EC - Liverpool 2 - 1 Atletico ; Another Euro disaster
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RAFA BENITEZ'S Liverpool future was hanging by a thread last night after another Euro disaster.
Diego Forlan's extra-time strike gave Atletico Madrid an away-goal triumph as the Reds were denied an all-English shootout with Fulham in the Europa League final.
Goals from Alberto Aquilani and Yossi Benayoun had put the Reds in the driving seat - before former Manchester United striker Forlan pounced.
Kop boss Benitez looked distraught by his team's defeat and dodged questions about whether he would still be in charge next season.
He said: "The future is Chelsea at home on Sunday and after that it is Hull. Those are the games we have to concentrate on and after that we will see.
"It's true that this game summed up our season when so many things have gone against us.
"The season was not good enough and after the Hull game we must make sure we are ready for next season.
"This was an amazing game. We were on top of them for a long time and it was a pity to concede such a late goal.
"Even when we were leading 2-0 we knew we had to keep working hard and the players did that.
"It was also a pity their goal did not come from good counter-attacking but from a lucky rebound with the ball going against us."
Benitez admitted whoever is in charge at Anfield will face a major rebuilding task.
He added: "People have been saying we need three, four or even five new players and I agree.
"But I do not think it will be more of a problem bringing new players in because we have not made the final.
"Liverpool is a massive club and the name of the club is there to see."
Forlan, who also scored Atletico's goal in last week's 1-0 first leg win in Madrid, said: "When Benayoun scored, I thought that was it.
"But we picked ourselves up quickly. We knew we only had to score one goal and obviously it was a great feeling to get it. Now we can look forward to playing Fulham."
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Night of history as Fulham make
it to Europa League final but Liverpool lose out to former Manchester United flop Forlan
History boys: Fulham celebrate their historic semi-final win at Craven Cottage as Hamburg are left dejected in defeat
Full of it: Fulham boss Roy Hodgson revels in victory with his captain Danny Murphy as they can look forward to the final in Hamburg on May 12
Fulham 2 - 1 Hamburg
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson paid tribute to his players after they pulled off 'a major piece of history' to reach the Europa League final.
With 21 minutes left of their semi-final second leg against Hamburg at Craven Cottage, Hodgson's men were trailing to Mladen Petric's stunning first-half free-kick.
However, Simon Davies produced his own moment of brilliance to bring the scores level on the night and Zoltan Gera poked home a second goal seven minutes later to take Fulham to their first European final.
Hodgson said: 'After going a goal down against the run of play, I think we've made a major piece of history here tonight. That atmosphere is something I think we'll all remember for a long time.'
Fulham will return to Hamburg for the final on May 12, when they will face Atletico Madrid, who beat Liverpool on away goals with an extra-time strike by Diego Forlan.
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Gogo fulham win the europa. burnely for europa next season !!
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expected result.
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Cannot defend Europa if Fulham win it for once a time sial. Hope got new rule that defending champ can continue participate for next season's Europa League.
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Atletico Madrid away goal specialist.........
But at Hamburg, they will be slaughtered by Fulham. Hehe.
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Fulham did a great job for last season and this season. I'm personally backing Fulham to go on and win this tie. Roy deserve something, he's the man.
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Originally posted by Beautex:
Fulham did a great job for last season and this season. I'm personally backing Fulham to go on and win this tie. Roy deserve something, he's the man.
But they were slumped in BPL, (Now 12th place instead of last season's 7th place), FA Cup and Carling Cup. I think due to distraction of Europa League. But they have achieved what they had desired - 1st ever final appearance in 131 years.Maybe next season, Fulham can go further than that.
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Originally posted by TIB657M:
But they were slumped in BPL, (Now 12th place instead of last season's 7th place), FA Cup and Carling Cup. I think due to distraction of Europa League. But they have achieved what they had desired - 1st ever final appearance in 131 years.Maybe next season, Fulham can go further than that.
winning the europa league is definitely better than 7th place.
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Go Fulham!
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Originally posted by Y_Shun:
Go Fulham!
Yea! Teach the stupid Rafael Benitez how to play football!
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Originally posted by TIB657M:
Cannot defend Europa if Fulham win it for once a time sial. Hope got new rule that defending champ can continue participate for next season's Europa League.
I think it might actually happen... If Fulham did win in the final and fail to qualify for the top 6... Uefa might give them that Portsmouth spot... Portsmouth's spot (FA Cup Winners spot) have so far not been made clear but some said it could go to Liverpool for finishing 7th on the league table... But what if Fifa does the same for the EC as they plan with the CL? Takes away the 4th place team's spot if the winner isn't from the top 4 and in this case, take away the 6th spot but this time there is an extra place cos of Portsmouth's problems? In a way they don't need to take away the 6th place cos there is still one place available so might give it to Fulham if they are the defending champion...Pool in a dangerous position... Better get some points this weekend... lol.
