That actually looks decent, though no one would want to be drawn with Inter (and perhaps Leipzig)

Zenit in Pot A is a bit of a joke though

[QUOTE=echappist;2586675]That actually looks decent, though no one would want to be drawn with Inter (and perhaps Leipzig)

Zenit in Pot A is a bit of a joke though[/QUOTE


I am glad that Ajax qualified

You and me both

Did you know that the starting right back for Ajax is called into the USMNT camp?

Barely 18, I think, and also apparently plays left back(that perrenial sore spot)

Napoli against Liverpool - AGAIN!!!

Group A

Paris Saint-Germain

Real Madrid

Club Brugge

Galatasaray



Group B

Bayern Munich

Tottenham Hotspur

Olympiacos

Red Star Belgrade



Group C

Manchester City

Shakhtar Donetsk

Dinamo Zagreb

Atalanta



Group D

Juventus

Atletico Madrid

Bayer Leverkusen

Lokomotiv Moscow



Group E

Liverpool

Napoli

RB Salzburg

Genk



Group F

Barcelona

Borussia Dortmund

Inter

Slavia Prague



Group G

Zenit St Petersburg

Benfica

Lyon

RB Leipzig



Group H

Chelsea

Ajax

Valencia

Lille

and guess where he was born?

At least Napoli will most likely make it out this time. Last year was tense; all you guys needed was one goal in the final match, and you had so many good opportunities at Anfield to get that goal

Group F is the group of death (unlucky for BVB to draw Inter). I hope Barca gets toppled over, but that's too much of a pipe dream

Groups G & H are complete wildcards

I had to look it up, but couldn't make the connection to anything. Birthplace of Cruijff or Michels?

Ahh, Dest- my mistake - read your post quickly - thought you were referring to Pierie (born in Boston).

Ajax might have a good run. Hope so.

Condolence, WC1934. So sorry. That OG is gotta hurt...

But look on the bright side, you guys took it to Juve after going 2-0 down, away from home. That's gotta mean something

In other news, BvB took a helluva beating from recently promoted Union Berlin. Damn, they played s***e

Lucien Favre is getting outcoached by managers from the second division...

What misery!!!!!! Szczesny's save on Allan's shot early on may have been the game changer. The first half was terrible. Ancelotti made some nice changes at half. Needless to say, the 3 last minute pick ups (Manolas, Lozano and Di Lorenzo) saved the day.

Allowing Higuain to score was bad enough. But then to come from 3 down only to loose it in extra time was a killer. I hope those 2 points dont come back to haunt us in May. Poor Koulibaly. I was saying that he isnt great with the ball at his feet, but is exceptionally good - maybe just a shade below van Dijk.

oh man. at first i thought he was let down by his own teammate, as the cross went in seemingly uncontested. Then i realized that it was from a set piece. I don't know if van Dijk would have fared better had he attempted to kick the ball.

Perhaps he should have headed it up, but I doubt being better ball-playing CB would have helped. The commentators, however, noted that the person whom he was defending was offsides. Alas, the rules of the game screwed him (and defenders in general). They all have to make a play on the ball, b/c they are told to play to the whistle (not to mention that they'd look bad if they didn't try). Had an attacking player directed it in, the goal would have been chalked off. But as long as an attacking player hoovers around but don't make an active play at the ball, a defender has to pretend that the attacking player were on-side and make an active play, and any mistakes that would arise therefrom would not be offset by the fact that the whole reason the defender made an attempt was due to the presence of an offside attacking player.

I hope you guys sock it to Juve. They look quite porous, tbh.


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Also, Xhaka, he and Luiz sure make for a helluva comedic pairing...

At least, for once, Arsenal didn’t turtle after going down 0-2. One point is a small victory. But MC and LIV aren’t too worried.:rolleyes:

It was helluva match. Well played.


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Also, a read on football in the Basque country, the land that gave the world the likes of Alonso, Areta, and Emery.


https://www.theguardian.com/football...-liga-sid-lowe

Here's a great piece on the Basque derby and . . . poetry, for anybody who'd like to do a bit of a deep dive into this stuff.

Of course, the story of Athletic is fairly well known, but I was not aware of the poetry angle. Kind of gives new meaning to the concept of the stadium as a sporting cathedral. The second embedded video, with the Jon Maia performance, really got to me, and I found myself going back to it again and again.

The piece refers to a spectacular goal from last season, when Athletic really had their backs against the wall, and that goal, with a great call, can been seen here: "Madre mia, Williams!"

beat you to the punch on the Basque football article, though pleasantly surprised to see a Scouser reading a Mancunian newspaper :p

jest aside, that Williams goal, just stunning. Shade of Weah Sr. running the length of the pitch after a set piece in his own defensive half in cleared (though Weah Sr. had to weave through quite a few more defenders)

Also, Sid Lowe write amazing analyses. Too bad I usually can't by arsed with following La Liga.

And Chancellor Merkel's boys took a shellacking in Hamburg
 

Man, that scoreline flattered the Germans. Iffy hand ball call; should have never been a penalty.

But the Dutch had so much exuberance, and damn did they make the Germans pay. Fantastic pressing and team work leading to the third goal, and just as good of a counter-attack goal on the fourth.

World football just ain't the same without their presence, and I look forward to seeing them in the Euros next year.