Euro: Champions League Semifinals

These Are The Days

Oh no! We suck again!!
May 17, 2014
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I still can't process all this. I'm so happy boys. Klopp is God. Seriously. To get your team to play like that against the great Messi and Barca and not only climb back from 3-0 but win 4-0 is the stuff that never dies.

If we can get a miracle Sunday too...
 

Live in the Now

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Dec 17, 2005
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I also hope they don’t notice, but there were three or four players in red who would look pretty good in Barcelona’s kit. Mane might not have scored, but he would be a stud for that side.

There would be but they aren't leaving. Beyond my belief they won't leave, there was very bad blood over the Coutinho deal and Barcelona are buying younger and younger. But again nobody is leaving a team like this.

The moment in front of the Kop at the end was everything. Inject it into my veins.

Watching it back, Trent is boss.

15 assists from RB. Should have played the first leg. May not have needed this tonight if he had.
 

DrMartinVanNostrand

Kramerica Industries
Oct 6, 2017
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I'm not trying to be a dick when I say this because I rather like Ajax, but I would be worried even more.

Frankly, I can't even be mad if you do win it. You manage to put a team I truly loathe to the sword and make a joke out of them. As a Lightning fan, hockey hasn't been fun for me the last month. As a football fan, with Inter being a perpetual bag of derp and Borussia Mönchengladbach being pure piss in the second half of the season, I haven't had much fun over here, either. This, along with the Ajax defeat of Juventus, is one of the few things I've had to celebrate recently.

And, like I said, it's not like I dislike Liverpool because of the players or the fans. I can't disassociate the ownership from the Red Sox. And they've "Red Sox'd" Anfield as well; the song they play after each win is the same you hear at Fenway and at the Garden after Red Sox and Bruins wins (I don't know if it's played with the Patriots and/or Celtics, and I don't care to know either). It's not your fault! Maybe my favorite thing about watching the Premier League is that I've never had a favorite PL team so it's easier for me to watch the league for the purpose of watching football and not caring so much about who wins and who loses. And, honestly, I may not like Red Sox ownership much due to the team they own, but if I were actually rational, I would despise Man City's ownership situation an awful lot more because of...reasons everyone here knows, anyway.

But I never claimed to be entirely rational, admittedly.
 

Chimaera

same ol' Caps
Feb 4, 2004
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I don't think it's what you said above, but rather that when they usually play so well in the first half the other team gives in. They made some great plays in the first half and Alisson kept us from getting pumped. There were at least three chances in the first half that our previous keeper would have let in.



Some goof posted here last year calling European nights at Anfield overrated so players just gotta go with that guy's take and not watch the games. I don't know who it was who said that, but if you don't believe in that now I don't know.

That's Porto, Roma, Napoli, PSG, City, Barcelona all beaten at Anfield in two seasons. Bayern was the only team to not lose and they should have been put to the sword many times during that game. Logic flies out the window at that place if it's a European game.

They have beaten some amazing teams at Anfield, but for me this was the best team we've beaten since Istanbul. They did everything to finish us in the first half, Matip made an amazing recovery tackle and Alisson made great saves throughout. The difference between Barcelona's first and second half performance was awful though.
The keeper has certainly paid off a few times over. Roma is owed a bunch more money
 

koyvoo

Registered User
Nov 8, 2014
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I also hope they don’t notice, but there were three or four players in red who would look pretty good in Barcelona’s kit. Mane might not have scored, but he would be a stud for that side.
I’m sure they’ll make a number of big money transfers again while claiming that they’re not a pure money club and that La Masia is the backbone.
 

Live in the Now

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Dec 17, 2005
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Frankly, I can't even be mad if you do win it. You manage to put a team I truly loathe to the sword and make a joke out of them. As a Lightning fan, hockey hasn't been fun for me the last month. As a football fan, with Inter being a perpetual bag of derp and Borussia Mönchengladbach being pure piss in the second half of the season, I haven't had much fun over here, either. This, along with the Ajax defeat of Juventus, is one of the few things I've had to celebrate recently.

