SP Champions league - all seasons

[Hippopotamus]

...And maybe the last victory in this group

With other opponents, maybe. But while you are in my group, I have at least one more victory secure

[gregoric]

Round 4 summary

GROUP A: U.C.SAMPDORIA became a winner of the group after just 4 games. After playing the best away performance this season (148), they brought 3 points from Belgium. rogiboys lost third game in a row and fell down to 4th position, but they're still just a point behind the other two teams. That's because the game between MSK_Profirol and LT Athletic ended with a draw (2:2) - it was a bit unlucky game for the homeside, as they played 3 pts better than the opponent. So, three teams still have a very real chance to fight for the play-off here and I don't see a clear favorite in this fight. But this will keep the remaining 2 rounds really dramatic.

GROUP B: FC Rovinka didn't repeat the surprising win from last round, my team lost the home game against Red Bull FC 1:2. In the other game, Lucky Spike FC won 1:0 against SAMPDORIA and they're now very close to Quarterfinal. Dutch team holds the leading position with 10 points, while the remaining three teams got 4 points. So the table looks even more dramatic like group A All four teams still have a chance for quarterfinal and there is still a theoretical option that current leader would finish 3rd (if they and SAMPDORIA lose remaining two games, FC Rovinka and Red Bull FC could take the first two places in the table). That is however not very realistic, but here it's also quite difficult to predict the remaining results.

GROUP C: Situation open for all teams as well in this group. FC Kaima Brakonieriai took their first point with a very surprising draw against El Pandos Brutos. Leader of the group lost their first two points and although they're close to confirm the QF, they can still lose the position. There are two teams 5 points behind - FCB Eruveo and BALKI. They played against each other in last two rounds and both games finished with a goal less draw, so they're both equal (3 points, score 3:3). Last week I said that FC Kaima is most likely out of the game, but I might be wrong. Lithuanian team played 140 which is higher than the max of their opponents, so in theory, with the help of El Pandos Brutos, they could still make it through. Again (the same as A and B), this group will stay dramatic till the very end and it's difficult to predict the remainin games.

GROUP D: The Last Mohycan lost their first points after a goalless draw at Viastore. In the second game, Noldor won their second game against SC Rotterdam and made a step closer to play-offs. Mohycans are still leading the group, but "just" 3 points ahead of Noldor. Viastore is 5 points behind the leader, but losing just two points on Noldor. These three teams will be fighting for the QF - all of them can even still win the group. The only team without play-off chances - not only in this group, but overall - is SC Rotterdam. Dutch team is as well the only team with 0 points in 4 games. They still could reach 3rd place, but looking at previous games, this is not very realistic. Next round will bring the clash of first two teams, Noldor plays at home and they will surely play their best to get even closer to QF - but even if they win next weekend, they will need to confirm their position in the last round's game away at Viastore. The Last Mohycan is in the best situation here, as they host SC Rotterdam in the last round.

In overall, this is one of the most dramatic seasons so far - I think it's very comparable with season 10, where we had quite a similar situation after 4 rounds.

[gregoric]

Round 5 summary

Last weekend brought much more clarity into the play-off audience. Five spots are already confirmed, last round will decide the rest 3 slots for Quarterfinals.
All 4 teams seeded from the top pot have won their groups - after 5 rounds they all are still unbeaten, one of them - U.C.SAMPDORIA - even with 5 victories in their pocket. So, how does the current situation looks like in each group?

GROUP A - the only group that's quite clear. As I wrote, U.C.SAMPDORIA leads the group with 15 points. The second place is also confirmed already - and it goes surprisingly to LT Athletic! One of the lowest seeded points won against rogiboys 2:1 - thanks to that Lithuanian team has 7 points. MSK_Profirol is 3 points behind, but even if they both get equal, the games between these two teams ended up better for LT Athletic (4 points - 1:0, 2:2). Last round will only decide the fight for 3rd place - rogiboys are hosting MSK_Profirol. If Belgian team wins, they will take the 3rd place.

