UEFA Champions League 2010-2011

[Mystik]

I thought we would need a thread to generally discuss the upcoming CL (not only matches regarding our beloved A.C. Milan)

Sampdoria is currently in a qualifying game against Werder Bremen in Germany. Werder Bremen are currently owning the majority of possession and Samp's midfield is really struggling to impose itself on the game. I haven't seen much of Cassano or Pazzini since I tuned in around the 20th minute.

Anybody with predictions regarding this CL? One thing I know is CERTAIN is that Inter cannot, should not, and WILL NOT successfully defend their title.

EDIT #1 Can a Mod move this to General Football? I made it in the wrong section :$.

EDIT #2: Here are all the qualifying games:

17 August 2010
Zenit 1-0 Auxerre
Referee: Björn Kuipers (NED)
Stadium: Petrovsky, St Petersburg (RUS)

Rosenborg 2-1 København
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Stadium: Lerkendal, Trondheim (NOR)

Sparta Praha 0-2 Žilina
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Stadium: Letná, Prague (CZE)

Young Boys 3-2 Tottenham
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)
Stadium: Stade de Suisse, Berne (SUI)

Dynamo Kyiv 1-1 Ajax
Referee: Massimo Busacca (SUI)
Stadium: Valeriy Lobanovskiy Stadium, Kyiv (UKR)

18 August 2010 (currently in progress)

Salzburg 1-2 H. Tel-Aviv

Referee: Pedro Proença (POR)
Stadium: Stadion Salzburg, Salzburg (AUT)

Basel 0-0 Sheriff

Referee: Terje Hauge (NOR)
Stadium: St. Jakob-Park, Basel (SUI)

Partizan 0-0 Anderlecht

Referee: Claus Bo Larsen (DEN)
Stadium: FK Partizan, Belgrade (SRB)

Braga 0-0 Sevilla
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (GER)
Stadium: Municipal, Braga (POR)

Bremen 0-0 Sampdoria
Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (FRA)
Stadium: Weser-Stadion, Bremen (GER)

[Reza]

Bremen had a very good first half, life after Ozil has started ok.

CL predictions...anybody except ManU, Bayern and Inter :D

[Mystik]

Hey Reza can you move it to General football please? I made it in the wrong section.

[Mystik]

Well that should be that...currently 3-0 Werder Bremen. Juventus better hurry up and start being a good side again because I think the best 4 representatives for Italy in the CL are Milan, Inter, Juve and Roma.

[Reza]

German team beating up on Italian team, helps the coefficient a lot :rollani:

[Kaka1899]

but with Pazzo goal a 2-0 will now do it for Samp at home, sadly i feel bremen will score again in the tie. anyway surely Samp have more chance of picking up points in the europa league than the CL?

[Nalx]

Poli, whom Allegri dubbed as the Italian best young midfielder and were linked to us this summer, was the only reason I watched the match. Too bad he only came later in the 2nd half when the game was pretty much decided and wasn't involved in their only goal either.


Pazzini's goal somehow kept Sampdoria hope alive, though judging from how they played last night I doubt they'll make it to the next round.

[Codino]

the card changed the match as it usually does.. pretty soft yellow. id probably give the penalty though. Pazzini was pretty lively and did well with hat he had, but they are in a massive hole here. i can't see them getting through sadly. 2-0 is possible, but we'll see.

[Nalx]

The second leg between Samps v Bremen was similar to the first one. The hosts comfortably took the lead before letting their guard down in the dying minutes. I don't know if it's bad decision or bad luck (or both) with Samps' substitutions. Tissone (?) lasted less than 5 mins. Cassano was replaced after scoring from a backheel to make the scoreline 3-0, perhaps with the intention to give the crowds a chance to give him a standing ovation. But after Rosenberg's goal and into extra time, it was obvious Bremen had the advantage as Samps no longer had player who can create attack.


Tonight I kept changing from Barca v Milan to Spurs v Young Boys. Mostly I watched the latter though, and again I'm impressed by Bale who set up their last two goals.

[GeoTav]

The second leg between Samps v Bremen was similar to the first one. The hosts comfortably took the lead before letting their guard down in the dying minutes. I don't know if it's bad decision or bad luck (or both) with Samps' substitutions. Tissone (?) lasted less than 5 mins. Cassano was replaced after scoring from a backheel to make the scoreline 3-0, perhaps with the intention to give the crowds a chance to give him a standing ovation. But after Rosenberg's goal and into extra time, it was obvious Bremen had the advantage as Samps no longer had player who can create attack.


Tonight I kept changing from Barca v Milan to Spurs v Young Boys. Mostly I watched the latter though, and again I'm impressed by Bale who set up their last two goals.

But he has no place in our team ... Last year (start of the season) and before, he was used as a LB, but he really lost his place there, Assou Ekoto replacing him, and he just shows he is a left midfielder/winger, not a LB each time he plays. This kind of player isn't needed in our team IMO.

[GeoTav]

CHAPEAU 1

Inter Milan (ITA)
FC Barcelone (ESP)
Manchester United (ANG)
Chelsea (ANG)
Arsenal (ANG)
Bayern Munich (ALL)
Milan AC (ITA)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)

CHAPEAU 2

Werder Brême (ALL)
Real Madrid (ESP)
AS Rome (ITA)
Shakthar Donetsk (UKR)
Benfica (POR)
Valence (ESP)
Marseille (FRA)
Panathinaikos (GRE)

CHAPEAU 3

Tottenham (ANG)
Glasgow Rangers (ECO)
Ajax Amsterdam (P-B)
Schalke 04 (ALL)
FC Bâle (SUI)
Braga (POR)
FC Copenhague (DAN)
Spartak Moscou (RUS)

CHAPEAU 4

FC Twente (P-B)
Hapoël Tel-Aviv (ISR)
Rubin Kazan (RUS)
AJ Auxerre (FRA)
Cluj (ROM)
Partizan Belgrade (SRB)
MSK Zilina (SVK)
Bursaspor (TUR)

Here are the teams qualified for the next CL. At 18:00, we'll know what are the groups.
In italics: the teams it would be better not to have in the group because it could cause a "group of death" ...
For example, Milan-Real-Tottenham-Rubin Kazan is the kind of big group we could have ...

[Nalx]

Well if we can accept Abate as our side back because he has the speed to make up for defensive frailty, or Boateng as our 1st choice for LM because he can add a bit of muscle into our mid; then I see no reason why Bale can't do the same for us as I think he too has what it takes to be a complete box-to-box midfielder.


That said, I agree with you NOW he's not the kind of player we need the most.


ps: I just saw a UCL thread on the Games & Tactics section. Perhaps we should merge these threads.

[savage_mau]

Great ! it milan vs Madrid again in group match !!!

[savage_mau]

Milan in group of death now!!! Ajax , Madrid ..........Thanks to sneijder draw

[Dr Milano]

Milan in group of death now!!! Ajax , Madrid ..........Thanks to sneijder draw

add auxxere to that :$ thannk to milito

[mzk57]

This time the Madrid matches won't be that easy, simply because of one man, Jose Mourinho.

[Xudong]

that's true, but hopefully Real Madrid is still Real Madrid. ;)