Wednesday, May 20, 2009

UEFA Cup's final Final Open Thread

European Silverware day! While not as glamorous as nest week's Champions League Final between Manchester United and Barcelona, this is guaranteed to be a historic finale. Yes, friends, today we see the last UEFA Cup Final ever. Germany's Werder Bremen and Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk will put it all on the line to see which team becomes the historical footnote/trivia answer. Or not. That's the beauty of the game. You can never tell how it will be played until the match is in motion.

Shakhtar and Bremen both benefited from entering the competition at the knockout stage after being dumped from Champions League play. That's not a bad parachute to have if you can ride it to the final. Inside, we'll hit on lineups and both teams road through the competition. In case that's not enough for you, you can go look back at Werder's entry into The Good, The Bad, The WTF, and know that Shakhtar will get added in after the match. Will they be secondary champions of Europe at the time? Hell for all I know, it will still be in PKs when that post goes live.















Shakhtar Donetsk

Round of 32: Tottenham Hotspur 3-1
Round of 16: CSKA Moscow 2-1
Quarterfinals: Olympique Marseille 4-1
Semifinals: Dynamo Kyiv 3-2

Today's lineup:
Pyatov, Kucher, Fernandinho, Jadson, Ilsinho, Luiz Adriano, Lewandowksi, William, Rat, Chygrynskiy, Srna.
Subs: Khudzhamov, Duljaj, Gai, Gladkiy, Ischenko, Chyzhov, Moreno.















Werder Bremen

Round of 32: AC Milan 3-3 (away goals)
Round of 16: Saint Etienne 3-2
Quarterfinals: Udinese 6-4
Semifinals: Hamburg 3-3 (away goals)

Today's lineup:
Wiese, Boenisch, Naldo, Baumann, Fritz, Rosenberg, Ozil, Prodl, Frings, Pizarro, Niemeyer.
Subs: Vander, Pasanen, Tosic, Vranjes, Hunt, Tziolis, Harnik.

No away goals to save the Germans tonight. Let's hope for lots of action and just a few goals, shall we?

73 comments:

Teeknuts said...

I get the feeling this won't be the most active open thread.

EbullientFatalist said...

Bueller?!

EbullientFatalist said...

You and me, Teeknuts, you and me!

Teeknuts said...

I'm gonna say no Diego=no cup for Bremen.

Jacob said...

And me! For the first half at least.

EbullientFatalist said...

I'm watching this on Al-Jazeera. Considering the names of the players, and the language of the commentator, there is no way in hell I'm gonna know what's going on.

EbullientFatalist said...

Oh wait! It's now in English!! Mesopotamian Goals, FTW!

Teeknuts said...

Think of it this way, you're not listening to Tommy Smyth.

Jacob said...

Come on Shakhtar. Make your Brazilians finish.

Teeknuts said...

That was some nice stuff up until the bad finish.

EbullientFatalist said...

Nope, Teek, there's some Scottish bloke now. Arabic was more understandable.

Shakhtar dominating early play, but Luiz Adriano misses a golden opportunity. He makes Denilson look Brazilian.

EbullientFatalist said...

Shakhtar are playing a 4-2-3-1. I like this.

2 million Turkish lira spent on renovating the stadium. That's what? 7 million dollars?

EbullientFatalist said...

"That's possibly the worst corner kick in history."

This guy is growing on me.

EbullientFatalist said...

This commentator is phenomenal! He described the teams kits as comical, as not befitting the beauty of the pitch! Moar!

EbullientFatalist said...

SD looks like they have 2 goals in them, but Werder are playing the defensive game well and look to strike on the counter.

Teeknuts said...

The Shaktar keeper reminds me of someone, but I can't put my finger on it

EbullientFatalist said...

Good tackle by Lewandowski in the box. Good decision by the ref to not award the PK.

EbullientFatalist said...

@Teek: the ref is playing the advantage very well today, yeah? He's letting the game flow . . . this can only be a good thing.

Teeknuts said...

Yeah, it's been a decent match by all parties so far.

Jacob said...

So you're not hearing Bretos then?

Teeknuts said...

Well, on the pitch at least. The commentary is not at that level.

Jacob said...

GOAL GOAL GOAL GOAL

Luiz AdriAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAno.

EbullientFatalist said...

@Umlaut: no, this commentator likes the way the ref is letting the players play, and I can't help but agree. From everything I've seen, advantages have been allowed and that's good for us the fan. However, both teams don't look too keen on hard tackles.

