A Beautiful Thread for the Beautiful Game

Seems like it will be some time before a team other than Celtic will win the Premiership, then.

Vitória SC 2 - 0 Santa Clara

A solid win, with us playing nice football. Santa Clara, who got promoted, has been doing well and were above us until today, but it seemed like their team was only trying to get a draw. They didn't seem to have a coherent plan after our first goal, and we managed to control most of the match.

In the first half, Guedes made a great run and assist to a lovely header by Davidson, while, in the second half, André André scored a penalty. We could've scored a couple of goals more, but we were content after the 2nd goal, in the end.

With this win, we move up to 7th place, closer to the top 5 (and, therefore, a possible Europa League qualifying round spot). Things are improving slowly, but they're improving.

In a couple of hours, the match we've all been waiting for will begin. It will probably become a flooded pitch, but Boca x River will go ahead, apparently. The police are inspecting River's locker room, in what can be interpreted as a psychological mind game.

Meanwhile, in La Liga, Barcelona lost 3-4 against Betis at home. I can't tell who will win the Liga this season, to be frank.

Barcelona have conceded 4 goals in a home Liga game for the first time since April 2003 (vs Deportivo), while Betis, prior to this game, had only scored 1 away goal this season.

Edited by Quag15 on Nov 11th 2018 at 5:17:28 PM

Half-time: Boca is winning 2-1 against River.

Ramon Abila scored first, but River hit right back in less than a minute through Lucas Pratto. At stoppage time, just 2 minutes before the half-time whistle, Dario Benedetto headed it in for Boca.

Needless to say, the atmoshpere at La Bombonera is positively electric.

EDIT: FT 2-2. Izquierdoz's own goal levelled the score, in a second half that was a little bit less exciting, as neither team wanted to make any mistake from a certain point onward, and there weren't many attacking chances (at least, not as many as I would expect).

On the 24th, the second leg will happen (in case anyone doesn't know, there is no away goal rule in the Libertadores' finals), with Putin as a guest (since the match will happen in accordance with the G-20 summit calendar).

Edited by Quag15 on Nov 11th 2018 at 9:08:21 AM

I always say Argentine soccer is grossly underrated.

That was a fairly eventful first leg, and there's still plenty to play for in the second.

Real Madrid endorsed Solari as full-time manager for this and the next two seasons. This follows up Madrid's comfortable 2-4 victory against Celta in the latter's stadium. What was supposed to be Solari's last match as interim (before the arrival of a supposed official manager) got him the job for good while Celta fired THEIR manager, Antonio Mohamed.

Now Colombia, Mexico and Argentina have yet another manager to look forward to in their increasingly difficult attempt to find a full-time manager.

On a different note, due to Barcelona's not-so-surprising defeat against Betis 3-4 (it's only surprising in that it happened in Camp Nou; Betis themselves played very well and deserved to win), there are six teams struggling for the top spot, from first (Barcelona) to sixth (Real Madrid), with only an interval of 4 points. Y'know, just so people stop saying La Liga was never competitive (while I'm at it, in the latest three seasons the Premier League had always one dominating team from beginning to end, only now are things getting more exciting with City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal putting a fight).

Finally (I can't remember if Quag mentioned this yet, because I wasn't here), almost all Club World Cup qualified teams for this year are in: Chivas (Mexico, CONCACAF), Team Wellington (New Zealand, OFC), Ream Madrid (Spain, UEFA), Al-Ain (UAE, FIFA as hosts), Kashima Antlers (Japan, AFC), and Esperánce (Tunisia, CAF). Yes, that Kashima is the one who, in 2016, defeated South American champions and nearly did the same with Real Madrid.

I didn't mention it as I generally don't pay attention to it (apart from specific matches, such as last year's final between Real and Grêmio).

Interesting to know, however, that Kashima might meet Real again if they beat Guadalajara.

It's Nations League time. Tonight's matches:

League D, group 1: Two 1-1 draws, between Kazakhstan and Latvia (goals by Suyumbayev and Rakels) and between Andorra and Georgia (goals by Chakvetadze and Cristian Martinez - the latter is a beautiful free-kick). With these results, Georgia have confirmed their promotion to League C.

League D, group 2: Both home teams lost. Luxembourg lost 0-2 against Belarus (a brace by Stanislav Dragun), while San Marino were close to getting their first point/draw ever in the Nations League (and their second or third competitive point ever, period), but lost 0-1 against Moldova (goal by Damascan). With these results, Belarus is now at the top (11 points), followed by Luxembourg (9 p.) and Moldova (8 p.). Since San Marino will welcome Belarus, it's safe to say that Belarus has pretty much secured the promotion spot to League C. Luxembourgish people are probably feeling a bit gutted right now.

