UEFA Champions League 07/08: Group Stages

foxtrot

foxtrot

Shoe bomber
24 December 2002
Glasgow, Scotland
Rangers FC
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FK Crvena Zvezda (0) 0-0 (1) Rangers FC

Rangers FC held FK Crvena Zvezda to a scoreless draw in Belgrade to progress to the UEFA Champions League group stage courtesy of their 1-0 first-leg win in Glasgow.

Rearguard action
The Scottish club survived an early scare before producing a solid defensive performance to take their place in Thursday's draw and deny the Serbian champions a first appearance in the UEFA Champions League proper.

Early chance
Backed by a capacity 50,000 crowd, 'Red Star' went out in search of a goal to level the tie and it almost arrived within two minutes. Uncharacteristically, Carlos Cuéllar misjudged a high ball which presented Igor Burzanović with a scoring opportunity from eight metres, but the Crvena Zvezda striker – who had missed the first leg through suspension – shot straight at Allan McGregor.

Home pressure
Dušan Andjelković should have broken the deadlock on 34 minutes when a loose ball fell to him deep inside the Rangers box, yet with the goal at his mercy the left-back lifted a shot harmlessly over. Milorad Kosanović's men were doing all the running with Rangers content to soak up the pressure and McGregor forced into action again just before half-time, blocking Andjelković's attempt at the expense of a corner.

Counterattack
Crvena Zvezda continued to enjoy the lion's share of possession after the break without creating clear-cut openings. Indeed, the best chance fell to Jean-Claude Darcheville at the other end on 57 minutes. The Rangers forward used his strength to wriggle away from his marker on the edge of the area but his strike failed to find the target.

Late rally
Buoyed by that effort, Lee McCulloch tried his luck and Ivan Randjelović had to turn his shot around the post, before home captain Ognjen Koroman prompted another good stop from McGregor with an attempt from just outside the box. In the closing minutes the home team pushed for a goal that would take the tie to extra time but Rangers held on, ensuring that Nacho Novo's solitary strike in Glasgow sent them into the group stage for the eighth time.
 
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Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

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Liverpool FC (5) 4-0 (0) Toulouse FC

Liverpool FC cruised into the UEFA Champions League group stage as last season's beaten finalists completed a 5-0 aggregate victory against Toulouse FC.

Beyond doubt
Leading 1-0 from the game in France two weeks ago, Liverpool scored on 18 minutes through Peter Crouch before Sami Hyypiä and Dirk Kuyt with two late goals put the result beyond doubt. The five-time European champions will find out their opponents in their fourth consecutive group stage campaign on Thursday; the following day Toulouse will be in the UEFA Cup first round draw for the first time in 20 years, after this unsuccessful end to their debut appearance at this level.

Early goal
The home side were missing Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher but Crouch was restored for his first start since the trip to Toulouse, in place of first-leg scorer Andriy Voronin, and Liverpool attacked from the off. John Arne Riise immediately tested Toulouse goalkeeper Nicolas Douchez with a free-kick. Crouch headed a 16th-minute corner off target but was soon on the scoresheet as he turned Kuyt's clever pass into the net.

Chances
Crouch went close again, shooting past the post and then heading over as Liverpool continued to dominate. Kuyt, selected ahead of Fernando Torres, also threatened with an effort from inside the box and the nearest Toulouse came was just before half-time when Johan Elmander cut out a Riise back-pass but the defender recovered to win back the ball.

Victory sealed
Within three minutes of the restart it was 2-0, a Yossi Benayoun corner being nodded in by Hyypiä. Liverpool were sailing through the tie and Kuyt provided still more attacking menace yet missed the target when set up by Crouch. The Dutchman was also denied by the crossbar after his shot had taken a touch off Mauro Cetto but he finally got his reward three minutes from time after a fine one-two with substitute Ryan Babel. Deep into stoppage time, Benayoun played him in for his second.
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

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Arsenal FC (5) 3-0 (0) AC Sparta Praha

Arsenal FC are safely into the UEFA Champions League group stage after former AC Sparta Praha player Tomáš Rosický helped end the hopes of his old club.

Advantage increased
Already leading the third qualifying round tie 2-0 from the first leg two weeks ago, Arsenal increased their advantage within seven minutes tonight with a smart finish from Rosický. Sparta more than held their own thereafter, but could find no way back into the game and substitute Cesc Fabregas and Eduardo da Silva increased the margin of the English side's aggregate success late on.

