Champions League 2003/2004

[Captain Shamrock]

Third qualifying round draw

CSKA Moscow or Vardar v Sparta Prague
MTK Budapest or HJK Helsinki v Kaunas or CELTIC
RANGERS v FC Copenhagen or Sliema Wanderers
Austria Vienna v Marseille
Club Brugge v Borussia Dortmund
Sheriff Tiraspol or Shakhtar Donetsk v Lokomotiv Moscow
Lazio v Benfica
Dynamo Kiev v Maribor or Dinamo Zagreb
Bohemians or Rosenborg v Deportivo La Coruna
Grasshoppers v AEK Athens
Zilina or Maccabi Tel Aviv v CHELSEA
Celta Vigo v Leotar or Slavia Prague
Partizan Belgrade or Djurgarden v NEWCASTLE
Galatasaray v Pyunik or CSKA Sofia
Rapid Bucharest or Anderlecht v Wisla Krakow or Omonia
Tirana or Graz AK v Ajax


I don't think any of the Scottish or English clubs should be too disappointed with the draw, avoiding such teams as Ajax, Glatasaray, Rosenborg, Benfica, Lazio, Anderlecht, Deportivo, or Borussia Dortmund. Of course they won't be easy games but they could have been worse......


Captainwhoisofftobedagain

 

[BlazeArmy]

Lazio vs Benfica. ouch, they can't be pleased with that draw.

 

[CDK]

CSKA Moscow or Vardar v Sparta Prague
MTK Budapest or HJK Helsinki v Kaunas or CELTIC
RANGERS v FC Copenhagen or Sliema Wanderers
Austria Vienna v Marseille
Club Brugge v Borussia Dortmund
Sheriff Tiraspol or Shakhtar Donetsk v Lokomotiv Moscow
Lazio v Benfica
Dynamo Kiev v Maribor or Dinamo Zagreb
Bohemians or Rosenborg v Deportivo La Coruna
Grasshoppers v AEK Athens
Zilina or Maccabi Tel Aviv v CHELSEA
Celta Vigo v Leotar or Slavia Prague
Partizan Belgrade or Djurgarden v NEWCASTLE
Galatasaray v Pyunik or CSKA Sofia
Rapid Bucharest or Anderlecht v Wisla Krakow or Omonia
Tirana or Graz AK v Ajax

There's the picks.

I guarantee I've got 9 of 16.

 

[Rangerforever]

I guarantee you've blown at least one of them anyway.

Come on the Teddy Bears!

FCCopenhagenSchmokenhagen....

 

[zenga]

Ill put this in here!

European Football awards nominees announced

NYON, Aug 5 (SW) - The Union Europeenne de Football Association (UEFA) have announced the nominees for the yearly European Football awards.

Goalkeepers:
Buffon, Juventus (ITA)
Casillas, Real Madrid (SPA)
Toldo, Inter Milan (ITA)

Defenders:
Chivu, AFC Ajax (ROM)
Maldini, AC Milan (ITA)
Nesta, AC Milan (ITA)
Roberto Carlos, Real Madrid (BRA)
Thuram, Juventus (FRA)

Midfielders:
Davids, Juventus (HOL)
Makelele, Real Madrid (FRA)
Nedved, Juventus (CZE)
Scholes, Manchester United (ENG)
Zidane, Real Madrid (FRA)

Forwards:
Raul, Real Madrid (SPA)
Ronaldo, Real Madrid (BRA)
Shevchenko, AC Milan (UKR)
Van Nistelrooy, Manchester United (HOL)
Vieri, Inter Milan (ITA)

The four awards will be handed out in Monaco on the day of the European Supercup between AC Milan and FC Porto, August 28.

Italy scores best with 6 nominees, of which 5 are either goalkeepers and defenders.

 

[zenga]

Italian domination

Serie A guaranteed three Champions League seedings
Posted: Monday June 16, 2003 11:12 AM



NYON, Switzerland (AP) -- Italy's takeover of the Champions Cup -- with two teams in the 2003 final and three in the semis -- has guaranteed Serie A three clubs in the top eight seeds in next season's competition.

Defending champion AC Milan and runner-up Juventus join Lazio in the top eight. Lazio needs to qualify for the first round of round-robin group games. Even if it doesn't make it, Inter Milan will step up in its place.

UEFA has listed four groupings of eight teams which potentially will make up the first round. The positions are based on a combination of an individual club's record in Europe and the performance of each country's clubs overall.

The top eight teams, in order, are AC Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Lazio, Arsenal, Juventus and Deportivo La Coruna.

Of the eight, Lazio and Deportivo have to play in the qualifying round but the other six go straight into the first round.

