2020 Champions League Thread

[Halladay]

Prior thread

Champions League: Round of 16

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[koyvoo]

Bayern v Barca should be good

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Bayern v Barca should be good

lol

 

[koyvoo]

lol

They’ll get through tomorrow

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

They’ll get through tomorrow

Maybe I just wouldnt be surprised one way or the other.

 

[Savi]

Bayern v Barca should be good

If you're a Bayern fan, yeah

 

[Halladay]

2007 has been the last time neither Madrid or Barcelona were in the semifinals.

 

[Cassano]

2 French clubs in the final 8. Hopefully Lyon won it.

 

[les Habs]

Yeah, we're not through yet. Only good thing is the team has been rested again, though it didn't seem to do much after the Covid break, and we have De Jong back.

 

[les Habs]

Just saw the highlights. Considering the tie Madrid should pony up 150 million for Jesus RIGHT NOW.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Yeah, we're not through yet. Only good thing is the team has been rested again, though it didn't seem to do much after the Covid break, and we have De Jong back.

Ivan will start no Puig no party.

 

[Bures Elbow]

Juventus need to fire Sarri, and the overhaul their midfield.

Ronaldo played well today and topped it off with a screamer, but he can't win it on his own, despite them bringing him in to win the CL. He's scored all of Juve's goals in the knockout rounds of the CL the past two seasons, including a hattrick that saved them vs Atletico, and nearly did it again today, but he's literally on his own without Dybala there. Oliveri?! Higuain that should have been in the MLS a season ago? Bernardeschi works hard and is decent, but not a a "good" starter for a team of Juve's ambitions. Ramsey in midfield was awful, Bentacur works hard but is what he is, a decent squad guy and nothing more, likewise Matuidi.

No creativity in midfield, no wingplay, and the defense isnt as good as it was 2/3 years ago. De Ligt looks so slow and lethargic now, at Ajax he was quicker and read the play so much better..not sure what's happening there.

Unload everyone in midfield bar Rabiot, go hard for Thiago and another box to box midfielder, bring in a striker ( are they seriously thinking Milik, a bench warmer for Napoli, will be the difference?), and an actual rightback that can unlock defences and assist (they got rid of Cancelo because...financial reasons?)

Kulusevski is a good start outwide, but they need more. Arthur and Milik are sideways moves if anything.

 

[Evilo]

Sad to see Varane get such a bad game in such an important moment. But at least it was for Real, not France

Not sad however to see this guy have a bad game :

 

[Savant]

In general, I think Madrid got everything wrong yesterday. The lineup was bad, the tactics were bad And the performance was really uninspired. Definitely deserved to go out. City didn’t have to do anything special either.

 

[hatterson]

In general, I think Madrid got everything wrong yesterday. The lineup was bad, the tactics were bad And the performance was really uninspired. Definitely deserved to go out. City didn’t have to do anything special either.

City were just straight up the better team over the two legs. Yea they scored off some stupid plays, but it’s not like those stupid plays were against the run of the game or anything.

 

[Savant]

City were just straight up the better team over the two legs. Yea they scored off some stupid plays, but it’s not like those stupid plays were against the run of the game or anything.

For sure.
I thought is was really strange that Zidane went to a cold, not in form Hazard. The midfield wasn’t working. Showed no urgency. Don’t know if they usually try to play it out of the back with Courtois, but that is certainly not something Courtois was known for at Chelsea. Thought their line and positioning was a bit strange too but again not sure if normal or not. Was mainly bothered by lack of urgency though. It was just try to get it to Benzema and pray. Very uninspired

 

[hatterson]

For sure.
I thought is was really strange that Zidane went to a cold, not in form Hazard. The midfield wasn’t working. Showed no urgency. Don’t know if they usually try to play it out of the back with Courtois, but that is certainly not something Courtois was known for at Chelsea. Thought their line and positioning was a bit strange too but again not sure if normal or not. Was mainly bothered by lack of urgency though. It was just try to get it to Benzema and pray. Very uninspired

I don’t think they ever really played inspired under Zidane, even during their runs. Zidane seems like a man manager and not a great tactical coach. He relies on his best players to win the game with talent and he tries to keep them happy. Missing your best defender (and still not really making up for losing Ronaldo’s random game breaking ability) makes it really hard to just out-talent a better coached side.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Visca el Barca

 

[Timeless Winter]

Is this Manchester City's best chance to win the CL??

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Is this Manchester City's best chance to win the CL??

If they don’t it’s choke job. Of course context is key but they’re heavy favourites.

 

[Evilo]

Is this Manchester City's best chance to win the CL??

You can already see some EPL fans talking asterisk....

 

[Savant]

You can already see some EPL fans talking asterisk....

Just like some fans talking asterisk on the Premier League; which is funny because the CL has much more reason for it.

 

[Loopy0ne]

the fact that i am going to spend a saturday in August on champions league football just shows what a shitshow this year is.....uggg, at least i have a job i guess

edit: an asterisk? like cheaters in baseball?? how is this any teams fault in the slightest? that is stupid - at least they are finishing...

 

[Savant]

Is this Manchester City's best chance to win the CL??

City probably has the 2nd most talented squad and arguably the easiest QF opponent left in the competition. Bayern has the best team but has more disadvantages. Don’t like their long lay off, and I don’t like that they won their league, might not be as sharp.

Honestly, this kind of feels like a Barcelona year to me. But that’s more of a hunch than anything I could point something tangible to. Feels like it’s the last run for the Messi-Suarez tandem, might be mad about not winning La Liga. Might be motivated by what happened to them the last two seasons. No one is really talking about them either which is strange for them.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

City has the most talent and is the best team.
No one is talking about Barca because they’re ass. Lol at Suarez being motivated. He’s only motivated to beat Pipita to the buffet line.