View Full Version : CL which will pass?
We are at the second round of the CL so state your predictions about the teams which will pass....
Rangers - Zeta
København - Beitar Jerusalem
Tampere - Levski
Pyunik - Shakhtar
Debrecen - Elfsborg
Zagłębie - Steaua
Genk - Sarajevo
Domžale - Dinamo Zagreb
Beşiktaş - Sheriff
Ventspils - Salzburg
Astana - Rosenborg
Hafnarfjördur - BATE
Crvena Zvezda - Levadia
Žilina - Slavia
We are at the second round of the CL so state your predictions about the teams which will pass....
Rangers - Zeta
København - Beitar Jerusalem
Tampere - Levski
Pyunik - Shakhtar
Debrecen - Elfsborg
Zagłębie - Steaua
Genk - Sarajevo
Domžale - Dinamo Zagreb
Beşiktaş - Sheriff
Ventspils - Salzburg
Astana - Rosenborg
Hafnarfjördur - BATE
Crvena Zvezda - Levadia
Žilina - Slavia
Rangers will eliminate Zeta, although not as easy as the odds suggest.
Levski should do the job in Sofia but it will be tough in Finland because they'll miss captain Topuzakov and the good old Borimirov. Levski also lost Angelov to Energie Cottbus but they bought a very good defender, the Morroccan Benzoukane who already shined in the friendlies and they also bought Macedonian/Fyrom NT player Tasevski. There is a difference in classes and Levski should proceed.
Shakhtar is absolute favorite. They were strong already but now they bought Nery Castillo, Lucarelli, Ilsinho and Ukrainian NT Yezerskiy. Really strong team and with a bot of luck they may even pass the CL groups.
Debreceni- Elfsborg is a big NO BET. 50/50 according to bookies although i'd give small advantage to Elfsborg. I watched Debreceni last summer in Skopje, again in CLQ, when they were destroyed 4:1 by Rabotnicki
Zaglebie-Steaua .
After George Hagi came to Steaua the supporters are angry at the way their team plays. Most of the non-biased Romanians think that Steaua will lose in Poland but is still a 60-40 favorite to proceed. Steaua lost some player's from last year's CL team.
Genk-Sarajevo
I like Sarajevo and i really enjoyed their matches in the 1st round. This time they are underdogs and Genk will probably pass to the 3rd round
Domzale-Dinamo
Dinamo better and clear favorite but only if they don't repeat the performances from the first round against the Azeri champions. I wouldn't underestimate Domzale though. At least not in the first match in Slovenia
Beşiktaş - Sheriff
I really can't explain why but i always saw Sheriff as a solid team capable to make a major surprise. The Turks are clear favorites but this is where i expect one of the usual surprises to happen. Realistically though, Besiktas should easily pass this round.
Ventspils - Salzburg
Salzburg will proceed 100%
Astana-Rosenborg
Expect a surprise in the first leg. Some 20-25 degrees difference between Kazakhstan and Norway. Rosenborg is not the force from the past.
They'll go through though
Hafnarfjördur - BATE
The toughest to predict
Crvena Zvezda - Levadia
Red Star has some 7 or 8 new players, all of them foreigners and many of them will be starters against Levadia. I watched Levadia in the first round and they are awful. Red Star will go through but i expect some difficulties in the first match in Belgrade. They'll need a lot of sweat to brake the Estonian defense
Žilina - Slavia
Eventhough everyone thinks it's going to be Slavia, i think Zilina will go through.
In the first match both teams will miss their best 2 players (Zilina in defense, Sparta in midfield and attack)
FH Hafnarfjördur (ISL) / FC BATE Borisov (BLR) v FC Steaua Bucuresti (ROU)
Tampere United (FIN) / PFC Levski Sofia (BUL) v FC Astana (KAZ) / Rosenborg BK (NOR)
FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) v Celtic FC (SCO)
Werder Bremen (GER) v NK Domžale (SVN) / NK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
FK Ventspils (LVA) / FC Salzburg (AUT) v FC Pyunik (ARM) / FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
AFC Ajax (NED) v MŠK Žilina (SVK) / SK Slavia Praha (CZE)
Valencia CF (ESP) v Debreceni VSC (HUN) / IF Elfsborg (SWE)
KRC Genk (BEL) / FK Sarajevo (BIH) v FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) v RSC Anderlecht (BEL)
Rangers FC (SCO) / FK Zeta (MNE) v FK Crvena Zvezda (SRB) / FC Levadia Tallinn (EST)
Toulouse FC (FRA) v Liverpool FC (ENG)
SL Benfica (POR) v FC København (DEN) / Beitar Jerusalem FC (ISR)
S.S. Lazio (ITA) v FC Dinamo 1948 Bucuresti (ROU)
AC Sparta Praha (CZE) v Arsenal FC (ENG)
FC Zürich (SUI) v FC Sheriff (MDA) / Beşiktaş JK (TUR)
Sevilla FC (ESP) v AEK Athens FC (GRE)
FH Hafnarfjördur (ISL) / FC BATE Borisov (BLR) v FC Steaua Bucuresti (ROU)
Tampere United (FIN) / PFC Levski Sofia (BUL) v FC Astana (KAZ) / Rosenborg BK (NOR)
FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) v Celtic FC (SCO)
Werder Bremen (GER) v NK Domžale (SVN) / NK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
FK Ventspils (LVA) / FC Salzburg (AUT) v FC Pyunik (ARM) / FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
AFC Ajax (NED) v MŠK Žilina (SVK) / SK Slavia Praha (CZE)
Valencia CF (ESP) v Debreceni VSC (HUN) / IF Elfsborg (SWE)
KRC Genk (BEL) / FK Sarajevo (BIH) v FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) v RSC Anderlecht (BEL)
Rangers FC (SCO) / FK Zeta (MNE) v FK Crvena Zvezda (SRB) / FC Levadia Tallinn (EST)
Toulouse FC (FRA) v Liverpool FC (ENG)
SL Benfica (POR) v FC København (DEN) / Beitar Jerusalem FC (ISR)
S.S. Lazio (ITA) v FC Dinamo 1948 Bucuresti (ROU)
AC Sparta Praha (CZE) v Arsenal FC (ENG)
FC Zürich (SUI) v FC Sheriff (MDA) / Beşiktaş JK (TUR)
Sevilla FC (ESP) v AEK Athens FC (GRE)
Unexpected draw, imo.
