lexicon Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 26 minutes ago, slovenian said: Dinamo or Graz and i'll be there. Fingers crossed. PAOK or Olympiakos for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ceemo Posted February 22 Popular Post Share Posted February 22 Huge surprise with Frankfurt going out tonight. Probably were the second favourites for the competition after ourselves but they just never got going tonight. Frankfurt were 2 up after just 10 minutes in the opening leg and somehow lost their way. Betis as well gone. They haven't been playing well for some time, so a surprise on paper but not in reality. Bodo/Glimt were unlucky to lose as well as they totally dominated the second leg on their artificial surface. Coincidentally 7 out of the 8 ties were won by the Europa League dropping down to the Conference League. And then there was 16. Seeded: Aston Villa Club Brugge Fenerbahce Fiorentina Lille Maccabi Tel Aviv PAOK Viktoria Plzen Unseeded: Ajax - Highly inconsistent season as has been well publicised. As always, they have a very young side and have tended this season to get involved in basketball type games. Dinamo Zagreb - Only 3rd in the Croatian League at the moment of which they always dominate. Hadn't played particularly well in Europe either this season up until the tie with Betis. Maccabi Haifa - Joint Top of the Israeli League. Pretty average side. Molde - Interrupted their winter break to beat Legia and they don't start their own League until April. Finished 5th last year in Norway. Play some nice football, but overall an average side. Olympiacos - 4th in a tight title race in Greece. On their 3rd coach as is the Forest owner Marinakis' style. Appointed Mendilibar just a couple of weeks ago who led Sevilla to the Europa League last season. Have a huge squad of some really random players. Inconsistent side in Europe but always a very difficult away tie. Two very close games with West Ham this season, where both sides shared wins. Servette - 2nd in the Swiss League. Another average enough side. Sturm Graz - 2nd in the Austrian League, just 2 points behind Salzburg. Had only won 1 game in Europe out of 8 games before beating Slovan. Another middling side. Union St Gilloise - 8pts clear in the Belgian League. Super pressing side and they have also beaten Liverpool this season. May be distracted by trying to win a first league title in 90 years. Very dangerous side as they showed against Frankfurt. 7 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Union SG would be the toughest draw of the 8, the rest would be easily beatable 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TheAuthority Posted February 22 VT Supporter Popular Post Share Posted February 22 Hopefully we can draw Serviette and wipe the floor with them Yes, I’ll get my coat. 1 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Lille will be tricky if we face them at any stage with a good CF and other solid players. Looking at that this is a much trickier pool of potential opponents than what West Ham faced in the knock outs. From what I remember they were placed in the kinder half of the draw up to the final. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 36 minutes ago, Ceemo said: Huge surprise with Frankfurt going out tonight. Probably were the second favourites for the competition after ourselves but they just never got going tonight. Frankfurt were 2 up after just 10 minutes in the opening leg and somehow lost their way. Betis as well gone. They haven't been playing well for some time, so a surprise on paper but not in reality. Bodo/Glimt were unlucky to lose as well as they totally dominated the second leg on their artificial surface. Coincidentally 7 out of the 8 ties were won by the Europa League dropping down to the Conference League. And then there was 16. Seeded: Aston Villa Club Brugge Fenerbahce Fiorentina Lille Maccabi Tel Aviv PAOK Viktoria Plzen Unseeded: Ajax - Highly inconsistent season as has been well publicised. As always, they have a very young side and have tended this season to get involved in basketball type games. Dinamo Zagreb - Only 3rd in the Croatian League at the moment of which they always dominate. Hadn't played particularly well in Europe either this season up until the tie with Betis. Maccabi Haifa - Joint Top of the Israeli League. Pretty average side. Molde - Interrupted their winter break to beat Legia and they don't start their own League until April. Finished 5th last year in Norway. Play some nice football, but overall an average side. Olympiacos - 4th in a tight title race in Greece. On their 3rd coach as is the Forest owner Marinakis' style. Appointed Mendilibar just a couple of weeks ago who led Sevilla to the Europa League last season. Have a huge squad of some really random players. Inconsistent side in Europe but always a very difficult away tie. Two very close games with West Ham this season, where both sides shared wins. Servette - 2nd in the Swiss League. Another average enough side. Sturm Graz - 2nd in the Austrian League, just 2 points behind Salzburg. Had only won 1 game in Europe out of 8 games before beating Slovan. Another middling side. Union St Gilloise - 8pts clear in the Belgian League. Super pressing side and they have also beaten Liverpool this season. May be distracted by trying to win a first league title in 90 years. Very dangerous side as they showed against Frankfurt. Out of interest how would you describe Villa as a neutral? