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PAO in the 16 of the Champions League


athinaios

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i think porto will be the ideal fixture...

morinho is a pontio.

i think he is a sore loser of finishing second in the group.. his comment was simply made out of jealousy..

fato m@l@k@ :gr:

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you guys should hope for sporting or atletico. Chelsea is far too talented despite their struggles, and van nistelroy is an excellent player despite his age for realmadrid so you would like to avoid them also. Ask agio vasili for an early christmas present last year the draw for olympiacos was on my birthday and we drew chelsea lol lets hope you guys have better luck

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i think porto will be the ideal fixture...

Porto is really strong this year, and theyre also going to be in 1st place if their 2-0 lead over Arsenal this year.

We want LISBON, I cant beleive nobody else sees this as by far the most winnable tie for us out of all.

Theyve got a fairly weak defense, and they got through basically by finishing ahead of Shaxtar (who is a very good team but stilL) and Basel, who are easily the worst out of the 32 teams in the tournament by far. PAO can beat them. Porto is very tough in Europe, and always a big matup with PAO. Porto is looks stronger this year (finally a year they have it together) and they are seemingly winning their group so we cant even draw them anyways.

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Murihnio gives some thing else to hope for: move to the 8 with Inter being eliminated. It kind of makes Inter games a bit more emotional for me B)

For now, his team competed in the same turnament of three other teams and came second. Pao was first. It's not much, but it a lot for us. We don't get the joy all the time.

Regarding the next opponent, I have mixed feelings. I'd love an easier team like Sporting. But I've seen enough football to know at this stage there are no easy teams. Remember when we beat Porto in Portugal a few years back? This was a very beatable team but we got eliminated by losing at home 2-0. I also remember what a huge let down this was.

As I said before, no matter what happens from now on, I am a happy fan. My team made the 16 and any success from now would be amazing. But we are entering a new stage that is exponentially more challenging than the groups where we had the luxury of making up for failures. The next few stages are designed for the Bacelonas and the Uniteds of the world. Panathinaikos is a small fish in a big pond. In a sense, Murnihnio is right. Everyone wishes they draw Panathinaikos. But so did Inter and Bremen and they are staring at our back.

For now, I am dreaming of our next legend. We talk of our 71 final all the time. We remember our wins against Juventous, then we topped that with a win at Amsterdam. Then we also have wins against Hamburg, against Salke, and now against Bremen and an even bigger one against Inter.

I am dreaming of the next big game we'll be talking about for years. The one that would eclipse some of the other ones. A win at Barcelona or at ManU. I know you guys think I am crazy (not Crazy) but some of you thought I was nuts to predict a 0-4 at Bremen and a win at Meazza.

But I am torn because if we get an easier opponent now, our next win would be so much bigger.

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There are no easy opponents..... No matter what anyone says...

Even Aston Villa would be tough right now....

Its the Champions League.... Even when small teams face big teams, there is always a small glimmer of hope.

Id thought of who Id want to face, but in all honesty it doesnt matter....

From now on, the CL games are a celebration...

But if I had to pick teams, Id look at few things that might give PAO the advantage...

First off, Who has a good home field but not an unbeatable one.

Here Id like to avoid Chelsea, Bayern and Arsenal. those three teams are extremely tough at home and nearly impossible to get a result.

From the other 4 teams left there are Lyon, Villareal, Sporting and Real.

Real is a great team. Liek in years past. But the one thing I have noticed is that in recent years, they have looked really vulnerable in the back. Bernebau is also not what it used to be... and with a difference of 9 points from first place Barcelona ( with a chance of -12 this wekend), Nilstelroy out for the season along with Diarra, Real are in turmoil. Of course they do have an unlimited ( or close) budget and im sure they will splurge this winter... Of the four.. theyd be my last pick.

Lyon are a bit of a question mark. They are not the team they used to be. Losing players in th epast five years and not really splashing it up in the transfer market, they seem resigned to flourish young talent from their system. Junihno is always a threat and Benzema is a classy striker but they are def not unbeatable. theyd be my next to last pick....

Villareal. The 'yellow submarine'. I dont know what to say. Some games they look absolutely incredible and in others, they absolutely suck. (remind you of anyone)

Their hom ground is def not a FORTRESS and their D isnt world class. They gave up 3 3 goal games in SPain this season, all at home. They drew against AEK last season in the UEFA cup and werent all that impressive. Tough, but not impossible.

Sporting. Everyones first choice. Mine's as well. But Even against Sporting, PAo would not be favorites. Not at all. How can Pao be favorites, against a team, that 3 years ago, was in the final of the uefa cup. Oh ya Peseiro was their coach. They have a few good players, mostly homegrown and can do some damage. I would worry about over confidence aganst them if we drew them.

So, in order, id like, Sporting, Villareal, Lyon, Real, Bayern, Arsenal and Chelsea...

We will draw Chelsea or Villareal.. you heard it here first....

Like I said, from now on, its all for extra fun...

We start off on the road.. If we can get a result there... the book remains open... If not... it was UNBELIEVABLE while it lasted.. and once again...

