UCL Thread

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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:35 am

As opposed to PF's handegg thread, this thread is about football. CHampions League is about to start.

Since my usual team, Liverpool, played like a bunch of numbnuts last year, and the Danish team, Nordsjælland, are going to their a$$es handed to them and it isn't my team anyway, I don't really know who to cheer for. I'm inclined to think Bayern Munich or Barcelona. Barcelona is a bit too easy, though...

Who're you cheering for in this years Champions League? And why?

Baiting Guru Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 2163

I will be rooting for Schalke 04 and Anderlecht

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:00 am

Now, I'm not a footy fan, but you've surprised me TheDane. I thought the point of being a fan was that you supported your team however badly they were doing. Kinda like *shudder* marriage - 'for better, for worse', and so on. Have I got it wrong? Or is it just an annual pick n mix?

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:15 pm

^ Oh, I still support Liverpool, you better believe it. Problem is, the did so lousy last season, that they didnt qualify for this years Champions League, so routing for them in this tournament would make very little sense. Wink

I do hope they will win the English Premier League, but there is no indication of improvement on the pitch so far, sadly. Sad

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 4:14 pm

I'm rooting for FCN, like I do in every competition, and like I've done for years. Mikkelsen was replaced just fine by John, but I'm still a little worried about Bjelland's replacement, Ivan Runje. Still got the best defence in the league though. I just hope we won't be seeing Ticinovic on LB. He's a good attacking player, but I don't think he's been too good on that position.

If Joshua John and Morten Nordstrand can get to work well together, and I have a good feeling that it might work for them in the attack.

For the people who don't know that much about Danish football, here's what I believe is the strongest lineup:

John-----Nordstrand-----Lorentzen
------------Christensen-------------
----------Adu-----Stokholm--------
Mtiliga---Runje---Okore--Parkhurst
----------------Hansen----------------

The players to watch out for here would be Okore and Adu. I believe both of these have great careers in front of them.

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 5:10 pm

I will be hoping for a good showing from Ajax, a team I have followed since the early '70's when seeing
the great team with Cruyff, Krol, Neeskens and Haan. In recent years I used to make regular trips to Amsterdam
to watch them, but, have had to curtail these visits due to finance.
I fear, however, that they will not win a single game in this years comp. and will probably finish bottom of their
group having been drawn alongside Real Madrid, Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund.

TheDane wrote:

^ Oh, I still support Liverpool, I do hope they will win the English Premier League.

There is more chance of Fremad Amager winning The Superligaen than Liverpool wining the Premier League in the near future. Wink

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 6:13 pm

Cougar wrote:

Kinda like *shudder* marriage - 'for better, for worse',

So that is what they say. I always figured they said "for better or divorce".

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 7:57 pm

Sound like what we call "Fair Weather" fans in the NFL.

Are there fantasy leagues?

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:19 pm

^^Yes I think this is just a fantasy league.

Baiting Guru Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 2163

Scentless Apprentice wrote:

I will be hoping for a good showing from Ajax, a team I have followed since the early '70's when seeing
the great team with Cruyff, Krol, Neeskens and Haan. In recent years I used to make regular trips to Amsterdam
to watch them, but, have had to curtail these visits due to finance.
I fear, however, that they will not win a single game in this years comp. and will probably finish bottom of their
group having been drawn alongside Real Madrid, Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund.

TheDane wrote:

^ Oh, I still support Liverpool, I do hope they will win the English Premier League.

There is more chance of Fremad Amager winning The Superligaen than Liverpool wining the Premier League in the near future. Wink

Unfotrunately ajax is in one of the toughest poules. With Dortmund, Real Madrid and Manchester city. All winners of their regular competitions Sad

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 9:04 pm

^ Oh, Ajax has a special place in most Danes hearts, too. Many good Danish players has played there throughout the years.

@TheProbie: Keep on dreaming. Razz

Chelsea, Shaktar and Juve? Fuhgedabowdit.

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 2:22 pm

Quote:

Who're you cheering for in this years Champions League? And why?

Well, I am with Bravo and I support the Dallas Cowboys!

But, back to the thread:

I am cheering for Chelsea and for clubs that are from less highly rated domestic leagues.

I am supporting Chelsea because they are a group of older guys that heroically salvaged last year's season, defeated Bayern at their home grounds in the final, and demonstrated that Andres Villa-Boas is an ass. (I see "AVB" is continuing his "winning ways" at Spurs).

Kind of like what happens many times in the U.S. collegiate basketball tournament, I enjoy watching underdogs succeed. So, I was thrilled to see APOEL's success last year at moving to the quarterfinals.

For specific matches, I will cheer for teams according to my personal (though not always rational and sometimes conflicted) preferences.

For example:

a. I always root against French and Italian clubs
b. I usually root for clubs from less highly rated leagues
c. I usually root for English clubs (especially against big continental clubs) unless sometimes if they are playing an underdog club
d. I always cheer for Barca against Real Madrid (even though I am not a socialist/communist)
e. When the tournament gets to the quarterfinals, many times I root for the club that I think will make the more entertaining match at the next stage
f. I especially dislike PSG

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 3:10 pm

Scentless Apprentice wrote:

There is more chance of Fremad Amager winning The Superligaen than Liverpool wining the Premier League in the near future. Wink

There's more chance of the Jolly Scotsman, Andy Murray, winning a Grand Slam than..what's that you say?

