EURO FOOTY COMPS 2015/16

Post by **socksy** » June 17, 2015, 1:04 pm

BT Sport has unveiled their plans for Live and Exclusive coverage of all European club competitions for 2015/16, the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
In summary, all 351 matches from these competitions will be shown on BT Sport, and will be free to all customers who subscribe to their BT TV platform.

Some matches recently from Leagues in the UK have been shown on BT Sport (Channel 56 on Home Cable) so if you have that and are keeping it you may be able to look forward to this.

Post by **BobHelm** » July 2, 2015, 3:55 pm

A swift move to the right part of the Forum, so some (then) off topic posts removed.

All kicks off tonight for the 'lucky' (??) Hammers who qualified for the Europas via 'fair play'. (Can see why Big Sam was happy to depart.

).
According to the BBC

West Ham's 2015-16 competitive season starts again tonight - 40 days after their final game of 2014-15. They host Andorran side Lusitans in the Europa League first qualifying round.

New Hammers manager Slaven Bilic will not be in charge, with academy boss Terry Westley naming the team.

Good luck to them, from historical data if you are not one of the Big Boys (with large squads) then qualification into Europe is somewhat of a poisoned chalice. Although I guess it does give the new management team a chance to have a good look at players in a competitive game rather than friendlies.
It seems that the game is a sell out with ticket prices of just £3.50

Because of that I think I read that the Hammers are also free live screening it on their web site.

Still not enough for me to stay up & watch live though...game kicks off at quarter to 2 tonight for those interested..

Post by **BobHelm** » July 3, 2015, 9:43 am

Few first leg qualifiers last night that involved United Kingdom sides - too many games in total to bother listing all the results..

Alashkert FC 1-0 St Johnstone
Differdange 03 3-1 Bala Town
Airbus UK Broughton 1-3 Lokomotiva Zagreb
Newtown AFC 2-1 Valletta FC
West Ham 3-0 Lusitanos
Shkendija 1-1 Aberdeen

Fair result by The Hammers. The second leg takes place on 9 July. Midfielder Reece Oxford was given his debut. The 16-year-old became the youngest player to represent the club, who have a history of playing youngsters.

Post by **skinner** » July 3, 2015, 9:49 am

Great to see the young boys getting games. That is what these competitions are for in reality, league cup etc.

Post by **BobHelm** » July 10, 2015, 10:01 am

Shakhtyor Soligorsk 3-0 Glenavon (agg 5-1)
Lokomotiva Zagreb 2-2 Airbus UK Broughton (agg 5-3)
Lusitanos 0-1 West Ham (agg 0-4)
MSK Zilina 3-0 Glentoran (agg 7-1)
Bala Town 2-1 Differdange 03 (agg 3-4)
NSÍ Runavík 4-3 Linfield (agg 4-5)
Aberdeen 0-0 Shkendija (agg 1-1) Aberdeen win the tie - away goal rule
St Johnstone 2-1 Alashkert FC (agg 2-2) Alashkert FC win the tie - away goal rule
Valletta FC 1-2 Newtown AFC (agg 2-4)

Well a few British sides go through to the next stage & this is what awaits them.

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Still not sure I would especially want a team I supported dragged through this at the start of a new season, but who knows it could work to a sides' advantage even though history suggests the opposite.

Post by **BobHelm** » July 16, 2015, 6:16 am

The Champions League Qualifiers have also reached the second round. A couple of United Kingdom clubs were taking part.
On Tuesday...

Skenderbeu Korce 4-1 Crusaders FC
The New Saints 0-1 Videoton

Northern Ireland's Crusaders have a lot to do in next' week second leg against Albania side Skenderbeu Korce. They deserved better but got few of the breaks despite a battling display. Even if they are knocked out they will still get a £525,000 boost to their finances for getting this far.
The Welsh side also have a hill to climb against their Hungarian opponents away next week as well.

Last night..

Celtic 2-0 Stjarnan

Good result for Celtic but it could have been better as they had a penalty saved - after 2 Celtic players squabbled about who was going to take it.

They should get through to the next round though as their opponents seemed to offer little threat!!

