The Official Euro 2012 Thread

[JNRobert]

What can you say about the little genius - 5 goals fer chrissakes.



That's not a Bundesliga team is it Pikeman

[ThePikeman]

Originally Posted by JNRobert

What can you say about the little genius - 5 goals fer chrissakes.



That's not a Bundesliga team is it Pikeman

I still don't know why no one even fouled that little shithead once in a while. They would not even have to lift their ellbow to hit his face.
Leverkusen did their best to let them score on every counter. Very grateous of them.

[JNRobert]

What a weekend - Muamba's shocking collapse (probably from the same heart disease that runs in my family: HOCM) and Torres scores two and assists in two more.

Best news of the week Man U knocked out of Europe

Best match Chelsea vs Napoli

[ThePikeman]

Originally Posted by JNRobert

What a weekend - Muamba's shocking collapse (probably from the same heart disease that runs in my family: HOCM) and Torres scores two and assists in two more.

Best news of the week Man U knocked out of Europe

Best match Chelsea vs Napoli

It is scary that this heart disease wasn't diagnosed earlier. It's not like it would be cost prohibitive for professional football players.

BTW. The team that knocked ManU out of the Champions League (FC Basel) was slaughtered by Bayern 7-0. Bayern are on a roll anyways. They have a goal difference of 20:1 in the last three games.
Now I wait for the German Cup semifinal on wednesday to see if they can be stopped. They play against Borussia Mönchengladbach (3rd in league) with the best defense in the league together with Borussia Dortmund (1st in league) (16 conceded, 26 games played). Bayern conceded one more on 2nd. Schalke the 4th conceded 34, but they make up for it by shooting tons of goals.


With english teams jumping the european ship, england could even get a problem with the UEFA coefficient in a few years. They'll carry this abismal year around for 5 years. It also shows that Champions League dropouts shouldn't play in Europa League. They simply have no interest in it. Better to leave the places to teams that try to compete.

With the Euro in sight, I'd be happy for Torres to keep his bad form.

[JNRobert]

Barcelona vs. Chelski

Madrid vs. Bayern

Can't wait, couldn't ask for better match-ups IMO.

[BMWBILO]

Originally Posted by JNRobert

Barcelona vs. Chelski

Madrid vs. Bayern

Can't wait, couldn't ask for better match-ups IMO.

What do you think Bayerns' chances are beating Madrid?

[JNRobert]

Originally Posted by BMWBILO

What do you think Bayerns' chances are beating Madrid?

Madrid will be the favorites but that's a very good Bayern team and Madrid have yet to play anyone of quality (when they do - Barcelona- they get beat). I think it's too close to call but I could see the Germans squeezing it on away goals.

[ThePikeman]

Originally Posted by JNRobert

Madrid will be the favorites but that's a very good Bayern team and Madrid have yet to play anyone of quality (when they do - Barcelona- they get beat). I think it's too close to call but I could see the Germans squeezing it on away goals.

I am not sure that Madrid is the favorite. Bayern play to have the final in their own stadium. That is a lot of motivation. I am also not sure how motivated Real will be. I believe their biggest dread is to lose to Barcelona in the Champions League final. Losing against Bayern in the semis isn't as embarassing.
Chelsea winning against Barcelona would be a miracle of epic proportions, that's why I wrote about Barcelona in the final.

Madrid has fullbacks that aren't fully up to their task against good wingers. Bayern have two of the worlds best wingers at their disposal with Frank Ribery and Arjen Robben. They also seem to have fixed their own fullback situation by putting Lahm back to the right and letting Alaba play the left fullback.
Schweinsteiger is finally playing again and will have enough match practice until the game.

I'd give it a 50:50 chance. I won't miss to watch the games in any case.

Bayern still dread to come away this season with nothing. They would be heir to Leverkusen who managed to get second in German Cup, league and Champions League in 2002.

They'll have their most important league game on wednesday against Dortmund. Winning means table top on goals, losing can be equalled to second place in the league, barring Dortmund losing 2 of the remaining games.

The german table is a bit parted. Bayern and Dortmund battling out the championship and Schalke and Gladbach for 3rd and 4th. Then there is a 10 point break and then 5 teams trying for the 3 Europa League places. Place 10 and up looks downward with only having a 6 point lead over relegation. I do like this season.

