Sun 03 Sep 2006
Euro '08 qualifying
The results from Saturday's qualifying games for Euro Oh Ate:
Group A
Serbia - Azerbaijan 1:0
Poland - Finland 1:3
A result that puts Finland top of the group, so no change there. They play Portugal on Wednesday, Serbia visits Poland.
Group B Of Death
Scotland - Faroe Islands 6:0
Georgia - France 0:3
Italy - Lithuania 1:1
Clearly, 6:0 is the standard score against the Faroes, they went down by the same score to Georgia last month. Italy is thoroughly embarrassed about not beating Lithuania off the park. Who are the winners? The first replay of the World Cup final this week, France play Italy on Wednesday, a match not shown on British television.
Group C
Malta - Bosnia 2:5
Hungary - Norway 1:4
Moldova - Greece 0:1
Mmm, Bosnia and Norway for the wonning. Turkey might have something to say about that.
Group D
Slovakia - Cyprus 6:1
Czechia - Wales 2:1
Germany - Ireland 1:0
A useful win for Germany there. Slovakia and Czechia play on Wednesday.
Group E For England
England - Andorra 5:0
So no surprises there. Russia against Croatia on Wednesday.
Group F
Northern Ireland - Iceland 0:3
Latvia - Sweden 0:1
Spain - Liechtenstein 4:0
Close but no cigar for the Latvians.
Group G
Belarus - Albania 2:2
Romania - Bulgaria 2:2
Luxembourg - Netherlands 0:1
A good pair of results for the underdogs there.
linkpage | EuropeanResults
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Tue 05 Sep 2006
NCAA-ball is go!
Four significant upsets on the opening week-end. TENSE upended CALIF, MISIP downed MEMPH, and RUTGR beat NCARO. In the last match of the week-end, FLAST beat MIAFL.
Memphis 25 vs. Mississippi 28 (36)
Virginia 13 vs. Pittsburgh 38 (33)
#24 Florida St. 13 vs. #7 Miami 10 (32)
#25 California 18 vs. Tennessee 35 (32)
One match between top-30 sides:
#15 Notre Dame 14 vs. #20 Georgia Tech 10
And seven other top-ten sides were playing Division I-A sides.
#1 Southern Cal 50 vs. Arkansas 14
North Texas 7 vs. #2 Texas 56
Louisiana-Lafayette 3 vs. #4 LSU 45
Washington St. 14 vs. #5 Auburn 40
Marshall 10 vs. #8 West Virginia 42
Stanford 10 vs. #9 Oregon 48
N. Illinois 12 vs. #10 Ohio St. 35
Perhaps the most important result came at the foot of the table, where BUFFL pulled off a surprise win against TEMPL - even combined, the ratings of these two sides would barely secure a place in the top 30.
#116 Temple 3 vs. #118 Buffalo 9
The Race For Tempe
In the tables below, "Last Year" is the ranking accounting for RD. "Last Week" is the final raw rating from last year. Some significant changes to the top 30:
LY LW TW Conf Rtng RD Idle
==================================================================
2 2 1 TEXAS BT 1539 149.3 0 Texas
1 1 2 SCALF PX 1533 163.7 0 Southern California
3 3 3 VTECH AC 1409 104.7 70 Virginia Tech
4 4 4 LSU SE 1404 155.7 0 LSU
5 8 5 WVIRG BE 1356 153.3 0 W Virginia
8 10 6 OHIST BX 1339 145.1 0 Ohio State
6 12 7 TCU MW* 1332 151.9 0 TCU
7 11 8 PENST BX 1330 151.1 0 Penn State
11 14 9 UCLA PX 1328 143.5 0 UCLA
10 5 10 AUBRN SE 1314 154.6 0 Auburn
12 6 11 GRGIA SE 1308 114.4 70 Georgia
15 9 12 OREGN PX 1291 145.7 0 Oregon
13 18 13 ALABM SE 1287 150.6 0 Alabama
20 15 14 NOTDM XX 1282 141.8 0 Notre Dame
14 17 15 OKLAH BT 1282 145.0 0 Oklahoma
18 19 16 BOSCL AC 1263 146.1 0 Boston College
16 13 17 TXSTC BT 1263 151.0 0 Texas Tech
17 23 18 WISCO BX 1262 145.8 0 Wisconsin
21 22 19 FLORD SE 1255 147.0 0 Florida
19 16 20 LSVLE BE 1246 153.4 0 Louisville
9 7 21 MIAFL AC 1226 144.5 0 Miami-Florida
31 24 22 FLAST AC 1217 143.9 0 Florida State
23 21 23 MICH BX 1193 142.6 0 Michigan
27 33 24 NBRSK BT 1183 140.5 0 Nebraska
25 28 25 CLEMS AC 1174 147.0 0 Clemson
28 29 26 ARZST PX 1161 108.2 70 Arizona State
29 27 27 NWSTN BX 1153 141.3 0 Northwestern
34 35 28 IWAST BT 1139 141.2 0 Iowa State
38 31 29 FRSST WA* 1136 143.5 0 Fresno State
24 26 30 IOWA BX 1136 109.0 70 Iowa
Yes, NCAA-ball has a new number one, TEXAS's win earns more points than SCALF's. The drop-outs are GEOTC (20-31), CALIF (25-33), and the idle BSEST (30-34).
The "Big" "Ten"
LY LW TW Conf Rtng RD Idle
=============================================================
8 10 6 OHIST BX 1339 145.1 0 Ohio State
7 11 8 PENST BX 1330 151.1 0 Penn State
17 23 18 WISCO BX 1262 145.8 0 Wisconsin
23 21 23 MICH BX 1193 142.6 0 Michigan
29 27 27 NWSTN BX 1153 141.3 0 Northwestern
24 26 30 IOWA BX 1136 109.0 70 Iowa
42 32 36 MINNS BX 1096 146.7 0 Minnesota
55 53 54 PRDUE BX 1029 109.6 73 Purdue
61 60 57 MICST BX 1015 145.1 0 Michigan State
88 88 72 INDAN BX 916 144.6 0 Indiana
95 94 96 ILLNS BX 812 119.2 73 Illinois
Indiana moves up as much from other teams' idle starts.
The South-East
4 4 4 LSU SE 1404 155.7 0 LSU
10 5 10 AUBRN SE 1314 154.6 0 Auburn
12 6 11 GRGIA SE 1308 114.4 70 Georgia
13 18 13 ALABM SE 1287 150.6 0 Alabama
21 22 19 FLORD SE 1255 147.0 0 Florida
54 56 35 TENSE SE 1100 145.0 0 Tennessee
46 34 38 SCARO SE 1093 143.6 0 S Carolina
56 62 63 ARKNS SE 960 161.5 0 Arkansas
74 79 84 VNDRB SE 876 151.6 0 Vanderbilt
99 102 90 MISIP SE 848 148.7 0 Mississippi
94 98 100 KNTCY SE 772 160.9 0 Kentucky
96 99 101 MSPST SE 761 153.0 0 Mississippi State
Tennessee makes the big move up, for reasons explained above.
Next weekend: Notre Dame (14) hosts Penn State (8), and Ohio State (6) visits new leaders Texas (1). The NASN schedule: Auburn (10) / Mississippi State (101) (5.30 Sa, live); Mississippi (90) / Missouri (39) (8.30 Sa, as-live).