Post by **BobHelm** » July 17, 2015, 9:29 am

UEFA Europa League - Qualifying Second Round
FC Copenhgn 2-0 Newtown AFC
Spartak Trnava 2-1 Linfield
Inverness CT 0-1 Astra Giurgiu
West Ham 1-0 Birkirkara FC
HNK Rijeka 0-3 Aberdeen

Aberdeen look like certainly going through after a good away win.
Hammers win & stop their opponents scoring but it is likely to be a tense second leg unless they can get that early away goal.
The others all face a pretty difficult second leg if they want to progress!!

Post by **BobHelm** » July 25, 2015, 12:15 pm

Apologies for my tardiness, but I have been out & about in the South of Issan for a couple of days..

UEFA Europa League - Qualifying Second Round

Newtown AFC 1-3 FC Copenhgn (agg 1-5)
Astra Giurgiu 0-0 Inverness CT (agg 1-0)
Aberdeen 2-2 HNK Rijeka (agg 5-2)
Birkirkara FC 1-0 West Ham (agg 1-1)
West Ham United win 5-3 on penalties
Linfield 1-3 Spartak Trnava (agg 2-5)

UEFA Champions League - Qualifying - Second Round

Videoton 1-1 The New Saints (agg 2-1)
Stjarnan 1-4 Celtic (agg 1-6)
Crusaders FC 3-2 Skenderbeu Korce (agg 4-6)

Congratulations to Celtic (easy win), Aberdeen (all the work already done in the away leg) & The Hammers (mighty close that one though).

UEFA Champions League - Qualifying - Third Round
Celtic FC (SCO) v Qarabağ FK (AZE)
Played next week & the week after.

UEFA Europa League - Qualifying Third Round
FC Kairat Almaty (KAZ) v Aberdeen FC (SCO)
Southampton FC (ENG) v Vitesse (NED)
West Ham United FC (ENG) v FC Astra Giurgiu (ROU)

Post by **BobHelm** » July 30, 2015, 7:21 am

UEFA Champions League - Qualifying - Third Round
Celtic 1-0 FK Qarabag

Dedryck Boyata scored just before the end to give Celtic a small advantage going back to Azerbaijan. In truth the visitors showed little in the way of attacking flair & seemed happy to just keep the score sheet blank. They will now not be able to do that at home as well, which may give Celtic more in the way of chances..

Post by **BobHelm** » July 31, 2015, 7:14 am

UEFA Europa League - Qualifying Third Round

Kairat Almaty 2-1 Aberdeen
West Ham 2-2 Astra Giurgiu
Southampton 3-0 Vitesse

I suspect that Aberdeen are reasonably content with the result of the longest trip in European football. They were 2 nil down at the half time break but have given themselves every chance in the second leg.

The Hammers will be bitterly disappointed though. 2 nil up & sailing through they had James Collins dismissed & the visitors fought back for the draw. West Ham will have to produce a display in Romania to progress now.
Their fickle fans seem to be losing love for boss Slaven Bilic & his playing style before the season has even begun. Big Sam spoiled them at the start of last season with performances that were better than the sum of the parts!!

This was a Saint's first since 1981 - a win in Europe. It all just about went as good as could be hoped for & it will take a diabolical performance in the second leg not to proceed..

Post by **BobHelm** » August 6, 2015, 6:38 am

UEFA Champions League - Qualifying - Third Round

FK Qarabag 0-0 Celtic (agg 0-1)

Ronny Deila's side are now two legs away from the group stage and will discover their opponents on Friday.

Post by **Zidane** » August 6, 2015, 2:28 pm

Manchester United could face Monaco or Lazio in Champions League play-offs (The Guardian)

• United one of five seeded teams in ‘non-champions’ route
• CSKA Moscow, Club Brugge and Rapid Vienna other potential opponents

Manchester United could face a tricky tie against last season’s quarter-finalists Monaco

when Friday’s draw for the Champions League play-off is made.
After missing out on European competition entirely last term, Louis van Gaal’s side qualified for the play-off by finishing fourth in the Premier League and will discover who they must beat to progress to the group stages when the draw is made in Switzerland at 11am.
Monaco, who beat Arsenal in last season’s last-16 tie before losing in the last eight to eventual finalists Juventus, cruised past Swiss side Young Boys 7-1 on aggregate on Tuesday to secure their place in the draw.
United, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, Shakhtar and Sporting Lisbon are the five seeded teams in the non-champions route, meaning they could also be paired with Lazio,

CSKA Moscow, Club Brugge and Rapid Vienna.
The two-leg ties will be played on 18 and 19 August, with United expected to be placed in pot 2 if they qualify.
Celtic’s reward for beating Qarabag 1-0 on aggregate on Wednesday will be a tie against one of Israel’s Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Partizan Belgrade of Serbia, Sweden’s Malmo, FK Astana from Kazakhstan or Albanian champions Skenderbeu Korce.