Anyway, unless Sky Sport do another timely half price offer, it costs me a fortune having to go to the pub every other match to watch Man U. Last year United and City got knocked out the same day, so when Sky asked me why I was canceling the Sports channel, I just said ' the same reason as the rest of Manchester is...'

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 4:34 pm

Roycropper wrote:

Anyway, unless Sky Sport do another timely half price offer.

Why pay Sky anything, when there are plenty of sites streaming live games online.
You can watch any game worldwide including the Premier League, Saturday 3 o'clock kick-offs.
I just checked the site I use regularlly to watch games on and there is a choice of 32 games for today.

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 5:14 pm

Obviously, watching streamed football free online is illegal and neither Eater or myself could ever condone any such thing. Any discussion or guidance will get this thread locked in a jiffy.

Anyway, Rupert needs the money to buy another ivory back scratcher.

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 5:15 pm

@TD - Never said it would be easy, and I'd be happy with 3rd in the group.

It's also nice to have a club that wouldn't have problems with the FFP rules in the tournament.

And to translate what SA said about Fremad Amager: There's a bigger chance that a club ranking (currently) second last in our third tier league winning the top tier league in the near future, than Liverpool winning the PL.

Baiting Guru Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 2163

Well the Uefa finally fined some teams. I am really wondering how the financial fair play will turn out over the next couple of years.

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 6:58 pm

So is the NFL thread as alien sounding to you guys as this is to me? It sounds like you guys are talking about high school football teams to me.

I am impressed by Nigel's knowledge on the subject.

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 8:04 pm

[quote="Nigel Tuffnel"]

Quote:

d. I always cheer for Barca against Real Madrid (even though I am not a socialist/communist)
f. I especially dislike PSG

Real Madrid fan here. Are you one of those lifetime Barça fans since 2008? Cool

Barcelona FC is just a fashion, Real Madrid a legend.

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 8:13 pm

@Bravo - No the NFL thread is not alien to me. Its a game that I have watched in the past but, find it just too boring
with the constant stoppages for T.V. adverts, changing a complete team just because you are attacking, defending
or kicking the ball and also the 3+ hours it takes to play a 60 min. game.

And to compare European Football clubs to high school football teams is just laughable.
How many high school football teams do you know that were valued at $2.23 billion, with an
annual revenue of $532 million (Manchester United), or valued at $1.88 billion with revenue
of $695 million (Real Madrid).

The top 20 richest football clubs are all European.

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 8:55 pm

Jim,

Quote:

Real Madrid fan here. Are you one of those lifetime Barça fans since 2008?

By no means! I started watching soccer (football) in 2004. My TV cable package started carrying a couple of soccer channels, and I was a bit bored with American sports, so I started watching.

I immediately found the history of European/World football interesting - I especially enjoyed learning about the history of the sport and its clubs, leagues, competitions, and culture.

I will say that it took me about 5 years to learn to enjoy watching the sport on television, although I enjoyed it almost immediately in person.

I encounter skepticism among many (but certainly not all) Americans when I say that soccer can be very exciting. I have encountered the same skepticism among Europeans (and many Americans to be sure) when I also claim that baseball can be very exciting. But, for me the most exciting games in sports to watch are (not in any order):

a. End of season or Post-season "pitching duel" baseball games (especially involving my beloved Detroit Tigers).
b. Close matches (of important games) involving a team I have a connection with (such as Trinidad and Tobago's near-tie vs. England in the 2006 World Cup Finals). I also found the final round day of last year's EPL incredibly exciting even though I don't care for Man City and their head cases.

As far as Barca and Real Madrid - I am not strongly anti-RM at all, and I'm not really a Barca fan. While in Spain this spring, I made a special trip to Santiago Bernabeu stadium and thoroughly enjoyed the stadium tour. I also bought my six-year-old a Real Madrid kit.

I just became a little turned off to Real Madrid when I learned that the city of Madrid essentially gave the club about $300 - $400 million in real estate that helped the club buy even more players.

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 8:57 pm

^^^Though I have been an NFL fan since childhood, seven and a half years living abroad gave me an appreciation for the "other" football. You make a good point about the frequent stoppages in American football because they irritate me at times. You need to understand that they are their for TV advertisers. An example is the "two minute warning," which is the epitome of "no value added."

On the other hand, what I really find attractive about soccer is that it is over in two hours. No time outs, no stoppage when the ball leaves the pitch or after scores, and only the referee knows how much stoppage time add to on to the end of the half.

ETA: I'm lucky enough to live in an area where the Fox Sports Digital Tier is available on cable TV, so we get a lot of Premier League matches, some in real time, as well as the continental leagues and the UEFA matches.

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 9:16 pm

@ Nigel: I am happy to hear you know and enjoy football. If you know some of those "lifetime" Barça fans just ask them who these two are:

you will be amazed at how many people know nothing about their clubs and simply jumped on the bandwagon

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 10:57 pm

^^ I think the first photo is of Frank Rijkaard.

I don't know who the second picture is of.

Baiting Guru Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 2163

Louis van Gaal. One of the best coaches ever. Asshole in person.

You do realise Barca also has a debt of 400 million