Some Eastern European teams have a great chance to play CL, it's up to them if they take it or not.
Steaua ( not qualified yet but won 1:0 as guests in Poland and they are now 99% in the next round), thanx to the high coefficient they have in UEFA, got the easiest possible opponent, Bate Borisov from Belarus ( they are not through yet but after winning 3:1 as guests against Hafnarfjördur it would take a miracle for them to be eliminated) . This is a chance Steaua won't miss and they'll play CL again.
Levski has another big chance to play in CL. But they will have a big job to do in Sofia first because they lost 0:1 in Finland 2 days ago. If Levski pass Tampere then they'll play against Rosenborg.
Levski-Rosenborg will be a 50-50 match. But whichever of these teams goes to CL groups will be a big underdog.
Spartak Moscow-Celtic will be a killer match. I'm surprised that both these teams weren't holders in the draw but then i checked and saw that Spartak has pretty low coefficient for the last 5 years. Both teams are strong and good enough for the CL Groups. Too bad one of them will be eliminated.
Werder Bremen-Dinamo Zagreb
Dinamo still has to finish the job in the 2nd round, after they won as guests in Slovenia against Domzale.
This would have been a fantastic chance for Dinamo to play CL again after 7 years. Werder lost Klose and Frings and they could have easily been hurt by astrong Dinamo. But Dinamo sold 2 of their pearls, Eduardo and Corluka and i don't think they'll have the strenght to eliminate the experienced Germans.
I still predict a tough match and Dinamo won't give up easily.
Salzburg-Shaktiar Donieck
Both teams won the first leg of the 2nd round as guests (Salzburg won 0:3 and Shaktiar won 0:2) so they'll certainly play in the 3rd round.
Salzburg is a team in which has been invested a lot in last 3 years and the predictions were that this will be the year when the investment will finally pay off and they'll play CL. But they got a CL regular in the 3rd round and it will be a hell of a match and a hell of a job to do to pass Shaktiar.
Ajax is waiting for the winner of Zilina-Slavia . After missing on CL last year i'm sure Ajax won't make the same mistake again and underestimate the opponents. Zilina and Slavia are clearly inferior to Ajax and i expect the Dutch team to play CL this season.
Valencia - Debrecen/Elfsborg
The best draw possible for Valencia. They'll make it to CL without any trouble
Dinamo Kyiv has an easy job also. They'll play Genk or Sarajevo (probably Sarajevo) and as much as i'd want the Bosnians to play CL i must admit it's impossible against a super force like Dinamo Kyiv
Fenerbahce-Anderlecht
I don't understand this one either. I was sure both these teams will be holders but it seems i was wrong.
Both play CL more or less regularly and both are solid enough to play CL this year. Fenerbahce bought some very well known and good players (like Roberto Carlos, Wederson, Richards) and they now have a very solid team with players like Lugano, Appiah, Kezman, Alex, Roberto Carlos, Dracena and some Turkish NT players.
They sold Tuncay (Middlesbrough) Rustu (Besiktas) Ozat (Koln) but they are still very strong, perhaps even stronger than last year.
Anderlecht should not be underestimated and eventhough i give small advantage to the Turkish side i'm sure this will turn out to be a 50-50 match with one single goal ( or even penalties) giving the overall winner.
Rangers - Red Star/Levadia
It will almost certainly be Rangers-Red Star. This would have been a hell of a chance for Red Star to play CL after 15 years but their team is not as strong this year. Rangers are nothing special but they are still favorites.
Toulouse-Liverpool
Lol, what a bad luck for Toulouse.
Pool aren't too happy with the draw either. They could have gotten much easier opponent than the 3rd placed team in France.
Benfica - Kobenhavn/Beitar
Benfika will play against the best scandinavian team or against the Israeli champions. If they get the Danish champions i think they'll have a lots of troubles because FCK have proven themselves last year when they eliminated Ajax and beaten Manchester Utd. They played in the same groups last year and Benfica was better ( 0:0- 3:1) but this year they lost Simao and it's yet to be seen how good they are without their leader.
Lazio - Dinamo Bucuresti
Lazio got the Romanian champion and eventhough they could have passed better than this, i don't think it's such a bad draw. Big chance for Lazio to play CL and bad draw for Dinamo B who would have played CL directly if Milan didn't win the CL :)
They don't have luck with the Italians !
Sparta Prague-Arsenal
Shame for such a CL regular like Sparta not to be seeded. It's unbelievable how they weren't holders.
Not too easy draw for Arsenal either but they should do the job in London
Zurich - Besiktas/Sheriff
Here will get an unexpected team in CL. Besiktas is a favorite to pass Sheriff but against Zurich it will be tough.
