You might remember Sterling as the only guy who missed in the 14-13 shootout win earlier this season. Either he didn't have the confidence to take it, or Rodgers didn't want him to take one.PedroSpecialK said:To be fair to him, he at least stepped up, though I would have preferred Touré. Where the hell was Sterling?
SoxFanInCali said:You might remember Sterling as the only guy who missed in the 14-13 shootout win earlier this season. Either he didn't have the confidence to take it, or Rodgers didn't want him to take one.
"[Dejan] was happy [to take a penalty]," said Rodgers. "All the five penalty takers who opted to and wanted to take a penalty were all confident."
It looks like the Champions League berth has had its desired effect. Inter and Torino are mid-table sides and Fiorentina has an outside chance of finishing in the top three. Winning Europa is their only realistic chance of entering the competition. Napoli and Roma will likely qualify via the traditional method.Titans Bastard said:First half stoppage time goals for Torino and Roma that give both a one-goal lead and provide protection in the form of an equal number of away goals as their opponents. Good night for the Italians so far. Usually Serie A tanks in the Europa.
Bailey10 said:[SIZE=12pt]Draw:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Everton (ENG) v Dynamo Kiev (UKR)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (UKR) v Ajax (NED)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS) v Torino (ITA)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]VfL Wolfsburg (GER) v Inter Milan (ITA)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Villarreal (ESP) v Sevilla (ESP)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Napoli (ITA) v Dinamo Moscow (RUS) [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Club Brugge (BEL) v Besiktas (TUR)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Fiorentina (ITA) v Roma (ITA)[/SIZE]
Interesting that UEFA took the decision to purposely keep Russian and Ukranian teams apart in the draw. I wonder how they will handle it if those 4 teams keep advancing in the tournament. For instance, could you purposely keep teams apart in a semifinal? That would raise serious questions about competitive balance.
Spacemans Bong said:Someone in Het Legioen also throw a banana on the pitch suspiciously close to Gervinho. I've read claims that bananas in the crowd is a bit of a Feyenoord thing, but a lot of people aren't buying it. Considering their form for chants I don't think I am either.
The ref's having a bit of a shocker though. The red was fair, but he's definitely been giving calls Roma's way.
fletcherpost said:Everton down a goal at home to Kiev. They're not playing too well. A fair amount of hoofing. Their passing game is a little sedate and predictable.
Titans Bastard said:Zenit 2-0 Torino
Dnipro 1-0 Ajax
Wolfsburg 3-1 Inter
Brugge 2-1 Besiktas
What can be said? The home teams took care of business, but all four losers still have a fighting chance at home. Big win for Wolfsburg. If they can make a deep run in the Europa and things break right in the Champions League, Germany could overtake England in the coefficient rankings.
Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
That seems quite likely, if not this year then next.
The bigger story might be whether England maintains its lead over Italy in the next 2-3 years. If Italy sends multiple teams deep into the Europe League this year and Juventus advances and accumulates a few more points in the Champions League, they are going to run up the score on England for 14-15 pretty good. And then over the next two years nearly 11 points of England's current 14.3 point cushion (amassed during 10-11 and 11-12) will fall out of the rankings. Things could get very close and the race for top four in the EPL could turn into the race for top three, at least for a season or two.
Titans Bastard said:
I think Serie A overtaking the EPL is a bit farfetched. You have to assume that, over the next two years, English clubs are going to fare as poorly as they have this season and that Italian clubs will continue to do really well in the Europa. I'm not deeply in tune with the latest feelings in Italy, but have Serie A clubs suddenly decided to take the Europa seriously? Because historically they really haven't and they've done quite poorly in that competition as a result, which is why they lag so far behind Spain, England, and Germany in the rankings right now.
I mean, I understand the math that you're looking at, but I have a hard time imagining Italy outperforming England for three consecutive seasons.
fletcherpost said:1-1 at Goodison after Naismith equalized. Now they've got Kone on, they're giving it a good go but sort of lack some finesse. I'd like to see Lukaku get more involved. His link up play hasn't been great.
Everton win 2-1. Lukaku scores with a pen down the middle. Keeper almost got a toe to it. There's something uncomfortable about watching Everton. It's hard to quite put one's finger on it. I don't like seeing players like Barkley have quiet games and under perform. Barry made a lot of schoolboy mistakes too.
I'm going to be in Rome in a couple of weeks, the day Roma is playing at home to Napoli.Titans Bastard said:Roma lost 3-0 to Fiorentina at the Olimpico and apparently it's getting ugly between Roma fans and the players. See this Twitter feed.
It was a verrrry lucky bounce, after a poor finish from Caligiuri and another (40th scorer point in all matches this season!) assist from De Bruyne.Titans Bastard said:Caligiuri scores. It's the Shot Heard Round...Wolfsburg. The Germans are now up 4-1 on aggregate over Inter. If Wolfsburg can make a deep run in the Europa and Bayern do well in the CL, the Bundesliga has a shot at dislodging the EPL at #2 in the coefficients this year.
Schnerres said:It was a verrrry lucky bounce, after a poor finish from Caligiuri and another (40th scorer point in all matches this season!) assist from De Bruyne.
Titans Bastard said:Napoli, Fiorentina, Sevilla, and Dnipro on to the semifinals. UEFA will be relieved that the results of the quarterfinals removed the possibility of a Russian and Ukrainian club being drawn together at some point.
The end of this game likely sets off the start of the manager merry-go-round. A chance that things wait on Serie A wrapping up, but probably not. Unai Emery is the last name manager likely to leave his club, but he supposedly won't talk to new clubs until after this game and several clubs are waiting on him to see how things shake out before making their hires.Titans Bastard said:Dnipro vs. Sevilla is kicking off shortly in Warsaw.
Lineups here:
http://us.soccerway.com/matches/2015/05/27/europe/uefa-cup/fc-dnipro-dnipropetrovsk/sevilla-futbol-club/1700347/?ICID=HP_MS_02_01