A Beautiful Thread for the Beautiful Game

Well, I haven't seen the match, so, not knowing how the match unfolded I can only speak for myself and about my reaction to the match result itself (other Astana fans probably share it, though):

THIS SUCKS!!!

Our position already was kinda iffy unless we defeated Dynamo: a draw at home and a defeat with three goal margin at Rennes - possible, considering our away record - meant we're out, but now things got a lot more complicated.

Our away record is poor and at the same time kinda hopeful: two draws with goals. We need to do at least the same as when we played against Dynamo and Jablonec, but those matches had rather different contexts. There's a lot more pressure on us, since Rennes will have nothing to lose (and will be at home). So, unless we succumb to it (or, worse, become complacent) in the first half an hour, the match will be a thriller in every sense of the word.

Which is, admittedly, a good thing for the neutrals.

And I have two weeks to grow nails to bite on during the match.

Not only are Argentinians (not just fans of River or Boca) furious about the final being in Madrid: Barcelona fans are probably even more so. Several times have Real Madrid denied offering their stadium for the Copa del Rey finals (because, after all, no one wants their lifetime rivals to celebrate and ride with hell's wheels on their stadia) and yet they showed zero opposition in regards of a foreign football match.

To be bluntly honest, however, as long as this Copa Libertadores somehow ends and thus this fucking nightmare ends, I won't mind. I just want to sleep peacefully once again.

I had a hunch that would be your reaction. Thanks, and good luck against Rennes 12 days from now, your team is gonna need it.

Well, it might take a little while longer for you to get some peaceful sleep, because River protested CONMEBOL's decision in their comunicado. Translation for the people who don't speak Romance languages:

Boca also made a strong protest some days ago, so, things might be changed yet again.

In other news, Cameroon will no longer host the 2019 African Cup of Nations^note this edition will be the first one with 24 teams, instead of 16 in the previous editions; there are already some qualified teams that will make their debut, e.g. Mauritania and Madagascar, due to sectarian/secessionist violence within the country. They are playing in the qualifications, but they can't lose against Comoros on the last matchday in March, otherwise it's Comoros who will be qualified.

Possible hosts for the 2019 AFCON are either Morocco or South Africa.

EDIT: A couple of corrections in regards to River's stance.

Edited by Quag15 on Dec 1st 2018 at 5:44:05 PM

The Euro 2020 qualifiers have been drawn. The top 2 from each group at the end of the qualifiers get qualified directly, needless to say:

Group A: England, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Kosovo

Group B: Portugal, Ukraine, Serbia, Lithuania and Luxembourg

Group C: Netherlands, Germany, Northern Ireland, Estonia and Belarus

Group D: Switzerland, Denmark, Republic of Ireland, Georgia and Gibraltar

Group E: Croatia, Wales, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan

Group F: Spain, Sweden, Norway, Romania, Faroe Islands and Malta

Group G: Poland, Austria, Israel, Slovenia, Macedonia and Latvia

Group H: France, Iceland, Turkey, Albania, Moldova and Andorra

Group I: Belgium, Russia, Scotland, Cyprus, Kazakhstan and San Marino

Group J: Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Finland, Greece, Armenia and Liechtenstein

I think we here at the rectangle better not underestimate our group, as Ukraine and Serbia are decent teams capable of putting up a fight. And Luxembourg has been growing in these past few years, which means they will present a challenge as well. On the other hand, Lithuania will definitely be a punching bag, imo.

My initial thoughts for some of the other groups: Netherlands and Germany meet again, after the Nations League. Spicy. France and Iceland meet each other after the past Euros. Spain's group has 3 Nordic teams, and Italy might not have an easy time dealing with the tight defences of Finland and (maybe) Greece. Denmark and Rep. Ireland are probably sick of playing together again.

Chaves 0-1 Vitória SC

Important win for us, which put us in 6th place (with the same points as Rio Ave; Rio Ave will play against Sporting, so, it'll be very hard for them, even if they're playing at home).

Davidson scored our one goal, and we were more in control during the first half. Most of the second half was, however, was under their control, which led to Douglas making many key defenses. Chaves really did try their absolute best to score an equalizer, but they were a bit unlucky. They're still in last place, so, things aren't going well for them, that's for sure.

Great away support from our fans (as it generally is), who kept on singing even after the match was over.

