Rofl! How...nice of you! If they get a soft ref for the tie I don't think they stand much of a chance. Riquelme will shine and net at least one FK over the two legs. So you'll be wearing all yellow when the games KO then?
Certainly a great test for him. He's never had to quell a player like Riquelme so should be fascinating to see what tactics he uses. Bring on Drunken Ferguson and scare them to death??
Moyes should start watching Villarreal's performance against AZ Alkmaar in the 1/4 finals of the UEFA Cup last season. AZ did a good job of keeping them in check. Not sure Everton has the players to do the same though. With the right tactics and if Everton rise to the level of their opponents like they did at times last year to get in to the CL, they'll have a chance. If they fall behind it could get ugly (see Celtic).
I'd like to see a scandinavian team other than Rosenborg play the CL for a change. When was the last time that happened? There's a decent chance this year between Malmo, Brondby, and Valerenga. Anyway, could we end up with a pretty weak group stage this year? 1. Tbilsi/Brondby/Ajax 2. Anderlecht/Slavia 3. Artmedia/Partizan/Sheriff 4. Valerenga/Haka/Brugge 5. Wisla/Panathinaikos 6. Shelbourne/Steaua/Rosenborg That's six teams right there that I don't think will have much of a chance at making the playoffs if they do qualify. Now here's ten teams that would likely put up a good fight for 1st or 2nd place in the group stage and five of them are going off to the other cup. 1. Betis/Monaco 2. Shakhtar/Inter 3. Everton/Villareal 4. Sporting/Udinese 5. Basel/Werder Bremen Oh, well, too bad.
, Ajax, Anderlect, Brugge, Pana and Rosenborg are all regulars. Four of those were in the CL last year.
I'd bet on... Villareal, Liverpool, Werder, Partizan, Inter, MU, Rosenborg, Dinamo Kiev, Lokomotiv, Udinese, Brugges, Rangers, Ajax, Betis, Panathinaikos going through.
All 4 were kicked out the first round as well They can all field competitive sides though in a good year, we'll see how they do next season as opposed to the last.
Their being regulars doesn't necessarily mean they'll be in the fight for playoff spots once they get to the group stage. Anderlecht, for example, got 0 points in their group last year even though they eliminated Benfica in qualifying. Panathinaikos did get close but they were in a fairly weak group. Some of the teams I listed could surprise a big opponent, like Brugge beat Milan at San Siro a couple of years back, but I'm just saying they don't look like serious contenders for the playoffs.
Re: Champions League Third Qualifing Round Draw what's fvcking going on with the draws, this is the 3rd or 4th year that a portugese team has drawn an italian team Sporting vs. Udinese
Re: Champions League Third Qualifing Round Draw Relax, Udinese is nowhere near as good as the Inter and Lazio teams of previous years. I think Sporting will have what it takes to get through.
Re: Champions League Third Qualifing Round Draw I'm glad anderlecht has slavia prague ... if we could have had shacktar or everton
Two third round threads merged... Update Matchups After Today's Games with first match results in parens. In each of the cases of the games being played tomorrow, the 2nd team listed is at home. Basle v. Werder Bremen Artmedia Petrzalka v. Partizan or Sheriff (1-0) Shakhtar Donetsk v. Inter Milan Shelbourne or Steaua (0-0) v. Rosenborg Manchester United v. Debreceni or Hajduk (3-0) Malmo or Maccabi Haifa (3-2) v. Dynamo Kiev or FC Thun (2-2) Everton v. Villarreal Liverpool v. Tirana or CSKA Sofia (0-2) Sporting Lisbon v. Udinese Valerenga or Haka (1-0) v. Club Bruges Dudelange or Rapid (1-6) v. Rabotnicki or Lok. Moscow (1-1) Anderlecht or Neftchi (5-0) v. Slavia Prague Famagusta or Trabzonspor (3-1) v. Rangers Tbilisi or Brondby (0-2) v. Ajax Real Betis v. Monaco Wisla Krakow v. Panathinaikos
Brondby [DEN] v Ajax [NED] Anderlecht [BEL] v Slavia Prague [CZE] Real Betis [ESP] v AS Monaco [FRA] Artmedia Bratislava [SVK] v Partizan Belgrade [SGC] Valarenga Oslo [NOR] v Club Brugge [BEL] Malmo FF [SWE] v FC Thun [SUI] Shakhtar Donetsk [UKR] v Inter Milan [ITA] Liverpool [ENG] v CSKA Sofia [BUL] Manchester United [ENG] v Debrecen [HUN] Wisla Krakow [POL] v Panathinaikos [GRE] Anorthosis Famagusta [CYP] v Rangers [SCO] Rapid Vienna [AUT] v Lokomotiv Moskva [RUS] Steaua Bucharest [ROM] v Rosenborg [NOR] Sporting Lisbon [PRT] v Udinese [ITA] Everton [ENG] v Villarreal [ESP] Basel [SUI] v Werder Bremen [GER]
You gotta think Man. United are a little weary of Debreceni after they scored 8-0 on the croatians...
The only problem my friends is that is not just Riquelme and Forlan, the force of Villareal, You have to add, Kromkamp and Tachinardi, plus senna, Sorin and Gonzalo Rodriguez and Josico This is Going to be a really tough match for Everton, but everithing is possible!
Wow. Dynamo Kyiv out. Celtic Out. And Hajduk losing 8-0 to the Hungarians on aggregate. I don't know what to think.
It's going to be Werder Bremen, Villarreal, Udinese, Steaua Buchuresti, Lokomotiv Moskva, Rangers, Panathinaikos, Manchester United, Liverpool, Inter, Thun FC, Club Brugge, Partizan FC, Real Betis, Slavia Prague.
Seeding doesn't matter in this regard - you can seeded and still play at home first. Another draw is done to decide that.
That doesn't sound right because all the other matches have the unseeded team playing home first. Maybe Man. United was a special case somehow (didn't want to conflict with Liverpool?).
Generally, they would resolve any potential conflicts with clubs from the same area by having one on Tuesday and the other on Wednesday, so I wouldn't think that would be the reason. Artmedia Petrzalka was also a seeded team (due to taking Celtic's seeding), so Man United isn't the only seed playing first - but there is only 2. It seems unlikely if they actually drew for who's home first that there'd only be 2 seeds at home first. It is possible that there was a stadium conflict.
That is possible but I think it was David Dein. He must have arranged for ManU to get that schedule. What? He isn't involved...
Anderlechts O Points was just a once in a life time failure. They had a bad coach and the team was falling apart. The year before Kahn saved a brilliant shot in last seconds of the match in Munich, if he wouldn't have done that, anderlecht would have kicked Bayern out of the competition. They have proven to be a team with chances of reaching the 2nd round every year. And let's not forget the magnificent 00/01-editio where they really were an absolute topteam (beating kiev,psv,manutd,lazio,...)