04 Dec 2012: Real Madrid CF - Ajax

[Kowalczyk]

UEFA Champions League, Group D, Matchday 6.

Kick-off at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid is 20:45 CET, as always.

Right them what's the situation.

Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid are #1 and #2. They might swap places, but they're already qualified for the next round, that's a sure thing.

So, Ajax and Man City will battle it out for third place. We have four points, Man City have three. If Ajax lose in Madrid (which of course they will, even against 'Real B') and Man City get a draw in Germany, it will be four points each. If that happens, it's the head-to-head result that counts first, which means that Ajax finish third. In other words: Man City must win in Dortmund, a draw won't be enough even if Ajax lose 10-0 in Spain.

Question is: will Dortmund let City win?

I don't think they will. Fielding a 'reserves team' is not a German thing (more like a 'mediterranean' thing). Also, all Dortmund home games are sold out. They will play in front of 70,000 fans and I think they will want to finish in style and win the group. Moreover: English teams don't give a flying f*ck about the Europa League. Man City will feel like they're 'eliminated' with nothing left to play for.

Conclusion: Man City won't win, Ajax will finish third. And let's just say it like it is: in this group that's a pretty good achievement. I'm not moaning. At all.

K.

[Philippe]

Whatever happens, Dortmund will remain #1 in this group.

Therefore, I wouldn't be surprised to see City get an "unexpected" result in Germany. Although Dortmund are not as "mediterranean" as Zagreb.

[Tom_]

Yep, after last year I don't think we should expect favours from other teams in the group. If we don't win in Madrid we could well be out of Europe, but I'm actually OK with that. We did fine in a very tough group and we could do without distractions from the Eredivisie...

[Kowalczyk]

Whatever happens, Dortmund will remain #1 in this group.

Yeah, you're right. I got that wrong. That makes it a bit more tricky, but I still think Dortmund will want to beat Madrid at their sold-out house - and I also think that Man City can't be arsed about the Europa League.

K.

[Dubbel]

Whatever happens, Dortmund will remain #1 in this group.

Yeah, you're right. I got that wrong. That makes it a bit more tricky, but I still think Dortmund will want to beat Madrid at their sold-out house - and I also think that Man City can't be arsed about the Europa League.

K.

Unfortunately, Dortmund doesnt play vs Madrid so them wanting to beat Real at their sold-out house wont help us either...

[Tom_]

Haha. You guys are tough ;)

[Tom_]

Hmm, Klopp is resting Sebastian Kehl and Sven Bender against City. Subotic and Löwe are injured. He says he's considering resting Götze, Blaszczykowski and Piszczek. I suspect we will need three points to stay in Europe.

[Orange14]

You cannot blame Klopp for resting players. We also don't know what Mourinho will send out for his lineup either and I tend to agree taking all the points is the only sure way of progressing in the Europa League.

EDIT: ManCity have the derby with ManU this weekend and they may be sitting players as well!

[Philippe]

The real issue is : can ManCity afford it ?

Anyway, if anything strange happens, the UEFA will investigate.

Thus spoke the clown : Mancini is insistent that City are better off in Europe than out. "It will be difficult because in the Europa League you play Thursdays so you don't have a lot of rest before Premier League matches," he said. "But we must try to play in the Europa League. We need to stay in Europe."(The Guardian)

The most important for me is to see Hoesen score this evening.

[SPL]

I would love us to finish above City as that will be some achievement in a group against the champions of the top 3 leagues in the world but I am rather hoping we do not play in the Europa cup as we need to concentrate entirely on the league after Christmas .

Back to Sky again tonight for the last time hope you get good streams.

Realistically anything less than 4 goals against will be a bonus but who knows .

[Orange14]

Anyone have a better SopCast stream than M&M 2???

[martinkohout]

I'm using http://www.thefirstrow.eu/watch/157075/ ... -ajax.html, which is not horrible (yet).

[Orange14]

Well that should about do it for this match. What were Moisander and Alderwiereld thinking? Off side trap just wasn't there and then they run back like headless chickens. Too easy for Madrid.

[Tom_]

Yeah. But it was de Jong giving the ball away that really dropped us in it (not a good pass to him from Boerrigter btw).

[Tom_]

Looking at Dortmund's lineup I think they rested Lewandowski as well as all the players mentioned earlier. City seems to be without Touré and Silva.

[martinkohout]

2-0. Jeez. Moisander's getting pantsed today.

[Orange14]

Callejon's eyes light up everytime we play Madrid. I think this is his fourth or fifth goal against us.

[SPL]

oh dear only 45 mins left to suffer

[Tom_]

I'll be glad when this one's over. I think I actually went to sleep for a minute or two there. We didn't look like we were in the match for a second.

Well it's up to City and Dortmund now but I can't say I'm bothered either way.

[Orange14]

Vermeer is getting some good opportunities to show how good a shot blocker he can be. Unfortunately this is not a recipe for success. Moisander beaten twice for the goals and even with a 50/50 Madrid team on the pitch the quality is still just too much for Ajax to overcome. Glad to see Schöne come on, he at least pushes the team forward. Fischer and Hoesen seem to be interchanging positions but it really doesn't matter because the ball isn't getting to them other than a couple of times. Too slow in passing and pushing forward. Dortmund and ManCity are scoreless and I'm not keen on us progressing to the Europa League with this group of players.

[Tom_]

It's not JUST that Madrid are way better, we're also not playing very well.

I feel like I should mention that I thought their first goal was marginally offside, not that it matters...

[Orange14]

I feel like I should mention that I thought their first goal was marginally offside, not that it matters...

Could have been but it's up to the defenders to make the step up so there is no question in the linesman's mind about offsides. They didn't do it in this case and then didn't cover CR-7.

[Tom_]

Dortmund have scored, 1–0

[Tom_]

So have we! Keeper felt sorry for us

[Orange14]

Well this is much better. We are actually looking to attack. Nice entry pass from Blind that the keeper couldn't punch away. Boerrigter keeps his cool and slots it home!