European Leagues Thread 2012/2013

[soggy biscuit]

Germany

5 games left to play and it is tight at the top. Schalke top on 59 then comes Werder Bremen, Stuttgart & Bayern Munich all 2 points behind each other. Bayern in danger of not qualifying for the Champions League

Borussia M'Gladbach 7 points adrift at the bottom with a bad goal difference looking doomed

Italy

Inter are 16 points clear and with 7 left to play are now 1 win away from the title.

interesting race for 4th place on between AC Milan and Palermo

Ascoli are bottom by 7 points with Messina and Parma taking up the other 2 places. Not sure if Ranieri has enough time to turn things around for Parma.

Spain

Barcelona top on 59 points with 8 games left. Should be an exciting end to the seaon with Seville on 55, Real Madrid on 54 and Valencia on 53

Real Sociadad and Gimnastic joint bottom on 24 points with just 4 points separting Levante (Ian Harte), Celta Vigo, Athletic Bilbao & Real Betis for the last place

France

1 more win will see Lyon champions.

Nantes & Sedan bottom on 30 points, Troyes 3rd from bottom on 32 and PSG 4th from bottom on 35

Holland

3 points seperate PSV, AZ & Ajax at the top of the league on 71, 69 & 69 points respectively

Bunch of nobodies scrapping it out at the bottom

[Huntley & Palmer]

Are Juve still in with a promotion shout from Serie B?

[papereyes]

7 points clear at the top

[Huntley & Palmer]

A joke really, was it a 15 point deduction they started with

[soggy biscuit]

Lyon win a record 6th title in a row

Been meaning to post this for a while, Juninho's 40 yard free kick against Ajaccio

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/juninho%2Bajaccio/video/xwatm_ajaccio-lyon-01-juninho

Ruud Van N'Horse scored an absolute blinder against Valencia yeaterday too

http://www.realmadrid-club.net/videos/goals/real-madrid-vs.-valencia-1-0-volley-van-nistelrooy.html

[handbags_harris]

Holland

3 points seperate PSV, AZ & Ajax at the top of the league on 71, 69 & 69 points respectively

Bunch of nobodies scrapping it out at the bottom

Went to see Feyenoord play NEC Nijmegen this weekend, just got back. here's a detailed update of the situation over there.

The weekend coming sees the final set of League fixtures for the Dutch Eredivisie and with regards to the title race it promises to be, quite simply, the most exciting finish to a season in any major European League this campaign. The top of the table looks like this:

P W D L F A Pts
AZ Alkmaar 33 21 9 3 81 28 72
Ajax 33 22 6 5 82 35 72
PSV 33 22 6 5 70 24 72

AZ Alkmaar travel to Excelsior (who they have beaten 5-0 already this season) and a win would all but guarantee the title. If AZ win then Ajax (who travel to Willem II, a side they have alreadt beaten 6-0 this season) have to win by a margin of 7 goals plus AZ's margin of victory. For PSV to realistically stand any chance of winning the title they have to hope both AZ and Ajax drop points, and also make sure that they win at home to Vitesse Arnhem (who they beat 4-0 earlier in the season). Of course, football throws up all series of surprises, but realistically it looks like AZ are about to seal the title. This would be all the more painful for PSV as they held a gap of 12 points at one stage of the season, and also conceded an 86th minute equaliser this weekend at Utrecht.

Holland has 2 Champions League places, and for the remaining place there is a system in place very similar to England's Promotion Playoffs. Positions 2 thru' 5 playoff, with the winner getting into the Champions League. Presently it is Ajax, PSV, FC Twente and Feyenoord occupying those positions. Only Feyenoord's position is under threat from Heerenveen. Whilst Feyenoord are considered one of the top 3 sides in the country, they've had a shocking season by their standards. they only have 53 points and a GD of -6. In a twist of fate, their last opponents are Heerenveen who are 6th on 52 points, but with a GD of +13 and the winners walk away with the prize of qualification for the final Champions League Playoff position.

