On Thursday, November 25, 2021 at 7:07:31 PM UTC, Binder Dundat wrote:
I really dont like this time of year, it is wet, grey, cool/cold short days and the final days of the European cups group stages where everyone whom you predicted to go through are gonna go through.
Usually I'd agree, but in one many probably wouldn't have predicted when the season started, Galatasaray beat Marseille 4-2 to win a European group for the first time since......................forever? I can't remember the last time without resorting to google or wikipedia. A really good team performance and a loud, colourful atmosphere which was reminiscent of the European days of old. The one fly in the ointment was the throwing of foreign objects by our fans, which is just inexcusable, particularly given that Marseille had the misfortune of having their French Ligue 1 match abandoned at the weekend after Dimitri Payet was hit on the head by a bottle thrown by Lyon fans.
What made me laugh was the BT Sport / ESPN commentators saying that Galatasaray fans want to be in the Champions League and that winning the Europa League could be our only chance of getting into the Champions League given our poor league form. I've said for years that a team of our standing would be much better off forfeiting any Champions League qualification in favour of a Europa League spot and I feel this season has vindicated that viewpoint. I would much rather watch my team be competitive and win the odd game against teams of a similar standing (Lazio, Marseille, Lokomotiv Moscow) than be in the "elite" competition just to make up the numbers and lose 5-0 to PSG and 6-0 to Real Madrid, which is what happened the last time we were there. There is more to football than prize money!
RM
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* Origin: SportNet Gateway Site (24:150/2)