BTW. I got to tune in my radio, the saturday games start.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
1	Borussia Dortmund	28	19	6	3	63	21	42	63
2	Bayern München	28	19	3	6	67	18	49	60
3	FC Schalke 04	28	17	3	8	61	35	26	54
4	Borussia Mönchengladbach	28	15	6	7	41	20	21	51
5	Hannover 96	28	10	11	7	37	39	-2	41
6	VfB Stuttgart	28	11	7	10	48	38	10	40
7	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	28	11	7	10	39	38	1	40
8	SV Werder Bremen	28	11	7	10	41	43	-2	40
9	VfL Wolfsburg	28	12	4	12	40	49	-9	40
10	TSG 1899 Hoffenheim	28	8	10	10	32	39	-7	34
11	1. FSV Mainz 05	28	8	9	11	42	44	-2	33
12	1. FC Nürnberg	28	9	4	15	25	39	-14	31
13	SC Freiburg	28	8	7	13	37	53	-16	31
14	FC Augsburg 1907	28	6	12	10	30	42	-12	30
15	Hamburger SV	28	7	9	12	32	50	-18	30
16	1. FC Köln	28	8	4	16	35	58	-23	28
17	Hertha BSC	28	6	8	14	30	52	-22	26
18	1. FC Kaiserslautern	28	3	11	14	17	39	-22	20

[JNRobert]

Originally Posted by ThePikeman

I am not sure that Madrid is the favorite. Bayern play to have the final in their own stadium. That is a lot of motivation. I am also not sure how motivated Real will be. I believe their biggest dread is to lose to Barcelona in the Champions League final. Losing against Bayern in the semis isn't as embarassing.
Chelsea winning against Barcelona would be a miracle of epic proportions, that's why I wrote about Barcelona in the final.

Madrid has fullbacks that aren't fully up to their task against good wingers. Bayern have two of the worlds best wingers at their disposal with Frank Ribery and Arjen Robben. They also seem to have fixed their own fullback situation by putting Lahm back to the right and letting Alaba play the left fullback.
Schweinsteiger is finally playing again and will have enough match practice until the game.

I'd give it a 50:50 chance. I won't miss to watch the games in any case.

Since Mourinho has moved Ramos to the center, Altintop looks like a big liability at RB and Marcello more so on the left (he's great going forward but Bayern can make him look very ordinary if they pin him back and make him defend). I'm guessing Arbeloa will play at RB.

Pepe and Ramos are red cards waiting to happen given the right circumstances . Ozil seems to lose his mojo when Kaka is on the field at the same time and while Apoel flattered Kaka - giving him a very soft but flashy goal - he's lost when playing a real team. Mid-level La Liga have made him disappear.

If Di Maria is fit, he's the closest thing to a winger (other than Ronaldo) that Madrid have. But I would expect Bayern to be too disciplined defensively to let him run at them.

Madrid's thing seems to be hitting on the break and if you can stifle that I would say the German's have every chance to make the final. Personally, I would prefer a Barcelona - Bayern final. Who needs another match between the two Spanish giants?

[ThePikeman]

Originally Posted by JNRobert

Since Mourinho has moved Ramos to the center, Altintop looks like a big liability at RB and Marcello more so on the left (he's great going forward but Bayern can make him look very ordinary if they pin him back and make him defend). I'm guessing Arbeloa will play at RB.

Pepe and Ramos are red cards waiting to happen given the right circumstances . Ozil seems to lose his mojo when Kaka is on the field at the same time and while Apoel flattered Kaka - giving him a very soft but flashy goal - he's lost when playing a real team. Mid-level La Liga have made him disappear.

If Di Maria is fit, he's the closest thing to a winger (other than Ronaldo) that Madrid have. But I would expect Bayern to be too disciplined defensively to let him run at them.

Madrid's thing seems to be hitting on the break and if you can stifle that I would say the German's have every chance to make the final. Personally, I would prefer a Barcelona - Bayern final. Who needs another match between the two Spanish giants?

I have to agree, who needs another El Classico if they already have about 6 each year?
To admit, the Bayern defense looks shaky sometimes. They could do with a bit more experience. Boateng is 24, Badstuber 23 and Alaba only 19. They seem to want to challenge the Dortmund Kinderriegel (it's a german chocolate bar - direct translation would be children bar).
They manage well, because they got a good midfield in front of them and a great keeper behind them.