THANK YOU PANATHA

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I agree with Nikos, and with the rest of you guys.

One thing I've observed over the many years is that PAO plays to the opponent's level more so than not. There are no easy teams right now.. But, if they think they draw an "easier" team at this stage, that can be bad for us. We tend to try harder when we have a bigger team facing us.

Take our group. With which team did we struggle the most? (or played the worst games?) Seriously, think about it....

Oh, and if you want to make it more interesting.. If we played knock-out games with Inter, Weder, and Ano, I could see being knocked out by the weakest of them all ;)

PS>Should I arrange it in the Matrix for Lyon? I kind like the French and we owe them some revenge B)

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I agree with Nikos, and with the rest of you guys.

One thing I've observed over the many years is that PAO plays to the opponent's level more so than not. There are no easy teams right now.. But, if they think they draw an "easier" team at this stage, that can be bad for us. We tend to try harder when we have a bigger team facing us.

Take our group. With which team did we struggle the most? (or played the worst games?) Seriously, think about it....

Oh, and if you want to make it more interesting.. If we played knock-out games with Inter, Weder, and Ano, I could see being knocked out by the weakest of them all ;)

PS>Should I arrange it in the Matrix for Lyon? I kind like the French and we owe them some revenge B)

Hi Athinao, how are you buddy?

There's certainly truth in your analysis, but while I agree with the observations (PAO plays better against bigger teams) I disagree with the causes of this.

We tend to try harder when we have a bigger team facing us.

I don't think PAO's inability to beat defensive (or traditionally smaller teams) is down to a lack of effort. It's down to not having the necessary skills to break these teams down consistently. Georgios Georgiou said it best imo (I posted the youtube link to his analysis in the PAO-Asteras board). PAO can be superb when teams come at him. HTC's employment of 3 hard working centre midfielders and wide players that can also defend when necessary make, spearheaded by a revitalised Mantzios makes PAO a pretty good counter-attacking team.

However, when PAO has to chase the game against a team which wants to get as many men behind the ball as possible (i.e. the SL teams), PAO lacks the width and imagination to break them down week in week out, and so points are dropped.

At this stage of the CL I don't think PAO has that to worry about. None of the teams PAO will meet will fear him and none will play with 11 men behind the ball for 90 mins. So I'm with the majority here who believe we should all join hands and pray PAO draw Sporting. :P

I'd actually consider PAO to be the favs in that game. In fact I'd rate our chances of winning against each team as follows:

Sporting = 60%

Villareal = 45%

Lyon = 30%

Atletico = 30%

Real Madrid = 25%

Arsenal = 10%

Chelsea = 5%

So that's the order I'd like to see PAO drawn with. :tup:

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I agree with

I'd actually consider PAO to be the favs in that game. In fact I'd rate our chances of winning against each team as follows:

Sporting = 60%

Villareal = 45%

Lyon = 30%

Atletico = 30%

Real Madrid = 25%

Arsenal = 10%

Chelsea = 5%

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Id rate Real way lower for our chances. I think we have a much better shot at Atletico than Real.....Real I dont see us getting through even a hope....

Arsenal I see us being able to beat. They are a bit off on in Europe, though very strong, PAO and Arsenal make close matches, even in our bad years we struck a 1-1 in Highbury. Still, not that we would be close to favourites, I just see it being more realistic than a Real or Lyon. Out of the "big teams in the 7, Arsenal is my ideal one. We even sort of have a small rivalry with them, we play them enough in CL it feels.

My pref order is:

1. Sporting

2. Villareal

3. Atletico

4. Arsenal

5. Lyon

6. Real Madrid

7. Chelsea

Villareal im thinking we can definitley get by. I would be just as happy to get them as Sporting really. I mean with Celtic and AB, they had some weak matches, and werent spectacular vs AEK.

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I'd like to us draw, in this order:

1. Sporting

They're a good passing team but they have no defence, no hard-men (so they can be bullied) and no top strikers. PAO would KO them, trust me.

2. Villareal

They are an enigma, their defence is either brilliant (2 clean sheets against Man Utd this year) or abysmal they've conceded 3 goals in games on a few times this season. Overall, in knock out competitions they'd be dangerous. But they are beatable. Their striker Franco got a red card in the last matchday so he'll be unavailable in the first game of the tie.

3. Atletico

Tough game, but a solid defensive display in Spain could put us in a very favourable position.

4. Lyon

They have alot of pace and will be very tough opposition but with a mamouth effort we could beat them.

5. Real Madrid

Real have some amazing individuals and would be hot favourites against us.

6. Arsenal

They are having problems domestically, but they're always brilliant in Europe. Yes they lost to Porto in the last matchday but they'd already qualified and played numerous youngsters. They play great football and it's just at too high a tempo for us to deal with. Just think that they've made a poor start by their standards and they've still managed to beat Chelsea 1-2, Porto 4-0, Man Utd 2-1 and scored 5 at Fenerbahce. Imagine what they'll be like when they're actually on form.

7. Chelsea

We all know what they're about.

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