League C, group 2: Both home teams won. Hungary by 2-0 against Estonia (goals by Willi Orban - no relation to the authoritarian leader of the country, needless to say - and Szálai), while Greece managed to win by 1-0 against Finland with an own goal by Granlund). Since this win was inferior compared to Finland's 2-0 win against the Greeks, Finland have secured promotion to League B (h2h record between both teams are one of the earliest tiebreakers). Estonia are relegated to League D, thus confirming once more that the Baltics have declined severely in regards to football (Lithuania will also get relegated in their respective group if they don't win against Romania).

League B, group 3: Everything is wrapped up here in this group, as a goalless draw between Austria and Bosnia confirmed both Bosnia's promotion to League A and Northern Ireland's relegation to League C.

League A, group 2: Belgium beat Iceland (who were already relegated) with a 2-0 (brace by Batshuayi). In the final match this Sunday, Switzerland and Belgium will duke it out to see who will get the spot in the Final Four. Switzerland will have to win or else Belgium will go to those semis.

League A, group 4: The match of the night. Croatia fought hard with Spain, and managed to win 3-2 (goals here, including a winning brace by Tin Jedvaj), in what was an amazing, WC-level match. This leads to an ultimate battle between England and Croatia, also this Sunday:

• If England wins, they'll go to the Final Four, and Croatia will get relegated.

• If Croatia wins, they'll go through and England will get relegated.

• A goalless draw would lead to Spain going through, and Croatia getting relegated.

• A draw with goals would lead to Croatia beating England h2h and the latter getting relegated to League B). Spain would go through.

Edited by Quag15 on Nov 15th 2018 at 10:14:31 AM

Surprising that Spain has ultimately lost momentum in this UNL. They appeared to be one of the first teams to qualify for the Final Four, and now they might as well miss the train.

Shouldn't have lost at home against England...

Another NL day is over, with an interesting result and one massive celebration in Dutch lands:

League D, group 4: Both home teams lost. Liechtenstein by 0-2 against Macedonia (goals by Bardhi (free-kick) and Nestorovski), while Gibraltar lost against Armenia by... 2-6 (goals: Tjay de Barr, a poker by Yura Movsisyan(!)^note I think he was offside in his first two goals, tho, Kartashyan, Priestley and Karapetyan). With these results, all Macedonia needs to do to confirm their promotion on the last matchday on Monday is to not lose against Gibraltar at home. Armenia got to exorcise their humiliating loss at home against Gibraltar back in October, at least.

League C, group 3: Two 1-1 draws, between Cyprus and Bulgaria (goals by Zachariou and Dimitrov (penalty), and between Slovenia and Norway (goals by Benjamin Verbic and Bjorn Johnsen). Either Bulgaria (who will play at home against Slovenia) or Norway (who will play away against Cyprus) will get the promotion to League B, while Slovenia are relegated and Cyprus are almost mathematically relegated (whoever ends up in third place in the group might still be relegated, if they turn out to be the worst 3rd placed team). If Norway wins, Bulgaria need to win by one more goal than they did which would put then at the same GD but with more goals scored, if the latter wants to get the promotion. Otherwise, it's Norway who will get promoted.

League B, group 1: Slovakia won by 4-1 agaisnt already-promoted Ukraine (goals here). On Monday, Czech Republic and Slovakia will duke it out to see who will avoid getting relegated to League C, in what will likely be an interesting match with historical vibes.

League B, group 4: Everything is wrapped up here, as Denmark won the promotion to League A, after beating Wales in Cardiff by 2-1 (goals by Jørgensen, Braithwaite and Bale). This result means that the Republic of Ireland are relegated to League C.

League A, group 1: Ladies and gentleman, the Netherlands won against France 2-0. Are the Orange getting back to their old prestige? Perhaps. What's certain is that Germany is relegated to League B! On the last matchday, Germany and Netherlands will duke it out in Gelsenkirchen, as it befits their historical rivalry. If the Netherlands win or draw, they'll be the ones who will get to the Final Four, and not France, which means the French will probably be (gasp!) rooting for Germany to defeat the Dutch. The goals were scored by Wijnaldum and Depay (penalty).

