living in the past I see, somebody doesn't realize that we are now at the beginning of Sporting era of dominance in Portuguese football under BDC.
OK, so back on topic: the final week of group play was subpar, with one win, one draw, and three losses: Benfica 1-2 Atletico Chelsea 2-0 Porto Sporting 3-1 Besiktas Os Belenenses 0-1 Fiorentina Gronigen 0-0 Braga The major good news of the week was that with its win, Sporting eked out a spot in the R32. that said, the draw Portuguese teams got in that round looks brutal, though Benfica and Braga got reasonable outcomes. UCL R16: Benfica v. Zenit. This seems like a winnable matchup, though Russian teams have been tearing it up this season and traveling to St Petersburg in winter is not going to make things easy for Benfica. EL R32: Porto v. Borussia Dortmund. Ouch. Only a couple years since Dortmund was in the UCL final. I don't follow the Bundesliga too closely, but this is a rough-ass draw for so early in the tournament. Sporting v. Bayer Leverkusen. Ouch x2. Leverkusen too I know little about, and while they are not the same team that was a top level European power a decade or so ago this too is a rough draw. Braga v. Sion. I know nothing about this Swiss team, but Braga has been looking strong so I hope they do well, they got the most favorable opponent of all our teams still in Europe.
And so at this stage of the season, where is Portugal overall in Europe? The answer is easy: seventh, with 8.5 points. We're behind the traditional five powers (Spain, Italy, Germany, England, France), plus Russia. We're about two points ahead of Ukraine in 8th, but almost a point behind France in 7th. We could catch them if they continue to falter. They have only three teams left and I could see them all getting eliminated next round. For what it's worth, if we didn't have Vitoria Guimaraes dragging us down with zero points, we'd be over ten points right now. And if Porto hadn't shat the bed versus Dynamo Kiev, we'd have close to ten as well and more distance versus Ukraine. But you are what your record says you are, as the saying runs.
Poor week: two wins but two losses as well. The good: Benfica 1-0 Zenit. Benfica scraped the home victory in the first leg with a late late goal, but this is hardly a dominant lead. They've got a shot but our teams do not have a great record in Russia. Sion 1-2 Braga. Win plus two away goals positions Braga well to advance. The bad: Dortmund 2-0 Porto. No away goals and two-goal deficit give FCP a hill to climb at home. SCP 0-1 Leverkusen. Going to be tough to overturn this deficit away next leg. SCP did not look strong on the attack and ended up with ten men. Overall, we look pretty good now. Seventh on 9.166 points, closer to France (10.250) in sixth than to Belgium and Ukraine in eighth (7). But that could change if we crap out this stage and get stuck on nine-odd points. To remain competitive generally in Europe, and to stay within touching distance of Russia, getting past Zenit would be very very good. Braga looks to have a lock for the R16 (knock wood), and I suppose it's not impossible that one of Porto or SCP could grow some balls and take it to a German team for a change, but I'm not putting any money down on that outcome. Honestly, if we can get Benfica and Braga through to the next stage Ill be happy with that.
Short answer, hugely important. Russia is way ahead of us this year but the good news is that all three of their teams lost in Europe this week--though all three were away and only one was by more than a single goal, so they could all very well overturn those deficits next week. They are about two points ahead of us on the year, so it's conceivable we could catch and pass them if they falter and we do well, but Porto and SCP didn't exactly help the cause this week. Basically, it all turns on Benfica v. Zenit next leg. If we can get past them, grab the bonus points for getting to the UCL quarters and prevent them from getting those points, then we have a shot to catch them on the year. If they overturn the 1-0 loss at da Luz, forget it.
Porto and Sporting still have a chance. How BVB only scored 2 at home against Porto is beyond me. Also bad week for Russia since Zenit and Krasnodar lost
Braga playing today (early compared to other Europa League matches), and on a knife's edge with their 2-1 win at Sion. It's 2-2 in the second half, so if Sion scores Braga would need two to advance due to away goals.
Whew. Braga through to R16--barely. 2-2 draw gives them a one-goal edge thanks to the away win. Sion hit the woodwork in the 93d minute with a goal that would have eliminated Braga. But the result is what it is, regardless of shakiness at the end there. Nice to have one team through. Hoping for Porto or Sporting to pull a reverse tomorrow.
Slight bump up to 9.33, closing ever so slightly on France and a bit farther from Ukraine. Pretty meaningless though until we see how tomorrow's games turn out. Russia losing a couple would do a lot for the cause, ditto France. So teams to root for include: Fenerbahce (leading after 2-o home win v Lokomotiv Moskva); Athletic Club (at home against L'OM with a 1-0 away win under their belt); Basel (trailing St Etienne, 2-3 but at home this leg); and Sparta Prague (leading 1-0 but away to Krasnodar).
Sporting losing at Leverkusen, and SCP have been playing well. Still need to score 2 goals in any case
Sporting on their way out, but it looks like Athletic are going to knockout Marseille. And Krasnodar on their way out. So at least Russian and French teams are getting kicked out too
Yeah, would have been nice to see SCP grab at least a point on their way out but the elimination of both Russian and the one French team playing softens the blow. Let's hope Porto can pull a reverse at the Dragao against Dortmund.
Apparently Dortmund have lost every game they've played in Portugal, so let's hope that history continues.
Dortmund up 1-0 on a counter attack, This tie is over as Porto needs 4 goals to go through. Best they can hope for is to still try and draw or win to get some points before they go out
Porto 0-1 Dortmund after about 25min Basel 1-0 St Etienne, though, so Portugal's rivals are sucking today too