European Leagues Thread 2012/2013

[RoyalChicagoFC]

Fair do's; my "Italian" underdogs would be the island clubs (Cagliari, Catania and Palermo in particular; Messina not so much)

Shame it had to be Roma

I have a bit of a softspot for Roma. Mainly because I think Totti is a freaking legend but they are also forever overshadowed by the Milan clubs and Juve so I always see them as the underdog.

Plus they got titties on their club crest, and I know you don't mind that!

[RoyalChicagoFC]

Eredivisie-to-the-wire update:

Midweek fixtures for round 32 of 34, and leaders Twente beaten on Tuesday 1-0 to Alkmaar away

Ajax, with their massive goal-difference margin over the rest, would draw to within a point back of the leaders if they beat Willem II in Tilburg today; PSV in third three back of Ajax play away to Heerenveen and would need to get a point clear of Ajax in order to top them in the table

Reminding that only the top two finishers in Holland have anything to do with next season's Champions League

[FORSTERS_RIGHT_FOOT]

Come on Ajax!

[bobbybottler]

Ajax win, and have another easy home game coming up next. FC Twente really need to beat Feyenoord on Sunday. Feye would be devastated if they won but in doing so handed the title to Ajax, I wonder how seriously they'll take it.....

[RoyalChicagoFC]

Feye would be devastated if they won but in doing so handed the title to Ajax, I wonder how seriously they'll take it.....

Quite, I would tend to think, and the reason being that finishing in fourth (which is both their current position and best possible finish as they now sit just two points better than AZ in fifth with two to play) would secure for them a return to European competition (automatic placement in the 2010/11 Europa League third qualifying round, to be precise) instead of sending them into the ol' four-sided qualification rondo involving the sides finishing in fifth thru ninth

And who the hell needs that, really --but one does take your point well

[RoyalChicagoFC]

Keep an eye on the guy by the D

Now watch

[Starfish]

FCN in the sh1t again.

[bobbybottler]

Feye would be devastated if they won but in doing so handed the title to Ajax, I wonder how seriously they'll take it.....

Quite, I would tend to think, and the reason being that finishing in fourth (which is both their current position and best possible finish as they now sit just two points better than AZ in fifth with two to play) would secure for them a return to European competition (automatic placement in the 2010/11 Europa League third qualifying round, to be precise) instead of sending them into the ol' four-sided qualification rondo involving the sides finishing in fifth thru ninth

And who the hell needs that, really --but one does take your point well

The Dutch Cup final is between Feyenoord and Ajax this season. The winner gets a Europa League berth, but as Ajax already have a CL slot (of some sort or other) in the bag already, Feyenoord already secured EL qualification a few weeks ago and have been resting players ever since.

As a consequence....

I'm not a fan of Twente, but I'd be delighted if they won Eredivisie at the expense of Ajax. Next Sunday, Twente have the trickier match at NAC Breda (who will need to win to secure the final EL P/O place) whilst Ajax have a trip to nothing-to-play-for NEC Nijmegen.

If Twente win, they're champions.

[handbags_harris]

Feyenoord drop to 5th after a 2-0 defeat at FC Twente, although it's already been debated just how seriously Feyenoord took this game. Defeat will leave no bitter taste in the mouth of the Rotterdammers as it ensures that FC Twente simply need to win their last game away to 9th placed NAC Breda (who themselves are pushing for a Europa League playoff spot) to secure the title. Ajax, despite their 4-0 smashing of Heracles Almelo, can only hope for a slip up from the men from Enschede and expect nothing more than three points away to NEC Nijmegen.

PSV in 3rd can only look to too many drawn games as their title challenge faultered a few weeks ago, their final game of the season being an away game against AZ who climbed to 4th (the final automatic Europa League qualifying spot), at the expense of Feyenoord, with a 3-0 win at Willem II.

Feyenoord can hope PSV do them a favour and also secure maximum points at home to Heerenveen who have nothing to play for, their final position of 11th already secure.