Rosický on target
With injury problems denying him defender Bacary Sagna, William Gallas and Emmanuel Eboué, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger was grateful for the fitness of centre-back Philippe Senderos after an ankle problem while Manuel Almunia continued in goal due to Jens Lehmann's achilles complaint. But the early action was at the other end and on seven minutes Justin Hoyte set away Theo Walcott, who moved through the Sparta defence and cut back for Rosický to sidefoot in.

Second goal
Robin van Persie threatened a second eight minutes later as he volleyed over Eduardo's cross, while Marek Kulič came close to equalising on the night but his shot deflected away from goal due to Hoyte's deflection. Jan Rezek then hit the ball into the side-netting but Arsenal's back line were seldom troubled. That continued after the break and there was only limited action in front of the Sparta goal. But Fabregas was brought on with 22 minutes left and near the end struck his second goal of the tie after some clever work on the left wing by Eduardo.

Eduardo strikes
The Croatian international then claimed a deserved goal of his own in the final minute with a volley from Denilson's cross. Arsenal, beaten finalists two seasons ago, can now look forward to their tenth straight group stage campaign after Thursday's draw. Sparta, meanwhile, will go into the UEFA Cup first round.
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

Slavia have done really well in that tie. I guess Ajax were all out attack when they lost the second goal.

The Celtic game was good to watch. The 2 penalties Spartak missed were woeful. Really lazy run ups and poorly struck.
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

BENFICA!

Tomorrow is the day!

:D
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

Fenerbahçe foil Anderlecht hopes !!


Anderlecht: (0) 0-2 (3) Fenerbahçe



Goals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RdOxsFECZg


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Fenerbahçe SK reached the group stage of the UEFA Champions League with a fine victory in Brussels that meant RSC Anderlecht missed out on a place in the competition proper for the first time in five seasons.
Comfortable win
Already leading 1-0 from the first leg of their third qualifying round tie in Istanbul a fortnight ago, Fenerbahçe ensured they would not fall at the same stage as last year thanks to goals from Serbian striker Mateja Kežman and Brazilian midfielder Alex which gave the Turkish champions a comfortable win against their Belgian counterparts.
Kežman opener
Anderlecht went into the game knowing they needed goals and their task was made all the more difficult just three minutes in after the home team failed to clear a corner and the unmarked Kežman was allowed to finish from close range. The Belgian side now needed to score at least three times and the situation looked as though it was about to worsen still when Alex De Souza had the ball in the net again, only for the referee to give Anderlecht a reprieve following an earlier foul by Kežman.
Anderlecht unfortunate
The home side rallied and were twice unfortunate not to level matters on the night. On 25 minutes Mbark Boussafa's free-kick from just outside the area cannoned back off the crossbar, and seven minutes later Jelle Van Damme was dealt the same fate after connecting with a header. Anderlecht continued to press forward as the second half got under way, but without overworking the Fenerbahçe defence.
Pareja error
With 17 minutes to go the Turkish outfit then put the tie beyond doubt as Alex was presented with the ball following Nicolas Pareja's mistake, running on to seal the home team's fate. Fenerbahçe now await the UEFA Champions League draw on Thursday while Anderlecht must be content with a place in the UEFA Cup first round.
©uefa.com

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Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

Spot the British team missing from Foxy?

haha.....................lazy penalties, at least we played a team, that team Crzveda or whatever they're called are mince.

Celtic should've murdered them thought, we missed absolute sitters throughout, fantastic game to watch.....................if your a neutral.


FD
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

fd1972uk said:
Spot the British team missing from Foxy?

haha.....................lazy penalties, at least we played a team, that team Crzveda or whatever they're called are mince.

Celtic should've murdered them thought, we missed absolute sitters throughout, fantastic game to watch.....................if your a neutral.


FD
Click to expand...

The report wasn't available when I was online. :lol:

Spot the conspiracy theory from FD.

