Europa League 2017/2018

[HajdukSplit]

Bilbao lose to Zorya at home which is probably the biggest surprise so far, Ostersunds continuing their dream Euro campaign in beating Hertha probably a close second. Both German sides lost, Koln losing at home to Crvena Zvezda (Red Star). Salzburg beat Marseille at home

 

[joe89]

Hertha had no pressure to speak of at any time in the second half. Mostly shots from the outside. They were better in the first half, especially first 30 minutes, but didn't score and gave away a penalty. Östersund had better chances for 2-0 than Hertha had for 1-1.

 

[ViD]

Manuel Fernandes scores a hat trick in 17 starting minutes

 

[HajdukSplit]

Rijeka down 2:0 in Milan despite not playing too badly, Milan very clinical. Everton being held by Apollon, two goals by big mistakes

 

[HajdukSplit]

Hoffenheim now losing to continue BL woes, Dynamo Kiev come from two goals down to equalize in Belgrade

 

[Evilo]

Fekir is awesome.

 

[HajdukSplit]

After 2 matchdays...

Group A
Villarreal held to a draw in Israel (Spain went winless this EL matchday) while Slavia got a point in Kazakhstan. Both Villarreal and Slavia are joint top on 4 points with the two playing each other next two matchdays

Group B
Dynamo Kiev managed to come from two goals down to beat Partizan and they have six points and already four points above second place Young Boys. Dynamo play Young Boys in the next two matchdays (repeat of a CL qualifier earlier this season) while a off-the-field spicey match between Skenderbeu-Partizan for two teams with an outside chance of 2nd place

Group C
Braga with a 90th minute winner against Basaksehir (though Emre scored a fantastic freekick goal) while Hoffenheim continue German woes losing in Bulgaria to Ludogorets. Hoffenheim-Basaksehir will play in the next two matches as its last chance saloon for these two sides.

Group D
Two late goals in this group; Milan blew a two goal lead but scored in the 94th minute to beat Rijeka while AEK Athens needed a last minute goal to rescue a point against Austria Wien. Milan top the group on six points but will face 2nd place AEK in the next two matches. Austria-Rijeka play the next two matches in which will determine which one of these two can finish 2nd

Group E
Everton with a disappointing draw at home to 10 man Apollon while Atalanta got an impressive point in Lyon and top the group. Atalanta should stamp their authority in this group with two matches with Apollon coming up (though Apollon unbeaten against Lyon/Everton) while Everton/Lyon will probably determine who is favorite to join them

Group F
Three of four group matches in this group have finished scoreless, in fact only Lokomotiv have scored with their 3:0 win over Zlin. Both Sheriff and Copenhagen have started with consecutive scoreless draws

Group G
Steaua come from behind to beat Lugano and remain perfect in the group with two matches with Hapoel Beer Sheva upcoming. Plzen beat HBS 3:1 and both have three points with Plzen having the easier two fixtures coming up against Lugano who are without points

Group H
Arsenal with two wins and they should win this group with ease while Zvezda picked up a big win in Koln and go to second in the table. Arsenal will face Zvezda twice in the upcoming matchdays while Koln will have their opportunities to gain some ground against BATE

Group I
Salzburg top of the table after their victory over Marseille. This group will probably be a three-way race for the two spots (Salzburg, Marseille, Konyaspor) with those dropping points to Guimaraes probably on the outside

Group J
Two surprising results today and the group so far is a bit upside down The biggest upset was Zorya Luhansk beating Bilbao in Spain while a close second was Ostersunds comfortably beating Hertha Berlin at home. Ostersunds are top with 6 points but will face Bilbao in their next two matchdays while second place Zorya will play Hertha (both Bilbao and Hertha on one point)

Group K
Most straight forward group so far; Lazio and Nice with easy home wins and both on six points with Zulte and Vitesse on 0. However that will change as Nice/Lazio play the next two matches as do Zulte/Vitesse

Group L
Zenit remain perfect with an impressive 3:1 victory over Sociedad while Rosenborg beat Vardar to go joint second with Sociedad. Zenit and Sociedad should finish top two easily but Zenit are now favorites to win the group

 

[Jussi]

My sports betting depended on Milan's game having more than 2,5 scored and Lyon Atlantan finsihing either a draw or Atalanta winning, didn't expect the the Milan game to finish like that though.

 

[Civetty]

How is it with matches in really cold areas? If Östersund makes it to the round of 32 the match will be played during the middle of february which is a very cold time in Sweden. Temperatures around -20c(-4f) - -30c(-22f) is far from rare during this time, would Östersund actually be allowed to play home ground or would they be forced move the match to Stockholm(Inside stadiums)?

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Koeman should be fired.

