• Re: Premier League 2022/23 releagtion battle

    From Jesper Lauridsen@21:1/5 to Werner Pichler on Sun May 14 16:32:28 2023
    On 2023-05-10, Werner Pichler <wpichler@gmail.com> wrote:

    Other close races: Denmark (we know all about this from UPT,
    top 4 within four points).

    What a time to be out of the country for the final 2 rounds.

    In the third division the two leaders hosted the two pursuers and the
    results were 1-5 and 1-3. That's now a top 4 within 2 points. 2 teams
    promoted.

    Also, there's a first-time champion in Poland (Raków Częstochowa).

    Is this a fairytale or financial doping?

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  • From Werner Pichler@21:1/5 to Jesper Lauridsen on Mon May 15 06:01:03 2023
    On Sunday, May 14, 2023 at 6:34:47 PM UTC+2, Jesper Lauridsen wrote:
    On 2023-05-10, Werner Pichler <wpic...@gmail.com> wrote:

    Also, there's a first-time champion in Poland (Raków Częstochowa).

    Is this a fairytale or financial doping?

    From what I gather their president owns a mid-sized electronics stores chain headquartered in Częstochowa, took over the club in 2014 when they were languishing in the Third League, and in 2016 installed a young manager
    (Marek Papszun) that took them all the way into the Ekstraklasa, to two Polish Cup titles, and now the championship. Papszun will leave after this season though.

    So a bit of both, but more of the former?

    Ciao,
    Werner

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  • From Jesper Lauridsen@21:1/5 to Jesper Lauridsen on Sun May 21 21:06:03 2023
    On 2023-05-14, Jesper Lauridsen <rorschak@sorrystofanet.dk> wrote:
    On 2023-05-10, Werner Pichler <wpichler@gmail.com> wrote:

    Other close races: Denmark (we know all about this from UPT,
    top 4 within four points).

    Alas.


    In the third division the two leaders hosted the two pursuers and the
    results were 1-5 and 1-3. That's now a top 4 within 2 points. 2 teams promoted.

    Now 4 teams with 1 point. Prepare for promotion to be decided by coin toss.

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  • From Michael Falkner@21:1/5 to All on Mon May 22 00:08:05 2023
    Entering Monday:

    All with 1 game to play except Leicester, who goes to Newcastle United Monday.

    Everton 33 pts -24 GD A win at home over AFC Bournemouth assures they stay up unless Leicester City win twice.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leeds United 31 pts -27 GD Must win over Tottenham Hotspur or are relegated, and need help otherwise.
    Leicester City 30 pts -18 GD Must win at least one game, and may need further help.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southampton See you in the Championship next season.

    If neither Leeds United nor Leicester City gain a victory the remainder of the season, they both go down and Everton stay up.

    If Tottenham defeats Leicester City, Leicester is demoted unless they win their final game, Everton loses to AFC Bournemouth, and Leeds does not defeat Tottenham Hotspur.

    The only way Everton now gets demoted is if both Leeds United and Leicester City win at least one game and Everton loses to AFC Bournemoth, or Leeds wins once, Leicester twice, and Everton loses to Bournemouth.

    Leeds can still be demoted with a win, if Leicester wins twice and Everton at least draws (as long as Leeds does not win by 4 or more).

    Mike

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  • From Werner Pichler@21:1/5 to Werner Pichler on Mon May 22 04:18:12 2023
    On Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 10:23:25 AM UTC+2, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 12:40:38 AM UTC+2, MH wrote:

    There are also quite interesting relegation battles in

    1. France - 4 teams go down this year and no barrages. Former champions Nantes, Strasbourg and Auxerre among the teams that could still drop.
    The bottom three pretty much determined, but the fight for the last relegation place could be intense.

    2. Germany. 3 games left and nobody relegated yet. 7 teams still
    possibles for relegation, and the most likely group includes Schalke, Stuttgart and Hertha Berlin. Two go down directly, one gets a chance against 3rd Place 2 BL - probably HSV.

    3. Scotland - yes Celtic are already champs and will do the domestic treble yet again if they win the cup vs. 2nd Tier Inverness. But the relegation fight is far from over. Dundee United (last place for most
    of the year) Kilmarnock and Ross County all within a point. Bottom relegated, 2nd bottom gets a playoff (vs. Partick Thistle, Ayr United or Queen's Park). Dundee promoted.

    4. Spain. 5 games left. Elche already down, but the list of other candidates goes all the way up to Celta in 13th (they have a reasonable cushion though). In danger are Espanyol (19th) and Valencia (17th). Getafe, Cadiz, Valladolid and Almeria are also in the battle. 2 points between Almeria in 14th and Getafe in 18th. Hard to keep track of the permutations since Head-to-Head is used to resolve ties.
    The race for promotion is even closer.
    With three matches to go:

    Las Palmas 67
    Eibar 67
    --
    Granada 66
    Alavés 66
    Levante 65
    Albacete 62
    --
    Cartagena 58

    One round to go:

    Granada 72
    Las Palmas 71
    --
    Alavés 70
    Levante 69
    Eibar 68
    Albacete 64
    --

    Las Palmas hosting Alavés on the last matchday.


