Champions League 2012/13

To be Honest i don't see why everyone is questioning Mikel's place in the team, up till' Hazard came he was the best Passer of the team and Statistics are here to prove it, yes he has bad matches sometimes it happens but the kid has been quite consistent since he's been a starter (2008)& for a while he managed to replace the void crated by Le Mak's departure, which's huge in my opinion.

I wouldn't necessarily pick him over Essien but he's still amazing when it comes to interceptions.
 
Dominic said:
Juve never deserved that point?! Juve was easily the better team! If not for two fluke Oscar goals... And despite those juve still managed to almost completely turn it around.
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TWO fluke goals?? What game did you watch?

Oscar 2nd goal was sublime!

Both teams deserve point.
 
I was at the stadium last night as well, Chelsea fans were SILENT, nothing compared to the away supporters.

Both teams were pretty poor to be honest, this Juve is still not in form (well no Italian team is in form in September) and we misplaced too many passes and our attack wasn't working. Thank god for Quagliarella who could actually hold the ball and create some space. Chelsea definitely did a good job to close down Pirlo, but as a result they gave Marchisio quite a lot of space to advance to the last quarter of Chelsea's half. We should have utilized the flanks more (like we usually do in the league) but I guess our strikers were not suited for crosses, Giovinco is 163cm tall and Vucinic mainly scores or creates from the middle.

We should remember Juve have not performed in the UCL in 3 years and there was an incredible amount of pressure for the players to make their mark.. especially against the reigning champions of Europe.
 
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they wasnt silent such an overreaction!!

I heard them singing many songs! But agree Juve fans were brilliant but away crowds are always better these days at nearly every stadium
 
Shakhtar playing some slick football against Juve so far and have just taken the deserved lead. Gonna be a good match.

Edit: Bonucci has just levelled it 1-1 with an unstoppable shot inside the box.
 
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This Turkish ref officiating Benfica vs. Barca is good! He's human, he'll make mistakes but overall, he's one of the best around.
 
ironically, his performances in turkey are quite opposite of how he's been doing in euro tournaments. but if he keeps the good form up he is one of the biggest candidates for CL/EL finals. fırat aydınus is my favourite among turkish refs, btw. he's much more dominant (kind but firm attitude) than cüneyt çakır on the field.
 
The turkish ref had a great match, but busquets red card was a big mistake and in the last minutes he could have sent off matic after some violent actions. But a good referee really, i like the attitude.
 
By the way, puyol injury is terrible. Best wishes for him, he's the heart of the team and we will miss him a lot. Too many injuries for him,it's a pitty.
 
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Best part of the night for me, who knew? David is actually good at free-kicks.
 
drekkard said:
The turkish ref had a great match, but busquets red card was a big mistake and in the last minutes he could have sent off matic after some violent actions. But a good referee really, i like the attitude.
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I was surprised how aggressive was Benfica, over the top in my opinion. Busquets was yellow.

ps. Couldn't get tickets to Barsa - Real, but we are going to Milan - Zenit instead :BOP:
 
The group with Chelsea, Juventus and Shakhtar will prove to be an alternate group of death.
Yesterday Shakhtar should have won in Turin. I have a feeling that Juventus will sneak through (oh and if that sounds negative, it isn't) and that it could well be between Chelsea and Shakhtar for the second place. I can see Chelsea eliminated...
 
gerd said:
The group with Chelsea, Juventus and Shakhtar will prove to be an alternate group of death.
Yesterday Shakhtar should have won in Turin. I have a feeling that Juventus will sneak through (oh and if that sounds negative, it isn't) and that it could well be between Chelsea and Shakhtar for the second place. I can see Chelsea eliminated...
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You sure about Chelsea? They are better than last season IMO.
 
Enzo said:
You sure about Chelsea? They are better than last season IMO.
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Last year they were worse, they were in a more difficult position... and they ended up winning the trophy against all odds.

I'm pretty sure Juve and Chelsea will proceed. A pitty, because I like shakhtar Donetsk and the way they play!
 
drekkard said:
Last year they were worse, they were in a more difficult position... and they ended up winning the trophy against all odds.

I'm pretty sure Juve and Chelsea will proceed. A pitty, because I like shakhtar Donetsk and the way they play!
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Except Mircea Lucescu is a arrogant bastard in my eyes.. At least those interviews I've read. Shaktar is playing ok, but they are losing the grip, the have a league without stiff competition, besides that lots of referee errors in their favor. Last year they didn't perform well in CL. I agree tho on some lovely players in Donetsk squad!
 
I dunno there is some pretty strong competition now in Ukrainian League. Dynamo Kiev are finally looking like a good team after 3-4 years of underperformance. Yarmolenko, Milyevsky, Kranjkar, Admir Mehmedi, Miguel Veloso are all good players. Now they have Blokhin in charge they could push on and make a challenge to Shakhtar (although its really messed the Ukrainian national team who are now manager less).