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Originally posted by zocoss:
Pool in a dangerous position... Better get some points this weekend... lol.
nuuuuuuu... never!
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Originally posted by anhydrouscoppersulphate:
nuuuuuuu... never!
In Rafa we trust... -
Next: Liverpool v Chelsea
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Originally posted by zocoss:
I think it might actually happen... If Fulham did win in the final and fail to qualify for the top 6... Uefa might give them that Portsmouth spot... Portsmouth's spot (FA Cup Winners spot) have so far not been made clear but some said it could go to Liverpool for finishing 7th on the league table... But what if Fifa does the same for the EC as they plan with the CL? Takes away the 4th place team's spot if the winner isn't from the top 4 and in this case, take away the 6th spot but this time there is an extra place cos of Portsmouth's problems? In a way they don't need to take away the 6th place cos there is still one place available so might give it to Fulham if they are the defending champion...Pool in a dangerous position... Better get some points this weekend... lol.
Liverpool might face humiliation next season if Fulham/ Portsmouth take their place- NO EUROPEAN COMPETITION!!! -
Originally posted by zocoss:
In Rafa we trust...
TO KNOCK CHELSEA OUT OF TITLE RACE!!!Will be Man U again!!!
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Originally posted by TIB657M:
TO KNOCK CHELSEA OUT OF TITLE RACE!!!Will be Man U again!!!
No way, rafa will not allow that
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Originally posted by dragg:
winning the europa league is definitely better than 7th place.
of course. 7th place no trophy. Winning europa league is what they need to win their first ever glory 131 years later!!! -
Originally posted by TTFU:
No way, rafa will not allow that
Liverpool will have nothing to play for, so confirm put his best XI in last 2 matches in order to stand the chance to overtake Aston Villa in (probably) last Europa League spot. -
It was said that the top 4 in the EPL qualify for CL, 5th qualify for europa league..
FA cup winner Winner qualifies for Europa league. If chelsea wins (or lose) this season's FA cup, Portsmouth would qualify for Europa League. Portsmouth is banned from next season's europe competition because they did not registered at all. However, they would like to fight the ban. If the ban is unsuccessful, the Europa league place would go to the highest placed team in the league not already qualified for europe. Thus 6th position in the league qualifies for europe as well.
Carling cup winner qualifies for Europa league as well. Since manchester won and is already in europe next season, then the Europa league place would go to the highest placed team in the league not already qualified for europe. Thus the 7th position in the league qualifies for europe as well.
Europa league winner gets qualification into next season's europa league group stages regardless of their league standings in their own league. Therefore if fulham wins, they gets invited back to Europa league as winners to defend.
Fair play table. If the EPL has one of the top 3 rankings in Fair play in Europe (which they are now), the highest team in the Fair play table not already in europe next season qualifies for Europa league. The current standings shows arsenal, tottenham, fulham, man utd and chelsea as the top 5. Since Arsenal, Tottenham, Fulham, Man utd and Chelsea would most likely qualify for europe next season. Fulham would get to qualify for Europa league next season via the Fair Play Table, if they dont win this season's Europa league. However, if they win, then the Europa league place would go to the highest placed team in the Fair Play Table not already qualified for europ, and the team that is currently occupying this position is the recently relegated Burnley FC.
So next season those qualifying for Europe (for sure) Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal. Those likely to qualify includes Tottenham, villa, city and liverpool. However, the team that finishes 7th is in a precarious situation as their place in Europa League might get revoked if Portsmouth wins the appeal for their europe ban. And this team is likely to be Liverpool FC (worst scenario).
The worst scenario would be Portsmouth winning the appeal, Fulham winning the Europa league and Burnley qualifying for Europe. That would totally shame Liverpool FC to the max, especially with 2 relegated clubs playing in the Europa league, Europe's 2nd tier competition.
Anyway, I got a feeling that Liverpool would qualify for Europe next season. Their 2 remaining games is against Chelsea and Hull City. Losing to chelsea and winning hull city should be enough to guarantee them entry into the Europa league provided that the other teams (city, spurs and villa) falters against their rivals. City needs to face aston villa and spurs and west ham united. They would need at least 6 points to be sure of Europe (win 2 lose 1). Spurs faces City, Burnley and Bolton and needs 5 points to be sure of Europe (Win 1 draw 2). Villa faces City and blackburn and needs 5 points to be sure of Europe, which is equivalent to winning both matches. By getting the required points, they will all finish above liverpool FC. To make matters interesting, Chelsea must win against Liverpool to have 1 hand on the trophy, losing or drawing against pool would allow man utd to almost have both hands on the trophy. Therefore, Chelsea must win against liverpool. If liverpool loses, then matters get interesting as their rivals can "relax" as they are guarantee at least an Europa league placing. They will still fight for CL place though.
