31 August 2018

Two lotteries for an end of Europa league summer stage

Ufa - Glasgow Rangers 1:1

Scorers: 0:1 09 Ovie Ejaria
              1:1 32 Dmitri Sysuyev

- Glasgow Rangers finished the game with 9 men: at 37 Alfredo Morelos and at 65 Jon Flanagan had to leave the pitch early due to two yellow cards.

Astana - Apoel Nicosia 1:0, on penalties: 2-1

Scorer: 1:0 16-pen Pedro Henrique Konzen

AEK Larnaca - Trencin 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 24 seconds Apostolos Giannou
              2:0 35 (34.59) Acoran Barrera Reyes
              3:0 64 (64.03) Apostolos Giannou


RasenBallsport Leipzig - Zorya Luhansk 3:2

Scorers: 1:0 07 Matheus Cunha
              1:1 34 Rafael Ratao 
              1:2 48 Artem Gordienko
              2:2 69 Jean-Kevin Augustin
              3:2 90-pen Emil Forsberg

FC Copenhagen - Atalanta 0:0, on penalties: 4-3

Qarabag - Sheriff Tiraspol 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 09 Maksim Medvedev
              2:0 42 Wilde-Donald Guerrier
              3:0 54 Filip Ozobic

Molde - Zenit Saint Petersburg 2:1

Scorers: 0:1 21 Daler Kuzyayev
              1:1 65 Eirik Hestad
              2:1 77 Erling Braut Haland

Apollon Limassol - Basel 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 53 (52.39) Charalambos Kyriakou

Maccabi Tel Aviv - Sarpsborg 08 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 52-pen Omer Atzili
              2:0 59 Eliran Atar
              2:1 81 Ole Jorgen Halvorsen

CFR Cluj - F91 Dudelange 2:3

Scorers: 0:1 51 Daniel Sinani
              0:2 54 Daniel Sinani
              0:3 78 David Turpel
              1:3 84 Robert Ndip Tambe
              2:3 88 Bilel Omrani

Ludogorets - Torpedo Kutaisi 4:0

Scorers: 1:0 06 (05.41) Virgil Misidjan
              2:0 37 (36.54) Gustavo Campanharo
              3:0 59 (58.44) Gustavo Campanharo
              4:0 61 (61.01) Wanderson

Midtjylland - Malmo 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 32 Marcus Antonsson
              0:2 79 Markus Rosenberg

Besiktas - Partizan 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 36 (36.07) Pepe
              2:0 45 (44.53) Oguzhan Ozyakup
              3:0 69 (68.39) Pepe

Brondby - Genk 2:4

Scorers: 0:1 14 Ruslan Malinovskyi
              0:2 32 Dieumerci Ndongala
              1:2 33 Kamil Wilczek
              2:2 58 Johan Larsson
              2:3 66 Sebastien Dewaest
              2:4 86 Mbawana Samatta

Steaua - Rapid Vienna 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 12 Harlem-Eddy Gnohere
              2:0 45+2 Mihai Roman
              2:1 62 Mario Sonnleitner

- Mihai Alexandru Balasa (Steaua) at 90+1 (90.24) received his second yellow card.

Spartak Trnava - Olimpija Ljubljana 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 11 (11.04) Boris Godal
              1:1 42 (41.26) Nik Kapun

Bordeaux - Gent 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 10 (09.39) Francois Kamano
              2:0 64-pen (63.57) Jimmy Briand

Celtic - Suduva 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 27 (26.46) Leigh Griffiths
              2:0 52 (51.57) Callum McGregor
              3:0 61 (60.22) Kristoffer Ajer

Sevilla - Sigma Olomouc 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 21 (20.56) Maxime Gonalons
              2:0 26-own goal (25.26) Martin Nespor
              3:0 75 (74.44) Wissam ben Yeder

Additional information: Glasgow Rangers, Astana, AEK Larnaca, RasenBallsport Leipzig, FC Copenhagen, Qarabag, Zenit Saint Petersburg, Apollon Limassol, Sarpsborg 08, F91 Dudelange, Ludogorets, Malmo, Besiktas, Genk, Rapid Vienna, Spartak Trnava, Bordeaux, Celtic and Sevilla have all qualified for the Europa league group stage.

30 August 2018

Group list for Champions league

On a night when Europa league is playing its last qualifiers, the European football organization performed the first ever draw for the group stages. Phase number two in Champions league is starting next month and will last until the second week of December, and tonight the 32 clubs have found out in which groups they will play:

Group A: Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Monaco, Club Brugge.

Group B: Barcelona, Tottenham, PSV Eindhoven, Inter.

Group C: PSG, Napoli, Liverpool, Crvena Zvezda.

Group D: Lokomotiv Moscow,  Porto, Schalke 08, Galatasaray.