    As in England, the Top 2 are promoted directly, third to sixth go to the promotion play-off.

    The championships in Belgium (3 teams) and Germany (2)are also going to
    be very tight races.

    There's also the chance of a changing of the guard in two leagues.

    In Bulgaria, where Ludogorets have won 11 in a row, they are currently just one
    point ahead of CSKA-Sofia with five games to go and one match between the two still left to play.

    That one ended 2-2. Ludogorets still one point ahead, three matches to go.


    (As an aside, I remember that Elko insisted on the dash '-', due to this version of
    CSKA(-) taking over the licence of another team after bankruptcy, while at the
    same time a group of fans founded a 'new' CSKA of their own, styled CSKA 1948,
    and a couple of years later that team is currently sitting in third behind CSKA- and
    Ludogorets. I wonder how Elko feels about two CSKA's being ahead of Levski now.
    ('This is getting out of hand! Now there are two of them!')
    What's more, CSKA 1948's second team also leads the Vtora liga, or Second Divison,
    by a healthy margin.)

    I'm jinxing it by writing this, but similarly there's an outside chance of an upset in
    Austria, too, where Sturm Graz are still kind of keeping up with nine-championships-in-a-row
    Salzburg (also thanks to the halving of the points after 22 matchdays), and have not
    only won the Austrian Cup, but are 'just' three-and-a-half points behind Red Bull, with
    one match between the two (in Salzburg) still left to play.

    Jinxed it. We lost 1-2 yesterday (after leading 1-0 at HT), and Salzburg are champions for
    the tenth time in a row.


    Other close races: Czech Republic (Sparta two points ahead of Slavia with one match
    between the two still to play next Saturday)

    Sparta won that one 3-2 and are now five points ahead with two rounds to go.


    and Denmark (we know all about this from UPT, top 4 within four points).

    Also, there's a first-time champion in Poland (Raków Częstochowa).

    And one in Luxembourg - Swift Hesperange, founded in 1916, first reached the top
    level in 1985, national cup winners in 1990, have now won the championship for the first time.


    Ciao,
    Werner

    Notably, most of the above mentioned leagues (Belgium, Bulgaria, Austria, Czech Republic,
    Denmark) have changed to a Championship Playoff system in the last couple of years.

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  • From The Doctor@21:1/5 to darkstar7646@gmail.com on Mon May 22 14:05:47 2023
    In article <9b91ac01-e48f-4c37-abbb-383b2299de09n@googlegroups.com>,
    Michael Falkner <darkstar7646@gmail.com> wrote:
    Entering Monday:

    All with 1 game to play except Leicester, who goes to Newcastle United Monday.

    Everton 33 pts -24 GD A win at home over AFC Bournemouth
    assures they stay up unless Leicester City win twice. >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Leeds United 31 pts -27 GD Must win over Tottenham Hotspur or are
    relegated, and need help otherwise.
    Leicester City 30 pts -18 GD Must win at least one game, and may need
    further help. >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Southampton See you in the Championship next season.

    If neither Leeds United nor Leicester City gain a victory the remainder
    of the season, they both go down and Everton stay up.

    If Tottenham defeats Leicester City, Leicester is demoted unless they
    win their final game, Everton loses to AFC Bournemouth, and Leeds does
    not defeat Tottenham Hotspur.

    The only way Everton now gets demoted is if both Leeds United and
    Leicester City win at least one game and Everton loses to AFC
    Bournemoth, or Leeds wins once, Leicester twice, and Everton loses to >Bournemouth.

    Leeds can still be demoted with a win, if Leicester wins twice and
    Everton at least draws (as long as Leeds does not win by 4 or more).

    Mike

    Come on Leeds and LEicester! Lose Everton Lose!!!
    --
    Member - Liberal International This is doctor@nk.ca Ici doctor@nk.ca
    Yahweh, King & country!Never Satan President Republic!Beware AntiChrist rising! Look at Psalms 14 and 53 on Atheism https://www.empire.kred/ROOTNK?t=94a1f39b Alberta 29 May 2023 boot out the UCP and the NDP! Beware https://mindspring.com

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  • From anders t@21:1/5 to All on Mon May 22 17:10:30 2023
    Tonight, Liverpool fans and Man United fans unite in rooting for Leicester!

    --
    Manchester United FC - CHAMPIONS
    Latest: England '13 (20th) Europa '17, UEFA '08, World '08

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  • From Michael Falkner@21:1/5 to All on Wed May 24 22:06:17 2023
    Everton safe with a win in the final game home to AFC Bournemouth.

    A draw sees them relegated if Leicester City win.

    Leicester City or Leeds United must win to stay up. Leicester City stays up with a win home to West Ham unless Everton wins (or Leeds United wins by a half a dozen more goals). For Leeds United to stay up, they must win home to Tottenham Hotspur,
    Leicester City cannot win, and Everton must lose.

    Mike

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Doctor@21:1/5 to darkstar7646@gmail.com on Thu May 25 12:02:48 2023
    In article <ff881408-3d8b-402d-adf7-2ff18db590ean@googlegroups.com>,
    Michael Falkner <darkstar7646@gmail.com> wrote:
    Everton safe with a win in the final game home to AFC Bournemouth.

