Fantasy European League™ Season 2 - Round 1

Matches played Wednesday 6th June - Thursday 7th June
Remember - There is now a £3 mil penalty for not predicting

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Tottenham Hotspur v Borussia Dortmund

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Tottenham Hotspur
Manager - Pullthestrings

---------------------- Friedal -----------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
- Bosingwa -- Ferdinand ----- Mexes --------- Clichy -
-----------------------------------------------------
---------------------- Essien ------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
------------- Modric -------- Vd. Vaart --------------
-----------------------------------------------------
--- Lennon -------------------------------- Hamsik---
-----------------------------------------------------
----------------------- Saha ------------------------

Subs:
Cudicini, Ekotto, Dawson, King, Sandro, Livermore, Pienaar

Borussia Dortmund
Manager - BrahmaBull

---------Weidenfeller----------
Piszeck--Hummles---Subotic---Schmelzer
-----Gundogan----Khel---------
GroBkentz---Gotze--------Blaszcyko
-------------Reus-----------------

Subs:
Langerak, Owomiyela, Lowe, Kringe, Bender, Persic, Bakalorz

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Chelsea v Real Madrid

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Chelsea
Manager - Gregers

------------------Valdes-----------------
Walker---Cahill(c)---Pepe---Alaba
-------------Kroos-Ramires---------
Young-----------Ozil----------Marin
------------------Gomez---------------

Subs:
Courtois/Kaboul/Mereiles/Song/de Bruyn/Rodallega/Drogba

Real Madrid
Manager - Hero

Subs: Kaka, Torres, Gustavo, Marcelo, Callejon, Arbeloa, Granero

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Manchester City v Arsenal

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Manchester City
Manager - TSC

-------------Pantilimon--------------
--Richards--Kompany(c)---T. Silva--Alba--
----------De Jong-----Yaya----------
--Milner---------Nasri---------Tevez--
---------------Aguero---------------

Subs:
Pantilimon, Lescott, Zabaleta, Kolarov, Barry, Balotelli

Arsenal
Manager - Kamran

-----------------------Sczceny---------------------------

--Sagna-------Kolscielny---------Pique------------Adriano

------------------Parker-----Mascherano------------------

Valencia----------------Mata------------------------Pedro

-----------------------Villa-----------------------

Subs:
Fontas, Santos, Rosicky, Ox, Llorente

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Inter Milan v Bayern Munich

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Inter Milan
Manager - FootballCrazy

-------------------------Cesar
---Zanetti(c)-----Lucio----------Juan-----Chivu
---------------Stankovic-----M'Vila
---Navas-------------Sneijder----------Zarate
-------------------------Milito

Subs:
Castellaazi, Samuel, Otamendi, Pazzini, Alvarez, Nagatomo

Bayern Munich
Manager - Cor Blimey Guvnor

------------------------ Neuer ------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
Rafinha ------ Van Buyten ---- Badstuber -------- Lahm
-------------------------------------------------------
----------------- Sahin ------ Boeteng -----------------
Di Maria ----------------------------------------- Evra
------------------------ Robben ----------------------
---------------------- Muller ------------------------

Subs:
Butt

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Barcelona v Manchester United

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Barcelona
Manager - Hodgey

---------------------------- Čech ---------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Ramos ------------- Puyol ---------- Terry ------------ Bale
-------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------- Busquets -------------------------
------------------- Xavi ------------ Iniesta ----------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
--- Ribéry -------------------------------------- Ronaldo ---
--------------------------- Rooney --------------------------

Subs:
Pinto, Gibbs, Gallas, Carrick, Cuenca, Affelaym, Romeu

Manchester United
Manager - Fernando

-------------------De Gea
Srna ---- Vidic ----- Chiellini --- Coentrao
---------Scholes ---- Wilshere
Cazorla ------- Lampard -------- Sturridge
--------------Hernandez

Subs:
Lindergaard,Rafael,Jones,Fletcher,Arteta, Park, Welbeck

-------------Pantilimon--------------
--Richards--Kompany(c)---T. Silva--Alba--
----------De Jong-----Yaya----------
--Milner---------Nasri---------Tevez--
---------------Aguero---------------