GROUP B - Lucky Spike FC won away at FC Rovinka 1:0 - I was quite close to get a draw, but my team played 1 point less. After two defeats in a row, SAMPDORIA won 1:0 away at Red Bull FC thanks to a very good performance (144). Lucky Spike is on top of the group (13 pts), SAMPDORIA is now very close to get into the Quarterfinal - they're 3 points ahead of the remaining two teams and playing last game home. FC Rovinka is still in a game, but we need to win at SAMPDORIA, score at least 2 goals - and Red Bull FC can't get 3 points. Czech team is now without chances, they cannot pass SAMPDORIA in any possible scenario.

GROUP C - Round 5 brought two draws and that means confirmation of first place for El Pandos Brutos (11 pts) and still equal situation for FCB Eruveo and BALKI. Both teams play away next - and BALKI is in a bit better position, as they play against the last team of the group - FC Kaima Brakonieriai. Lithuanian teams just get out of the game after a very unlucky draw at FCB Eruveo. They played 7 points better (140 vs 133), but it wasn't enough to win. It's quite cruel for them, because with victory they would be fighting for a second place - and they would play against their direct opponent at home.

GROUP D - The best game of the round between Noldor and The Last Mohycan finished with a goalless draw (146 - 149). For Slovak team this was the last point needed to confirm the group victory. They are now three points ahead of Viastore and Noldor - and none of these teams can take the 1st place. Last game between these two rivals will decide who goes to play-off - Viastore is in a better position, as they play home and draw 0:0, 1:1 or 2:2 would be enough for them. Noldor needs to win, or get a draw while scoring at least 3 goals. Looking at the average performance, Noldor is able to beat Viastore away, but they will really need to show their best.

[rohalt]

Unbelieveable, so bad i play this season in this competition. Every time i play for win, but i am not so good as i think.

[gregoric]

SAMPDORIA, BALKI and Noldor complete the list for Quarterfinals!

Last round of the Group stage decided on the remaining 3 slots for playoffs. The biggest surprise was seen in group D, where one of the two A division teams - Viastore - lost their key game (home) against Noldor. And that means end of current SPCL season for Czech team, while Noldor continues further.

I tried for similar miracle in group B with a risky strategy at SAMPDORIA, but it didn't work for me. Although FC Rovinka was leading 1:0 and 2:1, SAMPDORIA scored two goals at the very end of game (84' and 86') and won 3:2.

BALKI ended the group stage with a 2:2 draw and finished 1 point ahead of FCB Eruveo. In a dramatic battle at the stadium of FC Kaima Brakonieria, BALKi scored the equalizer in 89'.

More info and playoff draw will follow later today...

[gregoric]

Play-off draw published - see the main post

[gregoric]

GROUP STAGE SUMMARY
It has been a dramatic season so far - quite a lot of teams were fighting for play-offs till the very last round of the stage.
Four top seeded teams played as expected and they avoided surprises - they all won their groups without a single defeat. Plus on top, U.C.SAMPDORIA won all 6 games this season.
Surprises came on second places - only two teams from second pot secured the positions - and they had to fight very hard till the end. SAMPDORIA confirmed their position in group B with the victory against FC Rovinka thanks to two goals scored at the end of the game, BALKI finished just a point ahead of FCB Eruveo thanks to a draw in last round (they also scored the equalizer at the very end of the game - although a loss 1:2 would still be enough for Slovak team). The remaining two teams for QF were seeded from the lowest pot - LT Athletic succeed in the dramatic fight with MSK_Profirol and rogiboys. They qualified with only 7 points (the same as BALKI). Last but not least - Noldor as a lowest seeded team that started thanks to a wildcard (they are playing division D right now) finished second in the most difficult group D - they pushed an A-division team (Viastore) out of the game.
Some teams were quite unlucky this season - mainly MSK_Profirol (3rd in group A with the same points as LT Athletic - they only played 2:2 in the home game against Lithuanian despite +4 points in line ratings), FCB Eruveo and FC Kaima Brakonieriai - their performances were very similar to BALKI, but haven't collected enough points.
rogiboys played a bit lower than expected - although they started with a victory, Belgian team didn't get any further points in remaining 5 games. Although the team was a last minute addition to SPCL12, I expected them to go to QF - at the end, it's a finalist of last SPCL season and 3rd team in a historical rank. My team - FC Rovinka - also had QF aspirations, but the group was just too hard - the max of SAMPDORIA and Red Bull FC was 144, Lucky Spike FC did even 3 points higher. Anyway - I'll try to get better next season

Thanks to all managers for their great participation, it's been a very smooth season so far!