Draw tonight at 17:00 UK/18:00 CET

The 4 pots for seeding are as follows:

Code: 
Pot 1                          coef.     Pot 2                          coef.
------------------------ --- -------     ------------------------ --- -------
AC Milan (TH)            Ita 133.808     Valencia ***             Esp  99.374
FC Barcelona             Esp 119.374     Olympique Lyon           Fra  95.706
Liverpool ***            Eng 112.618     FC Porto                 Por  89.107
Internazionale           Ita 107.808     Sevilla/AEK ***               87.374
Arsenal ***              Eng 104.618     PSV Eindhoven            Ned  81.995
Real Madrid              Esp 104.374     AS Roma                  Ita  78.808
Chelsea                  Eng  99.618     Benfica ***              Por  67.107
Manchester United        Eng  99.618     Werder Bremen ***        Ger  63.640

Pot 3                          coef.     Pot 4                          coef.
------------------------ --- -------     ------------------------ --- -------
Celtic ***               Sco  62.064     Glasgow Rangers **       Sco  47.064
Schalke 04               Ger  60.640     Shakhtar Donetsk **      Ukr  44.726
VfB Stuttgart            Ger  58.640     Besiktas **              Tur  43.791
Steaua Bucuresti **      Rom  55.255     Olympiakos Piraeus       Gre  42.415
CSKA Moscow              Rus  53.920     Dinamo Kiev ***          Ukr  38.726
Sporting CP Lisbon       Por  52.107     Fenerbahçe ***           Tur  36.791
Lazio Roma ***           Ita  51.808     Slavia Praha **          Cze  32.851
Olympique Marseille      Fra  51.706     Rosenborg BK **          Nor  31.509

**  = team started in 2nd qualification round
*** = team started in 3rd qualification round
(TH) = Title Holders
 
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Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

Special report for FD....

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Celtic FC (2) 1-1 (2) FC Spartak Moskva
AET - Celtic win 4-3 on penalties

Artur Boruc was the hero for Celtic FC as he saved from FC Spartak Moskva's Maxym Kalynychenko at the end of the penalty shoot-out to take the Scottish title-holders into the UEFA Champions League group stage.

Boruc save
In normal time Scott McDonald put the Scottish champions ahead with his first goal for the club after Roman Pavlyuchenko had missed a penalty, but the Russian striker equalised on the stroke of half-time to match the first-leg result in Moscow. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink struck an extra-time spot-kick against the crossbar, but he was among the scorers in the shoot-out before Boruc denied Kalynychenko to ensure victory.

Penalty miss
Both sides set out with adventurous 4-4-2 formations and the first clear cut opportunity fell to McDonald on 15 minutes; sent through on goal by Vennegoor of Hesselink, the Australian screwed his shot wide. Almost immediately Vladimir Bystrov broke and cut back invitingly for the onrushing Dmitri Torbinskiy only for Lee Naylor to clear off the line. Gary Caldwell inadvertently handled in the Celtic box on 26 minutes but although Pavlyuchenko sent Boruc the wrong way, his spot-kick bounced back off the post.

Goal apiece
It proved to be a costly miss as Celtic took the lead a minute later, Roman Shishkin slicing his clearance allowing McDonald to steer the ball past Stipe Pletikosa from eight metres. Right on the stroke of half-time Pavlyuchenko made amends for his earlier penalty miss, chesting down a corner at the far post before driving in the equaliser. Spartak began the second half strongly but failed to create any clear openings and instead the Scottish champions surged forward. Shunsuke Nakamura passed up three chances before Spartak defender Martin Stranzl was sent off in the 84th minute after denying Vennegoor of Hesselink a goalscoring opportunity.

Dramatic end
Substitute Kalynychenko almost won it in the second period of extra-time only to be denied by Boruc before Vennegoor of Hesselink struck his spot-kick against the bar with five minutes left to play after Radoslav Kováč handled. Boruc, however, came to his rescue in the shoot-out as he saved from Yegor Titov and Kalynychenko after Nakamura had missed for Celtic to ensure the Scottish champions, who lost to AC Milan in the first knockout round last season, would return to the UEFA Champions League.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dX8h1PGV03Q
 
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Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

The draw and Seville-AEK match is interesting for both celtic and rangers fans.

If Seville win, the groups dont change. However if AEK win, they are seeded below rangers, which means rangers move upto pot 3 and celtic move up to pot 2. Dont know how this figures with the draw today... It would be a little unfair if AEK went through and got into pot 2.