    A draw sees them relegated if Leicester City win.

    Leicester City or Leeds United must win to stay up. Leicester City
    stays up with a win home to West Ham unless Everton wins (or Leeds
    United wins by a half a dozen more goals). For Leeds United to stay up,
    they must win home to Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City cannot win, and >Everton must lose.

    Mike

    Come on Bournemouth, Leicester and Leeds!
    --
    Member - Liberal International This is doctor@nk.ca Ici doctor@nk.ca
    Yahweh, King & country!Never Satan President Republic!Beware AntiChrist rising! Look at Psalms 14 and 53 on Atheism https://www.empire.kred/ROOTNK?t=94a1f39b Alberta 29 May 2023 boot out the UCP and the NDP! Beware https://mindspring.com

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  • From Michael Falkner@21:1/5 to All on Sun May 28 09:43:52 2023
    Halftime in the final round of games.

    Everton and Bournemouth are drawn 0-0

    Leicester City is 1-0 up on West Ham

    Leeds United is 2-0 down to Tottenham.

    As these scores stand, Leicester City is staying up.

    Mike

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Michael Falkner@21:1/5 to All on Sun May 28 09:50:01 2023
    57th minute: Doucoure has scored for Everton, putting them 1-0 up and safe from the drop if the scores stand.

    Mike

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  • From Michael Falkner@21:1/5 to All on Sun May 28 09:53:46 2023
    Wout Faes has scored for Leicester City, all but ensuring that Everton now must win.

    LEI 2-0 WHU

    EVE 1-0 BOU

    LEE 0-2 TOT

    About a half hour to go to find which one of these three teams survives the drop.

    Mike

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Michael Falkner@21:1/5 to All on Sun May 28 10:02:41 2023
    A moment of life for Leeds United is snuffed out two minutes later by Harry Kane's second. It's 3-1 to Tottenham.

    About 20 minutes to the Championship now for Leeds and Leicester.

    Mike

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    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Michael Falkner@21:1/5 to All on Sun May 28 10:29:15 2023
    A final nail in the coffin for Leeds -- they lose 4-1 to Tottenham and drop.

    Leicester beats West Ham 2-1, and now must wait an interminable amount of stoppage time to determine if they follow.

    Mike

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  • From Michael Falkner@21:1/5 to All on Sun May 28 10:15:47 2023
    Ten minutes left. Fornals has scored for West Ham.

    LEI 2-1 WHU

    LEE 1-3 TOT

    EVE 1-0 BOU

    Leicester needs a Bournemouth goal to stay up.

    Leeds is taking the drop.

    Everton must hold their current position or get another West Ham goal.

    Mike

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Michael Falkner@21:1/5 to All on Sun May 28 10:32:13 2023
    And Leicester City, champions a scant seven years ago, take the drop after the one goal holds in Everton.

    So Leicester City and Leeds United are relegated.

    Mike

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Werner Pichler@21:1/5 to Werner Pichler on Tue May 30 01:42:55 2023
    On Monday, May 22, 2023 at 1:18:13 PM UTC+2, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 10:23:25 AM UTC+2, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 12:40:38 AM UTC+2, MH wrote:

    There are also quite interesting relegation battles in

    1. France - 4 teams go down this year and no barrages. Former champions Nantes, Strasbourg and Auxerre among the teams that could still drop. The bottom three pretty much determined, but the fight for the last relegation place could be intense.

    Nantes are winless in the league since February (and also heavily lost the Coupe de
    France final during that run), so perhaps not that intense, although they are still in
    with a shot since with two points to make up they host dead-last Angers on the last matchday while Auxerre have a more daunting task against runners-up Lens.

    2. Germany. 3 games left and nobody relegated yet. 7 teams still possibles for relegation, and the most likely group includes Schalke, Stuttgart and Hertha Berlin. Two go down directly, one gets a chance against 3rd Place 2 BL - probably HSV.

    That was intense, in all three Bundesligas. What are the chances that fans
    will celebrate promotion prematurely twice in two days, only to see it all go up in smoke, while the less said about Dortmund's Meisterfeier plans the better.

    3. Scotland - yes Celtic are already champs and will do the domestic treble yet again if they win the cup vs. 2nd Tier Inverness. But the relegation fight is far from over. Dundee United (last place for most
    of the year) Kilmarnock and Ross County all within a point. Bottom relegated, 2nd bottom gets a playoff (vs. Partick Thistle, Ayr United or Queen's Park). Dundee promoted.

    One Dundee up, one Dundee down.
    Ross County against Partick Thistle for last spot.

    4. Spain. 5 games left. Elche already down, but the list of other candidates goes all the way up to Celta in 13th (they have a reasonable cushion though). In danger are Espanyol (19th) and Valencia (17th). Getafe, Cadiz, Valladolid and Almeria are also in the battle. 2 points between Almeria in 14th and Getafe in 18th. Hard to keep track of the permutations since Head-to-Head is used to resolve ties.

    Espanyol go down. The remaining relegation spot is one out of six.

    The race for promotion is even closer.

