Europa League rival watch

[ready1873 3,869]

All three of our opponents were in action today. 

Villarreal scraped by Leganes away from home winning 1-0. A goal from Bacca but it didn't seem like they had their strongest team out. 

Rapid Wien lost 1-0 at home to Austria Wien in the derby despite being favourites. 

And Spartak were defeated by Akhmat Grozny 2-1, the away side being 6/1 at the bookies! 

All in all none of these sides look like scary opposition though they do of course have talented players and are capable. Villarreal will be technically very good but if we carry on and improve a tad on our away European performances so far we have a chance of containing them. Spartak and Rapid will both be tricky teams to travel to but we can do them at Ibrox with the backing from the support imo. 

[bluedylan 11,555]

1 hour ago, ready1873 said:

All three of our opponents were in action today. 

Villarreal scraped by Leganes away from home winning 1-0. A goal from Bacca but it didn't seem like they had their strongest team out. 

Rapid Wien lost 1-0 at home to Austria Wien in the derby despite being favourites. 

And Spartak were defeated by Akhmat Grozny 2-1, the away side being 6/1 at the bookies! 

All in all none of these sides look like scary opposition though they do of course have talented players and are capable. Villarreal will be technically very good but if we carry on and improve a tad on our away European performances so far we have a chance of containing them. Spartak and Rapid will both be tricky teams to travel to but we can do them at Ibrox with the backing from the support imo. 

good post mate

[STEPPS BOY 73,804]

We’re on our way..

[Malvern 11,329]

1 hour ago, ready1873 said:

All three of our opponents were in action today. 

Villarreal scraped by Leganes away from home winning 1-0. A goal from Bacca but it didn't seem like they had their strongest team out. 

Rapid Wien lost 1-0 at home to Austria Wien in the derby despite being favourites. 

And Spartak were defeated by Akhmat Grozny 2-1, the away side being 6/1 at the bookies! 

All in all none of these sides look like scary opposition though they do of course have talented players and are capable. Villarreal will be technically very good but if we carry on and improve a tad on our away European performances so far we have a chance of containing them. Spartak and Rapid will both be tricky teams to travel to but we can do them at Ibrox with the backing from the support imo. 

Fuck sake just get in about them like a horny dug and have done with it.

[The Blue 413]

1 hour ago, ready1873 said:

All three of our opponents were in action today. 

Villarreal scraped by Leganes away from home winning 1-0. A goal from Bacca but it didn't seem like they had their strongest team out. 

Rapid Wien lost 1-0 at home to Austria Wien in the derby despite being favourites. 

And Spartak were defeated by Akhmat Grozny 2-1, the away side being 6/1 at the bookies! 

All in all none of these sides look like scary opposition though they do of course have talented players and are capable. Villarreal will be technically very good but if we carry on and improve a tad on our away European performances so far we have a chance of containing them. Spartak and Rapid will both be tricky teams to travel to but we can do them at Ibrox with the backing from the support imo. 

Thanks for the info ?, got a £5 on us V Villarreal 10/1 cos I have a feeling but like you said our home games will be the diffrence in this group.

[Courtyard Bear 41,357]

Don’t fear any of them at Ibrox and might just shock one of them away from home. 

[Leeds_Bear 8,103]

Tbf they could probably look at the start of our season and say the same thing. We shouldn't underestimate any of our European opposition but I feel the teams we've played on our way to the group stages are of a similar (maybe slightly worse) calibre than our group stage opposition. 

Kind of wish our first game was at home but so excited for Thursday and think we might sneak a result. 

[TheKingObv 10,639]

1 hour ago, Leeds_Bear said:

Tbf they could probably look at the start of our season and say the same thing. We shouldn't underestimate any of our European opposition but I feel the teams we've played on our way to the group stages are of a similar (maybe slightly worse) calibre than our group stage opposition. 

Kind of wish our first game was at home but so excited for Thursday and think we might sneak a result. 

In what world are Osijek, Maribor and UFA similar to Villarreal, Spartak and Rapid Vienna?