CFL
After the week-end's matches saw the top four all win, here are the standings:
BCL 1131 105.1 1 W
CAL 1076 108.6 1 W
TOR 1049 108.7 1 E
MON 1034 113.1 1 E
SAS 994 103.9 1 W
WIN 956 107.1 1 E
EDM 916 110 1 W
HAM 811 108.2 1 E
The CFL-South season begins this week-end. Here are the thirty-two clubs, with thanks to our special correspondent Gregg Easterblogg.
Canadian League
-- East
BUF CE Buffalo Cover Your Eyes With Feathers
MIA CE Miami December Collapse
NEM CE New England New Democracy
NJJ CE New Jersey B
-- North
BAL CN Baltimore Erinas
CIN CN Cincinnati Bungles
CLE CN Aston Villa
PIT CN Pittsburgh Terrorists
-- South
HOU CS Houston Moocows
IND CS Indianapolis Lucky Charms
JAC CS Jacksonville Browns Lane
TEN CS Tennessee Flaming Thumbtacks
-- West
DEN CW Denver Ants
KAN CW Kansas City Pie Scales
OAK CW Oakland Lost
SDF CW San Diego Bolts
Provincial League
-- East
DAL PE Irving Asteroids
NJG PE New Jersey A
PHI PE Philadelphia Marxists
WAS PE Potomac Drainage Basin Indigenous Persons
-- North
BOG PN Bay of Green
CHI PN Chicago Pink Rhinosceri
DET PN Detroit Peugeots
MIN PN Minnesota Lapponites
-- South
ATL PS Atlanta Cattacciano
BOT PS Manchester United
CAR PS Carolina Pussycats
NOB PS New Orleans Boy Scouts
-- West
ARI PW Arizona Caution! May Contain Football-Like Substances
SEA PW Seattle Blue Men Group
SFF PW St Francisville Fortyfour-Niners
STL PW St Louis Mouflons
All sides begin with a 1000/200 score.
linkpage | NCAA
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Thu 07 Sep 2006
More Internationals
Another week, another set of European results. Who won, who lost, and who scored five?
Group A
Azerbaijan - Kazakhstan 1:1
Finland - Portugal 1:1
Poland - Serbia 1:1
Armenia - Belgium 0:1
Well, that's resolved a lot. Serbia top the group, from Finland and Belgium. Four of the group's seven matches have been drawn.
Group B Of Death
Ukraine - Georgia 3:2
Lithuania - Scotland 1:2
France - Italy 3:1
So the World Cup Final Replay (First Leg) ends in a clear victory for the pre-match favourites. The return leg will be on 8 September next year, and only then will we know who won the 2006 final. It's a thoroughly unorthodox group table - Scotland is at the top, France second, Ukraine and Georgia have three points, and Italy is sixth, ahead only of the Faroe Islands Nil. It's win-or-bust when the Ukraine side visits Italy next month, and Scotland will host France in the match of the day - France, lest we forget, is the European Knock-out Cup champion now.
Group C
Norway - Moldova 2:0
Bosnia-Herzegovina - Hungary 1:3
Turkey - Malta 2:0
Norway the only side to have won two games, Hungary second, with Greece and Turkey - both with a game in hand - also on three points.
Group D Of NCAA-ball Scores
San Marino - Germany 0:13 (THIRTEEN)
Slovakia - Czechia 0:3
Schweinsteiger hit five past the microstate from the top end of Italy, and the goal difference (scored 14, conceded none) puts Germany ahead of the Czech side; the Czechs host the Marinos next time. This must surely be the best argument for having some sort of pre-qualifying, and cutting the proper qualifying tournament down to groups of six.
Group E
Russia - Croatia 0:0
Macedonia - England 0:1
England and Macedonia are currently going through here, which is not the former Yugoslav republic most observers expected. Croatia meets England in five weeks.
Group F
Iceland - Denmark 0:2
Sweden - Liechtenstein 3:1
Northern Ireland - Spain 3:2
That's not a misprint, Northern Ireland really has pulled off its one win of the year, and at the same point in the calendar as it beat England last year. Sweden's two wins head the group, they host 5th-placed Spain next time. Denmark's win over Iceland puts the 1992 winners second.
Group G
Netherlands - Belarus 3:0
Albania - Romania 0:2
Bulgaria - Slovenia 3:0
It's all going to form here, which is unusual in itself. The Dutch side tops the league, Bulgaria tips past Romania for second, and the rest are nowhere. Bulgaria entertains the Netherlands next time.
French league
Normal domestic leagues pick up this week-end, and here's the latest table from France. Changes are against the start of the season.
LYN 1134 101.4 46
SET 1077 143.5 102
NCY 1071 143.2 96
MAR 1055 101.1 41
LIL 1052 101.6 48
LOR 1038 139.4 63
TOU 1038 142.8 63
BDX 1035 108.6 - 9
LEM 1016 143.2 41
PSG 992 104.3 -47
VCN 964 140.0 -11
LEN 947 108.9 -21
MON 945 107.3 -58
SCX 903 109.0 113
AUX 884 110.0 -56
TRY 873 142.7 -102
NTS 872 142.1 -103
SED 865 139.7 -110
NIC 825 146.3 -150
REN 798 113.1 -66
--
STR 807 D II 0
As we'd expect, big moves for the unknown sides (those with RD around 140) and smaller moves for the knowns. Except for Sochaux, whose 113-point climb is remarkable.
Finally, the geeks reading this will be interested in a musing on the link between economic richness and club football success.
linkpage | Results
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Mon 11 Sep 2006
NCAA-ball, week 2
Defeats for the top and bottom sides in the rankings is something unusual - while Texas is the only side not to taste defeat in the last season, Kent-state has never achieved a positive score. We'll start the coverage with the worst side in NCAA-ball:
#119 Kent St. 14 vs. Army 17
A loss is a loss, and Kent-state drops another 20 points, but this close call is the team's best. On to other sides with a slightly better hope of making the end-of-season games:
#6 Ohio St. 24 vs. #1 Texas 7 (35)
#8 Penn St. 17 vs. #14 Notre Dame 41
#12 Oregon 31 vs. #29 Fresno St. 24
#25 Clemson 33 vs. #16 Boston College 34
Texas goes down to their first defeat. Perhaps of greater note is Notre Dame, picking up its second consecutive win against decent opposition. Carry on at this rate and the Paris side will deserve its place in the top ten. The other active sides in the top 10 had simple wins:
#3 Virginia Tech 35 vs. North Carolina 10
Arizona 3 vs. #4 LSU 45
Rice 16 vs. #9 UCLA 26
#10 Auburn 34 vs. Mississippi St. 0
Proper upsets this week were hard to come by - Kent's win would have been a record-breaking 51-point upset. Instead, we have just six upsets of over 30 points:
Stanford 34 vs. San Jose St. 35 (44)
#6 Ohio St. 24 vs. #1 Texas 7 (35)
Toledo 10 vs. W. Michigan 31 (35)
#27 Northwestern St. 10 vs. Baylor 47 (33)
Ohio 35 vs. N. Illinois 23 (33)
SMU 6 vs. North Texas 24 (33)
San Jose earns exactly 100 points from its win, but is still 103rd in the rankings. Here's the sides at least 73 places better:
Top 30
LY LW TW Conf Rnk RD Idle
==================================================================
1 2 1 SCALF PX 1533 163.7 1 Southern California
2 1 2 TEXAS BT 1461 141.7 0 Texas
3 3 3 VTECH AC 1423 143.0 0 Virginia Tech
4 4 4 LSU SE 1416 151.7 0 LSU
8 6 5 OHIST BX 1412 138.2 0 Ohio State
5 5 6 WVIRG BE 1356 153.3 1 W Virginia
12 11 7 GRGIA SE 1335 146.1 0 Georgia
6 7 8 TCU MW* 1332 151.9 1 TCU
11 9 9 UCLA PX 1331 143.0 0 UCLA
20 14 10 NOTDM XX 1327 133.3 0 Notre Dame
15 12 11 OREGN PX 1322 137.9 0 Oregon
10 10 12 AUBRN SE 1321 152.6 0 Auburn
18 16 13 BOSCL AC 1301 137.4 0 Boston College
13 13 14 ALABM SE 1299 146.9 0 Alabama
14 15 15 OKLAH BT 1293 141.8 0 Oklahoma
16 17 16 TXSTC BT 1290 143.3 0 Texas Tech
21 19 17 FLORD SE 1271 142.3 0 Florida
7 8 18 PENST BX 1271 141.0 0 Penn State
17 18 19 WISCO BX 1262 145.8 1 Wisconsin
19 20 20 LSVLE BE 1249 152.7 0 Louisville
9 21 21 MIAFL AC 1226 144.5 1 Miami-Florida
31 22 22 FLAST AC 1225 141.8 0 Florida State
23 23 23 MICH BX 1208 138.2 0 Michigan
28 26 24 ARZST PX 1195 140.8 0 Arizona State
27 24 25 NBRSK BT 1183 140.5 1 Nebraska
22 33 26 CALIF PX 1158 136.6 0 California
37 34 27 BSEST WA* 1154 145.5 0 Boise State
34 28 28 IWAST BT 1150 138.0 0 Iowa State
24 30 29 IOWA BX 1148 146.5 0 Iowa
32 32 30 KANSS BT 1137 149.8 0 Kansas
The defeat for last week's leaders means it's quite tight for second place. So long as the other sides in the region keep winning, Ohio-state won't advance quickly. Penn-state's defeat sends them tumbling. Out of the top 30 go the surprise losers Clemson, Fresno-state, and Northwestern.
