CL: Group C

[Oliver_Kahn]

Discuss the group here, who will qualify, who will be a major upset, etc. You may also post your thoughts on the matches, as well as any other news related to this group.

And please vote for the 2 teams that will qualify (you can vote for more than 1 team).

[Vargas_4]

Walk in the park for Barcelona. Only Sporting show some slight chances of causing them problems but will surely get away with a lot of points here.

Sporting should be able to obtain that 2nd CL ticket. Out of the remaining 3, they seem to be the one with more experience and more fight within them.

Shaktar will obtain their UEFA Cup ticket.

[Dragoen]

Barca will top the group easy.

The second spot will be a surprise. I think Basel will take it because Shaktar and Sporting will underestimate them too much.

[Dellas]

For sure Barca will progress...I guess Sporting will take spot 2.

[Evertonscouser]

I'm going for Barca and Sporting. Wouldn't be surprised if both teams dropped points to Basel, who I believe will take the Uefa spot.

[RunX]

Barcelona and shakhtar

[Oliver_Kahn]

Originally Posted by Dragoen

Barca will top the group easy.

The second spot will be a surprise. I think Basel will take it because Shaktar and Sporting will underestimate them too much.

They can afford to underestimate Basel, because, quite frankly, they are absolute shit.

Guimarães owned Basel in Switzerland, the only reason they qualified to the CL, was because Guimarães were robbed in both matches: 1 clear penalty not given in Portugal and 1 clean goal called for offside in Switzerland. (even Platini admitted that the refs screwed Guimarães, and for a French bastard to give any credit to the Portuguese, it's because something serious happened)

Sporting beat Basel 5-0 on aggregate in Uefa Cup last season and their team is stronger now (one can argue that they are the top favorites to win the Portuguese league), so I can't see Basel even challenging them.

Shaktar should get a draw away and crush Basel at home, so they will finish in 3rd place.

Basel to finish 4th with a maximum of 2 pts.

[kyan]

Barcelona to qualify in first, then one of Shakhtar or Sporting to join them.

Shakhtar have a lot of money and generally seem to have a few good unknown Brazilians so could cause problems...

[BOBOGOL]

Originally Posted by Oliver_Kahn

They can afford to underestimate Basel, because, quite frankly, they are absolute shit.

Guimarães owned Basel in Switzerland, the only reason they qualified to the CL, was because Guimarães were robbed in both matches: 1 clear penalty not given in Portugal and 1 clean goal called for offside in Switzerland. (even Platini admitted that the refs screwed Guimarães, and for a French bastard to give any credit to the Portuguese, it's because something serious happened)

Sporting beat Basel 5-0 on aggregate in Uefa Cup last season and their team is stronger now (one can argue that they are the top favorites to win the Portuguese league), so I can't see Basel even challenging them.

Shaktar should get a draw away and crush Basel at home, so they will finish in 3rd place.

Basel to finish 4th with a maximum of 2 pts.

^What an absolute piece of shit

I don't agree with this.
Basel are not push-overs...they qualified for the Champions League for a reason...beating Guimaraes along the way...you can say that they should have won and that it wasn't fair and BLA BLA BLA...the fact is Basel qualified over both legs - so they are better than GUIMARAES

FC Basel are Swiss Champions, and in the CL have been a very formidable side even against the stiffest opposition.

Platini can say whatever the f*ck he wants...the fact is, he didn't ref the match, so it's not down to him

If a team you like lost...stop whining about it and just accept it. What's wrong with sportsmanship and congratulating the winners?


Sporting and Barcelona to top the group with Basel to the UEFA Cup.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Originally Posted by BOBOGOL

I don't agree with this.
Basel are not push-overs...they qualified for the Champions League for a reason...beating Guimaraes along the way...you can say that they should have won and that it wasn't fair and BLA BLA BLA...the fact is Basel qualified over both legs - so they are better than GUIMARAES

You surely didn't watch the matches or you wouldn't say that.

Guimarães were better than Basel in Switzerland, that's a fact. Even if you didn't watch the match, you can get that idea from the match facts -- more shots, more possession, more goalscoring chances.

Basel struggled to beat Guimarães who aren't even a top 5 team in Portugal atm, that for me, says it all.

