OT: Soccer Tuesday Open Thread

Submitted by itsbigcat on

Champion's League returns to the tube today!

Today’s  Schedule:

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Round of 16, Second Leg, Day 1

2:45p       Arsenal v Bayern Munich – FS1

2:45p       Napoli v Real Madrid – FS2

 

Notes

*Champions League Round of 16 involves 2 legs, of which this is the second. Away goals are accounted for in the knockout round.

*If you don’t see a league or team listed that you want to follow and discuss, let me know and I’ll add it (within reason). I’m not going out of my way to make sure Scunthorpe or Drogheda United are covered here.

*These Times are Eastern TIme

*Games on Major TV Networks are in Bold

Enjoy, cheers, and Go Blue!

MGoBoard
Other

superstringer

March 7th, 2017 at 9:41 AM ^

OP doesn't do nearly a good enough job(*).  For second-leg UCL games, OP needs to add first leg scores.  Real was, what, 2-0 over Napoli?  And Arsenel is down 4,536 goals to Bayern.

(*)  Note heavy sarcasm.

Joined: 02/04/2009

MGoPoints: 18166

chatster

March 7th, 2017 at 10:03 AM ^

It wouldn’t surprise me to see Arsene Wenger keep Alexis Sanchez on the bench again at the start, have Arsenal keep the score at 0-0 at halftime, have Alexis come on at the start of the second half to score four goals, including one in the 90th minute to put the Gunners up 4-0, so that they’d advance by the sheer luck of having had Alexis score their only goal at Bayern in the first leg of this Champions League draw . . .  and then have Bayern score in the final second of stoppage time on an Arsenal own goal, so that Bayern would advance on total goals.
 
FULL DISCLOSURE: I was a long-suffering Boston Red Sox fan for nearly 50 years before the 2004 World Series happened. I'm used to this disappointment, and I don’t expect to see any bloody socks among Arsenal players today.

Joined: 09/14/2010

MGoPoints: 26926

chatster

March 7th, 2017 at 1:58 PM ^

You’re right, before last season, Cubs fans were the real long-suffering fans. It’s much different for Arsenal fans and we have no right to complain, because, since 2000, the Gunners have some first-place finishes in the EPL and many FA Cup trophies for winning the season-long competition among all the clubs in England; but it’s the Champions League that all the top clubs in Europe respect the most.  It’s in the Champions League where Arsenal typically meets its doom.
 
UEFA Champions League (originally the European Cup) has existed since the 1955-56 season. Arsenal has reached the championship game only ONCE in all those years (losing 2-1 to Barcelona), despite having played in the UEFA Cup/Champions League every season since 1996-97.
 
Imagine a 32-team, season-long competition among the best college basketball teams, based on their previous season’s performance, and including at least one team from each Division One conference.  Put those teams into eight groups for round-robin, home-and-home games, and then take the eight group winners and eight group runners-up for the round of 16 and put them into a knockout tournament to decide the champion. That would be somewhat like the Champions League.  Since the 2010-11 season, Arsenal hasn’t made it past the round of 16 in the Champions League.
 

Joined: 09/14/2010

MGoPoints: 26926

chatster

March 7th, 2017 at 10:33 AM ^

When Arsenal fell out of the top four in the EPL, following their loss to Liverpool on Saturday, even though today's match isn't expected to be either very competitive or determinative of which club advances to the next round, Fox Sports might've decided that Arsenal-Bayern will have the added spectacle of seeing:

(a) whether Alexis Sanchez gets the start after Wenger benched him in the first half against Liverpool,

(b) how well Alexis plays if he plays today,

(c) the walkout of Arsenal fans if the Gunners go down early, and

(d) all the anti-Wenger banners and signs that will be displayed.

For Fox, showing this Arsenal-Bayern match will be like re-running the video of O. J. in the white Bronco while being chased by police cars and helicopters all over Los Angeles. It might not be viewed as the chance to televise the final nail in Wenger's managerial coffin for Arsenal, but it could be the last Champions League match that Arsenal plays with Wenger in charge.

Joined: 09/14/2010

MGoPoints: 26926

bacon1431

March 7th, 2017 at 10:43 AM ^

Forgot the most important game. Wolves travel to Ipswich to take on former manager Mick McCarthy. Wolves have lost 5 league matches in a row and 6 overall. They're only one point above the drop zone, though they have two matches in hand on everyone around them save Blackburn. Need to start getting points ASAP

Joined: 07/26/2008

MGoPoints: 25281

Dylan

March 7th, 2017 at 11:19 AM ^

Just so weird how wenger has stayed there forever while being mediocre when you have managers all over Europe moving on / getting sacked even a year removed from a title / other hardware.

Joined: 01/22/2013

MGoPoints: 6187

jbrandimore

March 7th, 2017 at 11:21 AM ^

I did want to tell you that I read the entire thing and I have gained zero knowledge of what this 2nd leg means, as there was next to no explanation.

The only thing I gathered from this is people do not like Arsenal.

Joined: 01/06/2015

MGoPoints: 13706

jmblue

March 7th, 2017 at 2:48 PM ^

You play a 2-game playoff, home and away.  The team with the most total goals wins.  If it's tied, the team with the most away goals wins.  If that doesn't break the tie, they play a 30-minute overtime and then go to penalty kicks.

This week (and next), everyone is playing the second leg of the playoff, so these games are decisive.

 

 

Joined: 11/07/2008

MGoPoints: 102796

gmoney41

March 7th, 2017 at 11:41 AM ^

Looks like some duds today as Bayern and Real should cruise.  Highly entertaining 1st round of games, but today's results seem like a forgone conclusion.  Tomorrow, hopefully Man City will beat Stoke and get back into second place.  Man United looks like they are in for a tough spell with Ibra suspended (rightfully so) for 3 games.  They won't beat Chelsea in the FA cup without him, and they look to drop more points in the league, after failing so wonderfully against Bournemouth last weekend.  

Joined: 07/13/2009

MGoPoints: 3938

socalwolverine1

March 7th, 2017 at 6:42 PM ^

Napoli looked good for a half...   Up 1-0, Napoli was controlling the midfield and had at least a half dozen excellent chances, and then Mertens hits the post...but alas it was not to be!

Joined: 10/08/2012

MGoPoints: 1235

jman077

March 7th, 2017 at 7:07 PM ^

USWNT v. France in the last match of the SheBelieves Cup is on FS1 right now. USA wins the mini-tourney with a win, France wins with any other result.

Joined: 12/08/2008

MGoPoints: 881