Europa League 16/17

[Fryer Tuck]

And now for the Championship of the Continental League.



Please note that some results have already been played.

Looks far more open and interesting than the CL's first qualifying round at least. So many matches, and yet no one aside from the fans of the club will notice.

Well... if you do, Mid Jutland, a team that frustrated United last year, are now in the first qualifying round this here. How the mighty have fallen. Who knows? Maybe a rematch is on the cards this year as well.

Vaduz will do their best to make Liechtenstein proud, since they are the only team from the country to be represented due to lacking a domestic league with 8 teams (they only have 7, all in the Swiss league.)

Again, I don't expect much here until August when the competition really progresses.

Have at it!

 

[RossFC]

Wouldn't mind 2 more Europa spots for the English league. A lot of clubs there would have no chance of doing anything.

 

[Gak Attack]

Wouldn't mind 2 more Europa spots for the English league. A lot of clubs there would have no chance of doing anything.

Most English clubs don't treat it with respect so doubt they would do that. Even we have only treated it like the league cup until Klopp took over.

 

[RossFC]

Most English clubs don't treat it with respect so doubt they would do that. Even we have only treated it like the league cup until Klopp took over.

I really think it's starting to be a good tournament.

Spurs didn't care about it because they are in the top 4 but Man United and Liverpool gave it a crack.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Hope Midtjylland get through. Return bout with United would be nice....

 

[Art Vandelay_]

I really think it's starting to be a good tournament.

Spurs didn't care about it because they are in the top 4 but Man United and Liverpool gave it a crack.

We've never taken it seriously. Play the kids in the Groups for rotation then when it gets to the serious part we play the kids to prioritise attaining top 4.

Dortmund was just embarrassing that even then we didn't take it seriously.

 

[Magma]

go banana

 

[Fryer Tuck]

go banana

Platanias finished 9th in the Greek Superleague. Banana Yaya will not be playing in the Europa League unless he gets a move to a club that does.

 

[Andonis1997]

Not happy. UEFA prevented my club Panionios (who finished 5th) from participating this season and next, so PAS Giannina now play Odd/ Mariehamn.
Albeit warranted for payments through lawyers and late payment to Sochaux, but we had a great season..

 

[Camros2]

im thinking with mourinho managing united he'll give the europa a genuine crack

 

[go you pups]

Not happy. UEFA prevented my club Panionios (who finished 5th) from participating this season and next, so PAS Giannina now play Odd/ Mariehamn.
Albeit warranted for payments through lawyers and late payment to Sochaux, but we had a great season..

Thought you were an Olympiacos fan?

 

[Andonis1997]

Thought you were an Olympiacos fan?

I was.
I switched to my grandpa's team because of the corruption.

 

[go you pups]

I was.
I switched to my grandpa's team because of the corruption.

Ahk

I'm unaware of what occurred in the Superleague. Summarise please.

 

[Andonis1997]

Ahk

I'm unaware of what occurred in the Superleague. Summarise please.

Well, Olympiacos has been in controversy for at least 5 years for having heaps of money and winning a lot of cups, as well as referees not giving clear decisions against them, the most recent and most public being the Greek Cup semi-final in the last minutes, where PAOK should have had a clear penalty to try go 2-1 up. After that non-decision, the PAOK fans stormed the field in protest and the match was forfeited.
Now the 12 non-Big 4 clubs and AEK Athens and PAOK are hoping to rid the league of corruption. Panathinaikos has copped a lot of criticism for saying something after some silence, only for the idea to benefit THEMselves. And in true Olympiakos fashion, the red and whites are saying nothing because they probably know they've been found out.

So, it's all a cleansing process at the moment. Because it drains out the National team as well, as you could see from the freaking shit EURO qualification...

 

[ioppolo]

Infonet Tallinn all the way

 

[Fryer Tuck]

And here's the results!


