Guest uno Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 What a sensational day in the tournament! Man Utd, Man City failed to progress Olympique Lyonnais won 7-1 to go through to play-offs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrenaline11 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Don't forget about CSKA too who took advantage of the Lille-Trabzonspor draw. The Lyon game reminds me of the TFC-Montreal game in the NCC three years ago. Y'all know which game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Any chance the Lyon match was rigged? One of the most lopsided away wins in CL history just happens to occur at the precise moment when nothing less than a 5 or 6 goal away victory is required. Hmmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GoGreen Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Any chance the Lyon match was rigged? One of the most lopsided away wins in CL history just happens to occur at the precise moment when nothing less than a 5 or 6 goal away victory is required. Hmmm... Usually is the case when one team has all to play for and the other has nothing to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Any chance the Lyon match was rigged? One of the most lopsided away wins in CL history just happens to occur at the precise moment when nothing less than a 5 or 6 goal away victory is required. Hmmm... Lyon clawed back a 7 goal differential from Ajax which might seem amazing on the face of it especially since they exceeded what was needed. However, Dynamo Zagrab did not really belong in the Champions League group stage this year. They had a pretty easy route to qualifying beating teams from Azerbijan, Finland and Sweden not particularly convincingly. Then they lost every game in the group stage and were blown out in half of them. Their final goal differential was 3:22. Indeed, Ajax gained their goal differential entirely against Zagreb, they did not score one goal against another team but beat Zabrab 2-0 and 4-0. I would say of all the teams that were already eliminated Zagreb had the most to play for in that they should have had the pride to try to avoid being completely humiliated in the tournament. Additionally the 6 goal plus that Lyon gained would have only tied them with Ajax on goal differential (though I think they would have still won on more goals scored as the third tie breaking criteria). Ajax also managed to lose 3-0 at home to a Real Madrid B team. I think the results were pretty much in keeping with the results of the group as a whole and given their previous performances in the group I don't think Zagreb losing 7-1 is particularly surprising. I am actually more surprised Ajax would lose so badly at home to a Real Madrid B team with so much on the line for them and with Madrid long since qualified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Lyon clawed back a 7 goal differential from Ajax which might seem amazing on the face of it especially since they exceeded what was needed. However, Dynamo Zagrab did not really belong in the Champions League group stage this year. They had a pretty easy route to qualifying beating teams from Azerbijan, Finland and Sweden not particularly convincingly. Then they lost every game in the group stage and were blown out in half of them. Their final goal differential was 3:22. Indeed, Ajax gained their goal differential entirely against Zagreb, they did not score one goal against another team but beat Zabrab 2-0 and 4-0. I would say of all the teams that were already eliminated Zagreb had the most to play for in that they should have had the pride to try to avoid being completely humiliated in the tournament. Additionally the 6 goal plus that Lyon gained would have only tied them with Ajax on goal differential (though I think they would have still won on more goals scored as the third tie breaking criteria). Ajax also managed to lose 3-0 at home to a Real Madrid B team. I think the results were pretty much in keeping with the results of the group as a whole and given their previous performances in the group I don't think Zagreb losing 7-1 is particularly surprising. I am actually more surprised Ajax would lose so badly at home to a Real Madrid B team with so much on the line for them and with Madrid long since qualified. Ajax might have done better if 2 good goals against Real Madrid B were not called back. Couple that with the Zagreb score, and the prevalence of match fixing, it is not unreasonable to wonder if there were some happy campers in Singapore yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alberta white Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Ajax might have done better if 2 good goals against Real Madrid B were not called back. Couple that with the Zagreb score, and the prevalence of match fixing, it is not unreasonable to wonder if there were some happy campers in Singapore yesterday. Oh I don't care about any of that! Manchester United having to play in the also ran cup! Made my week that has!:D The Funniest thing about the Europa league is that the EPL teams spend all season Trying to get into Europe, then all summer trying to get out of it! Its in effect an Allegorical statement of the British Political view of the Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Usually is the case when one team has all to play for and the other has nothing to. Not really. Ajax also had all to play for and they lost. As I said, this is one of the biggest away wins in CL history, so nothing like it "usually" happens. I still say it is fishy. What about the red-card on Zagreb? Was it legit or total BS also? (I didn't see it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brethers Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Oh I don't care about any of that! Manchester United having to play in the also ran cup! Made my week that has!:D The Funniest thing about the Europa league is that the EPL teams spend all season Trying to get into Europe, then all summer trying to get out of it! Its in effect an Allegorical statement of the British Political view of the Europe. Made my week aswell! Hahaha stupid Man U Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 I still say it is fishy. Rig two referees, and four teams? Seems pretty difficult to me. Then consider that the players involved are well paid(Zagreb, maybe not...) and you see a pay-off or rig as far more challenging than it seems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Rig two referees, and four teams? Seems pretty difficult to me. Then consider that the players involved are well paid(Zagreb, maybe not...) and you see a pay-off or rig as far more challenging than it seems. Not 4 teams, just rigging 2 referees is good enough. Madrid and Lyon are already the better teams in those 2 matches. If you disallow all Ajax goals and force Zagreb to play 60-70 minutes with 10 men, two lopsided victories are almost inevitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Not 4 teams, just rigging 2 referees is good enough. Madrid and Lyon are already the better teams in those 2 matches. If you disallow all Ajax goals and force Zagreb to play 60-70 minutes with 10 men, two lopsided victories are almost inevitable. Except that Madrid played all their second stringers. Yes they have a pretty solid B team by most standards but Ajax should be able to handle the Madrid B team. I am not saying it is impossible that something untoward happened (the Ajax goals did look like they were wrongly disallowed) but anyone trying this would have to have some really big balls to pull it off and be really connected in high places within UEFA and FIFA to avoid any investigation. Sometimes unlikely results do occur and a team is hard done by in several calls without any manipulation. An unexpected result does not automatically mean manipulation and as I pointed out given how the teams played the result was not as unlikely as one might think. Fixing prominent games like this really brings a lot of heat and examination on the result as has happened with this game (Ajax is demanding an investigation and the French betting commission is investigating) which is precisely why most fixing occurs in less prominent leagues. Even within Champions League this is not the group I would have fixed if I were in that business. I would have picked Group B where CSKA Moscow was not a favourite to go through but would with a victory and a tie in the other match which is precisely what happened, a much more plausible scenario than overcoming a massive goal differential and easier to go under the radar. Especially as there were so many things in the Group D scenario that could have gone wrong even if the refs were paid off that anyone betting massive amounts of money on the result would be taking a risk even if things were fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alberta white Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 You should look up the Leeds United/ Bayern Munich 1974-75 European cup final. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_European_Cup_Final See for yourself... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7XuofjuN2Y Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest uno Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Round of 16 draw Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) v APOEL FC (CYP) SSC Napoli (ITA) v Chelsea FC (ENG) AC Milan (ITA) v Arsenal FC (ENG) FC Basel 1893 (SUI) v FC Bayern München (GER) Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER) v FC Barcelona (ESP, holders) PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS) v Real Madrid CF (ESP) FC Zenit St Petersburg (RUS) v SL Benfica (POR) Olympique de Marseille (FRA) v FC Internazionale Milano (ITA) Milan vs. Arsenal, Zenit vs. Benfica, Marseille vs. Inter are the most unpredictable, IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Milan vs. Arsenal, Zenit vs. Benfica, Marseille vs. Inter are the most unpredictable, IMO Napoli v Chelsea looks pretty 50/50 to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest uno Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 0_o two backheels http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evljd6tOAAE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxxie Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Napoli will qualify to the quarter finals while Arsenal has little chances. First quarter finals in years without English teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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