Europa League 20/21

TMDaines

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Nonsense. Slavia Prague are not bad at all and might just as well be doing a West Ham in the PL.
Mate, they are wank. Sheffield United are in the QFs of the FA Cup, Bournemouth too. Doesn’t mean they are any good.
 

TheGame

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From the perspective of United winning the whole thing, it benefits them to play the strongest opposition over two legs. So any draw is a good draw really. I’m not sure I am ready for 180+ minutes against Arsenal though, even if it suits us as the better side to have more time to exert it.

Granada, Slavia Prague and Dinamo Zagreb are all very weak for this stage of the competition and would all be fighting against relegation in the Premier League.
Your last paragraph is utter nonsense. Granada are 8th in La Liga. Zagreb have just knocked out Spurs. They are nowhere near relegation material.
 

SeanyC

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I’d take Ajax but glad Rangers are out, that actually would have been tough if we had of drew them tomorrow. Steve G would have had them up for it
 

FootballHQ

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Between Man United and Ajax. I could see Ajax winning it.
Villareal my darkhorse. Very solid defensively with likes of Pau Torres and Albiol and have plenty of good attackers. Left Paco Alcacer on bench tonight which gives idea of strength in depth. And Emery won this competition a million times and year he got Arsenal to the final he actually beat some decent teams in the run so this competition at least he knows what he's doing.

Long shots to get 4th in La Liga so they'll probably start resting players for league games.

Man. United should certainly reach the final though if they avoid Villareal as I'd fancy them over two legs v everyone else.
 

TMDaines

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Your last paragraph is utter nonsense. Granada are 8th in La Liga. Zagreb have just knocked out Spurs. They are nowhere near relegation material.
Sheffield United beat us at Old Trafford this season and are in the QFs of the FA Cup. They are also one heading down as one of the worst ever PL sides.

Anyone who is nervous about drawing Zagreb, because they happened to be the side to benefit from the most Spursy Spursing yet, need to compose themselves.
 

Pink Moon

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From the perspective of United winning the whole thing, it benefits them to play the strongest opposition over two legs. So any draw is a good draw really. I’m not sure I am ready for 180+ minutes against Arsenal though, even if it suits us as the better side to have more time to exert it.

Granada, Slavia Prague and Dinamo Zagreb are all very weak for this stage of the competition and would all be fighting against relegation in the Premier League.
Stuff like this is why everyone loves when English teams lose :lol:
 

Hansi Fick

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Villareal my darkhorse. Very solid defensively with likes of Pau Torres and Albiol and have plenty of good attackers. Left Paco Alcacer on bench tonight which gives idea of strength in depth. And Emery won this competition a million times and year he got Arsenal to the final he actually beat some decent teams in the run so this competition at least he knows what he's doing.

Long shots to get 4th in La Liga so they'll probably start resting players for league games.

Man. United should certainly reach the final though if they avoid Villareal as I'd fancy them over two legs v everyone else.
Forgot about Villareal and Emery. Not to be underestimated, that's for sure.
 

TheGame

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Sheffield United beat us at Old Trafford this season and are in the QFs of the FA Cup. They are also one heading down as one of the worst ever PL sides.

Anyone who is nervous about drawing Zagreb, because they happened to be the side to benefit from the most Spursy Spursing yet, need to compose themselves.
Prague beat Leicester so what’s your point? No one needs to be nervous about anything. I was simply responding to your comment about those teams being relegation material which is utter nonsense and disrespectful to those teams.
 

Irwin99

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Roma would be fun....we could play Hannibal against them

Sorry couldn't resist
 

TMDaines

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Stuff like this is why everyone loves when English teams lose :lol:
You should know too well being the supporter of a side who would struggle in the Championship. The Europa League has a wide range in the quality of sides. Anyone pretending that Granada, Zagreb or Slavia Prague beating United over two legs wouldn’t be a huge upset knows a lot more about football than any of the bookmakers do.
 

Ludens the Red

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From the perspective of United winning the whole thing, it benefits them to play the strongest opposition over two legs. So any draw is a good draw really. I’m not sure I am ready for 180+ minutes against Arsenal though, even if it suits us as the better side to have more time to exert it.

Granada, Slavia Prague and Dinamo Zagreb are all very weak for this stage of the competition and would all be fighting against relegation in the Premier League.
A bit harsh considering those two clubs eliminated the 3rd and 8th placed PL teams.
 

Jezpeza

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Stuff like this is why everyone loves when English teams lose :lol:
absolutely. Theres always a team out there that cant touch you on paper but can turn you over on the pitch. Id fancy us in a 38 game season with those teams but you only get one tie in the cup. Bit like in the Fergie years when we were knocked out of the champions league, thought we would piss the europa then got our arses kicked by athletic bilbao.
 

TMDaines

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Prague beat Leicester so what’s your point? No one needs to be nervous about anything. I was simply responding to your comment about those teams being relegation material which is utter nonsense and disrespectful to those teams.
Genuine question: where do you think they would finish in the PL?

The PL and top of the Championship is insanely stacked nowadays as the clubs have so much money that the divisions essentially function as a European super league. The clubs can import so many good players from the continent and rest of the world.
 

Red & White

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We do stand out looking at the teams left now, but that counts for nothing. Hopefully we get a favourable draw in the quarters (for once) and the players are up for making it to the final and winning it this year. If we don’t make the final from here you’d be disappointed but all the teams left can put on a good performance, as Dinamo just demonstrated.
 