Subs: Pantilimon, Lescott, Zabaleta, Kolarov, Barry, Balotelli

---------------------------- Čech ---------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Ramos ------------- Puyol ---------- Terry ------------ Bale
-------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------- Busquets -------------------------
------------------- Xavi ------------ Iniesta ----------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
--- Ribéry -------------------------------------- Ronaldo ---
--------------------------- Rooney --------------------------

Pinto
Gibbs
Gallas
Carrick
Cuenca
Affelay
Romeu

------------------Valdes-----------------
Walker---Cahill(c)---Pepe---Alaba
-------------Kroos-Ramires---------
Young-----------Ozil----------Marin
------------------Gomez---------------

Subs: Courtois/Kaboul/Mereiles/Song/de Bruyn/Rodallega/Drogba

Starting 11 (inter)

-------------------------Cesar
---Zanetti(c)-----Lucio----------Juan-----Chivu
---------------Stankovic-----M'Vila
---Navas-------------Sneijder----------Zarate
-------------------------Milito

SUBS - Castellaazi, Samuel, Otamendi, Pazzini, Alvarez, Nagatomo

Barcelona vs Man Utd

-------------------De Gea
Srna ---- Vidic ----- Chiellini --- Coentrao
---------Scholes ---- Wilshere
Cazorla ------- Lampard -------- Sturridge
--------------Hernandez

Subs: Lindergaard,Rafael,Jones,Fletcher,Arteta, Park, Welbeck

Dortmund v Spurs

---------Weidenfeller----------
Piszeck--Hummles---Subotic---Schmelzer
-----Gundogan----Khel---------
GroBkentz---Gotze--------Blaszcyko
-------------Reus-----------------

Subs

Langerak
Owomiyela
Lowe
Kringe
Bender
Persic
Bakalorz

Real Madrid

Casillas
Alves --- Luiz --- Albiol --- Cole
Alonso---Diarra
Neymar---Fabregas---Nani
Messi

Subs: Kaka, Torres, Gustavo, Marcelo, Callejon, Arbeloa, Granero

Arsenal starting line-up

-----------------------Sczceny---------------------------

--Sagna-------Kolscielny---------Pique------------Adriano

------------------Parker-----Mascherano------------------

Valencia----------------Mata------------------------Pedro

-----------------------Villa-----------------------

Subs: Fontas, Santos, Rosicky, Ox, Llorente

Spurs 0-2 Borussia Dortmund
;Großkreutz, Reus

I don't know if Spurs are hampered by injury or not but the Dortmund team is just much better on paper. I think the back 5 of Dortmund's is better than that of Spurs and I think the front line of Dortmund is better than Spurs. Pull needs to get rid of Saha because he offers little. I think VDV is playing too far back so there's not much in the Spurs attack leading to a good win for Dortmund.

Chelsea 1-2 Madrid
Gomez; Nani, Cesc

Very interesting match up. I think the back 4 of each team are pretty much equal. Moving forward, the midfield is again pretty similar in quality although I have to say Madrid's edges it. Gregers could do with a proper holding midfielder; that role doesn't really suit Ramires or Kroos. In the end, I think the extra quality of the front lines ends up winning it for Madrid and the fact that they have a much better bench helps too.

Inter 3-1 Bayern
Milito x3; Di Maria

Don't really know what's going on with that Bayern team. They have a CB in the centre of midfield and a LB out wide and 1 sub on the bench who happens to be a goalkeeper. Ok, they look scary going forward but when you compare it to the Inter team (who have everyone playing in the right position), I think the game is a no contest as players who are familiar in their positions run riot.

Barcelona 1-1 Man Utd
Rooney; Hernandez

This was a tough one to call. It's a draw all day long as far as I'm concerned but whether it is 0-0 or 1-1 I'm not too sure. I can see the pace and movement of Hernandez causing the Barca CB pairing of Terry and Puyol no end of problems. There's little defensive width in the Barca midfield too but when you see the players they have, they will score goals. It's a draw, although if you had to push me for a winner I'd say Utd due to the superior defence.

