Europa League-2015/2016

We could just be playing with 2 no. 8. Basically a 3 man midfield rather than 5.

 

the tackle I think you are refering to is the tackle Varela had on Reus which should of been a red. Also Porto did well on the damage control aspect as they had Varela a LW play as a RB, Layin a LB playing CB and Angel with all but 180 competive minutes starting at LB

should be a great game between two CL giants in a competion they shouldnt be in
as the are CL caliber clubs


cheers

 

yep, that's the one. A miracle that Reus's season wasn't ended right there and then, he has a weak ankle.

This should be a good match

 

Next leg is drawn and we are going against Tottenham

 

A strong opponent, IMO the most serious EPL team. This will be a true test for us. Our advantage should be, as some have pointed out, Tottenham's approach to this game since they are fighting for the league title and will probably save energy for that race.

 

Excellent match up!

 

We have top 3 pretty much wrapped up and can't compete for the title anyway but Spurs are in a title race fighting it out with Leicester, Arsenal and you can't count out Man City already. It will be tough months for them.

 

Other than the Spanish teams I didn't want us to face Tottenham. Sucks that we get the toughest match ups twice in a row.

 

The two clubs, which were the biggest favourites to win EL by betting houses (Borussia had 1:4, T'ham 1:8), were drawn to meet already. I would prefer United or L'pool much more because of their quality and because it wouldn't be a shame if BvB would lose, but if they lose against Tottenham, who will likely rest some players, it would be much more embarassing in the eyes of european audience.

 

So if both teams play their best line-ups it'd be:

Burki, Piszczek, Schmelzer, Sokratis, Hummels, Gundogan, Weigl, Kagawa, Reus, Aubayemang, Mkhitaryan

vs

Lloris, Walker, Vertonghen/Wimmer, Alderweireld, Rose, Alli, Dembele, Dier, Lamela, Eriksen, Kane

Ouch, that's closer than I thought it was. They have some very good players but I reckon our attack should squeeze us through.

 

This really will be a coachs' battle. After the turgid performance yesterday it will require more than what any of our players can produce to get past Tottenham.

 

We basically stopped playing after we went 3-0 up, i wouldn't put too much stake in yesterdays performance. We shut out a CL caliber team over 2 legs and i think we can all recognize we played poorly yet still managed that result.

it will be interesting, especially the first leg. on the 5th we face Bayern and they face Arsenal. They will put everything they have in to the Arsenal match as that will be huge in the title race, while we will surely put a lot in to our bayern match as well we may be a bit more reserved understanding EL is our best shot at glory. Tottenham is a good opponent and it will be interesting, but I really don't know how much weight to put in to their PL success. Im predicting a closer tie than this porto one, but I think we will go through and then maybe get an easy tie in the next round for once.

 

Lads it's only Tottenham

 

After Napoli were knocked out for playing a weak b team first tie last round, Spurs were imo the next strongest team left. We wont get by if we play like we did vs Porto which was just enough to get by but not really great, certainly not at our best level we saw earlier this season. Was hoping to get an easy draw in order to rediscover some form in time for later rounds. Now the team needs to step up fast, especially the offense who have dipped the most since the winter break.

Also seems like this draw is rigged. This is the second time that the strongest teams have drawn each other and the weaker teams have drawn weaker teams, same as last round. Meanwhile the only big team to get an easy draw is Sevilla, just like last round. Its like a conspiracy to get Sevilla back to the finals and another weak team like Dynamo last year. Spanish, German, and English teams got screwed.

 

Spurs were a tad fortunate in the first leg against Fiorentina - they could easily have had a man sent off and the penalty they were awarded was very soft indeed. The tie wasn't quite the walkover it looks on paper.

 

Do people here actually watch Tottenham? They are probably the second best team in it, but they are not Bayern, Barcelona or Madrid. There's not much difference in quality between them and Leverkusen. The performance against Porto before the substitutions would probably be enough to see them off.

This weekend could be a big one on how Dortmund plan for the rest of the season. Should Bayern lose or even draw against Wolfsburg then the game against Bayern whilst not a title decider could make it a real title race. Win that game and Dortmund could be 2/3 points behind.

 

By Madrid, you do mean Atletico, right? With Carrasco back they will have more than Griezmann in attack.

 

You are right there is no reasonable argument for Madrid being better than Atletico. Atletico have more points and have a better head to head.

 

if that happens, we better at least make it to the finals

 

Speaking of Atleti...

2' | 0-0 | First shit on goal of the match! Right foot drive by @saulniguez that’s slightly high. #AtletiRealSociedad! #GoAtleti

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) March 1, 2016

 

Anyone visited the Spurs boards?