And the fact that they won over both legs means absolutely nothing to me, because I specified in my previous post, part which you completely ignored, that Guimarães were robbed in both legs, with 2 very dodgy calls against:

1 clear penalty not given in Portugal and 1 clean goal called for offside in Switzerland.

If you want some video footage though, I would be more than happy to provide you with it:

bogey call number 1
V. Guimarães 0-0 Basileia - Sapo Vídeos
(watch at 1.14 and 2.09)

bogey call number 2


and video:
Golo anulado - FC Basel 2-1 Vit. Guimarães - Sapo Vídeos


Mate, even the referee of the match apologized for his mistake. What more do you want?

Originally Posted by BOBOGOL

FC Basel are Swiss Champions, and in the CL have been a very formidable side even against the stiffest opposition.

really? They didn't even qualify for the 2 previous seasons! And this season they qualified due to 2 referee mistakes.. some formidable side you got there

Originally Posted by BOBOGOL

Platini can say whatever the f*ck he wants...the fact is, he didn't ref the match, so it's not down to him

that comment was absolutely ridiculous.

The President of Uefa (regardless if he is a twat or not, and be sure that I hate Platini more than anyone else on this forum) admitted that one of his referees made a terrible mistake which cost Guimarães the win.

When was the last time you heard anyone important criticizing the refs?? Even at the Euro, there were some ridiculous calls by some refs but the Uefa committee always backed them up with even more ridiculous explanations as to why the refs were correct.

Originally Posted by BOBOGOL

If a team you like lost...stop whining about it and just accept it. What's wrong with sportsmanship and congratulating the winners?

that's where you're wrong mate, I don't like Guimarães, far from it. Their coach pisses me off big time, one of the most arrogant managers (and with no reason) in Europe and their board are constituted by a bunch of retards who decided to join forces with Benfica to kick Porto out of the CL.

So atm I hate Guimarães. Answering your question now, I won't congratulate the "winners", because:
1. Guimarães were the better side over both legs
2. Basel won due to 2 bogey calls in their favor
3. Everyone who saw the match admitted Guimarães were robbed and deserved to be in the CL

Originally Posted by BOBOGOL

Sporting and Barcelona to top the group with Basel to the UEFA Cup.

We'll see about that.

[BOBOGOL]

Originally Posted by Oliver_Kahn

Guimarães were better than Basel in Switzerland, that's a fact. Even if you didn't watch the match, you can get that idea from the match facts -- more shots, more possession, more goalscoring chances.

It's not about how much of the ball you get...it's about how you use it. It's all fine and dandy if you have all the chances, but they don't count for anything if you can't convert it.

Basel struggled to beat Guimarães who aren't even a top 5 team in Portugal atm, that for me, says it all.

The fact remains. There was only one winner: The better team: FC Basel. How can you compare the Portuguese League with the Swiss? They are seeded higher than Switzerland's association for heavan's sake...they get allocated more UEFA places...EVER THINK ABOUT THAT?

And the fact that they won over both legs means absolutely nothing to me

Yes but to the 6 billion other football fans on this beautiful Earth...that part is kinda important.

1 clear penalty not given in Portugal and 1 clean goal called for offside in Switzerland.

Well if they had so many goal scoring opportunities, they shouldnt have relied on penalty appeals to score.

really? They didn't even qualify for the 2 previous seasons!

and Guimaraes has?

Mate, even the referee of the match apologized for his mistake. What more do you want?

Mate, I'm a die-hard Italy fan...so can you imagine how angry I was at the bullshit refereeing of the 2002 World Cup. FIFA apologized and the ref said he made bad mistakes...but that doesn't erase the fact that Italy still lost to S. Korea with refereeing errors. "Sorry. Anyway, moving on..."

When was the last time you heard anyone important criticizing the refs??

Ermm, let's see, the last World Cup maybe?

Even at the Euro, there were some ridiculous calls by some refs but the Uefa committee always backed them up with even more ridiculous explanations as to why the refs were correct.

Not with Italy, everyone apologized to Luca Toni regarding his incorrectly offsided goal

I hate Guimarães

And you're advocating for them because...

1. Guimarães were the better side over both legs

The better side lost in 180 minutes of football?