Group E: Bayern Munich, Benfica, Ajax, AEK Athens.

Group F: Manchester City, Shakhtar Donetsk, Olympique Lyon, Hoffenheim.

Group G: Real Madrid, Roma, CSKA Moscow, Viktoria Plzen.

Group H: Juventus, Manchester United, Valencia, Young Boys Bern.

Also, at the ceremony we know who are the best players for last season for this competition only: best number one within goalkeepers is Keylor Navas, Sergio Ramos won an award for best defender, the best midfielder trophy goes to Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo is the best striker, while best female and male players for 2017-18 are Pernille Harder and Luka Modric.

All three football signs at the Champions league qualifying end

Red Bull Salzburg - Crvena Zvezda 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 44 (44.16) Munas Dabbur
              2:0 48-pen (47.33) Munas Dabbur
              2:1 64 (64.14) El Fardou ben Nabouhane
              2:2 66 (65.30) Milos Degenek

PSV Eindhoven - BATE Borisov 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 13 (13.14) Steven Bergwijn
              2:0 36 (35.34) Luuk de Jong
              3:0 62 (61.47) Hirving Lozano

PAOK - Benfica 1:4

Scorers: 1:0 13 (12.45) Aleksandar Prijovic
              1:1 20 (19.32) Jardel Vieira
              1:2 26-pen (25.21) Eduardo Salvio
              1:3 39 (38.55) Luis Miguel Afonso Fernandes (also known as Pizzi)
              1:4 49-pen (48.56) Eduardo Salvio

- Nasty foul did Leo Matos (PAOK) for a second yellow card (automatic red) at 76 (75.56).

Additional information: Red Bull Salzburg, BATE Borisov and PAOK goes to the Europa league group phase, whilst Crvena Zvezda, PSV Eindhoven and Benfica are the last qualifying travellers to the groups of Champions league.

28 August 2018

Most goals was scored in second half

Dinamo Zagreb - Young Boys Bern 1:2

Scorers: 1:0 07 (06.27) Izet Hajrovic
              1:1 64-pen (63.20) Guillaume Hoarau
              1:2 66 (65.37) Guillaume Hoarau

AEK Athens - Videoton 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 47-pen (47.10) Petros Mantalos
              1:1 57 (56.46) Loic Nego

- Two AEK Athens footballers got direct red cards: At 80 Helder Lopes did a nasty foul, while Marko Livaja was sent off after the match ended at 90+8.

Dynamo Kyiv - Ajax 0:0

- Dusan Tadic (Ajax) struck the bar in 14 (13.54).

Additional information: Young Boys Bern, AEK Athens and Ajax qualified for the group stage of the Champions league, while their opponents are transferring into the interesting Europa league group phase.

World football organization 'temporarily' owns one South American association

After Wilmar Valdez was again re-elected for president of the Uruguayan football association for a new term, the 53-year-old has resigned the next day. Because there was no indication of finding a leader any time soon, six days ago the world football organization took over the management of the association. The whole problem lies inside the organization for the 2030 World Cup campaign, which the country wants to hold the event together with Argentina and Paraguay. 'Normalization' committee in the association 'installed by the new owners' will be until 28 February.

27 August 2018

Bye bye qualifiers

At the end of June started this (first out of three) phase which was been entertaining us for the whole summer, and now it has come to the very end. From next week, with the following 27 games, qualifiers for this season are over and for both European competitions this is the last step before entering group stages.

With first 90 minutes these 6 duels began at the same time, and so does the second leg. The only different thing is that the matches from this week in the Champions league are going to be played in reverse day (night).

Tuesday, 28 August at 21.00 CET: AEK Athens - Videoton.
Tuesday, 28 August at 21.00 CET: Dinamo Zagreb - Young Boys Bern.
Tuesday, 28 August at 21.00 CET: Dynamo Kyiv - Ajax.

Wednesday, 29 August at 21.00 CET: PAOK - Benfica.
Wednesday, 29 August at 21.00 CET: PSV Eindhoven - BATE Borisov.
Wednesday, 29 August at 21.00 CET: Red Bull Salzburg - Crvena Zvezda.

In Europa league is total different situation. In here there are 21 duels with, for the last time, 11 various kick-off times.