Edited by Quag15 on Dec 2nd 2018 at 7:36:42 PM

Real Madrid won 2-0 against Valencia in the Liga. This is the third match since Solari's arrival where a rival scores an own goal, funnily enough. Barcelona won 2-0 against Villarreal, and are now the new top teams in the table (Sevilla and Atlético got asthenic draws against their respective rivals).

In Argentina, Boca got a very agonizing 1-0 victory against Independiente, while River right now is winning 2-0 against Gimnasia (yes, their recent bane in Copa Argentina); both matches are from the Superliga. Also, all 7000 ticket Real Madrid received for their fans to witness the Libertadores final have been sold out in record time, so the chances of the final's stadium being changed yet again are next to nil (CONMEBOL will not want to disappoint Real Madrid, so it's a given that the respective protests of Boca and River will perish).

Belgium, Russia and Scotland...

On the one hand, yikes! but on the other, the way our NT played in the Nations League it's too early to hope for something more than "we won't lose every match in our group" at this stage anyway.

The other two teams are on seemingly our level, so we should at least be able to beat them at home.

Edited by Millership on Dec 2nd 2018 at 10:47:14 PM

It will certainly be tough for you guys, especially with Scotland getting a shot of confidence from their Nations League promotion and Russia still feeling some of the effects from their WC performance.

The Nations League Final Four matches have been drawn:

Portugal x Switzerland at Porto (Estádio do Dragão)

Netherlands x England at my city (Estádio D. Afonso Henriques)

(The third place match will be played at my city, and the final will be played at Porto, natch)

I'm not looking forward to some drunk English fans either getting into scuffles with some Dutch lads or thrashing my city, but it'll be an interesting match, in any case.

I'm quietly confident against Switzerland, but they're still a tough team who has scored a lot in the Nations League (unless Seferovic dries up once more, and/or Ronaldo confirms his return).

Edited by Quag15 on Dec 3rd 2018 at 8:46:33 PM

So Modric won the Ballon d'Or, while Mbappé was voted the best under-21 player. While I agree that Modric's performance was good during the first eight months of this year, in these latest four he's been below average (yes, I'm aware that I say almost exactly the same thing about Cristiano last year in 2017). Hopefully Madrid will win the Club World Cup so Modric can close the year with a decent happy ending.

I woulnd't be too sad if it's River who wins it, though. That'd mean they'll have also won the Libertadores. I definitely don't want Boca to win either of them, that's for sure.

Do you think they can play the final without more international embarrassment?

I hope not. I don't see how it can get even worse that it's already been.

Well, that's me putting a few quid on Belgium and Russia forming the top two of our group. Scotland has three chances to qualify - slim, none, and sod-all. And slim and none have just left the building.

Well, you guys still have the League C path/playoff (even if it's a tough path, since Scotland will have to deal with Norway, Serbia and/or Finland in said play-offs), if Scotland ends outside the top 2 in the group.

A bit of controversy (another one) regarding the Ballon D'Or. Apparently France Football invented a Comoran jornalist◊^note as I'm sure you all know, journalists from around the world vote; one per country to be more precise. Also, that website in the link, albaladcomores.com? It's fake. Between this and the twerking question incident involving Ada Hegerberg (the very first woman to win the newly created Ballon for women players) and some guy/host named Solveig, it's safe to say this year's edition was a bit of a fiasco.

UEFA president Ceferin's thoughts on the latter incident are clear, for what it's worth, at least: "Martin Solveig is an idiot, he can't behave and will never again lead an event like this."

Real Madrid won 6-1 against Mel- ah, fuck that, that's boring and not even I care.

Rosario Central won the Copa Argentina via the penalty shootouts against Gimnasia after a 1-1 tie. Edgardo Bauza has won a trophy with yet another team (he was the same guy who won the Libertadores with Liga de Quito as well as with San Lorenzo). Gimnasia, for all the talk about them being the first club in the history of the Copa Argentina to have eliminated Boca and River in the same edition, have succumbed in this final.

In fairness, it was finally about time Rosario won this cup...

On the other hand, Gimnasia haven't won anything official since 1993 (and it was a commemorative Copa of the AFA), so, they probably felt really bad that day.

Anyway, the conclusion of the Libertadores final will begin shortly, but first...

This was a battle for who would end up in fifth place at the end of this matchweek, and we won! A hard-fought win, though our defensive performance was a bit poor and we were a bit uninspired for most of the match.