Edited by Quag15 on Nov 16th 2018 at 10:24:40 AM

Matchday 5 comes to an end, with the final matchday starting tomorrow. Today/tonight's matches:

League D, group 3: Malta got destroyed by Kosovo at home by 0-5 (goals here, including a brace by Advijaj), while Azerbaijan won 2-0 at home against Faroe Islands without breaking much of a sweat (goals by Nazarov and Madatov). Kosovo and Azerbaijan will duke it out on Tuesday for the promotion to League C, with Kosovo only needing to not lose at home.

League C, group 1: Albania lost in spectacular fashion at home by 0-4 against Scotland (goals by Ryan Fraser, Fletcher (penalty), and a brace by James Forrest). Granted, three of Scotland's goals came after Albania got reduced to 10 men due to Mërgim Mavraj doing a headbutt, but still... Scotland and Israel will duke it out in Glasgow for the promotion to League B, while Albania risk getting relegated to League D as the possible worst 3rd placed team in this league, if, in another group, Cyprus win against Norway (or, in that same group, if Cyprus lose and Slovenia wins, meaning that Slovenia would be above Albania in the third-placed team rank within this league).

League C, group 4: Serbia won by 2-1 against Montenegro (goals here), while Romania comfortably won 3-0 against already-relegated Lithuania (goals by Puscas, Keseru and Stanciu. Serbia will confirm their promotion to League B on Tuesday if they simply beat Lithuania (while Romania will have to hope for a Serbian disaster and to win away against Montenegro).

League B, group 2: Turkey are relegated to League C, after losing at home against Sweden (penalty goal by Granqvist). As for Sweden, they'll duke it out on Tuesday at home with Russia for the promotion to League A (Sweden have to win, otherwise Russia will get promoted).

Finally:

Our first half was absolutely dreadful, and we somehow managed to survive that half in spite of an Italy that was pressing a lot and creating a few close chances (a couple of them saved by Patrício). We improved a bit in the second half, with a couple of close chances (one of them saved by Donnarumma) and by replacing Pizzi - who had an appalling performance - with João Mário, while Italy kinda dozed off and lost focus during most of the seconf half. In the final 3/4 minutes of the match, Fernando Santos replaced André Silva with Danilo, meaning that we shut the gates and made no attempt to even score a last-minute winner. Heck, maybe Fernando Santos only had plans to draw the match, even though we have the quality to go for a win. It baffles me. Cancelo and Patrício were solid.

All in all, a poor match, but at least Italy showed some more solid promise for the future (in spite of a lack of incisiveness in the final third during the second half), according to that first half. Also, Chiellini got his 100th cap for Italy, and delivered it by being an overall boss.

In any case, this result confirms our qualification to the Final Four. Maybe I'll go watch the match on Tuesday against Poland here in my city, if I feel like it (and it doesn't turn out to be too expensive).

This also means that the Final Four matches are going to be played here in Portugal, since only us, Italy and Poland expressed interest in hosting them, and the host of these matches in the Nations League has to be in the Final Four. They'll be played here at my city and at Porto, so, it'll be nice.

Edited by Quag15 on Nov 17th 2018 at 9:53:26 AM

We've entered the final matchday of the Nations League group stage. We have a couple of surprises:

League D, group 2: Belarus confirmed their promotion to League C, after comfortably beating San Marino away by 2-0 without breaking a sweat (goals by Dragun and Saroka). Moldova and Luxembourg drew 1-1 (goals by Ginsari (penalty) and Bensi).

San Marino is the only team in this edition of the Nations League that failed to score a single goal in the group stage, while Belarus is the only team that didn't concede any goal during the same stage, btw.

League C, group 2: Hungary won 2-0 against Finland (goals by the 2 Adams, Szalai and Nagy). Greece could have taken advantage of this to get the promotion to League B, but they lost at home against already-relegated Estonia (no, really) with an own goal by Lambropoulos. Finland is, therefore, promoted to League B.

League B, group 3: Northern Ireland lost 1-2 at home against Austria (goals by Schlager, Corry Evans and Lazaro (this one at the very end of the match)).

League A, group 2: So, remember how Belgium only had to not lose against Switzerland by lots of goals? Well, Switzerland won... by 5-2(!). It's the Swiss who will get the qualification to the Final Four.