The second group is Inter Milan, FC Porto, Celta Vigo, Galatasaray, Lyon, Panathinaikos, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea. Inter and UEFA Cup winner Porto will move up if Lazio and Deportivo fail to qualify.

The third group: PSV Eindhoven, Celtic, AEK Athens, Dynamo Kiev, Ajax Amsterdam, Olympiakos, Newcastle, Rangers. The fourth is: Sparta Prague, Olympique Marseille, Stuttgart, Locomotive Moscow, Slavia Prague, Real Sociedad, Monaco, Besiktas.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Almost time for the lucrative group stages of the Champions League. The Forces of Darkness are in a bit of a struggle at the moment. That will be a VERY difficult trip to Copenhagen in two weeks......


81' MTK Budapest [0 - 3] Celtic (Sco)

19' [0 - 1] Henrik Larsson

31' [0 - 2] Didier Agathe

68' [0 - 3] Stilian Petrov


52' Rangers (Sco) [1 - 1] FC Copenh'gen (Den)

8' [1 - 0] Peter Løvenkrands

28' Thomas Røll Larsen

51' [1 - 1] Todi Jönsson



Well done, Todi !


Hail! Hail!


I will update for everyone, especially our blue nose friends on the site.......Particularly Bucky.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

EEEEEZZZZZZYYYYYYY

FT MTK Budapest [0 - 4] Celtic (Sco)

19' [0 - 1] Henrik Larsson

31' [0 - 2] Didier Agathe

68' [0 - 3] Stilian Petrov

90' [0 - 4] Chris Sutton


NOT SO EEEEEZZZZZZYYYYYY

68' Rangers (Sco) [1 - 1] FC Copenh'gen (Den)

8' [1 - 0] Peter Løvenkrands

28' Thomas Røll Larsen

51' [1 - 1] Todi Jönsson

 

[Captain Shamrock]

81' Rangers (Sco) [1 - 1] FC Copenh'gen (Den)

8' [1 - 0] Peter Løvenkrands

28' Thomas Røll Larsen

51' [1 - 1] Todi Jönsson

79' Barry Ferguson (not a goal, just another yellow card for the cnut)

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Disappointing......

FT Rangers (Sco) [1 - 1] FC Copenh'gen (Den)

8' [1 - 0] Peter Løvenkrands

28' Thomas Røll Larsen

51' [1 - 1] Todi Jönsson

79' Barry Ferguson



That's a good result for the FOD. Apparently, they were VERY lucky to even get a draw. This should up nicely for them to do well in the return leg, just like last time against Viktoria Zizkov.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Celtic's new away strip worked nicely today...

I like the new unis. Sharp.

 

[Walks]

What the fcuk ??!!

Captain,

Nice kit but who the fcuk is that in the picture with all the gay stars and smoke and shite ??

Are Celtic trying to appeal to the gay community or something ??

p.s. Thanks for the minute by minute updates of Rangers and Celtic today

 

[Captain Shamrock]

No problem, Walks, on the updates....As for the design, they are trying to hit the San Francisco market. Apparently, it has been down over the last few years.


Sorry, this picture is more appropriate, as it is from today's game....

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Agathe with the second......

Number 2 of 4.....

 

[steve1234]

New british record.

MTK Hungaria 0-4 Celtic
Henrik Larsson established a new British scoring record to help Celtic ease past MTK Hungaria in the first leg of the third and final qualifying round of the Champions League.

A first half strike from the prolific Swede took his European tally for Celtic to 31 - one more than Ian Rush and Peter Lorimer for Liverpool and Leeds respectively. Best in Britain for European goals.

[Admin edit: Let's not start trying to sell stuff on the sly here.]

 

[Captain Shamrock]

For our blue noses......

Rangers held at home


Rangers were outplayed for long stretches at Ibrox
Rangers 1-1 FC Copenhagen
Rangers' chances of making the Champions League group phase hang in the balance after FC Copenhagen earned a deserved draw at Ibrox.

Peter Lovenkrands fired Alex McLeish's men into an early lead, but the visitors played the better football thereafter and equalised through Faroe Islander Todi Jonsson.

Rangers could not find any rhythm against well-organised and inventive opponents and can count themselves fortunate to be on level terms after the first leg.

It has been three years since Rangers last qualified for the first group phase of the competition and they will have to produce a much-improved performance in Denmark in the away leg if that barren run is to end.

Rangers got off to the perfect start when visiting goalkeeper Balazs Raboczki punched a Mikel Arteta free-kick straight into the path of Lovenkrands at the back post and the winger rammed the ball home from six yards out.

The Ibrox crowd were roaring their favourites on but FC Copenhagen were not overawed and soon began to control the midfield.

However, the next best chance fell to the Scottish champions and Arteta's 23rd minute shot flew inches wide of the mark.