TMDaines

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A bit harsh considering those two clubs eliminated the 3rd and 8th placed PL teams.
It’s a cup competition and a game of football, a sport in which scoring is tough so upsets happen regularly. If United had to play those three sides 5 times each in a 4-team league, United would finish top 99.99% of the time.

Of course any of those sides could beat United in a one-off game, or a two-legged tie. There’s no getting away from from being kind opposition in a European QF.
 

Boavista

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From the perspective of United winning the whole thing, it benefits them to play the strongest opposition over two legs. So any draw is a good draw really. I’m not sure I am ready for 180+ minutes against Arsenal though, even if it suits us as the better side to have more time to exert it.

Granada, Slavia Prague and Dinamo Zagreb are all very weak for this stage of the competition and would all be fighting against relegation in the Premier League.
They're obvious underdogs in the quarter finals, but doesn't mean they'd be relegation candidates in the PL. Slavia Prague just beat highflying Leicester and Rangers. Even their CL group stage exit last year was respectable in a very tough group. They made it very tough for Barcelona in both matches, drawing at the Nou camp and the San Siro to Inter.
 

do.ob

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Genuine question: where do you think they would finish in the PL?

The PL and top of the Championship is insanely stacked nowadays as the clubs have so much money that the divisions essentially function as a European super league. The clubs can import so many good players from the continent and rest of the world.
I mean both Slavia and Dinamo have already beaten two of the big PL teams. In reality. Here and now. And you're arguing: "well the Championship is insanely stacked..." come on..
 

TMDaines

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I mean both Slavia and Dinamo have already beaten two of the big PL teams. In reality. Here and now. And you're arguing: "well the Championship is insanely stacked..." come on..
Sheffield United beat us at Old Trafford this season. One or two games means nothing in terms of the quality of the side.

United would finish ahead of either of those sides in a league campaign 98 times out of 100. It doesn’t mean they can’t beat us, but they are soft opposition.
 

mu4c_20le

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Not too bad, I've seen worse gashes from an elbow. Very fortunate the studs went around his eye.
 

Hansi Fick

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You should know too well being the supporter of a side who would struggle in the Championship. The Europa League has a wide range in the quality of sides. Anyone pretending that Granada, Zagreb or Slavia Prague beating United over two legs wouldn’t be a huge upset knows a lot more about football than any of the bookmakers do.
Without a doubt Man United would be huge favourites against either of them. Doesn't mean they'd 'struggle against relegation' in the PL, Man United is 2nd place of 20, there's a lot of room in the middle, and we have the evidence of them playing Leicester and Spurs.
 

do.ob

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Sheffield United beat us at Old Trafford this season. One or two games means nothing in terms of the quality of the side.

United would finish ahead of either of those sides in a league campaign 98 times out of 100. It doesn’t mean they can’t beat us, but they are soft opposition.
It means they are capable of beating a PL team in a knockout setting. Especially with Slavia it's not just one game. They were quite competitive in last year's CL group stage as well.
 

TheGame

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Genuine question: where do you think they would finish in the PL?

The PL and top of the Championship is insanely stacked nowadays as the clubs have so much money that the divisions essentially function as a European super league. The clubs can import so many good players from the continent and rest of the world.
Those teams are technically better than the lower PL teams so would be comfortably mid table possibly higher. They are better then the lower PL teams.
 

Ludens the Red

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It’s a cup competition and a game of football, a sport in which scoring is tough so upsets happen regularly. If United had to play those three sides 5 times each in a 4-team league, United would finish top 99.99% of the time.

Of course any of those sides could beat United in a one-off game, or a two-legged tie. There’s no getting away from from being kind opposition in a European QF.
Yeah Im sure we would. Just felt it was a little harsh describing them as relegation teams and very weak. If you look back at Europa leagues, it’s never usually stacked at this stage anyway. Look who we beat when we won it under Mourinho.

As for Slavia Prague. I’d also point out two of their players - Soucek and Coufal joined a PL club in the summer, both have been brilliant and that team sit in 5th :smirk:
 

massi83

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Sheffield United beat us at Old Trafford this season. One or two games means nothing in terms of the quality of the side.

United would finish ahead of either of those sides in a league campaign 98 times out of 100. It doesn’t mean they can’t beat us, but they are soft opposition.
Slavia has been good in Europe for several years now. Even did what basicly nobody ever does, knocked out Sevilla from Europa League couple of years ago.
 

Boavista

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Damn. Now that’s calling out the players if ever I’ve seen. Ali, Bale, referenced perhaps ?
Yeah my first thought was Ali, when he says you can't just follow the team when you make the starting line up.. but likely that could apply to others too. Pretty damning of the team spirit if true. How was Ali today? I only watched extra time..
 

Ed9

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Sheffield United beat us at Old Trafford this season and are in the QFs of the FA Cup. They are also one heading down as one of the worst ever PL sides.

Anyone who is nervous about drawing Zagreb, because they happened to be the side to benefit from the most Spursy Spursing yet, need to compose themselves.
You're deluded, Slavia played Leicester and Rangers off the park and Zagreb... well you could take over Jose it seems.
 

Ludens the Red

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Yeah my first thought was Ali, when he says you can't just follow the team when you make the starting line up.. but likely that could apply to others too. Pretty damning of the team spirit if true. How was Ali today? I only watched extra time..
My guess would be ali and bale because they’ve come across badly when on the bench. Didn’t watch them tonight though so not a clue.
 

Tincanalley

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I’d take Ajax but glad Rangers are out, that actually would have been tough if we had of drew them tomorrow. Steve G would have had them up for it
And they would have kicked our players into little pieces