European Football Thread

[EddieG]

Mourinho on Friday said he was going to come out before the Atletico fan and give fans to boo him for underperforming this season, was met with cheers instead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzt4BtPxuU0

[The Quasi Juice]

What an actor.

[GoN_]

It was actually a very smart thing to do.

[GoN_]

Impressive.

[Colly]

Meh, missed an open goal.

[Lineker]

Barcelona striker Lionel Messi is set to return to training on Saturday following the knock which saw him stretchered off in last night's Champions League draw with Benfica, reports Spanish sport paper AS.

Messi suffered a bruised left knee after colliding with the Benfica goalkeeper in the game and is a doubt for Barca's next Spanish League match at Real Betis on Sunday. He needs only one goal to match Gerd Mueller's 40-year-old record of 85 goals in a single year.

[Lineker]

The Serbian Football Association has been fined 5,000 Swiss francs (£3,336) by Fifa for the "improper conduct" of Serbia fans during a 2014 World Cup qualifier with Wales in September.

World football's governing body took action after investigating "crowd disturbances" during Wales' 1-6 defeat.

Uefa's control and disciplinary body meet on Thursday to the discuss the trouble that erupted during England Under-21s clash with Serbia in October.

[Colly]

How much is that on the Bendtner Paddy Power Pants Scale, which I believe is the official unit of comparison for derisory fines.

[stokeriño]

That's roughly 4% of the Bendtner PPP fine.

[MDK]

Lone Udinese football fan wins hearts in Italy

A football fan has stolen media attention in Italy after being the only supporter to show up to watch his club play an away game in the top league.

Udinese fan Arrigo Brovedani was the club's sole supporter in Genoa for a Serie A match against local team Sampdoria.

The 30-something wine merchant found himself alone in the visitors' section.

But Sampdoria stewards gave him coffee and home fans invited him for a drink after the match.

Mr Brovedani told the BBC he had not expected to find many fellow supporters from Udinese, one of the smaller clubs in Serie A.

It was a cold Monday night and Udinese never attracts more than 50 or 60 away fans.

Early boos "But I went there thinking I'd find five or six other people," the Udinese fan said.

"I went into the stadium while they [udinese] were warming up. I shouted and said 'hi' to the team.

"When I went in the local fans booed me, I felt a bit offended.

"But in the end they clapped and invited me for coffee and a meal, and the club managers gave me a shirt. They wished me a merry Christmas."

Genoa is about four hours' drive from Friuli, where Udinese are based.

But Mr Brovedani was in Genoa on business.

"I like the stadium there, it's very similar to English stadiums," he said. "I always take my flag and scarf around - they're always in the car with me."

Luckily for Mr Brovedani, Udinese won the match 2-0 and the team dedicated their victory to their only fan. He has been invited to attend its next home match on Saturday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20700529

Aww, bless his little heart.

I'm shocked that a top flight team in a top league has such a shite fan base.

[Colly]

"Where'd you park your motorbike?"

Italian football crowds always seem to be half empty though outside the big games. Completely anecdotal statement from me watching ESPN there, feel free to quote statistics at me...

[Matt]

Fans don't really travel to away games anyway apart from in the UK. it's not *that* remarkable that no-one would go to a small side's Monday night game in the middle of December

[Baddar]

Fans don't really travel to away games anyway apart from in the UK. it's not *that* remarkable that no-one would go to a small side's Monday night game in the middle of December

But someone did, so it's a nice story.

[Adam]

It did surprise me too that they only get "50 or 60" fans to away games. It isn't like they're a mediocre side either, they finished 3rd last season didn't they?

Would have loved to see the 'crowd' response when Udinese scored their two goals.

[Colly]

If he didn't get a shirt or two from the team at the end I'd stop going if I were him. Or at least a lift home.

[Lineker]

A Zenit St Petersburg supporters' group has called for non-white and gay players to be excluded from the team.

The Russian champions' largest fans' group, Landscrona, said in an open-letter that black players are "forced down Zenit's throat".

They added that gay players are "unworthy of our great city".

Dietmar Beiersdorfer, Zenit director of sports, said players were selected "without any limitation regarding origin, religion or skin colour".

Zenit were the only top-flight Russian team without a black player until this summer.

They signed Brazilian striker Hulk and Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel for £64m.

French midfielder Yann M'Vila reportedly turned down a move to the club in August as a result of racist abuse.

Zenit's Italian head coach, Luciano Spalletti described the supporters' call as "stupidity", saying "tolerance for me is most of all the ability to understand and accept differences".

He added: "I can personally assure you that I will do everything I can to help those who seek to explain to people what tolerance is, and the need to respect other cultures and traditions.

"I think that Zenit has proven through its work that the club understands what tolerance is, and what it means to have tolerant behaviour. The team has gathered players from different countries and ethnic groups who work together to achieve a common goal."

The fans' manifesto read: "The absence of black Zenit players is just an important tradition that underlines the team's identity and nothing more."

Black players in the Russian league have been the target of monkey chants and Anzhi Makhachkala's Christopher Samba , had bananas thrown at him by fans. Zenit St Petersburg were fined by the Russian Football Union after one of their fans offered Roberto Carlos of Anzhi a banana before a match between the two sides in March 2011.

Zenit are currently third in the Russian Premier League behind leaders CSKA Moscow and Anzhi. They will play in this season's Europa League after finishing third in Champions League Group C.

...

[brenchill]

I heard about that yesterday. I can't even take it serious, it's ridiculous.

[EddieG]

Your 2018 World Cup hosts, ladies and gentleman!

[GoN_]

There's nothing new in that.

Well speaking of more surprising things... Nemanja Matic has been fucking awesome this season. Still can't believe how much better the guy has become in the past few months.

[Lineker]

I only caught half of the story on SSN, but apparently Tito Vilanova's tumour has come back aggressively and will have to be replaced as Barcelona manager, at least for the time being:

Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova has reportedly suffered a relapse in his recovery from a tumour that he had removed last year.

While the club are yet to officially make an announcement, reports in Spain have claimed that the former La Liga champions will be seeking a temporary replacement as Vilanova undergoes treatment.

More to follow.