Europa League 2014/15

[SALTIRE]

Plenty of goals in that Everton v Kiev game, was a good watch as a neutral.

 

[mente captus]

http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/index.html
2. England 80.105
3. Germany 77.986

Last updated 19/03/2015 07:53 CET

You do of course have Bayern and now most probably Wolfsburg through however.

but the points from the 2010/2011 season (18.357 vs 15.666) will be deleted at the end of this season and then it will look like this

2. Germany 62.463
3. England 62.043

+ the result from tonight and the points munich and wolfsburg will win

 

[Tilbury]

but the points from the 2010/2011 season (18.357 vs 15.666) will be deleted at the end of this season and then it will look like this

2. Germany 62.463
3. England 62.043

+ the result from tonight and the points munich and wolfsburg will win

Yeh fair enough, that's puts you about 1.500 points ahead already then.

 

[EvertonPaul]

Alcaraz needs to be put down. Poor selection from Martinez and shite second season.

 

[Super_horns]

Wolfsburg through - they must be the favourites along with Napoli now?

Zenit St. Petersburg maybe a dark horse?

Club Brugge had a good result in Turkey.

 

[Pagnell]

2 absolute worldies

De Bruyne is a worldie.

Just no.

 

[Pagnell]

Martinez claiming the defence wasn't at fault last night. I wonder if he genuinely believe that?

 

[mistermagic]

We're being heavily linked with De Bruyne and I must say I think this season is more an exception than the norm. In fact you can say that of most of the Wolfsburg squad who are simply walking on water winning games left, right and centre without trying too hard. Bas Dost being the other obvious example as he's on the verge of a Holland call-up whereas he was pretty much a nobody back in late 2014.
Not saying De Bruyne is a bad player but I think judging him on this season alone will bring disappointment to whoever may buy him this summer (I'm pretty sure he'll stay at Wolfsburg tbh).

Impressed by the eastern europeans once again especially by Dnipro who knocked out Ajax after extra-time. I was expected Zenit and Kiev to oust Torino and Everton tbh.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Martinez claiming the defence wasn't at fault last night. I wonder if he genuinely believe that?

 

[Smudge]

Alcaraz needs to be put down. Poor selection from Martinez and shite second season.

Why does Martinez only have selection loyalty for the shite players? First Howard and Barry, now Alcaraz! Robles, Gibson, Stones FFS!!!

 

[thespus]

We're being heavily linked with De Bruyne and I must say I think this season is more an exception than the norm. In fact you can say that of most of the Wolfsburg squad who are simply walking on water winning games left, right and centre without trying too hard. Bas Dost being the other obvious example as he's on the verge of a Holland call-up whereas he was pretty much a nobody back in late 2014.
Not saying De Bruyne is a bad player but I think judging him on this season alone will bring disappointment to whoever may buy him this summer (I'm pretty sure he'll stay at Wolfsburg tbh).

I think he'll stay at Wolfsburg as well. Volkswagen isn't short on funding and seem to be building a good side. De Bruyne has been excellent everywhere he has played regularly - was brilliant for Bremen on loan from Chelsea. If PSG managed to recruit both De Bruyne and Pogba, they'd have the best midfield in Europe when paired with Matuidi.

 

[mistermagic]

Brilliant is a strong word. He was ok at Bremen but this is clearly his best season. We'll see how he fares next season in the CL. Really can't see him leaving Wolfsburg this season.

EL quarter-finals:
Wolfsburg/Napoli
Seville/Zenit
Dnipro/Bruges
Kiev/Fiorentina

Can see all 3 eastern europeans progressing. Wolfsburg should beat Napoli no problem. They're falling apart.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Brilliant is a strong word. He was ok at Bremen but this is clearly his best season. We'll see how he fares next season in the CL. Really can't see him leaving Wolfsburg this season.

EL quarter-finals:
Wolfsburg/Napoli
Seville/Zenit
Dnipro/Bruges
Kiev/Fiorentina

Can see all 3 eastern europeans progressing. Wolfsburg should beat Napoli no problem. They're falling apart.

Dnipro/Bruge may be an interesting one

 

[Smudge]

Will be interesting given UEFA's stance on not drawing the Russians/ Ukrainians together...so if Dnipro, Kiev and Zenit all get through, does that mean Dnipro and Kiev must play each other?

 

[Super_horns]

Bruge may be an interesting one

Been the surprise package haven't they.

Think Dnipro will win though.

Seville always manage to get through.

 

[Dziga Vertov]

Just found out that the EL winners get into the CL from next season onwards. How does that work then? Do they take the place of a team from their league or does that league just get an extra representative?

 

[smat]

Think it's extra. Could conceivably be five teams from one country in the Champions League.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Thought it was from this season?

 

[Dziga Vertov]

Think it's extra. Could conceivably be five teams from one country in the Champions League.

What if Arsenal and Spurs win the CL and EL and both finish outside the European spots. Would there be six teams then? Outrageous if so.

 

[smat]

I think the rule was changed post the Everton/Liverpool farrago (though it may have changed since) so that only three teams can qualify via the league in the case of a non-top four team winning the CL. Hence the hilarity of Spurs finishing fourth in 2011/12 and still not qualifying.

 

[Smudge]

According to Bert Kassies, the winners of the Europa League will automatically qualify for the 4th qualifying round of the Champions League. Any country is allowed a max of 5 now, so if for example that Spurs situation happened again, both Chelsea and Spurs would qualify, both of them going into the play off round. The only time the Europa League winners will go straight into the groups is if they also qualify for the CL via their league position. It seems the only instance where that Spurs situation could ever be repeated is if both the CL and EL winners come from the same country. In which case, 4th place will lose out.

 

[mistermagic]

Since no English side is still in the comp and that Wolfsburg will finish 2nd in the Bundesliga, the only 5-team scenario would be Seville finishing outside the top 4 in La Liga (very likely) and win the EL (unlikely imo, reckon Zenit will knock 'em out).

 

[SALTIRE]

I think Sevilla could win it again, they have a great record in that tourney and are playing well once more.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Anyone watching the Europa League tonight? I am watching .

I am watching Wolsburg v Napoli on ITV 4
Dyamno Kiev v Fiorentina is on BT Sport and Sevilla v Zent is on ITV.com

 

[JimJams]

In that case I'll go for Brugge v Dnipro.

 

[Super_horns]

Napoli 2 up in Wolfsburg and Zenit a goal up v Sevilla.

 

[JimJams]

Eastern Europe doing well so far!

 

[mistermagic]

Been a good game in Wolfsburg. Napoli scored two good goals but they should have been dealt with better by Benaglio. Still some terrible defending by Knoche and Vieirinha. The hosts have come back in the game a bit and the Napoli goalie has been called into action. Pretty sure Wolfsburg will score a couple in the second half. I hope this tie isn't over just yet.

 

[Super_horns]

They certainly need to!

 

[DarkSithLord]

3-0 Napoli now. Game over?

Wolsfburg have been a defensive shambles tonight