Jesus Christ.

[RFC55 108,733]

1 hour ago, Leeds_Bear said:

Tbf they could probably look at the start of our season and say the same thing. We shouldn't underestimate any of our European opposition but I feel the teams we've played on our way to the group stages are of a similar (maybe slightly worse) calibre than our group stage opposition. 

Kind of wish our first game was at home but so excited for Thursday and think we might sneak a result. 

Villarreal are a different breed to what we've played mate come on to fuck.

Rapid are probably around maribor and spartak again are an uplift on what we have faced 

It's not a group of death by any stretch of the imagination but we were knocked out by Luxembourgs 4th best side last season and now people are wanting to play down spartak Villarreal and rapid

we could be sitting on Friday morning on the back of a 3 or 4 0 hammering.

[The Specky Forum Organiser 64,467]

1 hour ago, Leeds_Bear said:

Tbf they could probably look at the start of our season and say the same thing. We shouldn't underestimate any of our European opposition but I feel the teams we've played on our way to the group stages are of a similar (maybe slightly worse) calibre than our group stage opposition. 

Kind of wish our first game was at home but so excited for Thursday and think we might sneak a result. 

Deary me

[Leeds_Bear 8,103]

4 minutes ago, TheKingObv said:

In what world are Osijek, Maribor and UFA similar to Villarreal, Spartak and Rapid Vienna?

Jesus Christ.

I said slightly worse, obviously not including Ufa. Osijek and Maribor aren't far away from Rapid Vienna and Spartak if you look at recent European records. 

[TheKingObv 10,639]

Just now, Rfc52 said:

Villarreal are a different breed to what we've played mate come on to fuck.

Rapid are probably around maribor and spartak again are an uplift on what we have faced 

It's not a group of death by any stretch of the imagination but we were knocked out by Luxembourgs 4th best side last season and now people are wanting to play down spartak Villarreal and rapid

we could be sitting on Friday morning on the back of a 3 or 4 0 hammering.

Some deluded people on here 

[TheKingObv 10,639]

We struggled to string together 4 passes against Maribor, Osijek and Motherwell away from home. There's a good chance Villarreal will absolutely pump us on Thursday. 

[RFC55 108,733]

2 minutes ago, TheKingObv said:

Some deluded people on here 

Our group has the potential for 3 heavy away defeats. Moscow is an awful place to go. Austria ain't much better and then one of Spain's best sides. 

In absolutely delighted we made the group's and do have a belief that we might just sneak 2nd. But if we finish 4th in the group that also wouldn't surprise me. I think the fixtures have worked for us but we will need two home wins from two in the games after Thursday. We get that we only need to avoid defeat in Russia or Vienna. Any point home or away against Villarreal will be a bonus. They're the best side we've played in the last 8 years. 

[Leeds_Bear 8,103]

9 minutes ago, Jeffrey said:

Deary me

 

11 minutes ago, Rfc52 said:

Villarreal are a different breed to what we've played mate come on to fuck.

Rapid are probably around maribor and spartak again are an uplift on what we have faced 

It's not a group of death by any stretch of the imagination but we were knocked out by Luxembourgs 4th best side last season and now people are wanting to play down spartak Villarreal and rapid

we could be sitting on Friday morning on the back of a 3 or 4 0 hammering.

Spartak and Maribor were in the same Champions League group last season, drawing home and away with them. 

And Osijek were narrowly beaten by Rapid Wien's league rivals Austria Wien in the play-offs for Europa League.

Granted a lot can change in a season and as I said, our opposition on our way to the group stage is slightly worse.  - but the standard is not as far off as some are saying. Villarreal the clear exception. 

[The Specky Forum Organiser 64,467]

4 minutes ago, Leeds_Bear said:

 

Spartak and Maribor were in the same Champions League group last season, drawing home and away with them. 

And Osijek were narrowly beaten by Rapid Wien's league rivals Austria Wien in the play-offs for Europa League.

