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Chitchat The Official TCSS Thread

jw5

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Dortmund fans say #bedforawayfans a 'victory for humanity'

By Stephan Uersfeld
espnfc.com

DORTMUND -- Borussia Dortmund fans have opened their doors to stranded Monaco supporters after their Champions League match was called off after the BVB team bus was targeted by three blasts.

Several Monaco fans were left stranded in Dortmund after the quarterfinal first leg was postponed from Tuesday to Wednesday. They had initially planned to make the 746-mile trip back home by coach following the final whistle.

Fabian Rustemeier, one of the creators of the #bedforawayfans hashtag which circulated on social media after the game was postponed, told ESPN FC how he made his way up to the Westfalenstadion with a friend when reports of an incident involving the Dortmund team bus first reached them.

"We stopped at a Bude [a place where cold bottles of beer and soft drinks are sold out of the window] and had a beer," he said. "The game got called off and we remembered all the Monaco fans marching towards the stadium earlier that day. They came out in great numbers and it surprised us."

With the game postponed to the next day, Rustemeier and his friend, Simon Ballmann, wanted to help out.

"What to do with the evening? That was the big question. We had the idea to start something, to make sure the Monaco fans are OK," Ballmann told ESPN FC. "No matter which club, if I were in this situation on an away trip, I would just love to be offered something like that. It's not a world idea, it's just human."

"I am not even on Twitter," Ballmann added, and left the rest to Rustemeier.

"We came up with the hashtag #bedforawayfans," Rustemeier said, explaining how his second post on Twitter got picked up by a broader audience and then by the club themselves.

Rustemeier highlighted that it could have been anyone starting the campaign.

"It does not matter who started it. What matters is that it's a great victory for humanity that so many people, also from other clubs and some not even football fans, joined in and opened their doors," he said.

Dortmund supporter Rustemeier said he also hosted two Monaco supporters in his flat.

A group of Monaco fans from Dortmund's twin town Amiens slept in the home of local football team SUS Kaiserau, just outside Dortmund's city limits.

Jorg-Mischa Schumacher, who arranged the accommodation and slept outside in his car, told ESPN FC: "They received coffee, breakfast, coffee again, beers and were put on the train back to Dortmund. They'll get scarves from us at the stadium."
 

jw5

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Ronaldo is declining, yes, but he's prolonging greatness with efficiency

By Nick Miller
espnfc.com

MUNICH -- If you absolutely insisted on being contrarian and wanted to diminish the feats of Cristiano Ronaldo, then you might say that, on the basis he has played more Champions League games than all but three other outfield players and has featured up front for two of the most powerful clubs in the world, he should be the competition's leading scorer.

But then you realise that Ronaldo didn't find the net in the competition until his 30th game, and the desire to be provocative will probably diminish. There's no point in trying to belittle the feats of Ronaldo, particularly after watching him beat Bayern Munich.

Ronaldo scored his 99th and 100th goals in European competition on Wednesday night as the decisive player in Real Madrid's 2-1 win over Bayern. If you're keeping track, that's 97 goals in 136 Champions League matches for Ronaldo. Take a minute to swill those numbers around in your head.

And yet remarkably, this is a man who is undoubtedly declining. His physical gifts are not as they once were. He has scored, by his standards, a relatively paltry 19 goals in the league this season. These were Ronaldo's first goals in the Champions League in 197 days, the first time he found the net in Europe since scoring against Borussia Dortmund in the group stages back in September.

Ronaldo is 32; of course he's declining. But the key is that he is declining from such a remarkable height in the first place that he's only just approaching the level of about 99 percent of the other professional footballers in the world. A diminished Ronaldo is still better than almost everyone else. Ronaldo's decline is a bit like taking a few handfuls off a 10-foot-tall pile of cash. There's still lots and lots of money there.

Against Bayern, Ronaldo was fairly anonymous in the first half. He flapped his arms and pouted, as he often does, frustrated that his contribution didn't extend to much more than a snap shot a short while before half-time. He drifted in from the left but didn't receive the service he needed, and when he did, he couldn't make the most of it.

