Champions League 2011/12

I saw Leverkusen in Genk, and Genk had to surpass themselves to have a draw...i wish my favourite team was 'only' Leverkusen (but i understand what you were saying matherto).
 
The_Special_One said:
Honestly, yes it is. As matter of fact, the usage of public funds in a football club or a basketball franchise, etc, is a very bad thing. It's a travesty to see a Government throwing money into sports when it could have been invested in health, education and so on.

So are you saying that Zenit only didn't get a budget this season just because of the elections, or am I misreading something? If so, that's ridiculous. Using public money into football is beyond me.

As far as I know, and according to BBC, "Gazprom has invested an estimated $100m (£51m) in Zenit since taking a controlling stake in December 2005. Its enormous wealth also gives it huge political clout in Russia and large areas of Europe". So, you can't deny the economical handicap when you compare Zenit to Benfica or Porto. So there's no way you cannot deny that your club jumped into the big stage partially because of the money, which I do not condemn like I stated earlier in the topic.

As I said right here, on this topic, or on your own thread, I have nothing against Zenit. Nada, niente, zero. As matter of fact I use to root for you when it comes to the Russian League. I wish nothing but the best for you.

Oh, and our crowd didn't boo Danny. He was booed at Dragão, not Lisbon.
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Sorry about Danny, you are right indeed :)

Using public money? Like Abramovich with Chelsea? Whole Russia is "public money" divided between rich. Since 1991 whole land has been ripped apart by different people/organization. Gazprom does make profit and it can sponsor football with that profit or any other sport. After all its a company even if gas belongs to everyone in Russia.

Actually if you have noticed the uprise of sports in Russia started with Putin era. We got back our gold in hockey, major progress in football, winter games etc etc etc. Its all because of that PUBLIC MONEY you are talking about. Gazprom invested gigantic amount of money into youth football infrastructure and many many other sports.

Club jumped because our goverment and Gazprom particulary were interested in progress and evolution of Russian football on big stage. Gazprom was interested to get positive image in Europe, thats why they have Schalke and probably going to sponsor Bayern Munchen. Like ANZHI, everyone seems to hate it, but Kerimov is using his own money (where he got them is a different topic) so why not?

Why Russia can't have top club? Ok lets imagine it wasent Gazprom, then it would be Abramovich 2, or other cover up company. Zenit didnt jump into stage to make MONEY for GAZPROM, that would be absurd. Gazprom funded the start, Zenit new stadium will be done in 2013-2014, after that no need for Gazprom.

I also have nothing against you mate, but you get a bit illusive about Russian public money, its hard to understand messy Russian system and hard to find real information about it.

Don't forget while you were playing football and making money with buying players and selling them with a profit, Russia was a communist closed country and after collapse didnt have power to run any major club as whole country was a f***king mess. Now that the situation is stabilized and we can afford it - Why not?

Have a nice day :)
 
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seriously how lovely is this apoel team! the media all over europe are obviously coming up with those obvious boring remarks.... the little amouse among the giants... champions league's cindarella... and so on. but if u brush aside all theese cheap bullshits for a second and focus on their football, u realize that there's a very simple (and probably less romantic) reason if this team made it this far; this is a good team, wich plays some very good football.

sure they're a bit toothless offensively and they lack of "punch". also some of their players are a bit to greedy with the ball.... but man, i've seen much better football from this little team of nobodies than i've seen from both milan and arsenal in their double matchup.
hats off! :))
 
Where the guy who says Platini work for French football ? :P
With the clubs who don't want play the Europa League, the French football can lose a place in CL for Portugal, OM is the only hope and this team just do 3 defeats in row vs Brest, Toulouse and Evian... yeah... :CONFUSE:
 
The trouble is Lyons are so poor, they were very bad last night,. There are least 4-5 French teams who would have played better against Apoel. I think Marseilles, Lille, PSG, Montpellier would have been better than Lyons. Lyons showed no ambition and poor tactical decisions last night. They were very one-dimensional, all they would do was run to the edge of the pitch and try and cut back a low cross into the box, or shoot from distance. They never tried to out pass the Cypriot defence, they never put them under pressure with high balls in the air. What was shocking was the number of times Lyons central defenders were beaten by Ailton, who himself isnt one of the quickest players. It was like Lyons players couldnt judge where the ball was landing, Ailton would amble past them and trap the ball when it bounced, only for players like Koné making last second tackles Lyons could have really lost badly.

I am happy that Apoel got through, they are team of limited finances, but they are one of the most well organised teams in the competition and play a system very well. They also have great fans who can turn the GSP stadium into a real fortress in terms of atmosphere, and they deserved to go through as they were far more enterprising and less static than Lyons.
 
