[NoSkillz]

Tue. November 5, 2024

UEFA Champions League
Palermo (1-1-1, 4 points, 3rd) vs. Dover (2-1-0, 7 points, 1st)
Renzo Barbera, La Favorita, Palermo, Italy

Betting Odds: Palermo: 5-4 (Favourites) Draw: 11-5 Dover: 7-4
Past Meetings: 1W 2D 0L

We face Palermo only two weeks after they held us to a scoreless draw on our home turf. Striker Rodrigo Bovo is still hurt and won’t play but Robin Franz will need to be stopped.

We have some tired players after our Premier League game three days ago but they can rest afterwards! I only make one change, bringing in Benedikt Raab in place of Neil Cairney. Cairney was good in our last game but he’s the most tired of the bunch and we’ll have him available on the bench, if needed. We have a three point lead in the group and we’re in good shape to move on so I’ll maintain a control philosophy.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - M. Perez
D - Renato Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, B. Raab, Jose, G. Bolis
S - A. Broomes, Chiquinho
Bench - Rafinha, S. Nasri, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, M. Pedersen, L. Kunchev, Z. Bardi

Palermo again come out in a 3-4-1-2 formation with Franz and Albert Falix up front and the stellar Pierpaolo Bartoli in goal. He’s always at his best it seems in games against our club. I tell the team this is a winnable game.

12’ - Geez. Already, both of our central midfielders have yellow cards (Benedikt Raab and Jose) and now Jose commits another foul…I’m fearing the worst but the ref just has a prolonged talk and ticks him off. I immediately ask both Raab and Jose to dial down the aggression.

16’ - Chiquinho holds a ball up at midfield then sends a ball up to strike partner Andy Broomes. Broomes spots Arsene Bamba streaking into the area and feeds the ball over to the left. Bamba hits a wicked curling shot that starts wide but bends into the top corner of the goal past a sprawling Bartoli. Sensational strike from Bamba and we finally break Palermo down for a goal after 105+ minutes! DOVER GOAL 1-0

Palermo drops into a 5-2-1-2. Weird.

31’ - Palermo give up the ball in our end and we work all the way up field with Perez feeding Renato Gaucho, who then feeds Benedikt Raab near midfield. Raab sends a touch to Andy Broomes and then the MAGIC HAPPENS, as Broomes dribbles past a defender and into the area. He cuts back against the grain and sends an arching shot past the outstretched Bartoli and it’s IN THE NET. Now THAT is a goal Paul Moses would be proud of! Holy CRAP!!! DOVER GOAL 2-0

HALFTIME - Well, that was a bloody fantastic half of football, as Broomes was EVERYWHERE and our whole team is playing with speed and passion. We’re causing turnovers all over the pitch and it’s been a pleasure to watch so far. We only edge them in possession but hold a 14-5 (5-4 on target) shot advantage.

65’ - Andy Broomes is exhausted so out he comes and in comes Zoltan Bardi.

67’ - On an innocent looking play, Rayane Hamon has a head ball attempt but sends it into open space. The dangerous Robin Franz latches onto it as Hamon TRIPS OVER HIS OWN FEET and Franz dribbles in from the midfield stripe. His rocket is past Perez and in the net. Ugly sequence there. PALERMO GOAL 2-1

71’ - I take out Jose and bring in Andrea Rocca.

73’ - We switch to a counter attacking mentality.

89’ - We’re holding them off well and get to the last minutes when we have a horrific defensive breakdown in the middle and there is Franz all alone again, dribbling in on goal and shooting past Perez and IN. Our players are furious, thinking Franz was offsides but he wasn’t. Just terrible defending by Hamon, who has been shockingly bad this half and Palermo come back from two goals down. PALERMO GOAL 2-2

We switch back to a control mentality, looking for a winning goal.

90’+3 - There are three minutes of injury time and we just get into the last minute of play as Bartoli sends a ball upfield. Contreras wins it in the air and it’s over the head of the Palermo defensive line and the fresh legs of Zoltan Bardi latch onto the ball. He’s in and shoots low and it is past Bartoli and IN THE NET! What a stunner!!! DOVER GOAL 3-2

We immediately take out Rayane Hamon and bring in Saber Nasri to waste some time. We also switch back to a counter mentality.

And that’s all! Wild.

Palermo 2 - 3 Dover
Goals - Arsene Bamba (7.9), Andy Broomes (8.3), Zoltan Bardi (7.2)
Assists - Claudio Contreras (8.3), Benedikt Raab (6.9), Chiquinho (6.8)
Man of the Match - Robin Franz (Palermo ST - 8.8)
Other Dover Notables - Manuel Perez (7.2), Salim Loucif (7.3), Rayane Hamon (7.0)
Attendance - 44,257

Possession was dead even but we outshot them 24-12 (9-8 on target). Franz gets man of the match honours and rightfully so but Broomes was equally dangerous for us. Hamon’s grade didn’t reflect the mistakes he made out there - he wasn’t very good today.

-- As usual, we earn £696,000 for the Champions League win. Most importantly, we move to ten points in Group C and with two games to go in Group play, we have guaranteed qualification to the knockout stages! Awesome stuff - now we can play our depth players for the last two games, get them some experience while resting our main starters for Premier League play. Superb!!

-- With two games remaining in Group Stage play, things are starting to become a bit more clear. In Group A, OM and Man City have guaranteed themselves spots in knockout stage play and AZ and Young Boys will just play out the string. In Group B, it’s Club Brugge shocking everyone by going 3-1-0 thus far and they will move on. Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid will battle for the second spot and Partizan is done. In our group, we’ve moved on and the next spot will go to either Palermo or Hoffenheim, who beat Hibernian to move to 7 points. In Group D, Juventus is a perfect 4-0-0 and are in to the knockout round while Real Madrid need only a draw in their last two games to hold off Galatasaray, who would need to win out. Group E and F are still wide open - Barcelona and Tottenham look good in Group E but have work to do while Group F will see Schalke, Sevilla and Sampdoria battle for two spots. Finally, in Group H, Olympique Lyonnais moves on while Shakhtar and SK Sturm Graz will battle it out for the last spot.

-- Benedikt Raab has picked up three yellow cards in the competition and will miss our next Champions League match, which is coming up against Hibernian later this month.



Injury Update

-- Graham Allan is back to full training after missing four weeks with a broken arm. He should be able to play on Saturday in our next game as a substitute, if needed.



Dover Reserves Update

-- It looks like Zoltan Bardi is ready for more of a role after coming back from injury, as he notches a hat trick in our 4-1 win over Aston Villa’s reserves. Mwemere Mutesa scores our other goal and Andrea Rocca notches two assists in the victory.



Heading to Italy?

-- Our last league game saw us beat Tottenham 4-1 and as a result, their manager got sacked. Spurs hire Quiqui Flores as their new manager, hiring him away from Sampdoria, who are leading Italian Serie A. The rumours about me leaving Dover start flying right away and the next day, I’m offered the job, with a ridiculous transfer budget of £89 million and a wage budget close to three times higher than ours at £3.2 million/week. Pretty cool but no thanks!



Next Up

-- Another road game, as we head to Hillsborough to face Sheffield Wednesday in Premier League play.