The losers walk away with a UEFA Cup Playoff position, a competition which is contested between positions 6 thru' 9. Presently Heerenveen, Roda JC, FC Groningen and FC Utrecht occupy these positions. Both Roda JC and FC Groningen's positions are guaranteed. Only FC Utrecht's is under threat from NAC Breda. Utrecht travel to Groningen on the final day of the season, while NAC Breda travel to FC Twente. The winners of the Playoff enter the UEFA Cup.

The Dutch Relegation system is more complex than usual as well. The bottom placed team (18th) go down automatically, whilst positions 16 and 17 playoff against the 2nd thru 5th placed teams of the Eerste Divisie. Bottom place has been secured by Ado den Haag, and they will be replaced by De Graafschap who are Champions of the Eerste Divisie. 16th and 17th have been secured by Excelsior and RKC Waalwijk, and they will play off against FC Den Bosch, VVV Venlo, RBC Roosendaal, and one of either FC Volendam or Dordrecht '90.

Just details of one of many leagues you may not be interested in!!

[Compo's Hat]

Quick question on the U.E.F.A. cup places handbags.

Do the 3 losing sides in the champions league play-offs all qualify for the U.E.F.A. cup spot? I'd be surprised to see 4 teams get into that competition, as England only has 3.

[RoyalChicagoFC]

Do the 3 losing sides in the champions league play-offs all qualify for the U.E.F.A. cup spot? I'd be surprised to see 4 teams get into that competition, as England only has 3.

Evidently, if last season is anything to go on.

Not too big a surprise, given that only two full-on Champions League spots go to Eredivisie clubs and some colossus (relatively speaking, this being Dutch club football and all) usually wins the Dutch Cup anyway.

What I do find surprising is that with 10 of the 18 Eredivisie clubs certain to end up in some form of playoff competition after Sunday (for a chance at Champions League berth, a last-chance UEFA Cup berth or the relegation mini-league), none of AZ, Ajax or PSV's opposition this coming Sunday --out of the 15 other clubs-- are really playing to get into or to avoid any situation of particular significance, nor are any of them trying to improve their table position for, say, purposes of home advantage in the playoffs (a minor possible exception to any of this being prize money for place of finish).

That ain't good news, unless you're the club that calls Alkmaar home.

[handbags_harris]

Quick question on the U.E.F.A. cup places handbags.

Do the 3 losing sides in the champions league play-offs all qualify for the U.E.F.A. cup spot? I'd be surprised to see 4 teams get into that competition, as England only has 3.

Chicago's right. Holland has 2 Champions League places, and 4 UEFA Cup places. The losers of the Champions League Playoff enter the UEFA Cup, with the winner of the UEFA Cup Playoff.

England actually also has 4 designated places as well:

5th place Premiership
6th place Premiership
FA Cup winners
League Cup winners

That said, anybody know what happened to the Carling Cup UEFA Cup spot this season???

[Huntley & Palmer]

I thought it was 4 Champions League and 3 UEFA. It just so happens that the FA allocate 5th with one and the other two to the Cups, it's just that the FA Cup is considered more worthy of a UEFA spot for the finalist if they are not already in Europe.

[weybridgewanderer]

SCOTLAND

celtic have secured the automatic entry into the champions league group stage by winning the SPL.

Rangers are the likely candidates for entry into the second qualifying round by virtue of their 8 point lead over 3rd place

3rd place in the league and the UEFA Cup spot is hotly contested.

As Celtic have champions league football confirmed then the winners of the Scottish Cup Semi Final replay between Hibs and Dunfermline will be in the UEFA Cup.

Dunfermline are also favourites to be relegated from the SPL this season.

[bassavage]

MACEDONIA

With 6 games left, things are tight at the top in the race for 1st place and a place and a place in next season 1st qualifying round of the Champions League with 7 points seperating the top 4 teams. Current leaders are Rabotnicki, winners of the league in the previous two seasons, and are 2 points clear of Makedonija, who currently hold 2nd place, which results in qualification for the UEFA Cup Qualifying Round (with the Macedonian Cup winners also qualifying). Only three points behind them are Pobeda and two points behind them are Vardar, who slipped into 4th after a 1-0 defeat at home to Renova.