And, like I said, it's not like I dislike Liverpool because of the players or the fans. I can't disassociate the ownership from the Red Sox. And they've "Red Sox'd" Anfield as well; the song they play after each win is the same you hear at Fenway and at the Garden after Red Sox and Bruins wins (I don't know if it's played with the Patriots and/or Celtics, and I don't care to know either). It's not your fault! Maybe my favorite thing about watching the Premier League is that I've never had a favorite PL team so it's easier for me to watch the league for the purpose of watching football and not caring so much about who wins and who loses. And, honestly, I may not like Red Sox ownership much due to the team they own, but if I were actually rational, I would despise Man City's ownership situation an awful lot more because of...reasons everyone here knows, anyway.

But I never claimed to be entirely rational, admittedly.

I hate the Red Sox too (Dodgers fan), but I was a supporter well before that. Never liked FSG either but they were necessary to prevent the club from going into administration, so it is what it is. Still want them to sell the club even after all this time, I haven't forgotten how bad they botched matters before Klopp signed up.
 

les Habs

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Sep 21, 2005
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I also think it’s fair to say, that while the idea that La Liga is anyway inferior is dumb, Barca don’t face this type of team at all. Liverpool’s high press is difficult for many, and the intensity they came after it in both legs is difficult to cope with. They’re just so physical that I think some of the Barcelona players had a tough time coping with it.

I don't remember the matches, but we've seen it a few times this season and do every season. Like I've been saying for some time, the quality down the table in La Liga is better than people think and some of the scorelines suggest.

I don't think it was entirely physical and the team definitely coped with it for the most part. I think in this second match it was somehow mental. I say somehow because I can't fathom how they could let that happen, but I think they were timid (seen it in big matches before) and perhaps last year was on a few of the minds out there. Yes there was a physical aspect and a lot of that comes down to the players' personal physical capabilities, but for me it was too much mental combined with a few holes in the team (see midfield). Also though, and I'm not trying to take away from Liverpool here as again I will say you deserved to go through, but we gave that away and the goals weren't "conventional" if you will. First goal we gave you. Second goal came from a deflected cross/pass. Fourth goal... I mean how often do you see that? Again, you deserve to go through, but for all the "unlucky" sentiment from Liverpool supporters here we could say the same thing. The team should have never allowed it to come to that though.
 

DrMartinVanNostrand

Kramerica Industries
Oct 6, 2017
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I’m sure they’ll make a number of big money transfers again while claiming that they’re not a pure money club and that La Masia is the backbone.

I, for one, hear constantly about Barcelona's financial situation being tenuous, and yet they have no problems splashing big money on transfer acquisitions despite that. As much as I would actually enjoy hearing their finances come crumbling down one of these days, this just seems like one of those things where I'm going to have to see it happen before I believe it's actually going to happen.
 

Live in the Now

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I’m sure they’ll make a number of big money transfers again while claiming that they’re not a pure money club and that La Masia is the backbone.

Well they aren't a pure money club and there's a big difference between Barcelona and Liverpool and on the other hand City. That's why today's game felt so important and it's also why Barcelona lost. There would have been no such mental issues playing at City, and like it or not, most of the game is mental.
 

Burner Account

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Feb 14, 2008
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there was very bad blood over the Coutinho deal
That’s why there’s that clause stipulating Barcelona must pay a €100M premium for purchasing any Liverpool players now.

Used to be when Barcelona came to Anfield it was to negotiate a transfer for our best player and shut our competitive window. Barcelona has just meant the end of good things for Liverpool. It feels like they’ve exercised a demon for that alone.
 