What a picture of TB!
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

I thought both teams are in pot 2 no matter what because of the postponment and the draw being made today.
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

with so many strong sides in pot 2 (valencia, lyon, sevilla(?), roma, werder) and in pot 3 (Schalke, Stuttgart, Sporting, lazio), i've got the feeling somebody in pot 1 will cry this evening.
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

In co-efficiant order (except AEK):

Pot 1:
AC Milan (ITA)
FC Barcelona (ESP)
Liverpool FC (ENG)
FC Internazionale Milano (ITA)
Arsenal FC (ENG)
Real Madrid CF (ESP)
Chelsea FC (ENG)
Manchester United FC (ENG)


Pot 2:
Valencia CF (ESP)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
FC Porto (POR)
Sevilla FC (ESP) / AEK Athens FC (GRE)
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
AS Roma (ITA)
SL Benfica (POR)
Werder Bremen (GER)


Pot 3:
Celtic FC (SCO)
FC Schalke 04 (GER)
VfB Stuttgart (GER)
FC Steaua Bucureşti (ROU)
PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS)
Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)
S.S. Lazio (ITA)
Olympique de Marseille (FRA)


Pot 4:
Rangers FC (SCO)
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Beşiktaş JK (TUR)
Olympiacos CFP (GRE)
FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR)
SK Slavia Praha (CZE)
Rosenborg BK (NOR)



One from each pot into the group stages and teams from the same country cant be in the same group.

AEK have a co-efficient below Rangers in pot 4, if AEK qualify, all teams below seville (currently pot 2) should move up one and AEK would go into pot 4. Meaning Gers in pot 3 and Celtic in pot 2, but i think uefa care counting on seville to do the job.

It could be solved with multiple teams on the balls:
So (pot2)Seville/Celtic, (pot3)Celtic/Rangers and (pot4)Rangers/AEK.
 
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Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

Inter
Benfica
Celtic
Rosenborg

That might be okay. Still can't see Celtic getting out of their group this time.
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

Dont fancy any of the english teams, despite good results against Man-U last year. With 4 engligh teams the chances are high.


With the green tinted specs on I'd like:

Inter
Benfica, Porto or PSV
Rosenborg or Prague

knowing our luck it'll be:

Chelsea
Sevilla
Fener


We'll know in 4H:45M
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

Man Utd
Benfica
Celtic
Fenerbahçe

...and that's almost good for me! :mad:
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

foxtrot said:
Special report for FD....
Click to expand...


:mrgreen: LOL............ta mate.

Have to admit the group stages have all the best teams available IMO that is possible.

Seems every favourite qualified and should make for a very exciting CL campaign.

Still can't believe 4 teams from England are seeded, feckin farcical.



FD
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

fd1972uk said:
:mrgreen: LOL............ta mate.

Have to admit the group stages have all the best teams available IMO that is possible.

Seems every favourite qualified and should make for a very exciting CL campaign.

Still can't believe 4 teams from England are seeded, feckin farcical.



FD
Click to expand...

I think Inter's presence in the top seeds is far more farcical.

Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have all either won the thing recently, or reached the final/semi finals.
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

What was Inter and Valencia's punishment for the fight after their game last year?

Do they play the first few games in front of no crowd? Or just a fine?
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

Peter Eyres said:
I think Inter's presence in the top seeds is far more farcical.

Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have all either won the thing recently, or reached the final/semi finals.
Click to expand...

actually not :roll:

the only english club who won it in the last 7 years is liverpool.

chelsea sure did more than inter in the past 5 years (3 semifinals)

but arsenal and manchester didn't

the only good results arsenal achieved in the past 5 years are a final and a quarter-final

man utd just reached 1 semi-final (still talking about the last 5 years)

inter reached the semi-final once and the quarter-final twice.

i'd say numbers tell it all :)


What was Inter and Valencia's punishment for the fight after their game last year?
Click to expand...

valencia won't be able to line up marchena (don't remember for how many matches)

talking about inter, maicon, burdisso and cordoba won't be able to play for the group stage (if i do remember well).
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

lo zio said:
with so many strong sides in pot 2 (valencia, lyon, sevilla(?), roma, werder) and in pot 3 (Schalke, Stuttgart, Sporting, lazio), i've got the feeling somebody in pot 1 will cry this evening.
Click to expand...

It proves nowadays there's no weaker teams playing football! ;)
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

I'm not happy with Marseille's draw. I wanted to play new teams even if we finish last.
Liverpool and Porto, sorry, but we already know them... and they already know us :(.
 
Re: UEFA Champions League 07/08: Third Qualifying Round

Tuta, I think 2nd is possible if OM can get some form. Get in Deschamps ASAP! :)
 
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