But after the break, he was decisive. That's what Ronaldo is these days. He doesn't have the pace or power anymore to rip through defences like he once could. He doesn't impose his will on matches as much. But he still has the ability to turn games his way.

Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are obviously very different players, but they share certain common traits, one of which is a titanic self-regard -- something that is perhaps required in order to continually reach the heights they both do. Another is a near-insatiable appetite for victory and glory. But another still is now their age and how they're adapting to it.

"The older you are," said Ibrahimovic recently, "the more experienced, the more intelligent, and you don't waste energy on things you don't need."

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Ronaldo seems to have adopted a similar credo. He no longer tries to burst past opponents in a flurry of skill and raw power every time he gets the ball. His brain occasionally thinks his feet are still as fast as they were a few years ago. But then it remembers and shifts into the sort of mentality that an ageing giant needs to not become a fading one. He is prolonging his greatness.

Ronaldo is a much more efficient footballer, taking up the positions he needs to, rather than making runs that might only provide a distraction to the opponent.

"Cristiano knows where his position is," said Zinedine Zidane after the game. "He knows when to play centre-foward or on the left. The positions he takes, and where he scores his goals -- that's all him."

Ronaldo has adapted to use the weapons he now has, such as a nous and feel for where he needs to be, as well as the ones he has always had, like a ruthless finish and towering ability in the air.

He might not be the same commanding presence that he once was, but he's still a decisive one, a player who knows how to win, how to be in the right place to beat even the toughest of opponents.

"He was happy, of course," said Zidane. "But not content, because he had chances to score more goals."

Of course that's how Ronaldo reacted. Of course he reacted to scoring two goals against probably the best team in Europe by cursing himself for not scoring more. What else did we expect?

Before this game, Bayern had won their past 16 Champions League fixtures at the Allianz Arena, a run that stretched back to April 2014. It took Ronaldo to change that.
 

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Man United concede late equaliser in draw at Anderlecht; Lyon rally to win

Manchester United scored an important away goal but were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw after conceding late against Anderlecht in their Europa League quarterfinal first leg on Thursday.

United enjoyed the better of the first half and took a deserved 36th-minute lead when Henrikh Mkhitaryan finished from a tight angle after Jesse Lingard's shot was parried.

After starting the second half on the back foot, United almost doubled their lead on 55 minutes when Mkhitaryan went close from Matteo Darmian's cross after good work from Paul Pogba.

But the late drama came at the other end as Leander Dendoncker scored a header with only four minutes left of normal time to give Anderlecht hope heading into the second leg at Old Trafford next week.

In Thursday's other quarterfinals, Lyon scored two late goals to turn around their first leg against Besiktas, winning 2-1 in a game that was delayed 45 minutes by disturbances in the crowd.

The Turkish side led 1-0 at half-time following a quickly taken free kick on the quarter-hour mark, Anderson Talisca catching the hosts off guard to slip in a pass for Ryan Babel.

But Lyon had seemingly endless chances to level the score and finally found the equaliser in the 83rd minute when a long free kick came off Talisca and fell nicely for Corentin Tolisso to tap home.

And less than two minutes later, Lyon took advantage of disastrous defending to take the lead. Atiba Hutchinson played an ill-advised pass into his keeper Fabricio, who was immediately under pressure and gave the ball away for Jeremy Morel to net the winner.

Celta Vigo quickly erased an early deficit and held on to win their home leg against Genk 3-2.

Jean-Paul Boetius headed in a fine cross from Leandro Trossard to put the Belgian side ahead after 10 minutes, but Sione Pisto -- who scored twice for Midtjylland against Man United in the Europa League last year -- found the equaliser five minutes later.

Two minutes after that, Iago Aspas intecepted a pass, dribbled to the top of the box, and fired a low shot inside the far post to put Celta ahead.

It was 3-1 in the 38th minute when John Guidetti took a touch in the box and placed his low shot inside the near post.

