Again Plzen? That should not be possible.
Considering you did trash them away are you confident to play against them again? Or you fear that they are eager for revenge now?
Careful with Hapoel Beer-Sheva, they do not have big names but they are well backed up. One of their central defenders, Miguel Vítor is a Benfica dropout and regularly is featured on the main sports newspaper around here since he got a job for his wife at the newspaper interviewing football players abroad (mostly) - she only interviews Benfica and ex-Benfica players though :roll: Just in case there were still doubts about whom the bias of the main sports newspaper in Portugal favors.
Anyway, if I'm not wrong they were champions of Israel last year so I think it'll be between Plzen, Steaua and Hapoel.
Would be a good idea to watch their match against Maribor endless times in the meantime
As for FC Lugano, I'd count them out.
I'm glad Coman ended up at a better place for his career and that he can now mature a little to become one of the many decent players that Romania needs to shine again on the world stage.
And understood about Benzar. It was good for us that he did not play, he's clearly of decent international level.
Btw, saw Daum's call up for the national team. First I read that Alibec was not selected because Daum does not like his style of play or that he had fell out of favor with the manager. But now I read he's injured? Which is which?
No Sapunaru btw? I know he's quite not young anymore but he's one of those with great attitude...age barely noticeable...a mistake in my opinion (although I'm unaware of his situation in Turkey currently).
UEFA Europa League Draw:
Group C:
Ludogorets
Braga
Hoffenheim
Istanbul BB
No Nordic teams, Braga must be reliefed!
Much more serious tests ahead now, I think it is a rather leveled group. Hoffenheim would be the clear favorite to go through - some of our supporters feared facing them in the playoff. They have it all after all, financial background, muscled players, they are the sensation team in Germany having the sensation new wave manager of current times.
Istanbul BB are another team to look out for. They are also well backed in terms of finance and have some interesting players. The problem with Turkish teams is that internationally their form fluctuates a lot. Just take a look at Besiktas campaign last season. So a question mark on top of this another Istanbul team.
Ludogorets have, one more time, all of the experts attaching bad odds to their name. I don't know how well are they faring these days. But this is the team that surprised the "mighty" Real not so long ago...and personally they are an underdog I quite like. I wouldn't mind seeing them going through (maybe they'd be matched to us later if we can't surprise Juventus & co.
).
As for Braga, it's been a dreadful start of season. They seemed well prepared for the season in terms of players, got some interesting signings but those 4 matches I saw vs. AIK & FH...in none of them did they convince. And in the championship so far, also having a worse performance than expected so far. Just lost to Porto 0-1 at home last night, moral can't be good among the ranks.
Group I
Red Bull Salzburg
Vitória de Guimarães
Konyaspor
Marseille
Doesn't look so easy for Guimarães either. Marseille should be the favorites, given their history, background, well known players, etc.
But I'm writing in the aftermath of a 1-6 loss to Monaco in Ligue 1...
Might have just been a slip over against at a Monaco team that continues to be super (attention Porto...) but I fear they might not look so consistent at an international level either. We (Sporting) played them on the pre-season and I saw nothing special from their side. They got Payet back and suppose that they are relying on him a lot these days. Also they have Germain now, who comes from an interesting season at Monaco last year. Question mark to the French side too.
Can't say much on Konyaspor as I don't follow Turkish teams so closely besides the big 3 but I did see that crazy Super Cup match against Besiktas which they eventually ended up winning. So that alone should already unleash a sign of caution. Also for well known reasons, not easy for anyone to play in Turkey though I'm sure the Turks will also be given hell when they visit Guimarães (I would not be surprised at confrontations between the two groups of supporters at all).
As for Red Bull Salzburg, I did underestimate them a bit against Viitorul (well, it was more wishful thinking actually) but perhaps they can surprise. Since the brand's F1 team went a step back on their ability it would not surprise me if the focus went more into their fooball teams in Leipzig and Salzburg this year instead.
Guimarães are having an even worse start than Braga so far. After they were humiliated by us they went to Paços de Ferreira, looking for their first victory but left without a 0-0 after what's been reported to be a controversial match. I don't question their manager Pedro Martins, nearly no one goes from best to beast overnight. It seems the supporters are going for the head of their president instead. The season might have been poorly planned. They do seem short in terms of options. Much of their last season's success came from players loaned by FC Porto...which are now being valuable to Porto in turn. So they need a few names in these next 3 days, otherwise a worse season is in perspective for the team that plays on the city which gave birth to our nation.
Predictions with some wishful thoughts on the side regarding UEFA's Europa League group stage:
Group A:
Villarreal
Slavia Prague
Group B:
Partizan
Dinamo Kyiv
Group C:
Ludogorets
Hoffenheim
Group D:
AC Milan
AEK Athens
Group E:
Lyon
Atalanta
Group F:
Lokomotiv Moscow
Sheriff Tiraspol (if those Azerbaijanis could do it, nothing should stop these brave Moldovans from doubly shaming
Copenhagen
)
Group G:
Steaua
Viktoria Plzen
Group H:
Köln
BATE Borisov
Wenger will flop so badly that finally he will be sacked. For the sake of the most patient fans in the world, Arsenal's
Group I:
Marseille
Red Bull Salzburg
Group J:
Zorya Luhansk
Östersund
Don't care for Bilbao, always thought they are overrated because of their transfers policy and Hertha might have a good team but has some dreadful fans. So I'd love to see both these underdogs through!
Group K:
Lazio
Vitesse
Nice is looking bad at this point...it might be their flop year.
Group L:
Zenit
Real Sociedad
Rosenborg seems to have become the new nursing home for the eternally falling Bendtner
Too bad because they have been my favorite Norwegian side for many years now. As for
Vardar, I'd love to see them try to cause a surprise but Zenit and Sociedad have more than enough football to dominate this group easily.
Feel a bit bad that the predictions for the teams from my home country are rather bleak but I base them on what they have done so far this season and also on what I prospect their possible futures to be. No one predicted they would do this badly so far and it'll be a shame for Portuguese football if they flop as well since we are already losing European places (next season only champion goes directly to CL group stage, 2nd will play the play-off. 3rd will go to Europa League, etc.).
