soccer soccer soccer

[JHBulls]

 

[stitchface]

3 hours ago, JHBulls said:

 

bad news for spurs - I thought they were in good shape but what an absolutely brutal schedule to finish the season.

[JHBulls]

Just now, stitchface said:

bad news for spurs - I thought they were in good shape but what an absolutely brutal schedule to finish the season.

A 5th place finish in Ange’s first season at the club would be a very good finish. An outside chance they could finish 4th given their 2 games in hand, but they need to win them and they have a tougher schedule than most so I wouldn’t bet on it. 

[soccer10k]

1 hour ago, JHBulls said:

A 5th place finish in Ange’s first season at the club would be a very good finish. An outside chance they could finish 4th given their 2 games in hand, but they need to win them and they have a tougher schedule than most so I wouldn’t bet on it. 

Aston Villa would have to completely fall on their face and even then it might not be enough. Even if Villa loses out, Spurs would still have to get a point at Chelsea, at Liverpool, vs City. I would think they could get a point but it's no sure thing. If Villa merely gets 3 points from 3 games, Spurs would have to get 4 points from those three games (I'm assuming they beat Burnley and Sheffield in both scenarios). Their chances ended when Liverpool lost at home to Atalanta and Arsenal lost at home to Villa. At that point it pretty much required Arsenal knocking out Bayern in Germany, which was going to be a tough task.

A solid season but it's a missed opportunity (though part of that is bad luck since England was in a great spot going into the QF to grab an extra spot). They're going to be in Europe next year which means a lot of Sunday EPL games after Thursday European games. City and Arsenal aren't going anywhere. I would think Chelsea is going to be better in the second year under Poch. Newcastle will strengthen and likely won't be as injury ravaged. Have to hope ManU continues to underperform and Liverpool takes a step back with Klopp gone (very realistic since that dude is a magician). Have to hope Spurs make some solid signings as well and take a step forward in the second year with Ange.

[stitchface]

On 4/4/2024 at 8:29 PM, soccer10k said:

Only 8 teams have a longer unbeaten run in all competitions than Leverkusen's current streak of 40 games.

47

[soccer10k]

1 hour ago, stitchface said:

47

And they didn’t even need a 95th minute goal to tie like the last couple games.

Just an insane streak.

[wvcbxl]

It's the Erling Haaland show at the Etihad today - that fourth goal is ridiculous: he never even looks at the goal or the keeper (just a glimpse to see where KDB is) and then curls it in.

[soccer10k]

On 4/7/2024 at 7:30 PM, soccer10k said:

But it wouldn’t be too shocking for them to get like 2 points out of Liv/Ars/City/Che/New, especially with the last two being on the road. 

Looks like 2 points from those 5 games was too optimistic.

[stitchface]

find myself in the odd position of cheering for bayern munich, how good is the bundesliga? how good is leverkusen?

[JHBulls]

Real Madrid, eh? They always find a way.

[stitchface]

3 hours ago, JHBulls said:

Real Madrid, eh? They always find a way.

or their opponent does. I mean, has Neuer spilled one like that before? That said, RM were the far better team

[JHBulls]

1 hour ago, stitchface said:

or their opponent does. I mean, has Neuer spilled one like that before? That said, RM were the far better team

Yep, Neuer Buffon’d the CL. 

[JHBulls]

 

Crazy to think that Dortmund could finish 5th in the league, win the CL, and Eintracht Frankfurt who are 15 points behind Dortmund will qualify for next seasons CL in 6th. 

[wolf stansson]

I agree, it is crazy to think they can win the CL. But it would be very cool.

 

good profile on Philly Foden aka Cavan Sullivan

 

 

[soccer10k]

7 hours ago, JHBulls said:

 

Crazy to think that Dortmund could finish 5th in the league, win the CL, and Eintracht Frankfurt who are 15 points behind Dortmund will qualify for next seasons CL in 6th. 

That must be a new rule for next year’s expanded format because Liverpool finished 5th last year and was in the Europa.