The See You Jimmy League
LY LW TW Conf Rnk RD Idle
==================================================================
53 50 53 UTEP CU 1030 139.0 0 UTEP
45 41 56 TULSA CU 1015 139.6 0 Tulsa
66 65 67 SMISS CU 949 144.2 1 S Miss
81 83 71 UAB CU 924 140.0 0 UAB
93 78 75 HOUST CU 911 138.0 0 Houston
65 73 76 MEMPH CU 908 142.4 1 Memphis
76 71 77 UCF CU 906 142.6 0 UCF
77 75 92 SMU CU 824 139.5 0 SMU
84 89 95 ECARL CU 808 133.2 0 E Carolina
98 99 101 MARSL CU 780 154.3 1 Marshall
112 114 113 RICE CU 639 145.7 0 Rice
115 113 114 TULNE CU 634 146.9 0 Tulane
Everyone's under way in this, just about the weakest league of all. Houston had a big win last week, Tulsa's loss this week sees them knocked off the top spot.
The Western Athletic League
LY LW TW Conf Rnk RD Idle
==================================================================
37 34 27 BSEST WA 1154 145.5 0 Boise State
38 29 36 FRSST WA 1106 136.1 0 Fresno State
43 56 60 NEVDA WA 995 131.7 0 Nevada
59 64 66 LSATC WA 950 142.3 1 Louisiana Tech
83 82 79 HAWII WA 885 147.8 1 Hawaii
110 112 103 SNJST WA 765 146.4 0 San Jose State
102 105 108 UTHST WA 705 139.7 0 Utah State
113 111 112 IDAHO WA 643 141.6 0 Idaho
117 116 116 NMXST WA 608 150.9 0 New Mexico State
Boise is an outside shot for a top-10 place at the end of the season, but will need to knock off a good side. Fresno's defeat this week has probably cost them the division championship.
Next week-end's matches on NASN are (5pm Saturday) #109 DUKE -v- #3 VTECH, which looks like an exercise in cricket scoring; (8.30) #4 LSU -v- #12 AUBRN, which is far more tasty; (1am Sunday) #17 FLORD -v- #33 TENSE, a match of two very-hopefuls; and (9.30 Sunday) #61 ARKNS -v- #81 VNDRB, which smacks of schedule-filling.
CFL
In the professional game, Calgary downed Edmonton, Toronto beat Hamilton, and Saskatchewan lost to Winnipeg. BC and Montréal had their second and final bye weeks. The table:
BCL 1131 105.1 1 W
TOR 1062 106.3 0 E
MON 1034 113.1 1 E
CAL 1033 105.5 0 W
WIN 988 103.5 0 E
SAS 964 100.7 0 W
EDM 960 106.7 0 W
HAM 798 105.8 0 E
Not impossible that the cross-over rule will come into play this year. In the CFL South, it's opening week-end, and there can be no surprises when all sides start level. Winners are on 1079, losers on 921, everyone gets an RD of 179.9
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Wed 13 Sep 2006
Weekend update
Two further points on European national sides. If San Marino thought that it was in trouble after losing 13:0, just wait until Gibralter enters a side. (more) The entire nation could fit into your average Division IV ground. Cutting the qualification groups down to six would be good, and would have resulted in Andorra playing off against Macedonia. There's only one winner from that tourney.
From the postbag: A regular readers wonders why Group E has lost one of its teams. After Lebanon was forced to withdraw from the Asian Cup at the hands of troops from a UEFA country, it would be fair for Israel, the country that provided the troops, to also withdraw from its continental cup.
Another reader asks if it would be possible for the Glicko rankings to be used in determining the greatest boxer of the moment. It's possible, and I'll have to think about it.
Last week-end's action saw Liverpool's poor start to the season continue, with a 3:0 defeat at city rivals Everton. The Manchester Buccaneers remain top, with Portsmouth second. Lyon continue to set the pace in France, and the German Cup produced its usual slew of upsets, with Energie Cottbus amongst the sides to fall. The upset-o-meter reports:
37 E1 Everton - Liverpool 3:0
37 SC Dunfermline - Kilmarnock 3:2
37 SC Hearts - St Mirren 0:1
33 E2 Burnley - Colchester 1:2
33 E2 Luton - Crystal Palace 2:1
32 E2 Ipswich - Southampton 2:1
32 FR Rennes - Sochaux 2:1
30 E2 Coventry - Norwich 3:0
30 E1 Newcastle - Fulham 1:2
16 E1 Sheffield Utd - Blackburn 0:0
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Fri 15 Sep 2006
European competition
Group A Of Death
Chelsea - Werder Bremen 2:0
Barcelona - Levski Sofia 5:0
Well, that's Levski dead...
Group B Of Two Halves
Sporting CP Lisbon - Internazionale 1:0 (33)
Bayern Munich - Spartak Moscow 4:0
That'll be the upset of the day, then.
Group C For Second
Galatasaray - Girondins Bordeaux 0:0
PSV Eindhoven - Liverpool 0:0
A match you could, of course, have seen on ITV.
Group D Of How Will Portugal Mess This Up?
Olympiakos - Valencia 2:4
Roma - Shakhtar Donetsk 4:0
Well, that's not in the script!
Group E Of Surprise
Dinamo Kyiv - Steaua Bucharest 1:4 (46)
Lyon - Real Madrid 2:0
This should surprise no seasoned observer of football - Lyon's win is only 29 on the upset-o-meter.
Group F Of Apologies
Copenhagen - Benfica 0:0
Mancuester B - Celtic 3:2
The Bucs came close to conceding a draw, and the return leg in November will be interesting. And televised.
