401 replies to this topic

[baxus]

to continue where we left off in the last thread.

someone calculated that repeating the same draw twice in a row is about 1/2,000,000.
does anyone think chances of UEFA being above fixing the draw to be higher than that?

to be honest though, i don't think they fixed it, probably because i doubt they'd be that stupid to do an exact same draw a day before.
or is that what they wanted me to think?

P.S. if someone thinks of a better title, i'll be more than happy to change it

Edited by baxus, 20 December 2012 - 10:28 AM.

[Jon AS]

Apparently they did quite a few test draws, and the result was not exactly the same: the order in which the ties were drawn was different. That should reduce the odds significantly.

[Winterfell is Burning]

Surely it's all a big coincidence, just like those referees robbing Spain and Italy in 2002 against South Korea were just making "honest mistakes", and Argentina won the 1978 WC "honestly".

[ericxihn]

Who benefits from a fix this time? Barcelona maybe? One of the smaller sides? People who hate England?

Edit: Maybe Uefa wants a more exciting round of 16 possibly at the expense of the quarterfinals?

Edited by ericxihn, 20 December 2012 - 12:24 PM.

[Calibandar]

Real Madrid v Manchester United
Arsenal v Bayern Munich
Celtic v Juventus
Milan v Barcelona
Shakhtar Donetsk v Borussia Dortmund
Valencia v Paris Saint-Germain
Galatasaray v Schalke
Porto v Málaga


A bad draw for United, I have to say. Madrid's goal for this season is winning the CL, they have already put the Spanish league title out of their heads, and understandably so. Mourinho has indicates he is putting everything on winning the CL ( before he moves out).

Which is not to say that it is not important for United, it's very important. But they will still be fighting harder on more fronts. Hard to say, but at this point I would give Madrid the edge, but United in form is a very tough opponent for them as well.

Shaktar vs Dortmund and Arsenal vs Munich are terrific fixtures as well. Galatasaray and Schalke got off the hook here, they'd be underdogs against nearly everyone else.

[AlexT]

Shakhtar v Dortmund is going to be a very special tie.

[baxus]

Calibandar, on 20 December 2012 - 03:58 PM, said:

Real Madrid v Manchester United
Arsenal v Bayern Munich
Celtic v Juventus
Milan v Barcelona
Shakhtar Donetsk v Borussia Dortmund
Valencia v Paris Saint-Germain
Galatasaray v Schalke
Porto v Málaga

i agree with you on those predictions.
of course, it is difficult to predict results 2 months ahead, with winter breaks coming in most leagues and a transfer window in all of them

[AlexT]

Poor Liverpool.

Quote

ZENIT St Petersburg will pose Liverpool FC a massive bigotry test, admits manager Brendan Rogers.

The two teams were drawn in the Lidl Champions League, and Liverpool face an uphill battle to prove themselves the more racist and homophobic team.

Rogers said: “I’ve got the lads watching old Bernard Manning tapes to work on their pin-eyed hatred and we’re travelling to a rural pub in Yorkshire tomorrow with a gay dance troupe from Namibia to study how the locals react.

“People have been bigging up this club’s intolerance and Zenit are a massive challenge as they’re so suspicious of outsiders they blew up their own airport to stop any strangers coming to town.

“We’re having to get a coach there. You cannot buy that level of commitment to being a small-minded moron. Unless you’re Chelsea, obviously.”

Zenit fans recently wrote to their board insisting they never sign black or gay players. Previous requests for things they don’t want at their ground have included ‘anyone who eats salad’ and ‘anyone who has been to an art gallery’.

Liverpool are hoping the racism of Suarez combined with the homophobia of Suso will be enough to see off Zenit but admit this might falter in the face of 65,000 drunk Russians armed with road flares.

Rogers said:”If all else fails we can get the lads to call everyone in the stands ‘Boris’ and offer them a bottle of vodka. Expensive and time-consuming but a really comprehensive stab at being a xenophobic arse.”

Edited by AlexT, 21 December 2012 - 07:52 AM.

[3CityApache]

AlexT, on 20 December 2012 - 04:04 PM, said:

Shakhtar v Dortmund is going to be a very special tie.

Why is that? I just hope Dortmund will be able to confirm their strong shape from the group matches.

[AlexT]

Because both Shakhtar and Dortmund are both absolutely shit hot and fantastic to watch. Both balls to the chopping board attacking teams with players who are a joy to behold.

[polishgenius]

Both dark horses for the whole tournament I reckon.

[3CityApache]

Oh, I got it. Haven't seen any of Shakthar's group matches but I believe what you say is true. And it can be a duel to remember.

[AlexT]

polishgenius, on 21 December 2012 - 08:26 AM, said:

Both dark horses for the whole tournament I reckon.

I've got £50 on Dortmund after watching them get lucky (twice!) and edge past City in the group stages.

Edited by AlexT, 21 December 2012 - 08:58 AM.

[baxus]

AlexT, on 21 December 2012 - 08:57 AM, said:

I've got £50 on Dortmund after watching them get lucky (twice!) and edge past City in the group stages.

yeah, it was such a close call

[Renasko]

I'll be attending the game at Celtic Park later. Buzzing, already!

[Rorshach]

I think our lineup today is puzzling. From what I could see starting, I think maybe we're playing 3-5-2 today (Heitinga, Jags, Distin the back three with Neville/Baines the wingbacks) would be the best way to combine our starters, I believe, but we've never played anything similar..

I fear a conservative Moyes pushing square pegs into round holes to preserve his 4-5-1. If so, I predict Jags as a right back, Anichebe on wide right, Neville and Gibson as defensive midfielders, and a loss.

[Rorshach]

Okay, we went 4-4-2, with Osman and Jags right. Which made our right side completely inefficient, as Jags is not a right back and Osman kept drifting central.

We went behind to a soft goal (good job by Cole, but Heitinga lost him too easily and Howard should have had it..). As I see it, we dominated possesion after that, but created few real chances. Jelavic should have equalized, though.

Second half, we continue to have the upper hand, but nothing comes of it until Anichebe scores. Then the ref (haven't seen him before, I think, Can't be bothered to look up his name) sends Cole off. Terrible descision. Could have been a yellow, at most. High boot, yes, but that's not a sending off. I guess it's studs he calls, but that's a bad call in my book. We take advantage and Pienaar lucks in a goal. Then we take a break an Nolan gets two chances to even the score - fortunately he misses both.

Overtime, the ref is consistent if wrong and sends off Gibson for a foul similar to Cole's. We hold on.

Three points, but we'll miss Gibson!

[AlexT]

Good old Gaz Baz.

That was a close call.

[MercenaryChef]

AlexT, on 22 December 2012 - 12:54 PM, said:

Good old Gaz Baz.

That was a close call.

dude, that was a foul. you cannot put your hands upon the defenders, leap/climb over his back to head the ball.

you and i both know that. but, i was glad to see reading lose another. newcastle needed the added space between the bottom teams and themselves.

[Fireball07]

We won again, against a poor Southampton side....Fletcher scores yet another. Not our greatest performance, but at least we got the victory, and I would say it was probably deserved on the balance of play.


We badly need some central midfielders in January though, and Cattermole back as soon as possible. We have no presence in midfield at all. It's fairly depressing really. And MON's substitutions are confusing too...why bring on Campbell when you have Wickham? (Although fair play to Campbell, he made one great block at the end)