Genk got an important goal back midway through the second half, the ball falling for Thomas Buffel, who saw his first shot saved before slamming home the rebound.

Davy Klaassen scored twice to hand Ajax a 2-0 advantage over Bundesliga side Schalke.

Amin Younes drew a penalty from Alessandro Schopf after a powerful run into the box, and Klaassen drove home the penalty to put the hosts ahead in the 23rd minute.

Klaassen got his second seven minutes after half-time with a fine volley from a Justin Kluivert cross that was slightly behind him.
 

THE_CHANSTER

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Time and again, United dominate and fail to kill off a game they should have won. In defence of Mourinho's 'underachievers', I thought Rashford had a decent game so can you explain why he was substituted?

If they play like this on Sunday, Chelsea will punish them severely.

Mourinho's tactics really bemuse me at times. :confused:
 

jw5

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Time and again, United dominate and fail to kill off a game they should have won. In defence of Mourinho's 'underachievers', I thought Rashford had a decent game so can you explain why he was substituted?

If they play like this on Sunday, Chelsea will punish them severely.

Mourinho's tactics really bemuse me at times. :confused:

Mourinho really cannot make it. :biggrin:
 

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Tottenham seize on Bournemouth errors to complete commanding win

By Nick Miller
espnfc.com

LONDON -- Three thoughts from White Hart Lane as Tottenham wrapped up a confident, comprehensive 4-0 win over Bournemouth.

1. Tottenham are in superb form

Playing Tottenham these days is a tough enough business: this was their seventh league win in a row (the first time they've achieved that in 50 years), a club record 12th home win in a row and they've only lost once in the league since December. Bournemouth didn't help themselves by more or less conceding the game within the first 20 minutes; some careless early errors meant that this one was all over before it properly started.

The final score was 4-0, but frankly it could -- and should -- have been more. Mousa Dembele's first goal of the season got things started before Son Heung-min doubled the lead. Harry Kane, back in the starting line-up after his rapid recovery from injury, got a third not long after the break and Vincent Janssen got his first league goal from open play for Spurs in stoppage time.

Bournemouth didn't manage a shot on target until the 73rd minute: if there was a mercy rule in football, it would have been invoked not long after half-time.

Spurs were ahead in the 16th minute and it was a surprise that Eddie Howe merely raised a frustrated eyebrow afterwards given how easy it was from a Bournemouth point of view. A corner was swung over from the left and Dembele found himself with enough time to take a touch, then force the ball home on the edge of the six-yard box. He could probably have taken another touch if he wanted to, so laissez-faire was the Cherries' defending.

A few minutes later it was 2-0 and in delightful circumstances for the home crowd. Jack Wilshere, towards whom those inside White Hart Lane had been directing their spiciest insults, gave the ball away in midfield. Son gathered it and then breezed past the hulking Steve Cook, as if he was a spindly middle-distance runner rather than a meaty centre-half, before slotting home. By that stage the game looked won and Spurs had been asked to do little more than take advantage of a couple of errors.

The doubly frustrating thing for Howe was that Bournemouth played well for the next phase of the match, arguably even dominating for a short time. It would have been more useful if they hadn't basically forfeited the game by that point, of course.

That spell didn't last too long as Spurs controlled the rest of the half. Christian Eriksen went close on a couple of occasions -- one effort a thunderous half-volley that went just over -- while Son shot straight at the keeper. Bournemouth jabbed away but could barely get past the Spurs midfield, never mind their defence.

Bournemouth were out early for the second half, perhaps fired with enthusiasm from a stirring half-time team talk. But any vigour Howe might have stirred within his team was immediately swept away as Kane made it 3-0 a couple of minutes after the break. The returning centre-forward initially looked like he had miscontrolled with his back to goal but ultimately, he recovered brilliantly, manufacturing some space in the area and shooting low into the net.