Sevilla-AEK
Another unlucky team - AEK
They were eliminated from the groups last year when Milan suprisingly lost at home to Lille and now they got Sevilla.
Greece will have to play with one team in CL this year, Olympiacos.
Sevilla-AEK
Another unlucky team - AEK
They were eliminated from the groups last year when Milan suprisingly lost at home to Lille and now they got Sevilla.
Greece will have to play with one team in CL this year, Olympiacos.[/QUOTE]
I got happy a lot, Sevilla was the team i wanted for AEK f..g Athens. It's time for us to reestablise the rules of the Greek championship if they want to be again competent in Europe. A few years ago Greece had 3 teams, this fact prooved very bad because the three teams from capital were taking the 3 places without investing money to create good teams. Olympiakos was helped by the referees to take the championship and they were appearing at the CL like the clowns of the competition. Last year PAOK didn't play at UEFA cup because we had a small depth, insteed they placed Atromitos Athens at Uefa cup for political reasons. Atromitos didn't have good points at the competition so it was finished by Sevilla. In contrast PAOK had a very good place at UEFA cup and we would probably be at the group stage. I am from Thessaloniki and i hate Athens but if you ask Ross who is Panathinaikos will confirm you that there were no investments. Panathiinaikos was winning away against Ajax of Litmanen at the semi finals and they concluded last year to be behind by Pari at 60` by 4-0.... :mad:
Benfica - Kobenhavn/Beitar
Benfika will play against the best scandinavian team or against the Israeli champions. If they get the Danish champions i think they'll have a lots of troubles because FCK have proven themselves last year when they eliminated Ajax and beaten Manchester Utd. They played in the same groups last year and Benfica was better ( 0:0- 3:1) but this year they lost Simao and it's yet to be seen how good they are without their leader.
a long time ago I studied at a high school in Jerusalem called 'Denmark'.
now my GialloNero nature will host their capital champs. what a world...
Yalla Beitar yallaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! :crazy: :D
Lol, Levski lost again (just like every single bettor in the world) :mad: and they are out of CL in the second Q round already.
Better luck next time....Zlat :diablo:
Tomorrow is the big day for Sarajevo, even if they lost 1-0 they'll go into the next round, I'm expecting veyr hard game here, and knowing oour style of football, Sarajevo will play very defensive since begining. and that could cost them next round...
Belive me or not, but I guess that they'll win in first game I bet on their win (6.30), tomorrow I'm playing X..
The game between Werder and Zagreb should be interesting, there are a few players who I want to watch more closely.
The game between Werder and Zagreb should be interesting, there are a few players who I want to watch more closely.
If Modric is one of them then i guarantee you won't be disappointed. The boy is unbelievably good. With such a weak physic he's winning all the duels, can't stop running and his passes are an enjoyment for the eyes. And even though a trequartista, he's a great tackler. I even wish he goes to Arsenal where he will develop into one of the best in the game
This video is from yesterday's match in CL Q
http://funnyandcoolvideos.blogspot.com/2007/08/blanka-vlasic-jump-over-207-cm.html
Watch between 40.00-35.00 sec. before the end of the video. You can see a typical Modric, both defensively and attacking wise. Modric is the blond guy, number 10
Yeh Tony Modric is one of them, hes very young and talented for his age as we can see in that clip in the video and I have seen other videos of him. I was told by somebody that Zagreb and Arsenal have this good relationship when it comes to transfers and that Shakhtar Donetsk made an offer for Eduardo which was more than what Arsenal offered but they turned it down? Im not sure if thats correct however I was told the reason for them to turn it down was because Dudu is an idol for the Zagreb fans and they would of only accepted an offer from a big club (Im sure he was linked with Chelsea earlier on in the year).
Dudu is special though as you can tell how strong he is, he scored against Arsenal in last years CL QF and against England, also his first goal was the type of goal which has been missing in Arsenal, a strong players who can head the ball, hes had some good games since joining. Modric is a player who I think can develop easily into one of Croatia's finest if nurtured correctly. What Arsenal fans would want to see would be a Dudu-Modric partnership building up within the team, however to be honest I cant see him joining Arsenal. The first reason is because I know he is expensive and a bright star in the Zagreb squad to let him go would cost a lot of money, much more than Dudu IMO and Wenger isnt the type to spend crazy on a player, also with the recent reports suggesting Bayern Munich have offered nearly 30M Euros for him would probably outbid anyone.
However if other reports are true about Arsenal having first refusal on him then im sure something can be worked out.
zlatanov
08-08-2007, 09:55
I agree that Modric is a fine talent in the making but lets not put our head where the heart is and get a little ahead of ourselves here - he is fine player, a fine talent, nothing more that we haven't seen in 5-10 and more newly promoted promising "stars" at the start of every season ... I personally expect him to develope into a very good player but not anywhere near one of the best in the game.
I have to say he seems like a very good guy, the type one would want for a best friend - shows lots of humilty and modesty - but often it's those who don;t have these characteristics that become successful abroad.
Anyways, Arsenal already have two identical to Modric players in Hleb and Rosicky - and frankly, the most I can see Modric develope into is a player of Hleb's or Rosicky's level (the Rosicky from Arsenal, not the one from his first 2 years at Dortmund) ... so, unless one of them has lost Wenger's faith or Wenger has lost his mind, I don't see Arsenal going for Modric especially considering that his pricetag won't on the cheap side.
Well Rosicky is one of the best Zlat ...... one of the best 50 in the world :D
That's what i meant when i said one of the best. Player that any team will want and a player that will make it into France Football top 50 of the year and people can vote for him when the best Euro player will be chosen. Rosicky level, Stankovic level that's where he'll be, imo.
