The European Leagues & Competitions Thread V2

[KEVINAA 89]

thread bump.

Live scores for current Champions League/ UCL matches.

https://www.uefa.com/livescores/

 

[Fulham Broadway 16,802]

Great equaliser by Copenhagen

[cosmicway 1,313]

On 21/12/2023 at 13:48, NikkiCFC said:

Not into this war but as a fan I would prefer league system with best 10-12 teams in Europe. Group stage is pointless and even last 16 look at the draw. Nothing interesting there. With a Super League you would have best teams playing each other and as a consumer of football I would have more joy. 

Fewer teams/matches in the domestic leagues and the stage of 16 in the champions league to become a mini league.
Simlilarly for the other UEFA cups.
This is the solution, more European football but no "superleague".

[Vesper 28,715]

Old Smoker schooled Tuchel

1 nil Lazio

FT

[Costa19 858]

1 minute ago, Vesper said:

Old Smoker schooled Tuchel

1 nil Lazio

FT

Bring him back.

Nah but for real, sad that he wanted to go back to Italy and later regret it as he said a couple of times lately.

[NikkiCFC 7,927]

Sarri is my favorite Chelsea coach. Shame didn't stay longer. Definitely better than Tuchel. 

[Vesper 28,715]

5 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

Sarri is my favorite Chelsea coach. Shame didn't stay longer. Definitely better than Tuchel. 

mine is deffo

[Costa19 858]

10 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

Sarri is my favorite Chelsea coach. Shame didn't stay longer. Definitely better than Tuchel. 

I remember the they we annouced him after some weeks drama.
I was outside in the playground swinging my kid when I got the notification and just shouted Foooooking yes!! 

As I wrote before, I think Sarri would do wonders with this team.

[Reddish-Blue 2,341]

10 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

Sarri is my favorite Chelsea coach. Shame didn't stay longer. Definitely better than Tuchel. 

For me it's:   Mourinho > Ancelotti/Conte (League titles) > Sarri > Tuchel

[NikkiCFC 7,927]

6 hours ago, Reddish-Blue said:

For me it's:   Mourinho > Ancelotti/Conte (League titles) > Sarri > Tuchel

Exactly the same if we speak about quality. 

Edited February 15 by NikkiCFC

[Vesper 28,715]

Which Premier League teams are on course to play in Europe in 2024-25?

https://theathletic.com/5275133/2024/02/16/premier-league-europe-champions/

A glance at the Premier League table can be a near-useless activity during the early months of a season, but now it’s time to whip out the magnifying glass.

Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal have started to pull away from the rest, meaning the race for the top four seemingly has just one more seat to fill.

However, there still could be two Champions League spots up for grabs this year, with the Premier League in contention to gain an extra qualification place following the competition’s expansion from a 32- to a 36-team format from next season.

Simply, this would be more likely to happen if the English clubs progress as far as possible in the three European competitions this season, with City, Arsenal, Liverpool, West Ham United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa all bidding to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.

The permutations are complex (and further outlined in the link below), but the point remains — there are plenty of European spots still up for grabs when factoring in the three UEFA tournaments.  

GO DEEPER

Is the Premier League still on track for five Champions League spots?

So, who is most likely to finish in those lucrative places? Let’s run the numbers…

---

Opta’s predicted league table makes a projection of the final standings by forecasting the outcome of each team’s remaining fixtures, based on the strength of the respective sides, before simulating the league season thousands of times to calculate an average of their potential finishes.

The varying performances of sides pushing for European spots can make such an undertaking… well, hard to predict, but Opta’s model suggests that things look most likely to stay as they are in the Premier League table — a trend that The Athletic previously analysed earlier in the season.

GO DEEPER

The 2023-24 Premier League table is unlikely to change dramatically - here are the numbers that prove it

With Tottenham Hotspur likely to hold their fourth position ahead of Villa, who are predicted to retain fifth, the only predicted change in the current formation is Brighton rising from ninth to eighth, leapfrogging a West Ham side surely short of confidence after their recent 6-0 home demolition at the hands of Arsenal.

So much can change between now and the end of the season, so it’s worth looking at which of the aspiring teams have the trickiest fixtures coming up — bucketed into easy, medium and hard levels of difficulty depending on the strength of the opposition, using Opta Power Rankings.