    One round to go:

    Granada 72
    Las Palmas 71
    --
    Alavés 70
    Levante 69
    Eibar 68
    Albacete 64
    --

    Las Palmas hosting Alavés on the last matchday.

    Las Palmas got the scoreless draw they needed to secure promotion on
    goal difference, four goals ahead of Levante.

    As in England, the Top 2 are promoted directly, third to sixth go to the promotion play-off.

    Levante - Albacete
    Alavés - Eibar

    Also, the third promotion spot in Italy, will belong to one of either Cagliari, Buffon's Parma, Bari, or, most improbably, FC Südtirol.


    The championships in Belgium (3 teams)

    This one goes down to the wire, thanks to their controversial
    Championship play-off.

    Before the last matchday:

    1 Royal Antwerp 46
    2 Union SG 46
    3 Genk 45
    4 Brugge 33

    Genk host Antwerp next Sunday while Union host Brugge who have nothing to play for.
    Should both Royal and Union win (or both draw), the title will go to Antwerp due to goal
    difference in the regular season (!).

    and Germany (2)are also going to
    be very tight races.

    There's also the chance of a changing of the guard in two leagues.

    In Bulgaria, where Ludogorets have won 11 in a row, they are currently just one
    point ahead of CSKA-Sofia with five games to go and one match between the two still left to play.

    That one ended 2-2. Ludogorets still one point ahead, three matches to go.

    Two rounds to go, and CSKA- have taken the lead by one point. Next up, the
    CSKA derby between them and CSKA 1948.

    and Denmark (we know all about this from UPT, top 4 within four points).

    Brøndby have made their beloved neighbours FCK champions with an emphatic
    win over Nordsjælland.

    Also, there's a first-time champion in Poland (Raków Częstochowa).

    And one in Luxembourg - Swift Hesperange, founded in 1916, first reached the top
    level in 1985, national cup winners in 1990, have now won the championship for
    the first time.

    In Romania, Gheorghe Hagi's team Farul Constanța won the title either for the first
    or the second time, depending on whether you count the championship won by Viitorul
    in 2016-17.


    Ciao,
    Werner

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From MH@21:1/5 to Werner Pichler on Thu Jun 1 14:49:48 2023
    On 2023-05-30 02:42, Werner Pichler wrote:


    The championships in Belgium (3 teams)

    This one goes down to the wire, thanks to their controversial
    Championship play-off.

    Before the last matchday:

    1 Royal Antwerp 46
    2 Union SG 46
    3 Genk 45
    4 Brugge 33

    Genk host Antwerp next Sunday while Union host Brugge who have nothing to play for.
    Should both Royal and Union win (or both draw), the title will go to Antwerp due to goal
    difference in the regular season (!).

    Is that true? I thought the first tie break was to take away the
    rounded up points from the regular season. Those were Genk 75, Union
    75, Antwerp 72 if I remember aright. So Antwerp would win that. Second
    tie break is placing in regular season (including GD if the teams were
    tied in the regular season which would have given Genk the win - that
    can't happen now as there is no way of Union and Genk tying for first.
    Thet can end up equal on 46 points, but then Antwerpy would have 47.


    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Werner Pichler@21:1/5 to All on Fri Jun 2 02:37:58 2023
    On Thursday, June 1, 2023 at 10:49:51 PM UTC+2, MH wrote:
    On 2023-05-30 02:42, Werner Pichler wrote:


    The championships in Belgium (3 teams)

    This one goes down to the wire, thanks to their controversial
    Championship play-off.

    Before the last matchday:

    1 Royal Antwerp 46
    2 Union SG 46
    3 Genk 45
    4 Brugge 33

    Genk host Antwerp next Sunday while Union host Brugge who have nothing to play for.
    Should both Royal and Union win (or both draw), the title will go to Antwerp due to goal
    difference in the regular season (!).

    Is that true?

    Nah it's not. I had thought Belgium did the halving of points like Austria, rounding down and
    assigning an asterisk (i.e. .5 points, it would be so much easier if they just did it that way) to
    those teams that had been on odd points before the halving, but they (somewhat illogically,
    to my mind) do it the other way round, first rounding up and then giving precedence to those
    teams that had been on even points before the halving.

    So, since I failed to understand why Union were in 2nd, I jumped to the wrong conclusion that it had been because of their 2nd place in the regular season.

    I thought the first tie break was to take away the
    rounded up points from the regular season. Those were Genk 75, Union
    75, Antwerp 72 if I remember aright. So Antwerp would win that. Second
    tie break is placing in regular season (including GD if the teams were
    tied in the regular season which would have given Genk the win - that
    can't happen now as there is no way of Union and Genk tying for first.
    Thet can end up equal on 46 points, but then Antwerpy would have 47.

    Yeah that's all correct.


    Ciao,
    Werner

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From MH@21:1/5 to Werner Pichler on Sun Jun 4 13:59:24 2023
    On 2023-06-02 03:37, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Thursday, June 1, 2023 at 10:49:51 PM UTC+2, MH wrote:
    On 2023-05-30 02:42, Werner Pichler wrote:


    The championships in Belgium (3 teams)

    This one goes down to the wire, thanks to their controversial
    Championship play-off.