However, if Liverpool FC does indeed finishes 7th, I believe the FA would definitely reject the Portsmouth Appeal and instead let Liverpool qualify for the Europa League, given that liverpool is a more well known club with a great history and definitely one club that has much more appeal than portsmouth. Therefore, Liverpool would still be in Europe next season, albeit by the "underhanded" means. Poor Portsmouth.
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Lolx forlan again
so
if Fulham win the cup ..
they also cannot go UCL ?????
would wan see 5 eng team at UCL leh -
Originally posted by MaNyZeR:
It was said that the top 4 in the EPL qualify for CL, 5th qualify for europa league..
FA cup winner Winner qualifies for Europa league. If chelsea wins (or lose) this season's FA cup, Portsmouth would qualify for Europa League. Portsmouth is banned from next season's europe competition because they did not registered at all. However, they would like to fight the ban. If the ban is unsuccessful, the Europa league place would go to the highest placed team in the league not already qualified for europe. Thus 6th position in the league qualifies for europe as well.
Carling cup winner qualifies for Europa league as well. Since manchester won and is already in europe next season, then the Europa league place would go to the highest placed team in the league not already qualified for europe. Thus the 7th position in the league qualifies for europe as well.
Europa league winner gets qualification into next season's europa league group stages regardless of their league standings in their own league. Therefore if fulham wins, they gets invited back to Europa league as winners to defend.
Fair play table. If the EPL has one of the top 3 rankings in Fair play in Europe (which they are now), the highest team in the Fair play table not already in europe next season qualifies for Europa league. The current standings shows arsenal, tottenham, fulham, man utd and chelsea as the top 5. Since Arsenal, Tottenham, Fulham, Man utd and Chelsea would most likely qualify for europe next season. Fulham would get to qualify for Europa league next season via the Fair Play Table, if they dont win this season's Europa league. However, if they win, then the Europa league place would go to the highest placed team in the Fair Play Table not already qualified for europ, and the team that is currently occupying this position is the recently relegated Burnley FC.
So next season those qualifying for Europe (for sure) Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal. Those likely to qualify includes Tottenham, villa, city and liverpool. However, the team that finishes 7th is in a precarious situation as their place in Europa League might get revoked if Portsmouth wins the appeal for their europe ban. And this team is likely to be Liverpool FC (worst scenario).
The worst scenario would be Portsmouth winning the appeal, Fulham winning the Europa league and Burnley qualifying for Europe. That would totally shame Liverpool FC to the max, especially with 2 relegated clubs playing in the Europa league, Europe's 2nd tier competition.
Anyway, I got a feeling that Liverpool would qualify for Europe next season. Their 2 remaining games is against Chelsea and Hull City. Losing to chelsea and winning hull city should be enough to guarantee them entry into the Europa league provided that the other teams (city, spurs and villa) falters against their rivals. City needs to face aston villa and spurs and west ham united. They would need at least 6 points to be sure of Europe (win 2 lose 1). Spurs faces City, Burnley and Bolton and needs 5 points to be sure of Europe (Win 1 draw 2). Villa faces City and blackburn and needs 5 points to be sure of Europe, which is equivalent to winning both matches. By getting the required points, they will all finish above liverpool FC. To make matters interesting, Chelsea must win against Liverpool to have 1 hand on the trophy, losing or drawing against pool would allow man utd to almost have both hands on the trophy. Therefore, Chelsea must win against liverpool. If liverpool loses, then matters get interesting as their rivals can "relax" as they are guarantee at least an Europa league placing. They will still fight for CL place though.
However, if Liverpool FC does indeed finishes 7th, I believe the FA would definitely reject the Portsmouth Appeal and instead let Liverpool qualify for the Europa League, given that liverpool is a more well known club with a great history and definitely one club that has much more appeal than portsmouth. Therefore, Liverpool would still be in Europe next season, albeit by the "underhanded" means. Poor Portsmouth.
This is the best post i've seen in awhile. All facts and no-nonsense presented, and great analysis of possible scenarios. 1 thing that i'm not sure about is Carling cup. I think they have removed the europa slot from winner of that competition, hence making it the mickeist of all mickey mouse cups. -
Originally posted by Cristiano@Red_Devils.com:
1 thing that i'm not sure about is Carling cup. I think they have removed the europa slot from winner of that competition, hence making it the mickeist of all mickey mouse cups.The Carling Cup winners still gain entry into next season's Europa League.
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even if fulham lose the final, they will sitll be qualified for the next season europa