⚽UEFA Conference League Discussion Thread -- 2023/24 | Winner: Olympiacos

[snipie]

-snip-

Partizan is a quite good team and I don't think they will get kicked at this stage.
APOEL is a known team that was beaten with 3 goals vs a team from Sweden!
Tomorrow there is many games and I think Praha, Young Boys, Koln, Villarreal, West Ham and Fiorentina won't have hard moments. Otherwise, Nice, Wien, Antwerp, Sofia games aren't that obvious tho.

[3meek]

I see that strong clubs are starting to play today... For example West Ham, Villarreal or Koln... They are all favourites to play on home field, so I think they will all win without a problem as they are playing against less known teams...
But the other two matches that interest me are Young Boys vs Anderlecht and Fiorentina vs Twente... Young Boys and moreover Fiorentina are favourites, but I think there will be a real battle here...

[boltz]

I see that strong clubs are starting to play today... For example West Ham, Villarreal or Koln... They are all favourites to play on home field, so I think they will all win without a problem as they are playing against less known teams...
But the other two matches that interest me are Young Boys vs Anderlecht and Fiorentina vs Twente... Young Boys and moreover Fiorentina are favourites, but I think there will be a real battle here...

That is correct. The "stronger" teams have entered the competition in this last phase and most of them will qualify as I don't see surprised regarding Villareal or WestHam but Koln could surprise us with a non-qualify game.

For me , all eyes are upon my Romnian teams of FCSB , Craiova and CFR. Will I bet on these teams ? Nah, because I have tough times lately but if I were , I would bet on FCSB to win and Craiova to score and CFR both teams to score but also Fiorentina vs Twente should be a great game to watch or to bet on it.

[Lucius]

I see that strong clubs are starting to play today... For example West Ham, Villarreal or Koln... They are all favourites to play on home field, so I think they will all win without a problem as they are playing against less known teams...

It is true that all three hosts are favorites in tonight's matches, but in the Villareal - Hajduk Split match, it should be noted that the match will be played in Valencia, which is some 60 km away from Villarreal, because the host's stadium is being renovated. Therefore, we can say that the match is played on neutral ground, and that Hajduk already eliminated Vitoria Guimaraes in the last round.

Hajduk is far from being in shape because they lost the derby match in the domestic championship as a guest of Dinamo Zagreb (4-1), but I believe that they will try to keep the draw as long as possible and lose with a minimal margin before the return match next week.

[buwaytress]

^ I'd definitely have put something up on this as you say but couldn't find a single line for the match, nor any other I just checked on the only bookie I can access now (Fairlay) so I guess tonight will be another "sit on my ass and do nothing night".

I'd def have put something against 3meek's picks too!

[Pulsar77]

Başakşehir are going to host Antwerp in the Europa Conference League today. The technical director of the Turkish team really wants his team to qualify for the group stage a lot. I think that Başakşehir will win in Istanbul today. By the way, the German star Mesut Özil is in the substitutes for the first time today. I don't expect him to have any playing time but Emre Belezoğlu is a person who can make surprises.

[casperBGD]

~snip

Hajduk is far from being in shape because they lost the derby match in the domestic championship as a guest of Dinamo Zagreb (4-1), but I believe that they will try to keep the draw as long as possible and lose with a minimal margin before the return match next week.

although I would like to see Hajduk in next round, somehow I do not think they have any chances against Villareal, let us not forget that Villareal played CL SF last season, and that they are in good shape, having won 0:3 first round in La Liga

it is on neutral ground, since they are playing on Valencia city stadium, but it is not far from Villareal (and they are not known to have many local supporters, or great home ground), so I do not see that as an issue

[3meek]

Interesting that Koln immediately conceded two goals from Fehervar after the red card... They weren't such clear favourites to fall apart after the loss of one player... West Ham have not looked very convincing so far either, scoring one goal in the first half... They are no better than Viborg in terms of shooting statistics... The only thing is that Villarreal justify their status as favourites...

[snipie]

Interesting that Koln immediately conceded two goals from Fehervar after the red card... They weren't such clear favourites to fall apart after the loss of one player... West Ham have not looked very convincing so far either, scoring one goal in the first half... They are no better than Viborg in terms of shooting statistics... The only thing is that Villarreal justify their status as favourites...

Epic fail for many teams that I thought could win their games. That's why I hate early stages of UEFA competitions since you never know how weird it ends!
Praha, Young Boys, Nice, Koln lost their matches. I could understand the defeat of the first two but It is incredible to see the last two losing!
West Ham scored 3 for now, Villarreal scored 4, Fiorentina and Partizan are leading. At least there is expected results here after all..

[CLS63]

The Turkish team Başakşehir played against Antwerp today. Even though they managed to get ahead their performance wasn't very credible at all. After they scored they started to have serious defensive problems. And finally this helped Antwerp to find the goal they were searching for. By this late goal, Başakşehir have a tougher job to do in this round. They need to get better at defense in the rematch to increase their chance.

[Joca97]

Interesting that Koln immediately conceded two goals from Fehervar after the red card... They weren't such clear favourites to fall apart after the loss of one player... West Ham have not looked very convincing so far either, scoring one goal in the first half... They are no better than Viborg in terms of shooting statistics... The only thing is that Villarreal justify their status as favourites...