He'll never be on CR7 or Kaka level but the way he's developing ( he's getting better and better with every next month, next match) you can be 100% neutral and see he's special.
Croatia didn't have such a player after Boban and when a team like Dinamo Zagreb is getting all these multi million offers for the kid (usually Eastern Europeans don't sell their players for more than 5-10m. The last huge transfer from EE was Sheva) then it's obvious that the big teams saw something not many players in Europe have.
@ MedellínBandit®
In Croatia people think that he's destined for Bayern. The Germans offered huge money for Modric (30m euro is a speculation, imo, but it's probably close to 20m), much more than the 10m Arsenal was willing to pay.
I want him in England though and i'll be sorry if he goes to Munich.
zlatanov
08-08-2007, 10:21
Well Rosicky is one of the best Zlat ...... one of the best 50 in the world :D
Rosicky at Arsenal one of the 50 best in the world? ... that's a statement even Arsenal fans would stay away from :grinser:
I am very surprised not to say shocked at the money european teams are offering for Modric - doubt Bayern would offer 30 mil for him but even 15 mil would be way too much IMO ... I just really don;t see him as so special to be honest, and I gave Hleb and Rosicky as an example of the absolute maximum level Modric could reach one day, with a big maybe in there too.
maybe it's just me and my talent-radar is jammed but I am surprised about the fuss created around him and all these rather high transfer fees.
Personally, I'd rather get sure things like Hleb or Rosicky for 10-15 mil than a talent that may or may not become an established player like them for the same amount, even higher if rumours are to be believed.
Anyways, I think Modric would be better off in Germany first - see Bayern or Werder as the perfect solution for him - as the EPl would be too physical and rough for him at this stage of his career ... it would be too risky IMO to throw him into that meat grinder so early as a failure now could well prove decisive for the rest of his career.
Plus the football played in germany would suit him better IMO - more technical, more ball on the ground approach compared to that senseless excercise of who will kick the ball higher and further away EPL teams are so good at, with the exception of Arsenal and probably ManU too (but still, the rest of the league don't follow suite).
LOL Rosicky is not one of the best, I think the main problem with Rosicky is that he is very injury prone. However I dont think they will let him go this summer, I think Inter are and Juventus were interested in him but this was his first season and with some players it takes a little bit longer to adapt. Alot of critisim has been thrown at Hleb but to be honest I think it should be equal between Rosicky & Hleb. If he doesnt have a good season next year then I think he could be on his way to Juventus as Nedveds replacement most likely.
Zlat you have some good points regarding him as a fine talent, currently Modric is in a bracket of good players who all have potential but the reality is only a few make it to the stage of being world class. When we’re talking about players turning into one of the best in the world its very hard to judge a player and say yes he will be the best in the world, Kaka before arriving to Milan I didn’t even know existed and never knew hed be world class, same could be said about R10 before he came over to PSG (Apart from Wenger who made us see players like Henry, Weah knew R10 had potential and tried to sign him before he ended up in PSG as he wanted to join a ‘low’ European team so he could build a name for him self). The only player who I think I knew would be world class at a very young age was Ronaldo (our), he was more like the second coming of Pele and everyone knew he would be special.
Just like you said about his price tag I doubt he would end up in Arsenal who will look at more younger players and probably get some one like Yohan Gouffran.
Tony, I know what you mean as I didn’t really want Toni and Ribery to go the Bundesliga, as I thought they could of offered more to the other top leagues in Europe, if Modric does decide to go to Germany then I think it will be a waste.
I guess time will tell
You know, after our golden generation, people in CRO were always looking for successors of Boban, Suker, Jarni and Prosinecki and papers were always full with the next Boban's and Suker's.
Some players were destined to become the best in the world in their positions. Starting from Simic, Tudor, Vlaovic, then Biscan, Vranjes, Balaban, Olic, Klasnic and in the last years Kranjcar was supposed to become the best Euro midfielder.
I never though, actually i was convinced they will never become big and they'll stay average or be total flops.
Dunno how good my talent radar is but i see Modric as a different animal and i'm convinced this time the papers aren't wrong.
Already at 21 he's a difference maker, Zlat. I don't know how many times you watched him, and how good he played then, but i guess you caught some of his bad matches.
Croatian team has no stars. We are technical and all but we play as a team. So far it's going good. We totally dominated every match and we're leading a pretty strong group with England, Russia and Israel.
With our team play we can do without any player, apart from Luka Modric. The boy is so important and so influential for us, and he's only 21. With only 16 caps he's the only one irreplaceable in the team.
Ok, it's not such a big thing to be the main player for Croatia, like it would be if you're Brazils, Italian or French main player, but hey, we're still talking about a regular participant on every WC and EC and the boy is the leader here.
I guess the big clubs saw all this and they saw that the kid is not such a risk (he'll be 22 in September, so he's not that young anymore).
And don't forget that the ones who are most fired up to get him are Bayern.
You know the Germans.....they do everything with a well thought plan :)
FT Levadia Tallinn 2 - 1 Red Star Belgrade
FT BATE Borisov 1 - 1 Hafnarfjordur
FT Elfsborg 0 - 0 Debrecen
FT FC Sheriff 0 - 3 Besiktas
FT Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 1 Pyunik
FT FK Sarajevo 0 - 1 Racing Genk
FT Steaua Bucuresti 2 - 1 Zaglebie Lubin
53' SV Salzburg 2 - 0 Ventspils
HT Rosenborg 4 - 1 FC Astana
HT Slavia Prague 0 - 0 Zilina
FT Levadia Tallinn 2 - 1 Red Star Belgrade
FT BATE Borisov 1 - 1 Hafnarfjordur
FT Elfsborg 0 - 0 Debrecen
FT FC Sheriff 0 - 3 Besiktas
FT Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 1 Pyunik
FT FK Sarajevo 0 - 1 Racing Genk
FT Steaua Bucuresti 2 - 1 Zaglebie Lubin
53' SV Salzburg 2 - 0 Ventspils
HT Rosenborg 4 - 1 FC Astana
HT Slavia Prague 0 - 0 Zilina
Only one unknown left , Slavia or Zilina .
