European football leagues 2011 - 2012

Wednesday, 14 December 2011 Uefa Europa League
Anderlecht 5-3 Lokomotiv Moscow
Besiktas 3-1 Stoke
Dynamo Kiev 3-3 Macc Tel-Aviv
FC Zurich 2-0 FC Vaslui
Fulham 2-2 Odense BK
Lazio 2-0 Sporting
Maccabi Haifa 0-3 Schalke 04
Paris SG 4-2 Athletic Bilbao
Slovan Bratislava 2-3 Red Bull Salzburg
Steaua Bucharest 3-1 AEK Larnaca
Sturm Graz 1-3 AEK Athens
Wisla Krakow 2-1 FC Twente

Not great displays by the two teams taking part last night.
Stoke has already qualified though & were reduced to 10 men when Upson was given a straight red for penalty offense. It did mean that Stoke finished second, which was a little disappointing after a spirited run in the competition.
Fulham were through to the next round with 3 minutes of extra time already played when they fell for the sucker punch equalizer that puts them out of the competition. Fair play to Odense for keeping going as they were only playing for pride. Apart from the money & glory Fulham are probably better out of the competition that made a bit of an European name for them a couple of seasons ago. Getting their act together in the Premiership - especially away from home - is probably the number 1 priority this year...

Full roundup from last nights' results...
Table D
Sporting go through as group winners, Lazio are second while FC Vaslui & FC Zurich miss out in a tight group.

Table E
Besiktas just ease out Stoke to top spot by a point while Dynamo Kiev will be disappointed with third & Macc Tel-Aviv bring up the bottom with just 2 points.

Table F
Athletic Bilbao win the group with Red Bull Salzburg grasping second place by a +2 goal difference over Paris SG with Slovan Bratislava trailing in last with just 1 point. PSG will be disappointed after the expenditure at the club!!

Table J
Undefeated Schalke 04 win the group as Steaua Bucharest do enough to snatch second away from Maccabi Haifa with AEK Larnaca last in what was a real 3 way tussle for second spot.

Table K
FC Twente win the group while suffering their solitary loss away to second placed Wisla Krakow last night. That means Fulham are third & Odense BK bring up the last spot.

Table L
Anderlecht have been one of the teams of this part of the competition. They had no trouble seeing off second placed Lokomotiv Moscow at home in a high scoring contest. 6 games, 6 wins, does not get better than that!! AEK Athens & Sturm Graz battled for last place with 3 points each. This has been the most one sided of this group of tables.

Good luck again, tonight, for the British competitors, although, on paper, it looks even more difficult for them to get the right set of results than last night!!!

Thursday, 15 December 2011 Uefa Europa League
Atletico Madrid 3-1 Rennes
Austria Vienna 2-0 Malmo
AZ Alkmaar 1-1 FC Metalist Kharkiv
Birmingham 1-0 NK Maribor
Club Brugge 1-1 Braga
FC Copenhagen 0-1 Standard Liege
Hannover 96 3-1 Vorskla Poltava
Hapoel Tel-Aviv 2-0 Legia Warsaw
PAOK Salonika 1-1 Rubin Kazan
PSV Eindhoven 2-1 Rapid Bucharest
Shamrock Rovers 0-4 Tottenham
Udinese 1-1 Celtic

A better night for actual results from the UK sides last night, however the outcome for all three was the same - elimination. All were reliant on other results going their way as well as their own performance. Too much too do, too late in the competition....
The results meant..

Group A
PAOK Salonika win the group after a last match home draw against second placed Rubin Kazan. The draw meant that a Spurs win in Ireland could not be enough for them to qualify & they occupy third spot a point behind. Poor Shamrock Rovers had a hard introduction to European football & did not manage to collect a point.

Group B
Already really decided before kick off, but the results just confirmed the strength of Standard Liege as they finished the group top & undefeated. Hannover 96 beat bottom side Vorskla Poltava to confirm second spot. FC Copenhagen were third in a group that was just too strong for them.

Group C
PSV Eindhoven romped away with the group, with one draw the only blot on their landscape. Legia Warsaw lost away at third placed Hapoel Tel-Aviv but had already wrapped up qualification. Rapid Bucharest finished third in a group in which they were always outclassed.

Group G
Run away winners, FC Metalist Kharkiv, finished off the group with a draw away against second placed AZ Alkmaar. Third placed Austria Vienna win at home against a disappointing Malmo was insufficient to overcome their goal difference deficit against the second side. Vienna will be disappointed at not qualifying from this group. Malmo supporters will be shocked at just how poorly their side performed.