QUARTERFINALS - PREVIEW

QF1: SAMPDORIA (BUL) - The Last Mohycan (SVK)
One of the most difficult QF this season. SAMPDORIA is on a way to A division - and they're also playing well in SPCL. Their performances were very consistent with the max of 144 and average 142,33. Still, they'll need to play even better, because the opponent is even a level up - currently on upper positions in A division, The Last Mohycan are the top performing team of current season - max 149, average 146,5! Their lowest performance is equal to SAMPDORIA's maximum. Slovak team is a favorite of this battle, but they need to be very careful, as any mistake could get them out of the game.

BALKI (SVK) - U.C.SAMPDORIA (BUL)
Another battle between Bulgarian and Slovak team - but this one has a favorite in Bulgaria. And I have to say, U.C.SAMPDORIA is a clear favorite here. They are fighting for a title in A division, here in SPCL they won Group A without losing a single point - and they're currently the second highest performer after Mohycans (max 148, average 145,5). BALKI was the most positive surprise of last SPCL season - as a team that started already in Qualification round, they made it up to Semifinal round and finished 4th in the final rank. This time, they're playing slightly behind the expectations - their maximimum is 142, but it's the only one game when BALKI reached 140. So if they want to make this QF dramatic, they'll probably need a combination of their best performance and bunch of luck.

Noldor (SWE) - Lucky Spike FC (NED)
And this is the most difficult QF of this season - without any clear favorite. Lucky Spike FC won group B with 16 points (they only lost points in the first game against FC Rovinka). Dutch team plays in a comfortable zone of A division, currently sitting on 6th place. However, they are facing the strongest possible opponent in QF. Noldor is on a journey back to A division and they're building a huge team. Despite it is still a young team playing D division, they're already playing above 145 - which means they have a real chance to beat their opponent. Their performances are almost equal. They both played max 147, average is slightly better for Dutch team (144,17 vs 143,67). It's very difficult to predict a winner here - but I expect a small surprise here.

LT Athletic (LIT) - El Pandos Brutos (NED)
Favorite of this game is quite clear - El Pandos Brutos has a good chance to get into the Top4. For both season this is a premiere season in SPCL. While El Pandos Brutos are fighting to survive in season A, LT Athletic is trying to get into B division. Dutch team won group C with 4 wins and 2 draws, max 145 and average performance 142,33. Although this is the lowest from group winners, it's still higher than their opponent. Lithuanian team's max is 143, but they were not playing very consistently. If they show their best, this can be a dramatic battle.

Good luck all in QF!

[Hippopotamus]

After equal 1/4final against Lucky Spike I am going to 1/2final. And there...Milko...again...boring...
...and it makes me sad...that Last Mohycan will be sad

[Milko]

After equal 1/4final against Lucky Spike I am going to 1/2final. And there...Milko...again...boring...
...and it makes me sad...that Last Mohycan will be sad

Milko will cry, Hippo. But it will be tears of happiness after the process to the final

[Hippopotamus]

Milko will cry, you're right Hippo. But it will be tears of happiness after the process to the final

You should learn basics about sport (generally). When you play for 3rd place - it isn´t called final

[Milko]

Milko will cry, you're right Hippo. But it will be tears of happiness after the process to the final

You should learn basics about sport (generally). When you play for 3rd place - it isn´t called final

I hope I have a good look with whom I play the semifinals .... U.C.SAMPDORIA it's not - so there is some Noldor ... that does not say anything to me.

