Comments on: Your UEFA Cup Bracket

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:09:46 +0000

Don’t write off Rangers just yet… They’ve been remarkable so far.

By: john

john — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:44:36 +0000

And Ian – thanks for keeping track of Uefa Cup. As neglected as it is, I find it a very exciting competition!

By: john

john — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:43:17 +0000

No doubt, you’re right Ian. And it can be maddening how little faith the Rangers have in their own squad, opting to immediatly close down the offense when they’ve gained a lead. They’re very good, however, at holding on to leads, and while their strategy will eventually fail them (I predict), I don’t know that Sporting will be the club to find them out.

By: Ian

Ian — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:50:01 +0000

John – that’s the problem with Rangers. They do not an inch more than what’s required, which always ends up biting you in the end. Good teams take advantage of bad days for their opponents, and run up the scoreline to put ties away. Rangers just aren’t good at that, and truth be told, they’re a little lucky to be here. Still, Ibrox is one of those places no one wants to go if they can avoid it, so we’ll see.

By: john

john — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:30:37 +0000

UUUUgggghhh. The one thing that I wanted NOT to happen was for Getafe to draw Bayern. Double Ugh. This will truely be a test of whether they deserve the title “giant killers.”

But yeah, my money continues to ride on a Bayern-Fiorentina final, like Ian. When the last sixteen were drawn I predicted it would be Bayern v. either Fiorentina or Tottenham. I actually think that Rangers Fiorentina would be an interesting match, and I don’t find it particularly unlikely. Rangers have proved they know exactly how much it takes to get the job done, and that they can manage exactly that much.

Still, I’ll sign off with… Vamos Azulones!!!

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:45:53 +0000

Gimme a Bayern Munich-Sporting final; could be ugly, but I like teams getting hot at the right time, and to me, that’s Sporting. Bayern, meanwhile, is destined to win the whole thing.
http://startingeleven.blogspot.com/2008/03/uefa-cup-draw-quarterfinals-ready.html

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:07:29 +0000

It kills me that all of the people who are commenting on this post are regulars for the Bundesliga blogs.

By: Ian

Ian — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:44:16 +0000

Bayern-Fiorentina is the best final for my money, and that’s still possible. Bayern-PSV might also be good. I agree that Bayern had a pretty good draw – avoided Fiorentina until the final, though Getafe might have a chance of upsetting them if they can keep them from running away with the opening leg in Munich. Zenit gets the second leg at home again, and we saw what they did with it against Marseille … in truth, nobody wants to travel to Russia for an away leg. My prediction would still be a Bayern-Fiorentina final.

By: Jan

Jan — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:26:21 +0000

Bayern potentially have the easy route to the final. Getafe might try and bank on the fact, that they play the second leg at home, but I still think Bayern will be too strong for them. Petersburg and Leverkusen would be underdogs in the semi-final against them as well. PSV or Fiorentina would then make a great final.

The Petersburg – Leverkusen match looks pretty open. I thought that Marseille were clear favourites against Petersburg. I thought Villareal were favourites against Peterburg. I thought that Galatasaray wouldn’t go down so easily against Leverkusen. I thought that Hamburg were favourites against Leverkusen. So, I won’t predict this one.

By: diana

diana — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:06:23 +0000

Regarding a PSV-Bayern final…sounds exciting for me.