    Before the last matchday:

    1 Royal Antwerp 46
    2 Union SG 46
    3 Genk 45
    4 Brugge 33

    Genk host Antwerp next Sunday while Union host Brugge who have nothing to play for.
    Should both Royal and Union win (or both draw), the title will go to Antwerp due to goal
    difference in the regular season (!).

    Is that true?

    Nah it's not. I had thought Belgium did the halving of points like Austria, rounding down and
    assigning an asterisk (i.e. .5 points, it would be so much easier if they just did it that way) to
    those teams that had been on odd points before the halving, but they (somewhat illogically,
    to my mind) do it the other way round, first rounding up and then giving precedence to those
    teams that had been on even points before the halving.

    So, since I failed to understand why Union were in 2nd, I jumped to the wrong conclusion that it had been because of their 2nd place in the regular season.

    Well the finish was about as dramatic as it could be.

    45 minutes. Genk score, take over first. Antwerp Second, Union third
    46 minutes Union score, take over first, Genk second Antwerp third.
    58 Mins Antwerp score, Union now first Antwerp Second, Genk third.
    75 Mins Genk score, Union first, Genk second, Antwerp third.
    89 mins. Bruges score, Genk first, Union second, Antwerp third
    90 + 3 Bruges again, Genk first, Antwerp second, Union third
    90 + 4 Alderweireld equalizes , Antwerp first, Genk second, Union
    third
    90 +10 Bruges again, Antwerp wins the league for the first time in
    ages (and after a lengthy spell out of the top division a few years
    back). Union, who have gone even longer without winning the league if I remember correctly, end up third.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Futbolmetrix@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jun 4 14:15:12 2023
    On Sunday, June 4, 2023 at 3:59:26 PM UTC-4, MH wrote:
    On 2023-06-02 03:37, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Thursday, June 1, 2023 at 10:49:51 PM UTC+2, MH wrote:
    On 2023-05-30 02:42, Werner Pichler wrote:


    The championships in Belgium (3 teams)

    This one goes down to the wire, thanks to their controversial
    Championship play-off.

    Before the last matchday:

    1 Royal Antwerp 46
    2 Union SG 46
    3 Genk 45
    4 Brugge 33

    Genk host Antwerp next Sunday while Union host Brugge who have nothing to play for.
    Should both Royal and Union win (or both draw), the title will go to Antwerp due to goal
    difference in the regular season (!).

    Is that true?

    Nah it's not. I had thought Belgium did the halving of points like Austria, rounding down and
    assigning an asterisk (i.e. .5 points, it would be so much easier if they just did it that way) to
    those teams that had been on odd points before the halving, but they (somewhat illogically,
    to my mind) do it the other way round, first rounding up and then giving precedence to those
    teams that had been on even points before the halving.

    So, since I failed to understand why Union were in 2nd, I jumped to the wrong
    conclusion that it had been because of their 2nd place in the regular season.

    Well the finish was about as dramatic as it could be.

    Yep. Well done to the Jupiler League, and congrats to Antwerp.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Werner Pichler@21:1/5 to Futbolmetrix on Mon Jun 5 01:16:08 2023
    On Sunday, June 4, 2023 at 11:15:14 PM UTC+2, Futbolmetrix wrote:
    On Sunday, June 4, 2023 at 3:59:26 PM UTC-4, MH wrote:
    On 2023-06-02 03:37, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Thursday, June 1, 2023 at 10:49:51 PM UTC+2, MH wrote:
    On 2023-05-30 02:42, Werner Pichler wrote:


    The championships in Belgium (3 teams)

    This one goes down to the wire, thanks to their controversial
    Championship play-off.

    Before the last matchday:

    1 Royal Antwerp 46
    2 Union SG 46
    3 Genk 45
    4 Brugge 33

    Genk host Antwerp next Sunday while Union host Brugge who have nothing to play for.
    Should both Royal and Union win (or both draw), the title will go to Antwerp due to goal
    difference in the regular season (!).

    Is that true?

    Nah it's not. I had thought Belgium did the halving of points like Austria, rounding down and
    assigning an asterisk (i.e. .5 points, it would be so much easier if they just did it that way) to
    those teams that had been on odd points before the halving, but they (somewhat illogically,
    to my mind) do it the other way round, first rounding up and then giving precedence to those
    teams that had been on even points before the halving.

    So, since I failed to understand why Union were in 2nd, I jumped to the wrong
    conclusion that it had been because of their 2nd place in the regular season.

    Well the finish was about as dramatic as it could be.

    Yep. Well done to the Jupiler League, and congrats to Antwerp.

    Somewhat artificially induced excitement, but excitement nonetheless.

    It's become a clear trend all over Europe to tweak the league competitions towards something resembling a play-off format, with more meaningful
    matches played in spring.
    Switzerland will be the next to follow from 23/24.


    Ciao,
    Werner

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Werner Pichler@21:1/5 to Werner Pichler on Mon Jun 5 02:27:20 2023
    On Tuesday, May 30, 2023 at 10:42:56 AM UTC+2, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Monday, May 22, 2023 at 1:18:13 PM UTC+2, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 10:23:25 AM UTC+2, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 12:40:38 AM UTC+2, MH wrote:

    There are also quite interesting relegation battles in

    1. France - 4 teams go down this year and no barrages. Former champions
    Nantes, Strasbourg and Auxerre among the teams that could still drop. The bottom three pretty much determined, but the fight for the last relegation place could be intense.