The Danish side were swarming round the Rangers penalty area but some stout defending and last-ditch tackling denied the visitors any clear-cut chances.


Peter Lovenkrands opened the scoring at Ibrox
Rangers almost doubled their lead when Craig Moore rose to head Arteta's corner into the six-yard box, where Michael Mols connected with the ball, but Raboczki made a fine block.

The Danes retaliated swiftly when Zuma powered in a low drive, forcing Stefan Klos to make his first real save of the evening.

Copenhagen started the second half strongly and Zuma peeled off his marker to get on the end of a cross from the right, but his volley was both high and wide.

An equaliser was coming and Jonsson provided it in the 51st minute, although there was an element of luck involved when a team-mate's shot was deflected into his path.

But there was no doubting the quality of the finish, as he turned to drill the ball low past Klos from the edge of the penalty area.

Rangers huffed and puffed in search of a winner but the well organised Danes dealt with the home attacks easily and remained a threat on the break.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rangers: Klos, Ross, Moore, Khizanishvili, Ball, Ricksen, Ferguson, Arteta, de Boer, Lovenkrands, Mols. Subs: McGregor, Nerlinger, Malcolm, Vanoli, Thompson, Capucho, Berg.

FC Copenhagen: Raboczki, Rooba, Svensson, Norregaard, Albrechtsen, Tobiasen, Mykland, Nielsen, Roll Larsen, Jonsson, Zuma. Subs: Kihlstedt, Zivkovic, Bisgaard, Svard, Traore, Bech, Moller. Referee: Manuel

Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez (Spain)

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Good point, Walks.....

You don't see teams using gay looking guys at all nowadays, especially when it comes to promoting uniforms.....

 

[Walks]

What took you so long Captain ??

Don't recognize the fella' .........

 

[Captain Shamrock]

What took you so long Captain ??

I was very busy today.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

And the important write-up...

Celtic stroll to victory


Henrik Larsson scored his 31st European goal for Celtic
MTK Hungaria 0-4 Celtic
Henrik Larsson established a new British scoring record to help Celtic ease past MTK Hungaria in the first leg of the third and final qualifying round of the Champions League.

A first half strike from the prolific Swede took his European tally for Celtic to 31 - one more than Ian Rush and Peter Lorimer for Liverpool and Leeds respectively.

Didier Agathe, Stilian Petrov and Chris Sutton were also on the scoresheet in Budapest as the Glasgow side took a massive stride towards the lucrative group stage of the tournament.

The strong running of Agathe and Petrov were highlights in what was an accomplished performance from Martin O'Neill's men.

Celtic made a bright start against sluggish opponents and Petrov tried his luck with two useful shots from distance.

With 17 minutes gone, the MTK defence misjudged a long hopeful punt forward from Paul Lambert on the edge of their penalty box, allowing the ball to bounce on to Larsson, who deftly steered the ball over home goalkeeper Zoltan Vegh with an impeccable first touch.

Sutton returned to the side in place of Shaun Maloney and the striker made his muscular presence felt to create the second goal in the 36th minute.

He bundled a couple of defenders off the ball before releasing an angled strike, which struck the outstretched leg of Vegh and fell to Agathe, who had a simple task to score from the rebound.


Didier Agathe was on target for Celtic
A minute later, Larsson slid in at the back post to connect with an Alan Thompson cross but could only hit the side-netting.

MTK midfielder Zavadszky tested Celtc keeper Rab Douglas just after the interval, while Petrov dragged a shot wide of the mark from a good position.

Petrov then curled a dangerous cross into the box but Varga's powerful header was narrowly wide.

There was a bizarre hold-up for four minutes when a sprinkler went off in the middle of the pitch but unscheduled shower could not dampen the spirits of the visitors.

There was a scare for Celtic in the 68th minute when Douglas was caught off his line and substitute Sandor Torghelle's looping header hit the crossbar.

But immediately afterwards Celtic increased their advantage when Petrov was on hand to score after Vegh had blocked a fierce shot from Thompson.

Sutton completed the scoring in the dying minutes, when he dived low to connect with a smart Larsson cross and smahed home an impressive header.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MTK Hungaria: Vegh, Molnar, Juhasz, Pusztai, Suzi, Zavadszky, Halmai, Jezdimirovics, Rednic, W Silva, Illes. Subs: Kovacs, Pisont, Zabos, Czvitkovics, Torghelle, Szabo, Pandur.

Celtic: Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Varga, Agathe, Lennon, Lambert, Petrov, Thompson, Sutton, Larsson. Subs: Hedman, Sylla, McNamara, Maloney, Smith, Crainey, Miller.

Referee: Kim Nielsen (Denmark)