Group H
Close with the top three with just 1 point separating them. However a home draw for top side Club Brugge against eventual second placed Braga means that the win at home for third placed Birmingham over group whipping boys NK Maribor was not enough for them. It was a huge task for Brum as they not only needed Braga to lose, but also a 7 goal difference switch,

Group I
Atletico Madrid cruised in as winners while Udinese were comfortably second despite finishing with a home draw to third placed Celtic with Rennes trailing in last. Celtic have still not got European football sussed. 1 win out of 6 games will never be enough to qualify.

The draw for BOTH European competition takes place later today...good fortune to all the English sides involved on a favorable outcome!!

The Champions League has now been drawn...
Chelsea & Arsenal got reasonable draws I think...there are no real easy games at this stage, but both will believe that they can march on after the Spring Games..



The Europa draw takes place in about half an hour...but with more teams involved is a little more complex & long winded than the Champions League that has just taken place...

The Europa draw is probably a little harsher on the 3 English clubs than those in the Champions League..
Sorry the alignment is a little out as the table progresses....that is down to UEFA rather than me..(Typical, some would say.. )



So City have the current holders to play against. At least Porto have a different manager this year!!
United have Ajax to play against, probably one of the sides most renown for their attacking flair for years...
At least both the Manchester clubs have the away tie first, which does give the advantage of knowing what the task is to progress .
Stoke are at home first & then have to travel to Valencia....a tough tie...
If they should progress the next part of the draw looks like this..



So City would have either Legia or another Portuguese club in the shape of Sporting.
United would have Locomotive or Athletic.
Stoke would have Trabzonspor or PSV..

European football kicks off again tonight/early tomorrow morning.
They really have mixed the competitions up this season.
In previous years the European Cup Competition matches (the important one ) took place on a Tuesday & Wednesday with the return leg fixtures happening the opposite way round on the following Tuesday Wednesday.
So if A played B at home this Tuesday then they would be away to B the following Wednesday.
The Europa Cup competition (the consolation cup ) just all happened on a Thursday night.

I can only assume that the TV rights holders have stepped in & suggested that this is a money losing way of doing business. If you are showing 6 matches over 2 nights only two can be 'featured' & 4 are wasted.
So this year the 6 games are going to be played at only 2 a night on a Tuesday & Wednesday & spread over a total of 4 weeks.

No British involvement tonight, although there is tomorrow.



Barcelona surprisingly lost in the Spanish league at the weekend so it could be a tough trip into cold Germany for them.
Lyon will hope for a solid victory at home that will make the second leg little more than a formality. If they don't do that then the return leg in March could be tough indeed.

The majority of the Europa first leg games are played on Thursday, but, for reasons unknown to me two games are being played tonight. The return legs are all played on Thursday 23rd. February. Again with one exception, Manchester City play their second at home leg against FC Porto the day before on Wednesday 22nd.
Sorry if it is confusing, but that is because it is confusing...
The games in the inserts are played tonight...tomorrow I will show the games to be played then....Hope that helps..

Well all might not be going well for Barc in the Spanish league, but they are still looking pretty magnificent in the European competition.
Messi showed again on the big stage just why he is the current best player in the world with a great overall performance backed up with scoring the third goal himself. It will be a huge task for Leverkusen to go to Spain & win by 3 clear goals. Unfortunately they have been in a bit of a slump since qualification & went into this match with only 1 victory in their last 7 games.
It has to be all but over for this tie..

Lyon won, but by the narrowest of margins & the replay is going to be an equally tight affair. In fairness it was all Lyon with the visitors not even managing 1 shot on target but that won't make the task any easier in Cyprus. The Lyon set up looked a bit on the cautious side itself with no room at the start for top scorer Bafetimbi Gomis. They may regret that they did not make more use of their dominance on the scoring front.

Two away wins in the Europa competition in games that I will readily admit do little to inspire much interest in me personally...



A tough match for Arsenal tonight, a good result would be a loss by 1 goal while scoring themselves. Anything better than that would be a great one. You know that the Gunners will create chances, but will they actually score from them?? At the other end they too often look like headless chickens in organisation & planning but often seem to clear the ball just in the nick of time as well...Could be a real nail biter for supporters!!!