    Nantes are winless in the league since February (and also heavily lost the Coupe de
    France final during that run), so perhaps not that intense, although they are still in
    with a shot since with two points to make up they host dead-last Angers on the
    last matchday while Auxerre have a more daunting task against runners-up Lens.

    And indeed Nantes prevailed 1-0, and their first win in 15 league games is enough
    to send Auxerre down instead. Lens in the end just one point behind PSG, a great
    campaign for them (had a bit of an eye on them all season because of Kevin Danso).


    3. Scotland - yes Celtic are already champs and will do the domestic treble yet again if they win the cup vs. 2nd Tier Inverness. But the relegation fight is far from over. Dundee United (last place for most of the year) Kilmarnock and Ross County all within a point. Bottom relegated, 2nd bottom gets a playoff (vs. Partick Thistle, Ayr United or
    Queen's Park). Dundee promoted.

    One Dundee up, one Dundee down.
    Ross County against Partick Thistle for last spot.

    A last-minute goal saved Ross County in the return leg to get the match-up to extra time, and the Highlanders ultimately prevailed in the shoot-out.


    4. Spain. 5 games left. Elche already down, but the list of other candidates goes all the way up to Celta in 13th (they have a reasonable
    cushion though). In danger are Espanyol (19th) and Valencia (17th). Getafe, Cadiz, Valladolid and Almeria are also in the battle. 2 points between Almeria in 14th and Getafe in 18th. Hard to keep track of the permutations since Head-to-Head is used to resolve ties.

    Espanyol go down. The remaining relegation spot is one out of six.

    Valladolid to join them.


    The race for promotion is even closer.

    As in England, the Top 2 are promoted directly, third to sixth go to the promotion play-off.

    Levante - Albacete
    Alavés - Eibar

    First legs Albacete - Levante 1-3 and Eibar - Alavés 1-1.


    Also, the third promotion spot in Italy, will belong to one of either Cagliari,
    Buffon's Parma, Bari, or, most improbably, FC Südtirol.

    Not Südtirol nor Parma, shame. Bari vs Cagliari in the play-off final.


    There's also the chance of a changing of the guard in two leagues.

    In Bulgaria, where Ludogorets have won 11 in a row, they are currently just one
    point ahead of CSKA-Sofia with five games to go and one match between the
    two still left to play.

    That one ended 2-2. Ludogorets still one point ahead, three matches to go.

    Two rounds to go, and CSKA- have taken the lead by one point. Next up, the CSKA derby between them and CSKA 1948.

    And CSKA- most likely blew their chance by only drawing 1-1 against their doppelgangers, while Ludogorets late on turned a 1-2 deficit against Levski into a 3-2 win.

    Ludogorets again one point ahead and will win the title with an away win against
    Varna who have nothing to play for.


    Ciao,
    Werner

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Futbolmetrix@21:1/5 to Werner Pichler on Mon Jun 5 04:26:02 2023
    On Monday, June 5, 2023 at 5:27:22 AM UTC-4, Werner Pichler wrote:
    Also, the third promotion spot in Italy, will belong to one of either Cagliari,
    Buffon's Parma, Bari, or, most improbably, FC Südtirol.
    Not Südtirol nor Parma, shame. Bari vs Cagliari in the play-off final.

    In Serie A, Spezia and Verona will battle it out in a relegation playoff, as they finished equal on points. Spezia was safe until the 89th minute, when Roma was awarded a dubious penalty that sent them to the Europa League and Juve to the Conference
    League (pending additional UEFA decisions.) Curiously, Mourinho and Roma didn't have much to say about this incident...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From MH@21:1/5 to Werner Pichler on Mon Jun 5 10:23:22 2023
    On 2023-06-05 02:16, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Sunday, June 4, 2023 at 11:15:14 PM UTC+2, Futbolmetrix wrote:
    On Sunday, June 4, 2023 at 3:59:26 PM UTC-4, MH wrote:
    On 2023-06-02 03:37, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Thursday, June 1, 2023 at 10:49:51 PM UTC+2, MH wrote:
    On 2023-05-30 02:42, Werner Pichler wrote:


    The championships in Belgium (3 teams)

    This one goes down to the wire, thanks to their controversial
    Championship play-off.

    Before the last matchday:

    1 Royal Antwerp 46
    2 Union SG 46
    3 Genk 45
    4 Brugge 33

    Genk host Antwerp next Sunday while Union host Brugge who have nothing to play for.
    Should both Royal and Union win (or both draw), the title will go to Antwerp due to goal
    difference in the regular season (!).

    Is that true?

    Nah it's not. I had thought Belgium did the halving of points like Austria, rounding down and
    assigning an asterisk (i.e. .5 points, it would be so much easier if they just did it that way) to
    those teams that had been on odd points before the halving, but they (somewhat illogically,
    to my mind) do it the other way round, first rounding up and then giving precedence to those
    teams that had been on even points before the halving.

    It would be more straightforward (if it is believed people can't handle fractions) to have the championship round games count for double points.