Here's how it went. Belgium was winning 2-0 in Luzern (a brace by Thorgan Hazard, Eden's brother), but then... woah, Switzerland (goals by Ricardo Rodriguez (penalty) - maybe it shouldn't have been given, but the damage is certainly done) - Seferovic, Seferovic again, Elvedi, and a hat-trick by Seferovic. When Seferovic of all players manages to score a hat-trick against your team, your folks need to do a deep self-reflection. What the hell, Belgium?! Even if you didn't have Vertonghen, Lukaku or Fellaini available, you still should have done better than this.

(That being said, what a great hat-trick by Seferovic)

League A, group 4: England was losing at first, but, in 7 minutes they turned it around. A 2-1 win over Croatia (goals here) has given them the qualification to the Final Four over Spain, while Croatia are relegated to League B.

Edited by Quag15 on Nov 18th 2018 at 10:02:43 AM

As far as football goes, and even while I was watching the UNL matches, I haven't been able to think of anything that isn't the second leg of the Superclásico final. I have barely slept these days because of it.

On a different note, rumor has it that James Rodriguez may either return to Real Madrid or sign a contract with Juventus. Either way, the chances of Bayern wanting him by now are slim, considering his reduced footplay level.

James should try to go to Juventus. Maybe he'd risk getting benched again at Real, while at Juventus he'd get some decent rotation.

More Nations League matches:

League D, group 1: Georgia won 2-1 against Kazakhstan (goals by Merebashvili, Chakvetadze (this guy is definitely an up and coming young talent) and Omirtayev), while Andorra x Latvia ended with a goalless draw.

League D, group 4: Macedonia confirmed their promotion to League C by beating Gibraltar by 4-0 without breaking a sweat (goals by Bardhi, a brace by Nestorovski and Trajkovski in stoppage time). They would have still qualified if they had lost, since Liechtenstein drew 2-2 against Armenia (goals by Adamyan, Buchel, Hasler and [[ Karapetyan]]).

League C, group 2: Norway got the promotion to League B, after winning at Cyprus by 2-0 (a brace by Ola Kamara), while Bulgaria drew 1-1 with Slovenia (goals by Ivanov and Zajc). Slovenia are relegated, while Cyprus risks getting relegated as the worst third-placed team in this league if Montenegro manages to get a draw tomorrow against Romania.

League B, group 1: Czech Republic won 1-0 against Slovakia (goal by Schick), thus relegating Slovakia to League C.

League B, group 4: Already-promoted Denmark drew (no goals) with already-relegated Rep. Ireland.

League A, group 1: Well, Germany took the lead very early on (goals by Timo Werner and Leroy Sané), but the Netherlands managed to equalize in just 6 minutes thanks to Quincy Promes and Virgil Van Dijk, thus getting the qualification to the Final Four instead of France (due to the criteria of h2h goals scored between the French and the Dutch). The Franco-German "alliance" failed tonight, and the Dutch are celebrating.

The teams in the Final Four are: Portugal, Switzerland, England, and the Netherlands. Kinda unexpected, really.

Edited by Quag15 on Nov 19th 2018 at 10:25:49 AM

The Nations League has come to an end. Let's recap tonight's matches and who will be promoted/relegated for the next edition:

League D, group 3: Kosovo achieved promotion to League C after convincingly beating Azerbaijan by 4-0 (first a brace by Zeneli, then Rrahmani and Zeneli fulfilling his hat-trick); Malta drew 1-1 with the Faroe Islands (goals by Joensen and Corbolan).

League C, group 1: It was quite the match (for both sides had to fight for the promotion to League B), with Scotland winning 3-2 against Israel (goals here, including a hat-trick by James Forrest), and thus getting promoted. Solid achievement for Scotland, and one that might point out a way out of the long dark tunnel they've been in for many years.

League C, group 4: Romania won 1-0 away against Montenegro (goal by Tucudean, plus their GK Tatarusanu saving a penalty), but it didn't matter, as Serbia won 4-1 against already-relegated Lithuania (goals by Zulpa (own goal), Mitrovic, Petravicius, Prijovic and Ljajic) and thus gained promotion to League B.

League B, group 2: Sweden had to beat Russia in order to get promoted to League A, and that's what they did, with Lindelöf and Marcus Berg. Great celebrations are ongoing in Solna.

Finally...

League A, group 3: Portugal 1-1 Poland

The stadium here in my city was almost entirely sold out, in a match that was entertaining enough, in spite of Lewandowski's absence and Piatek only coming on in the final minutes. We rotated a few players (e.g. veteran Beto being between the posts instead of Rui Patrício).

André Silva scored in the first half (corner by Renato Sances, while, in the second half, Milik scored a penalty, due to Danilo fouling him in the area (Danilo got the red card). Both teams were content with the draw.

