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Champions League
Topic Started: Aug 13 2007, 02:00 PM (4,075 Views)
Manzanares
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It's still summer time but the preliminary rounds of the Champions Legaue are already underway. The initial round of prelim games has already been played to eliminate the champions of Lithuania, Albania and Slovenia, etc. but now the 3rd and where applicable 4th place teams from the bigger leagues join the action along with the champions and runners up from middle level leagues like Turkey, Scotland, Serbia, Belgium, Romania etc.

Here is this week's schedule, first leg home teams listed first:

BATE Borisov (BLR) Steaua Bucharest. (RUM)
Tampere United (FIN) Rosenborg (NOR) -
Spartak Moscú (RUS) Celtic (ESC) -
Werder Bremen (ALE) Dinamo Z.(CRO) -
Salzburgo (AUT) Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) -
Ajax (HOL) Slavia Praga(CZE) -
Valencia (ESP) Elfsborg (SUE) -
Sarajevo (BOS) Dinamo Kiev (UKR) -
Fenerbahce (TUR) Anderlecht (BEL) -
Glasgow Rangers (ESC) Estrella Roja (SER) -
Toulouse (FRA) Liverpool (ING) -
Benfica (POR) Copenhague (DIN) -
Lazio (ITA) Dinamo Bucarest (RUM) -
Sparta Praga (CZE) Arsenal (ING) -
Zúrich (SUI) Besiktas (TUR) -
Sevilla (ESP) AEK Atenas (GRE) -
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siralfred
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Definitely some interesting match-ups here. With my limited grasp of some of the leagues you're all welcome to correct me - I haven't been watching the transfer market that closely, but what are the ones that are too close to call or possible upsets? Well matched ties that jump out at me are:

Spartak Moscow - Celtic
Fenerbahce - Anderlecht
Rangers - Red Star

Good chance of an upset:
Dinamo Zagreb gets by Werder Bremen
Slavia Prague knocks out Ajax

Probably too much to hope for, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed:
Toulouse takes out the Scousers (Oh please, God, please!!!! - and Swedish striker Johan Elmander scores the deciding goal)
Copenhagen knock out Benfica (Another Swedish striker, Marcus Allback, takes care of this one)
Bucarest lay Lazio to rest
Sparta Prague disarm the Arsenal

Also, Athens could take down Sevilla, though it's not what I want to happen.

A dream come true, and it IS just a dream:
Valencia knocked out by Elfsborg :lol: only 'cause I'm Swedish, tho'. And I don't like Valencia for what happened to Inter last season.

BATE Borisov (BLR) Steaua Bucharest. (RUM)
Tampere United (FIN) Rosenborg (NOR) -
Spartak Moscú (RUS) Celtic (ESC) -
Werder Bremen (ALE) Dinamo Z.(CRO) -
Salzburgo (AUT) Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) -
Ajax (HOL) Slavia Praga(CZE) -
Valencia (ESP) Elfsborg (SUE) -
Sarajevo (BOS) Dinamo Kiev (UKR) -
Fenerbahce (TUR) Anderlecht (BEL) -
Glasgow Rangers (ESC) Estrella Roja (SER) -
Toulouse (FRA) Liverpool (ING) -
Benfica (POR) Copenhague (DIN) -
Lazio (ITA) Dinamo Bucarest (RUM) -
Sparta Praga (CZE) Arsenal (ING) -
Zúrich (SUI) Besiktas (TUR) -
Sevilla (ESP) AEK Atenas (GRE) -
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Yogi
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I pretty much agree with Siralfred's picks of the games which look too close to call. Spartak Moscow-Celtic looks like a very even matchup and we all know it never is easy to play in Russia but Celtic had a pretty good run last season in the Champions League and we know they're a tough team to beat in Glasgow. But Celtic will need to play better than they did last month during their US tour.

DaMarcus Beasley should start for Rangers and interestingly after only a week of training Freddy Adu has been named to Benfica's roster. Since I won't be able to see any Portuguese league games I'll be hoping benfica can qualify for the Champions League group stage and give us a chance to see Adu and Benfica.

This will be Lazio's first CL game in a long time and Dinamo Bucharest won't be a pushover. Liverpool will be the favorites against Toulouse but the French club could give them a good matchup. French clubs have had a pretty good record recently of at leats making the group stages.
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Merengue
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I too think siralfred's picks of the games too close to call look about right. Sevilla will be favorites over AEK Athens but AEK won't be an easy opponent and interestingly they're coached by Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, an ex Barcelona and more importantly former Betis coach so you know he's looking forward to playing Sevilla again! The big news leading up to this game is Sevilla decided not to call Daniel Alves in for this game so he won't be "Cup tied" in the Champions League which is increasing the speculation that he's about to be transferred to Chelsea. Kanoute, Poulsen and Kerzakhov who all missed the first leg last week of the Spanish Super Cup are expected to play against AEK but Navarro, Adriano and Escude are still injured.

