The European Leagues & Competitions Thread V2

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

14 hours ago, Pizy said:

Don't give a shit if it's "good for the league." It's fucking Liverpool!

If Arsenal were in the CL final would you be cheering them on?

This rivalry is weird to me actually. There are some Belgian teams I really really hate, but if they're playing in Europe, I'd always support them. Kind of a national pride thing (and as Belgians we barely have national pride outside sports. :p)

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

13 hours ago, Tomo said:

that was the exact same balance the PL had when English sides were ruling Europe.

 

 

Actually, English sides never REALLY ruled Europe in the past decade. Chelsea and United came close, but there was always Barca, Real, Bayern and (until recently) Milan to compete with, who were better most of the time. There was one completely English CL final in I don't even know how many years. There's been two Spanish finals in the last three years. You've had the strongest league for years, but you never really had the absolute strongest teams. Even Fergie's 90's Man Utd wasn't the strongest team in the world at the time, that would have been Juve/Barca. 

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

38 minutes ago, milan.cech said:

2 finals lost would be a good start for Klopp's era

Amen to that

[kc_blue 265]

To be fair, without Overbo it's Chelsea-United 2 CL finals in a row there.

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

7 years ago...

 

 Tom Henning Øvrebø

[Laylabelle 9,351]

Still remember that game..next to the Barca fans East lower..then again we had so so many chances and they had 10 men..just that one chance for them and in it went..meh we did it in style :-D 

[AWorriedChelseaFan 151]

Villarreal was woeful against Pool lol, hopefully Sevilla and Gameiro will shut the Dippers in the final. Can't stand those scums.

 

Banters aside, fair play to Liverpool if they go on and win the final against Sevilla. They've knocked out some very good teams on the way to the final...United, Dortmund, Villarreal and (hopefully not) Sevilla.

[KevinAshburner 1,270]

Patrick Ekeng

Patrick Claude Ekeng Ekeng (26 March 1990 – 6 May 2016) was a Cameroonian professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Ekeng

 

he was involved in this match where he collapsed and died. 

http://www.flashscore.com/match/8GpuADlk/#match-summary

http://www.sofascore.com/viitorul-constanta-dinamo-bucuresti/RpbsBYo

Dinamo Bucuresti 3 -vs- 3 Viitorul Constanta

[FULL TIME]

 

here is a twitter live feed of people talking about him on twitter.

https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=news&q=Patrick%20Ekeng&src=tyah

 

Dinamo Bucharest and Cameroon midfielder Patrick Ekeng dies aged 26 after collapsing on pitch during Romanian league match

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3577888/Dinamo-Bucharest-Cameroon-midfielder-Patrick-Ekeng-dies-collapsing-pitch-Romanian-league-match.html

 

Patrick Ekeng: Dinamo Bucharest and Cameroon midfielder dies after on-pitch collapse

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36234022

Dinamo Bucharest and Cameroon midfielder Patrick Ekeng has died aged 26 of a suspected heart attack after collapsing on the pitch.

Ekeng fell to the floor in the 70th minute of a televised Romanian league match between Dinamo and Viitorul.

He was pronounced dead in hospital two hours later.

 

Dinamo Bucharest midfielder Ekeng dies aged 26

The Cameroonian player was immediately rushed to hospital after collapsing on the field but medics were unable to revive him

http://www.goal.com/en/news/89/africa/2016/05/06/23212182/dinamo-bucharest-midfielder-ekeng-dies-aged-26

The Cameroonian player was immediately rushed to hospital after collapsing on the field but medics were unable to revive him

Dinamo Bucharest midfielder Patrick Ekeng has passed away at the age of 26 after collapsing on the pitch during Friday's game against Viitorul.

Ekeng came off the bench in the 62nd minute of the match, but fell to the ground seven minutes later and was immediately rushed to hospital.

The Cameroonian received CPR for 90 minutes before being pronounced dead, with his passing later confirmed in a post on Dinamo Bucharest's Facebook page.

Play resumed after Ekeng's collapse and the game was completed.

The Romanian Football Federation announced later on Friday night that this week's matches, including the Romanian Cup final between Dinamo and CFR Cluj on Tuesday, would be postponed.

Ekeng started his professional career with Canon Yaounde and joined Le Mans in 2009 as he made the move to Europe.

He also wore the jerseys of Rodez, Lausanne Sport and Cordoba before signing for Dinamo at the start of 2016.

