Other European Leagues, Champions League & Europa League | Syracusefan.com

Other European Leagues, Champions League & Europa League

IthacaMatt

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OK, one more thread to be the catch-all for folks who want to talk about La Liga, Serie A or the Bundesliga. I see two out of three on BeIn Sports on Verizon FIOS (just changed to Channel 805). Does anyone know who carries the Bundesliga in the U.S.

We can also use this thread to talk about the Champions League and Europa League, if that 's OK with everybody.

Quick comments - Barca will look to have an amazing attack - at least on paper, once Suarez is cleared to play. If I were them, I would give Messi another month off to recuperate. I could see holding him out of the first 2 or 3 league games, just to get his head straight. He seemed worn down to a pulp at the World Cup.

I think Real Madrid have been doing better business than Barca so far, and I would rate them as favorites. It will be interesting to see if Diego Simeone can keep Atletico Madrid in the hunt, after his squad has been raided for a handful of their best players. They do seem to have been aggressive in buying quality replacements, like Mandzukic, for example. I think they will again qualify for Champions League.

Italian football seems to be in crisis (again). Not due to gambling this time, but due to an overall decline in quality. The game is clearly slower in Italy, with a lot of gamesmanship and flopping for fouls. The home of great tactical coaches, and aging but skillful players. Juve is still a very good squad. I liked how Napoli looked against Barca in a recent friendly, and think that Rafa Benitez has done a very good job there, despite losing some major firepower when they sold Cavani and Levezzi a couple years ago. Roma is another solid but unspectactular team. Too many crap teams in the table to make Italian football too exciting - at least until Inter and Milan can get their acts together and get back to where they belong. I don't see any Italian teams going far in the Champions League, though.

Here's an article on the financial decline of Serie A:

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26351331

Speaking of Champions League, I think the English teams generally will do well this year. I see a decline in quality in Spain, and in Germany, only Bayern is a true contender. I watched the friendly between Spurs (the 6th place team in England last year) and Schalke (3rd in Germany, in this year's Champions League), and I think that Schalke is not that impressive. Spurs were in control for much of the game. Dortmund will be down, too, from their recent peaks, although they have managed to hold on to Hummels and Reus (so far).

Turning to France, it's a one-horse race with PSG expected to run away with the title. There are no real contenders, especially with Falcao apparently on his way out of Monaco and James Rodriguez already gone. With them, the question is whether their shiny new all-Brazilian defense can perform at the highest levels. I'm guessing they will come up short again, not getting past the quarterfinals, at best.

Looking forward to another exciting season. Your thoughts?
 
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Italian football seems to be in crisis (again). Not due to gambling this time, but due to an overall decline in quality. The game is clearly slower in Italy, with a lot of gamesmanship and flopping for fouls. The home of great tactical coaches, and aging but skillful players.

Here's an article on the financial decline of Serie A:

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26351331

More on the decline of once-great Serie A, this one from Fox Soccer:

http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/story/what-caused-serie-a-to-lose-its-financial-power-081114
 
La Liga - Real Madrid
Serie A - Juventus
Bundesleiga - Bayern Munich
Ligue 1 - PSG

Champions League - Real Madrid
 
La Liga - Real Madrid
Serie A - Juventus
Bundesleiga - Bayern Munich
Ligue 1 - PSG

Champions League - Real Madrid


The sad thing is that there are so few true contenders in other leagues. Hard to argue with your choices, although I don't think Madrid are shoe-in's for Champions League.
 
The sad thing is that there are so few true contenders in other leagues. Hard to argue with your choices, although I don't think Madrid are shoe-in's for Champions League.

I certainly don't think Madrid are shoe in's either. To be honest I almost chose Chelsea, and they can certainly win it, but the truth is Madrid are just more talented and probably have a better chance.

If everything was equal I probably would have chosen Bayern, but I figure there will be some World Cup hangover with them.

EDIT: I was thinking the same thing when I made my pics. There is not much deliberation that needs to go into picking the winner of any league this year. Thank God the EPL is so deep and competitive.
 
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I certainly don't think Madrid are shoe in's either. To be honest I almost chose Chelsea, and they can certainly win it, but the truth is Madrid are just more talented and probably have a better chance.

If everything was equal I probably would have chosen Bayern, but I figure there will be some World Cup hangover with them.

EDIT: I was thinking the same thing when I made my pics. There is not much deliberation that needs to go into picking the winner of any league this year. Thank God the EPL is so deep and competitive.


Repeating myself, I know, but Chelsea need a back-up striker and perhaps another central defender, or at least one more seasoned than Zouma. I'm hearing that Chelsea are now offering Zouma + 25M for Benatia of Roma, rather than meet the full 30M asking price. I'd take that deal. Zouma is athletic and talented, but a bit rash and unpolished.
 
Champions league title stays out of England for another year.
 
Champions league title stays out of England for another year.


I don't know about that. I think Chelsea and City both could challenge this year.
 
Bayern is in trouble unless we figure out the CB position. Javi Martinez got injured in our last match with a horrible knee injury. We're in deep trouble at the back but should still score a bunch of goals. Won't win the CL and will have a huge challenge from Dortmund domestically. They're going to be very good again now that they're healthy.
 