Thursday, 30 August at 16.00 CET: Astana - Apoel Nicosia.
Thursday, 30 August at 16.00 CET: Ufa - Glasgow Rangers.
Thursday, 30 August at 17.30 CET: AEK Larnaca - Trencin.
Thursday, 30 August at 18.30 CET: FC Copenhagen - Atalanta.
Thursday, 30 August at 18.30 CET: RasenBallsport Leipzig - Zorya Luhansk.
Thursday, 30 August at 19.00 CET: Apollon Limassol - Basel.
Thursday, 30 August at 19.00 CET: CFR Cluj - Dudelange.
Thursday, 30 August at 19.00 CET: Ludogorets - Torpedo Kutaisi.
Thursday, 30 August at 19.00 CET: Maccabi Tel Aviv - Sarpsborg 08.
Thursday, 30 August at 19.00 CET: Molde - Zenit Saint Petersburg.
Thursday, 30 August at 19.00 CET: Qarabag - Sheriff Tiraspol.
Thursday, 30 August at 19.15 CET: Midtjylland - Malmo.
Thursday, 30 August at 20.00 CET: Besiktas - Partizan.
Thursday, 30 August at 20.15 CET: Skendija - Rosenborg.
Thursday, 30 August at 20.30 CET: Brondby - Genk.
Thursday, 30 August at 20.30 CET: Spartak Trnava - Olimpija Ljubljana.
Thursday, 30 August at 20.30 CET: Steaua - Rapid Vienna.
Thursday, 30 August at 20.45 CET: Bordeaux - Gent.
Thursday, 30 August at 20.45 CET: Burnley - Olympiacos.
Thursday, 30 August at 21.00 CET: Celtic - Suduva.
Thursday, 30 August at 21.45 CET: Sevilla - Sigma Olomouc.

26 August 2018

Discriminatory message

Unfortunately, discrimination is still existing in every society, but what a group of people is doing to the gentle gender, is not yet seen so far. And the worst thing is: there is no cure for this disease, and it will not be found for quite some time...or maybe never.
Stadio Olimpico is the well known pitch of Lazio. Their loyal fans certainly know how to welcome all people at their stadium, with the hospitality who shocked everyone. 'In the trenches we do not allow women, wives and girlfriends, so we invite them to position themselves from the tenth row back' was written on leaflets which was distributing at the gates before the opening game last weekend in Serie A championship. In short: they reckon that the Curva Nord section is a...sacred place, so no females can enter there.

25 August 2018

Three candidates competing for a prize

On a night where Europa league clubs will play its last qualifiers this season next Thursday, the European football organization is going to perform the draw for the Champions league for 2018-19. And during the breaks of that ceremony, when the little balls are going to mixed and be shown, UEFA is going to announce the best players for last season in its confederation. At each football position from 10 names (except for the last 3 categories), five days ago the organization has shortened the list to only 3 names for the awards, and those are:

Best goalkeeperAlisson Becker, Gianluigi Buffon, Keylor Navas.

Best defenderMarcelo, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos.

Best midfielder: Kevin de Bruyne, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos.

Best forward: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah.

Best Europa league footballer: Antoine Griezmann, Diego Godin, Dimitri Payet.

Best female playerAda Hegerberg, Amandine Henry, Pernille Harder.

Best male footballer: Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Mohamed Salah.

24 August 2018

Eleven players are not always triumphant

Zenit Saint Petersburg - Molde 3:1

Scorers: 0:1 42 (41.47) Eirik Hestad
              1:1 70 (70.01) Artem Dzyuba
              2:1 79 (79.15) Anton Zabolotnyi
              3:1 90 (89.20) Miha Mevija

Torpedo Kutaisi - Ludogorets 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 45+1 (46.04) Wanderson

Trencin - AEK Larnaca 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 54 Joey Sleegeres
              1:1 59 59 Acoran Barrera Reyes

Suduva - Celtic 1:1

Scorers: 0:1 03 Olivier Ntcham
              1:1 12 Ovidijus Verbickas

Sigma Olomouc - Sevilla 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 84 (83.42) Pablo Sarabia

Sheriff Tiraspol - Qarabag 1:0


Scorer: 1:0 08 Rifet Kapic


APOEL Nicosia - Astana 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 79 (79.07) Caju

Sarpsborg 08 - Maccabi Tel Aviv 3:1

Scorers: 1:0 02 Tobias Heintz
              2:0 07-pen Matti Lund Nielsen
              2:1 13-pen Vidar Orn Kjartansson
              3:1 56-pen Patrick Mortensen

Malmo - Midtjylland 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 12 Markus Rosenberg
              2:0 24 Marcus Antonsson
              2:1 59 Gustav Wikheim
              2:2 77 Ayo Simon Okosun

Dudelange - CFR Cluj 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 67 David Turpel
              2:0 79 Daniel Sinani

Basel - Apollon Limassol 3:2

Scorers: 1:0 06 (05.45) Ricky van Wolfswinkel
              1:1 49 (48.38) Anton Maglica
              1:2 52 (52.19) Fotis Papoulis
              2:2 68 (68.10) Ricky van Wolfswinkel
              3:2 84 (83.30) Eray Cumart

Atalanta - FC Copenhagen 0:0

Olimpija Ljubljana - Spartak Trnava 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 23-pen (22.22) Marek Bakos
              0:2 34-own goal Branko Ilic

- Spartak Trnava finished the match with 10 men. At 29 (28.47) Martin Toth did a nasty foul for a straight red card.

