2018-19 UEFA Europa League

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Their respective placements in both Ballon d'Or as well as FIFA Player of the Year votes.

Is Modric really the best footballer? Asking for a friend.

 

[Albatros]

The two foremost expert panels thought so independent of each other, apparently he is. Or was as of September/December 2018.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Had the best year? Debatable is the best player not even close. Kane being 5 slots behind Messi is very cute. As cute as Arsenal with Cesc as their captain.

 

[Albatros]

Cute would be seeing Gary Cahill lift this cup and ride to the sunset of his career with it.

 

[les Habs]

A team has 30 or so players, even if you do not agree with every individual player valuation because someone overpaid, still they easily even out providing a useful comparison between Liverpool and Bayern or whichever teams or leagues you wish to compare.

There's nothing to suggest they even out, especially you saying so. And the Messi/Kane example I provided debunks the overpaid theory. In fact my original comparison to Van Dijk was going to be Gimenez who Transfermarkt values the same as Lucas Hernandez, so again it really isn't about overpayment.

 

[Albatros]

Messi fanboys surely value him in billions, but that has little to do with reality where I think the 160 million estimate is fairly reasonable.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Messi fanboys surely value him in billions, but that has little to do with reality where I think the 160 million estimate is fairly reasonable.

So Coutimho and Messi are 10 million apart? Really who cares what his value is to other teams. Newsflash you can’t and will never have so, dream on and keep your 160

 

[les Habs]

Messi fanboys surely value him in billions, but that has little to do with reality where I think the 160 million estimate is fairly reasonable.

160 million may be fair market value, but it's entirely beside your original point and doesn't demonstrate his value on the pitch right compared to similarly valued players in the perceived market.

 

[Albatros]

Value on the pitch is ultimately measured in trophies.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Value on the pitch is ultimately measured in trophies.

More trophies than Modric

 

[les Habs]

Value on the pitch is ultimately measured in trophies.

So by that measure Kevin Prince Boateng is better than Karim Benzema because Boateng won a trophy this season and Benzema didn't.

Anyway, it's been amusing as always.

 

[Albatros]

Boateng and Benzema both have the trophy cabinets they deserve.

 

[Vamos Rafa]

Just realized that Mkhitaryan is banned from going to Azerbaijan. What a place to have a ****ing final.

For such a small ass country, Armenia's got quite a few enemies, eh?

 

[Savi]

6000 tickets for each club, in a 68.000 seater stadium, and no direct flights from London to Baku

 

[Say Hey Kid]

England is the first country to have all four teams in the finals.

 

[robertmac43]

6000 tickets for each club, in a 68.000 seater stadium, and no direct flights from London to Baku

As a joke i looked at flights from Toronto to Baku...They were all around the 3 thousand mark and 24 hours of travel. I guess i'll watch like Mhki, on a tv in the safety of my home.

 

[maclean]

Is it really confirmed that Mkhi won't be able to go? Surely UEFA should intervene to get him an exemption

 

[Theokritos]

Is it really confirmed that Mkhi won't be able to go? Surely UEFA should intervene to get him an exemption

Azerbaijan should be suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions if they don't allow him in.

 

[robertmac43]

Azerbaijan should be suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions if they don't allow him in.

Meh, its above soccer at that point. I don't think suspending them would do anything to help the underlying issues.

 

[Theokritos]

Meh, its above soccer at that point. I don't think suspending them would do anything to help the underlying issues.

But it impacts soccer in a way that is not acceptable. What's next? Turkey doesn't let in Israeli players? Ukraine can not participate in a EURO or WC because Russia is the host and does not allow it?

That's a blatant example of politics interfering with soccer in a manner that is detrimental to the international football federations. They cannot tolerate this without consequences.

 

[YNWA14]

The soccer federations should pick a different spot to host their finals in these instances. Kind of hard to change it now. The political stuff will always supersede a sport.

 

[robertmac43]

But it impacts soccer in a way that is not acceptable. What's next? Turkey doesn't let in Israeli players? Ukraine can not participate in a EURO or WC because Russia is the host and does not allow it?

That's a blatant example of politics interfering with soccer in a manner that is detrimental to the international football federations. They cannot tolerate this without consequences.

Really it just should never have been put in Baku in the first place to avoid the issue.

Unfortunately they can tolerate it and likely will. When it comes to the nexus of football and Politics, officiating bodies often let things go. They don't care to get involved with deep routed tensions and why would they?

It definitely sucks and I feel for Mhki. I'm sure he wants to be there more than anything else but I also bet he does not want to be the cause of anything boiling over.

 

[robertmac43]

Azerbaijan indicates Arsenal's Mkhitaryan can play in Europa final - Sportsnet.ca

 

[S E P H]

Meh, its above soccer at that point. I don't think suspending them would do anything to help the underlying issues.

I suggest that sports should NOT be impacted by political discourse. However, there are exceptions, the only two countries I would personally ban are Soviet Union and other communistic parties like Venezuela (suffering people makers) and Nazi Germany.

 

[gary69]

So who gets directly to the CLgroup stages and who has to go through the qualifying, if Spurs and/or Arsenal win the CL/EL finals? Will Chelsea drop below them in the CL rankings even if they finish 3rd in the PL?

If they would, that adds an extra incentive for Chelsea against Arsenal in the EL final.