The other pairs are known :
1. BATE Borisov (Belarus) v Steaua Bucuresti (Romania)
2. Tampere United (Finland) v Rosenborg (Norway)
3. Spartak Moskva (Russia) v Celtic (Scotland)
4. Werder Bremen (Germany) v Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
5. Salzburg (Austria) v Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
6. Valencia (Spain) v Elfsborg (Sweden)
7. Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina) v Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine)
8. Fenerbahçe (Turkey) v Anderlecht (Belgium)
9. Rangers (Scotland) v Crvena Zvezda (Serbia)
10.Toulouse (France) v Liverpool (England)
11.Benfica (Portugal) v FC København (Denmark)
12.Lazio (Italy) v Dinamo Bucuresti (Romania)
13.Sparta Praha (Czech Rep.) v Arsenal (England)
14.Zürich (Switzerland) v Beşiktaş (Turkey)
15. Sevilla (Spain) v AEK (Greece)
16. Ajax (Netherlands) - Zilina or Sparta Prague
The winners will play in CL groups.
You think some surprise is possible, Giorgos ? Do you think one of Valencia, Liverpool, Sevilla or Ajax may be eliminated ?
Only one unknown left , Slavia or Zilina .
The other pairs are known :
1. BATE Borisov (Belarus) v Steaua Bucuresti (Romania)
2. Tampere United (Finland) v Rosenborg (Norway)
3. Spartak Moskva (Russia) v Celtic (Scotland)
4. Werder Bremen (Germany) v Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
5. Salzburg (Austria) v Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
6. Valencia (Spain) v Elfsborg (Sweden)
7. Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina) v Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine)
8. Fenerbahçe (Turkey) v Anderlecht (Belgium)
9. Rangers (Scotland) v Crvena Zvezda (Serbia)
10.Toulouse (France) v Liverpool (England)
11.Benfica (Portugal) v FC København (Denmark)
12.Lazio (Italy) v Dinamo Bucuresti (Romania)
13.Sparta Praha (Czech Rep.) v Arsenal (England)
14.Zürich (Switzerland) v Beşiktaş (Turkey)
15. Sevilla (Spain) v AEK (Greece)
16. Ajax (Netherlands) - Zilina or Sparta Prague
The winners will play in CL groups.
You think some surprise is possible, Giorgos ? Do you think one of Valencia, Liverpool, Sevilla or Ajax may be eliminated ?
There are some tough couples: 1. BATE Borisov (Belarus) v Steaua Bucuresti (Romania)
3. Spartak Moskva (Russia) v Celtic (Scotland)
8. Fenerbahçe (Turkey) v Anderlecht (Belgium)
16. Ajax (Netherlands) - Sparta Prague
Ajax will have to fight a lot to pass moreover if they will sell Snejder (why Milan didn't) to Real Marid but i pint at the fact that they got away last season.
Valencia and Liverpool will pass if the "Reds" will not underestimate Toulouse
I am not convinced about the shape of Sevilla but if they will play their 70% of their perfomance will pass, but as Liverpool should not underestimate AEK f...ing Athens which very experienced in 3rd qual of CL (Passed Reingers, Grasxopers, Apoel, Hearts).
To see i surpirice i expect to see from Red Star and FC København (which is a tough team to pass).
Few points to make, first what a goal by Voronin he received the ball outside the area swiveled and then shot it straight into the top corner a little bit like what Henry did against Manchester United but still I think Liverpool should of scored more goals. I think they should let Voronin hang around with Sheva for a little bit lol, who knows maybe Chelsea might even put an offer for Voronin so one Ukrainian can help another.
Arsenal had a pretty tough game against Sparta and could of easily lost the game, however its nice seeing goals come from the midfield.
Dynamo I think were very unlucky yesterday and they could of easily won the game. Modric had a great game which im sure has attracted other clubs but most likely if he was to leave it would be next year as hes cup tied. I personally think what Dynamo missed the most yesterday was Eduardo, he would of finished and wrapped up the game for them.
Few points to make, first what a goal by Voronin he received the ball outside the area swiveled and then shot it straight into the top corner a little bit like what Henry did against Manchester United but still I think Liverpool should of scored more goals. I think they should let Voronin hang around with Sheva for a little bit lol, who knows maybe Chelsea might even put an offer for Voronin so one Ukrainian can help another.
Arsenal had a pretty tough game against Sparta and could of easily lost the game, however its nice seeing goals come from the midfield.
Dynamo I think were very unlucky yesterday and they could of easily won the game. Modric had a great game which im sure has attracted other clubs but most likely if he was to leave it would be next year as hes cup tied. I personally think what Dynamo missed the most yesterday was Eduardo, he would of finished and wrapped up the game for them.
Liverpool didn't play with more than 30% and still they won it easily. I think Toulouse were without one single chance for the entire 90 minutes. Super miracle needs to happen Toulouse to eliminate Pool.
Mascherano is a hell of a defensive midfielder.