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 27 minutes ago, TheAuthority said: Hopefully we can draw Serviette and wipe the floor with them Yes, I’ll get my coat. You might need the Ajax first 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ceemo Posted February 22 Popular Post Share Posted February 22 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Kingman said: Out of interest how would you describe Villa as a neutral? Ok, 4th in the Premier League, can beat any side anywhere on their day. In Emery, they have a super coach who is experienced in winning European trophies and always has his teams play a structured and controlled style. Injuries have affected their form lately and they haven't quite reached the levels as they they did earlier in the season. May be distracted by chasing a Champions League spot in the Premier League. Edited February 22 by Ceemo 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StewieGriffin Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 51 minutes ago, Ceemo said: Ajax - Highly inconsistent season as has been well publicised. Apart from their form since changing manager after they lost at Brighton (I think)... They've gone from 2nd bottom to 5th after winning 90% of their games. They're in a form (albeit in an average league), and you want to avoid in form teams 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 5 minutes ago, StewieGriffin said: Apart from their form since changing manager after they lost at Brighton (I think)... They've gone from 2nd bottom to 5th after winning 90% of their games. They're in a form (albeit in an average league), and you want to avoid in form teams They have not won a game in 90 minutes in 5 games and have kept 3 clean sheets all season They had 36% possession tonight to a team that are in pre season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wishywashy Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 1 hour ago, Ceemo said: Huge surprise with Frankfurt going out tonight. Probably were the second favourites for the competition after ourselves but they just never got going tonight. Frankfurt were 2 up after just 10 minutes in the opening leg and somehow lost their way. Betis as well gone. They haven't been playing well for some time, so a surprise on paper but not in reality. Bodo/Glimt were unlucky to lose as well as they totally dominated the second leg on their artificial surface. Coincidentally 7 out of the 8 ties were won by the Europa League dropping down to the Conference League. And then there was 16. Seeded: Aston Villa Club Brugge Fenerbahce Fiorentina Lille Maccabi Tel Aviv PAOK Viktoria Plzen Unseeded: Ajax - Highly inconsistent season as has been well publicised. As always, they have a very young side and have tended this season to get involved in basketball type games. Dinamo Zagreb - Only 3rd in the Croatian League at the moment of which they always dominate. Hadn't played particularly well in Europe either this season up until the tie with Betis. Maccabi Haifa - Joint Top of the Israeli League. Pretty average side. Molde - Interrupted their winter break to beat Legia and they don't start their own League until April. Finished 5th last year in Norway. Play some nice football, but overall an average side. Olympiacos - 4th in a tight title race in Greece. On their 3rd coach as is the Forest owner Marinakis' style. Appointed Mendilibar just a couple of weeks ago who led Sevilla to the Europa League last season. Have a huge squad of some really random players. Inconsistent side in Europe but always a very difficult away tie. Two very close games with West Ham this season, where both sides shared wins. Servette - 2nd in the Swiss League. Another average enough side. Sturm Graz - 2nd in the Austrian League, just 2 points behind Salzburg. Had only won 1 game in Europe out of 8 games before beating Slovan. Another middling side. Union St Gilloise - 8pts clear in the Belgian League. Super pressing side and they have also beaten Liverpool this season. May be distracted by trying to win a first league title in 90 years. Very dangerous side as they showed against Frankfurt. So what you're saying is that we're guaranteed to draw USG? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceemo Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 17 minutes ago, StewieGriffin said: Apart from their form since changing manager after they lost at Brighton (I think)... They've gone from 2nd bottom to 5th after winning 90% of their games. They're in a form (albeit in an average league), and you want to avoid in form teams Haven't won any of their last 3 league games and also were beaten by an amateur side in the Dutch Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongo Waring Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 13 hours ago, PeterSw said: Could do with Frankfurt being knocked out tonight.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongo Waring Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Yeah bring on Ajax! We can beat them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 Olympiakos away would be a very difficult one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post alreadyexists Posted February 23 Author VT Supporter Popular Post Share Posted February 23 8 hours ago, TheAuthority said: Hopefully we can draw Serviette and wipe the floor with them Yes, I’ll get my coat. I’m keen to see an Ajax, Serviette combination as that will really take care of Molde. 4 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobsons Choice Posted February 23 VT Supporter Share Posted February 23 I think we'll draw Man Utd away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevonIsAPlaceOnEarth Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 There are some ‘names’ in this draw, but we genuinely are easily the best side left in this now. It’s the inexperience or travel that will pose the biggest challenge to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubliner Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 We need to get Olympiakos out of there now to make it easier for our fans to get tickets when we reach the final 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alreadyexists Posted February 23 Author VT Supporter Share Posted February 23 Does anyone know how soon tickets will go on sale for the home leg? The match is scheduled for 14th March… so you’d think straight away as that’s only two weeks away? Not sure it’ll make it to general sale but I plan to try and go if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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