Europa League 2014/15

[Laker]

Cracking atmosphere there, if Veltic go ahead it'll be a proper "mental".

 

[Modernist]

Seems Celtic fans are the only club in Britain who still can create a good atmosphere.

 

[Ginola14]

Despite the scoreline, we've played really well, pressing them constantly and passing it around well. However, they'll grab another in a minute.

 

[T.A]

GOOOOOAL Inter

 

[Laker]

Massive balls up from the keeper. Hell of a game, mind.

 

[Destruction]

Europe League is so lovely, I love it.

 

[mistermagic]

Watching Seville v Gladbach. Not a great match. Very much stop-start with loads of fouls (although just 3 cautions). Gladbach had two good chances via Kramer and Johnson well saved by the Seville keeper. I'm surprised at how unadventurous Seville look. They're really waiting for something to happen with their two banks of 4 letting the front two do something magical. You wouldn't think they'd be playing at home from this showing.

 

[Ligue 1 fan]

Guingamp 0-1 Kiev.
Kiev down to 9 men!

 

[Destruction]

Celtic grabbed a 92nd minute equaliser, finishes 3-3.

 

[Cardsfan]

Good finish as well, tbf. Cracking atmosphere and great to watch

 

[Ligue 1 fan]

Guingamp 2-1 Kiev
Incredible! Guingamp have won. I knew Beauvue would score!

 

[mistermagic]

Seville won 1-0 against Gladbach. Not a great goal, not a great match. Moving on.

 

[Destruction]

Good finish as well, tbf. Cracking atmosphere and great to watch

I like Guidetti, wish he had stayed with Feyenoord.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Not a great result for Spurs. Think they may struggle to gualify. I wouldnt rule out ET there

 

[Ginola14]

Not a great result for Spurs. Think they may struggle to gualify. I wouldnt rule out ET there

That's true...I think it could be time to "go home".....

 

[stripey_nigel]

Really enjoyed the Celtic game, they've given themselves a chance in the 2nd leg!!

 

[Smudge]

Brilliant attacking performance from us, best we've played going forward in a long time. Short of anything silly in the second leg, that must surely be enough to see us through. Could have been more too with the gaps left at the back by Young Boys when they were chasing second half.

Celtic/ Inter next please!

 

[mistermagic]

Who do you want next, Smudge? Bilbao or Turin?

And give us a proper European away day report. Not 3 weak fucking lines!

 

[Arkan]

Wasn't expecting that, very impressed with our performance. Much needed and even with ten men we were the better side. Just hope it's enough to see us through.

 

[Smudge]

Who do you want next, Smudge? Bilbao or Turin?

And give us a proper European away day report. Not 3 weak fucking lines!

Same as last round, Ill take anywhere but Russia, Ukraine, Roma or Napoli. Anybody else I will be making every effort to get there. Ive wanted Inter since the day we qualified, so the winner of Celtic/ Inter is still my first choice, but then Id be over the moon with Ajax, Anderlecht, PSV or Sevilla.

HA HA! Sorry! Ive just finished typing this on another forum, so feel free to wade through!

That I did not expect! First, the trip. Fair play, I was reliably informed that Bern is a German speaking city in Switzerland, and as such has a German attitude. Spot on, great infrastructure for getting around the city, great locals, well organised and laid back police, and ultimately just a great day all round in a great city with absolutely no bother whatsoever. Great food as well of course, and the whole day was not nearly as expensive as I was expecting.

Around 2 hours before kick off, we go the tram back to the ground. The police asked the away fans to get off the tram the stop before the ground and directed us the way to walk there, which was obviously just a segregation thing, as it meant we approached the ground from the away side, rather than having to walk through all the home fans bars. There wasnt any bother anyway, and once we arrived at the ground, although there was a police presence, we were still free to go and mix with the home fans, but they obviously avoided that potential flashpoint of having all the away fans en masse having to walk through the home fans all at once and broke us all up. Smart idea I suppose.

The ground itself is very good. Excellent choice of food, though unsurprisingly costly. It was good though, so begrudged paying it much less than I usually would! Only issue I would have with the ground is their choice to only open the one small entrance at one end, and then let us all out of one small central exit at the end. Considering the upper and lower tiers both share a concourse, it was a bit of a crush when we were kept in afterwards. Other than that, its a good ground, modern all round, and yes its got the fences at the front, but I think we've come to expect that away in Europe now. Atmosphere was excellent, even half empty, and good views from every seat.