I didn't watch Arsenal but i heard they went to Prague without attackers. There are classes separating these 2 teams and i wasn't surprised at all to see Arsenal getting a 0:2 win.
Dinamo payed for the inexperience. Defenders were very bad and looked scared. 2:1 away to Werder is a solid result. Too bad they couldn't hold for 5 more minutes. Dinamo still has good chances to pass the Germans.
Steaua :( . The conceded in last second of the match and killed 2 great tickets of mine. They'll do the job in Bucharest. 2:2 away in the 1st leg is a good result.
Sevilla, Valencia, Dynamo Kyiv and Rosenborg are 100% in CL, as expected.
The most unpleasant surprise was Ajax-Slavia Prague 0:1 . Wasn't a big surprise for me, because Ajax lost a lot this summer and Czechs are always a hard nut to brake for the Dutch. If Ajax don't perform superbly in Prague then they're out. It will be strange to watch CL two years in a row without one of it's most succesful teams- Ajax.
I'm also sorry for Red Star. They have an average team, their worst team in last 10 years and still they had their greatest chance to go to CL because they finally got an easier opponents (comparing to the opponents they got in the past). Rangers are very very weak and they don't deserve CL. The match in Glasgow was chanceless until the end when a last minute goal by Novo gives Rangers a big advantage and i doubt Red Star will make it to CL.
Some matches are totally unpredictable :
Celtic-Spartak ( first leg in Moscow 1:1)
FCK-Benfica (first leg in Lisboa 2:1 for Benfica)
Shaktiar-Salzburg (first leg in Austria 1:0 for Salzburg)
Dinamo B. Lazio (first leg 1:1)
Besiktas-Zurich ( first leg 1:1 in Zurich)
and Anderlecht-Fenerbahce (Fener won 1:0 at home in first leg)
I guess time will tell
You know, after our golden generation, people in CRO were always looking for successors of Boban, Suker, Jarni and Prosinecki and papers were always full with the next Boban's and Suker's.
Some players were destined to become the best in the world in their positions. Starting from Simic, Tudor, Vlaovic, then Biscan, Vranjes, Balaban, Olic, Klasnic and in the last years Kranjcar was supposed to become the best Euro midfielder.
I never though, actually i was convinced they will never become big and they'll stay average or be total flops.
Dunno how good my talent radar is but i see Modric as a different animal and i'm convinced this time the papers aren't wrong.
Already at 21 he's a difference maker, Zlat. I don't know how many times you watched him, and how good he played then, but i guess you caught some of his bad matches.
Croatian team has no stars. We are technical and all but we play as a team. So far it's going good. We totally dominated every match and we're leading a pretty strong group with England, Russia and Israel.
With our team play we can do without any player, apart from Luka Modric. The boy is so important and so influential for us, and he's only 21. With only 16 caps he's the only one irreplaceable in the team.
Ok, it's not such a big thing to be the main player for Croatia, like it would be if you're Brazils, Italian or French main player, but hey, we're still talking about a regular participant on every WC and EC and the boy is the leader here.
I guess the big clubs saw all this and they saw that the kid is not such a risk (he'll be 22 in September, so he's not that young anymore).
And don't forget that the ones who are most fired up to get him are Bayern.
You know the Germans.....they do everything with a well thought plan :)
Apart from Modric, who could really become an important european player in the next years if things go well ( if he was french or english player the price would already been 30 mln ), Rakitic also plays super talented football and is only 19 with Schalke no10 on his back. Corluka has all the caracteristics to become as good as R.Kovac and Eduardo is already in Arsenal with Wenger. Its nice to see some young players in our first national team!
Dinamo played good yesterday but Im not sure they'll make it now...
Also keep in mind Liverpool's match was for some reason ridiculously early and in temperatures of over 100 degrees. Plus rotating the side meant keeping usual players fresh for Sunday against Chelsea.
Voronin looks a great purchase though, he should start alongside Torres i think.
So Dinamo-Lazio and Steaua-Lazio for today which teams will pass?
To say the truth although a lot of you are Croatians, i think Werder will pass and maybe i want to because they play very good football the last years although they are in a Crisis now. In the second game i think Rangers will pass and it is very probable even to win however i want the Serbian team to pass but after the goal of Novo at 90' of the first game the things are difficult.
kastriot
28-08-2007, 13:21
So Dinamo-Lazio and Steaua-Lazio for today which teams will pass?
To say the truth although a lot of you are Croatians, i think Werder will pass and maybe i want to because they play very good football the last years although they are in a Crisis now. In the second game i think Rangers will pass and it is very probable even to win however i want the Serbian team to pass but after the goal of Novo at 90' of the first game the things are difficult.
Well Giorgos....you should have seen the first leg btw Werder and Dinamo, than you`d have a different opinion on whos is playing better at the moment
Red Star are the better team in the first 45 minutes. Rangers are all defense, but the result is still 0:0 after the first half. In the first match Rangers got a very lucky last minute undeserved win.
Even though i didn't expect it when i saw the draw, i think Red Star deserves to play in CL much more than Rangers do and if they continue pressing and pushing like they did in the first half i can easily see them getting the win tonight and qualifying for CL.
Like Kastriot said, Dinamo Zagreb has a good chance to qualify. They've proven in the first leg that they are at least on-par with Werder.
In 10 minutes Dinamo Bucharest-Lazio will start. Normally i would have wanted a Romanian team to qualify, but since they'll probably have Steaua in CL and since i like this Lazio, i hope Lazio will go through
So... Forza Dinamo (Zagreb), forza Lazio and forza Zvezda
After losing 1:0 at HT Lazio now took the control and they scored 3 goals in 20 minutes :)
Lazio is in CL , unless a miracle happens and Dinamo Bucharest scores 3 goals till the end of the match.