Does that apply to any team that wins it or just if the team that wins it gets the 5th spot like Dortmund? So if Real wins does 5th place in La Liga go to next years UCL also?

[soccer10k]

Roma 2-0 up at Leverkusen in the 66th minute. It’s 2-2 overall in the tie.

[soccer10k]

Lol unreal they just tied it in the 97th minute.

[stitchface]

its crazy! Got into some weird scenarios there weighing winning the tie versus keeping the streak - clear what Alonso prioritized and in the end, it all worked out! That game shows how difficult that kind of streak is - two stupid penalties and some bad luck and it's all on edge

 

[soccer10k]

Four games away. 
At Bochum (14th) on May 12
vs Augsburg (9th) on May 18
vs Atalanta in Dublin on May 22
vs Kaiserslautern (14th in the second division) on May 25 in the German Cup final.
 

Can’t blame them for wanting to keep the streak going. For one, now they have the record. Secondly, they’re so close to an undefeated season. Someone wins the league every year. Someone wins the Europa every year. Teams have won trebles before. But going undefeated all season while playing in a Big 5 league and in Europe is legendary.

[stitchface]

11 minutes ago, soccer10k said:

Four games away. 
At Bochum (14th) on May 12
vs Augsburg (9th) on May 18
vs Atalanta in Dublin on May 22
vs Kaiserslautern (14th in the second division) on May 25 in the German Cup final.
 

Can’t blame them for wanting to keep the streak going. For one, now they have the record. Secondly, they’re so close to an undefeated season. Someone wins the league every year. Someone wins the Europa every year. Teams have won trebles before. But going undefeated all season while playing in a Big 5 league and in Europe is legendary.

haha - totally agree! Not sure the owners would . . . it's not like they played conservatively all game - that just isn't their style anyway. But no Florian Wirtz makes a huge difference. Hard to see them dropping any of those games but you never know - another Italian opponent - does Atalanta still attack? 

[JHBulls]

10 hours ago, soccer10k said:

That must be a new rule for next year’s expanded format because Liverpool finished 5th last year and was in the Europa.

Does that apply to any team that wins it or just if the team that wins it gets the 5th spot like Dortmund? So if Real wins does 5th place in La Liga go to next years UCL also?

I think it’s just because of the coefficient ranking. Bundesliga will have the Top 5 in next seasons CL because Germany will finish within the Top 2 in coefficient, with Serie A.

So if Dortmund finishes 5th in the league and wins the CL, they will qualify for next seasons CL by winning the competition.

So the 5th spot (for Germany being in the Top 2 for coefficient ranking) will transfer to the 6th spot (if Dortmund finishes 5th and wins the CL)

And no, I don’t believe the same would apply to La Liga (5th getting CL football if Real Madrid wins the competition) because La Liga will be outside the Top 2 for coefficient.

I hope that all made sense. 

[soccer10k]

That clears it up. I just wasn’t sure if that was a new provision of the different format next year where the league just gets an extra spot if they win it. But it makes more sense that it’s only for the two confederations that get the extra spot like you explained.

[wvcbxl]

9 hours ago, stitchface said:

does Atalanta still attack? 

They sure did yesterday (I was watching their game against OM)

[stitchface]

21 hours ago, JHBulls said:

I think it’s just because of the coefficient ranking. Bundesliga will have the Top 5 in next seasons CL because Germany will finish within the Top 2 in coefficient, with Serie A.

So if Dortmund finishes 5th in the league and wins the CL, they will qualify for next seasons CL by winning the competition.

So the 5th spot (for Germany being in the Top 2 for coefficient ranking) will transfer to the 6th spot (if Dortmund finishes 5th and wins the CL)

And no, I don’t believe the same would apply to La Liga (5th getting CL football if Real Madrid wins the competition) because La Liga will be outside the Top 2 for coefficient.

I hope that all made sense. 

Europe's top soccer leagues: Title fights, Europe, relegation - ESPN

 

[JHBulls]