Group G Of Giants
Porto - CSKA Moscow 0:0
Hamburg - Arsenal 1:2
Again, no major surprise here. Hamburg was one of five Bundesliga 1. sides dumped out of the cup last year, and have yet to win this year.
Group H Of Pifflingly Easy
AC Milan - AEK Athens 3:0
Anderlecht - Lille 1:1
No real advantage in the second-place race.
Third Qualifying Round Draw
Chornomorets - Hapoel Tel-Aviv 0:1
Braga - CHIEVO 2:0
Levadia Tallinn - NEWCASTLE 0:1
Molde - RANGERS 0:0
STANDARD LIEGE - CELTA VIGO 0:1
Chievo is clearly the new Blackburn, a small team on the edge of a big city, great in domestic competition but a bit crap in Europe. See also: Rangers.
Maccabi Haifa - LITEX LOVESCH 1:1
Derry City - PARIS ST. GERMAIN 0:0
HERTHA BERLIN - Odense 2:2
Legia Warsaw - AUSTRIA VIENNA 1:1
PANATHINAIKOS - Metallurg 1:1
Well, it's all to play for in this section! Paris St Germain fail to get an away goal, and the tie of the group finishes 2:2.
LOKOMOTIV MOSCOW - Waregem 2:1
HEARTS - SPARTA PRAGUE 0:2
FENERBAHCE - Randers 2:1
Salzburg - BLACKBURN 2:2
SCHALKE 04 - NANCY 1:0
Lokomotiv will have hoped to win by more than the odd goal here. Hearts won't be happy with their early exit, and Blackburn just can't win in Europe, ever.
Ethnikos - LENS 0:0
Slovan Liberec - CRVENA ZVEZDA 2:0
AZ ALKMAAR - Kayserispor 3:2
Rubin Kazan - PARMA 0:1
EINTRACHT FRANKFURT - BRONDBY 4:0
Ethnikos - already playing their ninth European game of the season - remain set to slip into the last 40. Eintracht is perhaps the first side to have qualified.
Atvidabergs - GRASSHOPPERS ZURICH 0:3
Atromitos - SEVILLE 1:2
BESIKTAS - CSKA SOFIA 2:0
Vitoria - HEERENVEEN 0:3
MARSEILLE - Mlada Boleslav 1:0
A surprise defeat for CSKA, that'll upset the multitude of Bulgaria fans on the Kassies board. Herenveen and Zurich join the remarkably small list of sides through to the next stage.
BASEL - Rabotnicki 6:2
RAPID BUCHAREST - Nacional Funchal 1:0
Trabzonspor - OSASUNA 2:2
WEST HAM - PALERMO 0:1
Lokomotiv Sofia - FEYENOORD 2:2
Basel are through, surely, making this a good year for the Swiss.
Sion - BAYER LEVERKUSEN 0:0
Ruzomberok - BRUGGE 0:1
PARTIZAN BELGRADE - Groningen 4:2
Xanthi - DINAMO BUCHAREST 3:4
SLAVIA PRAGUE - TOTTENHAM 0:1
At least we'll have one Belgrade side through, and possibly two from Prague.
Start - AJAX 2:5
ARTMEDIA - ESPANYOL 2:2
Wisla Krakow - Iraklis 0:1
LIVORNO - Pasching 2:0
DINAMO ZAGREB - AUXERRE 1:2
Ajax look sure to qualify, and must be the favourites right now. Artmedia gets another draw, which pleases us.
Return legs on 28 September.
Scottish league
CEL 1018 100.0 -33
RAN 982 101.5 -26
ABD 843 96.9 4
HRT 824 90.8 -92
HBS 796 95.7 23
ICT 795 97.4 14
KLM 772 98.1 14
STM 762 131.9 61
DNF 684 98.3 12
FAL 651 97.6 -15
MTW 648 97.0 -52
DDU 629 98.1 57
GRE(II) 730 200 0
LVG(II) 514 83.2 0
Hearts have begun the season like relegation candidates; St Mirren and Dundee Utd have got off to starts far better than we expected. No games yet for the second-tier sides.
linkpage | EuropeanResults
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Mon 18 Sep 2006
NCAA shock result shock!
Week three of this year's NCAA-ball season will go down in history. We start with the Upset of the Week:
#119 Kent St. 16 vs. #89 Miami (Ohio) 14 (43)
Yes, Kent-state, the worst team out of the entire rankings, has finally managed to win a game, thus proving wrong those of us who thought that their one-point defeat to a woeful Army side last week would be the highlight of the season. Kent gains 101 points for this win, and reaches the giddy heights of position 117 on the leader board. Next stop: the championship bowl. Here's the new Bottom Ten.
LY LW TW Cnf Rat RD Idle
====================================================================
107 109 110 DUKE AC 673 163.7 0 Duke
111 111 111 EMICH MA* 654 135.4 0 East Mich
101 110 112 FLINT SB* 645 134.4 0 Florida International
113 112 113 IDAHO WA* 643 141.6 1 Idaho
112 113 114 RICE CU* 638 145.7 0 Rice
117 116 115 NMXST WA* 608 150.9 1 New Mexico State
114 115 116 FLATL SB* 605 145.6 0 Florida Atlantic
119 119 117 KENTS MA* 558 147.4 0 Kent State
118 117 118 BUFFL MA* 557 139.9 0 Buffalo
116 118 119 TEMPL XX* 533 152.6 0 Temple
Buffalo's victory over Temple in week 1 has proved crucial here. Two of the bottom ten played against top ten teams, with the rather expected results.
#25 Nebraska 10 vs. #1 Southern Cal 28
#2 Texas 52 vs. #113 Rice 7 (1)
#109 Duke 0 vs. #3 Virginia Tech 36 (1)
#4 LSU 3 vs. #12 Auburn 7
Cincinnati 7 vs. #5 Ohio St. 37
Maryland 24 vs. #6 West Virginia 45
UAB 0 vs. #7 Georgia 34
#16 Texas Tech 3 vs. #8 TCU 12
#23 Michigan 47 vs. #10 Notre Dame 21 (31)
A couple of games between highly-ranked sides there, the upset defeats for LSU and Notre Dame send both sides tumbling down the rankings. There were three other games between top-30 sides:
#15 Oklahoma 33 vs. #11 Oregon 34
#21 Miami 7 vs. #20 Louisville 31
#28 Iowa St. 17 vs. #29 Iowa 27
#31 Clemson 27 vs. #22 Florida St. 20
It's the second defeat of the year for Miami-florida; though both have come against decent opposition, it does suggest that the side is tanking badly. There was the usual slew of upsets:
Fresno St. 20 vs. Washington 21 (38)
W. Michigan 17 vs. Virginia 10 (37)
#30 Kansas 31 vs. Toledo 37 (35)
#23 Michigan 47 vs. #10 Notre Dame 21 (31)
Baylor 15 vs. Washington St. 17 (31)
N.C. State 17 vs. Southern Miss. 37 (31)
#114 Tulane 32 vs. #104 Mississippi St. 29 (30)
All of which leaves the top 30 looking a bit like this:
LY LW TW Cnf Rat RD Idle
====================================================================
1 1 1 SCALF PX 1551 157.8 0 Southern California
2 2 2 TEXAS BT 1462 141.7 0 Texas
3 3 3 VTECH AC 1425 142.7 0 Virginia Tech
8 5 4 OHIST BX 1417 137.0 0 Ohio State
10 12 5 AUBRN SE 1387 142.9 0 Auburn
6 8 6 TCU MW* 1379 142.1 0 TCU
5 6 7 WVIRG BE 1378 147.1 0 W Virginia
15 11 8 OREGN PX 1363 130.2 0 Oregon
4 4 9 LSU SE 1351 142.2 0 LSU
12 7 10 GRGIA SE 1346 142.7 0 Georgia
11 9 11 UCLA PX 1331 143.0 1 UCLA
18 13 12 BOSCL AC 1317 133.1 0 Boston College
13 14 13 ALABM SE 1308 144.2 0 Alabama
21 17 14 FLORD SE 1301 134.8 0 Florida
19 20 15 LSVLE BE 1299 142.3 0 Louisville
17 19 16 WISCO BX 1275 142.3 0 Wisconsin
20 10 17 NOTDM XX 1272 126.9 0 Notre Dame
7 18 18 PENST BX 1271 141.0 1 Penn State
23 23 19 MICH BX 1267 131.0 0 Michigan
14 15 20 OKLAH BT 1250 133.3 0 Oklahoma
16 16 21 TXSTC BT 1248 134.9 0 Texas Tech
28 24 22 ARZST PX 1221 134.1 0 Arizona State
24 29 23 IOWA BX 1198 137.1 0 Iowa
25 31 24 CLEMS AC 1191 130.7 0 Clemson
9 21 25 MIAFL AC 1181 136.2 0 Miami-Florida
37 27 26 BSEST WA* 1176 139.1 0 Boise State
27 25 27 NBRSK BT 1169 137.2 0 Nebraska
31 22 28 FLAST AC 1167 133.7 0 Florida State
22 26 29 CALIF PX 1158 136.6 1 California
44 34 30 MISRI BT 1151 133.6 0 Missouri
Auburn's win sees them move ahead of LSU, while Michigan and Notre-dame are just about level now. Ohio-state, conquerers of Texas last week, continued their climb, but must now rely on defeats for the sides above them.
