Back in the old rec.sport.soccer days, there was a chap name Gerry who was a supporter of Gresley Rovers, a Non-League side. He'd write up match reports, and a number of us started following them. Their big rivals were Burton Albion. It was a big deal when they made it to Wembley in the finals of the FA Vase in the mid 1990s--and not long thereafter they won their league, which should have meant promotion to the Conference. But their stadium wasn't good enough, which led to their exclusion (they were not allowed to use Derby County's stadium as a temporary solution). Relegations and financial difficulties followed--and they went into administration 10 years ago (since reborn as Gresley FC--who now play at Level 9). Meanwhile, Burton found success and these days are in League One--ironically moving up to the Football League the same year Gresley went into administration. I just note this for those who were on r.s.s. in the past and as a look into the lives of smaller clubs. This is a typical example.
Looks like Neymar is finally going back to Barca. Neymar to Barca, and PSG get Todibo (young french defender), Rakatic, Demebele on loan, and €130 million.
Scenes when Chris Smalling smashes home a header to lead Roma over Manchester United in the Europa League final!
Big Ears Cup Group Draw Group A: Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Club Brugge, Galatasaray. Group B: Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspur, Olympiakos, Red Star Belgrade. Group C: Manchester City, Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb, Atalanta. Group D: Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lokomotiv Moscow. Group E: Liverpool, Napoli, Salzburg, Genk. Group F: Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Slavia Prague. Group G: Zenit St. Petersburg, Benfica, Lyon, RB Leipzig. Group H: Chelsea, Ajax, Valencia, Lille.
It came down to Galatasaray and Red Star for the last Group B slot--probably good that it was Red Star.
Third time in a decade that Napoli and Liverpool have been drawn in the same group in European play. At least this time the group seems less brutal than last year and I think both can survive.
Looks like they are going to have to get by my Gladbach first... Should be fun. And a Luxembourg team made it to the group phase--and have a team from Cyprus and one from Azerbaijan in their group, so they have a fair chance of moving forward.
I felt like Mochengladbach was probably one of the strongest teams in Pot 2, so I wasn't thrilled. But it looks like we were let off the hook a bit with the 3rd and 4th teams. I anticipate us both advancing, but there will be blood. Oh yes, there will be blood.....
Group H for American v American matchups. Pulisic, Dest and Weah likely to feature heavily for their teams in those games.
Hope I can find it on TV somewhere. Should be a lot of fun. A lot may depend on which order the games are played in--if both have already qualified before they play the second leg, it could be anticlimactic.... I also know I'll be rooting for that Luxembourg team to move on.
Last season you had to order Bleacher Report Live to stream Europa League matches. I'm going to assume Turner will pull the same thing again. It was awful coverage, but you could watch the matches in HD at least.
I have a European conference in the middle of nowhere in November. Depending on how I setup the logistics of my trip, it looks like I'll be able to potentially catch one of: FC Utrecht vs AZ Ajax vs Heracles Eintracht Frankfurt vs Wolfsburg F91 Dudelange Europa League Match (schedule forthcoming) Not sure it'll be worth the hassle, though. And, I'm worried that I won't be able to find a spot to watch Liverpool vs. Napoli.
I've been to the Amsterdam ArenA (or the Cruyff Arena or whatever it's called now). Nice place to watch a match. But.... I'd definitely do everything in my power to see Eintracht v Wolfsburg. I tried to find a way to go there for our upcoming vacation, but just couldn't make it work. Great atmosphere and great fans.
PM me your conference city and dates and I'll see if I can make some suggestions (as I understand why you might not want it on a public forum----for example, I never post vacation photos on Facebook until I get home). Some of the second and third division stadia are worth a visit--Kaiserslautern for one (I've not been there but have friends who have).
Welp, for all two people holding out hope for Falcao to make Columbus a true Caotown, looks like the dream is dead. He’s off to Galatasaray, pending medical, and announced on Sunday. I’ve read previously he doesn’t really want to go there, but no one else is offering a guaranteed three year contract.
Between the Crew's last minute collapse and Koulibaly's last minute own goal after a 3 goal comeback at Juve, I figure I should give up watching soccer. What a crushing day. With that said, both were entertaining matches (in very different ways).