2010/11 was Portugal's best overall year ever in Europe, at least by the numbers. We were the top ranked team in Europe, closed out the Europa League finals (and had three teams in the semis), and nearly set a record for most UEFA points in a single seasons. 2011/12 was no slouch either, with a 5th place finish ahead of Italy and France (though behind Holland) on 11.833 points. Benfica got to the quarters of the Champions League and Sporting reached the semis of the Europa League. The past two years have set a pretty high standard in European play. But in looking at how we're situated this year, I think it's going to be possible for Portugal to make a run at meeting or exceeding its past performances. Here's why: --Champions League: Three teams qualified for the group stage after Braga sneaked past Udinese after a couple scrappy draws and a penalty shoot-out, to join Porto and Benfica. I think this may have happened before (anyone know for sure?), but what's truly novel is that each of the three teams was in Pot A or B, meaning that they got favorable draws (relatively favorable, at least, considering that no team in the CL is ever a doormat). Check out our teams in Groups A, G, and H and you'll see that each one has a plausible chance of going through to the next round, as well as a plausible shot to rack up UEFA points from group stage wins: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsle...tml#holders+chelsea+handed+juventus+challenge --Europa League: The B-level tournament gets less attention, but in many respects it's an easier way to earn UEFA points. Fewer opportunities for bonus points, of course, but also weaker opposition. And also less obvious but very important is that in previous years, we've usually had 1-2 teams (usually 2) flame out in the group stages, leaving them with a paltry number of points for the year, and since the UEFA points total for a country reflects an average of each team's performance, having 2 teams with only a handful of points can make it really hard to earn a double-figures average. This year, for the first time ever (again, I think--correct me if wrong of course), all three of Portugal's possible UEFA qualifiers made it through to the group stage. The draw is not out yet but Sporting, Maritimo, and A. Coimbra will all be in it. This is huge, since crossing that threshold means that all three teams will have the chance to rack up points over the six games of the group stage, so even if they all don't move on to the next round, they'll be able at least to help Portugal's UEFA point total. In other words, it's shaping up to be an exciting year. As someone who (for God knows what reason) has been closely watching Portugal's UEFA standing for some time, I think there's a real chance for this to be a watershed year where we not only get a lot of points, but also have excellent, consistent representation from all participants, instead of having a couple standouts and a couple flame-outs. Stay tuned for the Europa League draw tomorrow.
I too have been a big uefa rankings geek since I first got the Internet in 96 . It's hard to believe but the late 90s early 2000s we were at about 19th place until FC Porto And Boavista took us out of the slump yet everyone rags on Porto when they have rough year as the previous year. The EL 2 years ago really helped Portugal surpass France. Everyone thinks its a big joke but for the countries outside the big 3 it's the difference between 2/3 or 1/2 teams in the CL
Thanks, all, for the kind words. My Portugal UEFA points obsession does not stretch back quite this far. For me, the watershed year was 2002/03, when Porto won the UEFA Cup (as it was then known) and Boavista got to the semis (and, perhaps more surprising, the previous year both Porto and Boavista had gotten to the last 16 of the Champions League). I did not know things had been so dire for Portugal before that--let's hope that remains a thing of the past!
Europa League groups: Group B Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP, holders) Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE) A. Académica de Coimbra (POR) Likely a battle for second place, honestly. Hapoel Tel Aviv is likely the second-strongest team on paper, but it's certainly plausible that Academica could beat them out. And if they could take 4-6 points off the Czechs, that would put them in good position to qualify. Group D FC Girondins de Bordeaux (FRA) Club Brugge KV (BEL) Newcastle United FC (ENG) CS Marítimo (POR) A very rough group. Bordeaux was in the last 8 of the CL a couple years ago; Brugge is perennially one of Belgium's strongest teams; Newcastle is formidable since any team that qualifies for Europe from the EPL has to be good. But hey, Maritimo has some good European results (beat Leeds some time ago, IIRC), and traveling way down to Madeira can be rough on opponents, so I could see them pulling some upsets. Group G Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR) FC Basel 1893 (SUI) KRC Genk (BEL) Videoton FC (HUN) Sporting obviously favored to win as top seed. Basel has had some good European results, so they're not to be lightly dismissed. Genk was in the CL last year, though they ended up last in their group. And I'd be lying if I said I knew anything about Videoton, though that sounds like an MTV show from the 80s. Eastern European sides can be scary sleepers, though--remember Porto losing to "Artmedia Bratislava" in 2005?
Maritmo and I hate to say it are the 5th best team in Portugal as we speak. Fidelis will end up getting sold for 20M check him out he is like Julio Batista when Julio was class.
Academica added players like Rafik Halliche, Carlos Saleiro, N'Gaal, Edinho and have players like Ugo and Marinho and probaly one of Portugal's best LB in Helder Cabral
And for what it's worth, here are the CL groups: Group A FC Porto (POR) FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) Paris Saint-Germain FC (FRA) GNK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) Group G FC Barcelona (ESP) SL Benfica (POR) FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) Celtic FC (SCO) Group H Manchester United FC (ENG) SC Braga (POR) Galatasaray AŞ (TUR) CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU) Nothing's guaranteed, of course, and no team in the CL is a chump, but I think all three of these Portuguese teams stand a very real chance of advancement if they play to their capacity. Worst-case, they'll pick up a decent number of points and should get third and go on to the Europa League. And what impresses me the most is not just that Portugal has three teams in the CL, but that all three of the teams are seeded in the top half of the draw, with one team seeded in the top quarter.