Conference watch: Mid American
LY LW TW Cnf Rat RD Idle
====================================================================
41 69 59 TOLED MA 1000 133.7 0 Toledo
87 80 70 WMICH MA 947 133.3 0 West Mich
72 74 73 BOWLG MA 934 141.1 0 Bowling Green
82 86 77 CMICH MA 896 133.6 0 Central Mich
70 82 80 NILNS MA 877 134.3 0 N Illinois
105 90 93 OHIO MA 808 139.7 0 Ohio U
92 87 94 AKRON MA 794 135.6 0 Akron
100 98 97 BALLS MA 780 133.9 0 Ball State
80 89 103 MIOHO MA 753 135.6 0 Miami-Ohio
111 111 111 EMICH MA 654 135.4 0 East Mich
119 119 117 KENTS MA 558 147.4 0 Kent State
118 117 118 BUFFL MA 557 139.9 0 Buffalo
Something of an unfamiliar shape there, though Kent-state is only off the foot of the table by an utterly insignificant one point. Miami-ohio owes most of its fall to the loss to Kent-state, while the three losses for East-michigan haven't affected its position at all.
Conference watch: Independents
LY LW TW Cnf Rat RD Idle
====================================================================
20 10 17 NOTDM XX 1272 126.9 0 Notre Dame
47 39 33 NAVY XX 1122 134.8 0 Navy
90 96 96 ARMY XX 784 136.8 0 Army
116 118 119 TEMPL XX 533 152.6 0 Temple
Good progress up the table for Navy, while Army has only racked up one of the six wins it needs to take a promised slot in one of the minor bowls. Temple's loss to Buffalo leaves it bottom of the tables.
CFL
Montréal - British Columbia 20-36
Edmonton - Hamilton 22-27 (31)
Winnipeg - Calgary 9-43
Hamilton's surprise win leaves Edmonton last in the West division, behind idle Saskatchewan. Toronto, who also had the bye, takes over at the top of the East as Montréal's fall continues.
Down in the CFL South, there are two wins for the Atlanta Cattacciano, Baltimore Erinas, Chicago Pink Rhinosceri, Cincinnati Bungles, Indianapolis Lucky Charms, Minnesota Lapponites, New Orleans Boy Scouts, and San Diego Bolts - by beating a side that lost last week, these sides are all on 1122. The Seattle Blue Men Group and New England New Democracy met winning sides, and are on 1147; the winner of to-morrow's morning's match between the Jacksonville Browns Lane and Pittsburgh Terrorists will join this charmed circle.
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Heute ist Upsetwoche!
Surprises coming out of our ears from the 1. Bundesliga programme this week-end, as just three of the nine matches result in a win for the paper favourites. The biggest upset came at Bielfeld, where Arminia surprised perpetual winners Bayern Munich 2:1. Werder, Schalke, Borussia M, and early pace-setters Wolfsburg also went down to lower sides, while Nuremburg and Bochum drew. Hamburg's run of defeats continued, this week's by just one goal at Borussia D. Maybe we ought to get Hamburg to play Kent-state...
A bit of an upset in England's Division I, where Arsenal picked up their first win of the season at the Manchester Buccaneers, allowing the official table to be topped by Portsmouth. Our Hades correspondent reports that the snow is now thick enough to ski, and the season will be opened by Mr. Archer of Grantchester in due course.
The Upset-o-meter
40 Arminia Bielefeld - Bayern 2:1
38 Hibs - Rangers 2:1
37 Espanyol - Celta 2:1
37 Werder - Stuttgart 2:3
36 Hertha - Schalke 2:0
36 Barnsley - Wolves 1:0
35 Manchester Utd - Arsenal 0:1
34 Wolfsburg - Hannover 1:2
34 Alemannia Aachen - Borussia M. 4:2
32 Saint-Etienne - Auxerre 2:3
17 Derby County - Preston 1:1
16 Nurnberg - Bochum 1:1
16 Inter - Sampdoria 1:1
Table: 1. Bundesliga
SNV 1095 99.9 27
NUR 1078 146.1 103
BAY 1071 104.6 -21
EIN 1070 136.1 95
WER 1057 101.7 -19
COT 1025 143.9 50
STT 970 133.9 23
BYL 965 112.8 -37
MAI 961 145.7 -14
BMO 951 147.0 -24
HER 949 111.1 19
HAM 946 96.3 -34
BIE 945 144.9 -30
BDO 937 141.8 -38
AAA 920 149.8 83
WLF 897 143.9 -78
HAN 861 145.1 -114
BOC 844 149.8 -131
Nuremburg's strong start, like Hanover and Bochum's slides towards nothingness, are partially a function of their very uncertain ratings at the start of the season. Hamburg's slide is, in part, a function of mostly playing very good sides so far this season.
Table: English Division I
CHE 1261 99.4 89
MUN 1191 99.5 26
ANL 1125 95.2 - 1
LIV 1109 98.7 -77
POR 1038 99.3 101
EVE 1031 99.0 56
NWC 1013 101.5 -25
BLK 998 99.3 -56
BOL 992 96.5 1
AVL 984 98.5 74
FUL 984 99.5 41
TOT 984 96.3 -42
WHM 966 93.6 -63
MID 951 93.7 3
REA 948 99.8 11
WIG 907 99.9 - 7
CHA 878 100.1 -17
MCY 875 99.0 - 9
WAT 827 100.4 -19
SFU 726 107.9 5
Is there no stopping Chelsea? Well, unless you are Middlesbrough, no. Portsmouth's strong start sees them climb into fifth place, but they'll need to start beating the big four to move any higher. Of the promoted sides, Reading look comfortable, Watford and Sheffield U are in trouble.
