quentinMatchday 2: UEFA Europa League
October 13th 2010 10:06
It was another huge matchday in Europe's secondary competition with some glamour ties and some results which even left me shaking my head in disbelief
Group A
Lech 2 - 0 Salzburg
Manchester City 1 - 1 Juventus
Lech are the surprise packets early on in this group topping the group by virture of goal difference. They haven't yet played Man City though and that should see Juventus take full advantage of the weakest team in the group (Salzburg) and change the group order with Juve jumping into the top 2. Having said that, Juventus need to start winning games because 2 draws from 2 isn't ideal
Group B
Rosenborg 2 - 1 Aris
Atletico Madrid 1 - 1 Bayer Leverkusen
Early days I know but Atletico's defence of the title they won last year has been very ordinary. They're sitting on the bottom of the group and seem to be confirming their reputation for inconsistency. Leverkusen looking very good though and one of my favourites to make it through to the knockout rounds
Group C
Gent 1 - 1 Lille
Sporting Lisbon 5 - 0 Levski Sofia
Well Levski Sofia looked impressive last matchday but very second rate against a rampaging Lisbon outfit. Probably won't be the first team to cop a belting from them but the only thing going for Sofia is that Gent and Lille couldn't win their match
Group D
PAOK 1 - 0 Dynamo Zagreb
Villarreal 2 - 1 Club Brugge
This group is the equal lowest scoring group in the Europa League so far and really it's no surprise when you have teams that don't have the quality of the likes of Man City or Juventus or Sporting Lisbon. Club Brugge are the only team without a win so really this group is still too close to call
Group E
BATE 4 - 1 AZ
Sheriff 2 - 0 Dynamo Kiev
WTF!!! That's a mammoth upset in Moldova. You would've thought that Kiev had the quality needed plus Ukranian league is a higher standard than the Moldovan league. Even more shocked by AZ Alkmaar being taken apart by BATE Borisov. Every team bar Kiev have a win in this group so still too close to call
Group F
Palermo 1 - 0 Lausanne
CSKA Moscow 3 - 0 Sparta Prague
CSKA Moscow are clearly heads and shoulders above everyone else while Palermo do the traditional Italian 1-0 scoreline. My tip is that it's now between Palermo and Sparta Prague for 2nd spot as I feel that CSKA Moscow are superior to everyone else in the group
Group G
Hajduk Split 1 - 0 Anderlecht
Zenit 4 - 2 AEK
Zenit St Petersburg are looking very impressive in this group with 7 goals from their opening 2 games. They still let in the occasional goal but their games are rather exciting to watch. Meanwhile, Anderlecht continue their run of European misery. They haven't done a lot of note in Europe since making the Cup Winners Cup Final back in 1990 and despite the occasional European run of note, their European campaigns have been more failure than anything.
Group H
OB 1 - 2 Stuttgart
Young Boys 2 - 0 Getafe
Major surprise here with swiss side Young Boys emerging with a very impressive 2-0 win over Spanish side Getafe. This put Young Boys in 2nd place by virtue of head to head record. Stuttgart though are heads and shoulders above in terms of quality and their win in Denmark against OB was of no surprise
Group I
Sampdoria 1 - 0 Debrecen
Metalist 0 - 2 PSV
The 2 group favourites asserted themselves here with very impressive displays. Sampdoria perfected the Italian 1-0 tradition while PSV won away from home in a very impressive display but it's still early days. One thing I'm safe in saying is that Debrecen are the group minnows
Group J
PSG 2 - 0 Karpaty
Dortmund 0 - 1 Sevilla
PSG continue to lead the group and have yet to concede a goal. Karpaty are definately the group minnows for mine and I can't really seem to get a convincing read on either Dortmund or Sevilla. Both appear inconsistent so really it's still way too early to call
Group K
Steaua 3 - 3 Napoli
Utrecht 0 - 0 Liverpool
An astonishing night in this group as both matches end up in draws. Liverpool continue their ordinary start to the season while the Steaua/Napoli game was an absolute cracker. 6 goals and Steaua would be spewing after throwing away a 3 goal lead. In fact, the equaliser came in the 98th minute and from reading the match report, I'm at a loss to work out how 8 minutes of added time was required. Still, Liverpool remain the only team with a win in this group
Group L
Rapid Wien 1 - 2 Beşiktaş
CSKA Sofia 0 - 1 Porto
The group favourites have taken a stranglehold on this group after both recorded very impressive away wins in Vienna and Sofia respectively. Both teams have 2 wins from 2 matches and at this point in time, it's very difficult to see how Rapid Wien or CSKA Sofia can come back into it. I'd go as far as to say that this group is already sealed
