[NoSkillz]

Tue. December 9, 2025

UEFA Champions League - Group D
Dover (3-1-1, 10 points, 1st) vs. Maribor (0-0-5, 0 points, 4th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, England

Betting Odds: Dover: 1-3 (Favourites) Draw: 3-1 Maribor: 7-1
Past Meetings: 1W 0D 0L

Maribor are riding out the string and have been outscored 24-1 in the group stage, with their only goal coming on a penalty shot against us in their home leg. Striker Ivica Sabic is their leading scorer with 13 goals in 27 matches.

Well, this should be a cakewalk and I’m boldly going with a second string lineup today but will have the cavalry ready, just in case. Claudio Contreras is the only holdover from our win against Huddersfield. The Real Madrid/Spartak Moscow game will be an interesting one, as Moscow could advance with a win, something I certainly don’t expect from them.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - C. Davies
D - Rafinha, C. Contreras, A. Torres, R. Lopez
M - M. Pedersen, E. Harvey, N. Cairney, S. De la Vega
S - A. Broomes, M. Lugo
Bench - S. Loucif, Renato Gaucho, B. Raab, Jose, G. Bolis, Z. Bardi, P. Moses

Flat 4-4-2 for Maribor and they have Sabic up front with Gjergi Xhaka. Dzenan Hadzic is their keeper. For the fans tonight!

27’ - We are dominating this game but simply can’t get a ball past their solid keeper. We FINALLY strike, as a nice passing buildup eventually sees Manuel Lugo feeding Andy Broomes and he is able to coax an accurate shot past Hadzic for our first goal. DOVER GOAL 1-0

30’ - We work a lightning quick counter attack and it’s Broomes, up to Lugo and then up to a charging Neil Cairney, who dribbles in on a breakaway and shoots hard and low past Hadzic and IN! Gorgeous!! DOVER GOAL 2-0

45’ - Maribor have a corner and we clear it out to Lugo, who sends a long ball up to the midfield stripe to Broomes. He puts on an absolute CLINIC, as he weaves back and forth through the two defenders, cuts back toward goal and delivers a low blast to the far corner of the net. SPECTACULAR goal by Broomes!! DOVER GOAL 3-0

HALFTIME - We’re cruising here. We only edge them in possession but hold an 18-2 (7-1 on target) shot advantage. We won’t be needing our starters today!

51’ - We’re pressing again and it’s Emmerson Harvey feeding Broomes at the edge of the area. With his back to goal, he pivots to his stronger right leg and unleashes a PILEDRIVER that rockets into the back of the net! That’s a HAT TRICK for Broomes!! DOVER GOAL 4-0

Maribor are in a weird 5-1-2-1-1 formation.

54’ - Broomes scores AGAIN on a wicked deflection but the goal is called back due to offsides. Close play but the right call when looking at the replay. No goal.

58’ - With nothing left to prove, I take out the sensational Broomes and bring in Zoltan Bardi. “Standing ovation for Broomes!”

69’ - We have a corner and Cairney’s cross is to the near post and young Adrian Torres and he hits a left footed volley that is past Hadzic and in the net. Yes! DOVER GOAL 5-0

73’ - Harvey sends a header over the defence and Bardi latches onto it. He’s in on goal but is stopped by Hadzic. There is a huge rebound though and it’s on the foot of Lugo, who pops the ball into the net. Another tremendous game from Lugo, who is really coming into his own now! DOVER GOAL 6-0

We move on to the knockout stages in spectacular fashion.

Dover 6 - 0 Maribor
Goals - Andy Broomes 3 (9.6), Neil Cairney (9.1), Adrian Torres (9.2), Manuel Lugo (9.5)
Assists - Manuel Lugo 3, Neil Cairney, Emmerson Harvey (8.5), Zoltan Bardi (6.9)
Man of the Match - Andy Broomes
Other Dover Notables - Chris Davies (7.0), Rodolfo Lopez (8.2), Claudio Contreras (8.6), Rafinha (8.1), Sergio De la Vega (8.1), Mads Pedersen (7.9)
Attendance - 22,092

We end up with 59% of the ball and an OUTRAGEOUS 40-2 (15-2 on target) shot advantage. Broomes and Lugo were sensational - Lugo had four points today!! Every starter had a rating over 7.0 in a superb performance.

-- Real Madrid edged Spartak Moscow 2-1 in Russia to move on as well out of our group. There are no real surprises anywhere else either. Moving into the last sixteen are Atletico Madrid and Sampdoria from Group A, Olympique Lyonnais and HSV from Group B, Man City and Benfica from Group C, OM and Chelsea from Group E, Man U and Galatasaray from Group F, Barcelona and Juventus from Group G and finally, Dortmund and Sevilla from Group H.

-- As usual, we earn £696,000 for the Champions League group win.



Dover Reserves Update

-- We destroy Reading’s reserves 6-0, getting four goals from U18 star Fernando Estrada. Paolo Secchi and Marcus Sowter score singles and Secchi also had two assists. Estrada is a machine - he’s up to 34 goals in 20 non-competitive matches, 16 of which were starts. Amazing.



Premier League Update

-- Tottenham and Sheffield United play their makeup game on Wednesday and it’s Spurs winning in a walk 6-0 to move into fourth place on the table ahead of Liverpool.

-- We play on Monday so we get to watch all the weekend action take place. City upend Arsenal 3-1, Villa continue to play well in a 1-0 win over Newcastle, Chelsea knock off Hull 2-0, Liverpool beat Everton 4-0 and Tottenham and Manchester United battle to a scoreless draw.



Dover U18 Update

-- Nathan Protheroe scores twice and we get singles from Bakary Kone, Eneko Remirez, Marcus Sowter and Michel Benard in a 6-0 dismantling of MK Dons U18s. Kone, Sowter and Jonathan Langlet all had two assists as well.



Next Up

-- We head on the road to take on Sheffield Wednesday in Premier League play.