Tottenham 2-0 Dortmund
Modric, van der Vaart

Despite being depleted by injury, Spurs coasted to victory in truth against a weak Dortmund side. BrahmaBull has made few amendments to arguably the side most in need of some, whilst Pull has made vast improvements to his Spurs side. Yet it was two of the original Spurs players that steered them to a win today, Modric opening the scoring followed by a class free-kick by Rafael van der Vaart. The visitors were actually fortunate that Saha was up front rather than the crocked Higuain, as the score may have been much worse for them. Tottenham will have to look to improve their quality on the wings, whereas Dortmund desperately need midfield reinforcement despite Gotze and the injured Hazard providing some quality.

Chelsea 1-2 Real Madrid
Gomez
Fabregas, Nani

Chelsea have a real youthful, energetic feel to their side and they will do well this season, but Real Madrid's quality shone through in the end and was enough to give them an opening day victory. Hero should be commended for his braveness in making changes to an already world-class side, but he may need to make some alterations at the back as his centre-back pairing are not too formidable. Indeed, Gomez broke the deadlock after naive defending from David Luiz. What they may lack in defensive grit they more than make up for in attacking flair, however, and Fabregas was instrumental to every attack, scoring first and then producing a masterful pass to Nani to allow the Portuguese to score the second. A deserved win for Real Madrid but Chelsea have nothing to worry about this season.

Man City 1-0 Arsenal
Aguero

City managed to overcome a tough opening day challenge from Arsenal but only by the skin of their teeth. At the back, TSC has made some good transfers to solidify their defence which consistently thwarted Arsenal's quality attack today, proving vital in City's eventual victory. Yet few changes have been made going forward where there are certainly areas that could be improved, Milner looking particularly out of his depth and Tevez understandably frustrated out wide. Arsenal have a quality spine to their team and will be rightfully disappointed they could not have earned at least a draw today, but failed to test the shaky Pantilimon enough. Aguero scored the only goal of the game, outpacing Koscielny before producing a lofted finish.

Inter Milan 2-2 Bayern Munich
M'Vila, Sneijder
Sahin, Robben

This was certainly a game where both defences left a lot to be desired, and unsurprisingly it ended in a high-scoring draw. Inter have been reluctant to make changes and have plenty of room for improvement, namely in central midfield and their wide positions, but one of their new faces, Yann M'Vila, was the architect behind all of the hosts' attacks and scored himself early on. By contrast, Bayern Munich have made widescale changes to their side and, admittedly, have been dogged by injuries. The side looked unbalanced and lacked attacking cohesion, but still managed to grab 2 late goals to cancel out Sneijder's free-kick. Evra on the wing raised question marks and the midfield was crying out for a ball-winner as the defence was frequently exposed. But Bayern's attacking fluidity allowed for some great goals and chances, Sahin converting from the penalty spot early in the second half before Robben scored a fantastic goal after wonderful link-up with Muller.

Tottenham vs Dortmund
3:0
Hamsik,Modric,VDV

A comfortable win for Spurs today even with Saha being ineffective upfront. Luckily for Pull his midfield just oozes class and that made the difference today. Maybe the injuries to Dortmund took the sting out of their attack but I just don't see what they have that would worry Ferdinand, Mexes and Essien. I think this result will have hurt Dortmund although it might spark them into purchasing to strengthening their midfield which without Hazard and Kagawa is severely lacking in class.

Man City vs Arsenal
2:2
Aguero, Kompany:Mata, Villa

A brilliant game full of end to end action with two sides full of exciting attacking options. Aguero scored a cracker early on but Kamran's Arsenal side didn't let their heads drop. Mata scoring a great freekick just before halftime. Mid way through the second half Villa got on the end of an awesome flowing counter attack from Arsenal silencing the Etihad. City proceeded to throw bodies forward and in the 89th minute Vincent Kompany got on the end of a Tevez corner. Neither side can complain about sharing the points this week.