John Caver's done it! Omonia have seen away the Ban Ants for a uncomfortable thumping to the next round (you have to admit that score line is weird). Mid Jutland, Vaduz, and Hearts get the job done (sorry ioppolo ). Europa FC do the double for Gibraltar, as the Rock Nation gets their clubs into the next round. Jolly well done!


Here are is the fixtures for the 2nd Qualifying Round:


And there it is! The big match of the round is Mid Jutland vs Vaduz. This one is going to be a real classic! Carver's boys head to the Holy Land to play Beitar Jerusalem. A fun fact for anyone that has played EU4: You can turn Cyprus into the third Kingdom of Jerusalem if you manage to annex Jerusalem with Cyprus. And now I just imagined John Carver playing EU4... he's the best watcher of maps, that Carver, so this shouldn't be a problem.


Hang tight DBAH0 , London FC will be coming in next round as a seeded team. The hardest opponent you would potentially play is one of Hearts, Grasshopper or AEK Athens. Likely you'll get easier.

 

[DBAH0]

So long as we don't play that Romanian Mob again.....

That's also the first Grasshopper reference I've seen since about Champ Manager 97.

 

[jd2010]

So long as we don't play that Romanian Mob again.....

That's also the first Grasshopper reference I've seen since about Champ Manager 97.

Them and Sturm Graz were 90s classics from fifa and cm

 

[Great8]

Good to see Aberdeen get through, hopefully they can push a little further

 

[Fryer Tuck]

At the end of the first leg, this is how things stand:


Aside from the Mid Jutland v Vaduz result (very one sided),No real surprises to be honest... unless you count KR continuing the fine form of Iceland against Grasshopper in their 3-3 draw. Europa FC weren't able to keep up the fine form for Gibraltar, but at only 1-0, and with the next game at Victoria Stadium (where all the Gibraltar teams play their matches), its entirely possible they can snatch something out of that game and possibly go through.

 

[Andonis1997]

Hearts drawing 2-2 with Birkirkara is probably a little surprising, isn't it?

 

[Fryer Tuck]

Hearts drawing 2-2 with Birkirkara is probably a little surprising, isn't it?

Considering Celtic lost to Lincoln, it seems kinda normal for Scotland, don't you think? Lol. Also, it was a 0-0 draw, not a 2-2 draw.

Hibernian continuing the tradition. Sir Alex's old club of Aberdeen doing something very unusual by actually winning against Ventspils.

 

[Great8]

Good result for the Dons, should get through now

 

[go you pups]

Slavia Prague losing 3-1 probably the main surprise here

I'd expect Videoton and Austria Vienna to go deep/qualify, they normally are solid

 

[Fryer Tuck]

And here are all the results of the 2nd Qualifying Round:


Oh, nothing major to see here... except Maltese Birkirkara (the 4th placed team of Malta) beating Hearts away from home to make history as the first Maltese side to make it to the Third Qualifying Round. Good on you, Scotland, I knew you still had it in ya! I guess Kalju also beating Maccabi also counts if you compare the quality of the two leagues. Hibernian continues the fine Scottish tradition while Aberdeen had no problems at all. Europa FC putting up a good fight with AIK, but alas, not enough.


Here is how the Third Qualifying Round matches look like:



Finally, an English team! West Ham start their European journey, and we can only hope for their sake that it won't be the end of it as take on 3rd placed PrvaLiga (Slovenian, if you don't mind) Domzale. What a coincedence, Aberdeen is taking on 2nd placed PrvaLiga Maribor.

The obvious pick here is AEK Athens v Saint Etienne in terms of big matches. Though maybe IFK v HJK could be entertaining if the Finns start the second leg ahead. Birkirkara take on Krasnodor, which will be quite the ask (in terms of league ranking, it's 50th v 7th, and the Russian League could be said to be on par with France and Portugal.)

It should be noted that the winners of these games may play the losers of the 3rd Qualifying Round teams of the CL, so one eye might want be kept on those CL games, especially with the draw being released the day after the Europa games on the 5th.