Yeah at this point a dramatic 2-1 win would be a good outcome, get us some UEFA points on the way out. Brutal draw for SCP and FCP this early on but they didn't exactly show their best stuff either.
Basel still up 1-0 on St. Etienne so the good news is we could have 2 Russian and 2 French teams out tonight along with our two Portuguese teams
Well not all is bad, Although we lost 2 teams tonight both France and Russia lost 2 teams, which means France and Russia only have one representative each (PSG and Zenit) while we still have two (Benfica and Braga) That Zenit v Benfica second leg is huge - if they knock out Zenit I would say our chances are good (hopefully Braga gets a good draw)
Between Braga and Benfica (excluding CL bonus points) they need to combine 6 wins and a draw to pass Russia (The Zenit game needs to be an SLB win as well) Meaning they have to go pretty deep.
Have you seen the teams left in the EL? The majority are CL regulars. Athletic Club Bilbao (ESP) Sevilla (ESP) Valencia (ESP) Villarreal (ESP) Liverpool (ENG) Manchester United (ENG) Tottenham (ENG) Dortmund (GER) Leverkusen (GER) Braga (POR) Sparta Praha (CZE) Lazio (ITA) Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) Fenerbahçe (TUR) Basel (SUI) Anderlecht (BEL) I would like Sparta Praha, Anderlecht, Basel or Fenerbace but if it's a big team I want Manchester United or Liverpool. Tottenham always has our number so I'd rather not. We usually have Sevillas number except that one year they won their first Uefa Cup.
Holy crap this is the strongest Europa League R16 I've ever seen, by a wide margin. Not a weak club in the bunch.
Bonus points count toward overall UEFA points, so they're not to be discounted but you only get one for the quarters and rounds after (and weirdly, none for winning it all) so they won't make a big difference. The point is taken, though--catching Russia this year is a long shot. The goal, I think, is to close the gap to the extent possible and limit the damage done by yet another year where we end up behind them. At this rate, though, it's likely we'll dip another spot in the overall rankings and end up with five rather than six teams. That may not be all bad, though--our sixth team usually does piss-poor and drags us down anyhow.
Agreed. Wonder how Braga will do against Fenerbahce, it could've been a worse draw but will still be tough.
We have won all 3/3 European competition AWAY games in Turkey vs Sivaspor, Galatassaray and Besiktas. They are not easy but one of the teams I feel we match up well against.
Braga have outscored turkish clubs 12 to 4 and the only 2 losses were at home when they were already eliminated
Damn good draw considering the possible options. Some really impressive teams in there, and Man U/Liverpool in the Europa Cup R16 is insane. Braga has good history against Turkish clubs, so I like their chances. But I'm not too convinced by history as a predictor in this context. You need to know things like current form, how the teams match up, etc. Fenerbahce is a good team, second in the Super Lig just behind Besiktas. They've got a couple Portuguese starters, actually, Raul Meireles and Nani, as well as Robin van Persie and some other good players. Not going to be an easy matchup, though winnable.
Benfica have just tied and got the precious away goal 5 minutes from the end and are heading through to the quarters. Big win for them and for portugal in the points ranking
I'm a little more cautious before the final whistle but things are looking good--Zenit needs two to win due to the away goal Benfica just scored. Quarters are likely.
Talisca with a late late goal to seal the win and qualification. That's it, Benfica are through and Zenit is out, so no more Russian teams in Europe. Now we gotta see how PSG fare against Chelsea, if Chelsea can knock them out no more French teams either.
Holy crap! Extra time goal from Talisca in the 95th min! Benfica beat Zenit in St Petersburg after going down a solo, 2-1!
Benfica scores a great win from the perspective of UEFA points. The win nets two points, plus a bonus point for getting to the quarters of the UCL. That moves Portugal to 9.833 on the season, a bump of .5 net UEFA points. And beating Zenit means denying Russia any more points and eliminating their last team in Europe. They are still well ahead of us at this stage--11.5 points to our 9.833. To beat that total, we'd need Braga and Benfica to total 11 more points in Europe. So even if both Braga and Benfica won both legs of their next round games, that would still not be enough. But as I've said before, this is a relative contest over time, and every gain counts in the longer-term. So making inroads versus Russia now is important even if they end up with more points on this season. On a better note, we are now only about a half-point behind France on the season. If PSG loses and Braga and Benfica get some decent results, we can pass them. So let's hope Chelsea routs PSG and that Benfica gets a favorable draw in the UCL next round (Wolfsburg, perhaps?).
I hope Braga wipe the floor with Fenerbache Ghost Turkish fans are super cocky for such a s*** League