Champions League 2012/13

cfdh_edmundo said:
Porto finshed 3rd in their group last year and these were their results:

vs Apoel (1st place team) - drew at home (1-1) lost away (2-1)
vs Zenit (2nd place team) - drew at home (0-0) lost away (3-1)
vs Shakhtar (4th place team) - won home and away.

With eight points from a possible 18 they were the worst 1 seed team last year. I think Feyenjoord, who finished second in the Dutch league (ahead of teams like PSV, Twente and AZ) are as good as this, similarly Gladbach who finshed 4th in the Bundesliga (which is much, much, much stronger than the Portuguese league).
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Ridiculous, at least. So we finished 3rd once & we are as good as Gladbach (no offense).

So by that logic: Manchester 3rd place last year, with Benfica & Basel in front. Consequently Portuguese League & Swiss League are better than Premier League. However we are the Portuguese champions, it means we are better than Benfica & Basel, consequently better than Manchester, but Feyernoord & Gladbach still remain ahead of Porto. But these 2 teams that didnt even qualify for CL are....ahhhhh, im so confused.

Seriously, ridiculous but funny. :)
 
You can only judge a horse by the races it's run in. But only picking up two points in four games against Zenit and Apoel (and only scoring three goals in those games) is hardly form to have other teams worried. Apoel had a very good run, but as soon as they faced a well organised strong team (Real Madrid) they were beaten. Zenit are a very strong team at home, but I wouldnt say they are (yet) an elite European team - Benfica were able to beat Zenit in the knockouts. Last year was a spectacular failure by Porto, they were exposed as being short of quality and unable to break teams down. Things didnt get better when they faced with a team of genuine quality, Man City in the Europa league, as they were smashed 6-1 over the two legs. Gladbach didnt play in Europe last season but they were impressive in the Bundesliga. They only lost one match at home (Hoffenheim) and did the double (winning home and away) against Bayern, and beat teams like Schalke, Stuttgart, Wolsburg and Bremen 3-0, 3-0, 4-1 and 5-0. All these teams have finished in the top 3 of the Bundesliga in the last 3-4 years, when they faced big teams last season they generally rose to the occasion and aquitted themselves well, they were never hammered 6-1 over two games like Porto were - in fact over two legs (home and away legaue matches vs Bayern) they in effect won 4-1 (3-1 & 1-0), against Dortmund it was a 2-0 defeat and 1-1 draw.

Look at some of the other "pot one" teams (Chelsea, Bayern, Real, Barca) there is no question that Porto were the "pot one" team all the other teams would have wanted. Dinamo Zagreb and Dynamo Kiev have a much greater chance of taking points off Porto than they do off these teams.
 
cfdh_edmundo said:
You can only judge a horse by the races it's run in.
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Exactly, after hundreds of races how can you pick one single race?
cfdh_edmundo said:
But only picking up two points in four games against Zenit and Apoel (and only scoring three goals in those games) is hardly form to have other teams worried. Apoel had a very good run, but as soon as they faced a well organised strong team (Real Madrid) they were beaten. Zenit are a very strong team at home, but I wouldnt say they are (yet) an elite European team - Benfica were able to beat Zenit in the knockouts. Last year was a spectacular failure by Porto, they were exposed as being short of quality and unable to break teams down. Things didnt get better when they faced with a team of genuine quality, Man City in the Europa league, as they were smashed 6-1 over the two legs. Gladbach didnt play in Europe last season but they were impressive in the Bundesliga. They only lost one match at home (Hoffenheim) and did the double (winning home and away) against Bayern, and beat teams like Schalke, Stuttgart, Wolsburg and Bremen 3-0, 3-0, 4-1 and 5-0. All these teams have finished in the top 3 of the Bundesliga in the last 3-4 years, when they faced big teams last season they generally rose to the occasion and aquitted themselves well, they were never hammered 6-1 over two games like Porto were - in fact over two legs (home and away legaue matches vs Bayern) they in effect won 4-1 (3-1 & 1-0), against Dortmund it was a 2-0 defeat and 1-1 draw.
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It was clearly a bad year, i wont say horrible cuz we managed to be champions. But, it was crap, absolutely. Our demanding levels are quite high, we at least aim for quarter-finals, at least fans expectations. Last year we didn't do well. Thats why its nonsense to judge our quality level by our last year results. Especially in a year with many setbacks, starting with the unexpected exit of AVB, Falcao last week transfer, ending in players pressing to leave too.

