All Europa League talk in here...

https://vine.co/v/OheFxKZ6A9P

WHAT DID MY EYES JUST SEE!? Amazing.

Wow, just wow. Don't rate him, but wow.

Yeah, pretty amazing.

Took a Lamela worldly for anyone to give a hoot about the Thursday Cup.

I'm thankful for the Europa League. Because it's not long until it will be scrapped (when one of City/United/Arsenal miss out on the top 4 a few times) and then England and other top leagues will get 6 entries into the Champions League.

Inter and Fiorentina through.

That is good news!

Looks like Napoli are all set to go through, while Roma and Torino have tricky fixtures. Fingers crossed.

Roma and Torino are leading at half time away!

Loving this!!

Roma completely dominating Feynoord, should have been up more.

Inter and Fiorentina already in. Napoli as well surely. Finally our clubs are playing some serious stuff!

This is where Italy will win back serious points, not the CL

Now that the Germans have 4 slots, their 2nd tier clubs will be more focused on gaining that rather than doing well in the EL. Which is what the Italians basically did for the past decade, and what allowed the Germans to actually take that 4th slot off them

Because up until 2 to 3 years ago, Italian clubs were far more dominant in the CL than their German counterparts. It was the UEFA Cup that won them that slot, not the actual CL. Which let's not even get into how ridiculous that points system is.

Good to hear that a club like Fiorentina with probably 1/4 the budget of an EPL club like Spurs can KO them out of the competition.

Inter, Fiorentina, Napoli and Torino all through. Roma lead 3-2, with more away goals, against 10-man Feyenoord. So unless Feyenoord score 2 in the final 15 mins, all 5 Italian clubs through.

Feyenoords fans were a disgrace today. Threw a banana on the pitch towards Gervinho, throwing coins and all sorts. Game had to be suspended 15 minutes. Made it even nicer than after they equalise, Gervinho was the man to score the goal to finish it off.

5 teams out of 5, who would have thought. I wasn't expecting Torino to go through, that was a big surprise. Good for Italy.

Looking at the teams qualified, Zenit, Sevilla and Villareal are the only threats to Inter, Napoli and Roma, which IMO remain the favorites to win the tournament at this point.

Does the winner get a spot in next year's Champions League? If Roma were to win and also end up 2nd in Serie A would their league CL spot go to the next team giving Italy a fourth team in the competition? Barring a miracle it wouldn't effect us this year but it would be a nice boost for the league.

I'd add Wolfsburg to the list of threats but I agree overall. An Italian team should win this year with the quality they have.

As far as I am aware, winning the EL doesn't grant you a CL spot.

Not sure, but I think it does.

Tonight's events in Rotterdam will have absolutely wrecked Feyenood's international reputation.

I got some time after work to try and answer my own question. The Europa League winner recieves an entry into the Champions League playoffs. Or if the CL winner qualifies domestically then the EL winner will start in the group stage instead.

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/...id=2137611.html

Still not sure what happens if the EL winner qualifies for the CL domestically.

Interesting! Wasn't aware of that development. It certainly does increase the appeal of the tournament. I guess if Roma win it, and they still finish second in Italy, nothing really happens.

Yeah that rule was announced two years ago. Old story. Makes the uselessness that is the UEL a little more appealing for the winner.

Zenit v Torino
Wolfsburg v Inter
Fiorentina v Roma
Napoli v Dinamo Moscow

Tough luck.

Napoli and the winner of the all-Italian clash are going to be the best hopes I think. Inter didn't impress me against Celtic at all.

Celtic are a new level of horrible. Which gives you some idea of how utterly terrible Inter are by their standards. But did we need a hint given they're a midtable Serie A side these days?

I don't think Inter are that bad. Mancini has been able to give them a game and identity. They have some really good players, and I think they'll only get better at this point.

You guys really actually consider this? I mean, super losers like Roma winning the cup?

Roma are the best team left in the EL now. Why's that so strange to you?

Because they're losers. With the mentality they radiate, I'd rather tip on Napoli or Fiorentina. I never expect them to win anything, at least not right up when Capello left.

Things change. Just because you label them as losers doesn't mean they can't win. Inter were losers for decades and then they went on to win the triplete.

Mourinho won that, not Inter. He made them 3 times what they were, and the minute he left they went straight back.

Indeed. But those changes don't happen over night. Usually something changes in management, roster or coaching staff. Looking at Garcia and the bunch of players he has, I'm inclined to say nothing changed yet.

We'll see... I rate Roma. They've been through a rough patch lately, but the quality of their roster is undisputed.

Not a good day for the Italian clubs today.

Inter as usual bottling it when they should be doing better

Yep, seems like Inter and Torino are already on their way out.

Strange game. Didn't watch the first half, but the commentators were saying that Inter dominated. Then Wolfsburg takes possession in the second. Palacio has the most blatant opportunity to make it 2-1, misses, and Carrizo condemns his team with two foolish mistakes. Mind you, Wolfsburg deserved to win from what I saw, but how can you play your second choice GK in such an important game? Especially when that GK has always been crap his entire career. This is not Coppa Italia. Idiot Mancini.

Fiorentina use the counter situations very smartly. If we pull our usual cr@p on them on the weekend it will get ugly.

"If" we pull?

Call it blind and relentless hope that one day we'll play actual football not hot potato between the defenders

Only two Italian players on the pitch in Fiorentina-Roma, both from Roma.

You see now what I meant?

Ah, lucky shot.

Seriously though, 0-3 at HT? WTF?!

You surprised? Typical Roma.

Thought the game was later on tonight....

My bad.

I'll watch the second half and see how Inter manage to f@ck up later on

They're playing Fiorentina, not Barcelona.

Agreed

I'm with Filippo on the biggest loser/chokers around tag for Roma. But this isn't really about choking, the 14 point gap with Juve isn't about choking either

They just hit a seriously bad slump in form as of late

There's Everton out of the picture as well. No English clubs left.