LOL yes it sucks being right about this topic over and over again for the past 3 years. What a chip on my shoulder it is to logically and factually break down the made up facts of some posters. What an inferiority complex we have, I mean I wish we could be where Russia is right now in the Coeff count but sadly we can't because we are in first for this year. Oh how this inferiority is killing us....just like how a small Portuguese island team killed a big multi-million dollar Zenit side, OH THE INFERIORITY WE ALL FEEL!
Well they're not as good as they looked like during qualification and they're not as bad as they looked like Arsenal and Shakhtar. Arsenal is miles ahead. Honestly I was expecting a major beating, so no surprise there. Today was a bit of a surprise though. I was expecting a draw, which would probably happen if Domingos (Braga's coach) didn't f*** up big time tonight. It would also help if Braga had a decent keeper.
They didn't exactly kill them. It was 5-4 on a last minute goal IIRC. Those small Portuguese island teams like Maritimo and Nacional also beat most teams in Portugal. It's not like they are 2nd-division teams that qualified for Europe through some fluke cup run (like Sibir did). Those small island minnows consistently finish in the top half of the table. And that's kinda the point here. Outside of the "big 3" your league is poor. Literally. Doesn't have the money to match the likes of Zenit and Rubin.
That game was the Battle of Brazil! I was trying to count all the Brazilians on both sides. That game must have been screened in Brazil, just as Seville V Braga was screened in Brazil because of all the Brazilians on both teams.
Here are the country coefficients from http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method4/crank2011.html through today's Europa League games: 6. Portugal: 38.796 7. Russia: 38.541 8. Ukraine: 37.383
replace Celtic with Wolfsburg or Besitkas and that's CSKA last Champions League lol BRAGGGGGGAAAAAA!!!!! more like BRAGGGGINNNNGGGG! oh how happy am i seeing your silly team being demolished at the moment, to keep your pompous *** shut!
Just wanna say that CSKA didn´t "swat Wolfsburg away" last season. Wolfsburg won 3:1 at home and lost 1:2 in Moscow, in a knockout competition they would have eliminated CSKA. (And Wolfsburg finished 8th in the Bundesliga last season and recieved quite a lot of drubbings in league-play...
3 years over and over again and only this year Portugal is a little bit ahead in the running table of coefficients. Maybe it means that Russia is not THAT bad as you saying all the time.
I would suggest that real race will begin after the group stages end. Then we'll have many more teams fall by the way side. The only surprising thing is how badly Ukraine have faded.
Not that surprising. We've always had only two teams perform well in Europe. 2/6 (Well, 1/6 with the way Dynamo is doing), and of course the coefficient will suffer.
Sure, but it's still fun to discuss it now. It looks like it's going to be a good year for both countries. Porto being in the EL is looking like a huge guarantee of points for Portugal. Sporting won the toughest match of their group on paper and looks like its going to cruise it as well. Benfica can turn it around but even if they don't, worst case scenario they'll drop to the EL. Braga is definitely shaky as they started very badly. Realistically, it looks like a EL place would be a good result. The games against Partisan will be crucial. I see CSKA/Zenit dropping a few more points than Porto/Sporting (as their groups are harder-ish) but progressing comfortably. In the CL I see the chances for progress as being in Russia's advantage as Spartak started well. Rubin can progress, fall to the Europa League or even crash out. The games against Panathinaikos might be crucial and they are must win for them. All in all, Braga and Rubin's performance are going to be the biggest power-movers for this initial stage.
As of now for 2006-2007 through 2010-2011 it's: 6. Portugal: 39.996 7. Russia: 39.374 8. Ukraine: 38.050
That is true, I can see all the Russian and Portuguese teams that are alive now to play in the Spring. Which is why I think the more interesting part of this race will start after the group stages.
cska & zenit have the best records and goal differential in europa league at the moment. first 2 sides to qualify as well. followed by stuttgart, BATE & porto. spartak will qualify for champions league playoffs with a tie against marseille. rubin, who knows...could qualify for playoffs, europa league or even crash out. benfica & braga are going to the europa league to join sporting and porto, potentially against cska, zenit, rubin & spartak. it would be nice for the russians & portugese teams to sweep everyone out of th way and start meeting in quaterfinals.