Partizan - Besiktas 1:1 

Scorers: 1:0 13 Ricardo Gomes
              1:1 15 Tolgay Arslan

Rapid Vienna - Steaua 3:1

Scorers: 1:0 04 (03.36) Christoph Knasmullner
              2:0 39 (38.48) Mario Sonnleitner
              2:1 46 (46.02) Harlem-Eddy Gnohere
              3:1 48 (48.12) Stefan Schwab

- Seven minutes from the end, Veton Berisha (Rapid Vienna) received his second yellow card.

Zorya Luhansk - RasenBallsport Leipzig 0:0

Genk - Brondby 5:2

Scorers: 1:0 37 (36.41) Mbawana Samatta
              2:0 45-pen (45.03) Leandro Trossard
              2:1 47 (46.24) Hjortur Hermansson
              2:2 51 (50.29) Kamil Wilczek
              3:2 54 (54.09) Mbawana Samatta
              4:2 70 (69.36) Mbawana Samatta
              5:2 90+1 (90.24) Leandro Trossard

Gent - Bordeaux 0:0

- Just seconds before the match finishes, Jules Kounde (Bordeaux) had to leave early due to two yellow cards at 90+3.

Glasgow Rangers - Ufa 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 41 (40.56) Connor Goldson

23 August 2018

Quickest goal differs in only 24 seconds this night

Young Boys Bern - Dinamo Zagreb 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 02 (01.40) Kevin Mbabu
              1:1 39 (38.59) Mislav Orsic

Videoton - AEK Athens 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 34 Viktor Klonaridis
              0:2 49 Anastasios Bakasetas
              1:2 67 Danko Lazovic

- Both clubs ended the match with 10 players because of direct red cards: at 22 Szabolcs Huszti (Videoton) did a nasty foul, while the second goal scorer for the guests (Anastasios Bakasetas) joined him in the dressing room at 53.

Ajax - Dynamo Kyiv 3:1

Scorers: 1:0 01 (01.16) Donny van de Beek
              1:1 15 (14.56) Tomasz Kedziora
              2:1 34 (34.07) Hakim Ziyech
              3:1 43 (42.37) Dusan Tadic

22 August 2018

Two unresolved duels against one visiting win

BATE Borisov - PSV Eindhoven 2:3

Scorers: 1:0 09 (08.44) Jasse Tuominen
              1:1 35-pen (34.52) Gaston Pereiro
              1:2 61 (60.45) Hirving Lozano
              2:2 88 (87.23) Aliaksandr (Alexandr) Hleb
              2:3 89 (88.38) Donyell Malen

Benfica - PAOK 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 45+1-pen (45.40) Luis Miguel Afonso Fernandes (also known as Pizzi)
              1:1 76 (75.34) Amr Warda

Crvena Zvezda - Red Bull Salzburg 0:0

21 August 2018

One club is reacting towards another like little kid

If you are taking something mine, without my approval, I will probably cry and (maybe) I am going to sue you. Little kids are often like that (except for the last part), but the previous sentence translated into reality is described below.
On the first Tuesday of this month Fox sports reported that Real Madrid will sue Inter, and this news became official two days ago. The Italian team desperately wanted to bring Luka Modric, however the opponents warned them that the possible transfer would be violation of financial fair play rule, where the player still have valid contract with the Spaniards for two more years. Now the 'mother' organization (FIFA) can decide whether to interfere in this process, and if Inter is be found guilty, than the club can not sign any new players in two transfer windows plus pay financial fine.

20 August 2018

Presenting the play-off stage

Unfortunately, the summer is slowly ending on the European continent, but before it finishes completely there is one more qualifying round to play for in both Cup competitions. The following 54 clubs has led us, round by round, to the last hurdle: the play-off phase. Only two matches are remaining before entering group phase, and next week we are introduced to the first 90 minutes. Unlike past 6 days, now everything is back to normal as we are having three days and nights of football again.

In this tournament there are not many games. Six pairs are divided equally at two nights on the Champions league. As part of the change for this season new time is introduced to us and this is going to transfer at the group stages as well. Thus, UEFA in advance wants to prepare us and we have to get used to it.

Tuesday, 21 August at 21.00 CET: BATE Borisov - PSV Eindhoven.
Tuesday, 21 August at 21.00 CET: Benfica - PAOK.
Tuesday, 21 August at 21.00 CET: Crvena Zvezda - Red Bull Salzburg.

Wednesday, 22 August at 21.00 CET: Ajax - Dynamo Kyiv.
Wednesday, 22 August at 21.00 CET: Videoton - AEK Athens.
Wednesday, 22 August at 21.00 CET: Young Boys Bern - Dinamo Zagreb.

