European Leagues Thread 2012/2013

[Tony Le Mesmer]

watching Juventus v Inter on Saturday night on ESPN.

Co commentator meant to say "2 men waiting in the box", but instead had a slip of the tongue, and said "2 Men w@nking.."

lol.

[Starfish]

My first trip to Dortmund was not a happy one. 1.FCN lost 4-0. Impressive stadium all the same. The noise off the 'Yellow Wall' was worth the trip alone.

I see no death in there!!

Room for almost 25,000 fans in that end alone! And all standing places. The 3500 Nürnberg fans (who sang throughout) were barely audible - and I was sitting not far from them.

[prostak]

Too late, and no time for a Bundesliga review, but one main point of interest - VfB finally sacked Markus Babbel after crowds of ultras stormed the club offices chanting 'We will kill you if we go down'. His replacement sparked some fond memories for me, though sadly this time there was no DeutscheBahn ticket-waving at the press conference-

[handbags_harris]

Well well well, where's he been since his Liverpool-beating FC Basle days?

[prostak]

Being unappreciated, again.

Of some interest is that Babbel chose to make some comments regarding the death of Robert Enke at his resignation press conference, something along the lines of "Four weeks after the death of Enke, instead of unity the fans and football-scene have learnt nothing," and you can decide on the tact of that for yourself.

[AF1]

watching Juventus v Inter on Saturday night on ESPN.

following the racist chant aimed @ Balotelli. Last night:


The Juventus fans held up a banner during the match that read: ‘Don’t kid yourself Balotelli, you’d annoy us even if you were white.’



lol

[soggy biscuit]

How freaking good was Balotelli last night!!!

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Not sure if there's an irony in that. Aside his Johnny Methodesque free kid, Balotelli was total dump. That kid has serious mental issues.

They do come up with some great banners in Italy. Inter's response to Juve was "id rather be black than black and white"

Verona fans have huge "Whiskas" banners for their local derby in reference to Venezian's past issues with eating cats when food was scarce. But they took it a bit far when they hung a giant doll of a black man from a noose on the top tier with a sign round its neck saying "Give me the stadium to clean" Errmm..

[soggy biscuit]

Not sure if there's an irony in that. Aside his Johnny Methodesque free kid, Balotelli was total dump

http://www.espnstar.com/football/news/detail/item364475/Inter-Milan-Rubin-Kazan-Player-Ratings/

It was a calm and collected display by Inter Milan who had Mario Balotelli to thank for their win over Rubin. The 19-year-old scored a great free-kick - just rewards for his overall efforts

http://goal.com/en/news/1716/champions-league/2009/12/09/1676954/player-ratings-inter-2-0-rubin

Balotelli: 9 - Answered his critics with a virtuoso performance. Scored a thumping free kick, created Eto's goal, and could have scored on three other occasions. Displayed his frightening potential and even behaved himself for once!

[Tony Le Mesmer]

They must be blind. Allround dreadful performance, slated by the match commentators and desrvedly so. Did everything wrong bar the goal. oh well each to their own. "Calm and collected performance", obv a report having not watched the game "Nervous and panicy" is how id describe it.

[The whole year inn]

Hanover score 3 own goals in a 5-3 loss - 2 of them were from the same player Karim Haggui

[Starfish]

For the second week in a row, FCN lose by 4. Second last with an away trip to Cologne next week - the final game before the winter break. If Nürnberg lose, there will be a change of trainer. BRING BACK HANS MEYER!

[prostak]

Hanover score 3 own goals in a 5-3 loss - 2 of them were from the same player Karim Haggui

It's hardly surprising, but since what happened with Enke Hannover have totally fallen apart. The reserve keepers are all very young, and the team were hardly tearing up the league before November (only team to have lost to Hertha so far). They'll probably be saved by how terrible the teams below them are (sorry, Starfish!) but even that's not guaranteed.

Meanwhile, draws and losses suffered by teams around them mean Bayern have begun their inevitable creep like a Münchener on a dancefloor towards the championship mix in time for the winter break.

Results and current table here.