Finally, the game! The last thing I expected to enjoy as much as I did! Ive said all week to anyone who asks that especially the way we're playing, Id be happy with a score draw to take back to Goodison. Id have especially taken that when Tim Howard reverted back to pre injury form with some pretty dreadful positioning to allow Hoaroau to score from outside the box. We had actually started the better side and the keeper had already made a great save from Lukaku early on, so when we went behind, the worry was there about us not taking our chances. But we carried on playing, carried on being the better side, the keeper making two more good saves from Lukaku and Barkley, before we equalised after 24 minutes when he couldnt get enough on Lukaku's header to keep it out. Brilliant, away goal sorter, now keep it up. And four minutes later, limbs and bodies everywhere as Coleman put us 2-1 up! Lovely interplay sent Naismith to the byline to pull a low cross right across the face of goal, with Coleman unmarked to slide in at the far post. They still looked a little dangerous though, and Howard got lucky when he parried a shot straight into the path of a Young Boys player, who fortunately could only direct his shot straight back at Howard. Then just before half time, dreamland! Brilliant hold up play from Lukaku to keep possession from absolutely nothing, knocked the ball out to the left, Barry put in a low cross very similar to the one for the second goal, it was blocked but deflected all the way across goal, for Lukaku this time to finish off his own move and put us 3-1 at the break. Madness...nobody could believe what we were seeing! But it carried on, and 10 minutes into the second half, Lukaku had his hattrick, first one by an Everton player since Saha got 4 against Blackpool 4 years ago, and only the 4th Everton player to score one in Europe after Alan Ball, Andy Gray and Yakubu. Lovely finish one on one with the keeper with his left foot after breaking away from a broken down Young Boys attack. The penalty for Young Boys looked ridiculously soft from where I was, and that really had the potential to change the tie around completely, with us only being 2 ahead and down to 10 men without our best defender. No worries at all though, as they missed the target completely. It could have been even better too for us, as even with 10 men, we hit Young Boys on the break so many times, as they were understandably bombing forward trying to find another goal or two to take back to Goodison, but we had the better chances than they did. Lukaku ended up missing two easier chances than the 3 he scored!

Unbelievable, a performance that confident and dominant was the last thing I expected, its a long time since Ive seen us play so arrogantly away from home. Wolfsburg away was an excellent professional performance against a damn good side. But I think the last time I saw us really go out and just smash someone away from home like we were God's gift to football was Newcastle last season. Just what we needed, just need to carry it on and keep it up against Leicester on Sunday. Carry on playing like that, we've got no problems at all.

Pics and videos are here.

 

[Cardsfan]

Same as last round, Ill take anywhere but Russia, Ukraine, Roma or Napoli. Anybody else I will be making every effort to get there. Ive wanted Inter since the day we qualified, so the winner of Celtic/ Inter is still my first choice, but then Id be over the moon with Ajax, Anderlecht, PSV or Sevilla.

HA HA! Sorry! Ive just finished typing this on another forum, so feel free to wade through!

That I did not expect! First, the trip. Fair play, I was reliably informed that Bern is a German speaking city in Switzerland, and as such has a German attitude. Spot on, great infrastructure for getting around the city, great locals, well organised and laid back police, and ultimately just a great day all round in a great city with absolutely no bother whatsoever. Great food as well of course, and the whole day was not nearly as expensive as I was expecting.

Around 2 hours before kick off, we go the tram back to the ground. The police asked the away fans to get off the tram the stop before the ground and directed us the way to walk there, which was obviously just a segregation thing, as it meant we approached the ground from the away side, rather than having to walk through all the home fans bars. There wasnt any bother anyway, and once we arrived at the ground, although there was a police presence, we were still free to go and mix with the home fans, but they obviously avoided that potential flashpoint of having all the away fans en masse having to walk through the home fans all at once and broke us all up. Smart idea I suppose.

The ground itself is very good. Excellent choice of food, though unsurprisingly costly. It was good though, so begrudged paying it much less than I usually would! Only issue I would have with the ground is their choice to only open the one small entrance at one end, and then let us all out of one small central exit at the end. Considering the upper and lower tiers both share a concourse, it was a bit of a crush when we were kept in afterwards. Other than that, its a good ground, modern all round, and yes its got the fences at the front, but I think we've come to expect that away in Europe now. Atmosphere was excellent, even half empty, and good views from every seat.