Over here are 21 pairs so there are plenty of matches to choose from. All games from the Europa league will start in a space of 2 hours and 45 minutes and, believe or not, there are only 7 different times.

Thursday, 23 August at 18.00 CET: Torpedo Kutaisi - Ludogorets.
Thursday, 23 August at 18.00 CET: Zenit Saint Petersburg - Molde.
Thursday, 23 August at 19.00 CET: APOEL Nicosia - Astana.
Thursday, 23 August at 19.00 CET: Sheriff Tiraspol - Qarabag.
Thursday, 23 August at 19.00 CET: Sigma Olomouc - Sevilla.
Thursday, 23 August at 19.00 CET: Suduva - Celtic.
Thursday, 23 August at 19.00 CET: Trencin - AEK Larnaca.
Thursday, 23 August at 19.05 CET: Sarpsborg 08 - Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Thursday, 23 August at 19.15 CET: Malmo - Midtjylland.
Thursday, 23 August at 20.00 CET: Atalanta - FC Copenhagen.
Thursday, 23 August at 20.00 CET: Basel - Apollon Limassol.
Thursday, 23 August at 20.00 CET: Dudelange - CFR Cluj.
Thursday, 23 August at 20.00 CET: Olimpija Ljubljana - Spartak Trnava.
Thursday, 23 August at 20.00 CET: Olympiacos - Burnley.
Thursday, 23 August at 20.30 CET: Genk - Brondby.
Thursday, 23 August at 20.30 CET: Partizan - Besiktas.
Thursday, 23 August at 20.30 CET: Rapid Vienna - Steaua.
Thursday, 23 August at 20.30 CET: Zorya Luhansk - RasenBallsport Leipzig.
Thursday, 23 August at 20.45 CET: Gent - Bordeaux.
Thursday, 23 August at 20.45 CET: Glasgow Rangers - Ufa.
Thursday, 23 August at 20.45 CET: Rosenborg - Skendija.

19 August 2018

Qualifying harsh punishment

Against three clubs the European football organization is opening disciplinary actions, but for one is already made up its mind. It looks like UEFA is eager to quickly punish Crvena Zvezda, although the above triple cases are going to be decided at the end of this and next month.
On the list was poor organization, racist behavior of their fans and blocking stairways in the match versus Suduva at the first 90 minutes of the second qualifying round in Belgrade. Thus the Serbian champion needs to deliver 72.000 euros and play their next two European games without spectators.

18 August 2018

Bridge catastrophe cancel duels

One of the worst disaster in Italy, unfortunately is affecting this sport as well. Everybody knows what happened this Tuesday in Genoa when the Ponte Morandi viaduct collapsed on people during storm. So far 38 have died, 15 are injured out of which 5 are in critical condition.
As noone is thinking of football in this region, Sampdoria and Genoa wanted their matches of the opening round on the new season to be postponed. Yesterday the league has approved that, and now is for sure Sampdoria - Fiorentina and Milan - Genoa are not going to play on Sunday. For now, there is no word of when these matches will be rescheduled. On the other hand, Italian media are speculating that the whole round may be delayed, but there is no official confirmation on that.

17 August 2018

Game of this second leg was played in Saint Petersburg

Kairat - Sigma Olomouc 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 19 (18.32) Martin Nespor
              0:2 51 (50.20) David Houska
              1:2 60 (59.50) Marton Eppel

- Kairat finished the game with 9 players: second yellow card received Juan Felipe at 75 (74.41), while Silva Isael Barbosa did a nasty foul which meant direct red card in 90+3 (93.00).

Progres Niederkorn - Ufa 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 02-own goal Pavel Alikin
              1:1 51 Ivan Paurevic
              2:1 72 Mayron de Almeida
              2:2 90+3 Ivan Paurevic

AEK Larnaca - Sturm 5:0

Scorers: 1:0 08 Ivan Trickovski
              2:0 64-pen Jorge Larena
              3:0 67 Ivan Trickovski
              4:0 79 Ivan Trickovski
              5:0 86 Florian Taulemesse

- At 59 Sandi Lovric (Sturm) was booked for second yellow card.

HJK Helsinki - Olimpija Ljubljana 1:4

Scorers: 0:1 19 Issah Abass
              0:2 72 Daniel Avramovski
              0:3 73-own goal Rafinha
              1:3 84 Macauley Chrisantus
              1:4 90+2-pen Goran Brkic

FC Copenhagen - CSKA Sofia 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 23 Dame N'Doye
              1:1 58 Evandro da Silva
              2:1 64 Dame N'Doye

Kukesi - Torpedo Kutaisi 2:0

Scorer: 1:0 29-pen Reginaldo Faife
            2:0 76-pen Reginaldo Faife

Molde - Hibernian 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 34 Erling Braut Haland
              2:0 66 Fredrik Aursnes
              3:0 82 Erling Braut Haland