André André scored first through a penalty), with Rio Ave equalizing about 4/5 minutes later... through a penalty. André André scored again... through a penalty.

In the second half, Rio Ave equalized again, but this time with a top notch goal. The match became more intense, and, a few minutes before stoppage time, our captain Pedro Henrique scored after a free-kick. A hard-fought win always tastes better.

It might taste a bit bittersweet this time, though, since our coach's Iranian agent wants to bring him to Reading, who are fighting to avoid relegation in the English Championship. If he goes, I can see our season easily going to shit. Luís Castro will speak his mind either tonight or tomorrow.

Our fans are still singing in the stadium.

Boca is winning 1-0 at half time. Dario Benedetto scored a lovely goal after a beautiful pass that breached River's defense. And promptly celebrated with a funny face.

Edited by Quag15 on Dec 9th 2018 at 8:25:57 PM

River Plate 3-1 Boca Juniors FT (a.e.t.)

In the second half of regular time, Lucas Pratto equalized. In the first half of extra time, Wilmar Barrios from Boca got a second yellow card. With Boca down to 10 men, it was only a matter of time, perhaps, before River scored. It was Juan Quintero (on loan from Porto) who scored the final-winning goal. At the tail end, Boca still had one last chance to equalize, but not only did they failed to equalize, their GK was up ahead so much (as it is customary with last-minute attempts like these), that Pity Martinez sealed the deal, in what is certainly a humiliation for Boca.

A tremendous match, a McDonalds soon to be destroyed in Obelisco, Buenos Aires, River have bragging rights, Boca fans will have a bad day of work tomorrow in front of their River co-workers. What a day.

Marcelo Gallardo has become the first ever River Plate manager to win 2 Copa Libertadores (2015, 2018) and also equals Ramon Diaz as the manager with most trophies in the history of River Plate. A legend as a player, and now a legend as a coach.

Edited by Quag15 on Dec 9th 2018 at 10:27:01 AM

After three weeks of (literal) nightmares about this match during those nights... the wait was very much paid off. Congrats, River!

A bit late, but Gerardo Martino became Major League Soccer champion with Atlanta United, after an epic 2-0 victory against Portland. We'll see how he fares now with the Mexican national team.

Tonight's CL matches have ended (and therefore, 4 of the 8 groups have concluded). Recap:

Group A: Monaco lost at home by 0-2 against Borussia Dortmund (brace by Raphael Guerreiro here), while Club Brugge x Atlético Madrid ended in a goalless draw. With these results, it's Borussia who top the group (Atlético second, Club Brugge in the Europa League round fo 32 and Monaco, needless to say, eliminated).

Group B: Two 1-1 draws, between Inter and PSV and between Barcelona and Tottenham. If Inter had won at home (or Tottenham had lost), Inter would've gone through. As it is, Tottenham are through, and Inter will drop to the EL round of 32. Inter will rue this result, but they had some abysmal finishing, and PSV's GK did a solid performance.

Group C: Napoli, for the second season in a row, have dropped to the EL round of 32, after losing against Liverpool 1-0 (goal by Salah). PSG won 4-1 in Belgrade against Crvena Zvezda (goals here). Not a good night for Italian clubs. PSG top the group, Liverpool in second.

Group D: Porto top the group with 16 points after winning 3-2 in Istanbul against Galatasaray (goals here, plus a missed penalty by Gala's Feghouli), while Schalke won 1-0 against Lokomotiv Moscow (goal by Schöpf). Therefore, Galatasary will drop to the EL round fo 32, while Lokomotiv are eliminated.

Edited by Quag15 on Dec 11th 2018 at 10:22:50 AM

CL group stage has concluded. Recap of tonight's matches:

Group E: Ajax and Bayern duked it out for who would get the first place (Ajax had to win). The match turned out to be unpredictable and a bit rough/violent, and ended with a 3-3. Goals here, plus a red card for one Ajax player... and Thomas Müller, who pulled off a kung-fu move against Tagliafico (Tagliafico would score the late equalizer). Benfica won 1-0 against AEK (free-kick goal by Grimaldo), in a match that was poor and lethargic.

Group F: A 1-1 draw between Shakhtar Donetsk and Lyon (goals here) means that the Ukrainian side will drop to the Europa League, while Lyon will go through. Manchester City won 2-1 against Hoffenheim (goals here, including a brace by Leroy Sané).