With this result, Germany will be placed in pot 2 for the draw of the Euro qualifiers (this seems to be final overall ranking of the Nations League, which determines the pots for the Euro qualifiers drawing of groups).

So, to sum it up:

Final Four: Portugal, Switzerland, England, Netherlands.

Relegated to League B: Germany, Iceland, Poland, Croatia.

Promoted to League A: Ukraine, Sweden, Bosnia, Denmark.

Relegated to League C: Slovakia, Turkey, Northern Ireland, Rep. Ireland.

Promoted to League B: Scotland, Finland, Norway, Serbia.

Relegated to League D: Estonia, Slovenia, Cyprus^note worst third-placed team and Lithuania.

Promoted to League C: Georgia, Belarus, Kosovo, Macedonia.

The Final Four and the promoted teams in their respective Leagues will duke it out in the Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs, if they fail to qualify through the regular qualifiers (here are the paths/leagues). Which means we will see at least a debut or two in the next Euros.

Edited by Quag15 on Nov 20th 2018 at 9:52:52 AM

Portugal and Netherlands seem to be the most likely candidates for the UNL winner.

Also, Venezuela clocked at yet another draw, this time against Iran (1-1). While I'm glad to see that they're preserving their status as unbeaten after their defeat against Euskadi, it worries me that they can't fully capitalize their potential in order to achieve victory. We only have one more FIFA matchday (in March) before Copa America 2019...

We beat Honduras 4-1, but the game wasn't well played, and there were three penalties by handballs (the first one was a huge mistake by the referee), but it's something for the results. Don't see the Copa going too smoothly for our national team.

Did Yordan Osorio play well against Japan or Iran (if he had any gametime)? Since Osorio plays for us here at Vitória and he's been decent enough so far, I like to think he's a possible promising player for your NT.

Is it a lack of cohesion, some key players getting old (e.g. Vidal, Beausejour), or Pekerman not quite getting the hang of it, tactics-wise?

In about a hour and a half (if my timezone calculations are right), the 2nd leg of the Libertadores final to end all finals will begin. Pepper spray has been thrown into the bus of Boca Juniors as it arrived in the stadium for the final of the Libertadores final against River Plate, apparently by accident and by the police, in response to some River fans throwing stones against said bus.

Confirmation tweet.

Some of the players arrived to the dressing room a while ago, but they look visibly affected (Tevez in particular).

Meanwhile, there's been a couple of impressive results today: Eibar defeated Real Madrid by 3-0 (goals here), while, in the Bundesliga, Bayern drew 3-3 against penultimate placed team Fortuna Düsseldorf (goals here, including a hat-trick by Düsseldorf player Dodi Lukebakio). Lukebakio is the first player in the Bundesliga since Ebbe Sand back in 2001 (who played for Schalke 04 in those days) to score three goals in a single match against Bayern. The board are thinking about the manager situation, so, things are not good for Niko Kovac.

EDIT: There is a possiblity of the final being delayed or outright postpones. As well as the possibility of the match being played behind closed doors.

EDIT 2: Apparently, the match will begin in about half an hour. In spite of Boca's captain, Pablo Perez, being taken to the hospital due to the pepper spray/gas, and River's manager, Gallardo, saying that the match cannot be played under these conditions, Gianni Infantino and CONMEBOL's president, Domínguez, are pressuring Boca to play (because TV money), otherwise, Boca will be disqualified and River will get the trophy.

I'm starting to miss Blatter, and that is not a good thing. Infantino is worse and far greedier, apparently (the less said about CONMEBOL, the better, as well).

EDIT 3: Postponed until 19:15 (local time). So, about 50 minutes until the beginning of the match. Unless it gets postponed again.

Here's an ongoing megathread.

Final Edit for tonight: On agreement between both clubs, the match has been suspended. It will be played tomorrow at 17h (local time).

Edited by Quag15 on Nov 24th 2018 at 10:32:36 AM

While the shenanigans up to the Libertadores final are ongoing (e.g. apparently Boca players affected by the pepper spray were treated with corticoids by the medical doctors of the CONMEBOL, even though corticoids are part of the banned substance list by CONMEBOL; Pablo Perez, Boca's captain went to see a doctor for his eye again, and Boca have released a comunicado asking CONMEBOL for the match to be suspended due to lack of equal conditions to play)...

