''Soccer'' 2017-2018

[FluffySheep]

Good to see 4 English clubs in the Champions League quarter finals. Very good chance of one of them winning it this season.

Swansea had a shocker last night. Over 70% possession against West Brom, loads of chances created, but lost 3-0. Celina missed a penalty in spectacular fashion as well. Not a good night.

However, Stafford Rangers beat Kidsgrove Athletic in the Staffordshire Senior Cup semi final 1-0, so are now into the final! They won it last season, so hopefully they can retain the trophy.

[FluffySheep]

The Champions League draw has delivered these fixtures...

Quarter-finals
Ajax v Juventus (April 10 at Johan Cruijff Arena, April 16 at Allianz Stadium)
Liverpool v Porto (April 9 at Anfield, April 17 at Estadio do Dragao)
Tottenham v Manchester City (April 9 at Spurs' stadium, April 17 at Etihad)
Barcelona v Manchester United (April 10 at Old Trafford, April 16 at Nou Camp)

Semi-finals
Tottenham/Manchester City v Ajax/Juventus
Barcelona/Manchester United v Liverpool/Porto

Some tasty fixtures and possible fixtures in there!

[FluffySheep]

...and the Europa League draw...

Europa League quarter-finals:
Napoli v Arsenal
Villarreal v Valencia
Benfica v Eintracht Frankfurt
Slavia Prague v Chelsea

Europa League semi-finals
Napoli or Arsenal v Villarreal or Valencia
Benfica or Eintracht Frankfurt v Slavia Prague or Chelsea

[John Ossie]

Good to see 4 English clubs in the Champions League quarter finals. Very good chance of one of them winning it this season.

Swansea had a shocker last night. Over 70% possession against West Brom, loads of chances created, but lost 3-0. Celina missed a penalty in spectacular fashion as well. Not a good night.

However, Stafford Rangers beat Kidsgrove Athletic in the Staffordshire Senior Cup semi final 1-0, so are now into the final! They won it last season, so hopefully they can retain the trophy.

I didn't think to check the scores last night, sounds like it was a shocker from Swansea's POV. Good luck to Stafford in their bid to retain the Staffordshire Senior Cup.

The Champions League draw has delivered these fixtures...

Quarter-finals
Ajax v Juventus (April 10 at Johan Cruijff Arena, April 16 at Allianz Stadium)
Liverpool v Porto (April 9 at Anfield, April 17 at Estadio do Dragao)
Tottenham v Manchester City (April 9 at Spurs' stadium, April 17 at Etihad)
Barcelona v Manchester United (April 10 at Old Trafford, April 16 at Nou Camp)

Semi-finals
Tottenham/Manchester City v Ajax/Juventus
Barcelona/Manchester United v Liverpool/Porto

Some tasty fixtures and possible fixtures in there!

Ajax v Juventus - Whilst I expect Juventus to go through I'd have said the same when Ajax were drawn Real Madrid so you never know.
Liverpool v Porto - With all due respect to Porto this was arguably the kindest draw Liverpool could've asked for at this stage, still it won't be an easy task.
Tottenham v Man City - What a belter for the neutral that could be.
Barcelona v Man Utd - Another one that could be a belter for the neutral, of course I'll be rooting for Barcelona in this one.

If we get through to the semis than Barcelona or United will be a very tough task, hell I'd go to say that's Final material fixture list wise.

...and the Europa League draw...

Europa League quarter-finals:
Napoli v Arsenal
Villarreal v Valencia
Benfica v Eintracht Frankfurt
Slavia Prague v Chelsea

Europa League semi-finals
Napoli or Arsenal v Villarreal or Valencia
Benfica or Eintracht Frankfurt v Slavia Prague or Chelsea

Napoli v Arsenal - Tie of the round IMO, very tough task for Arsenal if Napoli play to their potential too.
Villareal v Valencia - Well, Spain are guaranteed one team to be in a European Semi-Final this year LOL. Decent tie though in all seriousness.
Benfica v Eintracht Frankfurt - Frankfurt have done well to get this far but I have a feeling Benfica will edge this one personally, should be a decent tie for the neutral though.
Slavia Prague v Chelsea - All due respect to Prague I think this is possibly the kindest draw Chelsea could've asked for at this stage of the competition, then again with all the backstage stuff that's going on at Stamford Bridge this could easily be a banana skin for them.

[John Ossie]

Also, since Fluffy mentioned Swansea I thought I'd check the other results and it turns out Liverpool Ladies had a shocker as well, losing 4-0 at home against Chelsea Ladies. In other results from Wednesday night, Millwall and Rotherham got vital wins in terms of their survival hopes. A. Villa got a much needed 3 points in terms of their play off chances, Norwich held on to get a vital 3 points as well in terms of their automatic promotion chances as well.