Post by **Macca** » August 6, 2015, 2:55 pm

Zidane wrote:Manchester United could face Monaco or Lazio in Champions League play-offs (The Guardian)

• United one of five seeded teams in ‘non-champions’ route
• CSKA Moscow, Club Brugge and Rapid Vienna other potential opponents

A few potential banana skins there. Club Brugge being the most popular choice. Monaco & Lazio to be avoided, also not sure LvG would fancy the long trip to Moscow.

Not sure how these things work as Celtics options seem a lot more favourable.
Mind you saying that would not fancy the reds taking a trip to Albania. Lived there for 4 years and wouldn't wish it on anyone, the Neanderthals get a bit over excited and rowdy the recent Legia Warsaw incident being a good example.

Post by **BobHelm** » August 7, 2015, 7:44 am

UEFA Europa League - Qualifying Third Round

Astra Giurgiu 2-1 West Ham (agg 4-3)
Vitesse 0-2 Southampton (agg 0-5)
Aberdeen 1-1 Kairat Almaty (agg 2-3)

Oh dear, not a good night for British football in Europe.
Southampton being the exception as they roll through after 2 fine performances.
Not looking especially good for the new Hammers, Big Sam would have probably done far better...

Post by **Zidane** » August 7, 2015, 9:25 pm

Manchester Umited have been drawn to play FC Brugge and Celtic will play Swedish side,Malmo,in the final qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.....first legs 18-19 August....second legs 25-26 August.
Even without David de Gea,who has been dropped for tomorrows EPL opener against Spurs because he is unsettled about a possible move to Real Madrid,United should have no excuses for not qualifying for the group stages....bit of a tricky tie for Celtic though.
In the UEFA League,Southampton have been drawn against FC Midtylland of Denmark and will fancy there chances of progressing to the group stages.

Post by **BobHelm** » August 18, 2015, 8:02 am

Post by **BobHelm** » August 19, 2015, 7:08 am

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A night to be the home side...

Good result by United although, like their 2 Premier fixtures, they didn't perform especially well.
Showed, yet again, how desperate they are for a good centre forward, although Club Brugge were hardly classed as an attacking side either. Indeed the only shot on target they managed in the match was the Carrick own goal!!!
Depay was played where he should be, on the wing, & so chipped in with a couple of goals.

Just a few of the hints to vanG there - play players where they have a speciality & experience & they will probably perform as they should do...

Post by **Zidane** » August 19, 2015, 7:11 am

Manchester United 3 Club Brugge 1
Not an entirely convincing performance from United but Fellaini's last minute goal gave them the two goal cushion they wanted.
Memphis was the star man,scoring two goals and maybe should have had a third.
United recovered well after conceding an early own goal by Carrick who looks out of sorts this season,so far,similar to Rooney.
The defence was pretty solid and Schneiderlin again did a good job in midfield.

Tonight,Celtic entertain Malmo at 01.45am Thursday Thai time but the tie of the night is Valencia v Monaco.
Also....FC Basel v Maccabi Tel Aviv,SK Rapid Vienna v Shakhtar Donetsk,Skenderbeu Korce v Dinamo Zagreb.
Skenderbeu Korce are from Albania,of course,readers.....

Post by **BobHelm** » August 20, 2015, 8:57 am

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Was looking good for Celtic as the went in at half time 2 nil up. Malmo fought back in the second half though & scored the crucial second goal right at the death.
Will be a hard return leg for the hoops, that is for certain..

Tonight...

Southampton V FC Midtjylland 20:00

Denmark, if you were wondering (as I was

)

Post by **socksy** » August 20, 2015, 9:11 am

My immediate thought on seeing the name was that they may be vulnerable at set pieces but then I looked again.