Granted a lot can change in a season and as I said, our opposition on our way to the group stage is slightly worse.  - but the standard is not as far off as some are saying. Villarreal the clear exception. 

And last season we got eliminated by Progres. Means nothing. There';s a huge gulf in class.

[RFC55 108,733]

1 minute ago, Leeds_Bear said:

 

Spartak and Maribor were in the same Champions League group last season, drawing home and away with them. 

And Osijek were narrowly beaten by Rapid Wien's league rivals Austria Wien in the play-offs for Europa League.

Granted a lot can change in a season and as I said, our opposition on our way to the group stage is slightly worse.  - but the standard is not as far off as some are saying. 

You can't judge rapid on Austria Vienna. Austria Vienna had a torrid league season but done ok in Europe. 

Spartak and maribor might not be far off each other in terms of how they performed in europe last season but i think most of us would pick playing maribor over the dreaded Russian trip.

For.me the group represents another step up in terms of quality. People getting carried away with what we might do could be sitting on Friday with their tails between their legs. This is the toughest game we will.have played in nearly a decade. Some.seem to be excited that Villarreal have started poorly this season but the strength and depth in the Spanish league is frightening. 

 

 

[Leeds_Bear 8,103]

Just now, Jeffrey said:

And last season we got eliminated by Progres. Means nothing. There';s a huge gulf in class.

I doubt either of those teams have a turnover of 30 odd players though. Guess we'll wait and see. 

[The Specky Forum Organiser 64,467]

Irrelevant. 

[Leeds_Bear 8,103]

9 minutes ago, Rfc52 said:

You can't judge rapid on Austria Vienna. Austria Vienna had a torrid league season but done ok in Europe. 

Spartak and maribor might not be far off each other in terms of how they performed in europe last season but i think most of us would pick playing maribor over the dreaded Russian trip.

For.me the group represents another step up in terms of quality. People getting carried away with what we might do could be sitting on Friday with their tails between their legs. This is the toughest game we will.have played in nearly a decade. Some.seem to be excited that Villarreal have started poorly this season but the strength and depth in the Spanish league is frightening. 

 

 

Yep it's a step up in quality, which is why I said every team we've faced is slightly worse. But we shouldn't be afraid of Spartak or Rapid in our own back yard.

Who knows we might nick something on Thursday, it's cup football. I certainly won't be sat here with my tail between my legs for not taking the safe option and predicting we'll lose. 

[RFC55 108,733]

2 minutes ago, Leeds_Bear said:

Yep it's a step up in quality, which is why I said every team we've faced is slightly worse. But we shouldn't be afraid of Spartak or Rapid in our own back yard.

Who knows we might nick something on Thursday, it's cup football. I certainly won't be sat here with my tail between my legs for not taking the safe option and predicting we'll lose. 

It's no the safe option at all but we could wake up after a doing on Friday morning

[Leeds_Bear 8,103]

Just now, Rfc52 said:

It's no the safe option at all but we could wake up after a doing on Friday morning

I think we'll nick something. 

[BlueMe 25,327]

No matter what happens in these games, we've already achieved our goal of reaching the groups this season, and doing that with a new squad is a great achievement tbh.

For me, if we can pick up a few good results and stay injury free, then anything else is a bonus. The league is the priority now that we've made the groups and secured the finances that brings. 

[McEwan's Lager 30,511]

Rapid fans stormed the pitch and fought with cops after getting beat at the weekend and nearly killed a police officer.

Their fans can be Feyenoord levels of mental.

I imagine that this game will get upgraded to high risk too and people with tickets in the home end have theirs cancelled / denied entry.

[The Specky Forum Organiser 64,467]

2 minutes ago, McEwan's Lager said:

Rapid fans stormed the pitch and fought with cops after getting beat at the weekend and nearly killed a police officer.

Their fans can be Feyenoord levels of mental.

I imagine that this game will get upgraded to high risk too and people with tickets in the home end have theirs cancelled / denied entry.

Rapid have asked for additional tickets, wonder if we might try and negotiate something with them