Robroys ROAD TO BASEL AND MILAN 2015-16

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Kicking off early in the 2 UEFA comps CHAMPIONS AND EUROPA. First qualifying games next week. They had a busy day in Nyon on Monday

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there are 18 teams from the British Isles involved from round one qualifying, 14 Europa and 4 Champions. How many will still be there when the draw is made for round 3 ? Do we have any followers for any of the 18 ?

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4 games next Tuesday in Armenia, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar and Belfast begins THE ROAD TO MILAN and 51 matches starts the trail to Basel for the EUROPAS. on Thursday. WEST HAM are at home in this. They do not appear to have any FISO support yet.but there are not many viewing at present, All at the beach ?

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both leagues off and running. the first 55 matches mostly in Europa

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both CRUSADERS and THE NEW SAINTS survive the first qualifying round and face opposition from Albania and Hungary in round 2 The Saints play in Oswestry, England but represent Wales. Crusaders are Belfast based.

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4 British teams move into the second qualifying round of the Europa Cup. WEST HAM .NEWTOWN from Wales, LINFIELD NI and ABERDEEN. They will all play the first match of round 2 next week

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CELTIC start with opposition from Iceland. Do we have any fans on FISO ?

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Road to Basel tonight with a mass of fixtures. Shamrock Rovers v Odd is intriguing. Hammers at home, Aberdeen in Croatia Inverness CT making their debut while I worry about the appearance of TFF.

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another busy day by the lake as the 3rd qualifying round draws are made. ABERDEEN looking good after winning in Croatia but WEST HAM might struggle with just a single late score. Who will SOUTHAMPTON draw ?

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the answer is Dutch outfit VITESSE of Arnhem where Ronaldl Koeman cut his teeth as a manager 15 years ago. Both games will be just before the first Prem fixtures on 8th August. Do we have a Saints follower who will see one or possibly both these matches ?

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meanwhile CELTIC are off to Iceland with a 2-0 lead in the Champions comp. Does FISO boast a fan of theirs ?. They had nearly 50000 at Celtic Park for the home leg last week.

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CELTIC score 4 in Iceland and move on to Azerbijuan next. Both The New Saints and Dundalk exit. The Azerbijuan team sound like they are from FAMILY GUY. Europa tonight .ABERDEEN looking good for the next round. HAMMERS have just that one last minute effort. is it enough ?

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WEST HAM have a Rumanian visit in the next round thanks to winning from the spot in Malta. ASTRA from Rumania disposed of INVERNESS CT by a single goal over the 2 matches. ABERDEEN drew at Pittodrie v RIJEKA from Croatia but had their 3-0 away win as a handy cushion. Next Europa action will feature SOUTHAMPTON and VITESSE from Holland

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the third qualifying round of both competitions this week. CELTIC are at home to QUARABAG from Azerbaijan in the Champions League. In the Europa it's ABERDEEN en route to KAIRAT of Kazakhstan with both SOUTHAMPTON and the Hammers at home to the Dutch VITESSE and the Romanian ASTRA GIURGIU respectively.

In a month's time in Monaco the draw will be made for the group stages and there will again be a competition requiring at least 32 of you to enter if there is to be a meaningful prize. We did not make it last season but foxinthebox2001 produced a good looking graphic which I hope he will repeat. I am putting up the thread for it now so it may encourage you whether TFF, Sun Mirror FPL or other punters.

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CELTIC get a late goal to take to Baku next week. They have a clean sheet to defend. Will it be enough. MAN U possibly waiting off stage in the play off round.
Another busy night tonight in Europa League. Dons are in Kazakhstan while Hammers and Saints (making their debut) are at home.

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CELTIC about to kick off in Baku. Will that singke goal be enough ? 1-1 or 2-1 would be fine !

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a goal-less draw is enough so they are in the draw on Friday. Will it be MAN UTD next ?

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In the EUROPA LEAGUE tonight the Hammers depart while both SOUTHAMPTON and ABERDEEN go into the draw on Friday

[morganb]

In the EUROPA LEAGUE tonight the Hammers depart while both SOUTHAMPTON and ABERDEEN go into the draw on Friday

BBC says "Aberdeen fell at the Europa League third qualifying round for the second year running as Kairat Almaty held on for a draw at Pittodrie"
So Aberdeen also depart the competition.

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sorry about that error Morganb. I am pleased that there was some response as up to now it seemed there was no else interested. RMT is the main source of comment at the moment. That should die down a little in a couple of weeks !
Now getting close to competition time for CHAMPIONS and EUROPA on 27/28 August.

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it is MAN UTD v BRUGES in the Champions League and Saints v Danes Midyslland in Europa. CELTIC play MALMO ( who reached the final in '79 v Forest. ( I remember it well. A solo Trevor Francis goal in Munich.
Get ready to make your selections at the end of the month.

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Getting closer to the 27 August draw. The 8 teams in POT 1 are BARCELONA. CHELSEA BAYERN MUNICH. JUVENTUS BENFICA PARIS ST GERMAIN. ZENIT ST PETERSBURG and PSV EINDHOVEN.

This season's comp (with prizes if at least 32 of you enter) will have additional features !

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the play off round featuring MAN UTD v CLUB BRUGGE on Tuesday. Ten of these games to establish the 32 club line up in Monaco on the 27th.

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Preparations going ahead for next weeks Monaco draws. foxinthe box has agreed to produce an elegant coloured chart (just like last Season) There will be an extra feature and a POWERPLAY element. In the meantime MAN UTD won at home v CLUB BRUGGE and CELTIC perform tonight also at home. The away legs are next week just prior to the draw.

**** BT SPORT SHOWS THE CELTIC MATCH

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The late MALMO goal upset my 3-1 bet which had been successful the night before at OT. Both CELTIC and MAN U have an edge for the saecond leg but will it be enough ? Busy night for Europa and SOUTHAMPTON are in action against the Danes

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Will ther names of CELTIC and MAN UTD be in the hat for the Monaco draw on Thursday ? The entry for the comp will be headed GOALS GALORE, THE ROAD TO BASEL and MILAN