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Merya

Jokerit & Finland; anti-theist
Sep 23, 2008
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Yet another ugly stain on Messis's career. He has had trouble on away games recently and on world cup always. The arguments, that his success is a product of Barcelona will get even more wind from this; after last year in Rome.
Messi is not a *winner*.

ps. Last week Helsingin Sanomat had 4 articles about how Messi should get ballon d'or already. I wonder if those same 4 will even write about Pools win. *puke*
 
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les Habs

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Sep 21, 2005
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I’m sure they’ll make a number of big money transfers again while claiming that they’re not a pure money club and that La Masia is the backbone.

Messi, Pique, Busquets, Alba and Sergi all started today. I'd call that a La Masia backbone.

As for big money transfers, net spend between the two clubs for the last two seasons is really close and I think Liverpool have spent slightly more. That's not to mention the fact that Barça is one of the richest clubs in the game.

In all seriousness, you may want to do some research and think before you post.

I, for one, hear constantly about Barcelona's financial situation being tenuous, and yet they have no problems splashing big money on transfer acquisitions despite that. As much as I would actually enjoy hearing their finances come crumbling down one of these days, this just seems like one of those things where I'm going to have to see it happen before I believe it's actually going to happen.

Where are you hearing this?
 

Live in the Now

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Dec 17, 2005
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I don't remember the matches, but we've seen it a few times this season and do every season. Like I've been saying for some time, the quality down the table in La Liga is better than people think and some of the scorelines suggest.

I don't think it was entirely physical and the team definitely coped with it for the most part. I think in this second match it was somehow mental. I say somehow because I can't fathom how they could let that happen, but I think they were timid (seen it in big matches before) and perhaps last year was on a few of the minds out there. Yes there was a physical aspect and a lot of that comes down to the players' personal physical capabilities, but for me it was too much mental combined with a few holes in the team (see midfield). Also though, and I'm not trying to take away from Liverpool here as again I will say you deserved to go through, but we gave that away and the goals weren't "conventional" if you will. First goal we gave you. Second goal came from a deflected cross/pass. Fourth goal... I mean how often do you see that? Again, you deserve to go through, but for all the "unlucky" sentiment from Liverpool supporters here we could say the same thing. The team should have never allowed it to come to that though.

I do think, as you said, that this was mostly mental. The players looked absolutely helpless.

As for the goals, that's how I felt about last week's tie.

Second Barcelona goal was a rebound off the bar, which isn't something that happens every day.

Third was hit by god.

We didn't take some of our chances.

Barcelona didn't finish a counter or two to pile on. Some of our defenders make good plays.

Now we have a game that is literally the exact same but with the two teams reversed.

Barcelona doesn't take their chances.

Barcelona's defenders make some great plays. Pique and Alba in particular each saved a goal.

Liverpool scores a second through ter Stegen.

Third is a great finish.

Fourth goal is a great player showing experience beyond his years and I bet a lot of teams are going to try to copy this going forward. I have seen a lot of games where teams switch off like this and aren't punished, but this is a fluke because players never try to take advantage of it.

The expected goals, by the way, are literally exactly the same. 3.7 each.
 
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Live in the Now

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Yet another ugly stain on Messis's career. He has had trouble on away games recently and on world cup always. The arguments, that his success is a product of Barcelona will get even more wind from this; after last year in Rome.
Messi is not a *winner*.​
:facepalm:

What is incorrect in what I said?

He didn't have any trouble. Alisson bailed Liverpool out when he made some great shots and passes. Numerous times. They lost because his teammates were overwhelmed by the moment. Have you seen the picture of Suarez's face after Wijnaldum scored? It says everything.

I think there are genuinely some of them (including Valverde) that saw our injury list and thought they would win on the spot. Liverpool nearly scored 3 minutes in and then scored 4 minutes later.
 
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les Habs

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Sep 21, 2005
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I do think, as you said, that this was mostly mental. The players looked absolutely helpless.

As for the goals, that's how I felt about last week's tie.

Second Barcelona goal was a rebound off the bar, which isn't something that happens every day.

Third was hit by god.

We didn't take some of our chances.

