Champions League Draw | Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, RANGERS

[buster. 5,199]

Poor wee Plzen !!

 

Just a little behind Bayern, Barca and Inter.

 

However, at those numbers, the Czechs probably have a player or two worth looking at.

 

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by buster.

[Gribz 850]

11 hours ago, buster. said:

Poor wee Plzen !!

 

Just a little behind Bayern, Barca and Inter.

 

However, at those numbers, the Czechs probably have a player or two worth looking at.

 

 

They will probably qualify.

 

How many Barca players can actually play.

[buster. 5,199]

2 hours ago, Gribz said:

They will probably qualify.

 

How many Barca players can actually play.

I wonder why we don't look at more Czech players.

There must be some decent quality at relatively good prices out there.

[Fat Eck 103]

On 26/08/2022 at 12:37, buster. said:

History tends to weigh heavier than recent form guides.

 

Our record at PSV is excellent. Prior to Wednesday, 2 wins and a draw. Form suggests it would be difficult, we win again.

 

Ajax, it isn't so good although we have tended to be paired with them when they have been flying.

70's after they won 3 EC's

90's after another EC

 

Ach, sorry I missed this chat. Love this kinda stuff. And I get exactly what you mean:

It's like all three times we've played Sporting in Europe, they've come away with a decent result from the Ibrox first leg and then we've won the tie after some serious drama in the Lisbon return - and that's three ties taking place over the course of forty years: in 1971, 2008 and 2011.

As you're saying above, we've now met PSV Eindhoven four times in Europe since 1978-79; they've only lost once at Ibrox: we've never lost in Eindhoven. Nuts.

Last season Borussia Dortmund became the team we've played most often in European competition: five different ties (if, that is, for the sake of this argument, you want to treat the home and away meetings in a group stage as a "tie") and, from the 1966-67 Cup-Winners' Cup - when they were holders - to last season when they were the second-best side in one of Europe's top five domestic leagues, they've never won at Ibrox, we've only lost once in the Westfalen, and the only time they've put us out was on penalties after a last-minute equaliser.  

Bayern: Five ties but one of them was a final (so only a single match, meaning we've played them in nine individual legs as opposed to ten versus Dortmund): We've only eliminated them once (arguably our greatest ever result, in 1972) but twice they've had last-minute equalisers to snatch a draw at Ibrox and we've never conceded more than once in Bavaria... and had three draws over the 90 minutes there, including the one where we didn't concede until extra time, in the 67 CWC final in Nuremberg. 

Inter we've met three times, them always doing better over the two games but without ever winning at Ibrox (this includes our pre-Souness Revolution mid-eighties team up against an Inter with two strikers who had/would scored/score in the World Cup final!) and, as ye say, the parallels in our two ties with Villarreal - either side of us being bloody liquidated - are frightening.

Of course, there's plenty evidence to say it's all bunkum - off the top of my head, Standard Liege, Gornik Zabrze, Leeds, Sevilla and Saint-Etienne are clubs we've lost one and won one tie against over the decades so no "historical pattern" there.

But, like how the fact we ARE a European trophy-winning club definitely effects our mindset going into European games (as a team and a support), I think there is definitely a belief formed (negative or positive) by the prospect of playing a club you have famous previous with.

So, like you're saying, Buster - with Ajax we're done but with Liverpool and Napoli it's time to set the right tone.😄

Edited September 2, 2022 by Fat Eck
I'm taking a whitey: total Euro stats overdose

[buster. 5,199]

That was a Great post @Fat Eck loving it !!

 

_----------------------_

 

Napoli went back to the top of SeriaA this afternoon with an 89th minute winner to beat mid table Spezia, 1-0 at home.

 

Sounds like they were coming down from the Lord Mayor's show against Liverpool but managed to squeeze the 3 points in the end.

 

Their manager, Spalletti was sent off (double yellow, 83 & 91) and their centre forward, Osimhen didn't play (looks like he is injured / subbed off against Liverpool in first half).