Valencia won't be able to use Zigic who isn't fully fit and Morientes also isn't expected to start today when they play Elfsborg. Silva will start behind Villa with Gavilan, now fully recovered from injury, playing on the left of midfield and Joaquin on the right. Valencia should beat Elfsborg but the Swedish club will be more game fit as valencia are still in their preseason.

Like Yogi I'll be hoping Benfica qualifies for the group stage not only to see Adu but because I've always enjoyed watching Benfica play and especially like seeing Rui Costa. I'll also be hoping Roberto Carlos' new club Fenerbahce makes it through too.
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xeneize
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Tuesday's first leg results:

Rangers 1-0 Red Star
Lazio 1-1 Dinamo Bucharest
Valencia 3-0 Elfsborg
Benfica 2-1 Copenhagen

Except for Valencia these first leg games were all very close and the home teams struggled. Rui Costa scored twice including a 86th minute winner to give Benfica the victory over Copenhagen who scored through Canada's Hutchinson. Freddy Adu by the way entered as a first half sub and from reports I read didn't have any effect on the game but not a bad way to make your debut in a European qualifying match.

Rangers got a 90th minute goal from sub Nacho Novo to beat Red Star in Glasgow while Lazio missed a penalty (by Rocchi) but Mutarelli tied the game up for them setting up a difficult return leg. Valencia meanwhile got goals from Vicente, Silva and sub Morientes for an easy victory.
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siralfred
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Though Valencia's roster doesn't quite boast the biggest stars of the game, 3 - 0 at Mestalla against a side whose go to guy is a Swedish international* who couldn't get a contract extension at Southampton does seem like coming up short. Apparently the Swedish keeper had the game of his life, but even if he repeats that at home it's not likely to be enough.

And not to state the obvious, but away goals for Bucharest and Copenhagen could prove very valuable.

*) Anders Svensson did however score the goal that essentially knocked Argentina out of WC2002.
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Manzanares
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I don't know Sir Alfred looks to me like a 3-0 lead is pretty comfortable for Valencia headed to Sweden. The other 3 games are certainly still up for grabs but I think it is a relatively safe bet that Valencia will make the group stages. When was the last time they've conceeded 3 goals? I'm thinking both Prague clubs will give Ajax and Arsenal good games today.
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rosarino
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Wednesday's first leg scores,

Toulouse 0 - 1 Liverpool
Spartak Moscow 1 - 1 Celtic
Tampere United 0 - 3 Rosenborg
BATE Borisov 2 - 2 Steaua Bucuresti
Fenerbahce 1 - 0 Anderlecht
FK Sarajevo 0 - 1 Dynamo Kyiv
Zurich 1 - 1 Besiktas
Ajax Amsterdam 0 - 1 Slavia Prague
SV Salzburg 1 - 0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Werder Bremen 2 - 1 Dinamo Zagreb
Sevilla 2 - 0 AEK Athens
Sparta Prague 0 - 2 Arsenal

Good call Manzanares about Slavia Prague as they upset Ajax in Amsterdam as they converted a Pk and Ajax missed one. Their neighbors Sparta did less well losing at home to Arsenal. Sevilla beat Rivaldo's new club (and Rodolfo Arruabarrena's too) AEK Athens 2-0 and a pair of players who starred in the U-20 World Cup, Argentina's defender Federico Fazio and Spanish winger Diego Capel started for them but Jesus Navas was the star setting up both goals.

Rosenborg with a convincing road win practiclaly sends them through but Roberto Carlos' Fenerbahce will have a tough 2nd leg game against Anderlecht. Liverpool got a road goal well scored by new signing Voronin even though Toulouse apparently had more chances in the game. But it was Ajax's home loss which was the big upset of this round.
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Winslow
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Two other big names that'll have to do better in the second leg are Werder Bremen and Celtic. And if Besiktas and Fenerbahce both advance, will that be 3 Turkish teams in the CL? That's a first.

No disrespect to Dynamo Kyiv, but remembering the early '90s, I would love to see FK Sarajevo in the CL.
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siralfred
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Forza Zlatan!
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Manzanares,Aug 15 2007
10:07 AM
I don't know Sir Alfred looks to me like a 3-0 lead is pretty comfortable for Valencia headed to Sweden. The other 3 games are certainly still up for grabs but I think it is a relatively safe bet that Valencia will make the group stages. When was the last time they've conceeded 3 goals? I'm thinking both Prague clubs will give Ajax and Arsenal good games today.