At the bottom RKC's season of woe comes to an end at home to VVV-Venlo, their points tally of 15 looking like it will remain so having lost 28 of their 33 games this season. Willem II and Sparta Rotterdam will contest the end of season relegation playoffs, and their final games are away to Roda JC and FC Groningen respectively. Sparta in particular have suffered an alarming decline in fortunes having sat in the Europa League playoffs at one point in the season.

Finally, the Europa League playoffs will definately contain Heracles and Utrecht, while FC Groningen, NAC Breda and Roda JC battle for the final position. As quoted before, Feyenoord and AZ battle for the final automatic qualification position (to the 3rd qualifying round).

Final day (Round 34) fixtures:

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

Round 33 Results:

Heerenveen 0-0 NAC Breda
Vitesse Arnhem 2-5 Roda JC
Ajax 4-0 Heracles
PSV 3-1 FC Groningen
Sparta 0-3 FC Utrecht
VVV-Venlo 2-0 NEC
Willem II 0-3 AZ
ADO Den Haag 4-0 RKC Waalwijk
FC Twente 2-0 Feyenoord

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

1 FC Twente 33 26 5 2 83 61 - 23
2 Ajax 33 26 4 3 82 102 - 19
3 PSV 33 23 8 2 77 71 - 28
4 AZ 33 19 4 10 61 63 - 33
5 Feyenoord 33 16 12 5 60 48 - 29
6 Heracles Almelo 33 16 5 12 53 50 - 47
7 FC Utrecht 33 14 10 9 52 37 - 31
8 FC Groningen 33 13 7 13 46 45 - 46
9 NAC Breda 33 12 10 11 46 42 - 47
10 Roda JC 33 13 5 15 44 53 - 58
11 sc Heerenveen 33 11 4 18 37 42 - 58
12 NEC 33 8 9 16 33 34 - 55
13 VVV-Venlo 33 7 11 15 32 41 - 56
14 Vitesse 33 8 7 18 31 36 - 60
15 ADO Den Haag 33 7 9 17 30 36 - 55
16 Sparta Rotterdam 33 6 8 19 26 29 - 63
17 Willem II 33 7 2 24 23 34 - 67
18 RKC Waalwijk 33 5 0 28 15 29 - 78

Luis Suarez comfortably heads the top scorers chart with 33 goals for Ajax, followed up in a distant second by Bryan Ruiz of FC Twente on 23. Mads Junker of Roda JC lies 3rd on 20, Mounir el Hamdauoi 4th on 19, and Marko Pantelic of Ajax 5th on 15.

On a personal note, Feyenoord are shifting their team around of late, now that they have assured entry to the Europa League via the Dutch Cup. They have been experimenting a lttle with some of their younger products from the academy in order to see who can handle the step to first team football. Next season should bring better fortunes, but it's very much a brick by brick scenario for them as they have absolutely no money. Their high earners are going to be released come season's end so that should free up some cash, but realistically there will be no title challenge for next season.

And finally, the Dutch Cup final between Ajax and Feyenoord has been altered this season to a 2-legged affair. Usually the final is held at de Kuip as th neutral ground, however due to the ongoing away fan ban for both Feyenoord and Ajax at the respective stadia, there will be a home and away leg to counteract this. Ajax, with their far superior firepower, should win it comfortably.

[TBM]

Ajax can only hope for a slip up from the men from Enschede and expect nothing more than three points away to NEC Nijmegen.

A draw would do it, providing it goes on goal difference and not results between the pair

[handbags_harris]

Ajax can only hope for a slip up from the men from Enschede and expect nothing more than three points away to NEC Nijmegen.

A draw would do it, providing it goes on goal difference and not results between the pair

Either way would be in Ajax's favour given their goal difference and head-to-head is better:

GD - Ajax +83, FC Twente +38
H2H - FC Twente 1-0 Ajax, Ajax 3-0 FC Twente.

But of course, the head-to-head point is rather a moot one considering that it doesn't mean a thing in the Netherlands (which incidentally is the right way to do things as it takes all results of the season into account, rather than two games in isolation).

Correct anyway, my point was that nothing more than three points would be acceptable, as opposed to meaning that only an Ajax win would mean they could win the title.