 

[maclean]

How is it with matches in really cold areas? If Östersund makes it to the round of 32 the match will be played during the middle of february which is a very cold time in Sweden. Temperatures around -20c(-4f) - -30c(-22f) is far from rare during this time, would Östersund actually be allowed to play home ground or would they be forced move the match to Stockholm(Inside stadiums)?

Don't really know but a guiding question might be whether they have a heated pitch? Or do they play on artificial grass? I've seen games played in earyl spring in Russia where temperatures are quite low and the grass looks pretty sad

 

[Albatros]

How is it with matches in really cold areas? If Östersund makes it to the round of 32 the match will be played during the middle of february which is a very cold time in Sweden. Temperatures around -20c(-4f) - -30c(-22f) is far from rare during this time, would Östersund actually be allowed to play home ground or would they be forced move the match to Stockholm(Inside stadiums)?

Low temperatures in February are normal, home advantage simply. Lots of snow could maybe make the pitch unplayable and cause the match to be postponed, but then it won't be so cold anyway. I would say that's mostly the problem of cities that aren't used to dealing with such situations, like the Galatasaray vs. Juventus fixture some years ago in Istanbul. I can't recall Rosenborg or the Moscow teams ever having problems securing playable conditions in winter.

 

[S E P H]

Couple of thoughts....I love the Ospina chant by the fans. Fox Sports has absolutely trash coverage of UEFA events; having to listen to Alexis Lalalalalas is a nightmare.

Bate looked much better than the actual scoreline, lost because of extremely poor defending set pieces. Arsenal were very shaky defensively - Holding in particular looked disastrous and Elneny was running around with his head cut off. Walcott looked good likewise with Nelson and Niles.

 

[HajdukSplit]

How is it with matches in really cold areas? If Östersund makes it to the round of 32 the match will be played during the middle of february which is a very cold time in Sweden. Temperatures around -20c(-4f) - -30c(-22f) is far from rare during this time, would Östersund actually be allowed to play home ground or would they be forced move the match to Stockholm(Inside stadiums)?

The only restrictions that I know of is UEFA doesn't allow matches to be played in Russia in December, hence their clubs always play away on MD6 in the CL/EL, funnily enough this does not go in affect for Ukraine or Scandinavia for some reason

Article from last season when United had to go to Ukraine in December: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football...-uefa-making-man-utd-travel-sub-zero-ukraine/

Uefa do not take seasonal weather conditions in Ukraine into account – although they do in neighbouring Russia – when deciding fixtures and Mourinho is unimpressed as he warned today’s game could be dangerous for the players.

 

[cgf]

Hertha had no pressure to speak of at any time in the second half. Mostly shots from the outside. They were better in the first half, especially first 30 minutes, but didn't score and gave away a penalty. Östersund had better chances for 2-0 than Hertha had for 1-1.

Hertha & Dardai don't know how to attack. They can counter and score from set pieces, but Dardai just has now clue how to organize them so that Darida & Duda can effectively pull the strings in possession.

 

[joe89]

Don't really know but a guiding question might be whether they have a heated pitch? Or do they play on artificial grass? I've seen games played in earyl spring in Russia where temperatures are quite low and the grass looks pretty sad

Pitch is heated and with artificial grass.

The only restrictions that I know of is UEFA doesn't allow matches to be played in Russia in December, hence their clubs always play away on MD6 in the CL/EL, funnily enough this does not go in affect for Ukraine or Scandinavia for some reason

Sounds pretty strange to single out Russian teams like that, I guess because of their prominence compared to the other cold places. Östersund is an exception in Sweden, they're over 200 miles north of any other Swedish team that has ever played in Europe. They will play matchday 6 away, so this rule might be in play for them too.

Down here around the Stockholm area temperatures below -5C are rare in December, more often than not it will be on the plus side and warmer than places like Moscow and St. Petersburg. Malmö and Gothenburg have no such issues at all. Denmark and Norway(where football is played) have mild winters too. But Östersund and most of Finland should fall under the same weather rules as Russia.

As for cold limits, we do play bandy outdoors in the winter.. I think it's set att -22C or something like that. You survive.

 

[Albatros]

And in Russia too the domestic season is on in December without any major problems.

 

[ViD]

New match day today.

Everton vs Lyon might be the biggest matchup for tonight followed by Nice vs Lazio

 

[Pouchkine]

I also look forward to Zenit-Rosenborg.

 

[Evilo]

I expect Lyon to field their starting lineups, they've always respected the european competitions, but Nice will start some backups at Lazio. Sneijder will finally see some playing time BTW.

 

[East Coast Bias]

Lyon should throttle Everton. Everton are so, so slow.

 

[YNWA14]

Sneijder will finally see some playing time BTW.

...and he gets an assist fair early on. Can't watch the game but will be interested to hear how he's doing.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Östersund keep impressing.

 

[ViD]

Rigoni hat trick gives Zenit a 3 goal lead

 

[ViD]

Östersund keep impressing.

Zorya is also winning. Crazy group.