Suduva - Spartaks Jurmala 0:0

Zenit Saint Petersburg - Dinamo Minsk 4:0, after extra time 8:1

Scorers: 1:0 22 Leandro Paredes
              2:0 66 Christian Noboa
              3:0 75 Artem Dzyuba
              4:0 78 Artem Dzyuba
              4:1 99 Seidu Yahaya
              5:1 108 Sebastian Driussi
              6:1 115-pen Artem Dzyuba
              7:1 120+1-pen Robert Mak
              8:1 120+3 Robert Mak

- Two players received couple of yellow cards which meant direct red: Leandro Paredes (Zenit Saint Petersburg) left the pitch early at 72, while at 120+1 Maksim Shvyatsow (Dinamo Minsk) joined his opponent in dressing room.

Midtjylland - TNS 3:1

Scorers: 1:0 16 George Mayron
              1:1 22 Dean Ebbe
              2:1 62 Ayo Simon Okosun
              3:1 79 Ayo Simon Okosun

Zalgiris - Sevilla 0:5

Scorers: 0:1 05 (05.16) Nolito
              0:2 07 (06.44) Pablo Sarabia
              0:3 43 (43.03) Pablo Sarabia
              0:4 80 (79.24) Guilherme Arana
              0:5 82 (82.02) Nolito

CFR Cluj - Alashkert 5:0

Scorers: 1:0 19-pen Emmanuel Culio
              2:0 45 Bilel Omrani
              3:0 58 Ovidiu Hoban
              4:0 62 Bilel Omrani
              5:0 90+1 Sebastian Mailat

APOEL Nicosia - Hapoel Beer Sheva 3:1

Scorers: 0:1 19 Eden ben Basat
              1:1 64 Caju
              2:1 79 Lucas Souza
              3:1 90+3 Lucas Souza

- This game was supposed to start at 19.00 CET, but began 15 minutes later due to spectators riots.

Luzern - Olympiacos 1:3

Scorers: 0:1 23 Lazaros Christodoulopoulos
              0:2 59 Lazaros Christodoulopoulos
              0:3 68 Miguel Angel Guerrero
              1:3 82 Shkelqim Demhasaj

Maccabi Tel Aviv - Pyunik 2:1

Scorers: 0:1 10 Denis Voynov
              1:1 56 Dor Micha
              2:1 68 Eliran Atar

LASK - Besiktas 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 42 (41.49) Joao Victor Santos Sa
              2:0 68 (67.38) Dominik Frieser
              2:1 90 (89.49) Alvaro Negredo

- Alvaro Negredo (Besiktas) had to leave the pitch at 90+ because of two yellow cards.

Dynamo Brest - Apollon Limassol 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 86 Pavel Nyakhaychyk

Zrinjski - Ludogorets 1:1

Scorers: 0:1 23 (23.18) Claudiu Keseru
              1:1 90+2 (91.41) Nemanja Bilbija

Brondby - Spartak Subotica 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 68 Dominik Kaiser
              1:1 79 Dejan Djenic
              2:1 90+2 Kamil Wilczek

- From eleventh minute onwards, Brondby played with 10 players. The guilty footballer was Joel Kabongo, as he got a direct red card.

Dudelange - Legia 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 07 Patrick Stumpf
              2:0 17 Stelvio Rosa da Cruz
              2:1 33 Jose Kante
              2:2 86 Jose Kante

- After this game was finished, Michal Kucharczyk (Legia) got a direct red card.

Atalanta - Hapoel Haifa 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 71 Duvan Zapata
              2:0 90+2 Andreas Cornelius

Basel - Vitesse 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 29 (29.01) Albian Ajeti

- For a nasty foul Jake Clarke-Salter immediately got a direct red card at 26 (25.40).

Maribor - Glasgow Rangers 0:0

- Alan McGregor (Glasgow Rangers) made a fantastic save stopping the 11 metre shot from Marco Tavares (Maribor) at 90+1.

Lech - Genk 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 19 Mbawana Samatta
              0:2 45+1-pen Leandro Trossard
              1:2 49 Tomasz Cywka

Partizan - Nordsjaelland 3:2

Scorers: 0:1 09 Andreas Olsen Skov
              1:1 11 Nemanja Miletic
              2:1 30 Marko Jankovic
              3:1 35 Svetozar Markovic
              3:2 76 Jonathan Amon

Feyenoord - Trencin 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 08 (07.49) Eric Botteghin
              1:1 09 (08.45) Antonio Mance

Rapid Vienna - Slovan Bratislava 4:0

Scorers: 1:0 03 Christoph Knassmulner
              2:0 79 Christoph Knassmulner
              3:0 84 Thomas Murg
              4:0 90+4 Christoph Knassmulner