União da Madeira 0-2 Vitória SC (Portuguese Cup 4th Round)

We were more or less in control of the match, and beat them comfortably. União used to be in the Primeira some seasons ago, but they fell to the third tier, and it showed, as the pitch looked a bit shit; their players probably lost motivation as soon as Davidson (after an assist by André André) scored near the end of the first half. In the second half, Guedes scored and the rest of the match lost energy, as both teams didn't bothered too much from then onwards. A good result, in any case.

Meanwhile, in Italy, for the first time in their history, Empoli won a Serie A match after been trailing by 2 goals for the first time in their history(!). They won 3-2 against Atalanta.

EDIT: Good sense has prevailed: River - Boca has been postponed indefinitely.

Good sense, however, has not endured for long, as CONMEBOL are analysing the possibility of playing the final in United Arab Emirates so the winner can stay there for the Club World Cup.

Edited by Quag15 on Nov 25th 2018 at 6:00:18 PM

Barcelona got an agonizing 1-1 draw against Atlético Madrid. Which only means that Real Madrid has missed yet another yet another ''yet another' chance of shortening distances. It's also painfully obvious that Modric wants to be in Inter pronto, because he's been abysmal.

As for the whole fiasco in the Libertadores.... in the end, my nightmares (which, yes, I actually had since countless days ago) were nothing compared to the actual worst thing that would happen. I'm honestly devastated. I knew South America was always a dysfunctional part of the world. Only now I have realized how much.

Hell, at least the match could potentially still play out in front of an audience in the UAE, opposed to being played behind closed doors in Buenos Aires.

Either way, its still a terrible shame. These matches were supposed to distinguish South American soccer and the Argentine sport, but the elevated passions amongst the locals is just too damn much to contain.

My new favorite Diego Maradona video

(Currently employed as the manager of Dorados de Sinaloa playing in the Mexican second tier, Diego was asked by an ESPN Deportes reporter what he thought of the quality of the Ascenso MX division)

I keep on being surprised that the Sainted Diego is still alive.

Diego Maradona, a man of many words.

CL matches tonight have just ended. Let's recap:

Group E: Everything is wrapped up here as AEK Athens lost at home by 0-2 against Ajax (brace by Dusan Tadic here), while Bayern comfortably destroyed Benfica 5-1 (brace by Robben, Lewandowski, Gedson Fernandes, Lewa again, and Ribery).

Ajax and Bayern will duke it for the first place in the group, while Benfica will go to the Europa League knockout stages.

Group F: Lyon drew 2-2 with Manchester City (goals here, including a brace by Cornet), while Hoffenheim lost 2-3 at home against Shakhtar Donetsk (goals by Ismaily, Taison, Kramaric, Zuber and Taison once more; also, Szalai got a second yellow which likely contributed to Hoffenheim's defeat.

Manchester City are through to the next round, while Shakhtar and Lyon will duke it out to see who will go through (if Hoffenheim wins and Shakhtar loses at home, then the German side will get the Europa League spot).

Group G: Roma lost at home by 0-2 against Real Madrid (goals here, while CSKA Moscow somehow lost at homy by 1-2 against Viktoria Plzen (goals here, and a save by Akinfeev here).

Real and Roma are through to the next round, while Viktoria Plzen and CSKA Moscow have the same amount of points and will try to get points to get the Europa League spot (Plzen is currently ahead, because they won the h-2-h points criteria).

Group H: Everything is wrapped up here as Juventus won 1-0 against Valencia (goal by Mandzukic, assist by Ronaldo), while Manchester United won by the same amount against Young Boys... with a goal in stoppage time by Fellaini (also, check out Mourinho's furious celebration in that same gif). Who else?

Btw, since we mentioned Maradona: Fellaini now has as many European Cup/CL goals as Diego Maradona. No, really.

Juventus and MU are through to the next round, while Valencia will go to the Europa League knockout stage.

Meanwhile, tonight River will play the Copa Argentina semifinal against Gimnasia. Normally, River would be the favorite, but... the whole fiasco regarding the Libertadores Final has let them severely battered. I don't know what's going to happen from now on.

It seems that the 2nd leg final will be played in Qatar (yes, really!), in order for the winning team to stay a few days more for the Club World Cup. And because of money, needless to say.

Tonight's CL matches have just ended. Recap:

Group A: Everyting is wrapped up here. Atletico Madrid won 2-0 against Monaco (goals here, plus a penalty missed by Falcao that makes one think he didn't want to score against one of his old clubs). Dortmund x Club Brugge ended in a goalless draw.

