Showing posts with label Łukasz Piszczek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Łukasz Piszczek. Show all posts

Friday, 26 February 2016

Europa League Last 16 Draw


Liverpool and Manchester United, who have never met before in European competition, will face off in what promises to be a mouth-watering last-16 tie in the Europa League.

United have beaten Liverpool twice in the Premier League already this season and will have the advantage of playing the second leg at Old Trafford on 17 March. The first leg will be at Anfield a week earlier on 10 March.

Jürgen Klopp said he was excited at the prospect of meeting United over two legs. “It’s great. We deserve these games. I told my staff yesterday that I wanted Man Utd,” he said

Louis van Gaal’s team are scheduled to play West Ham in the FA Cup quarter-finals between both legs, with a trip to Manchester City three days after the second leg. Liverpool, on the other hand, have the weekend between free having been knocked out of the FA Cup by West Ham.

Klopp’s team progressed by beating Augsburg 1-0 on aggregate, while a late flourish from an injury-hit United against Midtjylland saw them advance 6-3 on aggregate.

Tottenham’s reward for beating Fiorentina is a difficult meeting with Borussia Dortmund, the tournament favourites, though Mauricio Pochettino’s team will be at home for the second leg.

Gary Neville’s Valencia, who defeated Rapid Vienna 10-0 on aggregate, will face La Liga opposition in Athletic Bilbao

The other ties feature Shakhtar Donetsk against Anderlecht, Basel v Sevilla, who are looking to win this competition for the third year running, and Villarreal v Bayer Leverkusen.

Ties to be played 10 & 17 March
Shakhtar v Anderlecht
Basel v Sevilla
Villarreal v Bayer Leverkusen
Athletic Bilbao v Valencia
Liverpool v Manchester United
Sparta Prague v Lazio
Borussia Dortmund v Tottenham Hotspur
Fenerbahce v Braga



Monday, 22 February 2016

Neville and Valencia Win Again


Valencia secured their third successive win in a week under Gary Neville with a 2-1 victory at Granada.

Daniel Parejo gave Valencia the lead in the 55th minute and the substitute Santi Mina doubled it in the last minute before Edgar Méndez pulled a goal back for Granada in stoppage time.

Valencia’s victory followed their first league win under Neville at the 10th attempt last weekend they beat Espanyol 2-1 home and the 6-0 thrashing of Rapid Vienna in the Europa League on Thursday.

Granada were first to threaten in this game when the midfielder Fran Rico sent a shot just wide, while Valencia’s first attempt on goal came in the 19th minute although Paco Alcacer’s shot was blocked.

Adalberto Peñaranda fired wide for Granada in the 28th minute before Alcacer forced the vising goalkeeper Andrés into a fine save with a low shot towards the corner.

André Gomes was twice denied by Andrés either side of the Granada defender Ricardo Costa’s header at the other end, which was turned away by Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves.

Alves kept out the Granada striker Rubén Rochina’s low shot five minutes into the second half before Valencia went ahead when Parejo drilled the ball into the bottom corner following Alcacer’s assist.

Valencia made sure of the points in the 90th minute through Mina’s neat low finish but were given a late scare three minutes later when Granada substitute Méndez headed in Rochina’s cross.


Sunday, 12 October 2014

Low Blames Missed Chances in Warsaw


Joachim Low said his side had "more than 20 attempts" to score, but he was left to rue their missed chances after Poland defeated the World Cup champions 2-0 on Saturday.

The victory was Poland's first over their western neighbours in 19 attempts, and it also marked Germany's first defeat in a qualifier since 2007.

Low insisted Germany will still qualifty for Euro 2016 -- they sit in third place with three points from two games, behind Poland and the Republic of Ireland and even on points with Scotland.

"We created numerous chances but didn't manage to score any," Low said after the match.

"We lost but it is not a dramatic defeat. Life will not be any harder after this loss. This defeat will not put us in trouble in the qualifiers - we've been beaten but we still have a good chance of qualifying for the finals.

"We have some new young players in the team and they have to gain experience.

"Tonight everything worked well except we did not convert our chances -- from more than 20 attempts we failed to score.

Arkadiusz Milik scored with Poland's first shot on target in the 51st minute, heading Lukasz Piszczek's floated cross to the empty net after Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer missed it.

"I was too late but of course I wanted to get the ball," Neuer said. "It was my mistake. But if I'd stayed on the line I wouldn't have got the ball either."

Robert Lewandowski set up Sebastian Mila to score inside the far post in the 88th minute.

"We're delighted to have beaten Germany for the first time. You can see how much it means to people," said Piszczek, who plays club football for Borussia Dortmund.

"We had a little bit of luck, that's why we won. We took our chances. We had two or three, and we scored two goals. Germany had a lot of chances and they didn't take them."

Goetze and Andre Schuerrle, twice, sought a response but found Wojciech Szczesny equal to their efforts. Eric Durm failed to trouble the Poland goalkeeper after Mueller set him up, and was at fault for the second goal when Lewandowski got behind him and set up Mila's clincher.

"He was perhaps badly positioned," acknowledged Low, who said his side would seek to make amends against Ireland. "After a loss you always need to show a good reaction."