Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Handsworth Wood Villa on May 05, 2011, 10:57:46 PM
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Braga tonight reached the Europa League final in Dublin where they will play Porto
This is their route to the final:
Champions League
CL 3rd Qualifying Round
Braga 3-0 Celtic
Celtic 2-1 Braga
CL Play-off round
Braga 1-0 Sevilla
Sevilla 3-4 Braga
CL Group stage
Arsenal 6-0 Braga
Braga 0-3 Shaktar Donetsk
Braga 2-0 Partizan
Partizan 0-1 Braga
Braga 2-0 Arsenal
Shaktar Donetsk 2-0 Braga
Braga finished 3rd in Group H so dropped down into the Europa League
Europa League
EL Round of 32
Lech Poznań 1-0 Braga
Braga 2-0 Lech Poznań
EL Round of 16
Braga 1-0 Liverpool
Liverpool 0-0 Braga
EL Quarter-finals
Dynamo Kyiv 1-1 Braga
Braga 0-0 Dynamo Kyiv
EL Semi-finals
Benfica 2-1 Braga
Braga 1-0 Benfica
EL Final
Porto vs Braga
Pretty amazing run to the final of the Europa League
In total they've played 18 games in Europe this season - the final will be their 19th game in Europe
We played a measley 2 games in Europe this season (thanks Rapid Vienna :x )
Along the way they've beaten Celtic, Sevilla, Arsenal, Liverpool and Benfica.
Out of the 9 games they've played at home in Europe this season, they've won 7, drawn 1 and lost 1.
This is massive to Braga, since this was their first season in the Champions League, and the furthest they had been in European competiton up until now was the last-16.
They've only ever won one trophy in their history - the Portuguese Cup. They've never won the Portuguese League (the Portuguese Coventry City? :lol: )
And now they've reached the Europa League final - their first European final.
I hope they win (being the underdogs and all) but it will be a huge task against unbeaten Champions Porto.
Even if they do lose, it's been a great story.
And people say no-one takes the Europa League seriously...:P
Btw, those who say it's not worth all the hassle because of the effect it has on your league form - last season Braga finished 2nd with 71 points. They are currently 3rd (with 3 games left to play) on 44 points. So they aren't gonna replicate last season's league form but tbf they are only 1 place worse off...
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Fantastic, a Portuguese derby...that's got my blood pumping.
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Good for them.
Like their stadium. Hope they win it.
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I hope Mark Kelly doesn't spoil it now by saying why he hates them and all they stand for.
So they won 3 games in the group stage of the Champions League but still got knocked-out...unlucky. Still, I'm sure a Europa Cup would be more acceptable than bowing-out to a superpower in the 2nd round of the Chumps League.
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Why would I want to spoil it, they beat Benfica tonight, so I'm more than happy. Now I just hope they beat Porto. Whatever happens, they've done exceptionally well to reach the final and fully deserve it. Not bad for a club from a town the size of Walsall.
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Lost 6 games in Europe all season and still get to a final. Everything that is wrong with football!
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Two Portugese teams to play each other in Dublin. Almost as ridculous as Chelsea v Man U in Moscow. Is it really necessary for final venues to be decided a year in advance ?
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Lost 6 games in Europe all season and still get to a final. Everything that is wrong with football!
Never a truer word said.
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And another sad reflection of the state of European football generally
Schalke get to a CL semi, Spurs to a CL quarter final and Braga to the final of UEFA cup or whatever they call it now
Dear me....
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I wish it was us in the final good luck to them.
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Lost 6 games in Europe all season and still get to a final. Everything that is wrong with football!
Never a truer word said.
It depends whether you regard the Chmps and the Europa tournaments as Cups in the traditional sense or whether they are the thinly-disguised European league the concept of which was vehemently voted out some years' ago. Of course it's the latter and - that being the case - losing games onthe way to winning a league is not unusual.
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Two Portugese teams to play each other in Dublin. Almost as ridculous as Chelsea v Man U in Moscow. Is it really necessary for final venues to be decided a year in advance ?
It is if the UEFA fat cats want to travel in the manner they are accustomed to. It takes time to roll out the red carpet properly.
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That is the stadium with the rock face, right? If it is that is a great one
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And another sad reflection of the state of European football generally
Schalke get to a CL semi, Spurs to a CL quarter final and Braga to the final of UEFA cup or whatever they call it now
Dear me....
??
Obviously, in any knockout competiton it's luck of the draw.
Arsenal are better than Schalke but they drew Barca (their own fault for finishing 2nd in their group to Shaktar Donetsk)
Surely it's good to see the underdogs getting far in competitions.
Like Blues winning the Carling Cup
And Stoke reaching the FA Cup final
Better than the same old big teams playing each other...
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Nice town. Watched a game there once and whilst architecturally impressive I wasn't sure it worked for football. You need people behind the goal.
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Their manager might be worth adding to the list if a vacancy does appear at VP.
His wiki page suggests that he has improved every club that he has managed.
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I got my tickets for the final a few weeks ago.
Just wish it was villa in the final and that we had taken this more seriously the few years we qualified. Hoping it'll be a good game.
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Surely it's good to see the underdogs getting far in competitions.
Like Blues winning the Carling Cup
And Stoke reaching the FA Cup final
On our expense, you know.
As for Stoke, they might be facing us if not for Houllier's "rotating policy".
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And another sad reflection of the state of European football generally
Schalke get to a CL semi, Spurs to a CL quarter final and Braga to the final of UEFA cup or whatever they call it now
Dear me....
??
Obviously, in any knockout competiton it's luck of the draw.
Arsenal are better than Schalke but they drew Barca (their own fault for finishing 2nd in their group to Shaktar Donetsk)
Surely it's good to see the underdogs getting far in competitions.
Like Blues winning the Carling Cup
And Stoke reaching the FA Cup final
Better than the same old big teams playing each other...
I can't believe you think either of those examples are good things.
Blues - say no more.
Stoke - hideous anti-football team, whatever their fans say.