Gent - Jagiellonia 3:1

Scorers: 1:0 13 Taiwo Awoniyi
              1:1 58 Martin Pospisil
              2:1 84 Roman Yaremchuk
              3:1 89 Jonathan Christian David

Bordeaux - Mariupol 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 54 (53.29) Maxime Poundje
              2:0 55 (55.02) Younousse Sankhare
              2:1 66 (65.40) Ruslan Fomin

Rosenborg - Cork City 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 26 Besim Serbecic
              2:0 34 Alexander Soderlund
              3:0 58 Anders Trondsen

Rijeka - Sarpsborg 08 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 83 Patrick Mortensen

Burnley - Basaksehir 0:0, after extra time 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 97 Jack Cork

Valur - Sheriff 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 39 Haukur Pall Sigurdsson
              1:1 68 Ziguy Badibanga
              2:1 90+1 Kristinn Ingi Halldorsson

Braga - Zorya Luhansk 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 65 (64.34) Joao Novais
              1:1 69 (69.09) Rafael Ratao
              2:1 73 (72.42) Ricardo Horta
              2:2 82 (81.59) Oleksandr Karavayev

Additional information. The following teams have qualified for the last phase: Sigma Olomouc, Ufa, AEK Larnaca, Olimpija Ljubljana, FC Copenhagen, Torpedo Kutaisi, Molde, Suduva, Zenit Saint Petersburg, Midtjylland, Sevilla, CFR Cluj, APOEL Nicosia, Olympiacos, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Besiktas, Apollon Limassol, Ludogorets, Brondby, Dudelange, Atalanta, Basel, Glasgow Rangers, Genk, Partizan, Trencin, Rapid Vienna, Gent, Bordeaux, Rosenborg, Sarpsborg 08, Burnley, Sheriff and Zorya Luhansk.

16 August 2018

Midnight super trophy for Atletico Madrid

Real Madrid - Atlettico Madrid 2:2, after extra time 2:4

Scorers: 0:1 01 (50.28 seconds) Diego Costa
              1:1 26 (26.05) Karim Benzema
              2:1 62-pen (62.09) Sergio Ramos
              2:2 78 (78.11) Diego Costa
              2:3 98 (97.53) Saul Niguez
              2:4 103 (103.03) Koke

Additional information: The 2017-18 Europa league winner became Super Cup champions of 2018. In its third final at the competition, Atletico Madrid have won three times. Out of 4 goals from the winning team, 2 were absolute beauties including one of the quickest goal at the Super Cup editions from Diego Costa.

15 August 2018

Copied game from first leg went into extra time

Dynamo Kyiv - Slavia Prague 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 11 (10.23) Benjamin Verbic
              2:0 73 (73.04) Artem Biesiedin

BATE Borisov - Qarabag 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 20 (19.27) Mirko Ivanic
              1:1 54 (53.47) Michel

- Due to two yellow cards Innocent Emeghara (Qarabag) left the game early at 76 (76.05).

Spartak Moscow - PAOK 0:0

- For an off-the-ball incident, Luiz Adriano (Spartak Moscow) was given direct red card in 32 (32.00).

Videoton - Malmo 0:0

- Johan Dahlin (Malmo) fantastically saved an 11 metre punishment from Danko Lazovic (Videoton) at 66 (66.16).

AEK - Celtic 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 06 (05.22) Rodrigo Galo
              2:0 50 (49.17) Marko Livaja
              2:1 78 (77.25) Scott Sinclair

Fenerbahce - Benfica 1:1

Scorers: 0:1 25 (25.19) Gedson Fernandes
              1:1 45 (45.10) Alper Potuk

Dinamo Zagreb - Astana 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 74 (73.21) Mario Gavranovic


Spartak Trnava - Crvena Zvezda 1:1, after extra time 1:2



Scorers: 1:0 05 (05.03) Marek Bakos
              1:1 07 (06.31) El Fardou ben Nabouhane
              1:2 97 (97.11) Nemanja Radonjic

- The crossbar was shaken off from the penalty of Boris Godal (Spartak Trnava) on 120+1 (121.06).


Ajax - Standard Liege 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 30 (29.45) Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
              2:0 34 (33.26) Matthijs de Ligt
              3:0 46 (45.50) David Neres

Additional information. The following teams qualified for the last round: Dynamo Kyiv, BATE Borisov, PAOK, Videoton, AEK, Benfica, Dinamo Zagreb, Crvena Zvezda and Ajax.

14 August 2018

Deadly bus accident

Terrible news came this morning from South America. A bus full of spectators has overturned (without given the reason why) when it was travelling from Cuenca to Guayaquil, after the match Deportivo Cuenca - Barcelona Sporting Club from Serie A championship in Ecuador which was played yesterday at midday local time. Media first reported of 10 dead (later raised to 12) and 35 injured (later lowered to 30) and all the fans was from the visiting team. The accident happened in the town of Molleturo at the Cuenca canton around 16.30 local time.

