Matchday 1 - Wednesday September 19 Roma - Dynamo Kyiv Sporting - Man. United Matchday 2 - Tuesday October 2 Man. United - Roma Dynamo Kyiv - Sporting Matchday 3 - Tuesday October 23 Dynamo Kyiv - Man. United Roma - Sporting Matchday 4 - Wednesday November 7 Man. United - Dynamo Kyiv Sporting - Roma Matchday 5 - Tuesday November 27 Dynamo Kyiv - Roma Man. United - Sporting Matchday 6 - Wednesday December 12 Roma - Man. United Sporting - Dynamo Kyiv For Sporting to have any chance of getting out of this group, we must get at least get 10 points. Beat Kiev home and away and get at least 4 of 12 points from manu/roma. Also hoping that kiev also steal a point or two from Manu/roma. Easier said then done, Let's see what are boys got !!!
I might potentialy watch the 2nd manu/sporting game. dumb question, the first team listed is the home team, right?
Clearly the toughest of the three draws. Points against Kyiv are a must, and toughing out a result or two against Roma and/or ManU will be necessary but not easy. At the very least, Sporting needs to end up third in the group to maintain UEFA Cup status.
We will beat Dynamo Kiev with ease. As far as Roma goes, I'm not impressed with anyone but Totti. Doubt that Totti alone can beat us twice by himself. I hope that nobody thinks that Roma is some powerhouse because if you have watched Serie A at all it will come to your attention that after Inter, AC Milan, and Juventus there is a huge drop off. Roma will not be there next year and they won't do much this year. Sporting will have a tough time with Man Utd but then again so would any team in the world. Just imagine if we still had Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani. We will make it out of the group stages for the first team this year. Temos Equipa. Forca Sporting!
Sporting will go through, we can do it .. and I can feel it. when Manchester United returns to Alvalade, the scene where they were destroyed 5-0 in 1964 they will suffer another defeat and Sporting will go on to clinch the R of 16 alongside Man Utd. thats what I hope anyways its a tough group... 3rd place is not even a guarentee because Dinamo Kiev is good. but I hope our players learned from last season and improve on it.
I admire your confidence for our boys but I think Roma will be tougher to beat then Manu. Have you ever watched serie A, probably not because you fell asleep. Getting points especially in italy will be real tough but I think the way that manu is playing right now and the game only a few weeks away, I think Sporting stands a real chance. We beat Inter milan last year, let's see if we can do it again this time around vs the red devils from Old trafford. Vamos Sporting Believe !!!
My opinion we need to go further this year, and to me the most critical games are the back to back versus Roma. As for MU they just aren't getting good results, and playing them early at home is good and bad. Will they break out of their slump, are these new signings going to do it for us. IMO yes Izmailov, and Vuckcecic are crackers, and PB needs to find a way to put them in toghether. Another thing I'd like to see in this CL is a team, that is more physical when we don't have possesion. We had a lot of bad luck last year, young, and inexperienced team. This year they'll be more focused, and hopefully we'll get through. But those Roma matches are critical, if we want to go through. Don't even want to bring up the UEFA scenario.
The most critical games in the CL are rarely the first or the last match. They are the middle games, and mostly the back to back.
Since we didn't even make the UEFA Cup last year after the embarrassing loss in Lisbon to the bottom team in the group, we can't do worse. The group stages are a marathon, not a sprint, and an early good result or bad result doesn't guarantee jack. Sporting needs to be consistent this time around rather than brilliant (beating Inter) and awful (losing to Spartak) in the same round.
Exactly that's why I mention the critical games as the back to back Roma games. Last year was a younger team, and personally after they beat Inter at home they were full of themselves. Not going to happen this year.
Exactly, and this, by the way, is the exact order of games SCP had last year, opening vs the favorite at home too.
Although United have not really been getting the results that we want, they have been creating many chances but have not been able to put them away so dont think that the bad results=bad performances. By the first game against Sporting Rooney will be fit along with a much more fit Tevez and Nani who has impressed a bit in the games he has started.
Whos this Nani character you speak of How good is he... we Sporting fans are unaware Dont come to Alvalade thinking you are going to come out with a win. Go look up the year 1964... Law Charlton and Best couldnt prevent a 5-0 defeat. you guys had a strong team then, and you have a strong team now so I dont see no reason why we cant win. Manchester united could beat us at home ,they are a very strong team but the most likely result IMHO is a draw. of man utd get anything from alvalade it will most likely be down to cristiano ronaldo.
If united get a one-nil win I will be happy and with our away form like it is I do not expect a 5-0. There is no point talking about 1964 as that is irrevelevent and most of us were not born then. I think Ronaldo may be banned for this game which is a pity but Nani could do the job. I thought that the likes of Nani will get a good reception but maybe not from your reaction??
And you're right; there are no easy teams in the CL, but to be fair, Dynamo Kiev did not have a great European season last year. Sporting, on the other hand, aside for the last game at home vs Spartak Moscow, played well, but was unlucky.
Well here is how our counterparts fared this weekend. Dinamo Kyiev won their home match versus Kharkiv 2-0 on goals by Bangoura 31, and Michael 55. No TV MU won their home match vs Sunderland 1-0 on a sole goal by Saha in the 71 min assisted by Ex-Sporting Nani. Watched this match, and MU although more dominant, it took a silly defensive error to win this match. Sunderland deserved better. Roma also won their home match vs Sienna 3-0 on goals by Aquilani 17, Giuly 82, Totti 88. I watched most of this game, and Roma looked very lost. Sienna dominated more of the midfield, and at times looked more dangerous. The result however doesn't show this. Terrible finishing from Sienna, and great goalkeeping from Doni. Totti is always a great threat, but looks a lot slower, then what were used too.
True, Dynamo had a terrible CL season last year. The team was in transition, which, hopefully, had been settled. Unfortunately, the defense hasn't settled yet. Offense is Dynamo's best line right now, with Bangoura, last year's third best French League scorer, scoring well. Expect scores like 4:2 or 5:3 (or, conversely, 2:4 or 3:5)
To get 2nd place Sporting needs their game in Ukraine to be + 5 degrees and hope that it's freezing cold when Roma and MU go to Ukraine to play. Perhaps a tie or a loss for Roma/MU might open the door for Sporting to sneak threw. Realistically, 3rd place would suit Sporting best as in the knockout rounds, they'll probably get spanked as they'll face one of the stronger seeds.