I'm glad for Apoel, and it can't be a coïncidence since they also finished first in their group with good teams like Zenith, Porto and Shaktar.
They played some good football, but on the other hand this game should have been over after 90 minutes. IMO Apoel were clumsy before goal. And Lyon was weak, this was a travesty of the club who did well so long (with good football i might add).

So one can be optimistic about the state of football because a litle club like Apoel is among the last 8 of the CL.

I'm pessimistic.

The other match worries me much more. I haven't seen the match. But here you got a very good German (German!!!) team that looses 7-1 to Barcelona.... The gap between clubs is widening too much. Oh and Barcelona is the only huge club i really like, because they play such fantastic football and have youth products in their team...but still, this is not good for football. Let's hope CSKA or Napoli can eliminate Real or Chelsea....i don't believe in Marseille, even if they eliminate Inter. Right at the moment those two teams are the weakest teams in the CL (including the ones that went out yesterday).
 
gerd said:
The other match worries me much more. I haven't seen the match. But here you got a very good German (German!!!) team that looses 7-1 to Barcelona.... The gap between clubs is widening too much. Oh and Barcelona is the only huge club i really like, because they play such fantastic football and have youth products in their team...but still, this is not good for football. Let's hope CSKA or Napoli can eliminate Real or Chelsea....i don't believe in Marseille, even if they eliminate Inter. Right at the moment those two teams are the weakest teams in the CL (including the ones that went out yesterday).
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I wouldnt read too much into the Leverkusen game. They had lost the tie after the first game. Also they have had a tendancy to implode like this before, I saw them this season play at home to Nurnburg and Koln and they imploded in both these games losing 0-3 and 1-4, conceeding almost all of these goals in the second half. There is a degree of inexperience in this Leverkusen team, they've lost a core of experienced players (Baltisch, Hyypia, Vidal) and Ballack is also out of the picture now. You need players like these on the big European nights, some of the Leverkusen players were too immature and careless. Rolfes was the only defender/midfielder who had, what I would deem, top level experience, but on his own it was an impossible job. If he had had a player like Vidal or Ballack (an in form Ballack) there next to him Leverkusen might have been able to keep possession a bit more. At the back Manuel Fredrich was missing, again another seasoned pro absent - having players like Schwaab, Toprak and Reinartz in midfield and defence leaves you a bit exposed in such a big game. Even with someone like Lars Bender, who has a few caps for Germany, you're still putting a 22 year old up against a very strong team who play in a style he's not used to.

Also upfront the coach Dutt made some strange choices. Against Barcelona I would have played Schürrle and Bellarabi. Schürrle had played well in the last few matches, and has been one of the best German young attackers in the last 18 months - yet he dropped him after the win at Bayern last weekend, I would say he's a better striker than Derdiyok. Bellarabi would have been a bit more dangerous than Kießling, who seems a lot less mobile these days. If you look at the Leverkusen of 2000-2002, this squad isnt anything like as imposing or experienced. In that team you had great players Ballack, Ramelow, Nowotny, Lucio - this Leverkusen team is a little short of that level, and to be honest isnt as strong as other German teams (Dortmund, Bayern). Leverkusen's a bit like Gladbach, in the sense that once every few seasons it will maybe get to the CL places, but the squad isnt of a level to maintain this and overall it's more like a Europa league or less in terms of positions.
 
Yah well said, Leverkusen's team is really inexperienced and they've self-imploded at HOME against much lesser teams than themselves let alone at Camp Nou against arguably the greatest team the world has ever seen.

I wouldn't be worried about it Gerd. This was one match and a 2nd leg at that for a game that was already lost. And how many other TOP teams even would you say can beat Leverkusen by more than 3 goals? None I would say. Only Barca. So it's not a big deal. It's not like all the top teams are getting better and better and all the ones like Leverkusen getting worse and worse.

p.s. I wonder how much trouble Remi Garde is in.....
 
I've supported Leverkusen for over 10 years (12, 13, I dont know exactly) now and it is and always has been a bitter sweet relationship with this club. When things go bad for them they tend to go really bad and the team has a tendency to just capitulate. Especially in big matches it often looks like the players dont believe in themselves. Big disappointments are never far away from temporary successes. A prime example being 2002/2003, when we got as close as youd ever like to get to relegation after one of the greatest season ever in the club's history. I am more than happy with the win we had over Bayern last weekend and hope we get into the Champions League spots again by the end of the season.

It is true that we are probably, in our current state more of a Europa League squad than Champions League material, although I'd like to think that we can still match Gladbach and Schalke and thus may be worthy of a Champions League spot. After all we didn't fare too bad in the group we had this season and only really got shown up for what we really are against the, or at least one of the (I dont want to get into that argument), best team(s) in the world right now. Worse things have happend. Would have been happier had it been in the order of a 4:1 or something. At least we scored. Not every team can say that of themselves after visiting the Camp Nou in the Champions League. Leverkusen is no longer the prime example of German football as it used to be around the millenium. So I wouldnt be too worried about German club football falling far behind on the basis of this match.
 