    So, since I failed to understand why Union were in 2nd, I jumped to the wrong
    conclusion that it had been because of their 2nd place in the regular season.

    Well the finish was about as dramatic as it could be.

    Yep. Well done to the Jupiler League, and congrats to Antwerp.

    Somewhat artificially induced excitement, but excitement nonetheless.

    It's become a clear trend all over Europe to tweak the league competitions towards something resembling a play-off format, with more meaningful
    matches played in spring.
    Switzerland will be the next to follow from 23/24.

    I have a vague recollection that the Swiss tried something similar
    before. Did they ? The Swedes had a playoff system in the past too.

    Scotland's system is not great because it is unbalanced (only one game
    vs. each of the other 5, not home and away in both the regular league (3 rounds) and the championship/relegation rounds (1 round).

    Might be better to go with 14 teams in their premier league (26 games)
    and a double round robin for the top six, with the bottom 8 joining the
    top 4 from the Championship for two groups of 6 .

    Ciao,
    Werner

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Werner Pichler@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jun 6 05:21:04 2023
    On Monday, June 5, 2023 at 6:23:25 PM UTC+2, MH wrote:
    On 2023-06-05 02:16, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Sunday, June 4, 2023 at 11:15:14 PM UTC+2, Futbolmetrix wrote:
    On Sunday, June 4, 2023 at 3:59:26 PM UTC-4, MH wrote:
    On 2023-06-02 03:37, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Thursday, June 1, 2023 at 10:49:51 PM UTC+2, MH wrote:
    On 2023-05-30 02:42, Werner Pichler wrote:


    The championships in Belgium (3 teams)

    This one goes down to the wire, thanks to their controversial
    Championship play-off.

    Before the last matchday:

    1 Royal Antwerp 46
    2 Union SG 46
    3 Genk 45
    4 Brugge 33

    Genk host Antwerp next Sunday while Union host Brugge who have nothing to play for.
    Should both Royal and Union win (or both draw), the title will go to Antwerp due to goal
    difference in the regular season (!).

    Is that true?

    Nah it's not. I had thought Belgium did the halving of points like Austria, rounding down and
    assigning an asterisk (i.e. .5 points, it would be so much easier if they just did it that way) to
    those teams that had been on odd points before the halving, but they (somewhat illogically,
    to my mind) do it the other way round, first rounding up and then giving precedence to those
    teams that had been on even points before the halving.

    It would be more straightforward (if it is believed people can't handle fractions) to have the championship round games count for double points.

    So all matches become six-point matches, and those so-called six-point matches become twelve-point matches :)

    Well the finish was about as dramatic as it could be.

    Yep. Well done to the Jupiler League, and congrats to Antwerp.

    Somewhat artificially induced excitement, but excitement nonetheless.

    It's become a clear trend all over Europe to tweak the league competitions towards something resembling a play-off format, with more meaningful matches played in spring.
    Switzerland will be the next to follow from 23/24.

    I have a vague recollection that the Swiss tried something similar
    before. Did they ?

    Until 2003/04.

    The Swedes had a playoff system in the past too.

    So did Austria in the 80's. It was a lot like you describe below - the first half of the season was
    played in 2x12 leagues (22 matches), then the top 8 went to the Championship Play-off (14 matches),
    the bottom 4 of the first and top 4 of the second league played in a so-called 'Middle' Play-off, and
    the bottom 8 went to a Relegation Play-off.

    As I remember it, in the end this system was abolished mostly because there was practically no
    planning security whatsoever. The discrepancy in attendances between the Championship and
    the other play-offs was enormous, and since you could ruin your season basically already halfway
    through the season mid-table teams were frantically trying to avoid that fate - resulting in huge manager
    and player turnovers and ultimately a frightening amount of bankruptcies.

    So while on paper the system was indeed fairer, the overall effects on Austrian football were just bad.

    Scotland's system is not great because it is unbalanced (only one game
    vs. each of the other 5, not home and away in both the regular league (3 rounds) and the championship/relegation rounds (1 round).

    Incidentally, that's exactly the model Switzerland will adopt.


    Ciao,
    Werner

    Might be better to go with 14 teams in their premier league (26 games)
    and a double round robin for the top six, with the bottom 8 joining the
    top 4 from the Championship for two groups of 6 .

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Futbolmetrix@21:1/5 to Futbolmetrix on Sun Jun 11 13:42:13 2023
    On Sunday, June 11, 2023 at 4:29:39 PM UTC-4, Futbolmetrix wrote:
    On Monday, June 5, 2023 at 7:26:04 AM UTC-4, Futbolmetrix wrote:
    On Monday, June 5, 2023 at 5:27:22 AM UTC-4, Werner Pichler wrote:
    Also, the third promotion spot in Italy, will belong to one of either Cagliari,
    Buffon's Parma, Bari, or, most improbably, FC Südtirol.
    Not Südtirol nor Parma, shame. Bari vs Cagliari in the play-off final.
    In Serie A, Spezia and Verona will battle it out in a relegation playoff,
    Verona up 3-1 with about 15 minutes to go. Two of the Verona goals came off deflections by Ethan Ampadu (would have been own goals in old Serie A), and Ampadu got on the scoresheet himself for the right side (this too a twice deflected shot).