Nice start from Porto to what could be a big UEFA season for Portugal, winning 2-0 away at Dinamo Zagreb. Full UEFA points from the match, but still too early to compare our UEFA total to other countries. Five (!!) more fixtures on the week for Portuguese sides, including two in tomorrow's CL: --Benfica away to Celtic (CL) --Braga at home to Cluj (CL) --Academica away to Plzen (EL) --Sporting at home to Basel (EL, and did you know that in their last four meetings, Sporting won all four by an aggregate score of 12-0?) --Maritimo at home to Newcastle (EL) For those of us who are into following Portuguese teams in Europe, this is about as good as it gets! Good luck to all teams in what should be a very exciting week.
We should do very well this week. Maritimo will have a tough time but they play well at home. As bad as Celtic are, they usually play well in front of their home crowd so Benfica better be ready
I wonder if we can hold on to this in two years time? http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/data/method4/crank2014.html Crazy...Could it be possible given some of the Italian teams' form?
Possible, but what it will depend on is consistent performance from all teams in European competition. I actually think Italy has a slight advantage because they have four teams in the Europa League, all of whom I think could do really well against the relatively weaker competition (Inter, Lazio, Udinese, Napoli). We'll need results from our Europa League teams to keep pace. If Sporting gets to the semis again, great, but if A. Coimbra or Maritimo get few or no points and fail to advance, we could lose ground to Italy if their four EL teams beat up on a bunch of mid-level opponents.
Not a good day, points dropped against the weakest team in the groups by Benfica and Braga. Benfica lacked a bit of personality, I think. They are a better team than Celtic but all the huffing and puffing by Celtic got them worried and they seemed happy with a draw. Let's hope this doesn't come back to haunt them.
Yeah, underwhelming day. In theory, road draws are good, but in practice Benfica seemed unimpressive. What happened in Braga I have no idea, didn't see the game. I suspect losing Lima won't exactly help them but getting beat by two clear goals against a marginal side is not a good start. At the very least we need Braga to get 3d in the group so they go on to the Europa League, and having to hope for that at this early stage is not good. Ah well. They can't all be salad days.
Another pretty underwhelming day, this time in the Europa League: Maritimo holds Newcastle 0-0 in Madeira; Sporting and Basel draw 0-0 in Lisbon; A. Coimbra falls 1-3 to Plzen in the Czech Republic. So this means only 2 UEFA points from the three games, and a couple goalless home draws plus an away loss does not exactly equal an impressive start, with only Porto winning out of six teams this week. It's not a total disaster; Newcastle is a good team and getting a point of them is a nice result for an underdog like Maritimo, while Sporting was down to 10 men so the draw is not as bad as it first might appear. In terms of total UEFA points, we're at 3.75, tied for 7th. But it's just waaaay to early for any of this to mean much. Right now we're less than a point off first place, but also less than a point separates us from the team in 18th. We need a better performance than this week though if we're going to keep pace with the big boys in Europe, that's for sure.
Week 2, day 1 of UEFA competition is in the books, and there is good and bad news: The Good: Galatasaray 0-2 Braga. This was an impressive win that helped make up for Braga's embarrassing debacle of losing 0-2 to CFR Cluj at home in the opening game. This puts them right back in the thick of the race for qualification from this group, though it won't be easy because the Romanians appear to be no joke. Next up Braga will need to see if they can get some points from Man U (yikes) and hope for a couple of draws between Gala and Cluj. The Bad: Benfica 0-2 Barcelona. Yeah, it's Barcelona, but I had hopes for at least a home draw for Benfica in this one. And with Celtic winning at Moscow (!) this puts Benfica in third place in the group, and makes it more imperative to get max points from the Russians. Good aspects are that the return leg at Celtic will be in Lisbon, and that perhaps by the time they go to the Nou Camp, Barca will already have qualified and might dog it. For now, this puts Portugal 5th overall with 4.083 points, tied with France and basically tied with Germany, which is like a hundredth of a point behind. Way too early to make any calls, though already Spain and England are on top of the heap, in that order. Tomorrow promises a very entertaining match between FC Porto and PSG in Porto--winner will go top of the group.
Nice win from Porto, 1-0 at home to a very very good PSG side (I didn't realize all the good players PSG had added--Ibrahimovic most obviously among them). Haven't seen the match winner by Gonzalez but apparently it was outstanding. Full UEFA points on the day raises Portugal's overall total to 4.416 (and prevents France from getting any points from that match), which is currently good for third overall, but again way too early to say much. Our position could erode if the teams in the Europa League stumble. Tomorrow it's SCP at Videoton in Hungary; Hapoel Tel-Aviv v. Academica in Coimbra; and Maritimo at Bruges in Belgium. Good luck to them!
I was tempted to note that "sorry mate try again" is not even a remotely grammatically correct usage, but then I was all like, "Nah, why waste a post to point out someone's trivial mistake, especially when everyone knew what the writer meant because it was blindingly obvious from context? That would be pretty effing weak."
Interesting piece about Videoton, the Hungarian team that is Sporting's opponent today. Apparently they're coached by Paulo Sousa and have a number of connections to Portugal and SCP: http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleagu...index.html#sporting+exiles+look+with+videoton
Another weak day in the Europa League: Sporting crushed 3-0 at Videoton; Maritimo falls 2-0 at Bruges; and A. Coimbra manages a 1-1 draw at home to Hapoel Tel Aviv. Just one point from three games, and as a result Portgual now sits 7th with 4.583 points, almost a full half-point behind France, Italy and Germany. Obviously too early to get nervous, but we need the Europa League teams to pick it up if we're going to keep pace with the big boys.