2011/12 Europa League thread

Since all of the first games are being played today now is the time to start this thread. I am excited to watch the next installment of the English Faroese football rivalry. In 2008 Manchester City were only able to beat EB/Streymur by a margin of 4-0. It will be interesting to see how Fulham matches up against NSÍ Runavík.

Faroese football is steadily improving though. More and more foreign players are signing for Faroese teams.

This is the third straight year that NSÍ Runavík has been matchup with a Fair Play winner in the first qualifying round. This seems a bit fishy to me.

Weather130 wrote:This is the third straight year that NSÍ Runavík has been matchup with a Fair Play winner in the first qualifying round. This seems a bit fishy to me.

Nice pun .

They should scrap Fair Play, or keep it and reward with money, not a Europe spot.

still 0-0

Time once again for the results posting. I had it up but while posting I was somehow logged out of the forum.

UK &ROI teams
The New Saints (Wales) 1 Cliftonville (Northern Ireland) 1
Fulham (England) 3 NSÍ Runavík (Faroe Islands) 0
ÍBV (Iceland) 1 St Patrick's United (Republic of Ireland) 0
Aalesund (Norway) 4 Neath (Wales) 1
Renova (Macedonia) 2 Glentoran (Northern Ireland) 1

series over (3 goal or more lead)
FC Daugava (Latvia) 0 Tromsø (Norway) 5
Elfsborg (Sweden) 4 Fola Esch (Luxembourg) 0
Banga Gargždai (Lithuania) 0 FK Qarabağ (Azerbaijan) 4
Narva Trans (Estonia) 1 FK Rabotnički (Macedonia) 4
FK Rad (Serbia) 6 Tre Penne (San Marino) 0
Ferencváros (Hungary) 3 Ulisses (Armenia) 0
Varaždin (Croatia) 5 FC Lusitanos (Andorra) 1
Spartak Trnava (Slovakia) 3 Zeta (Montenegro) 0

upsets (personal opinion)
UN Käerjéng 97 (Luxembourg) 1 BK Häcken (Sweden) 1
FC Koper (Slovenia) 1 FC Shakhter (Kazakhstan) 1

IBV .

And i'm glad to see Ferencvaros back qualifying in Europe again, after their recent bankruptcy and relegatio.

Same thing here like the last round of games
UK & ROI teams
The New Saints (Wales) 1 Cliftonville (Northern Ireland) 0 (2-1)
Fulham 0 (England) 0 NSÍ Runavík (Faroe Islands) 0 (3-0)
IBV (Iceland) 0 St Patrick's Athletic (Ireland) 2 (1-2)
Aalesunds (Norway) 2 Neath (Wales) 0 (6-1)
Renova (Macedonia) 1 Glentoran (Northern Ireland) 2 (3-3, 2-3 p)

other fair play entry
BK Haken (Sweden) 5 UN Käerjéng 97 (Luxembourg) 1 (6-2)

blowouts (5 goals or more final margin)
ÍF Fuglafjørður (Faroe Islands) 1 Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur (Iceland) 5 (2-8 )
FC Daugava (Latvia) 1 Tromsø (Norway) 2 (1-7)
Banga Gargždai (Lithuania) 0 FK Qarabağ (Azerbaijan) 4 (0-7)
UE Santa Coloma (Andorra) 0 Paksi SE (Hungary) 4 (0-5)
FK Rad (Serbia) 3 Tre Penne (San Marino) 1 (9-1)
Narva Trans (Estonia) 0 FK Rabotnički (Macedonia) 3 (1-7)
Ferencváros (Hungary) 2 Ulisses (Armenia) 0 (5-0)
Varaždin (Croatia) 1 FC Lusitanos (Andorra) 0 (6-1)

big upsets (personal opinion)
Koper (Slovenia) 1 FC Shakhter (Kazakhstan) 2 (2-3)
Jagiellonia Białystok (Poland) 0 FC Irtysh (Kazakhstan) 2 (1-2)

2nd qualifying round

UK & ROI teams
Glentoran (Northern Ireland) v Vorskla Poltava (Ukraine)
Crusaders (Northern Ireland) v Fulham (England)
Llanelli (Wales) v Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia)
Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia) v Bohemians (Republic of Ireland)
The New Saints (Wales) v FC Midtjylland (Denmark)
Śląsk Wrocław (Poland) v Dundee United (Scotland)
FC Shakhter (Kazakhstan) v Saint Patrick's Athletic (Republic of Ireland)

other fair play matchups
Ferencváros (Hungary) v Aalesund (Norway)
Haken (Sweden) v Honka (Finland)

EL rights were sold to swedish channel 4 for the next season, which means that less than 20% of the population here will have access to Europa League matches, down from around 65% that can watch it this season as they are on the same set of channels as Champions League. Sometimes i don't understand UEFA at all, how can they justify sale of tv rights that already has minimalistic interest among football fans to channels that have such a tiny amount of the viewer ship. Sure they might have offered more money than MTG as EL probably fell a bit in value once they realized that most of the big teams barely gave 50% effort in the knockout phase. but ad money must in the end be based on how many viewers they can get for matches.


