Team playing in European competition season 2011-2012: Stade Rennais F.C. vs. F.C. Rustavi Metalurgist (GEO): 28th July (a) 4th August (h): Europe League 3Q FC Sochaux-Montbéliard vs TBA : Europa League Playoff round (unseeded) Draw 5th August Paris Saint-Germain F.C. vs TBA : Europa League Playoff round (seeded) Draw 5th August Olympique Lyonnais vs TBA : Champions League Playoff round (seeded) Draw 5th August Olympique de Marseille Champions League group stage (2nd seeding Pool) Draw 25th August Lille OSC Champions League group stage (4th seeding Pool) Draw 25th August Rennes opening the french European cup challenge on Thursday, hopefully they'll perform better than Montpelier last year.
I know nothing about that team Rennes is playing so I looked them up and it looks likes Rennes should be the heavy favorites. I have more confidence in Rennes than I do in Sochaux. PSG are still adding players so its too early to tell but they are aiming for a top 3 league finish so I dont know how serious they are taking the Europa League. As usual the best hope for Europa League success is if any of the 3 Champions League teams drop down into it. Im very curious to see what happens ifif Lyon lose their CL qualifier and have to play Europa League how they handle that competition as they havent played in it in over a decade.
FC Metallurg Rustavi 2 - 5 Rennes 17' [0 - 1] R. Boukari 31' [0 - 2] R. Boukari 41' [1 - 2] L. Japaridze 42' [1 - 3] J. Pitroipa 49' [1 - 4] J. Feret 56' [2 - 4] L. Razmadze (pen.) 70' [2 - 5] J. Pitroipa Not much to complain about, kills off the leg in the first match and a big offensive showing
Europa League Playoff Stade Rennais F.C.v Crvena Zvezda Olympiakos Volou vs Paris Saint-Germain F.C. Metalist Kharkiv vs FC Sochaux-Montbéliard Champions League Playoff Olympique Lyonnais vs Rubin Kazan Nothing easy but nothing impossible.
PSG easiest. Olympiakos Volou got relegated to the 2nd division. I think Sochaux will lose. Crvena Zvezda has a lot of history but I dont know how big their budget is these days. Wouldnt be surprised if they beat Rennes. If Auxerre can beat Zenit St. Petersburg then Lyon can beat Rubin Kazan.
i was thinking the same this sportboy "if Auxerre can beat Zenit St.petersburg then then Lyon can beat Rubin Kazan"
That Auxerre team wasnt even that good as evidence last season. This Lyon team is better and Id also say Ruben Kazin isnt as good as Zenit.
Olympique Lyonnais vs Rubin Kazan 3 - 1 3' [0 - 1] V. Dyadyun 10' [1 - 1] B. Gomis 40' [2 - 1] S. Kverkveliya (o.g.) 71' [3 - 1] J. Briand Looked at first like an disaster after Kazan's early goal but Lyon came back and got a good result for the return leg in Russia. Gomis looked lively.
Three games tonight 20:30 Metalist Kharkiv - Sochaux @ Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv 20:30 Red Star Belgrade - Rennes @ Stadion FK Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade 20:45 Differdange 03 - Paris Saint-Germain @ Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg PSG should run over Differdange, Belgrade - Rennes is probably 50/50 affair on the road but Rennes has looked pretty good so far. Sochaux seems to be in some turmoil with Maiga on strike and Martin rumored to go to the premier league, would be surprised if they got away with a positive result in Ukraine.
Metalist Kharkiv - Sochaux 0:0 Red Star Belgrade - Rennes 1:2 (Pitroipa, Montano) Differdange 03 - Paris Saint-Germain 0:4 (Gaimero, Bahrebeck, Ceara, Menez) The weakest link Sochaux going home with a draw and no conceded goals is nice surprise, good performance in light of the squad turmoil due to all the transfer rumors. Rennes brings home a great results from hostile territory in Belgrade and continues their good run, should be favored to qualify now. PSG put up a pretty sleepy performance from what I saw but in the end the talent gap was just too big in Luxembourg.
Lyon qualifies for the Champions league group stages for the 12th consecutive year. 1-1 in Russia today against Rubin Kazan 4-2 on agg. Allez L'OL.
Important victory for Lyon and the french ranking. Very important day tomorrow with the draw for the champions league and the Europa league playoff return legs. Here's the pots for tomorrow's draw. Pot 1 Barcelona Manchester United Chelsea Bayern Munich Arsenal Real Madrid Porto Internazionale Pot 2 Milan Lyon Shaktar Donetsk Valencia Benfica Villarreal CSKA Moscow Marseille Pot 3 Zenit St. Petersburg Ajax Leverkusen Olympiacos Manchester City Lille BATE Borisov Pot 4 Borussia Dortmund Napoli Dinamo Zagreb APOEL Trabzonspor Genk Viktoria Plzeň Oţelul Galaţi
Groupe B : Inter Milan, CSKA Moscou, Lille OSC, Trabzonspor Groupe D : Real Madrid, Olympique Lyonnais, Ajax Amsterdam, Dynamo Zagreb Groupe F : Arsenal, Olympique de Marseille , Olympiakos Le Pirée, Borussia Dortmund Lille got the easiest group and OM got the toughest.
OM has got their work cut out for them, damn. If Lille doesn't get through, it will be a disgrace. I even fancy their chances taking a game from Inter at home.
Lyon have 2nd place pretty much locked up assuming they dont screw things up royally. I know Arsenal are down now but they are still the favorites and if you have the defending champion of the 3rd or 4th best league (Germany) as the 4th seed then that is the toughest. Im not convinced Dortmund and Marseille finish ahead of Arsenal because they still might add a big name of 2 before the transfer window closes so I will not bury them yet. Also what I think will happen is that since OM "lost" the title last year they will focus more on the league than on Europe and that will hurt them. Since Lille won the title I think they will focus more on Europe. Lyon can focus on both since they are clearly the 2nd best team in their group so they wont have to exert themselves too much. I wouldnt mind seeing OM play PSG in the Europa league.
PSG 2-0 Differdange PSG 6-0 agg. Rennes 4-0 Etoile Rouge Belgrade Rennes 6-1 agg. Sochaux 0-4 Metalist Metalist 4-0 agg. I didnt expect Sochaux to get blown out but theres no shame since some big clubs like Roma, Celtic, Rangers, Sevilla, got eliminated. I am surprised at Rennes's goal outburts especially since they were actively seeking another attacker.
Paris SG Atletic club de Bilbao Red Bull Salzburg Slovan Bratislava Atletico Madrid Udinese Rennes Sion/Celtic Europa League draws, I think Rennes is probably screwed though sometimes Italian teams tend to disappoint in the Europa League. PSG should sail through
I think Rennes have a shot because Udinese isnt considering one of the big clubs in Serie A. I wouldnt pick Rennes to go through if I were a betting man but I think they have a chance.
Udinese are not the typical Italian team. They press and go forward all the time even in road games, but are not a stellar defending team. I think Rennes will have a hard time finishing ahead of them.