Other football news: Division II side West-bromwich have released their manager, Bryan Robson, by mutual consent. First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup last week-end; storied sides Hednesford, Telford, Canvey Island all lost, but Wimbledon won to make the round of 2048 (including byes).
League Cup action in England, Scotland, and France this mid-week, and there's a full programme of matches in Serie A on Wednesday.
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Fri 22 Sep 2006
Up for the (league) cup
A few shocks in the English league cup - Wigan, Reading, Derby, Manchester City all fell out of the competition to lower-league opposition. Wigan's loss was particularly damaging, because it was to Glicko-listed Brighton. Fewer upsets in Scotland - perhaps the greatest surprise was Falkirk's 1:0 win at Inverness (36), and Hibs hitting six past Gretna.
The French league cup is unseeded at this stage, and amongst the all-League 1 results were PSG-Lorient 3:1 (31) and Sedan-Sochaux 0:1 (30). We didn't spot any upsets in the round-of-64 in the Spanish cup, nor in the full Italian programme. Upset of the mid-week came in Romania, where Dinamo beat Steaua 1:0 (40).
ES: Primera Division
BAR 1252 98.4 14
SEV 1220 100.9 71
VAL 1220 101.1 93
RMD 1140 101.3 - 9
GET 1070 105.1 37
AMD 1056 104.9 31
CVG 1055 103.7 -31
DEP 1055 102.7 57
OSA 1053 100.4 -47
ZAR 1015 103.2 32
VIL 1001 102.1 -59
ABL 972 104.5 -74
MAL 972 106.0 -38
BET 961 104.7 8
ESP 961 101.1 -39
HEU 938 153.9 38
SOC 936 106.5 -25
LEV 935 161.9 35
SAN 911 108.3 -59
TAR 901 148.9 1
ALA 966 unpl 0
CAD 881 unpl 0
MGA 828 unpl 0
Strong starts from Seville and Valencia have come against fairly moderate sides. Athletic Blibao take the dive.
Italy: Serie A
ACM 1267 109.0 52
PAL 1107 108.0 118
INT 1071 101.9 -12
MES 1059 153.2 83
ROM 1049 99.9 56
ATL 1046 152.6 70
SIE 1010 150.8 34
EMP 1003 154.2 27
CAT 997 150.8 21
LVO 946 151.1 -30
LAZ 914 118.1 - 5
REG 911 150.4 -65
FIO 909 149.7 -67
ASC 900 159.0 -76
CAG 849 153.4 -127
UDI 844 114.8 24
PAR 837 120.2 -42
SAM 824 118.4 3
TOR 812 152.4 -164
CHI 808 136.6 -168
JVE 1139 unpl 0
Just three games into the season, it's far too soon to draw any substantial conclusions.
Highlights of the week-end programme include derbies in Glasgow - Celtic -v- Rangers (12.30 Saturday), Moscow - CSKA -v- Lokomotiv (1pm Saturday), Belgrade - Partizan -v- Crvena Zvezda (5pm Saturday). Barcelona meets Valencia (9pm Sunday), and at 8pm Monday, Bolton travel to English leaders Portsmouth.
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Sun 24 Sep 2006
NCAAball, Week 4
Kent St. 38 vs. Bowling Green 3 (43)
The unexpected title challenge from Kent-state continues, with the side recording its second win in as many weeks. According to expert archaeologists, this event is unprecedented since the area was stolen from the natives some five centuries ago. The side is now ranked at the giddy height of #111, and is just one win away from the hallowed Hot 100.
Three matches featured sides from last week's top 30:
#18 Penn St. 6 vs. #4 Ohio St. 28
#16 Wisconsin 13 vs. #19 Michigan 27
#22 Arizona St. 21 vs. #29 California 49
Neither of the upsets was deemed significant. With #6 TCU and #8 OREGN taking a week off, here's the rest of the top 10:
#1 Southern Cal 20 vs. Arizona 3
Iowa St. 14 vs. #2 Texas 37
Cincinnati 13 vs. #3 Virginia Tech 29
#118 Buffalo 7 vs. #5 Auburn 38 (1)
#7 West Virginia 27 vs. East Carolina 10
Tulane 7 vs. #9 LSU 49
Colorado 13 vs. #10 Georgia 14
So far, so tedious, and we note that Auburn and Buffalo actually increased their RDs as a result of Mismatch Of The Day. The upset-o-meter was tickled by the next three result, though:
#11 UCLA 19 vs. Washington 29 (44)
#12 Boston College 15 vs. N.C. State 17 (41)
#13 Alabama 23 vs. Arkansas 24 (39)
The road defeats send these sides spinning, and though others have risen in their place, the gap between 10th and 11th widens considerably.
Top Thirty
LY LW TW Conf Rat RD Idle
==================================================================
1 1 1 SCALF PX 1557 155.9 0 Southern California
2 2 2 TEXAS BT 1475 137.8 0 Texas
8 4 3 OHIST BX 1445 130.4 0 Ohio State
3 3 4 VTECH AC 1430 141.5 0 Virginia Tech
10 5 5 AUBRN SE 1388 142.9 0 Auburn
5 7 6 WVIRG BE 1385 145.1 0 W Virginia
6 6 7 TCU MW* 1379 142.1 1 TCU
15 8 8 OREGN PX 1363 130.2 1 Oregon
12 10 9 GRGIA SE 1359 138.7 0 Georgia
4 9 10 LSU SE 1354 141.5 0 LSU
19 15 11 LSVLE BE 1323 135.9 0 Louisville
21 14 12 FLORD SE 1309 132.9 0 Florida
23 19 13 MICH BX 1308 124.4 0 Michigan
20 17 14 NOTDM XX 1293 122.1 0 Notre Dame
14 20 15 OKLAH BT 1258 131.4 0 Oklahoma
16 21 16 TXSTC BT 1248 134.9 1 Texas Tech
18 12 17 BOSCL AC 1244 129.3 0 Boston College
7 18 18 PENST BX 1241 134.2 0 Penn State
11 11 19 UCLA PX 1240 140.0 0 UCLA
17 16 20 WISCO BX 1227 133.6 0 Wisconsin
13 13 21 ALABM SE 1226 138.8 0 Alabama
25 24 22 CLEMS AC 1216 125.2 0 Clemson
22 29 23 CALIF PX 1210 129.6 0 California
24 23 24 IOWA BX 1205 135.1 0 Iowa
37 26 25 BSEST WA* 1195 133.9 0 Boise State
9 25 26 MIAFL AC 1181 136.2 1 Miami-Florida
27 27 27 NBRSK BT 1177 135.2 0 Nebraska
26 31 28 GEOTC AC 1173 131.6 0 Georgia Tech
31 28 29 FLAST AC 1172 132.5 0 Florida State
28 22 30 ARZST PX 1171 127.1 0 Arizona State
By taking a win over a decent opponent, OHIST climbs up into third position, and is within spitting distance of making a rightful claim to the national championship game in January. Note TXSTC has climbed five places without playing a game, indicating that the second-tier sides suffered a rubbish week. MIAFL didn't play, slips just one place, and that's a season best result. MISRI the only side to leave the thirty this week in spite of their win.
Beneath the 30, PRDUE and RUTGR have impressed this season, while WASNG's second big win in as many weeks means the side is up 39 places to 52nd. Four straight losses for STANF sees the side drop 43 to 76th, while MIOHO followed up last week's defeat by KENTS with another this week, and have now lost 35 places to 105th this year.
