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United States10393 Posts
On December 14 2023 23:08 Liquid`Drone wrote:
I mean it doesn't have a real heavy hitter I agree with that, but I have a hard time thinking about a group where you're certain to get two eliminations of Milan+Newcastle or better level. Imo group of death is basically given to the group where the eliminated teams are of the highest quality (and where it's a given that they will be before the group stage begins), not where the advancing teams are of the highest quality.
That's how I always thought about a group of death is the overall raw quality of the group which leads to teams that could have advanced in weaker groups but would fail to qualify in a more difficult group. For example, if you dropped any of these teams into Group E (Athletico, Lazio, Feyenoord, Celtic), they almost surely advance behind Athletico (or maybe even top the group if they can upset Athletico).
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On December 15 2023 02:49 FlaShFTW wrote:Show nested quote +On December 14 2023 23:08 Liquid`Drone wrote:
I mean it doesn't have a real heavy hitter I agree with that, but I have a hard time thinking about a group where you're certain to get two eliminations of Milan+Newcastle or better level. Imo group of death is basically given to the group where the eliminated teams are of the highest quality (and where it's a given that they will be before the group stage begins), not where the advancing teams are of the highest quality. That's how I always thought about a group of death is the overall raw quality of the group which leads to teams that could have advanced in weaker groups but would fail to qualify in a more difficult group. For example, if you dropped any of these teams into Group E (Athletico, Lazio, Feyenoord, Celtic), they almost surely advance behind Athletico (or maybe even top the group if they can upset Athletico).
That's an acceptable alternative definition of a Group of Death. But at a low end of scale.
The deadliest type is a group where a few tournament winning contenders (top favourites) risk elimination. Just like the last Euro group with France, Germany and Portugal. It can lead to a slow death rather than direct elimination - top favourites would be worn down early on and struggle to advance far in the knockout.
None of the four teams in PSG, Dortmund, AC Milan and Newcastle are favourites. Heck, I don't even see them having the quality to pass the QF. Yes, if put in any other group, they would have a higher chance of advancing to the knockouts - but only as the second place team behind the likes of Real, Bayern, City, Inter.
So yes, fine to call it a Group of Death. But it's rather weak one, and not as the most deadly as Drone described as such.
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Northern Ireland26760 Posts
It’s a group of death in a competition where you don’t really get them because of seeding. Could be deadlier again of course!
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never seen that this is offside.
yesterday at rennes vs villareal.
Freekick kicker hit the post and then ball came back to him (he touched it). Its only offside because no one else touched the ball between post and back to the kicker.
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Northern Ireland26760 Posts
On December 15 2023 23:30 Dingodile wrote:
never seen that this is offside.
yesterday at rennes vs villareal.
Freekick kicker hit the post and then ball came back to him (he touched it). Its only offside because no one else touched the ball between post and back to the kicker.
I’ll have to check that out as I don’t think I’ve ever seen that!
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I have to check the rule but I think I have read something about this... basically he "passed" to himself so its offside....but I need to find the rule for that 
edit: only found it in german but the freekick taker is not allowed to touch the ball after the freekick if not at least someone else touched it.
edit²: german rule explaination
that is also why sometimes during a freekick, someone else briefly touches the ball, making him the taker and the guy that shoots has the option to shortly dribble.
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On December 15 2023 14:44 WombaT wrote:
It’s a group of death in a competition where you don’t really get them because of seeding. Could be deadlier again of course!
Yes, the whole point of seedings is to prevent Group of Death and early elimination of top teams. The expansion of CL to 32 teams has kept apart top teams apart during group stages and made their progress almost ceremonial (except for MU!). Which is why the new semi-Swiss tournament format next season should spice things up slightly at the league stage.
This CL season is rather lightweight with the absence of some top teams (Liverpool) and presence of many underdog teams (Copenhagen). So far, I'm more excited watching the underdog teams in CL rather than the mid-tier teams (Newcastle). I personally don't get the hype around Newcastle. I love their football during the 90s but their current squad and setup is just rather meh. Brighton and West Ham in CL would've put on a greater show, I feel. I'm guessing people were rooting against PSG rather than rooting for Newcastle in the 'Group of Death'. PSG is an easy team to hate, but they would put up a greater fight in the knockout against the likes of Real, City, etc. All in all, I don't feel any loss about Newcastle being knocked out (I actually feel more for Milan who actually play sexier football).
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As expected, he suffered a cardiac event. He's in stable condition.
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Well let's hope the second warning is taken seriously.
