Soccer 2013-2014

drmandolin · Dec 9, 2013

It's good to think ahead in a positive manner, especially when Arsenal are so desperately in need of his help these days. Lol.

'Real Madrid or Barcelona' says Nicklas Bendtner over next move
ARSENAL striker Nicklas Bendtner has boldly claimed his career will continue at either Real Madrid or Barcelona when he leaves the Emirates.

Brando · Dec 10, 2013

LOL, fucking hail storm in this Juve vs. Galatasaray game. Crazy shit that they are still playing.

Springbok · Dec 10, 2013

Well done to City - 2 English teams end BM's home unbeaten streak in a row. Unfortunately for City, their next opponents are going to be brutal. Barca/Madrid/PSG all tough. Hope Gala can sneak a win against Juve in the replay, they looked good before match got called.

Neki · Dec 10, 2013

Was a good match from City. I would think any team would want to avoid them in the next round. They have the players to be extremely threatening when they are playing well

Springbok · Dec 10, 2013

Agreed, thought Silva (after missing all that time) was really impressive today. Class player.

colossalFISH · Dec 10, 2013

All our CL English teams have now conquered all German opposition on their own turf this year. I like it.

Szlia · Dec 10, 2013

Brando_sl said:
LOL, fucking hail storm in this Juve vs. Galatasaray game. Crazy shit that they are still playing.

That was the one game national TV bought the right for

Btw they will not replay it tomorrow, they will finish it tomorrow: it will be a 60min thing.

Brando · Dec 10, 2013

Seems a bit strange for the Swiss national TV to pick up Juve/Gala when there are german teams playing, aren't all Dagos turned back at the border immediately?

As far as Bayern, Thiago playing as a DM is about all that needs to be said in regards to the result.

Brando · Dec 10, 2013

Pic of Juve/Gala from earlier today:

Szlia · Dec 10, 2013

Brando_sl said:
Seems a bit strange for the Swiss national TV to pick up Juve/Gala when there are german teams playing, aren't all Dagos turned back at the border immediately?

I think they picked it because the stakes were high and it had potential to be a great match (it will still be true tomorrow, but Basel plays Shalke!). I confess I did not check the other 2 national channels (in german and italian) to see if they showed something else, but I believe they buy the rights as a single entity.

As for the second part of your question, about 20% of swiss residents are foreign, the largest group being italians (17% of the 20%). Also note that the big italian immigration waves were in the '60s so they had children and grand-children. If you add the italian nationals, the swiss nationals that are children of italian immigrants and the swiss nationals living in the italian speaking region of Switzerland, you maybe reach something like 15% of the population.

Brando · Dec 11, 2013

Thanks for the info Szila, now I know where the Swiss get their service sector employees for the next time I'm on jeopardy

Szlia · Dec 11, 2013

The Juventus vs Galatasaray match is actually played right now (as I post, it's half time). The field is a swamp and it started snowing as they restarted! Snow only lasted 10ish minutes and last I saw it became a light drizzle. In some areas, all pass attempt on the ground is futile. It's old school Kick & Rush time!

EDIT: And it's done. A ball flung to Drogba who deviates it with the head to Sneijder who scores. I suspect that's a pattern of play that earned Galatasaray a lot of goals.

Quineloe · Dec 11, 2013

Group F is fucking absurd.

Szlia · Dec 11, 2013

It was the day of the absurd... Napoli out with 12 points, Porto hitting the frame three times, Milan parking the bus or the linesman missing 4 offside players on a free kick against Basel... fun evening!

Basel got supremely fucked over by the refs though, because before the unbelievable free kick snafu, there were two back to back very litigious situations that could have ended with 2 reds or 2 yellows, but ended with a yellow for Schalke and a red for Basel. I would not say Basel got robbed out of a win (Schalke had the upper hand when it was 11 vs 11), but they certainly got robbed of a contest.

Quineloe · Dec 11, 2013

And Leningrad advances with 6 points, hah.

and that red vs Ivanov was fine. That was very clear, very deliberate holding, it was quite a "handlock". Last man in front of the keeper, that's a red card.

That offside on the other hand, yes that was just plain bad. Second world linesman probably not used to that kind of play -.-

Szlia · Dec 11, 2013

I agree you can give a red to Ivanov. The problem is giving him a red for a hand holding as last defender when, 1 minute before that, an intentional rugby tackle on Streller going alone to the goal got sanctioned by a yellow.

For those that did not see, the offside on freekick. Note that to remove all possible ambiguity, it's the player who is the most offside that got the ball!

Springbok · Dec 11, 2013

First game this season I've missed, and from the sounds of things it was a fine time to be on a drill site. I fucking HATE when Arsenal go into these last matches in CL and play with the handbrake on, only to finish second in the group. Arsenal fans on twitter seem to think that was some sort of achievement, but I'm pretty pissed off. Arsenal are better than Napoli, and had no business drawing that match - let alone losing it. Arsenal/Barca Monday is 100% locked on.

Quineloe · Dec 12, 2013

How is that an achievement in their eyes? Possible opponents now are Paris (Ibra!!), Bayern, Barcelona, Real and Atletico. It's not like all opponents from the second place are easy, but nowhere near that. Plus, if you get Piraeus or 6 point Leningrad, you're pretty much through to the quarter finals

Dyvim · Dec 12, 2013

Still chuckling at Arsenal finishing second in the 12 point group.

Springbok · Dec 12, 2013

Meh, damn near everyone on this board (and others) thought Arsenal out when groups were drawn. I thought they'd finish behind BVB, and they did. Still, in the position they were in yesterday there is zero fucking excuse to end that group in 2nd. None. Knowing what was at stake especially. Regardless, Arsenal would need an unreal amount of luck to win it even if they topped that group - bowing out early won't be the end of the world (look at Pool this fall with only BPL games to manage/worry about). Personally, I'm hoping for Barca in the next round. Don't think we'd win, but would rather them than AM/Real/Bayern. Maybe PSG would be a decent draw as well.

Soccer 2013-2014

Ahn'Qiraj Raider

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Asshat Brando

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Ahn'Qiraj Raider

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Karen

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