European Leagues Thread 2012/2013

[Pepe the Horseman]

Nice finish.

[genome]

Bloody Ronaldo

[sandman]

Great finish.

Unlucky Valencia.

[genome]

https://vine.co/v/M6ztmrVtBDj

[Victor Meldrew]

Inter captain Javier Zanetti ruptures his achilles tendon which will likely end his career

He turns 40 before the start of next season and Inter had started talks with him about renewing for another year which apparently he was keen on until this happened. Can be up to 9 months out with something like this.

More than 800 appearances for Inter, captained them for the past 14 years, most capped Argentinian with 145 appearances.

Inter give him a 1 year extension, which is quite nice of them.

Now retiring 19 years after joining Inter

One of my favourite all-time players-never hurried, always cool under pressure-a great (so often overused word) player for club and country.

[soggy biscuit]

Spanish media claim Luis Enrique met with Barcelona officials this morning to discuss taking over this summer

[Sanguine]

Woman!

French Ligue 2 side Clermont Foot announce that their new manager is female, Helena Costa, formerly manager of Iran's national team.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... ot-manager

[Ouroboros]

More dropped points from Real Madrid last night, probably ruling them out of title contention. Plus Ronaldo limps off.

It has been a bit of a fuck-up from Real, really. Incredible that after their faltering season Barca now have only to win their last 2 games to clinch the title.

[Stranded]

Barca v Athletico on the last day should be worth a watch.

[P!ssed Off]

Wtf is going on in La Liga?
It's like the race for 6th in the Championship, nobody wants the title it seems.

AM and RM losing at present, Barca drawing.

If results stay the same the Top 3's last 9 games will read W2 D4 L3.

[sandman]

Wtf is going on in La Liga?
It's like the race for 6th in the Championship, nobody wants the title it seems.

AM and RM losing at present, Barca drawing.

If results stay the same the Top 3's last 9 games will read W2 D4 L3.

Basically Atleti aren't used to being in this position at the end of the season. Madrid have switched off since the CL semi and are pinning everything on the final which is dangerous because slumps like this are difficult to get out of. Barca are generally just a bit rubbish under the Messi appointed Martino and are only still in the race due to several decisions in their favour.

[Ouroboros]

15 mins to win the league?

[P!ssed Off]

95th minute and Willy cockblocks Atletico with a fine save.

It goes to the last day.

[Ouroboros]

Gr8 performance from old Willy.

Disappointed for Atletico. I worry that this missed opportunity will cost them.

[TBM]

Wouldn't have mattered if Barca won today

Next week will be a cracker

[genome]

Just saw the Real result!

Do love a good grudge match. Pat on the back for the fixture organisers there.

[Sanguine]

Wouldn't have mattered if Barca won today

Next week will be a cracker

If they had, they would be level on points, and so a draw in the final game would also have them level, and with two draws between them in their fixtures together. How would they be separated? Just wondering.

[TBM]

Wouldn't have mattered if Barca won today

Next week will be a cracker

If they had, they would be level on points, and so a draw in the final game would also have them level, and with two draws between them in their fixtures together. How would they be separated? Just wondering.

How did you work that out?

Barca are currently 3pts behind after drawing, a win would have left them 1pt behind

[Stranded]

One of the most entertaining games of football I’ve seen in a long time took place yesterday on the last day of 2.Bundesliga.

Dynamo Dresden at home to Ariminia Bielefeld – going into the game Dresden were 3rd from bottom and in the relegation play-off zone ahead of Bielefeld on goal difference only, so a draw would put them in the play-off – Bielefeld needed to win to move ahead of them.

After 35 mins at 0-0, Bielefeld go down to 10 men only to take the lead 5 mins later. It was the second half where it really kicked off though. On the hour, Dresden also reduced to 10 men and within 2 mins Bielefeld score again to go 2-0 up – they nearly score a 3rd whilst a couple of fireworks are thrown on the pitch by angry Dresden fans. The ref takes the teams off for 15mins to see if the atmosphere calms down.

Once the game re-starts, it’s all Dresden – they pull one back almost immediately and then hit the bar. Then with 15 mins to go they get the equaliser that will be enough to put them to the play-off and then nearly nick a 3rd – from which Bielefeld break and score a 3rd themselves with 12mins to go. Queue a last 10 mins of gung-ho attacking by Dresden and Bielefeld often breaking 2 or 3 on 1 but missing each time – Dresden miss a couple of chances to equalise and the game ends 3-2 to Bielefeld. Dresden relegated to the 3rd Division whilst Bielefeld should save themselves by beating Darmstadt in the play-offs

[Starfish]

I was at a game at the opposite end of the table. Greuther Fürth needed a win and Paderborn not to win to be promoted to the 1. Bl automatically. They won, but Paderborn also did and now Fürth face a play-off with Hamburg (the only club in the Bundesliga to have played every season in the top tier (since 1963-64) ). Fürth's local (hated) rivals 1. FC Nuremberg were relegated on Saturday so Fürth could replace them in Division 1, which has never before been the case.

Dresden will not be missed by fans in the 2. Bl though. I thought their away support excellent when they played in Fürth, but they tend to cause trouble, and visiting Dresden (an excellent city for a weekend) as an away fan can be a very trying experience, by all accounts. I also would not write off Darmstadt - teams coming out of the third tier tend to hold their own in the second (one would hope that is not the case with RB Leipzig, however).