Barca transfer ban upheld - starting with the January 2015 window. Seems fair, since they had some injured / retiring players - they get to do the deals now, and then sit out the next 2 windows. Surprised the ban was upheld, but how about that.
 
Arsenal with a stirring win over Besiktas. Two penalty calls denied. More yellow than a canary pie. Alexis Sanchez coming up like a big dog in the absence of Oliver Giroud. Great open play over the last 15 minutes or so. Great effort by the visitors.

http://www.theguardian.com/football...al-v-besiktas-champions-league-qualifier-live

Arsense Wenger brings Arsenal to their 17th consecutive Champions League Group Stages. Unbelievable record. That's like 17 straight years in the Sweet 16.
 
Day 1 of Group play. Liverpool beating Ludogorets 2-1 with all 3 goals in the last 10 minutes. Super Mario put Liverpool 1-0 and I thought that would be the only goal.. Ludogorets got a goal in the first minute of stoppage time then Borjan had one of the dumbest fouls a minute later and I thought it should have been red. Gerrard made the PK and Liverpool won 2-1.

Dortmund beating Arsenal 2-0 wasn't a shocker and Olympiakos beat Atletico in an entertaining 3-2 match.
 
Day 1 of Group play. Liverpool beating Ludogorets 2-1 with all 3 goals in the last 10 minutes. Super Mario put Liverpool 1-0 and I thought that would be the only goal.. Ludogorets got a goal in the first minute of stoppage time then Borjan had one of the dumbest fouls a minute later and I thought it should have been red. Gerrard made the PK and Liverpool won 2-1.

Dortmund beating Arsenal 2-0 wasn't a shocker and Olympiakos beat Atletico in an entertaining 3-2 match.


To me on the replay, the penalty didn't look that bad, not that obvious.

Dortmund swarmed over Arsenal, who field a team that half looked like children compared to the size of the Germans. Arsenal couldn't get it out of their own end for much of the game, and then spurned some pretty decent chances that fell to them. Welbeck missed one from really close.

Ozil needs to sit for a while and Alexis Sanchez finally had an off game, although he tried to turn it up a notch around the 60 minute mark. Still, Arsenal are looking like the second best team in their group. Dortmund's Abemayong (sp?) is a handful up front, and Immobile opened his account. That's a pretty decent strike force. They miss that creative guy in midfield but they are deadly on the counterattack.

The other games are waiting for me on DVR.
 
Wait til Dortmund have Reus back. They lost their top striker from last year but may have actually improved. Their relentless style is great to watch and their home field advantage is one of the best with that crowd.
They were so banged up along the back line and holding midfield last year and that's what did them in. They'll always score goals with the way they spring counters from the back. They find players to fit their system as well as any club in the world and should be a formidable presence in Germany and Europe this year if they stay healthy. They don't have the squad depth that some other clubs have, but their young talent is off the charts. I hate Klopp, but I respect that team and will always root for Bundesliga clubs in the CL and Europa League. Well done to Schalke today, as well.
 
BOATENGGGGG!!! What a stunner to take down Citeh in the 90th. Great way to get the CL underway. Mia San Mia!
https://vine.co/v/OWedpDQl7Ez


Heartbreaker for City. I thought they had snatched an away point. So many games are decided in the last moments of a half, when players are tired and their concentration slips.
 
How pissed was I last night? I go home and have about 7 Champions League games on the DVR - 4 of which were the Barcelona game, two of which were the City v. Bayern game, and the other was the Real Madrid game. Are you freaking kidding me? How much is Fox screwing with viewers, and forcing people to subscribe to their crappy Fox2Go app? ESPN and NBC show ALL the damn games. They don't hold some back to force you to pay more. Plus, Verizon has not yet made a deal with Fox, meaning I couldn't get the game on their free (non-subscription) version of the app.
 
How pissed was I last night? I go home and have about 7 Champions League games on the DVR - 4 of which were the Barcelona game, two of which were the City v. Bayern game, and the other was the Real Madrid game. Are you freaking kidding me? How much is Fox screwing with viewers, and forcing people to subscribe to their crappy Fox2Go app? ESPN and NBC show ALL the damn games. They don't hold some back to force you to pay more. Plus, Verizon has not yet made a deal with Fox, meaning I couldn't get the game on their free (non-subscription) version of the app.

http://www.footballorgin.com/
http://www.gettyfooty.com/

I use these 2 sites for free replays
 
Not looking good for the EPL
Jose sat Diego Costa. Chelsea will still make it thru the group stage. Also, Liverpool won, Man City only lost 1-0 in Munich and Arsenal played their toughest match @ Dortmund. I still think atleast 3 Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea will get thru the group stage.
 
Jose sat Diego Costa. Chelsea will still make it thru the group stage. Also, Liverpool won, Man City only lost 1-0 in Munich and Arsenal played their toughest match @ Dortmund. I still think atleast 3 Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea will get thru the group stage.

Liverpool should have Sturridge back for our next CL match. If we take 6 points from Basel hopefully we don't need to play him for the final group match @ Ludogorets in late November as I'm imagining their pitch will be a rock patch.
 

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