Inter Milan vs Bayern Munich
2:0
Milito, Navas

A comfortable win for Inter against an out of sorts Bayern. They have several players out of position and be that because of injuries or not they really suffered for it. Evra on the left win in particular had not answer to Navas and Zanetti who bombed forward at every possibility. I'm sure Bayern will improve both with a few signings and once their injuries are back. In fairness to Bayern they did manage to go into damage limitation. Inter get off to a flying start although their defense could do with improving in the weeks to come.

Barcelona vs Man United
2:2
Ronaldo (2)/Cazorla,Hernandez

An extremely close game but one that Ronaldo almost managed to win by himself. Terry and Puyol had problems all day long against Hernandez and this allowed United to storm to 2-0 at half time. A stunning freekick from Ronaldo then followed before that man popped up again beating 3 united players before slotting away past an unlucky De Gea. Both sides then pushed but both De Gea and Cech were on stunning form.

Spurs 2-0 Dortmund

VDV (2)

Chelsea 1-1 Real Madrid
Gomez/Neymar

Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Aguero/Nasri, Mata

Inter 1-0 Bayern
Milito

Chelsea 1-1 Real Madrid
Gomez , Messi

very attacking game with both sides playing very very well they both had chances. in the end Messi opened the score with a great ball. followed by Gomez's powerful shot to tie the game.

Man City Arsenal
Aguero - Mata
Good game both sides testing each other well. City took an early lead but was stopped by Matas strike which managed to tie both to a draw

Bayern 1-0 Inter
Robben.

A normal game with both sides playing well both teams had chances but the defence limited them. during the end Robben managed to find a next from a free kick in order to snatch it.

United 1 v 1 Barca
Ronaldo,Hernandez

Ronaldos return to United for the first time in ages went well after managing to score a great goal but refused to celebrate in order for the respect of the fans. Hernandez managed to snatch a point with a header during the end.



Inter Bayern
Milito

Man United v Barcalona.

spurs 1-0 dortmund
lennon

spurs just about managed to win the first game of the season. dortmund were organized but the lennon's moment of magic just tilted the tie in favor of the north london club

chelsea 1-1 madrid
ozil
fabregas

both nearly equally matched teams played out a draw at stamford bridge. chelsea took the lead early on through ozil which shocked real. after the break, real started dominating possession and got the goal through fabregas after he was played through by alonso.

mancity 1-0 asenal
nasri

mancity overcame arsenal but only just in a game with lots of chances. arsenal started the brighter of the 2 teams as valencia and pedro both went close with long range shots. however it was mancity who, against the run of play, got a goal from nasri. after that arsenal tried to get back in the game but city's strong defensive midfield duo and their back 4 held on for a win.

barca 1-0 united
ronaldo

ronaldo came back to haunt manutd as his barcelona beat manutd in the opening match of the season. barca dominated possession as usual with their midfield 3 of xaviesta and busquets. the front 3 of barca posed numerous problems for the united defence but it resolutely held on until ronaldo produced a bullet header from a corner to score the only goal of the match.

Tottenham 2 - 1 Borussia Dortmund
VDV ---------------- Reus
Essien

Dortmund were unlucky not to take anything from this match as they pummeled Spurs in the last 20mins but Tottenham were lucky as the both posts and bar were struck to give them all 3 points. VDV scored very early on and soon Essien's powerful shot become 2. Spurs seem to lose focus and Dortmund gained confidence and when Reus pulled a goal back Dortmund battered Spurs but the woodwork saved them.
--
Chelsea 1 - 1 Real Madrid
Drogba -------- Messi

Chelsea gave Madrid a proper game here as they went toe to toe and took on the giants and nearly succeeded. Chelsea closed down Madrid with urgency and it took them by surprise. However, Madrid did get back in their groove and it was Messi that gave them their lead with a delicate chip. Madrid looked comfortable until they saw Didier Drogba. You could hear Albiol's gulp from the sidelines. Drogba overpowered Luiz and headed home the equaliser. Not many chances at the end but it showed that this league isn't as easy as first glanced.
--
Inter Milan 1 - 2 Bayern Munich
Sneijder ------------ Robben (2)

It was the dutch duo of Robben and Sneijder that ran the show. Unofrtunately, they both were on the opposite sides. Robben ran the Milan defence ragged with his pace and helped himself to two solo goals. Sneijder was pulling the strings for Milan but ended up getting on the end of a volley to pull a goal back in the end.
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Barcelona 3 - 1 Man Utd
Ronaldo (2) ---- Carzola
Rooney

Barcelona were at their brilliant best with Rooney supplying 2 goals and scoring a gem in the process. Utd were pulled all over the place with Xavi and Iniesta pulling the strings. Ronaldo with 2 well taken goals assisted by Rooney but Utd never gave in and Carzola's curling shot gave them some hope. In the end, Barca kept the ball and made Utd work hard for it and it remained 3-1.