Finally, the game! The last thing I expected to enjoy as much as I did! Ive said all week to anyone who asks that especially the way we're playing, Id be happy with a score draw to take back to Goodison. Id have especially taken that when Tim Howard reverted back to pre injury form with some pretty dreadful positioning to allow Hoaroau to score from outside the box. We had actually started the better side and the keeper had already made a great save from Lukaku early on, so when we went behind, the worry was there about us not taking our chances. But we carried on playing, carried on being the better side, the keeper making two more good saves from Lukaku and Barkley, before we equalised after 24 minutes when he couldnt get enough on Lukaku's header to keep it out. Brilliant, away goal sorter, now keep it up. And four minutes later, limbs and bodies everywhere as Coleman put us 2-1 up! Lovely interplay sent Naismith to the byline to pull a low cross right across the face of goal, with Coleman unmarked to slide in at the far post. They still looked a little dangerous though, and Howard got lucky when he parried a shot straight into the path of a Young Boys player, who fortunately could only direct his shot straight back at Howard. Then just before half time, dreamland! Brilliant hold up play from Lukaku to keep possession from absolutely nothing, knocked the ball out to the left, Barry put in a low cross very similar to the one for the second goal, it was blocked but deflected all the way across goal, for Lukaku this time to finish off his own move and put us 3-1 at the break. Madness...nobody could believe what we were seeing! But it carried on, and 10 minutes into the second half, Lukaku had his hattrick, first one by an Everton player since Saha got 4 against Blackpool 4 years ago, and only the 4th Everton player to score one in Europe after Alan Ball, Andy Gray and Yakubu. Lovely finish one on one with the keeper with his left foot after breaking away from a broken down Young Boys attack. The penalty for Young Boys looked ridiculously soft from where I was, and that really had the potential to change the tie around completely, with us only being 2 ahead and down to 10 men without our best defender. No worries at all though, as they missed the target completely. It could have been even better too for us, as even with 10 men, we hit Young Boys on the break so many times, as they were understandably bombing forward trying to find another goal or two to take back to Goodison, but we had the better chances than they did. Lukaku ended up missing two easier chances than the 3 he scored!

Unbelievable, a performance that confident and dominant was the last thing I expected, its a long time since Ive seen us play so arrogantly away from home. Wolfsburg away was an excellent professional performance against a damn good side. But I think the last time I saw us really go out and just smash someone away from home like we were God's gift to football was Newcastle last season. Just what we needed, just need to carry it on and keep it up against Leicester on Sunday. Carry on playing like that, we've got no problems at all.

Pics and videos are here.

Great report, sounds like a perfect european away day. A huge ambition of mine that Ill probably never get to realise

 

[Smudge]

Try and get involved with following England away maybe? Must be the nearest thing for anybody who never gets to see their club in Europe. Its worth it wherever you go. Last night was my 6th European away after Nuremberg, Standard Liege, AEK Athens, then this season, Lille and Wolfsburg. Nuremberg, Wolfsburg and Bern were near perfect away trips, and great results as well which were made even better. The other 3 werent as good but I certainly dont regret going to any of them. Even Liege, which because I was a skint student at the time, had to do by bus...something Im never doing again!

Its just that chance to experience something different to what you're used to, and seeing what football is like in other countries.

 

[Smudge]

Slight problem that I'm not english Good idea though, would love to go Ireland away some day, might get to the Euros next year if I'm lucky.

Even better! Im an Ireland fan and would love to do an away with them or a tournament! Definitely you should look into that.

 

[mistermagic]

Erm, Smudge, the draw for the next round has already been made. You're up against the winner of Torino/Bilbao.

Football fans these days...

 

[Bilo]

Erm, Smudge, the draw for the next round has already been made. You're up against the winner of Torino/Bilbao.

Football fans these days...

It's drawn on friday the 27th of february. The tree you see at the UEFA webpage is just there for no reason, each stage is being drawn indivudially this year.

But I liked how condescending you were, it was a nice touch

 

[Smudge]

It's drawn on friday the 27th of february. The tree you see at the UEFA webpage is just there for no reason, each stage is being drawn indivudially this year.

But I liked how condescending you were, it was a nice touch

I never read UEFA's website, Bert Kassies tells me all I need to know about Europe!

http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/calendar2014.html

It is a bit silly when they used to draw the two rounds together, considering I have to book my leave off so far in advance, I have to book off each round even before we get through, because if I wait and see if we get through, I wont have enough time to get the time off. I got my shifts for the weeks of the next round last week. Frustrating not even knowing whether we are home or away first though, as Ive had to book 2 days off on both weeks, even though I only need one day for the home leg. Makes it very awkward to get the time off with such short notice between ties. Same goes for the League matches the weekend after too, as I had to try and sort off Saturday and Sunday for the weekends after the next round, as both games are scheduled for 3pm Saturday, but both will move to Sunday when we get through.

 

[mistermagic]

It's drawn on friday the 27th of february. The tree you see at the UEFA webpage is just there for no reason, each stage is being drawn indivudially this year.

But I liked how condescending you were, it was a nice touch

Whooooooooooooooo! You sure about that? Because I can't see Uefa doing a whole ceremony for the Europa League itself...

And I'm always condescending.

 

[mistermagic]

Just looked it up and they are indeed having a draw next Friday. Serves me right for being a dick.

 

[Bilo]

See, being the bad guy doesn't always pay off. I hope you learned something today.

 

[mistermagic]

See, being the bad guy doesn't always pay off. I hope you learned something today.

It's fun when it does though.