 

 

 

[Cosmin 2,484]

We are devastated today. It was and still is absolutely terrible. 

[Fernando 6,455]

Atlético Madrid are a team made for suffering as title bid ends so close to line

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/may/09/atletico-madrid-team-suffering-title-bid-ends-levante-diego-simeone

 

Interesting, and so true. Atletico are made to suffer and if the patterns hold they will suffer in the CL final as well...

[Captain Ahmed 528]

#UEFA_CUP #1998

[OhForAGreavsie 5,891]

On 06/05/2016 at 0:46 PM, johnnythefirst said:

 

Actually, English sides never REALLY ruled Europe in the past decade. Chelsea and United came close, but there was always Barca, Real, Bayern and (until recently) Milan to compete with, who were better most of the time. There was one completely English CL final in I don't even know how many years. There's been two Spanish finals in the last three years. You've had the strongest league for years, but you never really had the absolute strongest teams. Even Fergie's 90's Man Utd wasn't the strongest team in the world at the time, that would have been Juve/Barca. 

This is an accurate assessment I think but I also believe that the best lies ahead for the Premier League. This crazy season has given the so called big sides a real jolt. I honestly don't think it ever occurred to them that someone from outside the cabal could do what Leicester did them. They have been kicked out of their complacency and will up their game. They will also be spurred by the challenge from domestic sides who are better able to tool up than has ever been the case before.

I still think the absolute crème-de-la-creme will gravitate towards the Spanish and German mega clubs but Premier League clubs will begin, have begun indeed, fighting back. Already more of the world's top coaches are here than ever before. More of the world's better players will follow.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

On 5/13/2016 at 11:34 PM, OhForAGreavsie said:

 

I still think the absolute crème-de-la-creme will gravitate towards the Spanish and German mega clubs but Premier League clubs will begin, have begun indeed, fighting back. Already more of the world's top coaches are here than ever before. More of the world's better players will follow.

I think it's kind of ironic to say that they "have begun fighting back" as if they're some kind of underdogs, while they have more money to spend than any other league on the planet. It's much more a case of mismanagement if you ask me. 

[OhForAGreavsie 5,891]

3 hours ago, johnnythefirst said:

I think it's kind of ironic to say that they "have begun fighting back" as if they're some kind of underdogs, while they have more money to spend than any other league on the planet. It's much more a case of mismanagement if you ask me. 

No, not in the sense that they are underdogs but in the sense that they are behind and are playing catchup.

In any case, I'd argue that looking at Premier League budgets and concluding that PL clubs should automatically do better than non-Premier League sides is not an entirely reliable equation. It's not entirely unreliable either but, just like the misleading 'fact' that average Bundesliga attendances are higher than average Premier League gates, the raw numbers need some analysis before accurate conclusions can be reached. I'll give some examples of what I mean in a moment but first let me be crystal clear that I agree with your general point. Premier League clubs have underperformed relative to their budgets and they should be ashamed of themselves for it. The examples I mentioned: -

• UK work permit requirements mean that Premier League clubs must spend more on transfer fees and wages to buy the same calibre players as non UK clubs.
• Cultural factors mean that PL clubs must significantly outspend some continental counterparts to attract the better players.
• Until recently, UK tax legislation meant PL clubs had to pay much higher gross wages to match the net incomes available to some players in Spain.

These factors make the Premier League cash advantage much smaller in reality that it looks at first sight. There are other considerations too.

[Special Juan 27,424]

Cannot and will not be watching this Europa League Final tonight as I cannot bare if that lot win it. It will be 2/3 weeks of full on Liverpool wank fest in the press.

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

1 hour ago, Special Juan said:

Cannot and will not be watching this Europa League Final tonight as I cannot bare if that lot win it. It will be 2/3 weeks of full on Liverpool wank fest in the press.

Agreed. It's already started when we won the Europa League it was seen as a shit consolation prize. But as far as the media are concerned it's another page in the glorious nights in Liverpool's European history. Wasn't great for 39 Juventus fans in 1985 but of course for all Scousers and the Scouse loving media they seem to have all got selective amnesia.

[Fernando 6,455]

Hope Sevilla wins this one. 

[Laylabelle 9,351]

2 hours ago, Special Juan said:

Cannot and will not be watching this Europa League Final tonight as I cannot bare if that lot win it. It will be 2/3 weeks of full on Liverpool wank fest in the press.

Oh god it's gana happen!! Can't see them losing and in a way deserve it but nahhhh sod that