The remainder of the match essentially represented a damage-limitation exercise for both teams: Bournemouth did their best to keep the score down while Spurs attempted to preserve their key men, both for next weekend's FA Cup semifinal and for the rest of the league season. Arguably the biggest cheer of the afternoon when, with virtually the last kick of the game, Janssen forced a minor goalmouth scramble into the net at the second attempt.

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2. Kane's return demonstrates Spurs' attacking depth

Upon his return to the starting line-up, Harry Kane played well, scoring a goal and perhaps as much as anything providing a reassuring presence at the point of Tottenham's attack. Everyone at White Hart Lane just seems to feel a bit more relaxed when he's there, like a sort of safety blanket but one that has now scored 25 goals in all competitions, despite missing just over two months of the season with a couple of injuries.

That said, Tottenham would still have won this one if Kane had spent 90 minutes sitting in the centre circle doing a Rubik's Cube. Son's goal was his 19th of the season: he's one of four players to reach double figures for the campaign. Even Dembele got in on the fun, grabbing his first of the season, and perhaps this will represent the first of many for Janssen. Well, maybe.

Kane has missed nine league games this season but Tottenham didn't lose any of them. One of the reasons for their ability to cope without their best centre-forward is that Spurs are a multi-headed attacking beast, providing threats from all parts.

If you keep an eye on Kane, there's Dele Alli to deal with. If Alli has a quiet afternoon, Son's there. Should Son not fancy it, here's Eriksen with a shot. All of which must make them a complete nightmare to defend against, but similarly, it also lessens the importance of their main striker and lightens the pressure on Kane to be the main source of goals.

Tottenham could still do with a little more strength in depth but the number of attacking options in their first-choice team is one of the reasons they're such a formidable outfit.

3. Wilshere suffers against his rivals

Jack Wilshere joined Bournemouth on loan for a few reasons. He needed some regular football, obviously, but he also needed to prove he could keep himself broadly free of injury and make a significant impact on big games. He needed to show that he can play against the best: after all, Arsenal aren't going to want him back in a hurry if he can't.

With all of that in mind, Saturday's trip to White Hart Lane probably couldn't have gone much worse for the midfielder. He was listless throughout and wasteful in possession: he attempted 29 passes in his time on the pitch, and 11 of them went awry. One of them led to Tottenham's first goal and even though he was far from the only man to blame for Bournemouth's limp performance, he might as well have stayed at home for this one.

When he went down with an innocuous-looking injury after 55 minutes, almost the entire home crowd laughed and cheered and crowed: not a great look for them, perhaps, but it was hardly surprising. This was Wilshere, a symbol of Arsenal, a man who was supposed to be the fulcrum of their midfield for years to come, displaying every one of his weaknesses and confirming the worst that people think of him as a player, and doing it in just under an hour of calamitous football.

Wilshere has actually been pretty good for Bournemouth this season, hasn't been especially injury-prone and has displayed plenty of positives. Not from this game, though.
 

THE_CHANSTER

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Looks like the centre of North London footballing dominance is moving from the Emirates to White Hart Lane. :biggrin:

Impressive win tonight.
 

Ralders

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SCORES

BY ESPN STAFF
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about an hour ago
Bastia fans attack Lyon players as they are warming up on pitch


Lyon players, including goalkeeper Mathieu Gorgelin, are attacked on the pitch.
Lyon players have been attacked on the pitch by supporters of Bastia as they warmed up, leading to the Ligue 1 game being delayed by almost an hour.

Lyon initially refused to play the game after the incident, but after lengthy negotiations the game went ahead 52 minutes later than it was first scheduled to.

The two teams were supposed to kick off at 4 p.m. BST, 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, but as Lyon were in the final stages of the warm-up at the Stade Armand Cesari, fans of the home club came onto the pitch and attacked the squad.

Lyon said on their official Twitter account that Bastia supporters "entered the field to square up to Lyon players who were finishing their warm-up."
 

Ralders

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LYON STAMPEDE Memphis Depay attacked as Bastia fans invade pitch and charge at Lyon players following insulting gesture from former Manchester United star
For the second time in four days a Lyon match has been marred by hooliganism and pitch invasions
 
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