    However, the most interesting thing has been Faraoni (of Verona) doing a Luis Suarez in the 68th minute. DOGSO red card and penalty, which Mbala Nzola tamely shot at Montipo`. Was it the right decision with so much time left to go?

    Anyway, now Spezia taking advantage of the one-man advantage and throwing the kitchen sink at Verona, but Montipo` has decided to channel his inner Buffon and has kept everything at bay.

    FT: Verona- Spezia 3-1
    Verona stays up, Spezia goes down

    Elsewhere, Cagliari promoted to Serie A thanks to a 94th minute winner.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Futbolmetrix@21:1/5 to Futbolmetrix on Sun Jun 11 13:29:36 2023
    On Monday, June 5, 2023 at 7:26:04 AM UTC-4, Futbolmetrix wrote:
    On Monday, June 5, 2023 at 5:27:22 AM UTC-4, Werner Pichler wrote:
    Also, the third promotion spot in Italy, will belong to one of either Cagliari,
    Buffon's Parma, Bari, or, most improbably, FC Südtirol.
    Not Südtirol nor Parma, shame. Bari vs Cagliari in the play-off final.
    In Serie A, Spezia and Verona will battle it out in a relegation playoff,

    Verona up 3-1 with about 15 minutes to go. Two of the Verona goals came off deflections by Ethan Ampadu (would have been own goals in old Serie A), and Ampadu got on the scoresheet himself for the right side (this too a twice deflected shot).

    However, the most interesting thing has been Faraoni (of Verona) doing a Luis Suarez in the 68th minute. DOGSO red card and penalty, which Mbala Nzola tamely shot at Montipo`. Was it the right decision with so much time left to go?

    Anyway, now Spezia taking advantage of the one-man advantage and throwing the kitchen sink at Verona, but Montipo` has decided to channel his inner Buffon and has kept everything at bay.

    Elsewhere, Cagliari promoted to Serie A thanks to a 94th minute winner.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Futbolmetrix@21:1/5 to Futbolmetrix on Sun Jun 11 13:45:14 2023
    On Sunday, June 11, 2023 at 4:29:39 PM UTC-4, Futbolmetrix wrote:

    Elsewhere, Cagliari promoted to Serie A thanks to a 94th minute winner.

    Claudio Ranieri-coached Cagliari, I should have said

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Werner Pichler@21:1/5 to Werner Pichler on Tue Jun 13 02:58:16 2023
    On Monday, June 5, 2023 at 11:27:22 AM UTC+2, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Tuesday, May 30, 2023 at 10:42:56 AM UTC+2, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Monday, May 22, 2023 at 1:18:13 PM UTC+2, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 10:23:25 AM UTC+2, Werner Pichler wrote:

    The race for promotion is even closer.

    As in England, the Top 2 are promoted directly, third to sixth go to the
    promotion play-off.

    Levante - Albacete
    Alavés - Eibar

    First legs Albacete - Levante 1-3 and Eibar - Alavés 1-1.

    First leg of the final between Levante and Alavés ended 0-0 in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
    Return leg next Saturday.


    There's also the chance of a changing of the guard in two leagues.

    In Bulgaria, where Ludogorets have won 11 in a row, they are currently just one
    point ahead of CSKA-Sofia with five games to go and one match between the
    two still left to play.

    That one ended 2-2. Ludogorets still one point ahead, three matches to go.

    Two rounds to go, and CSKA- have taken the lead by one point. Next up, the CSKA derby between them and CSKA 1948.

    And CSKA- most likely blew their chance by only drawing 1-1 against their doppelgangers, while Ludogorets late on turned a 1-2 deficit against Levski into a 3-2 win.

    Ludogorets again one point ahead and will win the title with an away win against
    Varna who have nothing to play for.

    To wrap this up, a week ago Ludogorets edged Chernomorets 1-0 with a 2nd-half goal
    from a corner kick.

    12th championship in a row for Ludogorets - the longest ongoing streak in Europe,
    ahead of Bayern (11), Salzburg (10), and Sheriff (8).


    Ciao,
    Werner

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Werner Pichler@21:1/5 to Werner Pichler on Mon Jun 19 03:23:36 2023
    On Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 11:58:18 AM UTC+2, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Monday, June 5, 2023 at 11:27:22 AM UTC+2, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Tuesday, May 30, 2023 at 10:42:56 AM UTC+2, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Monday, May 22, 2023 at 1:18:13 PM UTC+2, Werner Pichler wrote:
    On Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 10:23:25 AM UTC+2, Werner Pichler wrote:

    The race for promotion is even closer.

    As in England, the Top 2 are promoted directly, third to sixth go to the
    promotion play-off.

    Levante - Albacete
    Alavés - Eibar

    First legs Albacete - Levante 1-3 and Eibar - Alavés 1-1.

    First leg of the final between Levante and Alavés ended 0-0 in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
    Return leg next Saturday.

    Alavés won promotion thanks to a 128th-minute VAR handball penalty.

    Discuss
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkUjC9GuASE&t=149s


    Ciao,
    Werner

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)