[prostak]

Regular Eredivisie watchers - seeing as several top-level clubs have been linked with Suarez in the summer, do you think he'll be capable of the step-up? Much has been made in the past of high scorers in Holland failing to make an impact in 'tougher' leagues, so has this guy got it?

[prostak]

Also, ins Deutschland - as Starfish alluded to, the relegation battle took an interesting turn at the weekend. Freiburg won at home to Nurnberg, while Hannover somewhat failed to build on their excellent victory against Schalke, falling 7-0 at Bayern. That leaves 3 teams on 28 hovering around the playoff spot, with Hannover a point behind and looking doomed once more. This huge victory also demonstrated why Bayern will almost certainly win this league now, as they seem to be the only team willing to capitalize on the mistakes of their rivals. For their part, Schalke won fairly easily at home to Gladbach, but would need van Gaal's team to slip up a further time to overtake them again.

Full table and results, with 3 rounds left of the season.

[bobbybottler]

Much has been made in the past of high scorers in Holland failing to make an impact in 'tougher' leagues, so has this guy got it?

That's a pretty lame arguement based, I guess, on Huntelaar's current lack of success and Alves being pretty mediocre, and a lack of understanding about the type of role Kuijt used to perform in Rotterdam. What about Makaay? RvN?

Regular Eredivisie watchers - seeing as several top-level clubs have been linked with Suarez in the summer, do you think he'll be capable of the step-up?

I haven't watched much Ajax but he i) scores a lot of goals against shite teams, and ii) takes penalties. Just like Alves. And also, just like van Nistelrooy. So...he'll come to the EPL, be rubbish, go to Spain or Italy, and be much better. Does that help? Thought not.

[Starfish]

Bochum lost last night and today, Berlin, Hannover and FCN all lose too. Same as before, the belief being that the team to stay up will be the team that is just marginally not as bad as the others. I am confident.

FCN v. Dortmund was sold out but I got a ticket outside the ground for the Dortmund block. 9000 of them travelled and made a deal of noise - I really can't begrudge them anything. I have to admit I found myself singing along at times. BVB >>>>>>>>>> S04.

[bobbybottler]

Handbags - PM sent

[handbags_harris]

Handbags - PM sent

Bobby - response sent.

For those that may be interested, first leg of the Dutch Cup Final is on http://atdhe.net/ at 1700 I believe.

[prostak]

Happily, Schalke finally managed to capitalize on a Bayern slip yesterday. Gladbach held the leaders to a 1-1 draw while Schalke sneaked a 1-0 at Hertha. They're now level on 64 points each at the top, though Bayern's lead in goal difference is as good as unassailable. On the face of it, Munchen have the easier last two rounds, at home to Bochum then finishing at Hertha, though with the former still battling relegation and the latter seemingly spooked into decent form by last month's pitch invasion that's not necessarily a given. For their part, Schalke host 3rd-place (and therefore currently final Champions League qualifiers) Werder followed by safely mid-table Mainz away. Of course, Bayern also have the distractions of Europe and the German Cup Final to consider, so it'll be an interesting fortnight.

In the 2. Liga, meanwhile, St Pauli's 6-1 destruction of Koblenz means they're 3 points ahead in the race for automatic promotion. With a goal difference of 14 better than Augsburg, that means one more win against either Greuther Fürth or Paderborn should see them in the top flight next year - just in time for me moving to north Germany...

[handbags_harris]

KNVB Beker Final 1st Leg - Ajax 2-0 Feyenoord.

Siem de Jong scored both, the opener on 6 minutes, the second on 7 minutes. Feyenoord have it all to do at de Kuip on May 6th. Ajax should see this through as, on this showing and the meetings between the sides over the season, Ajax are a far superior side.

[soggy biscuit]

Roma bumped down to 2nd place as they didn't play this weekend. The title now looks like a straight run in between them & Inter.

With Roma 2 points behind Inter the fixtures look like this:

Roma V Sampdoria
Parma V Roma
Roma V Cagliari
Chievo V Roma

Lazio V Inter
Inter V Chievo
Siena V Inter