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?
I get the feeling this won't be the most active open thread.
ReplyDeleteBueller?!
ReplyDeleteYou and me, Teeknuts, you and me!
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna say no Diego=no cup for Bremen.
ReplyDeleteAnd me! For the first half at least.
ReplyDeleteI'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.
ReplyDeleteOh wait! It's now in English!! Mesopotamian Goals, FTW!
ReplyDeleteThink of it this way, you're not listening to Tommy Smyth.
ReplyDeleteCome on Shakhtar. Make your Brazilians finish.
ReplyDeleteThat was some nice stuff up until the bad finish.
ReplyDeleteNope, Teek, there's some Scottish bloke now. Arabic was more understandable.
ReplyDeleteShakhtar dominating early play, but Luiz Adriano misses a golden opportunity. He makes Denilson look Brazilian.
Shakhtar are playing a 4-2-3-1. I like this.
ReplyDelete2 million Turkish lira spent on renovating the stadium. That's what? 7 million dollars?
"That's possibly the worst corner kick in history."
ReplyDeleteThis guy is growing on me.
This commentator is phenomenal! He described the teams kits as comical, as not befitting the beauty of the pitch! Moar!
ReplyDeleteSD looks like they have 2 goals in them, but Werder are playing the defensive game well and look to strike on the counter.
ReplyDeleteThe Shaktar keeper reminds me of someone, but I can't put my finger on it
ReplyDeleteGood tackle by Lewandowski in the box. Good decision by the ref to not award the PK.
ReplyDelete@Teek: the ref is playing the advantage very well today, yeah? He's letting the game flow . . . this can only be a good thing.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's been a decent match by all parties so far.
ReplyDeleteSo you're not hearing Bretos then?
ReplyDeleteWell, on the pitch at least. The commentary is not at that level.
ReplyDeleteGOAL GOAL GOAL GOAL
ReplyDeleteLuiz AdriAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAno.
@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.
ReplyDeleteLUIZ ADRIANO!!
Shitty defending by Werder, but the throughball was perfectly, delicately played.
ReplyDeleteGreat finish there, Bremen probably could have done better there.
ReplyDeleteAdriano still needs shooting practice after that.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if I could have said there a couple more times there.
ReplyDeleteIs that Eminem on the Shakhtar bench?
ReplyDeleteThere there, teeknuts. There there.
ReplyDeleteAdriano 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.
ReplyDeleteI'm sensing a red out of Frings today.
ReplyDeleteI hope so ü. 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.
ReplyDeleteAnd by 'aweful' I mean awful.
ReplyDeleteMe too. It's probably just wishful thinking.
ReplyDeleteMaybe broken ribs . . .
ReplyDeleteThat definitely looked like it could be nasty
ReplyDeleteHow do you sell Ukraine to Brazilian players? There must be offerings of women, wine, and song.
ReplyDeleteCrap save attempt. Great game though.
ReplyDeleteNALDO!! Mistake by the keeper.
ReplyDeleteKeeper Fail!
ReplyDelete"And it's all Brazilian here in Istanbul."
ReplyDeleteNote: must visit Istanbul soon.
EbullientFatalist: According to a friend of mine who worked in the Ukraine, that is exactly how you sell anyone on it.
ReplyDeleteOooh man, that was rough. Poor guy.
ReplyDeleteI dare say that was NYK worthy, no matter what he says.
ReplyDeleteRat is running Round and Round tonight.
ReplyDeleteKeeper FAIL again. Lucky bastard that Pizarro can't hit the target.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I bet he really lays it down tonight.
ReplyDeletePR: 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."
ReplyDeleteGood gosh, that was a hit by Lewandowski (sp).
ReplyDeleteI suppose you could say the same thing about Newcastle, in all fairness.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shot by the guy who's name I don't want to even try to spell.
ReplyDeleteeh? what did I do now?
ReplyDeleteNothing. Go find the Werder goal on 101GG. I can only imagine how you would react to that.
ReplyDeleteHalfway there, Torsten.
ReplyDeleteHahaha. This guy commenting for Al-Jazeera seems to think the Shakhtar keeper is somehow in the bag for Werder.
ReplyDeleteThat is somewhat believable, EF.
ReplyDeleteGreat half. Can't wait seven or so hours to watch the second. Cheers, fellas.
ReplyDeleteHe literally called for an "inquest" if the keeper makes another stupid decision.
ReplyDeletesee? 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?)...
ReplyDeleteha! just saw the Naldo goal.
ReplyDeleteThat's...not so good.
@JT: Yeah, I hope Walter Smith is watching this and taking notes about how to play "football."
ReplyDeleteA great open-field block by Rat.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's how you save a free kick
ReplyDeleteAlso, 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?
ReplyDeleteSrna, that was a very dumb booking
ReplyDeleteWelp, 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.
ReplyDeleteWerder's starting to turn it up a little now.
ReplyDeleteShakhtar are looking really tired.
ReplyDeleteExtra time!
ReplyDeleteJadson scores for Shakhtar after nice play from Srna
ReplyDeleteApparently, there is one gai in Turkey
ReplyDeleteThat was a golden chance to ice it, but the Donetsk player hit it just a bit too hard.
ReplyDeleteHot celebrating Ukranian girl >> Frumpy crying German girl
ReplyDelete