Champions League Thread 2014/2015

[YateleyRoyal]

Bye to the group stages for whoever gets Celtic then

Maribor it is.

[Stranded]

Arsenal get Besiktas.

Napoli-Bilbao looks like a pretty decent tie.

[Handsome Man]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28701951

Celtic back in.

Celtic have been reinstated to the Champions League after Legia Warsaw were kicked out of the competition for fielding an ineligible player.
Legia won the third qualifying round tie 6-1 on aggregate but brought on Bartosz Bereszynski for the last two minutes of the second leg, while he was supposed to be serving a suspension.
As a result Celtic were handed a 3-0 'walkover' win for the second leg, taking them through on away goals.

Ouch

I didn't quite follow why he was ineligle. He had a three-match ban and missed two games against St Patrick's Athletic and then missed the Celtic first leg, but this didn't satisfy his suspension because he wasn't registered for the first tie? They should be able to appeal successfully.

[Four Of Clubs]

I didn't quite follow why he was ineligle. He had a three-match ban and missed two games against St Patrick's Athletic and then missed the Celtic first leg, but this didn't satisfy his suspension because he wasn't registered for the first tie? They should be able to appeal successfully.

... the update on the Beeb site suggests he wasn't registered for either leg vs St Pats - so has actually only served one match of his ban so far - unless that's what you meant anyway?

...this is also slightly pertinent on a few levels:

.... in 2010, Uefa fined Debrecen £15,000 but rejected a protest from opponents Litex Lovech, who wanted the Hungarian side kicked out of the tournament for fielding an ineligible player.

Debrecen argued that they fielded Peter Mate in good faith as a substitute in Bulgaria when they were leading 4-1 on aggregate.

Uefa ruled that Debrecen had "no interest in fielding this player for the three last minutes of additional time, when the score was so clearly in its favour".

.... and as leww_rfc pointed out - on Wednesday Bereszynski only came on for the last 2'.

[Stranded]

If he wasn't a registered Legia player the missing the St. Pats game is immaterial. He would still have technically been a player of his last club and if they didn't play then he is still banned.

[Four Of Clubs]

If he wasn't a registered Legia player the missing the St. Pats game is immaterial. He would still have technically been a player of his last club and if they didn't play then he is still banned.

... not sure where the 'last club' bit comes in - on Soccerway it states he's been at Legia since about Feb 2013 ?

Bereszyński was sent off in the last round of the 2013-14 UEFA Europa League Group stage, and was suspended for the next three European matches. He did not feature in the 2nd round nor the first leg of the 3rd qualification round in the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League. However, as his club failed to include him in their squad registration for the 2nd round matches, he had not finished his suspension when he came on as a sub in the 86th minute in the return leg against Celtic F.C. in the 3rd round.

...true to form - there was a bit on his wiki entry just now, something along the lines of him being the : 'embodiment of underhand fenian trickery' - but it's been removed ....

[Stranded]

Yep, my mistake on that one.

[Four Of Clubs]

Yep, my mistake on that one.

No you're fine there - its not everyone would know the ins outs & maybes of the Polish League system - even including our hardcore 'Dariusz' clique.

... and would the Bhoys welcome another mauling from a middle-ranked outfit anyway - though leastwise this time around they'd be staging one of the legs at Parkheed .... wouldn't they?

[TBM]

Maribor (Slovenia) v Celtic (Scotland)
Salzburg (Austria) v Malmo (Sweden)
Aalborg (Denmark) v Apoel Nicosia (Cyprus)
Steaua Bucharest (Romania) v Ludogorets (Bulgaria)
Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) v BATE Borisov (Belarus)
Besiktas (Turkey) v Arsenal (England)
Standard Liege (Belgium) v Zenit St Petersburg (Russia)
FC Copenhagen (Denmark) v Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
Lille (France) v Porto (Portugal)
Napoli (Italy) v Athletic Bilbao (Spain)

[Big Foot]

Oscar Pistorious has sacked his legal team & appointed Celtic's lawyers after hearing they lost both legs & still got a victory