Group G: Real Madrid suffered their heaviest home defeat in their entire history of European competitions by losing 0-3 against CSKA Moscow (goals here, in a match that saw the CL debut of promising youngster Vinicius Júnior. CSKA won home and away against Real, interestingly enough. However, they failed to get an EL spot, because Viktoria Plzen won 2-1 against Roma (goals here). The Russian side shouldn't have lost against the Czech side.

Group H: Two 2-1 home wins against the qualified sides. Young Boys' Guillaume Hoarau scored a brace in their sole win in the group stage against Juventus, while Valencia won 2-1 against Manchester United (including an embarrassing own goal by Phil Jones).

CL round of 16 - seeded for the draw: Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Juventus.

CL round of 16 - unseeded for the draw: Atlético Madrid, Tottenham, Liverpool, Schalke 04, Ajax, Lyon, Roma, Manchester United.

EL round of 32 drops - seeded for the draw: Napoli, Valencia, Internazionale, Benfica

EL round of 32 drops - unseeded for the draw: Viktoria Plzen, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray.

You know, River may get a chance to win the CWC after all. They may not even have to face Madrid in the final. =/

Speaking of the Club World Cup, Al Ain started losing 3-0 against Team Wellington, but equalized (3-3) and then won in the penalty shootouts. They'll face Esperánce in the second round, and whoever wins there will face River Plate.

Half of tonight's Europa League matches have just concluded. The other half will begin shortly. Here we go:

Group G: Villareal won 2-0 against Spartak Moscow (goals by Chukwueze and Toko Ekambi), while Rapid Wien qualified in second place after winning 1-0 against Rangers (goal by Ljubicic). Heartbreak for Stevie G, that's for sure.

Group H: Everything was already decided here, but both home teams lost. Lazio by 1-2 against Frankfurt (goals by Correa, Gacinovic and Haller), while Marseille lost by 1-3 against Apollon (goals by Maglica (penalty), Thauvin, Maglica (not a penalty), Stylianou). Marseille went from runners-up to only 1 point, while Frankfurt became the first German team ever to end a Europa League group stage with all 18 points.

Group I: Genk comfortably killed Sarpsborg 08 by 4-0 (goals by Gano, Paintsil, Berge and Aidoo), while Besiktas... lost at home against Malmö (goal by Antonsson, plus Quaresma getting a red card). Genk and Malmö are, therefore, through to the knockouts.

Grouo J: Sevilla qualified after comfortably beating Krasnodar by 3-0 (brace by Ben Yedder and a penalty scored by Banega) and have topped the group. However, Krasnodar still qualified, because Standard Liège drew (no goals; they had to win) away against Akhisar (who were already eliminated).

Group K: Rennes and Astana duked it out to see who would go through, and the French side won 2-0 and qualified for the first time ever to these knockouts, thanks to a brace by up-and-coming winger Ismaila Sarr. My condolences, Millership, it sucks to lose the opportunity to qualify on the very last match. Dynamo Kyiv lost at home against Jablonec (goal by Martin Dolezal).

Group L: BATE qualified after winning away against PAOK by 3-1 (goals by Skavysh, Signevich (penalty), Signevich again (not a penalty) and Prijovic). Vidi(oton) drew 2-2 with Chelsea (goals by Willian, Ampadu (own goal), Loic Nego and Giroud).

Edited by Quag15 on Dec 13th 2018 at 7:58:06 PM

The other half of the matches has just ended:

Group A: AEK Larnaca lost by 1-5 against Bayer Leverkusen (goals by Català, Kohr, Alario (penalty), Kohr again, Paulinho and Alario again (not a penalty), while Ludogorets drew 1-1 with Zürich (goals by Odey and Świerczok). With these results, Leverkusen top the group, while Zürich are second.

Group B: Celtic only had to not lose at home, but they lost 1-2 against Red Bull Salzburg (goals by Dabbur, Gulbrandsen, and a penalty by Ntcham). However, Red Bull Leipzig drew 1-1 against Rosenborg (goals by Matheus Cunha and Reginiussen), so, the Scottish side got their asses saved and are through in second place.

