Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote: The excitement reaches fever pitch when they do the draw to decide which team is the "home" one in the final.
I was very disappointed to learn this morning that the FA determines the "home" team in the FA Cup Final via a coin toss rather than a draw. (Aston Villa, in case you were wondering)
....and the winners of Europa League semi-final no. 1 will be the home team in the final in Warsaw and will play against.... wait for it... the winners of Europa League semi-final no. 2.
"At this stage of the competition it is an open procedure with no country protection and no seeded teams". Big surprise there, I wouldn't put it past them to seed the semi-finals.
The excitement reaches fever pitch when they do the draw to decide which team is the "home" one in the final.
I was very disappointed to learn this morning that the FA determines the "home" team in the FA Cup Final via a coin toss rather than a draw. (Aston Villa, in case you were wondering)
Could they not get that coin toss sponsored by McDonalds or suchlike?
Antonio Pulisao wrote: "At this stage of the competition it is an open procedure with no country protection and no seeded teams". Big surprise there, I wouldn't put it past them to seed the semi-finals.
If Zenit had made it through UEFA were going to ensure they didn't play a Ukrainian team in the last 4. Mind you, I don't know what they would have done in the (admittedly unlikely) scenario that Zenit and a Ukrainian side had both made the final.
The excitement reaches fever pitch when they do the draw to decide which team is the "home" one in the final.
I was very disappointed to learn this morning that the FA determines the "home" team in the FA Cup Final via a coin toss rather than a draw. (Aston Villa, in case you were wondering)
Oh good, that will be the better kit combination (assuming Arsenal wear their yellow & blue change not the third/cup monstrosity).
Although Barcelona and Juventus have surpassed expectations this season, it has always looked likely that a Real v Bayern final would come to pass. Bayern would have to fuck up pretty badly (as in the Porto 1st leg, but over the full 180 minutes) to go out. Juventus could do a Chelsea-style smash and grab on Real (especially with Real's injuries) but again that would require a Real fuck up that lasts 180 minutes.
Barca-Real, Real-Bayern, and Barca-Bayern have all now been semi-finals this decade. This will be the second Barca-Bayern meeting. The "fix" in the draw, if any, is why they all keep avoiding each other at the QF stage.
Bayern would have to fuck up pretty badly (as in the Porto 1st leg, but over the full 180 minutes) to go out.
you do realise they're playing barcelona? messi, suarez, neymar, iniesta, busquets etc? i don't think it'll be as easy as you're suggesting.
I for one was shocked that Barca and Real were kept apart.
So, you can imagine how flabbered my ghast was when Real got home advantage in the second leg of their tie.
Nobody could have seen this fortunate draw coming. Nobody.
barcelona and real madrid have been drawn against each other in two CL semis in the last 15 years. if there's a conspiracy to keep them from meeting in semis it only got going pretty recently.
The real bone of contention, as Rogin suggests, is how these teams never meet in the last eight. The quarter-finals are not seeded, not officially anyway.
Bayern would have to fuck up pretty badly (as in the Porto 1st leg, but over the full 180 minutes) to go out.
you do realise they're playing barcelona? messi, suarez, neymar, iniesta, busquets etc? i don't think it'll be as easy as you're suggesting.
Indeed. Bayern are probably favourites if they get their enormous raft of injured players back in time, but I think it's fair to say that Barcelona are at least a slightly stronger side than Porto.
Bayern would have to fuck up pretty badly (as in the Porto 1st leg, but over the full 180 minutes) to go out.
you do realise they're playing barcelona? messi, suarez, neymar, iniesta, busquets etc? i don't think it'll be as easy as you're suggesting.
I for one was shocked that Barca and Real were kept apart.
So, you can imagine how flabbered my ghast was when Real got home advantage in the second leg of their tie.
Nobody could have seen this fortunate draw coming. Nobody.
barcelona and real madrid have been drawn against each other in two CL semis in the last 15 years. if there's a conspiracy to keep them from meeting in semis it only got going pretty recently.
The odds of Barcelona not drawing Madrid is 2/3, hardly a "fortunate" event.
Bayern v Barcelona two years ago was one of the most one-sided semi-finals I've ever seen. I don't think that all the causes of that defeat have been rectified, wheres Bayern have strengthened even further since then, and thus I do feel that this could be another thrashing, although I accept that Barcelona's quality gives them a chance v Bayern's defence.
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