Shocking loss from Koln against Fehervar at home. After leading 1-0 you just cannot lose a match like this if you come from the bundesliga. West ham now leading 3-1 and this should secure the win at home and have a good advantage in the second leg

[boltz]

Well , Romanian teams did awful tonight as none of them managed to win but Conference League is literally a lottery sometimes.

Postitive fact is that I assumed well that Koln might produce a bad surprise today and it happened. Another surprise should be consider that Young Boys lost on home pitch against Anderlecht and I'm afraid they won't make it into the groups but Basel lost as well and Fiorentina is still having a rough game against Twente.

[SquallLeonhart]

I see that strong clubs are starting to play today... For example West Ham, Villarreal or Koln... They are all favourites to play on home field, so I think they will all win without a problem as they are playing against less known teams...
But the other two matches that interest me are Young Boys vs Anderlecht and Fiorentina vs Twente... Young Boys and moreover Fiorentina are favourites, but I think there will be a real battle here...

That is correct. The "stronger" teams have entered the competition in this last phase and most of them will qualify as I don't see surprised regarding Villareal or WestHam but Koln could surprise us with a non-qualify game.

For me , all eyes are upon my Romnian teams of FCSB , Craiova and CFR. Will I bet on these teams ? Nah, because I have tough times lately but if I were , I would bet on FCSB to win and Craiova to score and CFR both teams to score but also Fiorentina vs Twente should be a great game to watch or to bet on it.

I would guess it is normal to not wager on smaller clubs, and the clubs like West Ham could be looking small compared to teams like City or Liverpool, but when we are on European stage, they are not that small at all and their budget dwarves most budgets from teams that are from smaller leagues. I mean they are better than many teams of other big leagues as well.

This is why I believe that we shouldn't sleep on them, many premier league teams go to Europe and have success because they have good budgets vs other teams. I remember even Spurs played amazingly in UCL just a few years ago, when in fact they are not that great in the league at all as we all know from their cupless situation.

[Joca97]

Partizan won pretty easily today against Hamrun with 4-1 and a gift from bookies on over 2.5 goals and the odd was 1.80 and that was huge. Also West Ham and Villereal today won pretty easily against their opponents and probobly booked their place in the group

[LTU_btc]

Disappointed about Hajduk loss, I want to see manager from my country reaching group stage. BVut realistic, there is not much hope left after you concede 4 goals against Villarreal. Submarines and West Ham, AZ Alkmaar and Partizan now almost in group stage.
Koln is biggest joke today. Even after getting red card you don't have rightto lose at home against such team like Fehervar. While Nice is team from big league, but I wouldn't say that they were favorites against Maccabi, so, minimal their loss isn't surprise. I'm not sure why Young Boys were so obviously favoured by bookmaker, IMO, they are almost same level team with Anderlecht. Slavia Prague in recent seasons made some noice in Europe, home win for Rakow is perfect result.
I just remind that Vaduz play in 2nd division of Switzerland and Rapid Vienna didn't managed to beat them

[darxiaomi]

Really surprised by the team Hajduk Split have, Marko Livaja, Nikola Kalinic, Subasic as goalkeeper, and some croatian internationals, sadly for they in this stage their fight against Villarreal , dont much to do for they.

I didnt follow so much this toournament in this stage because are so many teams and a lot of shit teams remaining.

[casperBGD]

-snip
Koln is biggest joke today. Even after getting red card you don't have rightto lose at home against such team like Fehervar.

Koeln made fine case for playing them to win in re-match, do agree that conceiving goals from Fehervar should not happen, but it football after all, and would be boring without those

Partizan secured group stage, with a home, and we celebrated on the stadium, as we won CL, and it was a small win over team from Malta

pitty for Hajduk, there are some matches, like this between Villareal and Hajduk, where both teams could easily pass some other pairs in qualifications

[Lucius]

Disappointed about Hajduk loss, I want to see manager from my country reaching group stage. BVut realistic, there is not much hope left after you concede 4 goals against Villarreal.

I'm not surprised by the defeat, but I was hoping that Hajduk would still play a little more defensively and try to concede as few goals as possible, but after a great start they simply fell apart and it's a wonder they didn't concede a few more goals in the second half. However, despite everything, they have a chance in the second game, which will be played in a completely sold-out stadium of 30,000+ people.

Really surprised by the team Hajduk Split have, Marko Livaja, Nikola Kalinic, Subasic as goalkeeper, and some croatian internationals, sadly for they in this stage their fight against Villarreal , dont much to do for they.

Subasic was on the bench, Kalinic came in towards the end of the game and forced a penalty kick, and everyone else played more or less very poorly. In addition, the players you mentioned came to Hajduk to end their careers, they are far from the greatest days of their playing careers. However, they should not be written off because there is one more match to be played, and Hajduk will do their best to achieve a positive result on their home field with the help of their fans.

[darxiaomi]

Yes man i know that. But you dont see regulary in a class C/D team of europe this surnames togheter. And i know they are in the end of his carrer and surely their are fans or supporter of the team, so for that they come back to his natal country.

This happen a lot here in South America.

[tomos81]

In this season of UEFA Champions League, I think PSG will be on top as the most positive team. Currently PSC is playing very good football. They are already winning several matches If PSG's players can keep up their performance then they might win this season's Champions League. However, alongside PSG, Manchester City are currently in great form. Manchester City is at the top of the English Premier League points table. These two teams are one of the perfect teams for UEFA Champions League