Group C: Slavia Prague won 2-0 against Zenit and are through in second place behind said Zenit (goals by Zmrhal and Stoch). Copenhagen lost at home against Bordeaux, due to a lovely back-heel by Jimmy Briand.

Group D: Dinamo Zagreb x Anderlecht ended in a goalless draw, while Spartak Trnava won 1-0 against Fenerbahçe (goal by Kubilay Yilmaz).

Group E: Arsenal won 1-0 against Qarabag (goal by Lacazette), while Sporting CP continue to have fun scoring goals under recently appointed coach Marcel Keizer with a 3-0 win over Vorskla Poltava (goals by Fredy Montero, Miguel Luis and Dallku (own goal).

Group F: Olympiacos had to win against Milan by 2-0 or 3-1, and, well... they won 3-1, so Milan is eliminated and the Greek side are through to the knockouts (goals by Abou Cissé, Cristian Zapata (own goal), Zapata redeeming himself one minute later, and Fortounis (penalty) killing Gattuso's (and the Milanisti's) hopes. Luxembourgish side Dudelange got their first (and last) point ever in their EL group stage debut with a goalless draw against Betis, which is a decent consolation for the fans, all things considered.

With everything wrapped up:

Europa League group stage winners (seeded for the round of 32 draw): Bayer Leverkusen, RB Salzburg, Zenit, Dinamo Zagreb, Arsenal, Betis, Villareal, Eintracht Frankfurt, Genk, Sevilla, Dynamo Kyiv, Chelsea.

Europa League group stage runners-up (unseeded for the draw): Zürich, Celtic, Slavia Prague, Fenerbahçe, Sporting CP, Olympiacos, Rapid Wien, Lazio, Malmö, Krasnodar, Rennes, BATE Borisov.

Edited by Quag15 on Dec 13th 2018 at 10:02:44 AM

A bit late (yet again, thanks to my country's deficient Internet infrastructure), but thw Copa Sudamericana got a new winner: Paranaense, after a 1-1 tie against Junior and defeating them in the penalty shootouts (4-3). This means River's rival for the next Recopa Sudamericana will be Paranaense.

Guillermo Barros Schelotto has announced his resignation as Boca coach following his team's defeat againt River in the Libertadores final. He's heading to parts unknown at the time being. Lastly, Jorge Sampaoli (the man who doomed the prospects of Sevilla and the Argentine national team) will now coach Santos from Brazil.

Well, all in all, it was a nice Euro season for us: passed the EL qualification having faced pretty strong opposition, and almost went into the playoffs. While I can complain about our players' mentality in the last two matches, I can't really fault their overall performance.

It's also a nice thing that getting into the group stages of a continental competition became a regular thing. This is something we can and should build on.

The semifinals for the Club World Cup are in:

• After defeating Chivas 3-2, Kashima Antlers will face Real Madrid, who today won 1-0 against Rayo Vallecano in yet another deplorable Liga performance.
• After defeating Esperánce 3-0, hosts Al-Ain will face River Plate.

River and Al-Ain will play 18/12, while Madrid and Kashima will play 19/12.

Wouldn't have expected the host team to go this far.

As far as I'm concerned, your side are already a mainstay in European comps.

Yesterday, we drew 1-1 away agaisnt Desportivo das Aves. Guedes (who we signed from them) scored first, but they equalized some minutes later. The pitch was so wet (as you can see from the gif of the goal) our possessive football became impossible to play as time and increasing rain went on, which favoured them (and they got close to defeating us).

Next week, I'll be scared (and we might very well lose the 5th place). We're gonna welcome Sporting CP. Their coach, Marcel Keizer, continues his honeymoon with the fans, after imposing another goalfest win, this time over Nacional da Madeira (5-2, keep in mind Nacional scored their goals first). 25 goals scored in just 6 competitive matches is insane (even if 9 of those goals happened in 2 Europa League matches).

In fact, next week, the weekend is gonna feature the current top 6 teams at the moment playing together: Porto (1st) vs Rio Ave (6th), Benfica vs Braga (4th vs 3rd), and us against Sporting (5th vs 2nd). Other teams (such as Belenenses SAD and Moreirense) will be paying attention to us and Rio Ave, since they want to have the same points as us or at least more than Rio Ave (both Belenenses and Moreirense have the same points as Rio Ave, and all three have only 3 less points than us).

Edited by Quag15 on Dec 16th 2018 at 11:36:31 AM