FC Midtjylland have been in the qualification for EL/UEFA many years now, scraping together a few points so they will be seeded until the last or 2nd last round i believe, however they do usually mess up bad, closest they got was getting Manchester City into penalties after they themselves scored an own goal at home in the 89th minute at home. The same season which Manchester City got to play danish opponents 3 times through the UEFA Cup, FC Midtjylland, FC København & Aab

I think how Fulham approched the 2nd leg of this tie was absolutely brillant. I think they realized that the Faroese club was never going to score three goals on them in only 90 minutes. It looks they played a few different players and took things a little easy rather than waste more energy then was needed..

You can compare this to FK Rad of Serbia who were up 3-0 against a team from San Marino. Although they won the 2nd leg 6-1 that kind of effort was not needed. It appears that all of their starters played the 2nd leg but I think they used a lot more energy than was needed in the 2nd leg.

Weather130 wrote:I think how Fulham approched the 2nd leg of this tie was absolutely brillant. I think they realized that the Faroese club was never going to score three goals on them in only 90 minutes. It looks they played a few different players and took things a little easy rather than waste more energy then was needed..

You can compare this to FK Rad of Serbia who were up 3-0 against a team from San Marino. Although they won the 2nd leg 6-1 that kind of effort was not needed. It appears that all of their starters played the 2nd leg but I think they used a lot more energy than was needed in the 2nd leg.

Olympiacos Volou can hammer them if they play like last season.I hope they do so.

Jagiellonia

They've barely won a game since selling Grosicki in January. They are only in Europe because they won so much points in the fall round of last season. It looks like they've continued their form and got eliminated by a Kazakh side

Shit like that hurts out coefficiency... Gah I wish Lech Poznan got Europe instead of them.

The board better give Probierz money to spend or else I can see them actually getting relegated from the Ekstraklasa this season if they keep this up.

Horrible competition. Has to be said. Will still be watching though.

whens Tottenham play?

polska. wrote:Jagiellonia

They've barely won a game since selling Grosicki in January. They are only in Europe because they won so much points in the fall round of last season. It looks like they've continued their form and got eliminated by a Kazakh side

Shit like that hurts out coefficiency... Gah I wish Lech Poznan got Europe instead of them.

The board better give Probierz money to spend or else I can see them actually getting relegated from the Ekstraklasa this season if they keep this up.

Kazakhstan have some good sides, though this is a major upset for both Jagellonia and Polish football.

Not really, I expected Jagiellonia to get eliminated early on, but not like this and not to a Kazakhi side.

So apparently Slask dominated Dundee United.

Problem Jelavic?

UK & ROI teams
Glentoran (Northern Ireland) 0 Vorskla Poltava (Ukraine) 2
Crusaders (Northern Ireland) 1 Fulham (England) 3
Llanelli (Wales) 2 Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia) 1
Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia) 2 Bohemians (Republic of Ireland) 0
The New Saints (Wales) 1 FC Midtjylland (Denmark) 3
Śląsk Wrocław (Poland) 1 Dundee United (Scotland) 0
FC Shakhter (Kazakhstan) 2 St Patrick's United (Republic of Ireland) 1

ties that are over (3 goals + advantage)
Floriana (Malta) 0 AEK Larnaca 8 (Cyprus)
Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur (Iceland) 3 MŠK Žilina (Slovakia) 0
FK Liepājas Metalurgs (Latvia) 1 Red Bull Salzburg (Austria) 4
Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus) 3 Gagra (Georgia) 0
FK Rudar (Montenegro) 0 Austria Wien (Austria) 3

upsets (not yet listed and personal opinion)
FK Sūduva (Lithuania) 1 Elfsborg (Sweden) 1
KuPS (Finland) 1 Gaz Metan Mediaş (Romania) 0
Iskra-Stal Rîbniţa (Moldova) 1 Varaždin (Croatia) 1
FH (Iceland) 1 Nacional (Portugal) 1

Sudova isn't that bad. Wouldn't say an upset considering the state of Swedish football atm...

Some Icelandic sides aren't that bad either. Thoguh beating Zilina 3-0 is surprising to say the least.

polska. wrote:Sudova isn't that bad. Wouldn't say an upset considering the state of Swedish football atm...

Some Icelandic sides aren't that bad either. Thoguh beating Zilina 3-0 is surprising to say the least.

Interesting observations, I tend to lump everyone together in one big bunch when I judge teams from somewhat weaker countries. It seems most of the time that those league coefficents are total crap.