Rocchi-Pandev partnership is destroying Dinamo.
Hasan Rossonero
28-08-2007, 15:47
After losing 1:0 at HT Lazio now took the control and they scored 3 goals in 20 minutes :)
Lazio is in CL , unless a miracle happens and Dinamo Bucharest scores 3 goals till the end of the match.
Rocchi-Pandev partnership is destroying Dinamo.
:D
Any word on the Lazio punishment from UEFA?
I didn't have the time to post earlier but i can still make prediction
in Dinamo Kiev-Saragevo at 32' the score is 1-0 i think Dinamo will pass because is more experienced
in Shakxtar-Salzburg which is 1-1 at 32' i expected the Austrians to score a goal, i believe the Austrians will pass and i want it to see a team in groups after a long time
At Celtic-Spartak Moscow i believed it was one of the toughest games but i think because the Russians didn't win in the first game is very difficult for every team to take a very good result at the "Celtic Park".
I don't speak about Gunners so in Besictas-Zurich the favourites seem to be the Turks but there is a small chance for a surprice.
Slavia-Ajax one of the most expected 2nd games, i expect from Ajax if they will not do it at least to be in front, to see an extra time et.c, also i want them in group stage because they are a legend team in the magnificent "Amsterdam Arena".
Dinamo Zagreb - Werder your game, i wanted Werder to pass because they are more experienced and if some players will adjust better will be more competitive in the group stage than you. For sure Werder will need an away goal to pass while you i think you will have your mind first in defence and then score to the chanses that will appear to you. A small advantage to Werder because you cannot miss all your sunshine after a departure.
Steaua -Bate an open game also, i think Hagi wanted to create a team which will pass in the group stage and he will probably do it.
Fenerbahce - Anderlecht, the Turks again are the favourites and if Anderlext will not make the surprice opening goal, Fenerbache will be to the group stage.
About Rosenborg also no thing to talk about and the same come for Valencia with Elfsborg.
And then i will wait to speak about our wanted opponents....
What a match in Donieck. :)
Salzburg had the lead after the first match (1:0) and they took the lead early in today's match. Shakhtar needed 3 goals.......and they scored them.
It was 1:1 until 79th minute and then Castillo scored from penalty while Brandao made everyone in the stadium go crazy with his goal 3 minutes from time.
Salzburg is OUT while Shakhtar Donieck will again play in Champions league.
3:1 FT , Shakhtar wins 3:2 on aggregate.
btw, Lucarelli scored the first goal for Shakhtar
Another Ukrainian team easily made it to CL groups. Dynamo Kyiv had absolutely no problems with Sarajevo and they won 3:0 today, 4:0 on agg.
zlatanov
29-08-2007, 13:02
just finished watching the Shakter game and it was ... nice :), the result was even better :D
that PK was quite a soft one and many refs wouldn't have given it but at least the team that plays the better football goes thru - lots of quality players in that Shakter side and would have been a big miss not to have them in the CL.
referee in dinamo - werder is a muppet
I hope you will all see highlights and see what is foul for penalty kick and what is not foul for PK according to this ref.
And how dinamo gets yellow card and how dinamo doesn't even get a foul.
1:1, 25th minute !
Edit: Oh, crap, what did Dinamo just miss now :mad:
Edit2 : And now Dinamo hits the bar
Werder will punish this :notlist:
Lol, crazy things happening all over Europe
Dinamo-Werder 2:2 , 40th minute ... the referee Hauge is hilarious. He must retire immediately.
Celtic-Spartak Moscow 1:0 , 30th minute. Spartak missed a penalty 5 minutes ago and Celtic immediately punished them.
Slavia-Ajax 1:1 .... people who watch the match are praising Huntelaar.
FC Kopenhagen-Benfica 0:1 after FCK missed very good chance
Anderlecht-Fenerbahce 0:1 but Anderlecht missed one great chance, hit the bar and then Roberto Carlos played with his hand in the box but the ref gives nothing
zlatanov
29-08-2007, 14:19
referee in dinamo - werder is a muppet
I hope you will all see highlights and see what is foul for penalty kick and what is not foul for PK according to this ref.
And how dinamo gets yellow card and how dinamo doesn't even get a foul.
1:1, 25th minute !
Edit: Oh, crap, what did Dinamo just miss now :mad:
Edit2 : And now Dinamo hits the bar
Werder will punish this :notlist:
yeah pretty different standard there by Hauge - very soft PK for Werder, I think there was contact but most refs would have fallen for this, while on Modric, I think, there was plenty more contact but no PK for Hauge.
Anyways, Dinamo scored for 1-1 after a serious deflection but another 10-15 min later Dinamo got lost in their attacking endeavours and allowed Werder to take them on the counter for Sanogo to score on the rebound ... this is where the lack of experience got the better of Dinamo as that 2nd away goal could potentially be a fate-sealer for this tie.
5 min later Dinamo do get a PK and Modric scored it very nicely for 2-2 but Dinamo still need 2 more goals in order to make it thru.
It's not an impossible task as Dinamo are playing well and creating chances but they have to be more careful and concentrated at the back and not rush too much forward as there is a whole 2nd half to be played.
zlatanov
29-08-2007, 14:22
Lol, crazy things happening all over Europe
Dinamo-Werder 2:2 , 40th minute ... the referee Hauge is hilarious. He must retire immediately.