You also have second level teams like Dnipro and Metalist Kharkov, who are again building strong teams with good young players. Dnipro have Inkoom (Ghana center back signed from Basel), and have also signed the Croatians Kalinic (striker) and Strinic (defensive player). They also do well by signing players that Dinamo and Shakhtar sell too early - Vitaliy Mandzyuk, Kravchenko and Gladkyi are all from the big two and now they have Oleksandr Aliyev too from Dinamo. But their best player is undoubtedly Konoplyanka who is the rising star of Ukrainian football. Metalist have a lot of talented South American players, like Jose Sosa (ex Bayern / Napoli), Taison and Cleiton Zavier, and Papa Gueye, who was very impressive for Senegal in the Olympics.

You say the league has no competition, but I dont think it's quite the case. Certainly teams like Metalist and Dnipro have done reasonably well in the Europa league over the last few years - Metalist got the quarter finals last year, defeating Olympiakos, after topping their group, the year before they came second (behind PSV but above Sampdoria) before going out to Spartak, two years earlier they topped a group with Benfica, Olympiakos, Galatasaray and Hertha Berlin. This year Dnipro have already beaten PSV, and Metalist have have drawn away in Leverkusen.
 
Celtic finally get an away win in CL.

Superb performance from the team last night.

And once again Super-Hooper does it again...................... England must have some amazing forwards.......................... oh wait!


FD
 
cfdh_edmundo said:
I dunno there is some pretty strong competition now in Ukrainian League. Dynamo Kiev are finally looking like a good team after 3-4 years of underperformance. Yarmolenko, Milyevsky, Kranjkar, Admir Mehmedi, Miguel Veloso are all good players. Now they have Blokhin in charge they could push on and make a challenge to Shakhtar (although its really messed the Ukrainian national team who are now manager less).

You also have second level teams like Dnipro and Metalist Kharkov, who are again building strong teams with good young players. Dnipro have Inkoom (Ghana center back signed from Basel), and have also signed the Croatians Kalinic (striker) and Strinic (defensive player). They also do well by signing players that Dinamo and Shakhtar sell too early - Vitaliy Mandzyuk, Kravchenko and Gladkyi are all from the big two and now they have Oleksandr Aliyev too from Dinamo. But their best player is undoubtedly Konoplyanka who is the rising star of Ukrainian football. Metalist have a lot of talented South American players, like Jose Sosa (ex Bayern / Napoli), Taison and Cleiton Zavier, and Papa Gueye, who was very impressive for Senegal in the Olympics.

You say the league has no competition, but I dont think it's quite the case. Certainly teams like Metalist and Dnipro have done reasonably well in the Europa league over the last few years - Metalist got the quarter finals last year, defeating Olympiakos, after topping their group, the year before they came second (behind PSV but above Sampdoria) before going out to Spartak, two years earlier they topped a group with Benfica, Olympiakos, Galatasaray and Hertha Berlin. This year Dnipro have already beaten PSV, and Metalist have have drawn away in Leverkusen.
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Good players I agree, but check this out:

2011-12
Shaktar Donetsk won - whole season 4 ties, 1 defeat

2010-11
Shaktar Donetsk won - whole season 3 ties, 4 defeats

2009-10
Shaktar Donetsk won - whole season 5 ties, 1 defeat

Last year Shaktar goal difference was +62! Just check wikipedia for Ukranian Premier League, there is no ''Getafe'', no ''Malaga'', no ''Bilbao''.. just 4 teams in top-4 year after year.

No REAL competition!

Last three years in a row, top-4 :

Shaktar Donetsk
Dynamo Kiev
Metalist Kharkiv
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk


Last 20 years - champion either Shaktar or Dynamo

Kyiv in same **** hole they were last years with Semin, nothing has changed, except they bought some quality players.. Its always the same: Shaktar - Dinamo decide who will win the championship and lots and lots of referee scandals. Good luck to Blokhin tho :)
 
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+62 is a big goal difference certainly more than Germany (Dortmund +55), but compare it to Spain Real Madrid (+100), Barcelona (+85) and it's not that bad. Also compare it to England (Man City +64) and it's pretty much par. Obviously there are less games in Ukraine than Spain, England and Germany (30 vs 38 or 34) The gap in Ukraine between 1st and 3rd was 20 points (79 vs 59), the gap in Spain was much bigger at 39 (Real had 100, Valencia was 61) in England it was 19, (89-70) Italy 20 and in Germany it was 17 points.

Yes the top 4 has been constant, but last year Arsenal (Kiev) were only 1 point from getting 4th ahead of Dnipro, Karpaty Lvov were very close two years before. The year before that Dnipro were only 6 both Vorskla Poltava and Metalurg Donetsk ahead of them.
 
Messi and Real & Barcelona are top-3 in the world, we cant compare with them, thet set world records. Messi alone scores 50!!I do not try to sound like Ukraine hater, I just feel Shaktar dosent have enough competition in domestic league.

Germany had Dortmund return to top
Spain is out as its always Barsa and Real
Italy has Juventus going for a record, havent lost in over 45 matches

But tell me where in the world last 3-5 seasons same champion without much competition? Only Barcelona and MU domination, both already lost the crown.
 
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Dortmund play more beautifull than Barcelona..

fantastic game against City so far, and the fans are just best..
 
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