[handbags_harris]

The top eight are as you were after the latest round of results from the Eredivisie. Table-toppers FC Twente continued their excellent form against NAC Breda at De Grolsch Veste. Their 15th win from 17 matches came courtesy of an excellent 3-goal second half performance that wiped the 1-0 lead NAC had gained courtesy of Edwin de Graaf’s 43rd minute effort. Goals from Chelsea loanee Miroslav Stoch (58 and 67), and finally Bryan Ruiz settled the game. FC Twente remain top by two points, the only Champions League Group Stage position, while NAC Breda remain 8th, the final Europa League playoff place.

Dick Advocaat’s first game in charge of AZ ended in a narrow 1-0 away defeat at the Philips Stadion as PSV kept the pressure up on Steve McLaren’s FC Twente. Mounir El Hamdaoui’s dismissal for two bookable offences in the 71st minute ensured AZ were on the back foot for the last twenty minutes, and the extra man finally told as Ola Toivenen’s winner four minutes from time ensured Advocaat endured no honeymoon period after taking the reins at the Alkmaar club. PSV remain 2nd, the Champions League 2nd Qualifying Round position, awaiting any slip up from FC Twente, while AZ remain 7th, a Europa League playoff place.

Ajax quickly got over their defeat to FC Utrecht with an ultimately comfortable home win over NEC. It wasn’t all plain sailing, the Nijmegen club putting up a stiff first half resistance at the Amsterdam ArenA to go in at half time goalless. The resistance was finally broken two minutes into the second half as Luis Suarez netted for the 18th time this season, Siem de Jong added to that in the 65th minute, and Mitchell Donald rounded off the scoring for Ajax twelve minutes from time ensuring the Amsterdammers a 3-1 win. Ajax remain 3rd, enough for Europa League 4th Qualifying Round qualification, while NEC remain 17th, a relegation playoff place.

Feyenoord maintained their pressure on Ajax with a 2-0 win at Heerenveen. Kevin Hofland opened the scoring in the 68th minute at the Abe Lenstra Stadion, and Jon Dahl Tomasson ensured a comfortable finish as he netted twelve minutes from time. Feyenoord stay 4th, where the Europa League 3rd Qualifying Round awaits the team which finishes there, while Heerenveen drop to 14th, three points off the relegation playoff places.

FC Utrecht dropped two points on 4th placed Feyenoord after a last minute equaliser denied them a victory at Vitesse’s Gelredome. Lasse Nilsson put the home side ahead just before the half hour, only for Ricky van Wolfswinkel to equalise five minutes later. Jacob Mulenga then put Utrecht in front on 41, a lead which they kept until Claudemir’s 89th minute equaliser. 2-2 the final score. FC Utrecht remain 5th, the top Europa League playoff place, and Vitesse climb to 10th.

Sixth placed Heracles comfortably beat ADO Den Haag to cement their lofty position. A first half Bas Dost double set them on their way, the opener coming on seven minutes quickly followed by a 22nd minute second. ADO’s efforts were rewarded on 71 when Mark Looms netted to set up a tense finale, only for breakaway goals from Marko Vejinovic on 83 and Willy Overtoom on 92 to make the final score 4-1 and to leave ADO in the relegation playoff positions. Heracles remain 6th, a Europa League playoff place, while ADO Den Haag drop into the relegation playoff places, 16th.

Ninth placed Sparta suffered heavily at the hands of FC Groningen at Het Kasteel. A nightmare first half for Sparta saw them 4-1 down at the break. Thomas Enevoldsen’s 11th minute opener was quickly cancelled out by Erik Falkenburg on 19, however Tim Matavz quickly put Groningen ahead again just 3 minutes later. Thomas Enevoldsen’s second came soon after on 28, and he completed his hat-trick 5 minutes before half time. It left Sparta with far too much to do in the 2nd half, however they were rewarded with a 2nd goal on 64 from Sander van Gessel to round off a 4-2 defeat. Sparta drop to 11th, while FC Groningen climb to 12th.

RKC Waalwijk’s miserable season continued at De Koel as they suffered their latest capitulation at VVV-Venlo. A comfortable 3-0 home victory was ensured by goals from Adil Auassar on 17, Michael Timisela on 22, and Ken Leemans on 79. RKC remain bottom and look doomed, while VVV-Venlo climb into the top half to 9th, two points off the Europa League play off places.