Spurs do have a buffer on the chasing pack (given fifth could be enough for Champions League qualification and they are six points clear of sixth-placed Manchester United and have a far superior goal difference), but a tricky few weeks starting in the middle of April sees Ange Postecoglou’s side face Newcastle United, City, Arsenal and Liverpool in consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Newcastle have a chance to put the pressure on Manchester United, currently one place and five points above them, with a favourable fixture list that includes a trip to Old Trafford towards the end of April (which will be postponed if either or both advance from the FA Cup’s last 16 to play in its semi-finals that same weekend).

Let’s look at the clubs in the mix for Europe… 

snip

Chelsea

Current position: 10th

Predicted position: 10th

For Chelsea, this season feels like an exercise in taking the positives where you can.

Here’s one: their 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Monday made it 11 points earned from the 15 times they have been in losing positions this season — better than the whole of last season’s eight points from the 20 times where they went behind.

Sure, we can talk about Chelsea’s profligacy in front of goal, and how often they have spurned chances with some wasteful finishing from Nicolas Jackson, Raheem Sterling and their other forwards. But the issues lie further back down the pitch, with Chelsea seemingly unable to make the most of promising opportunities in the first place. Before we think about chance conversion, we need to think about the runs that are not made, the passes that are not executed, and the shots that are not taken.

Looking across multiple seasons, Chelsea are trending downwards in the share of possession sequences that end in a shot. They have some good build-up play, but have often been blunt at the top end.

The next few weeks are an opportunity to take further positives in a transitional season under first-year head coach Mauricio Pochettino, with games against Manchester City, Spurs, Newcastle and Arsenal in the next five.

Opta’s model gives Chelsea an outside chance of pushing for a final position between sixth and eighth, but the likelihood is that another mid-table finish is on the cards.

[KEVINAA 89]

No two teams have lost more Round of 16 ties than Porto (8) & Arsenal (9)

 

 

[Gundalf 804]

Arsenal scoring for fun in the league and then they have 0 shots on target against Porto.

[Fulham Broadway 16,802]

Meanwhile Dani Alves remember him in 2009 ? what a cunt

...just got four and a half years for sexual assault and rape

[lucio 5,418]

Should be beheaded. Wannabe gangster 

[Magic Lamps 11,653]

On 15/02/2024 at 10:01, Reddish-Blue said:

For me it's:   Mourinho > Ancelotti/Conte (League titles) > Sarri > Tuchel

 

On 15/02/2024 at 16:30, NikkiCFC said:

Exactly the same if we speak about quality. 

Sarri before TT is criminal. The old smoker is not even top 20 of all time for me. was here just a year, dumped Jorginho on us, was carried by Hazard to the EL title and then just took his hat.  Not to mention the ugly rigid football we played was even more eyesore than the last TT days. That 6-0 thrashing by City is one of our worst losses in recent times. 

also in terms of great managers and we must never forget Vialli and Ranieri cos they were the ones that put us on the map to even be considered by Roman and ultimately instigated the rise of the club. Ranieri also played a great part in developing JT and Lamps.
Many fans, esp younger ones think Mourinho was some kind of founding father of CFC when in fact the club has a 100 years history prior to him that ultimately let to us becoming a European powerhouse with a huge brand, traditions and a part of both sports and popular culture in England and globally. 

 

[Vesper 28,715]

Paul Pogba banned for four years after failed anti-doping test

https://theathletic.com/5307585/2024/02/29/paul-pogba-ban-doping/

Paul Pogba has been suspended from football for four years after a failed anti-doping test.

Juventus midfielder Pogba, 30, believes the verdict is “incorrect” and will appeal against it at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Pogba was initially handed a provisional suspension by NADO (the Italian Anti-Doping Organisation) in September after the failed test, which followed his side’s 3-0 win at Udinese on August 20.

FIFA’s guidelines for suspensions on players who violate its anti-doping regulations ranges between two and four years, depending on whether it can be proven that the rule violation was intentional.

“I have today been informed of the Tribunale Nazionale Antidoping’s decision and believe that the verdict is incorrect,” Pogba said in a statement.

“I am sad, shocked and heartbroken that everything I have built in my professional playing career has been taken away from me. When I am free of legal restrictions the full story will become clear, but I have never knowingly or deliberately taken any supplements that violate anti-doping regulations.

“As a professional athlete I would never do anything to enhance my performance by using banned substances and have never disrespected or cheated fellow athletes and supporters of any of the teams I have played for, or against.