So ends my review of a busy matchday and the stats were as follows
Goals: 59
Goals Per Match: 2.46
Group A
Lech 2 - 0 Salzburg
Manchester City 1 - 1 Juventus
Lech are the surprise packets early on in this group topping the group by virture of goal difference. They haven't yet played Man City though and that should see Juventus take full advantage of the weakest team in the group (Salzburg) and change the group order with Juve jumping into the top 2. Having said that, Juventus need to start winning games because 2 draws from 2 isn't ideal
Group B
Rosenborg 2 - 1 Aris
Atletico Madrid 1 - 1 Bayer Leverkusen
Early days I know but Atletico's defence of the title they won last year has been very ordinary. They're sitting on the bottom of the group and seem to be confirming their reputation for inconsistency. Leverkusen looking very good though and one of my favourites to make it through to the knockout rounds
Group C
Gent 1 - 1 Lille
Sporting Lisbon 5 - 0 Levski Sofia
Well Levski Sofia looked impressive last matchday but very second rate against a rampaging Lisbon outfit. Probably won't be the first team to cop a belting from them but the only thing going for Sofia is that Gent and Lille couldn't win their match
Group D
PAOK 1 - 0 Dynamo Zagreb
Villarreal 2 - 1 Club Brugge
This group is the equal lowest scoring group in the Europa League so far and really it's no surprise when you have teams that don't have the quality of the likes of Man City or Juventus or Sporting Lisbon. Club Brugge are the only team without a win so really this group is still too close to call
Group E
Sheriff 2 - 0 Dynamo Kiev
WTF!!! That's a mammoth upset in Moldova. You would've thought that Kiev had the quality needed plus Ukranian league is a higher standard than the Moldovan league. Even more shocked by AZ Alkmaar being taken apart by BATE Borisov. Every team bar Kiev have a win in this group so still too close to call
Group F
Palermo 1 - 0 Lausanne
CSKA Moscow 3 - 0 Sparta Prague
CSKA Moscow are clearly heads and shoulders above everyone else while Palermo do the traditional Italian 1-0 scoreline. My tip is that it's now between Palermo and Sparta Prague for 2nd spot as I feel that CSKA Moscow are superior to everyone else in the group
Group G
Hajduk Split 1 - 0 Anderlecht
Zenit 4 - 2 AEK
Zenit St Petersburg are looking very impressive in this group with 7 goals from their opening 2 games. They still let in the occasional goal but their games are rather exciting to watch. Meanwhile, Anderlecht continue their run of European misery. They haven't done a lot of note in Europe since making the Cup Winners Cup Final back in 1990 and despite the occasional European run of note, their European campaigns have been more failure than anything.
Group H
OB 1 - 2 Stuttgart
Young Boys 2 - 0 Getafe
Major surprise here with swiss side Young Boys emerging with a very impressive 2-0 win over Spanish side Getafe. This put Young Boys in 2nd place by virtue of head to head record. Stuttgart though are heads and shoulders above in terms of quality and their win in Denmark against OB was of no surprise
Group I
Sampdoria 1 - 0 Debrecen
Metalist 0 - 2 PSV
The 2 group favourites asserted themselves here with very impressive displays. Sampdoria perfected the Italian 1-0 tradition while PSV won away from home in a very impressive display but it's still early days. One thing I'm safe in saying is that Debrecen are the group minnows
Group J
PSG 2 - 0 Karpaty
Dortmund 0 - 1 Sevilla
PSG continue to lead the group and have yet to concede a goal. Karpaty are definately the group minnows for mine and I can't really seem to get a convincing read on either Dortmund or Sevilla. Both appear inconsistent so really it's still way too early to call
Group K
Steaua 3 - 3 Napoli
Utrecht 0 - 0 Liverpool
An astonishing night in this group as both matches end up in draws. Liverpool continue their ordinary start to the season while the Steaua/Napoli game was an absolute cracker. 6 goals and Steaua would be spewing after throwing away a 3 goal lead. In fact, the equaliser came in the 98th minute and from reading the match report, I'm at a loss to work out how 8 minutes of added time was required. Still, Liverpool remain the only team with a win in this group
Group L
Rapid Wien 1 - 2 Beşiktaş
CSKA Sofia 0 - 1 Porto
The group favourites have taken a stranglehold on this group after both recorded very impressive away wins in Vienna and Sofia respectively. Both teams have 2 wins from 2 matches and at this point in time, it's very difficult to see how Rapid Wien or CSKA Sofia can come back into it. I'd go as far as to say that this group is already sealed
So ends my review of a busy matchday and the stats were as follows
Goals: 59
Goals Per Match: 2.46
| 62 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