I don't think Leverkusen should care about this defeat.
I don't know them very well, but i have the feeling that this a well led club who tries to play young players.
I think it was quite an achievement to beat Valencia for the second place in the group stage with this young team...
 
2 more hours! Can't wait for tonight and tomorrow!

Bayern will be gunning for goals from first minute I think against a very good Basel side and Inter vs. OM won't be as bothering this time since it's 2nd leg and teams can't be as conservative just sitting back.

If Bayern can get through Basel tonight and advance, I think they're right up there with Real Madrid and Barca as the only 3 legitimate candidates. But they have a big task ahead of them at the moment and it's Advantage Basel for now. I think they can do it though.

OM have lost last 4 Ligue 1 matches and haven't even scored a goal in them! Down to 8th place and in horrible form but Loic Remy is back from injury and Inter haven't been exactly hot themselves getting only win in last 9 matches last week against Chievo. Two under-fire managers as well in Ranieri and Deschamps whose jobs could very much depend on their team's CL success at this point.

MASSIVE PRESSURE to say the least. Should be nervy games with lots of ups and downs and momentum swings. Can't wait!
 
Last time Leverkusen is mentioned in this thread, promise. You are right, we shouldnt care. What we should care about though is losing against Wolfsburg in typical Bayer 04 fashion. Thats what I meant with it being a bitter sweet relationship. Probably played a lot better than Wolfsburg for most of the game and could, maybe should, have sorted it out within the first 20 minutes with better finishing, and then still managed to give it away. Cant believe it. Will probably be back to Europa League next season. What a shame.

Lets see what Bayern can make of their draw tonight. They are coming from a stunning 7:1 defeat over Hoffenheim at the weekend and Schweinsteiger is back, so it could be good. Not that I like them a lot (probably least out of all German clubs) but Im one of those that cheer for teams from your country once my own club has left the competition.

Edit: Just saw the line-up, no Schweinsteiger yet, probably not quite ready yet for a start. May be introduced during the game though (provided he is on the bench).
 
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me too cant wait for tonight match Bayern vs BASEL , we are watching about 12 persons match at home of my friend and 11 of them (me too) are for BASEL 1 of my friends its big fan of bayern so if Bayern goes down he'll cry all night thats sure haha

hoping for a "miracle" from Basel tonight , bayern will play to score speed but i hope in one good counter atack and 1st goal for Basel then with good defence to protect result and get 1 or maximum 2 goals ,

I really have "fear" but i still hope

cmon XHERDAN SHAQIRI and GRANIT XHAKA make us proud !!!!
 
Bayern to win against Basel, no doubt about this if they play as they did against Hoffenheim last week.

Edit: 1:0, ROOOOOBBBBBBBBBBBBENN!!! :LOL:

Edit²: That makes it 2. Müller after Robben's cross.

Edit³: Yeeees, Gomez scores to make it 3-nothing before the break.

And Valon, I think your plans might be changing right now.:D

Valon said:
me too cant wait for tonight match Bayern vs BASEL , we are watching about 12 persons match at home of my friend and 11 of them (me too) are for BASEL 1 of my friends its big fan of bayern so if Bayern goes down he'll cry all night thats sure haha
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Arsenal, City, United, Inter all out, Bayern may really win it this year if they can find a way to beat Barca or Real.
 
Ohoho ...

Bayern - Hoffenhaim 7:1
Bayern - Basel 7:0

Great results lads, my congratulations, this result to be honest I do not expect ... :SHOCK:
 
Artem said:
Ohoho ...

Bayern - Hoffenhaim 7:1
Bayern - Basel 7:0

Great results lads, my congratulations, this result to be honest I do not expect ... :SHOCK:
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Referring to Bayern’s 7-1 win over Hoffenheim at the weekend, Vogel said: “The margin of victory does not impress me. I have absolutely no fear that Bayern will score seven goals in one game [against us].” Oh dear…
 
damn :/

well our friend was alone so cant do a lot about that win lol

at the last good basel this year this can be already succses for them and capacity they have

Bayern Baca and Real , dont have other teams this year !
 
Yeah it's really between those 3 teams.

OM advance through as well with that last minute Brandao goal but no Mandanda in goal for first leg and I think they'll be eliminated almost whoever they come up against unless things really improve till then.
 
Gomez can says thanks to Franck "Santa Claus" Ribery

PS : first defeat for Deschamps in San Siro ! but go to next round
 
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