I think Porto will go out here. They still wont have a coach and the team is struggling, they were lucky to get past Napoli really.

The Franchise wrote:I think Porto will go out here. They still wont have a coach and the team is struggling.

Not when Ricardo "The Greatest Talent of All Time" Quaresma is still Ballin' mate.

We just call him Ricky   

Fazio is suspended for the first leg, and he's head and shoulders (no pun intended) above any of Sevilla's other defenders. It'll probably be Pareja and Navarro at the back, and I don't see that dealing with Martinez very well. Queresma against Coke or Diogo won't go well for Sevilla, either.

Juve, Benfica, Porto and Valenica to go through.

How the hell did Bidone D'or winner Quaresma score?

Juveman17 wrote:How the hell did Bidone D'or winner Quaresma score?

He is going through a resurgence. Living up to his potential and surpassing Ronaldo each passing day.

Juve
Benfica
Porto
Valencia

Juve vs Benfica final

Juve

My rank of this EL

1 Juventus
2 Benfica
3 Valencia
4 Basel
5 Porto
6 Sevilla
7 Olimpique Lyon
8 AZ Alkmarr

Olympique Lyon is overrated, while Basel is underrated.
Infact personally I disagree with some Italian newspapers..
So definitely a good draw for Juventus
Before of this draw Juve was the only Italian top club that had never faced the OL ...about thatt that I remember Inter faced  it in that  Uefa Cup 97 98 (we lost 1-2 to Milano, Giuly scored :lol :but then we won 1-3 to Lyon. And then we won the Cup... ,  ) , Milan in Champions League 05 06 (Milan fans hardly ever forget those  last five minutes so exciting) , Roma in 2006 2007 ( that Amantino Mancini epic goal)
It is a club that evokes fond memories to Italian clubs .
if Juve wins EL it 'll be the club with more Uefa Cup won,rising to 4 and overcoming  Inter and Liverpool to 3 ... LFC fans we must join us to hope in a miracle

I think Basel are gonna win the whole thing.

Juve will get knocked out by either Benfica or Basel in the semis or final.


But Robes I'm with you on this

Yeah, even I think Basel will probably make it to the finals this time.. Basel vs Porto final.

Basel vs Porto would be just the worst thing that could happen to Basel (next to Basel vs Benfica) as they traditionally have problems with Portuguese teams.

But first things first - right now Basel have to deal with Valencia which will by no means easy, especially as Basel have a long list of injured players. (In the match against Salzburg, 7 of Basel's starters were out with injuries and they only had a handful of U21 kids on the bench.)

@farfan,team news for Lyon ?

I heard quite a few starters are missing in defense and midfield for you.

Basel have to play a match behind closed doors due to crowd trouble in Salzburg today

so out of all the people who think basel are going to do well, how many of their games have you seen this year? two? they can't even manage a 50% win rate in the swiss league ffs... not that we're world beaters but still, let's calm down a bit...

I happen to have seen all of Basel's matches bar maybe 2 or so. Basel don't really need to win, it suffices to mix concrete in the home match and get a 0:0 (which they are experts in) and then a 1:1 away would suffice.

#TeamQuaresma

In Europa League the average level is not high , it can be sufficient organization and mentality.

And Basel is a club well tested, it knows by heart what doing in pitch thanks to job made by Murat Yakin.
I don't think they will win the cup , but they can repeat the result of last year , the semi-final.

And infact for me we shouldn't underrate even their qualification against Salisburgo ( the Austrian team could be a potential outsider considering what I wrote above) ,  the Swiss got it brilliantly  despite the numerical inferiority.

Porto for example has some individualities better than Basel but it is not a real squad  for me,  besides their coach was even  sacked recently.. The Napoli dominated against them at San Paolo

S wrote:@farfan,team news for Lyon ?

I heard quite a few starters are missing in defense and midfield for you.

yep .

no Gourcuff, grenier , Bisevac , miguel lopes ,Fofana and probably umtiti too .
i'm expecting something like this :

------------Lopes----------------
Zeffane----Koné----Umtiti----Bedimo
------------Gonalons---------------
-------M'Vuemba-----Ferri----------
------------Malbranque------------
--------Gomis--------Lacazette----

juve should walk this.

What has become of Lyon.

So neither Grenier lol
what has he precisely ?

I had read this on L'Equipe http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Article/Grenier-soigne-pour-un-staphylocoque/14143

is is true?

RealGunner wrote:What has become of Lyon.

4 years of revenue deficit, record losses in last season , 30% drop in TV revenue etc....

money is tight at the moment, the club is getting by with youth products ( grenier, lacazette, benzia , umtiti etc...) and cheap ass recruits ( Henri Bedimo, miguel lopes etc...)

hopefully the situation is better once the new , bigger stadium is completed .

Robespierre wrote:So neither Grenier lol
what has he precisely ?

I had read this on L'Equipe http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Article/Grenier-soigne-pour-un-staphylocoque/14143

is is true?

he developed a staph infection while getting treatment for a pubalgia .

thanks
I defined Lyon as "overrated" because here in Italy many tend to consider it stronger than its real value just remembering the past Lyon (capable to reach semi-final Champions 2010) and so they let be influenced by name . Actually omitting some names (and some are injured) it's a squad enough mediocre , Juve should walk , but anyway we'll see ... the Europe sometimes offers surprises

farfan wrote:

S wrote:@farfan,team news for Lyon ?

I heard quite a few starters are missing in defense and midfield for you.

yep .

no Gourcuff, grenier , Bisevac , miguel lopes  ,Fofana and probably umtiti too .
i'm expecting something like this :

------------Lopes----------------
Zeffane----Koné----Umtiti----Bedimo
------------Gonalons---------------
-------M'Vuemba-----Ferri----------
------------Malbranque------------
--------Gomis--------Lacazette----

juve should walk this.

Juve are playing awfully bad since the last 4-5 games though.

But Vucinic starting alongside Tevez instead of LOLrente gives me some hope that we can nick a win today.

Basel vs Valencia lineups:

Basel: Sommer; P.Degen, Schär, Sauro, Aliji; Xhaka, Serey Die, Díaz; D.Degen, Delgado, Stocker.

Valencia: Guaita; J.Pereira, Senderos, Mathieu, Bernat; Feghouli, Keita, Parejo, Fede; Alcácer, Vargas.