Atletico and Dortmund are through, Club Brugge will go to the Europa League. Henry is probably wondering about his career move to coach a club that is deeply in omnishambles (even if Monaco did win a league match this past weekend).

Group B: Tottenham won 1-0 against Inter Milan (goal by Eriksen here), so, both sides have the same amount of points (I think Tottenham beats them on h-2-h goals - or at least away goals in h-2-h encounters criteria). Inter Milan technically have the easier match, since they'll be playing against PSV, who got eliminated after losing 1-2 against Barcelona (goals here).

Group C: Paris Saint-Germain won 2-1 against Liverpool (goals here), while Napoli won 3-1 against Red Star Belgrade (goals by Hamsik, Mertens, Mertens again and Ben Nabouhane).

Liverpool lost all 3 away group games of an European comp for the first time ever. They'll duke it out with Napoli for the spot in the next round, otherwise they'll either: a) go to the Europa League; or b) be eliminated, if they lose and Red Star Belgrade win at home against PSG. Napoli can go through in spite of a loss if PSG don't win in Belgrade, iirc.

Group D: Everything is wrapped up here, with Porto and Schalke 04 getting their qualification to the knockout stages. Porto secured the 1st place in the group, after beating Schalke 3-1 (goals by Éder Militão - a promising 20-year-old Brazilian CB who was signed from São Paulo this year who has been a regular in Porto's starting XI's so far - Jesus Corona, Bentaleb (penalty) and, in stoppage time, the one and only Marega). Lokomotiv Moscow got their first CL win this season, after winning 2-0 against Galatasary (goals here). If Lokomotiv win away against Schalke and Porto win or draw away against Gala, it's Lokomotiv who will go to the Europa League round of 32.

A brief moment of awe outside of the CL, as, in the English Championship, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest drew 5-5 (goals here)(!) Yes, really. Tammy Abraham scored a poker.

Edited by Quag15 on Nov 28th 2018 at 10:07:57 AM

River lost in the penalty shootouts against Gimnasia 5-4 after an epic 2-2 draw in the match. While their footplay wasn't bad, this elimination from Copa Argentina means that they only have one chance left to qualify to the 2019 Copa Libertadores: By winning this year's. And for that, CONMEBOL will have to make up their minds on whether or not it will play at all (Boca badly wants to win through the adminship desk), when it will play (8th or 9th December), and where. You said something about Qatar? Try Santiago Bernabéu.

And here's why CONMEBOL is taking too long to decide: Because they're incompetent morons. Originally, five fat men sitting in a desk representative members from the discipline body were going to vote between accepting Boca's request of giving them the trophy after they accused River Plate for what happened last Saturday, allowing the match to be played in Monumental (by this point, a ruled-out option), or having them play outside Argentina. The member from Argentina wasn't allowed to participate due to conflicts of interest, and the Brazilian one stepped down because there can't be an even number of members discussing the issue. So we only have three: One from Venezuela, one from Chile and one from Paraguay.

I want to believe (this is me being hopelessly optimistic) that they have already decided to put the match in Real Madrid's stadium, but want to fully accelerate the deals with the club, the Spanish federation, the Madrid police body, and the TV rights holders to kill two birds with the same stone: Final confirmed and in Madrid.

While it is certainly better than freaking Doha, Qatar, there's quite the irony (and I'm not the first to point this out, needless to say) in a Copa Libertadores being possibly played at the stadium of one of the clubs most heavily associated with the Spanish royal crown. In Spain's capital. As an Argentinian redditor pointed out, José de San Martín is probably rolling in his grave.

Also, yeah, they kill two birds with one stone because they guarantee a definitive European audience who will be watching on TV.

I was dining out, so I didn't report on the Europa League matches tonight sooner. Recap (and it's gonna be a long one, because all groups will be in this post):

Group A: Leverkusen drew 1-1 with Ludogorets (goals by Marcelinho and Weiser); Zürich lost at home 1-2 against AEK Larnaca (goals by Giannou, Khelifi and Trickovski). If Leverkusen win away against Larnaca on the last matchday, they'll clinch the 1st place of the group. If they draw or lose and Zürich win away against Ludogorets, it's the Swiss side who will get that 1st place.

Group B: Red Bull Salzburg confirmed their 1st place by winning against the other Red Bull from Leipzig (goal by Gulbrandsen), while Celtic won 1-0 away against Rosenborg (goal by Scott Sinclair). All Celtic needs to qualify to the round of 32 is to at least draw at home against RB Salzburg (problem might be that RB Salzburg won all 5 group stage matches, so things will be a bit tough on the last matchday for the Scottish side).