Tottenham Hotspur 0 v 0 Borussia Dortmund
A snooze fest between two sides that badly need work at present. Spurs are in desperate need of a couple of buys whilst they have injuries with Saha up front and Boswinga at RB, its only due to them facing a Dortmund team also suffering injuries and reluctant to actually trade a player that they got a point.

Manchester City 1 v 0 Arsenal
Like to see City make a few more tweaks, Silva at the back with Kompany makes a phenominal pairing, easily the best in the league. Arsenal unlucky to come away with anything and will certainly challenge with the changes he's made.

Inter Milan 2 v 1 Bayern Munich
Good couple of buys by Inter so far but still needs work at the back, Bayern sticking Evra on the wing? Not quite getting what's going on at Bayern and think they need to strengthen the centre.

Barcelona 3 v 1 Manchester United
Utd if they improved attacking wise I can see them threatening but its light at present, Barca's defence is a right hodge podge of fullbacks that think they're wingers and two guys that have seen their better days, a strong attack could rip that partnership apart.

As it's the first week I'll be doing strengths and weaknesses of each side as I see it

Chelsea 2 - 3 Real Madrid

They'll always be goals in this one as both attacks are better than their counterpart defences.

Chelsea:Ozil/Gomez is a nice partnership. Full backs are attacking but may leave the slowish defence open
Madrid: Great full backs. Could improve at CB and perhaps get a specialist DM in to help.

City 1 - 1 Arsenal

Arsenal have improved massively and have enough threat in attack to break down City's defence. City are solid and take their chance.

City: Fantastic CB partnership, solid in midfield. Could improve full backs and wings.
Arsenal: Lethal attack. Subs!

Inter 3 - 1 Bayern

Bayern have been ravaged with injuries and just don't have the depth to compete away at the San Siro. I'm sure Bayern will be up there once Guv returns as their first team is brilliant.

Inter: GK and CB's. Could do with some specialist full backs.
Bayern: Midfield is fantastic when all fit. Squad size!

Barcelona 1 - 0 Man Utd

Barca keep on knocking and eventually get their reward. Utd put up a good fight.

Barcelona: Brilliant all round in 1st XI. Sub striker.
Utd: Love the back four. The midfield needs freshening up.

Big improvements all round for the first week

Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 0 Borrusia Dortmund
Van Der Vaart [2]

Chelsea 1 - 2 Real Madrid
Gomez : Messi, Fabregas

Manchester City 2 - 1 Arsenal
Kompany, Nasri : Mata

Inter Milan 2 - 1 Bayern Munich
Milito, Sneijder : Robben

Barcelona 3 - 1 Manchester United
Ronaldo [2], Rooney : Hernandez

Full predo bonus to: Kam, Hodgey, Brahma, Gregers, FC, TSC, Hero, Pull
Small predo bonus to: Fernando
No predo bonus to: Guv

Liking how VDV scored 3 times in the 2-0 win

What you on about mate?!

Happy with a 2-1 loss, well done hero

I genuinely thought you'd got a draw in that one. Need to sort my centrebacks out for sure. Wish Luiz would get that move to Barca so is rated more!

Pepe is available hero...

Now, hopefully my laptop will be picked up tomorrow, so if it is I've handed my teamsheet in and I'll try and get on someone else's later in the week.

Ugh, such a pain to lose Big Dave Silva but if I never really had him (out for 4 weeks). Guv got the much better deal there but hopefully I can keep the goals out!!

----------------Hart-----------------
--Lahm---Kompany(c)---T. Silva---Alba--