 

If we are to play them on Tuesday after 2 heavy defeats, its a good weekend to have free. 

 

I only hope that we are working hard to rectify the awful set piece defending and that they can be bothered running about a bit more on Tuesday.

 

 

[Fat Eck 103]

Cheers, Buster - it's a great topic you raised.

Unfortunately your theory's been proven right again as we continue our 100% competitive losing record v Ajax - and, aye, I hope you're also right about the weekend break suiting us better than Napoli's exploits have suited them:

On Tuesday we want our record v Italian clubs to go more "Juve 1978" than "Juve 1995". 😉

[buster. 5,199]

4 minutes ago, Fat Eck said:

Cheers, Buster - it's a great topic you raised.

Unfortunately your theory's been proven right again as we continue our 100% competitive losing record v Ajax - and, aye, I hope you're also right about the weekend break suiting us better than Napoli's exploits have suited them:

On Tuesday we want our record v Italian clubs to go more "Juve 1978" than "Juve 1995". 😉

Juve '78, now that was my first Huge European result as a Rangers supporter (from March '73).

 

From '73, we did heehaw until most of the Italian WC team came to Ibrox. Then it was the old two buses coming along one after another, with the PSV away victory.

 

Winning the final against Moscow Dynamo was great but surely the big result was getting past Bayern Munich in the semi final, with the spine of the West German team who would go on to win the Euros and the WC.

 

So a lot of ordinary to poor stuff (eg. Twente Grasshoppers) bookended by two outstanding victories against the International might of West Germany and Italy.

 

Which was the best ?.....is a good debate.

 

 

Against Napoli, regardless of the result. First and foremost, we need to show the best version of ourselves and see where it takes us.

 

 

 

[Fat Eck 103]

42 minutes ago, buster. said:

Juve '78, now that was my first Huge European result as a Rangers supporter (from March '73).

 

From '73, we did heehaw until most of the Italian WC team came to Ibrox. Then it was the old two buses coming along one after another, with the PSV away victory.

 

Winning the final against Moscow Dynamo was great but surely the big result was getting past Bayern Munich in the semi final, with the spine of the West German team who would go on to win the Euros and the WC.

 

So a lot of ordinary to poor stuff (eg. Twente Grasshoppers) bookended by two outstanding victories against the International might of West Germany and Italy.

Aye, PSV were the UEFA Cup holders, Juve had won it the season previous to that (their first Euro trophy) and, of course, half the Barca Bears were still playing for us.

I was only eight at the time - my dad got me out my bed to watch the Sportscene highlights - so six years previous seemed a lifetime ago, but  there was Alex MacDonald putting a Turin team out with a goal into the Broomloan for the second time in his Rangers career.

I remember my aunt and uncle leaving my gran's to go and see us v Young Boys, probably coz their name stuck in my head as a kid but Juventus -  "youth" - is appropriately also the first Rangers European game I ever remember watching on TV.

Like ye say, papped out PSV next and I probably thought this was standard Rangers in Europe, a bit like any young bears getting into it last season.

That we ended up going out to Cologne (first time I'd watched us on telly LIVE in Europe), who never reached a European final til 1985, and that they in turn lost to Forest, who went on to win their first ever European final, was a shock to my young system.

Cut to thirty and forty four years later and it's us getting to finals that's the shock.

Wednesday night was like a psychological warm-down.

[MacK1950 2,378]

Let's have a "John Greig" moment against the Tallies,albeit his magic moment was in an international.

[buster. 5,199]

Could Gio's managerial history have a bearing on how the group will pan out for us ?

 

If so, two ways it could go.

 

1. With Feyenoord, Gio won one game in the group, at home to Napoli....ie. we beat Napoli on Wednesday.

 

2. That win was last game in group after 5 defeats. ie. We lose Wednesday but beat Ajax in MD6.

 

One win would be close to our average of 1.2 wins per CL group stage (12 in 10 campaigns).