Celtic-Spartak Moscow 1:0 , 30th minute. Spartak missed a penalty 5 minutes ago and Celtic immediately punished them.
Slavia-Ajax 1:1 .... people who watch the match are praising Huntelaar.
FC Kopenhagen-Benfica 0:1 after FCK missed very good chance
Anderlecht-Fenerbahce 0:1 but Anderlecht missed one great chance, hit the bar and then Roberto Carlos played with his hand in the box but the ref gives nothing
Huntelaar gave a very nice pass to Suarez to score for 1-1 after Slavia had take the lead but other than that, hasn't done nothing more than what Gila is doing in almost every game and gets slaughtered for being "crap" after that :)
http://forum.bettingadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=67990&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=850
Btw, if someone wants to follow all the matches (reports from every matches) this link will do the job. Everyone is following a certain match and is updating minute by minute
My tectician bring me my computer half an hour ago i download programmes, so bad is the referee with Dinamo? i just found that Slavia-Ajax is in lively in a Greek channel.
I could see only once the penalty of Modric which seemed to be, at first glance the penalty for Diego it doesn't seem to be but in the goal of Sanongo the defence of Dinamo was absent. I was watching Slavia-Ajax between 76-73 Vaniac saved superbly a face to face from Suarez and two headers from Suarez and Huntelaar. By watching the second half i think Ajax was unlucky but had very incapable defence so Slavia scored in counter attack, the Chech's finally qualified in the qroup stage after 5 failures in the past. I wanted Ajax i think whichever face Slavia in the group stage will have easy work to do.
Here you go my friends :
If Sevilla qualifies this is how the pots will look:
Pot1 : Milan, Barcelona, Liverpool, Inter, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea
Pot2: Valencia, Lyon, Sevilla, Porto, PSV, Roma, Benfika, Werder Bremen
Pot3: Celtic, Schalke04, Stuttgart, Steaua, CSKA Moscow, Sporting, Lazio, Marselle,
Pot4: Glasgow Rangers, Shakhtar Donieck, Besiktas, Olympiacos, Dynamo Kyiv, Fenerbahce, Slavia Prague, Rosenborg
If AEK qualifies :
Pot1 : Milan, Barcelona, Liverpool, Inter, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea
Pot2: Valencia, Lyon, Porto, PSV, Roma, Benfika, Werder Bremen, Celtic
Pot3: Schalke 04, Stuttgart, Steaua, CSKA Moscow, Sporting, Lazio, Marselle, Glasgow Rangers
Pot4: Shakhtar Donieck, Besiktas, Olympiacos, Dynamo Kyiv, Fenerbahce, AEK, Slavia Prague, Rosenborg
Note: Milan can not be in the same group with another team from pot1.
Milan will get one team from pot2, one from pot3 and one from pot4 in their group but they can not get another Italian team. So Lazio and Roma can not be in the same group with Milan
I believe Sevilla will qualify so the first option will be the real one. If that’s the case then this is how, imo, the toughest and the easiest group for Milan would look :
Milan
Valencia
Schalke/Stuttgart
Shakhtar Donieck
Milan
PSV/Benfica
Steaua
Rosenborg
Here you go my friends :
If Sevilla qualifies this is how the pots will look:
Pot1 : Milan, Barcelona, Liverpool, Inter, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea
Pot2: Valencia, Lyon, Sevilla, Porto, PSV, Roma, Benfika, Werder Bremen
Pot3: Celtic, Schalke04, Stuttgart, Steaua, CSKA Moscow, Sporting, Lazio, Marselle,
Pot4: Glasgow Rangers, Shakhtar Donieck, Besiktas, Olympiacos, Dynamo Kyiv, Fenerbahce, Slavia Prague, Rosenborg
If AEK qualifies :
Pot1 : Milan, Barcelona, Liverpool, Inter, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea
Pot2: Valencia, Lyon, Porto, PSV, Roma, Benfika, Werder Bremen, Celtic
Pot3: Schalke 04, Stuttgart, Steaua, CSKA Moscow, Sporting, Lazio, Marselle, Glasgow Rangers
Pot4: Shakhtar Donieck, Besiktas, Olympiacos, Dynamo Kyiv, Fenerbahce, AEK, Slavia Prague, Rosenborg
Note: Milan can not be in the same group with another team from pot1.
Milan will get one team from pot2, one from pot3 and one from pot4 in their group but they can not get another Italian team. So Lazio and Roma can not be in the same group with Milan
I believe Sevilla will qualify so the first option will be the real one. If that’s the case then this is how, imo, the toughest and the easiest group for Milan would look :
Milan
Valencia
Schalke/Stuttgart
Shakhtar Donieck
Milan
PSV/Benfica
Steaua
Rosenborg
Sorry Tony but even the toughest is not enough fpr Milan :5ok: . We will pass first....
Tony I didnt get to watch the other games as I was watching the Arsenal game, I must say im impressed with Dudu so far (he did more in the 15 mins of the Man City game than what Adebayor did for 75 mins) I think he will start most games and then probably get replaced with Ade later on. He created the second goal with a pretty neat skill going around the defender and then passing on to Fabregas, the third goal was even better IMO it was pretty difficult but he controlled it well.
Milan, Porto, Schalke, Glasqow Rangers a prediction
But i think the easiest is Slavia Prague and Olympiakos :grinser: .
Maldini+Nesta
10-09-2007, 21:03
LOL Rosicky is not one of the best, I think the main problem with Rosicky is that he is very injury prone.
I'm with you. I think this is Rosicky last season with Arsenal unless he steps up and delivers some goals. I think 10 goals would be great from him.
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