[BMWBILO]

I watched the Bayern vs Dortmund game yesterday and truely enjoyed it.
I wanted Bayern to win but they didn't. A tie would have been fair given
that Dortmund was the better team the first half and Bayern the better team the second. The difference was 3 mistakes by the same guy, Robben the diver. He held the Dortmund player onside for Dortmunds goal, he shot a soft penalty kick, and he missed a sitter from 6 yards out. There is an unwritten rule in soccer that the guy that is fouled should not take the kick. It may be an old superstision but it's one I believe in. There have been a few games where Robbens skill have helped Bayern win some games. But I'm afraid there have been more games that his diving and selfish play have cost Bayern chances to win. A good goal finisher is selfish and always wants the ball and wants to shoot. A great goal finisher will pass the ball when he knows he has a team mate that is in a better posistion to score. Robben hasn't learned that or refuses to. Also both Gomez and Müller disappeared against Dortmund. All three of those guys will have to play a hell of a lot better if Bayern want to beat Real Madrid. Even though he leads the Bundesliga in goals right now I don't have faith in Gomez scoring in a big match. The dude has concrete feet when it comes to fine touch with the ball.

[JNRobert]

Originally Posted by BMWBILO

All three of those guys will have to play a hell of a lot better if Bayern want to beat Real Madrid.

I'm not a fan of Ronaldo but he is scoring some spectacular goals the last few weeks (he single handedly carried the team against Athletico) and if he's in form Bayern are in trouble.

[ThePikeman]

Originally Posted by BMWBILO

I watched the Bayern vs Dortmund game yesterday and truely enjoyed it.
I wanted Bayern to win but they didn't. A tie would have been fair given
that Dortmund was the better team the first half and Bayern the better team the second. The difference was 3 mistakes by the same guy, Robben the diver. He held the Dortmund player onside for Dortmunds goal, he shot a soft penalty kick, and he missed a sitter from 6 yards out. There is an unwritten rule in soccer that the guy that is fouled should not take the kick. It may be an old superstision but it's one I believe in. There have been a few games where Robbens skill have helped Bayern win some games. But I'm afraid there have been more games that his diving and selfish play have cost Bayern chances to win. A good goal finisher is selfish and always wants the ball and wants to shoot. A great goal finisher will pass the ball when he knows he has a team mate that is in a better posistion to score. Robben hasn't learned that or refuses to. Also both Gomez and Müller disappeared against Dortmund. All three of those guys will have to play a hell of a lot better if Bayern want to beat Real Madrid. Even though he leads the Bundesliga in goals right now I don't have faith in Gomez scoring in a big match. The dude has concrete feet when it comes to fine touch with the ball.

Yeah, that was a nice game and being highly televized a very good marketing for the Bundesliga.

That wasn't the best game of Bayern. I am also not sure about their motivation. They seem to be in english week mode, only doing as much as necessary. We'll see tomorrow, if Dortmund will suffer for their inability to conserve strength. Real is much more on their radar than Dortmund. What's a 23rd championship against a champions league final in your own stadium?
I am not sold on Gomez either. Though it is a feat to be highly invisible with his frame. He is often enough in the right place at the right time, even in these games.

I would have preferred Bayern to at least draw for the sake of tension, but somehow the mishaps couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

[ThePikeman]

Now that was a nice game. Lahm did play superb and the defense held up except for that small mishap. Only why the fuck does Gomez always needs 4 chances for a goal? Absolutely wasteful.
Webb also seems to have left his red card in the hotel. Marcelo was positively crying for it.

[BMWBILO]

Originally Posted by ThePikeman

Now that was a nice game. Lahm did play superb and the defense held up except for that small mishap. Only why the fuck does Gomez always needs 4 chances for a goal? Absolutely wasteful.
Webb also seems to have left his red card in the hotel. Marcelo was positively crying for it.

Gomez has concrete feet, his first touch on the ball is horrible.
If he worked on his foot skills he would get twice as many goals
as he scores now. At times he looks like a Sunday afternoon
beer league soccer player. Ronaldo dove so much I think he
tore his uterus, what a piece of shit that guy is. Ribery was
too much of a diver also. The time he fell to the ground looking
for a penalty kick was just plain stupid. He could have played
through that slight tug and had a great chance for a shot 6 yards
from goal. All in all a pretty good game minus the dives and the
nasty fouls by Madrid towards the end of the game. I hope
Bayern can go to Madrid and get a good result. I don't want to
see two Spanish teams in the final on German soil.