Other Games - 2016/17

[Duncan Shaw]

I'm no fan of them but fair play, they deserved to win on the night.  They also took the competition seriously once they realised it was their most likely route to CL qualification, and fans like to see trophies won.  That said, with their resources and spend, they really should have qualified through the league.

[Small Rodent]

It's actually 28...

Lega Pro consists of three divisions. Four Lega Pro teams are promoted to Serie B.

The three division winners are promoted automatically.

Teams placed 2nd-10th in each division qualify for the playoffs, along with the winner of the Coppa Italia Lega Pro (their version of the Windscreen Shield). If the Coppa Italia Lega Pro winners finish between 2nd and 10th in their division, the 11th placed team in their division also qualify for the playoffs. If the Coppa Italia Lega Pro winners finish 1st in their division, then the Coppa runners-up take their place in the playoffs. The article doesn't say what happens if both the winner and runner-up of the Coppa finish 1st in their divisions.

Anyway, moving on...

The three 2nd place teams and the Coppa winners go straight to the Second Round of the playoffs. The remaining 24 teams playoff in the First Round.

The twelve First Round winners join the four teams who received a bye in the Second Round, which comprises of sixteen teams.

From this point on, it's straight knockout.

There, what could be simpler?

returning to this...

How did Livorno get through "winning" on aggregate 0-0, no extra time, no penalties.  I presume they were seeded higher.

[peter w]

head to heads?

[Small Rodent]

head to heads?

Different Leagues. Livorno finished 3rd in A and Francavilla 5th in C, so I presume it's seeding.

[cdbearsfan]

If they finish level, the team that finished higher in the league goes through.

Bologna got promoted from Serie B a few years back without winning any of their four playoff games.

If you think the Italian League is complicated... try the Belgian second tier.

Only eight teams are in it. It's split into two different sections, in which teams play each other twice (so they play each other four times in total).

If a team wins each section, they get promoted. If different teams win each section, they playoff against each other for promotion.

The bottom four teams in the overall table go into relegation playoffs. The playoff loser and the other two teams which weren't promoted or in the relegation playoffs join teams ranked 7th-15th in the league above in ten-game Europa League playoffs.

Meanwhile the team that got promoted sit around twiddling their thumbs for the last couple of months of the season.

They also insist on having their Cup Final before the playoffs.  So there is a good chance, as happened last year, that one of the teams in the Europa League playoffs will already have qualified for the Europa League.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_First_Division_B

Those crazy Belgians...

[adrenachrome]

Probably those willful Walloons. Doubt the Flems could be bothered.

[CJ]

Blimey Jonathan Pearce is packing some timber. Although me saying that is a bit like pot,kettle.

[Pete3206]

The FA cup build up is so boring.

[olaftab]

As it's a Other Games thread great game going on at Twickenham.

[Nev]

Blimey Jonathan Pearce is packing some timber. Although me saying that is a bit like pot,kettle.

He's full of gas, a gas that makes him a bloody misery, particularly when paired with Lawro, it means he has the inability to read a crowd and can't tell the difference between "good natured" and "dark days". It also renders him completely unable to work out the rule about the ball being over the line.

He needs a good bursting.

[KevinGage]

You could do a lot worse than take a look at the Scottish Cup Final between Aberdeen and Celtic.

Scottish football is shite yada yada yada,  but this has been a great game so far.

Can't muster any enthusiasm for Chelsea v Arse anal at all.  I hope they both get battered.

[four fornicholl]

I prefer Arsenal to Chelsea but Wenger overtakes Ramsey with a win today.
Another long held Villa record at risk of disappearing for ever.
Come on Chelsea.

[olaftab]

If Chelsea win they go up to 7.

[four fornicholl]

If Chelsea win they go up to 7.

That ones long gone.

[Nev]

As it's a Other Games thread great game going on at Twickenham.

Woah, woah, be off with you to the other sports area, great game it may be but one of the protaganists is a "franchise" like outfit. Bah.