Lastly, the clash between Willem II and Roda JC ended with an away win for Roda at the Koning Willem II Stadium. Mads Junker put Roda ahead on 18, Christophe Gregoire quickly equalising 3 minutes later. A quickfire double from Ruud Vormer on 68 and Mads Junker’s 2nd on 71 ensured 1 3-1 victory for Roda. Willem II drop a place to 15th, outside the relegation playoff positions on goal difference, while Roda JC climb to 3 places to 13th.

Results from Round 17:

Ajax 3-0 NEC
VVV-Venlo 3-0 RKC Waalwijk
FC Twente 3-1 NAC Breda
Heerenveen 0-2 Feyenoord
PSV 1-0 AZ
Vitesse 2-2 FC Utrecht
Willem II 1-3 Roda JC
ADO Den Haag 1-4 Heracles Almelo
Sparta Rotterdam 2-4 FC Groningen

Standings: (P, W, D, L. Pts, F-A)

1 FC Twente 17 15 2 0 47 38 - 15
2 PSV 17 14 3 0 45 43 - 13
3 Ajax 17 12 2 3 38 53 - 15
4 Feyenoord 17 10 4 3 34 28 - 15
5 FC Utrecht 17 8 6 3 30 23 - 16
6 Heracles Almelo 17 9 2 6 29 25 - 24
7 AZ 17 8 1 8 25 29 - 21
8 NAC Breda 17 6 4 7 22 24 - 28
9 VVV-Venlo 17 4 8 5 20 25 - 25
10 Vitesse 17 5 3 9 18 20 - 30
11 Sparta Rotterdam 17 5 3 9 18 18 - 31
12 FC Groningen 17 4 5 8 17 20 - 28
13 Roda JC 17 4 5 8 17 23 - 33
14 sc Heerenveen 17 5 2 10 17 17 - 30
15 Willem II 17 4 2 11 14 20 - 33
16 ADO Den Haag 17 3 5 9 14 18 - 32
17 NEC 17 2 7 8 13 19 - 31
18 RKC Waalwijk 17 3 0 14 9 12 - 35

[Starfish]

Hanover score 3 own goals in a 5-3 loss - 2 of them were from the same player Karim Haggui

It's hardly surprising, but since what happened with Enke Hannover have totally fallen apart. The reserve keepers are all very young, and the team were hardly tearing up the league before November (only team to have lost to Hertha so far). They'll probably be saved by how terrible the teams below them are (sorry, Starfish!) but even that's not guaranteed.

I don't think one can underestimate just how utterly crap Berlin & Nürnberg are the moment. But Nürnberg (sometimes) win when it is least expected and might even win in Cologne on Sunday. And they played reasonably well on Saturday in the first half but head visibly fell after the first goal. I am still (relatively) optimistic. I am hoping FCN can pick up some points, finish ahead of Berlin & (maybe) Bochum and finish 16th. And then stay up by winning the play-off against the 3rd team in Bundesliga 2.

What a depressing post.

[Starfish]

1.FCN lost again today and if Oenning survives until January, it will be a surprise supreme.

I went to see Greuther Fürth against Karlsruhe in the 2. Bundesliga yesterday - very cold and a 1-4 scoreline. And since then, both managers have quit/been fired which is something I have not heard of before. Football is a pretty depressing in northern Bavaria at the moment.

[Starfish]

1.FCN sacked Michael Oenning today. Had to happen really. 17th place at the half-way stage (from 18 teams) with only 12 points. The last 4 games were disastrous though. 0-1 at home to fellow-strugglers Freiburg, 0-4 away to Dortmund, 0-4 at home to Hamburg and 0-3 away to Cologne yesterday. Cologne had only scored 15 goals in their previous 16 games.

Dieter Hecking to be the replacement - or so say all the papers. His first game in charge will be away to Schalke.

[prostak]

Also today, following an awful series of results culminating in a draw with Frankfurt, Wolfsburg appointed Dieter Hoeneß as Sporting Director. He'll attempt to assist incumbent manager Armin Veh in returning to last season's championship form, though with the possible loss of Edin Džeko in January this should be an increasingly difficult task.

[cmonurz]

Steve McLaren!

[Stranded]

What about him?