Weather130 wrote:UK & ROI teams
Glentoran (Northern Ireland) 0 Vorskla Poltava (Ukraine) 2
Crusaders (Northern Ireland) 1 Fulham (England) 3
Llanelli (Wales) 2 Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia) 1
Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia) 2 Bohemians (Republic of Ireland) 0
The New Saints (Wales) 1 FC Midtjylland (Denmark) 3
Śląsk Wrocław (Poland) 1 Dundee United (Scotland) 0
FC Shakhter (Kazakhstan) 2 St Patrick's United (Republic of Ireland) 1

ties that are over (3 goals + advantage)
Floriana (Malta) 0 AEK Larnaca 8 (Cyprus)
Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur (Iceland) 3 MŠK Žilina (Slovakia) 0
FK Liepājas Metalurgs (Latvia) 1 Red Bull Salzburg (Austria) 4
Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus) 3 Gagra (Georgia) 0
FK Rudar (Montenegro) 0 Austria Wien (Austria) 3

upsets (not yet listed and personal opinion)
FK Sūduva (Lithuania) 1 Elfsborg (Sweden) 1
KuPS (Finland) 1 Gaz Metan Mediaş (Romania) 0
Iskra-Stal Rîbniţa (Moldova) 1 Varaždin (Croatia) 1
FH (Iceland) 1 Nacional (Portugal) 1

It angers me to see Great British teams win against foreign opposition for some reason .

Also, I wouldn't say the KR vs Zilina tie is over.

I agree with Pip. Slovak sides, just like Czech and Polish sides, are very hard to play at home.

polska. wrote:I agree with Pip. Slovak sides, just like Czech and Polish sides, are very hard to play at home.

Yea it probably not over but I have to use some sort of set standard when I put this together or it would take all night for one message.

The Europa League is a great chance to show how awful the bottom four conferations are (San Marino, Malta, Andorra and Luxembourg) and shows why they deserve having to take put in the super lame 1st qualifying round for the champions league. They have teams that started out in the 2nd round of the europa league so they are not done with games yet. So far they have been outscored 44-6 over europa league qualifying this season.

ROI & UK teams
Glentoran (Northern Ireland) 0 Vorskla Poltava (Ukraine) 3 0-5
Crusaders (Northern Ireland) 0 Fulham (England) 4 1-7
Llanelli (Wales) 0 Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia) 5 2-6
Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia) 1 Bohemians (Republic of Ireland) 1 3-1
The New Saints (Wales) 2 Midtjylland (Denmark) 5 3-8
Śląsk Wrocław (Poland) 2 Dundee United (Scotland) 3 3-3 (a)
FC Shakhter (Kazakhstan) 0 St Patrick's Athletic (Republic of Ireland) 2 2-3

blowouts (5 goal or more advantage)
Floriana (Malta) 0 AEK Larnaca (Cyprus) 1 0-9
KS Flamurtari Vlorë (Albania) 1 FK Baumit Jablonec (Czech Republic) 5 1-7
FK Rudar Pljevlja (Montenegro) 0 Austria Wien (Austria) 2 0-5

upsets (my personal opinion)
F.K Željezničar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 0 Sheriff Tirapol (Moldova) 0 1-0
Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur (Iceland) 0 MŠK Žilina (Slovakia) 2 3-2
FC Differdange (Luxembourg) 1 Levadia Tallinn (Estonia) 0 1-0
Kecskemét (Hungary) 0 Aktobe (Kazakhstan) 0 1-1 (a)
Vaduz (Liechtenstein) 3 FK Vojvodina (Serbia) 1 3-3 (a)
Paks (Hungary) 3 Tromsø (Norway) 0 4-1

WROCLAW WROCLAW WROCLAW!!

Also..

F.K Željezničar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 0 Sheriff Tirapol (Moldova) 0 1-0

How is that an upset? Zeljeznicar are the biggest team in Bosnia, if anything it is an upset that they didn't win by like 3 goals.

polska. wrote:WROCLAW WROCLAW WROCLAW!!

Gesundheit.

3rd qualifying round
ROI & UK teams
FC Karpaty Lviv (Ukraine) v St Patrick's Athletic (ROI)
Stoke City (England) v Hajduk Split (Croatia)
Vorskla Poltava (Ukraine) v Sligo Rovers (ROI)
Paks (Hungary) v Hearts of Midlothian (Scotland)
RNK Split (Croatia) v Fulham (England)

other notable games
Atletico Madrid (Spain) v Strømsgodset (Norway)
Gaziantepspor (Turkey) v KP Legia Warszawa (Poland)
Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel) v Vaduz (Liechtenstein)
Lokomotiv Sofia (Bulgaria) v Śląsk Wrocław (Poland)
Vålerenga (Norway) v PAOK (Greece)

polska. wrote:Also..

F.K Željezničar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 0 Sheriff Tirapol (Moldova) 0 1-0

How is that an upset? Zeljeznicar are the biggest team in Bosnia, if anything it is an upset that they didn't win by like 3 goals.

Sheriff's recent success in Europe beating teams like Slavia Prague, Dinamo Zagreb, Twente, and Dynamo Kiev