luis Garcia, Aguero, Sinama Pongolle, Banega, Pablo, Camacho.
Roma v. Chelsea
Roma: Doni, Cicinho, Mexes, Juan, Panucci, Perrotta, De Rossi, Brighi, Pizarro, Totti, Vucinic.
Subs: Artur, Taddei, Loria, Riise, Julio Baptista, Tonetto, Menez.
Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Terry, Alex, Bridge, Deco, Mikel, Lampard, Joe Cole, Anelka, Malouda.
Subs: Cudicini, Ivanovic, Di Santo, Drogba, Ferreira, Kalou, Belletti.
Written by Darkvader on November 4th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on CL Open Thread and Champions League and Lingering Bursitis.