In other news to lighten things up. In our domestic league, first 4 spots are within 2 points (very very very rare here) and we have first vs second and 3rd vs 4th this weekend.
Thie first 3 are the usual big teams and the 4th is Braga which has been the "4th best" in our league for a few years. This has been a strange year so far since the top teams are losing several points here and there which is not common. Braga started the league terribly, as they were focused on reaching the CL group stage and have been good after that.
With the big 3 having not so good years, if it wasn't for that poor start this might have been "the run" for Braga and their best chance ever to get one league win. Their first.
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Not offside, its the same rule that applies to penalty kicks if they hit the bar
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On December 17 2023 17:05 KobraKay wrote:
Well let's hope the second warning is taken seriously.
In other news to lighten things up. In our domestic league, first 4 spots are within 2 points (very very very rare here) and we have first vs second and 3rd vs 4th this weekend.
Thie first 3 are the usual big teams and the 4th is Braga which has been the "4th best" in our league for a few years. This has been a strange year so far since the top teams are losing several points here and there which is not common. Braga started the league terribly, as they were focused on reaching the CL group stage and have been good after that.
With the big 3 having not so good years, if it wasn't for that poor start this might have been "the run" for Braga and their best chance ever to get one league win. Their first.
It's been a strange season so far across all the European big leagues as well. Girona and Leverkusen on top in Spain and Germany. A tight topsy turvy title fight in England. Napoli and Lazio suffering a hangover from last season's heroics in Italy. Basically a switch of form and fortunes for most of the big winners and underperformers from last season.
It's nice to watch underdogs putting up a serious title challenge. But I can't help but feel that this season is an anomaly because of teams and players suffering from fatigue and lack of pre-season prep due to last winter's World Cup.
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Northern Ireland26760 Posts
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Well that's the silliest sending off I've seen in a while.
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On December 17 2023 23:32 RKC wrote:Show nested quote +On December 17 2023 17:05 KobraKay wrote:
Well let's hope the second warning is taken seriously.
In other news to lighten things up. In our domestic league, first 4 spots are within 2 points (very very very rare here) and we have first vs second and 3rd vs 4th this weekend.
Thie first 3 are the usual big teams and the 4th is Braga which has been the "4th best" in our league for a few years. This has been a strange year so far since the top teams are losing several points here and there which is not common. Braga started the league terribly, as they were focused on reaching the CL group stage and have been good after that.
With the big 3 having not so good years, if it wasn't for that poor start this might have been "the run" for Braga and their best chance ever to get one league win. Their first. It's been a strange season so far across all the European big leagues as well. Girona and Leverkusen on top in Spain and Germany. A tight topsy turvy title fight in England. Napoli and Lazio suffering a hangover from last season's heroics in Italy. Basically a switch of form and fortunes for most of the big winners and underperformers from last season. It's nice to watch underdogs putting up a serious title challenge. But I can't help but feel that this season is an anomaly because of teams and players suffering from fatigue and lack of pre-season prep due to last winter's World Cup.
At least for Bayern's case, they're not really underperforming, their point average this season was enough to win the league the last 6 years, it's just that Leverkusen is somehow super strong and consistent (Africa Cup pending ofc..)
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Norway28792 Posts
Ye Bayern's 11-2-1 and RM's 13-3-1 are both very good starts, so it's more about Girona and Leverkusen having fantastic openings. In City's case they've had a poor start of the season, while Arsenal and Liverpool have been at expectation or better, and Aston Villa have been shockingly good.
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That goal is amazing!
That freekick is not offside. It's a direct freekick and you are not allowed to touch twice. Quite a rare occasion though. Reminds me of Captain Tsubasa where they hit the bar and then follow up with a overhead kick xD
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Champions League draw:
FC Porto vs Arsenal
Napoli vs FC Barcelona
PSG vs Real Sociedad
Inter Milan vs Atletico Madrid
PSV vs Borussia Dortmund
Lazio vs Bayern Munich
FC Copenhagen vs Manchester City
RB Leipzig vs Real Madrid
Europa League play-off draw:
Feyenoord vs Roma
Milan vs Rennes
Lens vs Freiburg
Young Boys vs Sporting CP
Benfica vs Toulouse
Braga vs Qarabag
Galatasaray vs Sparta Praha
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Marseille
Conferencee League play-off draw:
Sturm Graz vs Slovan Bratislava
Servette vs Ludogorets
Union SG vs Frankfurt
Real Betis vs Dinamo Zagreb
Olympiacos vs Ferencváros
Ajax vs Bodø/Glimt
Molde vs Legia
Maccabi Haifa vs Gent
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EPT