Full Upset-o-meter results
#11 UCLA 19 vs. Washington 29 (44)
Kent St. 38 vs. Bowling Green 3 (43)
#12 Boston College 15 vs. N.C. State 17 (41)
#13 Alabama 23 vs. Arkansas 24 (39)
Mississippi St. 16 vs. UAB 10 (37)
Army 27 vs. Baylor 20 (36)
Atlantic Conference
LY LW TW Conf Rat RD Idle
==================================================================
3 3 4 VTECH AC 1430 141.5 0 Virginia Tech
18 12 17 BOSCL AC 1244 129.3 0 Boston College
25 24 22 CLEMS AC 1216 125.2 0 Clemson
9 25 26 MIAFL AC 1181 136.2 1 Miami-Florida
26 31 28 GEOTC AC 1173 131.6 0 Georgia Tech
31 28 29 FLAST AC 1172 132.5 0 Florida State
35 56 39 NCSTA AC 1095 138.4 0 NC State
51 43 44 MARYL AC 1071 136.5 0 Maryland
64 46 46 WAKEF AC 1065 130.6 0 Wake Forest
30 50 59 VIRGI AC 1003 124.9 0 Virginia
36 52 61 NCARO AC 1000 133.1 0 N Carolina
107 110 110 DUKE AC 673 163.7 1 Duke
Just one side beneath 1000 shows that this conference has some considerable strength.
*Mountain-West Conference
LY LW TW Conf Rat RD Idle
==================================================================
6 6 7 TCU MW 1379 142.1 1 TCU
39 38 35 UTAH MW 1113 133.4 0 Utah
58 60 49 NEWMX MW 1048 130.8 0 New Mexico
57 57 58 COLST MW 1009 130.9 1 Colorado State
63 64 60 BYU MW 1000 125.9 0 BYU
85 84 74 AIRFC MW 912 135.7 0 Air Force
71 81 82 SDGST MW 854 131.8 0 San Diego State
75 78 84 WYOMG MW 851 122.6 0 Wyoming
106 107 106 UNLV MW 697 142.8 1 UNLV
A straight fight here, and surely TCU's claim to a top-five bowl will be unstoppable if they can sweep the division.
Next week's television coverage: NASN will air VIRGI-DUKE or HOUST-MIAFL in its 5pm comedy slot, but the 8.30 slot will be filled by #21 ALABM -v- #12 FLORD. There will be a taped "Big" Twelve game (probably KANSS-NBRSK) at 11.30 Sunday morning, and a Pacific-Ten game (presumably SCALF-WASST, or OREGN-ARZST) at 2.30 that afternoon. Tapes of GRGIA-MISIP or MSPST-LSU will go out at 1am Monday.
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Tue 26 Sep 2006
CFL update
This week's CFL results:
edm-ham 18:20 (31)
tor-cal 18:39
win-mon 17:14
bcl-sas 20:23 AET
BCL 1111 100.3 W
CAL 1085 99.0 W
TOR 1032 103.3 E
SAS 1004 99.2 W
WIN 993 97.5 E
MON 976 105.6 E
EDM 884 100.7 W
HAM 872 100.0 E
British Columbia and Calgary have qualified from the West division for the six-team play-offs.
In CFL South, the SEA Blue Men, NOB Boy Scouts, IND Lucky Charms, CHI Pink Rhinos, CIN Bungles, and BAL Erinas have +3-0 records; the SDB Bolts remain on +2-0 after their bye week. At the bottom of the table, the TEN Flaming Thumbtacks, HOU Moocows, DET Peugeots, BOT Manchester United, and CLE Aston Villa have all managed to lose their opening three games; the KAN Pie Scales and OAK Lost took their byes this week. Full coverage here begins next week.
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Eurotables
With all eyes (at least in this country) on the Ryder Cup, it's a good week to slip in a poor performance. Unless you're Portsmouth, whose league-leading week came to an end in the Monday night game. That wasn't an upset, but these were:
FR Nantes - Marseille 2:1 (42)
E2 Leeds - Birmingham 3:2 (39)
SC Hibs - Falkirk 0:1 (38)
FR Nice - Valenciennes 2:0 (37)
ES Athletico Madrid - Sevilla 2:1 (36)
ES Levante - Deportivo la Coruna 2:0 (34)
IT Empoli - Palermo 2:0 (32)
IT Lazio - Atlanta 1:0 (32)
E1 Manchester City - West Ham 2:0 (32)
SC Dunfermline - St Mirren 2:1 (31)
IT Udinese - Fiorentina 1:0 (30)
IT Livorno - AC Milan 0:0 (18)
E1 Reading - Manchester Buccaneers 1:1 (15)
So it's a case of Crisis, What Crisis at Man City - Stuart Pearce had faced criticism for losing fifteen of eighteen matches, but victories against two sides in Europe already this season give confidence. No upsets in Germany this week - indeed, only four of the nine 1. Bundesliga matches produced a winner.
Other European Sides
AWI 857 128.7 AUSTRIA VIENNA at -51
GRA 846 135.9 GRAZER at 38
RAP 716 133.8 RAPID VIENNA at -16
AND 963 129.6 ANDERLECHT be 104
BRU 816 130.8 BRUGGE be 48
LIE 764 137.4 LIEGE be -35
BEV 456 155.8 BEVEREN be -21
LSF 973 115.9 LEVSKI SOFIA bg 124
CSS 777 128.9 CSKA SOFIA bg -9
LIT 745 150.6 LITEKS LOVECH bg -58
PBG 792 166.3 PARTISAN BELGRADE cg -4
RSB 775 152.0 RED STAR BELGRADE cg -23
GRZ 1013 134.2 GRASSHOPPERS ZURICH ch 40
BAS 992 125.6 BASEL ch 38
THU 604 133.9 THUN ch -14
SLP 880 137.4 SLAVIA PRAGUE cz 55
PRG 816 140.7 SPARTA PRAGUE cz 68
TEP 695 154.2 TEPLICE cz -44
COP 955 177.8 COPENHAGEN dk NEW
BRO 742 170.9 BRONDBY dk -36
OLY 1227 121.1 OLYMPIAKOS gr 130
PAN 1071 129.0 PANATHANAIKOS gr 113
AEK 915 114.6 AEK ATHENS gr 48
PAO 773 130.3 PAOK SALONIKA gr -26
ASS 653 177.0 ARIS SALONIKA gr -6
AIG 633 136.4 AIGAELIO gr -13
PIO 542 149.7 PANIONIOS gr -18
DZA 694 168.0 DYNAMO ZAGREB hr -86
MPT 589 177.6 MACCABI PETAH-TIKVA il 0
AJX 1117 123.7 AJAX nl 72
PSV 1086 115.2 PSV EINDHOVEN nl 44
AZA 975 137.2 AZ ALKMAAR nl 0
UTR 895 156.0 UTRECHT nl 0
FEY 883 131.6 FEYENOORD nl -33
HEE 799 137.3 HEERENVEEN nl 0
ROS 908 139.7 ROSENBORG no 90
TRO 762 171.7 TROMSO no 0
VRG 747 143.0 VALARENGEN no 3
VIK 631 154.6 VIKING STAVANGER no -58
SLS 1030 143.6 SPORTING LISBON pt 75
PTO 985 138.1 PORTO pt -5
BEN 969 122.8 BENFICA pt 31
GUI 755 154.3 GUIMARES pt 0
RBU 1034 134.0 RAPID BUCHAREST ro -7
STE 949 108.0 STEAUA BUCHAREST ro 20
DIB 943 167.2 DINAMO BUCHAREST ro 151
LOK 1067 137.1 LOKOMOTIV MOSCOW ru 22
ZSP 955 134.0 ZENIT ST PETERSBURG ru 0
SPM 926 152.3 SPARTAK MOSCOW ru NEW
CSK 922 121.5 CSKA MOSCOW ru -26
HAL 652 186.6 HALMSTADS se 0
ART 759 127.3 ARTMEDIA BRATISLAVA sv 32
BES 1125 146.4 BESTIKTAS tr 110
GAL 973 178.4 GALATASARAY tr NEW
FEN 957 129.9 FENERBACHE tr -6
GEN 846 166.1 GENCENBIRGILI tr 53
KYV 988 137.1 DINAMO KYIV ua 37
SHA 929 129.7 SHAKTAR DONETSK ua -52
DNI 876 145.9 DNIPRO ua 11
Great months for Olympiakos and Levski Sofia, both sides made three ranking wins and increased by more than one RD. Dinamo Bucharest, Panathanaikos, Anderlecht, and Bestiktas all improved by 0.75 RD or more. Dinamo Zagreb the main losers, dropping half an RD. This ratings inflation is only to be expected - most of the matches have been against highly-ranked sides, or sides with high uncertainty levels, or both. It'll only take one defeat against lowly-ranked sides for the Greek giants to lose a hundred points or so.