Barcelona didn't finish a counter or two to pile on. Some of our defenders make good plays.

Now we have a game that is literally the exact same but with the two teams reversed.

Barcelona doesn't take their chances.

Barcelona's defenders make some great plays. Pique and Alba in particular each saved a goal.

Liverpool scores a second through ter Stegen.

Third is a great finish.

Fourth goal is a great player showing experience beyond his years and I bet a lot of teams are going to try to copy this going forward. I have seen a lot of games where teams switch off like this and aren't punished, but this is a fluke because players never try to take advantage of it.

The expected goals, by the way, are literally exactly the same. 3.7 each.

Well like I said, part of that is down to the manager and part to the players. Still he set them up poorly and clearly didn't instruct them how to play when it was obvious what needed to happen.

As for the goals, I didn't call the fourth goal a fluke. That said with the other ball on the pitch and pretty much everyone on both sides but two players switching off it doesn't happen every day.

Second goal in Barcelona was a rebound, thanks to a quick reaction from Suarez and Messi following up the play. Not even sure why you'd bring up Messi's free kick goal.

As for Liverpool today, second through Ter Stegen? Oh come on. It was hit with a lot of force from a deflected cross. Third goal was a nice goal, but it wasn't a great finish. It was a free header and a well deserved goal. Either way Wijnaldum should be one of the most popular players on your team.

I could care less about the expected goals, but as I already noted today Liverpool deserved to go through and the tie was pretty even.
 

les Habs

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Sep 21, 2005
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What is incorrect in what I said?

Pretty much everything, and what isn't is just commentary on the ignorance of others.

He didn't have any trouble. Alisson bailed Liverpool out when he made some great shots and passes. Numerous times. They lost because his teammates were overwhelmed by the moment. Have you seen the picture of Suarez's face after Wijnaldum scored? It says everything.

I think there are genuinely some of them (including Valverde) that saw our injury list and thought they would win on the spot.

Not sure what you mean about Suarez. Either way I don't think thought they'd win on the spot. It's been in the press a lot this season they didn't think that way including in the lead up to this match.
 

Live in the Now

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As for Liverpool today, second through Ter Stegen? Oh come on. It was hit with a lot of force from a deflected cross. Third goal was a nice goal, but it wasn't a great finish. It was a free header and a well deserved goal. Either way Wijnaldum should be one of the most popular players on your team.

That's true but to be honest I would expect the keeper to save that. He did in the first leg when Henderson had a good one.
 

Merya

Jokerit & Finland; anti-theist
Sep 23, 2008
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Did you see Messi's soulless eyes walking in at half time? Same look as in many national team games. He was broken.
 

les Habs

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Sep 21, 2005
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That's true but to be honest I would expect the keeper to save that. He did in the first leg when Henderson had a good one.

Fair enough. I can see it both ways and he could have done better, but I don't think it was so easy as to say I expected him to save it. Either way Wijnaldum did really well on that goal in getting to the ball and then striking it like that.
 

Merya

Jokerit & Finland; anti-theist
Sep 23, 2008
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Pretty much everything, and what isn't is just commentary on the ignorance of others.
No, that is not an answer. That's golbledigook. Again, here is my argument:

Yet another ugly stain on Messis's career. He has had trouble on away games recently and on world cup always. The arguments, that his success is a product of Barcelona will get even more wind from this; after last year in Rome.
Messi is not a *winner*.

Dispute it with arguments if you can, not by baseless oneliners.
 

Live in the Now

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Dec 17, 2005
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Not sure what you mean about Suarez. Either way I don't think thought they'd win on the spot. It's been in the press a lot this season they didn't think that way including in the lead up to this match.

There is a lot in their performance that indicates some of them thought that way. Chiefly among them Rakitic.

Did you see Messi's soulless eyes walking in at half time? Same look as in many national team games. He was broken.

Lol no. Even with one or two having a horror half, as a team they were playing pretty well at that point.
 

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