PMB: CHELSEA Vs PAOK - TALKING POINTS

-

Chelsea’s players and coaching staff are determined to bounce back after Sunday’s disappointment at Wembley, and that means tonight and against local rivals Fulham on Sunday. Yet PAOK are in a perilous state in Group L and will be equally desperate for a result.

Over in Thessaloniki, club chairman Bruce Buck handed out crisps to travelling supporters who had been ushered onto the stands several hours before kick-off. The ancient adage ‘beware of Greeks bearing gifts’ applies tonight, however.

The Blues have not lost at Stamford Bridge in European competitions since September 2013 and have played 12 matches since then. After the setback at Tottenham, it would be good to see Chelsea attack and defend like ancient Spartans, and there is no time like the present.

BATE wouldn’t melt last time out in Belarus, but in the last home group match of the campaign the Blues could spread some early good cheer in the run-up to Christmas tonight.
The mini marathon of the group stage draws to a close in a fortnight’s time in Budapest, and Maurizio Sarri has already stewarded his team into the last 32 of the competition.
The Blues have now progressed from 15 of the 16 first group stages we have entered in UEFA competitions. The exception was 2012/13 when as European champions we dropped to the Europa League and won the competition in Amsterdam. PAOK have reached the knockout phase in four of the past six group stages in this competition.

How well are UEFA’s club rankings, reworked this season, panning out? Arsenal, Dinamo Zagreb, Frankfurt, Lazio, Leverkusen and Zurich are the others already confirmed for the round of 32.

Four of the seven (including Chelsea), were top-seeded sides in the August draw, but a trio of other qualifiers – Zagreb, Eintracht, and Zurich – were drawn from pot three. Real Betis, Leipzig and Spartak Moscow, also from the third tier, look likely to punch above their weight and qualify too.

Only one of the top 12 Europa League clubs in UEFA’s rankings, Anderlecht, are already out of the competition (Olympiacos and Besiktas could soon join them). Pot Two is the really underperforming fleet. Marseille and Ludogorets have already capsized and four others – Celtic, Copenhagen, Rapid Vienna and, of course, PAOK – could sink tonight.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

COE LAUNCHES IAAF WORLD ATHLETICS HERITAGE PLAQUE AWARD

-
Image
IAAF President Sebastian Coe this evening announced the creation of the IAAF World Athletics Heritage Plaque. Coe also opened a public competition to design the plaque and launched a dedicated plaque website section for the new award. Coe made the announcements while hosting 150 guests at an IAAF Heritage Legends Reception in the Meridien Beach Plaza Hotel, Monaco. The audience included representatives and family members of several deceased athletics legends including Paavo Nurmi, Jesse Owens, Fanny Blankers-Koen and Emil Zatopek. On stage, each family presented Coe with historic artefacts from their relatives’ famous careers by donation to the IAAF Heritage Collection. Coe commented: “The IAAF World Athletics Heritage Plaque is a location-based recognition which highlights, celebrates and links together iconic and historic athletics competitions, careers, performances, cities, venues, landmarks and culture around the world.” A uniquely designed plaque will be permanently a...
Read more

Messi's €700 million release clause Won't Scare Bigger Clubs

-
Image
Barcelona corporate director Pancho Schroder concedes Lionel Messi's huge buyout clause may not be enough to frighten off big spenders. The Argentine maestro put a halt to speculation he could leave the Catalan giants by signing a contract extension until 2021 in November, with the deal including a €700 million release clause. But Schroder told Sky Sports: "We have established a clause that we consider sufficient for Messi to retire at Barcelona, but, having said that, a year ago we thought that Neymar's clause was also good enough to keep him and last summer it proved that it was not so. "Looking to the future, I think it's difficult, but I don't have a crystal ball and now things are getting a little crazy."
Read more

Bring On Real Madrid, Juventus - Salah

-
Image
Liverpool forward, Mohammed Salah has declared that the team isn’t scared of facing Real Madrid and Juventus in the quarter final of the UEFA Champions league. The Reds qualified to the next round after thrashing FC Porto 5-0 on aggregate, the first leg had ended 5-0 before playing a 0-0 draw at Anfield last week Tuesday. The Egyptian international has been in blistering form this season since joining Liverpool in the summer from Roma, scoring 33 goals in all competitions to help the Reds spearhead a possible title dream. Salah revealed that having crossed the round of 16 hurdles, the team welcomes any opponents from Real Madrid and Juventus in the quarter final. "We are really confident of ourselves regardless of what other teams in the Champions League feel. Our goal is to ensure that we face each game as they come and we are not scared of Real Madrid or Juventus in the next round should they pit us together. "We are more than focus in the competition and I belie...
Read more