Group C: Zenit confirmed their qualification (and 1st place) by winning 1-0 against Copenhagen (goal by Robert Mak), while Bordeaux won 2-0 against Slavia Prague (goals by Nicolas De Preville and Jules Kounde). All Slavia Prague needs to do is to draw at home against Zenit to qualify (otherwise, the winner of the match between Copenhagen and Bordeaux will go through instead of the Czech side).

Group D: Everything is wrapped up here, since Fenerbahçe x Dinamo Zagreb and Anderlecht x Spartak Trnava ended with goalless draws. With these results, the former two teams are qualified (Zagreb in 1st, Fener in 2nd).

Group E: Arsenal comfortably beat Vorskla Poltava away by 3-0 (goals by Smith Rowe, Ramsey and Willock). Sporting CP comfortably destroyed Qarabag away by 6-1(!) (goals by Bas Dost (penalty), Zoubir, Bruno Fernandes, Nani (who did a vintage backflip celebration), Diaby, Bruno Fernandes again and Diaby again). Sporting are qualified in 2nd place of the group, so, everything is wrapped up here. Whether it's new manager effect (Marcel Keizer, who managed Ajax in the past) or the manager in question is imposing a more attractive style of football after the dreadfulness of Peseiro is something yet to be confirmed with further matches.

Group F: Betis won 1-0 against Olympiakos (goal by Sergio Canales). Milan had a rollercoaster of a match that ended with them winning 5-2 against Dudelange. Dudelange scored two own goals, and keep in mind that they were actually winning at San Siro before the first one... ouch (goals by Cutrone, Stolz, Turpel, Prempeh (own goal), Çalhanoğlu, Tom Schnell (own goal) and 'lord' Borini adding some extra humiliation. Betis are qualified, while Olympiakos will have to win against Milan at home in order to go through (otherwise, it's Milan who will go to the knockout stages).

Group G: Spartak Moscow bottled it by losing at home by 1-2 against Rapid Wien (goals by Zé Luis, Mert Müldur and Schobesberger, while Rangers x Villareal ended in a goalless draw. This means that, on the last matchday, any team can still go through (Rapid Wien will duke it out with Rangers while Villareal will duke it out with Spartak; the latter will have to win and hope for Rangers to win, tho), since the distance in terms of points between 1st and 4th is of 2 points only.

Group H: Apollon won 2-0 against Lazio (Faupala's beautiful bycicle kick and Sasa Markovic gave the win to the already-eliminated Cypriot side), while Frankfurt comfortably beat Marseille by an impressive 4-0 (goals by Jovic, Luiz Gustavo (own goal), Bouna Sarr (own goal) and Jovic again) (then again, Marseille are a bit shit this season, which is why there were already eliminated prior to this match... and why they committed those embarrassing own goals).

Group I: Malmö drew 2-2 with Genk (goals by Pozuelo, Paintsil, Lewicki and Antonsson), while Sarpsborg 08 lost near the end by 2-3 against Besiktas (goals by Rashad, Tobias Heintz, Jeremain Lens, Vagner Love (yes, he's still around) and Lens again). Any side can still go through on the last matchday, though there's no margin of error for either Sarpsborg (x Genk, away) or Malmö (x Besiktas, away).

Group J: Krasnodar won 2-1 against Akhisar (goals by Serginho, Gazinskiy and Ari), while Standard Liège won a decisive match against Sevilla (goal by Djenepo, and second yellow card for Pablo Sarabia). Sevilla will duke it out with Krasnodar, and will be pretty much forced to win, unless already-eliminated Akhisar beats Liège at home.

Group K: Surprisingly enough, Astana lost at home against Dynamo Kyiv (goal by Verbic), which means Dynamo are both qualified and with the 1st place guaranteed, while Rennes won away against Jablonec (goal by Grenier). Which means Rennes will duke it with Astana (in France) for the 2nd place. Millership, if you happen to read this, what is the mood right now in Astana?

Group L: Chelsea (who were already qualified and with the first place guaranteed) comfortably beat PAOK by 4-0 (brace by Giroud, Hudson-Odoi and Morata), while BATE Borisov won 2-0 against MOL Vidi(oton) (goals by Signevich and Ivanic). BATE needs to either win away against PAOK or draw (assuming Vidi doesn't win against Chelsea) to qualify.

Edited by Quag15 on Nov 29th 2018 at 4:04:43 PM