Terrible away result for the Gunners which must have all but put them out of the competition.
They were behind after just 15 minutes from a Kevin-Prince Boateng (ex Spurs, just to rub it in) shot & two down by half time. They conceded another goal to ex Citi striker Robinho just after the restart & finally gave away a penalty to totally kill off their hopes.
Arsenal showed very little at the end that they normally excel at - the oppositions' goal - & they are just not a side that can hope to keep many attacks at bay for the full 90.
Realistically they have looked too fragile in defence all season to have ever mounted a serious challenge in this competition, but this is their worst ever defeat in Europe & just about as bad as it gets..

The other game still remains a very close contest. Benfica will feel that they have a real chance of qualifying after scoring 2 away goals & only being 1 goal behind. For Zenit St Petersburg it was their first competitive match since their last, December, European game against fellow Portuguese side Porto as Russian sides are on their winter break. They will feel optimistic that they can hold onto their lead in Portugal.

Tonight the two Manchester clubs start their Europa Cup quest.
You have to feel that Citi would be happy to win this as it would show European progress, if not the main event.
I wonder just how much Sir Alex will see this competition as an annoyance. I have a feeling that he would be happier with yet another Premier League trophy than he would be with a first Europa Cup win....but we will see.
Both of them face tough opposition away. Nothing but a very good performance will see either of them progress even through the first stages. It might be a bit of a Micky Mouse competition but there are still some great sides in it.

Stoke start their attempts at home. Again they have tough opposition in Valencia & it would be a serious boost to the Midlands side if they could progress. They have accounted well for themselves so far in Europe, although maybe it has cost them in following domestic fixtures. As they are involved in a potentially tricky FA Cup tie on Saturday away at Crawley they will be hoping that they have got over that particular bump!!

Good luck to all three sides & I hope all are still in a strong position after the first legs..

Seemed rather a time to be the away side in Europe.

United had a tough first half & were rather lucky to go in at nil nil. However they then produced a better second half to really ensure that they are in the next round. Scoring twice in the away leg while stopping the home side scoring at all is about as good as it gets. Ajax showed enough to suggest that United can't afford to be complacent in the second leg, but Sir A rarely lets his sides do that anyway.

Tough first away leg for Citi as well. One nil down at half time they fought well in the second half to gain a victory in Portugal. Aguero came off the bench to win it, but it was a good all around battling performance from the side. They had 6 names taken by the referee & although they have undoubtedly the strongest squad in this competition you have to be careful with that number of bookings.
The second leg will not be a walk over either, but probably they have done enough to progress already.

Tough game & tough result for Stoke. They battled well & were unfortunate not to at least take a draw back to Spain. It will be a pretty herculean effort if they progress after this result though as Valencia are pretty experienced as to how to win over two legs in an European tie.

The next round of opening legs in the Senior European Competition start tonight.

Madrid will be confident of progressing. CSK are far from the strongest opposition left in the competition. The biggest issue will be the weather conditions that the away side have to face. Just to pile even more pressure on the home side they will not have played in a competitive match for months as Russian clubs are on their winter break.
Even a loss in this fixture will leave Madrid believing that they can turn around the game in the second home leg.
Moscow will need all the advantage that they can grasp to take back to Spain.

Realistically the only English side left in the competition also face a tough first away leg.
Napoli are not exactly having the best of domestic seasons themselves either though.
A draw will be a good result & I think that the current Andre Villas-Boas side just might be happier not looking for a win. The home side have scored rather a lot of goals though so I don't think that just a good defensive display will be enough.
Even though they have often looked a rather confused & disorganised side this season I still think that the Chelsea squad have more than enough ability to pass this particular European test. As long as they do not leave themselves in a position where they have to go looking for goals then I can see them winning through.

Moscow well deserved to get a draw out of this game. While Madrid were undoubtedly the classier side & took a Cristiano Ronaldo lead. With better finishing they could have extended that as well. However Moscow never looked defeated & deep into time added on they finally got the reward of an equaliser.
You have to feel it was a bit of a consolation prize though as Madrid will still be in the best position in the return leg. An early Moscow goal could result in a nervous evening but all the indications are that Real will progress quite comfortably.

No so Chelsea. It looks like English involvement in the competition is now going to last two more matches. The worst performance by teams from the EPL for a long, long time. I think that pretty fairly displays the standard seen in that league this year as it has certainly dropped a level as the top sides are struggling to replace 'old faithfuls' & build new sides.
Chelsea had the brightest of starts & went ahead before half an hour. However they went into the half time break behind & conceded a third without reply in the second half.
On current form it looks very doubtful that Chelsea can overcome the deficit in the return leg.
Napoli are not a defensive unit though & some of the blame must lie with the Chelsea manager trying to 'shut up shop' & settle for a two one defeat, There were goals to be had here for Chelsea in the second half, but putting Michael Essien and Frank Lampard on the pitch when they went two goals down looks a defensive shore up rather than an attacking foray..



