Other Teams News Part II [R]

So, 4 Spanish teams in the semis of the Champions League and the Europa League ( Atletico,Real, Sevilla and Valencia). Spanish football has been so dominant for the last 6 years. Big props to them.
Sevilla making a comeback against Porto wasn't all that surprising but still a big achievement. Unai Emery is doing a fantastic job yet again. I would love to see him coaching in the Bundesliga one day.
Valencia's stunning comeback from a 3-0 deficit against Basel wasn't such a surprise either IMO. They didn't deserve to lose in the first leg the way they did. Basel got extremely lucky in the first leg but that luck ran out in the 2nd leg. Great hat trick by Paco Alcacer. He was a special player at 16/17 and he is still special at 21. Glad he didn't waste his talent.
Anyway, I don't think there will be a Spanish team in the CL final. I expect a Pep vs Mourinho final.
Atletico vs Chelsea is certainly a 50-50. Two defensive teams who are dangerous from set pieces and on the break. Wouldn't surprise me if it goes to a penalty shootout in the end. Mou will probably get lucky as usual.

 

Longer than that. Try back to 2003-04. For the CL it goes back even further. It is an enigma: The league is in such financial trouble, many teams are as well, and yet they attract some of the best players to play there and are therefore so successful.

 

Well those two big clubs are so deeply set in the the world's football history since 1950 for various reaons. Lots of south americans who are goodplayers like living there too. So thats it..no enigma.

 

No, very true. I think the enigma is that -- while attracting so many great players and having enjoyed such success -- the clubs are historically in such financial dire straits.

 

The big two always have money flowing in through various means. The others come and go but theyve always had - to a lesser extent - money whenever theyve been winning trophies. Otherwise, yes you are right.

 

Huh? Real and Barca had money but they were spending way more than they were taking in. That's why the two nearly went bankrupt in 2002. It took the Spanish government forgiving part of their massive debt and then arranging for further loans (at below market interest rates) in order to prop them up. Again, why I point out that despite all of these players and success they (Spanish clubs) simply seem incapable of being stable. Even today, were all of Barca or Real's debt to be recalled they would have to sell off a great deal to remain in the black. Therein lies the enigma.

 

Like i said - money flowing in somehow It's not an enigma to me.

 

True. They were successful in the 90s in the CL but I think from 2008 Spanish football became even more respected and maybe even feared by the opposition(because the national team won the Euro and Pep's Barca started to dominate).

Real and Barca attract the best players but the other Spanish clubs are starting to lose their key players on regular basis. Last summer, Sevilla, who are now in the semis of the Europa League, lost 3 of their best players(Jesus Navas,Negredo and Medel) and 3 of their best young talents ( Campaña, Kondogbia and Luis Alberto).
Valencia (who have huge debts) also can't attract top players anymore and have lost some of their best players in recent years ( David Silva, Soldado,Villa,etc). They have some good young players who could become stars(bernat and paco alcacer) but will lose them when they start hitting their peaks.
Atletico Madrid also have huge debts (514M in 2011). In terms of revenue, Atletico are listed as the 20th richest club in Europe with 120M euros for the 2012/2013 season. So they are 310M behind Bayern,360M behind Barca,280M behind Chelsea and 400M behind Real. They've been punching way above their weight thanks to Simeone. Unfortunately, they will probably lose Diego Costa,Koke and Courtois in the summer.

 

What happened to Rakitic by the way? This season he looks genuinely world-class, even going toe-to-toe with the players of Real and Barca when they played against Sevilla. Especially when Sevilla beat Real at home with 2-1, Rakitic was amazing. I never thought he could be this good.

 

It looks like he will be joining Real Madrid in the summer. His delivery from set-pieces is great. He is a good dribbler,good passer and makes very good late runs into the box.

 

Slomka loses his 13th consecutive away match #pathetic

Stuttgart conceding a late goal yet again. So predictable. Poor stamina. Poor concentration in the end of games. Would be sad to see Leitner and Werner going down.

 

Was Werner injured?

Though he missed two chances, he made an assist and had a much better second half.

Good game overall

 

Going down = get relegated

 

He said he wants to stay even if they get relegated. He's been a Stuttgart fan since he was a little boy. He is only 18 so it's not the end of the world if he plays one season in the 2nd division.

 

Pretty sure he'll stay in Stuttgart no matter what. Looks like Vfb do not have to relegate tho.

Werner has joined the club since the age of 6 n has been a super fan for Vfb

See a hybrid of Ulf Kirsten n Michael Owen in him

 

Werner should probably stay with Stuttgart for a few more years. Way too early to move. Could damage him if he doesn't move to right club.

 

Julian Brandt scores a classy goal on the fast counterattack, breaking ahead of the defender & chipping it over Kraft.

Leverkusen up 2-1 against Hertha. First game under Sascha Lewandowski.

 

Sadly there is less money flowing out which is why the clubs are in the shitter.

 

Especially in his case. His game is based on speed and power. If he moved to a more technical, possession oriented team he'd likely be marginalized.

 

Volland was used as CF when Modeste was out last 2 games, looked good up top? Stats-wise, kicker gave him very high rating as CF.

 

Not his first rodeo in that position. He's played that at 1860 in the 4-2-3-1, as well as the AM role in that formation and the second front runner in the 4-4-2.

Up, back, inside or outside he can play it well.

 

He played CF in 4-2-3-1 for Munich 1860 too?

 

Sechzig has been playing with various formations for quite some time. Volland was brought up to be a MF wing but they quickly found he could play AM and CF in place of Lauth. That's where his break through came.