[Oliver_Kahn]

Originally Posted by BOBOGOL

It's not about how much of the ball you get...it's about how you use it. It's all fine and dandy if you have all the chances, but they don't count for anything if you can't convert it.

The thing is, they converted the chances but the goals were wrongly called for offside....

Originally Posted by BOBOGOL

The fact remains. There was only one winner: The better team: FC Basel. How can you compare the Portuguese League with the Swiss? They are seeded higher than Switzerland's association for heavan's sake...they get allocated more UEFA places...EVER THINK ABOUT THAT?

You totally missed the point.
I won't bother explaining it again, but I'll just leave this thought: "If the «Swiss champions» can't beat the 5th best team in Portugal then something is very wrong".

Originally Posted by BOBOGOL

Yes but to the 6 billion other football fans on this beautiful Earth...that part is kinda important.

And again you completely ignore the relevant part of my post..... I'll specify it for you, one last time:

because I specified in my previous post, part which you completely ignored, that Guimarães were robbed in both legs, with 2 very dodgy calls against

Originally Posted by BOBOGOL

Well if they had so many goal scoring opportunities, they shouldnt have relied on penalty appeals to score.

a) a penalty is when a goalscoring chance is denied by a foul, meaning if the foul didn't occur, a goal would have been very likely to happen
b) penalties are a part of the game
c) they didn't rely on penalty appeals, they scored a clean goal which was wrongly called for offside.

Originally Posted by BOBOGOL

and Guimaraes has?

As I said, Guimarães are only the 5th best team in Portugal, they got relegated 3 seasons ago as well.
If anything, you just proved my point that the all mighty Basel can't beat a crap side like Guimarães.

Originally Posted by BOBOGOL

Mate, I'm a die-hard Italy fan...so can you imagine how angry I was at the bullshit refereeing of the 2002 World Cup. FIFA apologized and the ref said he made bad mistakes...but that doesn't erase the fact that Italy still lost to S. Korea with refereeing errors. "Sorry. Anyway, moving on..."

And again you missed the point.
When I mentioned Platini's was for you to see that Guimarães were robbed. That's what I've been saying all along, but you fail to see this for some reason, even though I've presented you with footage of the incidents which clear show that the refs fucked Guimarães.

Originally Posted by BOBOGOL

Ermm, let's see, the last World Cup maybe?

that was 2 years ago. Your point being? also, I bet my car that Blatter (Fifa President) didn't come out and say that Italy got screwed by the ref, which wasn't the case here, as Platini (Uefa President) came out and said the ref fucked Guimarães.

Originally Posted by BOBOGOL

Not with Italy, everyone apologized to Luca Toni regarding his incorrectly offsided goal

not really:

According to reports, UEFA will defend the decision to disallow Luca Toni’s goal against Romania.

FIGC President Giancarlo Abete asked for an apology from the officials who had been so quick to back Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s controversial strike against Italy.

Instead, it is suggested from sources within UEFA that referee Tom Henning Ovrebo was right to rule out Toni’s header.

Although the Bayern Munich striker was almost two yards onside, they insist the flag was raised for Alessandro Del Piero’s active position.

This too is a controversial assertion, as replays seem to show Del Piero was level with Paul Constantin Codrea.

It also clashes with AIA (Italian Referees Association) President Cesare Gussoni, who made it clear he was not happy with the decision.

“Toni’s goal was valid and the referee was not up to the standard of the match.”

Unlike the Van Nistelrooy incident and the contested penalty awarded to Austria against Poland, UEFA have not yet come out with an official verdict.

channel4.com - Football Italia

Originally Posted by BOBOGOL

And you're advocating for them because...

Because once again a Portuguese team gets fucked over by referee mistakes?

Originally Posted by BOBOGOL

The better side lost in 180 minutes of football?

YES.
Guimarães played better in both matches, had more goalscoring chances, more shots, more possession, even more fucking corners, your keeper got more saves and the teams scored the same number of goals (though one was wrongly called for offside)
Jesus Christ, what's so hard to understand?



but whatever, I'm done with this. If you don't want to see what really happened, then don't. but you will definitely see Basel get crushed because that team is abysmal.
over and out.