Oh hi! It's me, the JV squad. Did you miss me? I bet you will once you check out the Freshman team (Conference League). Hey, where's Tottenham?!?
R16 gets underway
TIL that the format for UEL has changed:
Today's matchups with home team listed first (these are also the clubs that dropped down from UCL, I think):
12:45pm EST
Barca vs. Napoli
Dortmund vs. Rangers
Sheriff vs. Braga
Zenit vs. Betis
3pm EST
Atalanta vs. Olympiakos
Porto vs. Lazio
RBL vs. Sociedad
Sevilla vs. Zagreb
This is all academic since Sevilla has already won the next 24 iterations of the UEL tournament but let's get into this anyway! What immediately jumped out at me was that out of the 4 Spanish clubs (Barca, Betis, Sociedad, and Sevilla) and the 3 Serie A clubs (Napoli, Atalanta, and Lazio) that are in this group of 24, none of them are guaranteed to make it through to the R16 as UEL group winners. All of those clubs are also having relatively good seasons too--the Spanish sides are currently 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th, and the Italian sides are currently 3rd, 5th, and 6th in their respective tables. I'm not sure if that's just a product of the new format, or if there's something to read into that. Compare that to Ligue 1 where Lyon (7th) and Monaco (6th) are already through, but there are no other clubs in the 24, and the Bundesliga where Frankfurt (midtable) and Leverkusen (3rd) are already through and Dortmund (2nd) and RBL (4th) are in this playoff round. The only other similar note of interest is that Porto sit 1st and Braga sit 4th in Portugal.
Nevermind, I'm an idiot and the lineup has already been confirmed since it's a 12:45pm EST kickoff:
MATS
Alba-Garcia-Pique-Mingueza
Pedri-Nico-FDJ
Torres-Auba-Adama
Big takeaways here are that Xavi probably doesn't think that highly of Dest, or at least wants more defensive stability from RB from Mingueza. Might not read into it quite as much since Alba will certainly push up and Mingueza will need to stay home for balance. Busi getting a rest is nice. Will be super interested to see how Nico and FDJ are positioned, or if they're fairly fluid. Big start for Auba here over Gavi, Dembele, and Lord Martin. The entire frontline was acquired in January. Araujo didn't make the bench--hopefully they're just giving him extra rest since he'll be absolutely needed this weekend with Pique out.
Napoli are formidable up front with Osimhen at striker, Insigne at LW, Zielinski the Auto Parts King at AMF, and Elmas at RW. They're also stout down the middle with Anguissa and Ruiz in a double pivot and Koulibaly anchoring the back at CB. They'll likely lineup in a 4-2-3-1 and they're young all over the pitch. I wonder if that was one reason why Xavi is starting Busi on the bench. Should be a fun one, and I'm expecting a wild 2-2 draw.
TIL that the format for UEL has changed:
So there you have it. TBH, I think this is a terrific format. It rewards the UEL group winners and has yielded some darn good matchups in this round. UEL group winners were: Lyon, Monaco, Spartak, Frankfurt, Galatasaray, Red Star Belgrade, Neverlusen Leverkusen, and WHU. Pretty awesome to see fairly historic clubs in Galatasaray and Belgrade returning to some prominence. I played against a lot of club teams growing up that had Spartak in the name somewhere.The UEFA Europa League knockout round play-offs have been introduced for the first time this season. There are 16 teams involved: the eight runners-up from the UEFA Europa League group stage and the eight third-placed teams from the UEFA Champions League group stage.
Ties are played over two legs and will conclude on Thursday 24 February; the away goals rule has been abolished. The eight winners advance to the round of 16 draw on Friday 25 February (the eight group winners have already qualified for this); the eight play-off losers will no longer be involved in 2021/22 European competition.
Today's matchups with home team listed first (these are also the clubs that dropped down from UCL, I think):
12:45pm EST
Barca vs. Napoli
Dortmund vs. Rangers
Sheriff vs. Braga
Zenit vs. Betis
3pm EST
Atalanta vs. Olympiakos
Porto vs. Lazio
RBL vs. Sociedad
Sevilla vs. Zagreb
This is all academic since Sevilla has already won the next 24 iterations of the UEL tournament but let's get into this anyway! What immediately jumped out at me was that out of the 4 Spanish clubs (Barca, Betis, Sociedad, and Sevilla) and the 3 Serie A clubs (Napoli, Atalanta, and Lazio) that are in this group of 24, none of them are guaranteed to make it through to the R16 as UEL group winners. All of those clubs are also having relatively good seasons too--the Spanish sides are currently 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th, and the Italian sides are currently 3rd, 5th, and 6th in their respective tables. I'm not sure if that's just a product of the new format, or if there's something to read into that. Compare that to Ligue 1 where Lyon (7th) and Monaco (6th) are already through, but there are no other clubs in the 24, and the Bundesliga where Frankfurt (midtable) and Leverkusen (3rd) are already through and Dortmund (2nd) and RBL (4th) are in this playoff round. The only other similar note of interest is that Porto sit 1st and Braga sit 4th in Portugal.
For Barca, this match is going to be a big challenge as Xavi has almost no one to play in defense. Araujo is questionable with a calf injury he picked up against Espanyol, and Dani Alves was left off the UEL squad list (pretty puzzling TBH). Umtiti and Lenglet are injured, so the backline is likely to be Alba-Garcia-Pique-Mingueza/Dest. Garcia has looked pretty raw this year, but unless Araujo is fit or Mingueza moves inside to CB, he's going to play. If Mingueza moves inside (his initial position before being tried at FB with decent success IIRC), that would allow Xavi to start both him and Dest if that's what he wants. I thought Pique was suspended as well, but I think that's for the next La Liga match. In that match, it'll likely be Garcia-Mingueza at CB (gulp!), although I had a funny feeling that Xavi may drop FDJ into that spot as well. Get well soon Ronald! Xavi will have pretty much everyone else available with only Memphis as a potential starter who may return. Up front, we're likely to see Torres and Adama, and we'll almost certainly see Pedri, FDJ, and Busi in the middle. That would leave one spot up for grabs.
Nevermind, I'm an idiot and the lineup has already been confirmed since it's a 12:45pm EST kickoff:
MATS
Alba-Garcia-Pique-Mingueza
Pedri-Nico-FDJ
Torres-Auba-Adama
Big takeaways here are that Xavi probably doesn't think that highly of Dest, or at least wants more defensive stability from RB from Mingueza. Might not read into it quite as much since Alba will certainly push up and Mingueza will need to stay home for balance. Busi getting a rest is nice. Will be super interested to see how Nico and FDJ are positioned, or if they're fairly fluid. Big start for Auba here over Gavi, Dembele, and Lord Martin. The entire frontline was acquired in January. Araujo didn't make the bench--hopefully they're just giving him extra rest since he'll be absolutely needed this weekend with Pique out.
Napoli are formidable up front with Osimhen at striker, Insigne at LW, Zielinski the Auto Parts King at AMF, and Elmas at RW. They're also stout down the middle with Anguissa and Ruiz in a double pivot and Koulibaly anchoring the back at CB. They'll likely lineup in a 4-2-3-1 and they're young all over the pitch. I wonder if that was one reason why Xavi is starting Busi on the bench. Should be a fun one, and I'm expecting a wild 2-2 draw.