[comicscollector]

Benfica v Eintracht Frankfurt will be a match i will watch for sure.The second game is Benfica playing away.So i guess Benfica will do their best to get a clear win in the first match to play a game away with not having to do many goals.

[FluffySheep]

Gutted Swansea lost after being 2-0 up yesterday. I've not seen the highlights but apparently we were very hard done by and City got lucky with the officials. Typical how our game didn't have VAR.

Wolves knocked Man Utd out though, so that perked me up a little bit.

Best news of the day was Wales winning the Six Nations though! Woohoo!

[John Ossie]

Guardiola actually apologised from what I hear, something about how if there was VAR than the game would've been different from what I hear.

Made up with the Wolves result, you and I were rooting for the same team in that one Fluffy LOL. Congrats on Wales winning the Six Nations.

Also, a nervy 2-1 win but at least we won, even if Van Dijk made his first real mistake since signing for us by gifting Ryan Babel a goal, Milner of all people won the game for us which is funny since we're competing against his former club right now. Good day for the Merseyside clubs with Everton beating Chelsea 2-0, and Brighton left it very, very late but they managed to squeeze past Millwall today in the F.A. Cup to set up a Semi-Final against Man City.

Least we're guaranteed a new winner in the F.A. Cup this year. Geographically the Semi-Finals teams are quite spread out this year.

[FluffySheep]

Yeah I heard Pep apologised too. Fair play to him, but doesn't make any difference to the result. How can the FA put VAR in some games but not others? It's ridiculous. I'm picturing a Wolves v Man City final. I'd love for Wolves win it.

I'm glad Liverpool won today. Just had to be Babel to score for Fulham lol.

[John Ossie]

If Wigan can beat Man City in the final than it's possible that Wolves can, admittedly City are a better team these days but anything can happen on the day. I agree that it's fair play to Pep but the FA really need to hurry up with VAR and stop worrying about the traditionalists moaning about technology that they'd been calling for, for years in the first place.

I know LOL. Babel, Fowler, Anelka, Cisse and Collymore have all scored against Liverpool after they left. It's almost like they're saying ''**** you for selling us'' LOL. Crouch, Heskey, Keane (and I think Kewell) all scored against us BEFORE they signed as well. Hell, I think Diouf scored against us once after he left LOL.

At least Michael ''Judas'' Owen never scored against us.

Great assist by Van Dijk at least I can only laugh about it because we won LOL. Just glad we managed to win as we've struggled recently away from Anfield.

[FluffySheep]

Yeah I think out of the 3 other teams left in the FA Cup, then Wolves are the most likely to beat Man City. I would be tempted to go and watch the semi final, but I'm still firmly against the semi finals being held at Wembley. I might look at the final if I can get tickets. Never been to a FA Cup final before.

[John Ossie]

Yeah I think out of the 3 other teams left in the FA Cup, then Wolves are the most likely to beat Man City. I would be tempted to go and watch the semi final, but I'm still firmly against the semi finals being held at Wembley. I might look at the final if I can get tickets. Never been to a FA Cup final before.

Yeah I agree with you about the semis. Shouldn't be held at Wembley. Hell, it gives me something to agree with Fergie over LOL. Never been to a Final myself so if you do or can get tickets you'll have to let me know what it's like.

[John Ossie]

Internationals on at the moment. I know Scotland got beat 3-0 at Kazakhstan.

Frankly though I'm more worried about the fact that Trent Alexander-Arnold has had to return from International duty with a back problem. Hope it's not serious as he's an important player for us.

[FluffySheep]

Bad news for Birmingham fans...

Birmingham City have been deducted nine points by the English Football League for breaching profitability and sustainability rules.

The sanction sees Blues drop from 13th to 18th in the Championship, five points above the relegation zone with eight games to play.

The EFL said Blues incurred losses of nearly £48.8m between 2015 and 2018.

That is almost £10m more than the accepted losses of £39m over a three-year period.

At least it's helped out Swansea a bit lol.

[John Ossie]

Bad news for Birmingham fans...

Birmingham City have been deducted nine points by the English Football League for breaching profitability and sustainability rules.

The sanction sees Blues drop from 13th to 18th in the Championship, five points above the relegation zone with eight games to play.

The EFL said Blues incurred losses of nearly £48.8m between 2015 and 2018.

That is almost £10m more than the accepted losses of £39m over a three-year period.

At least it's helped out Swansea a bit lol.

Ouch. That sucks for Brummie fans. Don't see them getting relegated but it's more likely now as a result. As you say though it helps Swansea a bit at least in terms of league position.