Big games are coming up towards the end of the season:

May 6th: Vardar v Pobeda
May 13th: Pobeda v Makedonija
May 16th: Makedonija v Vardar & Rabotnicki v Pobeda
May 20th: Vardar v Rabotnicki
May 27th: Rabotnicki v Makedonija

Meanwhile, at the bottom B. Stip and Vlazrimi are already relegated as they are 19 and 20 points respectively clear of safety and they are the two teams that will play in the Macedonian Second League next season.

Just thought I'd keep you updated

[cmonurz]

Portugal

Intreresting fact - in the 70 year history of Portugese football, only 5 teams have ever one Portugal's top division, 'Liga', and two of those, Boavista and Beleneneses, have won it only once.

Porto (21 titles) top the league on 59 points, but have played two games more than anyone else (25).

Benfica are on 52 points from 23 games, and Sporting Clube de Portugal on 46 points from 22 games.

30 games in the season.

[Ian Royal]

A joke really, was it a 15 point deduction they started with

What would happen if United or Liverpool were relegated to the Championship and docked 15 points?

They probably wouldn't make our points record but I'd be surprised if they came any lower than second.

[bassavage]

WALES

TNS are top, 8 points infront of Rhyl, although Rhyl have a game in hand. Llanelli sit 3rd 6 points behind Rhyl and are level on points with Welshpool in the fight for an Intertoto Cup Place.

Meanwhile, Cwmbran Town sit bottom, 5 points behind Newtown, although they have a game in hand.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Linfield lead Cliftonville by 6 points at the top with Cliftonville only a point ahead of Glen Little's old side Glentoran.

At the bottom, Loughgall are already down, with either Larne or Glenavon to follow. They are seperated by 1 point.

[T.R.O.L.I.]

WALES

TNS are top, 8 points infront of Rhyl, although Rhyl have a game in hand. Llanelli sit 3rd 6 points behind Rhyl and are level on points with Welshpool in the fight for an Intertoto Cup Place.

Meanwhile, Cwmbran Town sit bottom, 5 points behind Newtown, although they have a game in hand.

Not sure where you've got your info from, but seeing as its a 32 game season, TNS have won the league (they did so by beating Newi Cefn Druids 3-2 at the weekend). Rhyl are guaranteed 2nd and the final European place is between Llanelli & Welshpool (Llanelli are one point ahead of Town)

Cwmbran are relegated unless they win their last game, Airbus lose their last game and Airbus received a 5 or more point deducation at a hearing today regarding fielding an ineligble player.

[Platypuss]

I thought it was 4 Champions League and 3 UEFA. It just so happens that the FA allocate 5th with one and the other two to the Cups, it's just that the FA Cup is considered more worthy of a UEFA spot for the finalist if they are not already in Europe.

You call it right - we have only 3 guaranteed UEFA slots.

[bassavage]

WALES

TNS are top, 8 points infront of Rhyl, although Rhyl have a game in hand. Llanelli sit 3rd 6 points behind Rhyl and are level on points with Welshpool in the fight for an Intertoto Cup Place.

Meanwhile, Cwmbran Town sit bottom, 5 points behind Newtown, although they have a game in hand.

Not sure where you've got your info from, but seeing as its a 32 game season, TNS have won the league (they did so by beating Newi Cefn Druids 3-2 at the weekend). Rhyl are guaranteed 2nd and the final European place is between Llanelli & Welshpool (Llanelli are one point ahead of Town)

Cwmbran are relegated unless they win their last game, Airbus lose their last game and Airbus received a 5 or more point deducation at a hearing today regarding fielding an ineligble player.

Stupid LOLeague of WaLOLes site.

[soggy biscuit]

A joke really, was it a 15 point deduction they started with

no, Juve ended up with a 9 point deduction

[RoyalChicagoFC]

A joke really, was it a 15 point deduction they started with

no, Juve ended up with a 9 point deduction

Soooo...everybody's right, then?