But ok, its your opinion. Hope Porto dont let me down. :)
 
But since 2008 which big teams have you beaten in the group stages of the CL? From my recollection only Atletico and Arsenal in Dec 2009, but even that Arsenal match back in 2009 was the last group stage match and Arsenal had already qualified, so players like Randall and Vela started, with the likes of Fran Merida, Hoyte and Simpson on the bench - it wasnt the same team that demolished Porto 4-0 in the opening game of the CL. When you played Arsenal in the knockouts a year later you lost 6-2 over the two legs.

I really think Dynamo Kiev have a great chance to at least get two draws or a win against Porto - back in 2008-9 they won in the Dragon Stadium 1-0 (Aliyev scored) and then lost at home 2-1 (last minute goal by Luiz Gonzales) - since then Dynamo have got stronger and Porto have stood still.
 
I think right at the moment Gladbach have a stronger team than Porto and in football, it's the next match that counts...
 
cfdh_edmundo said:
But since 2008 which big teams have you beaten in the group stages of the CL?
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None. We are crap. Lol, you are hilarious. Nice research. At least you found something. Now do the same for Feyernoord & Gladbach. Good luck. I dunno which is your team, but im pretty sure Porto is very successful compared to yours. :SMUG:

I wont bother more with this subject. But i hope too see you here in the near future.
 
I already posted some of Gladbach's results, you can go back and read them. As to what team I support, its none of Porto, Feyenjoord nor Gladbach so its utterly irrelevant to the discussion.
 
A lot of teams sell the tickets as a passe-partout: a package deal for all Champions League home games. An Ajax passe-partout for this year is 250 Euro's.
 
I know Nordsjaelland also do this, not sure about the other teams but for smaller teams it would be smart to sell them like that.
 
Anderlecht ask 195 euro for a cobi-ticket with 3 home matches.
Last year Genk asked 120 euro (i saw those 3 matches live at the stadium)
 
120 is a good price, 40 euros for one Champions League ggame isn't bad. Anderlecht's price is a bit high, but wealthy people support Anderlecht so it doesn't really matter.
 
DamjanStefanov said:
120 is a good price, 40 euros for one Champions League ggame isn't bad. Anderlecht's price is a bit high, but wealthy people support Anderlecht so it doesn't really matter.
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You baffle me there.
Ajax ask 250 euro, that's even more...
Anderlecht also have lots of fans who aren't rich. Don't know where you get that wealthy people support Anderlecht...Anderlecht has wealthy fans like every club has wealthy fans.
 
I have paid 120 euros for the 3 home games in Montpellier.

Cheapest seats (not covered) are at 70 euros for the pack, the most expensive are around 250 i think.

I might work one month in Leuven in November, maybe I'll see if I can go to the game against Milan...
 
Milan wanted your captain M'biwa and he was keen to join them as well which is why he rejected interest from Wenger and Arsenal. But ultimately President Nicolin wanted to keep him, and captain said we respect his decision. He's like a godfather to us! Was nice to hear a player being grateful and loyal. It was important to keep the likes of him and Belhanda.

I'm eager to see how he performs against Max Allegri's side now.
 
PLF said:
Milan wanted your captain M'biwa and he was keen to join them as well which is why he rejected interest from Wenger and Arsenal. But ultimately President Nicolin wanted to keep him, and captain said we respect his decision. He's like a godfather to us! Was nice to hear a player being grateful and loyal. It was important to keep the likes of him and Belhanda.

I'm eager to see how he performs against Max Allegri's side now.
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I have a feeling we will snap him up on a bosman come January ;)
 
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