European Leagues Thread 2012/2013

[Winston Biscuit]

Both are playing teams next week who also have something to play for

[Simmops]

Pray for Atletico

[Winston Biscuit]

AC Milan kick off in 5 minutes

Also I noticed all the teams in the French league kick off at the same time for the final 2 rounds of games rather than just on the final day.

[Winston Biscuit]

Saint-Etienne have an english goalkeeper (20 year old Etienne Green from Colchester) playing for them tonight. Just pulled off a great save against Lille

[Sanguine]

Saint-Etienne have an english goalkeeper (20 year old Etienne Green from Colchester) playing for them tonight. Just pulled off a great save against Lille

I feel like the Saint-Etienne scout might be a bit workshy.

Napoli's win today means that if Milan avoid defeat at home to Cagliari (currently 0-0 after an hour) then CL qualification is out of Juventus' hands heading into the final round of matches. That being said, Milan go to Atalanta for their final game. Both Juventus (at Bologna) and Napoli (home to Verona) will expect to win theirs.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Eurgh, Milan can only manage a 0-0 with Cagliari.

[Winston Biscuit]

All at the top of Ligue 1 winning apart from Lille too

[Sanguine]

Well, as fans we can't have too many complaints this season.

Champions League race goes down to the final day in both the Premier League (2 from 3) and Serie A (technically 3 from 4, although Atalanta's goal difference should see them qualify even if they lose to Milan).

La Liga title will be decided on the final day. A draw at Valladolid will be enough for Atletico unless Real beat Villareal by three goals or more, in which case they'd need a win. Villareal at least have something to play for - they need a better result than Betis (who go to Celta Vigo) to sneak into the second Europa league spot.

Ligue 1 also goes to the final day and will be decided away from home. Monaco are at Lens and need to win whilst hoping Angers beat Lille, and Brest beat PSG. PSG can win the league with a victory if Lille fail to win, and a draw would be enough if Lille lose. At the bottom, six (6, SIX) teams can still be sucked into the relegation play-off. Reims are in 13th on 42 points, with Nantes in 18th on 41. Brest are one of them and play PSG, so may need to rely on Lorient or Nantes below them losing.

In Belgium, Mechelen came 8th in the league but have hit a patch of form and qualified for the Europa League play-off round. Similarly Genk came 4th but got the better of Antwerp and Anderlecht to make the Champions League play-offs.

[Sanguine]

Edit: actually, Atalanta are safe, as Serie A splits teams first by head-to-head, so they can't finish behind Juventus.

[Winston Biscuit]

4 of the 5 lowest average age teams over the season in the 'big 5 leagues' are in France.

Saint-Etienne have the lowest having got rid of high earners and gone with youngsters after suffering financially due to Covid

The one non French team are AC Milan. Good effort with Ibrahimovic in there.

[Stranded]

Well, as fans we can't have too many complaints this season.

Champions League race goes down to the final day in both the Premier League (2 from 3) and Serie A (technically 3 from 4, although Atalanta's goal difference should see them qualify even if they lose to Milan).

La Liga title will be decided on the final day. A draw at Valladolid will be enough for Atletico unless Real beat Villareal by three goals or more, in which case they'd need a win. Villareal at least have something to play for - they need a better result than Betis (who go to Celta Vigo) to sneak into the second Europa league spot.

Ligue 1 also goes to the final day and will be decided away from home. Monaco are at Lens and need to win whilst hoping Angers beat Lille, and Brest beat PSG. PSG can win the league with a victory if Lille fail to win, and a draw would be enough if Lille lose. At the bottom, six (6, SIX) teams can still be sucked into the relegation play-off. Reims are in 13th on 42 points, with Nantes in 18th on 41. Brest are one of them and play PSG, so may need to rely on Lorient or Nantes below them losing.

In Belgium, Mechelen came 8th in the league but have hit a patch of form and qualified for the Europa League play-off round. Similarly Genk came 4th but got the better of Antwerp and Anderlecht to make the Champions League play-offs.

In Spain, teams on the same points are split by head to head not GD. So if Real win and Atletico draw, it is Real's title.

[Franchise FC]

Well, as fans we can't have too many complaints this season.

Champions League race goes down to the final day in both the Premier League (2 from 3) and Serie A (technically 3 from 4, although Atalanta's goal difference should see them qualify even if they lose to Milan).

La Liga title will be decided on the final day. A draw at Valladolid will be enough for Atletico unless Real beat Villareal by three goals or more, in which case they'd need a win. Villareal at least have something to play for - they need a better result than Betis (who go to Celta Vigo) to sneak into the second Europa league spot.

Ligue 1 also goes to the final day and will be decided away from home. Monaco are at Lens and need to win whilst hoping Angers beat Lille, and Brest beat PSG. PSG can win the league with a victory if Lille fail to win, and a draw would be enough if Lille lose. At the bottom, six (6, SIX) teams can still be sucked into the relegation play-off. Reims are in 13th on 42 points, with Nantes in 18th on 41. Brest are one of them and play PSG, so may need to rely on Lorient or Nantes below them losing.

In Belgium, Mechelen came 8th in the league but have hit a patch of form and qualified for the Europa League play-off round. Similarly Genk came 4th but got the better of Antwerp and Anderlecht to make the Champions League play-offs.

In Spain, teams on the same points are split by head to head not GD. So if Real win and Atletico draw, it is Real's title.

And if that doesn’t happen Florentine Perez will pass a law giving the title to Real anyway as they ‘deserve’ it

[Sanguine]

Not 18 until the end of June, and Jude Bellingham has now played more games for Dortmund (45) than he did for Birmingham (44).

[Orion1871]

Pray for Atletico

Hope not. Terribly dull defensive side.

Shame Sevilla fell out of the race a couple of weeks ago.

[NathStPaul]

They are joint second highest scorers in La Liga with Real Madrid. DeFeNsIvE LOLZ!

[Sanguine]

Pray for Atletico

Hope not. Terribly dull defensive side.

That's an opinion borrowed from prior seasons. Suarez, Llorente and Felix have been brilliant this season.

[Orion1871]

They are joint second highest scorers in La Liga with Real Madrid. DeFeNsIvE LOLZ!

My mistake, you're right they are a free flowing attacking team reminiscent of the 1970 Brazil side. You can be dreadfully dull and still score goals. Atleti merely have better finishers than the other two.

Real Madrid have one consistent finisher in Benzema. The rest of their attackers are so poor that Casemiro is their second highest scorer.

For those 65 goals Real Madrid have had 739 shots compared to 573 from Atletico.

[NathStPaul]

Nobody said they were an attacking team, just pointing out they are not incredibly dull which is backed up by facts. Why dig a hole for yourself? Just admit you are wrong and move on.

[Orion1871]

Pray for Atletico

Hope not. Terribly dull defensive side.

That's an opinion borrowed from prior seasons. Suarez, Llorente and Felix have been brilliant this season.

They have, and like I said in the above post Atleti have better finishers than Barca (excluding Messi) and Madrid (excluding Benzema).

If they win it they will deserve it and it will be good to break the dominance of Barca and Madrid again, although it would have been more fun if Sevilla had done it.

[Hendo]

Nobody said they were an attacking team, just pointing out they are not incredibly dull which is backed up by facts. Why dig a hole for yourself? Just admit you are wrong and move on.

Have you read the rest of his posts? The Liverpool thread around the time of the CL match-up v Real Madrid is a particular highlight.