Of course the bats will not lose by four goals away - they probably won't lose at all. It's just that Elfsborg barely made it this far, getting through with single goals against Irish Linfield and hungarian Debrecen. So for Valencia to only score 3 goals in 90 minutes seems like a poor performance.

The gap between the bigger leagues and the smaller is growing. All the best talent is concentrated in the top 5 or 6, and the rest are just developing more of it - or acting as rest homes for aging superstars. The days when IFK Gothenburg could win a european title are long gone.
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xeneize
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You are right siralfred that the gap between the haves and have nots is widening but at least there still are "lesser" teams like Porto, Monaco and PSV who have gone on good runs in recent Champions Leagues which gives hope to all that they can repeat those performances.

I have to admit that Ajax losing at home is a surprise but then again they haven't done much at all in Europe in the past 4 years and losing their best player Sneijder transferred to Madrid a few days before this game couldn't have helped.
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Merengue
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Sevilla's game at AEK Athens was postponed until next Monday because of Antonio Puerta's tragic death this morning. But 3 other 2nd leg qualifiers took place today.

Rangers pulled out a 0-0 draw at Red Star Belgrade to advance 1-0 on aggregate. Lazio went a goal down in Romania but with 2 Tomasso Rocchi goals won 3-1 (4-2 aggregate) while Liverpool easily beat Toulouse 4-0 (5-0 overall).
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Simon
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I was flicking between the Rangers and Liverpool games, the Rangers game kicked off 45 mins earlier than the game at Anfield. Rangers produced a disciplined performance to get their 0-0 draw with Red Star, and had a couple of half chances to have won the game. But they still look a bit too limited to make a dent in the group stages, in my opinion.

Liverpool against Toulouse was a real mismatch. Gerrard and Carragher are both injured and this was apprently the first time in 103 European games that Liverpool have not fielded either of them. Liverpool made several changes to their 'usual' line-up but still fielded a strong side, which is testament to their current strength in depth. For example, Crouch and Kuyt was an effective forward partnership even if Torres and Voronin have been preferred so far. Crouch opened the scoring from an excellent Kuyt cross, and the Dutchman scored the 3rd and 4th goals after Hyypia headed the 2nd from a corner. Mascherano played his first game of the season and his compatriot Sebastian Leto made a reasonably promising debut on Liverpool's left wing.
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Winslow
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The third round is over (except for the postponed Sevilla-AEK match), and the only real surprise is Ajax being knocked out by Slavia Prague--though Xeneize is right that this is not a very good Ajax side right now. Celtic did need penalties to get past Spartak Moscow.

So we have a lot of familiar names in the league, but it's interesting to see multiple qualifiers from several of the lower-tier leagues: Celtic and Rangers from Scotland, Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk from Ukraine, Fenerbahce and Besiktas from Turkey.

Wednesday's second-leg results FWIW:

Anderlecht 0, Fenerbahce 2 (aggregate 0-3)
Arsenal 3, Sparta Prague 0 (5-0)
Besiktas 2, FC Zurich 0 (3-1)
Celtic 1, Spartak Moscow 1 (2-2; Celtic wins on PKs 4-3)
FC Copenhagen 0, Benfica 1 (1-3)
Dinamo Zagreb 2, Werder Bremen 3 (3-5)
Dynamo Kyiv 3, FK Sarajevo 0 (4-0)
Elfsborg 1, Valencia 2 (5-1)
Rosenborg 2, Tampere United 0 (5-0)
Shakhtar Donetsk 3, Salzberg 1 (3-2)
Slavia Prague 2, Ajax 1 (3-1)
Steaua Bucharest 2, BATE Borisov 0 (4-2)
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Manzanares
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I guess we had this discussion last year and the romantic in us would like to see more of the less fashionable clubs in the Champions League but truth is the teams who've made it this year all look pretty good. As Winslow said teams like Fenerbahce & Besiktas, Rangers & Celtic, Dynamo Kiev & Shakhtar Donetsk are all pretty good teams and while they won't be favorites against the big boys of Europe they should be able to give good games to the Barcelonas, Chelseas and Milans. They certainly should be more competitive than a FC Zurich, Dinamo zagreb or FK Sarajevo.

And after Antonio Puerta's death I think all but AEK Athens (and maybe Betis) fans will be hoping Sevilla makes it to the group stage too.

Tomorrow is the draw and then our debates can really begin about this year's Champions League.
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