The final four survivors start their battle this evening.
plus....

Citi have a real chance to be the first side to progress to the next European stage with an early kick off!!!

The night to be the home team in Europe...just..

Basel continue with the sort of impressive display that saw them deny Manchester United group progression.
It was really their keeper, Yann Sommer, who had the man of the match display to deny the visitors a goal. Then, right at the death, they broke away to score themselves.
Bayern Munich may take comfort into the second leg that Basel cannot resist them for another 90 minutes, but also maybe, why not.
A second leg that will start to get rather desperate if Munich cannot equalise the fixture quite early on..

Almost an identical match in France as well. Except that there the home side left it until injury time before they took a slender lead.
This was not a classy encounter by either side though. Inter Milan have been on a no win 7 game run & Marseille are not the most attack minded side left in the competition.
All still to play for in the second leg in Italy, but I imagine that which ever of these two sides win through the tie that they will be seen as rather a good draw by all the other remaining teams.
Not a great deal to suggest that either side will progress too much farther in this competition. & probably rightly so as well...



No one will suggest that Citi are not capable of further progression in the other European competition though.
Their 'day early' second leg means that they are the first to qualify for the next round of the Europa.
After just about doing a job in the away tie in Portugal they put loads of icing on the cake in the second leg.
The scoreline is highly flattering & probably undeserved, the victory was not.
Sergio Aguero scored within the first minute to all but finish the tie off extremely early on. For most the remains of the match Citi were in control, but couldn't add to the scoreline. Then with quarter of an hour to go Dzeko got the ball in the net. The referee gave it much to the disappointment of Porto, who then had Rolando given a second yellow for protesting too violently for the assistants' liking. Up a man & by 3 goals Citi then finished the game off easily by netting a couple more times.
Good controlled European display by Citi with Aguero & Silva having far too much class for anyone else on the pitch. If 'born again Tevez' can fit himself back into the mix then they might just about have a squad capable of winning this competition.
To the perfectionist, at the moment, they probably do not quite take enough of the chances that they create & that could come back to haunt them over two legs if they are not careful.


All the other second leg Europa games take place tonight.

The other half of Manchester should have a comfortable night at home to Ajax. However this is not the dependable squad of old & an early goal by the visitors would certainly set the cat amongst the pigeons & make for a very nervous night, if not worse.

Stoke have an even harder task away at Valencia though. They, Stoke, have probably done better than expected in this competition but they will have to dig very deep to progress after a poor first leg. The additional problem is that their hosts are not a bad side either. An early Stoke goal would be very welcome by the travelling fans, but the need not to concede & so be out of the tie before it really starts probably means that there will be a great deal of defensive play tonight..

Well both Manchester clubs are through, but in rather a different style.
Citi blitzed through on Wednesday, United rather stumbled through last night.
Luckily they had done enough in the first, away leg to still qualify. It all started off so brightly as well as Hernandez put the home side into a three nil lead after just about 5 minutes. That was as good as it got for the home supporters though as Ajax levelled the game before half time & finally went on to win it. Losing a European game at Old Trafford has moved from being a rarity to a possibility over recent seasons & this loss does not fill me with certainty that United can add this title to its many others.
That United are fulfilling 6 spaces in the new look England squad that temporary manager Stuart Pearce is fielding against Holland in a friendly next Wednesday may make him question his own judgement as well...With the exception of Rooney & Valencia up front & Vidic & Ferdinand at the back this was just about as strong a side as United can muster. Sir A certainly needs to get the cheque book out for season end additions on this display.

Stoke are out of the European competition though. That will probably not come as much of a shock to manager Tony Pulis though as he left 9 of his first team squad at home. The defeat was narrow & whether the inclusion of any of the 9 would have actually made any difference to the result is doubtful. However it is a poor way for a manager to treat the 4,000 or so fans who bothered to fork out the cash to make the trip. Mr. Pulis has already lost the home crowd a little this season with his sides up & down performances. This game has certainly won him no new friends & probably lost him a few old ones at the same time.
Admittedly Stoke have some tough domestic games just ahead with Citi & Chelsea in the League & Pool in the FA Cup but giving the game up before it started is never a way to build team confidence up!!!