13 August 2018

An Madrid derby at neutral ground

It is that time of the year where we will find out which team is playing the best football: is it the winner of Champions or Europa league? Not long ago this match was an introduction into a new season, but, as part of fresh (and unnecessary) changes in all three tournaments, this too is suffering.
On a bit unusual night (and date), this Super Cup edition is going to be played between two European Cup qualifying competitions. Two clubs from the same town is going to play the only game of the competition at the Estonian capital, Tallinn on the Baltic sea. Instead of 20.45 CET, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid will begin their match on Wednesday, 15 August at 21.00 CET or 22.00 local time. Given the point that this is the only duel, locally, this final can easily go deep into the night of the following day, if after 90 minutes is needing additional play.

Return matches of penultimate European Cup qualifiers

Next week in Europe are going to be played matches from second legs of the third qualifying round. For the first time (and maybe the only one) both European Cup competitions are going to be played on two dates only. As the middle day / night is already occupied with something else (another tournament), all travellers to the play off stage will be known instantly (without waiting).

The following 10 duels in the Champions league will begin in a space of only two hours. In those 120 minutes there are 6 different kick-off times.

Tuesday, 14 August at 18.30 CET: Dynamo Kyiv - Slavia Prague.
Tuesday, 14 August at 19.00 CET: BATE Borisov - Qarabag.
Tuesday, 14 August at 19.30 CET: Spartak Moscow - PAOK.
Tuesday, 14 August at 20.00 CET: AEK - Celtic.
Tuesday, 14 August at 20.00 CET: Dinamo Zagreb - Astana.
Tuesday, 14 August at 20.00 CET: Fenerbahce - Benfica.
Tuesday, 14 August at 20.00 CET: Videoton - Malmo.
Tuesday, 14 August at 20.15 CET: Skendija - Red Bull Salzburg.
Tuesday, 14 August at 20.30 CET: Ajax - Standard Liege.
Tuesday, 14 August at 20.30 CET: Spartak Trnava - Crvena Zvezda.

The tournament with the most matches usually is playing last in the week. For sure that we (football lovers) cannot watch all games from Europa league at once, as there are 36 duels with 13 various kick-offs, in this 'emergency' stage.

Thursday, 16 August at 16.00 CET: Kairat - Sigma Olomouc.
Thursday, 16 August at 17.30 CET: AEK Larnaca - Sturm.
Thursday, 16 August at 18.00 CET: HJK Helsinki - Olimpija Ljubljana.
Thursday, 16 August at 18.30 CET: FC Copenhagen - CSKA Sofia.
Thursday, 16 August at 18.30 CET: Universitatea - RasenBallsport Leipzig.
Thursday, 16 August at 19.00 CET: APOEL Nicosia - Hapoel Beer Sheva.
Thursday, 16 August at 19.00 CET: CFR Cluj - Alashkert.
Thursday, 16 August at 19.00 CET: Kukesi - Torpedo Kutaisi.
Thursday, 16 August at 19.00 CET: Midtjylland - TNS.
Thursday, 16 August at 19.00 CET: Molde - Hibernian.
Thursday, 16 August at 19.00 CET: Progres Niederkorn - Ufa.
Thursday, 16 August at 19.00 CET: Suduva - Spartaks Jurmala.
Thursday, 16 August at 19.00 CET: Zalgiris - Sevilla.
Thursday, 16 August at 19.00 CET: Zenit Saint Petersburg - Dinamo Minsk.
Thursday, 16 August at 19.30 CET: Luzern - Olympiacos.
Thursday, 16 August at 19.30 CET: Maccabi Tel Aviv - Pyunik.
Thursday, 16 August at 19.45 CET: Dynamo Brest - Apollon Limassol.
Thursday, 16 August at 19.45 CET: LASK - Besiktas.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.00 CET: Atalanta - Hapoel Haifa.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.00 CET: Basel - Vitesse.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.00 CET: Brondby - Spartak Subotica.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.00 CET: Dudelange - Legia.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.00 CET: Zrinjski - Ludogorets.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.15 CET: Lech - Genk.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.15 CET: Maribor - Glasgow Rangers.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.30 CET: Feyenoord - Trencin.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.30 CET: Gent - Jagiellonia.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.30 CET: Partizan - Nordsjaelland.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.30 CET: Rapid Vienna - Slovan Bratislava.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.30 CET: Steaua - Hajduk.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.45 CET: Bordeaux - Mariupol.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.45 CET: Burnley - Basaksehir.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.45 CET: Rijeka - Sarpsborg 08.
Thursday, 16 August at 20.45 CET: Rosenborg - Cork City.
Thursday, 16 August at 21.00 CET: Valur - Sheriff.
Thursday, 16 August at 21.30 CET: Braga - Zorya Luhansk.