Coming up on Friday, the second European results and UEFA Cup Group Draw, followed next Tuesday by the season's first edition of Europe's First (And Second) XI.
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Fri 29 Sep 2006
European Results
Group A Of Death
Levski Sofia - Chelsea 1:3
Werder Bremen - Barcelona 1:1
Levski remain completely dead, just not able to hold their own in a difficult group. Two matches against Werder might yet revive Bulgarian spirits, even though most neutrals will be watching the other matches.
Group B Of Two Halves
Spartak Moscow - Sporting Lisbon 1:1
Inter Milan - Bayern Munich 0:2 (29)
Something of a surprise to see Inter knocked off; something more of a surprise to see Inter in fourth place and not taking part in any competition at all.
Group C For Second
Liverpool - Galatasaray 3:2
Bordeaux - PSV Eindhoven 0:1
Another high-scoring Liverpool game involving Turkey. PSV moves second on goal difference, but will take the head-to-head lead with a score-draw at Anfield in November. By such small amounts will this group be decided.
Group D Of How Will Portugal Mess This Up?
Shaktar Donetsk - Olympiakos 2:2 (17)
Valencia - Roma 2:1
It's awfully hard to get excited about this group, in spite of Shaktar's marvellous draw. Valencia top it.
Group E Of Surprise
Real Madrid - Dinamo Kyiv 5:1
Steaua Bucharest - Lyon 0:3
In itself, that's a bit of a surprise - we half-expected Real to go down here. They'll be duking it out with Steaua next month for second spot.
Group F Of Apologies
Benfica - Manchester B 0:1
Celtic - FC Copenhagen 1:0
All the goals must have come last time. Celtic and Benfica meet next month for second while the Bucs run up their goal difference.
Group G Of Giants
Arsenal - Porto 2:0
CSKA Moscow - Hamburg 1:0 (32)
Another match, another Hamburg loss. Hardly counts as an upset. Arsenal should have no trouble against CSKA, nor Porto in securing the UEFA Cup berth against Hamburg.
Group H Of Pifflingly Easy
AEK Athens - Anderlecht 1:1
Lille - AC Milan 0:0 (16)
A bore draw between the two favourites, completely cancelling each other out. Indeed, AC's win over AEK the only positive result in four.
Third Qualifying Round
Chornomorets - *Hapoel Tel-Aviv 0:1 1:3
*Braga - CHIEVO 2:0 0:2
Braga wins 1:0 in extra time.
Levadia Tallinn - *NEWCASTLE 0:1 1:2
Molde - *RANGERS 0:0 0:2
STANDARD LIEGE - *CELTA VIGO 0:1 0:3
As ever, when the Third Qualifying Round comes down to the crunch, there aren't many surprises. Here are examples one to five.
*Maccabi Haifa - LITEX LOVESCH 1:1 3:1
Derry City - *PARIS ST. GERMAIN 0:0 0:2
HERTHA BERLIN - *Odense 2:2 0:1
Legia Warsaw - *AUSTRIA VIENNA 1:1 0:1
*PANATHINAIKOS - Metallurg 1:1 1:0
Though it's the first time the Haifa side makes the rankings, it's been coming over the years. Derry have held their head high, but it's the exit for Hertha Berlin - one of the Intertoto winners - that's the surprise.
LOKOMOTIV MOSCOW - *Waregem 2:1 0:2
HEARTS - *SPARTA PRAGUE 0:2 0:0
*FENERBAHCE - Randers 2:1 3:0
Salzburg - *BLACKBURN 2:2 0:2
SCHALKE 04 - *NANCY 1:0 1:3
Lokomotiv Moscow, winners two years ago, are out early. So are Hearts, losing to a seeded side. Blackburn's progression is a bit of a surprise, but Schalke's early exit is a real shock.
Ethnikos - *LENS 0:0 1:3
*Slovan Liberec - CRVENA ZVEZDA 2:0 1:2
*AZ ALKMAAR - Kayserispor 3:2 1:1
Rubin Kazan - *PARMA 0:1 0:1
*EINTRACHT FRANKFURT - BRONDBY 4:0 2:2
Slovan a side that's been on the cusp of the rankings for some years.
Atvidabergs - *GRASSHOPPERS ZURICH 0:3 0:5
Atromitos - *SEVILLE 1:2 0:4
*BESIKTAS - CSKA SOFIA 2:0 2:2
Vitoria - *HEERENVEEN 0:3 0:0
MARSEILLE - *Mlada Boleslav 1:0 2:4
Marseille were one of the favourites going into the round, and are the really surprising casualties of the night.
*BASEL - Rabotnicki 6:2 1:0
RAPID BUCHAREST - Nacional Funchal 1:0 0:1
Rapid wins 1:0 in extra time.
Trabzonspor - *OSASUNA 2:2 0:0
WEST HAM - *PALERMO 0:1 0:3
Lokomotiv Sofia - *FEYENOORD 2:2 0:0
West Ham's early exit is standard for the sides that qualify through the cup, though Millwall and Southampton (the last two sides) at least managed a draw.
Sion - *BAYER LEVERKUSEN 0:0 1:3
Ruzomberok - *BRUGGE 0:1 1:1
*PARTIZAN BELGRADE - Groningen 4:2 0:1
Xanthi - *DINAMO BUCHAREST 3:4 1:4
SLAVIA PRAGUE - *TOTTENHAM 0:1 0:1
No surprises, though Ruzomberok deserve their point - the were the last side from EC Q1 to remain.
Start - *AJAX 2:5 0:4
ARTMEDIA - *ESPANYOL 2:2 1:3
*Wisla Krakow - Iraklis 0:1 2:0
*LIVORNO - Pasching 2:0 1:0
DINAMO ZAGREB - *AUXERRE 1:2 1:3
Again, no surprises there.
Eight new sides enter the rankings:
BOL Mlada Boleslav cz
BRG Braga pt
HTA Hapoel Tel-Aviv il
LIB Slovan Liberec cz
MHA Maccabi Haifa il
ODE Odense dk
WIS Wisla Krakow pl
WRG Waregem be
The group stage draw will take place on Tuesday.
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