LUIZ ADRIANO!!

EbullientFatalist said...

Shitty defending by Werder, but the throughball was perfectly, delicately played.

Teeknuts said...

Great finish there, Bremen probably could have done better there.

Jacob said...

Adriano still needs shooting practice after that.

Teeknuts said...

I wonder if I could have said there a couple more times there.

Jacob said...

Is that Eminem on the Shakhtar bench?

Jacob said...

There there, teeknuts. There there.

EbullientFatalist said...

Adriano had Srna making one of his patented runs forward and couldn't pick him out. But for the lack of vision, Werder would be down two.

Jacob said...

I'm sensing a red out of Frings today.

Precious Roy said...

I hope so ΓΌ. Enough karmically aweful things cannot happen to that guy, and yes, I'm still bitter about the handball on the line in the 2002 World Cup.

Precious Roy said...

And by 'aweful' I mean awful.

Jacob said...

Me too. It's probably just wishful thinking.

EbullientFatalist said...

Maybe broken ribs . . .

Teeknuts said...

That definitely looked like it could be nasty

EbullientFatalist said...

How do you sell Ukraine to Brazilian players? There must be offerings of women, wine, and song.

Jacob said...

Crap save attempt. Great game though.

EbullientFatalist said...

NALDO!! Mistake by the keeper.

Precious Roy said...

Keeper Fail!

EbullientFatalist said...

"And it's all Brazilian here in Istanbul."

Note: must visit Istanbul soon.

Precious Roy said...

EbullientFatalist: According to a friend of mine who worked in the Ukraine, that is exactly how you sell anyone on it.

Teeknuts said...

Oooh man, that was rough. Poor guy.

Jacob said...

I dare say that was NYK worthy, no matter what he says.

Teeknuts said...

Rat is running Round and Round tonight.

Jacob said...

Keeper FAIL again. Lucky bastard that Pizarro can't hit the target.

Precious Roy said...

Yeah, I bet he really lays it down tonight.

EbullientFatalist said...

PR: It must be. I just can't imagine Luiz Adriano stepping off a plane into a bleak Kiev winter, looking around, slowly nodding his head, and saying, "Yes. This is home."

Jacob said...

Good gosh, that was a hit by Lewandowski (sp).

EbullientFatalist said...

I suppose you could say the same thing about Newcastle, in all fairness.

Teeknuts said...

What a shot by the guy who's name I don't want to even try to spell.

The NY Kid said...

eh? what did I do now?

Jacob said...

Nothing. Go find the Werder goal on 101GG. I can only imagine how you would react to that.

Jacob said...

Halfway there, Torsten.

EbullientFatalist said...

Hahaha. This guy commenting for Al-Jazeera seems to think the Shakhtar keeper is somehow in the bag for Werder.

Jacob said...

That is somewhat believable, EF.

Jacob said...

Great half. Can't wait seven or so hours to watch the second. Cheers, fellas.

EbullientFatalist said...

He literally called for an "inquest" if the keeper makes another stupid decision.

Jim Hendry said...

see? this is what happens when teams that actually give a shit and make some effort (are you watching, Popes O'Rangers circa 2007/08 final?)...

The NY Kid said...

ha! just saw the Naldo goal.

That's...not so good.

EbullientFatalist said...

@JT: Yeah, I hope Walter Smith is watching this and taking notes about how to play "football."

Teeknuts said...

A great open-field block by Rat.

Teeknuts said...

And that's how you save a free kick

Jim Hendry said...

Also, if Platini is so fucking up-in-arms about the proliferation of damn foreigners in the EPL, should he have similar gripes and grumbles about the fact that Shakhtar's four or five best players are Brazilian?

Teeknuts said...

Srna, that was a very dumb booking

EbullientFatalist said...

Welp, fellas, it's been real, but with my stream down and not finding a new one, I'm off to start my day. Be well. And I hope the action is as good as the first half.

Teeknuts said...

Werder's starting to turn it up a little now.

Teeknuts said...

Shakhtar are looking really tired.

Teeknuts said...

Extra time!

Teeknuts said...

Jadson scores for Shakhtar after nice play from Srna

Teeknuts said...

Apparently, there is one gai in Turkey

Teeknuts said...

That was a golden chance to ice it, but the Donetsk player hit it just a bit too hard.

Precious Roy said...

Hot celebrating Ukranian girl >> Frumpy crying German girl