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UEFA Champions League 2013/14

Discussion in 'World Football' started by Luis1967, Aug 9, 2013.

Discuss UEFA Champions League 2013/14 in the World Football area at TalkCeltic.net.

  1. Luz1904

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    Yea, two portuguese teams directly in the group stage. And for the first time, two portuguese teams in pot1 as well. Quite amazing archievement given the re$our€e$ available.

    Celtic would be a pot4 team, right? If you guys get trough the playoff (hope so, of course). Well, looking at our past record and the teams available, I would say there are better choices for us:icon_mrgreen: But I'm no hypocrite, every pot2, 3 and 4 team will be praying for Benfica or Porto. Unless they want a really big game just for the thrill.
     
  2. AwesomeCaz

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    Yes Celtic will be pot 4 and I don't know mate, if we draw you again surely this time you will knock us out :56:
    Can't believe how good we have done against you down the years in the CL, especially when we've lost so many games to far, far worse opposition. The likes of Aalborg, Copenhagen, Basle, Man United ect.

    What transfer business have Benfica done this summer? I haven't heard anything from Portugal other than obviously Amido Balde, who did very well againt Liverpool.
     
  3. Mystic Penguin

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    I fancy Juventus this year.
     
  4. Luz1904

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    Balde is a good player for you guys, as I commented in his thread. Sporting tried to buy him back but they lacked the funds and Porto scouted him as well. And your style of play fits him very well.

    We got two fullbacks we much needed (Bruno Cortez, São Paulo and Silvio, Atletico de Madrid) both of them on loan and a center back (Lisandro Lopez, 4M€, Arsenal Sarandi). From midfield forward we bought every serbian we could. Sulejmani (free, Ajax), Lazar Markovic (10M€, Partizan) and Djuricic (6M€, Herenveen) are the biggest names. Djuricic and Markovic seem to be great prospects. But we haven't made any big sale so far... that's a problem. Between Garay(20M€), Matic(35-45M€), Salvio(25-35M€) and Cardozo(10-15M€) we'll probably sell one or two.
     
  5. sarcasmotron

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    Shameless selfpromotion, hope you won't mind. :p

    This is the return leg of the tie between my home town club Maribor and APOEL Nicosia who were so spectacular two years ago in the CL, winning their group and only going out in the quarter finals agains Real.

    The first game ended in a 1:1 draw and the second one was goalless so Maribor is once again at least in the group stages of the Europa League (third year in a row) but we still have the chance to play in the group stages of the Champions League if we beat Viktoria Plzen. That would be the second time in the club's history to reach the group stages, the first being in the 1999/2000.

    The highlights are not spectacularly interesting, I mostly wanted to show you that smaller clubs with small stadiums can have a great atmosphere as well. :)

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Fy2MFkpfs"]Vrhunci: NK Maribor vs. Apoel 0:0 - YouTube[/ame]
     
  6. sarcasmotron

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    Btw, there are some familiar faces in this APOEL squad: Paulo Sergio, the ex Hearts manager, is their current manager and Esmael Goncalves who played for St Mirren last year is in their squad as is Cillian Sheridan.
     
  7. SpellCheck92

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    Milan aren't the powerhouse they were. You should know yourself that PSV are decent. They are more than capable of shocking Milan. I would like to see two dutch teams in the CL.
     
  8. SpellCheck92

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    I think yous have a chance against Viktoria Plzen. Plzen are obviously favorites but I remember watching Maribor beat Rangers and they looked a very capable outfit. Moved the ball about well. Would be nice for you if both Celtic and Maribor were to qualify.
     
  9. sarcasmotron

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    Yeah it would be awesome. I was afraid they were going to be drawn together in the last round of the qualifiers but thankfully this hasn't happened yet.

    Last year it was awesome, on Tuesday or Wednesday I would watch Celtic on TV in the CL and then on Thursday go to see Maribor live in the EL. The year before that I had to check Celtic's score while at the stadium because both were playing the Europa League and always at the same time so that was a bit of a bummer. :D
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 12, 2013
  10. Luz1904

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    Is Zlatko Zahovic still there? I believe he was your football director. Doing / done a good job?

    In Portugal he had his prime in Porto but I still have some good memories of him.

    Lisbon derby goal + classy touch while pressured by a young Cristiano Ronaldo.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Left foot strike vs Anderlecht (Champions League playoff)

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Terrific player.
     
  11. sarcasmotron

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    Yeah, Zahović is the sporting director. You can see him on the video at 4:38 with black pants and a purple shirt. His hair is shorter but his belly is bigger. :D

    Not to undermine the effort of players, the coach and the staff, but it was his appointment that really started this "revolution" of our club, along with the rebuilding of the stadium. We were almost broke because the people who were running the club when we qualified for the CL and earned a lot of money were gready (or incompetent) * who almost drove the club to bankrupcy. So they were all forced out, new people came in, Zahović among them, new players with an emphasis on young talents from the youth selection and eventually thing started looking up. There were probably two main things that Zahović brought to the club: he had an inside knowledge of how top european clubs work and he was someone who earned a lot of money during his playing days so there was no fear he would take the money from the club as was the case with those previous *. Plus he's a Maribor native so he's in it with his heart as well.

    The result is that now we have a club who will be participating in one of the european cups group stage for the third year in a row, in the way the club is organised we are light years ahead of what we were 5 or 6 years ago and light years in front of any other team in the league. For example, I just read our financial report for last year and saw we had a turnover of 10 million euros and a profit of almost 2 million. The year before the turnover was around 6. A year before that it was probably 4 and even before that, when the times were toughest, it was probably around 2 million or maybe not even that. Not to mention the debt which has now been repaid.

    So the things are really looking really good for NK Maribor. If we were to qualify for the Champions League I think the whole town would go berserk. Again. People really love their football club around here. :)
     
  12. holy pope

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    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 14, 2013
  13. holy pope

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  14. Glasgow_Bhoy88

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    Did Maribor beat the deidco in the EL??
     
  15. 31B404 Gold Member Gold Member

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  16. sarcasmotron

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    Yes, two years ago, the last two European games in the history of the old club were against Maribor. We beat them at home 2:1 and drew 1:1 at Ibrox and so qualified for the Europa League. :icon_mrgreen:
     
  17. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    PSV V AC MILAN on sky sports 1
     
  18. Dallas Cowbhoys

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    PSV vs Milan - Sky Sports 1 - Kick off 19:45

    Don't turn it on now though because it's showing highlights of our game.

    PSV against AC Milan: Sweet, Willems, Rekik, Bruma, Brenet, Maher, Scarce, Wijnaldum; Depay, Matavz and Park

    PSVMilan our starting XI: Abbiati, Abate, Mexes, Zapata, Emanuelson, Montolivo, de Jong, Muntari, Boateng, Balotelli, El Shaarawy

    Also -

    Lyon vs Real Sociedad
    Pacos Ferreira vs Zenit St Petersburg
    Viktoria Plzen vs Maribor
    Steaua Bucharest vs Legia Warsaw
     
  19. Thommo92

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    From Pirlo and Kaka to Muntari and De jong:56:ffs
     
  20. NyköpingCelt

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    What game does everyone fancy tonight? Can't decide between Lyon/Sociedad or PSV/Milan...