[Hippopotamus]

I hope I have a good look with whom I play the semifinals .... U.C.SAMPDORIA it's not - so there is some Noldor ... that does not say anything to me.

Wait few days. Just word "noldor" will become your nightmare

[gregoric]

QUARTERFINALS SUMMARY

QF1: SAMPDORIA (BUL) - The Last Mohycans (SVK) 1:3
Slovak team confirmed the expectations and will fight for medals. Looking at the performace, both games were slightly behind the expectations (The Last Mohycan played 144 in both games, while SAMPDORIA played only 138 in the first leg), but on the other side they had the highest attendance - 26.327 fans in total. Mohycan's striker Van De Ven scored his 8th goal this season and he strenghten the leading position in the Top scorer rank.

QF2: BALKI (SVK) - U.C.SAMPDORIA (BUL) 2:5
Another game that finished as expected. The biggest favorite of this season played 148 away in the first leg - and took the important victory 2:1. In the second leg that was played on Monday, BALKI didn't send the best squad on the pitch, which resulted in a lowest QF performance (114) and a comfortable win for U.C.

QF3: Noldor (SWE) - (un)Lucky Spike FC (NED) 3:2
The biggest drama of Quarterfinal round with a bit surprising finish. First leg was the top game of the season so far - Noldor won 2:1 after playing their max this season - 148! Dutch team played just one point less, but it wasn't enough to get a draw. However, the second leg was very lucky for Noldor - Lucky Spike FC played +2 and still didn't win. At the beginning they missed a penalty - they still scored the opening goal in 66' min, but Noldor's striker Sulejmani scored an equalizer in 79' min and sent his team to Semifinals! Lucky Spike was really unlucky here, because successful penalty would take them into SF round.

QF4: LT Athletic (LIT) - El Pandos Brutos (NED) 2:1
The biggest surprise of QF! For the first time in a history, we'll see 2 teams seeded from 4th pot fighting for medals. First leg finished with a 1:1 draw - after LT Athletic played their max this season (145). It was a very equal game, both teams played the same and therefore they deserved a draw. That meant a good position for the favorite in second leg - El Pandos Brutos played home, but thanks to 2 red cards they played the worst game of the season (136) and that resulted in a 1:0 win for Lithuanians. Ibarra scored his first goal this season, but it was a golden goal.

SEMIFINALS REVIEW

SF1: The Last Mohycan (SVK) - Noldor (SWE)
Both teams already met in group D and The Last Mohycan was more successful in those fights (1:0, 0:0). Noldor definitely wants a revenge - that would take im into a Final round after a long break. These are the only two teams who won SPCL twice. I think Slovak team is a favorite of the game, but it will be very dramatic. The difference in performance is not significant, so I would say chances are close to 50-50.

SF2: LT Athletic (LIT) - U.C.SAMPDORIA (BUL)
U.C.SAMPDORIA is a huge favorite here. Similarly to SF1, both teams met in a group stage - group A - both of the games ended with comfortable wins for Bulgarian team. U.C. won all 8 games this season and most likely they'll not change this in Semifinals. I believe the motivation is very big, as they can become the third team with two victories (in a row). On the other hand, LT Athletic went very far - during their first appearance, Lithuanians are fighting for medals. It's just a second time Lithuania has a team in Top 4 - last time we could see AquaAzzurri ending 4th in the very first SPCL season! Looking at remaining three teams, it will be very difficult for LT to improve that result this season.

[raoulio]

Thanks for organising and the interesting match reports Gregoric!
Unfortunately the 2 red cards were my downfall..

Goodluck to all remaining contenders!

[Hippopotamus]

The Last Mohycan 1 - 0 Noldor (144-144)

Let Mohycans come to us. They will see (and feel) what means Hell of the North

EDIT:

Noldor 0 - 0 The Last Mohycan (144-146)

Ok, I must say, everybody can have big talk (as I had), but results are important. Milko was better in both games and deservedly has kicked my arrogant ass. Congratulations to promotion to the final!