“As a consequence of the decision announced today I will appeal this before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”

The France international was initially suspended in September after his test detected testosterone not produced by the body, according to NADO.

NADO said that testosterone not produced by the body was detected in the ‘A sample’ Pogba provided. Following Pogba’s provisional suspension, his ‘B sample’ was sent for further tests at the Acqua Acetosa clinic in Rome, which is where the failed test was confirmed.

Pogba was an unused substitute in the match against Udinese which preceded his failed test, but he did come off the bench in the club’s subsequent two Serie A matches — a 1-1 draw at home to Bologna and a two-goal victory at Empoli.

Pogba returned to Juventus in the summer of 2022 following six years at Manchester United, but fitness issues restricted him to just 10 appearances in the 2022-23 campaign.

GO DEEPER

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The most recent of the midfielder’s 91 caps for France came in March 2022, and his two substitute outings are his only two appearances of this season.

Pogba is under contract at Juventus through to the summer of 2026.

Juventus are currently second in Serie A, 12 points behind league leaders Inter, are next back in action with a league trip to Napoli on March 3.

What are anti-doping rules?

Anti-doping rules exist within football to ensure nobody gains an unfair competitive advantage and to protect a player’s health. The World Anti-Doping Agency sets out a code which most sporting organisations around the world follow.

FIFA’s website says “it is the player’s strict responsibility to make sure that their body does not come into contact with any prohibited substance or method” and that they should check every medication or treatment they receive.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has a list, which it regularly updates, of prohibited substances and methods. Athletes are only allowed to use prohibited substances or methods if they have a legitimate medical reason and are granted a therapeutic use exemption (TUE).

For example, the British cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins was granted a TUE ahead of the 2012 Tour de France which allowed him to take the corticosteroid Triamcinolone to treat asthma — Wiggins went on to win the event. Triamcinolone was added to WADA’s prohibited list in 2014 as it also has performance-enhancing properties, namely allowing athletes to reduce their weight without suffering a significant loss in power.

How often are football players tested?

Due to the random nature of the tests, players might go through periods of their career where they are tested a lot or rarely.

During the men’s World Cup in Qatar last year, FIFA carried out 369 tests which produced 941 samples. According to official data from FIFA, every player was tested at least once in the year building up to the tournament.

Players from the eight teams which reached the quarter-finals (Morocco, England, France, Brazil, Argentina, Croatia, the Netherlands and Portugal) were tested on average 4.6 times from January 2022. Some members of those eight squads were tested up to 10 times.

What happens when a player tests positive?

If traces of a prohibited substance are found within a player’s body, they are provisionally suspended while further analysis takes place. Pogba’s ‘A’ sample flagged up traces of testosterone. The human body naturally produces testosterone but exogenous testosterone can be detected by measuring the ratio of testosterone (T) to epitestosterone (E) in an athlete’s urine.

When players provide a sample, it is split into two parts which are labelled A and B. If the A sample is positive for a banned substance, the B sample is checked as a precautionary measure, which is what happened in Pogba’s case. The player can request a B sample being tested within three days of a positive test. Once the request is made, the result of this test has to be delivered within seven days.

Conor Benn’s boxing match against Chris Eubank Jnr in October 2022 was called off two days before it was due to take place. A substance called Clomifene was found in Benn’s body. Clomifene is on WADA’s banned list because it can help raise the levels of testosterone in an athlete’s body. The decision to cancel the fight was made before Benn’s B sample was analysed.

In February 2023, the World Boxing Council issued a statement which said Benn provided an adverse analytical finding due to a “highly-elevated consumption of eggs” and that it was “a reasonable explanation.” Benn was reinstated to the WBC rankings and in July the National Anti-Doping Panel lifted his suspension.

Have similar incidents happened before in football?

During his time at Ajax, traces of Furosemide were found in Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana’s system.

The substance was in a pack of tablets Onana’s wife was prescribed after giving birth and the goalkeeper accidentally took them. UEFA accepted Onana’s version of events but he was still given a 12-month ban, which was reduced to nine on appeal.

In July 2022, Atalanta defender Jose Palomino tested positive for clostebol metabolites. Palomino was unable to play for three months while he waited for an outcome but was absolved in September due to accidental contamination.

However, NADO is challenging the tribunal’s decision at CAS.

GO DEEPER

L'Affaire Pogba - and a year to forget

 

[ZAPHOD2319 4,466]

That pretty much ends his career if upheld. He was already on the decline.