[leww_rfc]

Maribor (Slovenia) v Celtic (Scotland)
Salzburg (Austria) v Malmo (Sweden)
Aalborg (Denmark) v Apoel Nicosia (Cyprus)
Steaua Bucharest (Romania) v Ludogorets (Bulgaria)
Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) v BATE Borisov (Belarus)
Besiktas (Turkey) v Arsenal (England)
Standard Liege (Belgium) v Zenit St Petersburg (Russia)
FC Copenhagen (Denmark) v Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
Lille (France) v Porto (Portugal)
Napoli (Italy) v Athletic Bilbao (Spain)

Some decent ties in there.

[Brum Royal]

Oscar Pistorious has sacked his legal team & appointed Celtic's lawyers after hearing they lost both legs & still got a victory

ACOLITO

[sputnik]

lovely stuff Big Foot

[Whore Jackie]

Celtic FC wrote one of the most beautiful pages in the history of European football, when in 1967 they unexpectedly defeated in the final of the Champions Cup mighty Inter Milan headed by Helenio Herrera. Imagine that Jock Stein and Billy McNeill were deprived of the greatest triumph in their athletic career by completing the application form wrong. Do not destroy the beautiful clubhouse heritage that you have left in the care of previous generations, 'The Bhoys'. I challenge you, would you in the spirit of the game and fair play, and on the basis of Art. 34 paragraph 5 of the Uefa Disciplinary Regulations of Legia Warsaw took a common position on the Uefa disciplinary bodies. Meet in Warsaw or in Glasgow and let's settle this matter honourably.

Celtic have yet to issue an official response, but BBC Scotland understands that they are unlikely to agree to the request.

[TBM]

Are we ok to laugh at Celtic?

Justice, in a way, i suppose.....

[Big Foot]

Are we ok to laugh at Celtic?

Justice, in a way, i suppose.....

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=90881&start=680

[Ark Royal]

Watched Porto brush aside Lille last night. The passing and movement was a delight to watch. Dangerous opponents for anyone in the group stages.

[TBM]

Enjoyed the Arsenal game very end to end stuff

4 English clubs in the group stages yet again

Draw tomorrow

[TBM]

The pots for the draw are

Pot One: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, Porto.
Pot Two: Schalke, Dortmund, Juventus, Paris St-Germain, Basle, Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City, Zenit.
Pot Three: Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiakos, CSKA Moscow, Ajax, Liverpool, Sporting Lisbon, Galatasaray, Athletic Bilbao
Pot Four: Anderlecht, Roma, Apoel Nicosia, Bate Borisov, Ludogorets, Maribor, Monaco, Malmo


Best possible draw for each of "our" teams

Chelsea, Basle, Sporting Lisbon, Maribor
Arsenal, Basle, Sporting, Maribor
Benfica, Manchester City, Olympiakos, Maribor
Benfica, Basle, Liverpool, Maribor

Worse case

Chelsea, Paris St-Germain, Ajax, Roma
Arsenal, Paris St-Germain, Ajax, Roma
Real Madrid, Manchester City, Ajax, Roma
Real Madrid, Paris St-Germain, Liverpool, Roma

[Big Foot]

Saw the penalty shoot out between Ludogorets (Bulgaria) and Steaua Bucharest (Romania) last night

Absolutely incredible scenes

Steua lead 1-0 from the first leg, until Ludogorets equalised in the 90th minute to send the tie into Extra Time

In ET, Ludogorets' Goalkeeper got a 2nd yellow and so their centre back (Romanian bloke, who played for Steaua's rivals Dinamo Bucharest for 7 years) goes in goal

Into the Penalty shoot out and the stand in Goalkeeper takes the first penalty of the shootout, sending the keeper the wrong way after a quality long run up

He then starts Jerzy Dudeking on the line for every penalty and ends up a good 2-3 yards off his line each time, with the linos & refs saying naff all as he saves 2 penalties to win it for Ludogorets and goes mental, running onto the athletics track and into the crowd to celebrate