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GWT: UCL Draw and QF First Legs

S E P H

S E P H

Cloud IX
Mar 5, 2010
31,011
16,542
Toruń, PL
Late to the party, but crazy first round results.

- Yeah, maybe Tuchel turned out to be a dud except for one season or losing Roman hurt that bad. Maybe it is a combination of both, but I do believe that Chelsea is in a world of hurt right now (any anti-Chelsea hate aside). Benzema will go down as one of the best strikers of all time, but this is one of the weakest RM squads I've seen and you get blown out.

- I expect Bayern to score five at Allianz, but brilliant result for Villarreal regardless.

- I still think this is Man City's year, I just think they'll get the draws and finally get the results.
 
Corto

Corto

Faceless Man
Sep 28, 2005
15,996
943
Braavos
S E P H said:
Late to the party, but crazy first round results.

- Yeah, maybe Tuchel turned out to be a dud except for one season or losing Roman hurt that bad. Maybe it is a combination of both, but I do believe that Chelsea is in a world of hurt right now (any anti-Chelsea hate aside). Benzema will go down as one of the best strikers of all time, but this is one of the weakest RM squads I've seen and you get blown out.

- I expect Bayern to score five at Allianz, but brilliant result for Villarreal regardless.

- I still think this is Man City's year, I just think they'll get the draws and finally get the results.
Click to expand...

Why is this RM squad "one of the weakest"?
Their backline is solid, even if Carvajal is 80% of the player he used to be. And I'm being generous.
Mendy is world class, Alaba and Militao have been exceptional. Their midfield is still KCM, even if aging - and with support from Valverde/Camavinga they've got a runner to make up for Modric and Kroos slowing down.
Vini and Benz up front obviously.
And Curtouis is the best GK in the world.
They have players who won everything, experienced players who'll up their game for big games. Their core dudes have 4 CL wins behind them.

They're paper thin, and any injuries to Mendy, Vini, Benzema or Carvajal kill them - but their first 11 and their first 2 subs are far from "the weakest RM squad" lol... They lost the La Liga last season by 1 point and were still in CL semi - and yes, Chelsea was then the better team, but everyone seems to be forgetting Madrid was dead on their feet by then; so much so that several players were shut down for the season after that game (Carvajal, Valverde, Mendy, Kroos).


As for Bayern scoring 5 past Villareal... I doubt it happens. La Liga is still filled with serious teams. People are going off on the EPL being the "best league lol", but after City and Liverpool, there's some good teams, then some bad, then some terrible.
Teams like Villareal, despite struggling in La Liga, are a legit threat in Europe - I mean, they won the EL last season and should've hammered Bayern yesterday. If you saw the game, the game could've easily ended 3-0 or 4-1 to Villareal.

I do agree City is the favorite, I think they're a bad matchup for Madrid. If Madrid goes through vs Chelsea, that is.
 
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cgf

cgf

FireBednarsSuccessor
Oct 15, 2010
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Corto said:
As for Bayern scoring 5 past Villareal... I doubt it happens. La Liga is still filled with serious teams. People are going off on the EPL being the "best league lol", but after City and Liverpool, there's some good teams, then some bad, then some terrible.
Teams like Villareal, despite struggling in La Liga, are a legit threat in Europe - I mean, they won the EL last season and should've hammered Bayern yesterday. If you saw the game, the game could've easily ended 3-0 or 4-1 to Villareal.

I do agree City is the favorite, I think they're a bad matchup for Madrid. If Madrid goes through vs Chelsea, that is.
Click to expand...

If you give Villareal credit for the goals they didn't score, you should do the same for Bayern. The spaniards put in a heroic effort to claim the first leg and deserved their 1-0, but the xG was only 1.57 to 1.12.
 
Corto

Corto

Faceless Man
Sep 28, 2005
15,996
943
Braavos
cgf said:
If you give Villareal credit for the goals they didn't score, you should do the same for Bayern. The spaniards put in a heroic effort to claim the first leg and deserved their 1-0, but the xG was only 1.57 to 1.12.
Click to expand...


Oh xG. I swear people stopped actually watching football matches and just go off these stupid stats.

xG doesn't tell you how the game went or give you context for the chances etc.
I think I saw Chelsea beat Madrid on the xG handily - doesn't tell you that Madrid could've been 3 up in the first half and that they closed up shop after going up 3-1 in the 2nd.

Same for the Villareal match. They were absolutely the better team, had the better chances and Bayern are extremely lucky to go back to München just one goal down.
 
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cgf

cgf

FireBednarsSuccessor
Oct 15, 2010
60,421
19,254
w/ Renly's Peach
Corto said:
Oh xG. I swear people stopped actually watching football matches and just go off these stupid stats.

xG doesn't tell you how the game went or give you context for the chances etc.
I think I saw Chelsea beat Madrid on the xG handily - doesn't tell you that Madrid could've been 3 up in the first half and that they closed up shop after going up 3-1 in the 2nd.

Same for the Villareal match. They were absolutely the better team, had the better chances and Bayern are extremely lucky to go back to München just one goal down.
Click to expand...

It's a shame people who are new to football don't understand how goals change games.

Bayern (like I said) was lucky to only concede one...and Villareal was lucky not to concede at all...but don't let me get in the way of your agenda :thumbu:
 
Corto

Corto

Faceless Man
Sep 28, 2005
15,996
943
Braavos
cgf said:
It's a shame people who are new to football don't understand how goals change games.

Bayern (like I said) was lucky to only concede one...and Villareal was lucky not to concede at all...but don't let me get in the way of your agenda :thumbu:
Click to expand...
I'm honestly not sure what you're trying to say.
What I'm saying is that Bayern is lucky to come away with just one goal behind, and the xG really doesn't tell the whole story. Simple as that.
 
S E P H

S E P H

Cloud IX
Mar 5, 2010
31,011
16,542
Toruń, PL
Corto said:
Why is this RM squad "one of the weakest"?
Their backline is solid, even if Carvajal is 80% of the player he used to be. And I'm being generous.
Mendy is world class, Alaba and Militao have been exceptional. Their midfield is still KCM, even if aging - and with support from Valverde/Camavinga they've got a runner to make up for Modric and Kroos slowing down.
Vini and Benz up front obviously.
And Curtouis is the best GK in the world.
They have players who won everything, experienced players who'll up their game for big games. Their core dudes have 4 CL wins behind them.

They're paper thin, and any injuries to Mendy, Vini, Benzema or Carvajal kill them - but their first 11 and their first 2 subs are far from "the weakest RM squad" lol... They lost the La Liga last season by 1 point and were still in CL semi - and yes, Chelsea was then the better team, but everyone seems to be forgetting Madrid was dead on their feet by then; so much so that several players were shut down for the season after that game (Carvajal, Valverde, Mendy, Kroos).


As for Bayern scoring 5 past Villareal... I doubt it happens. La Liga is still filled with serious teams. People are going off on the EPL being the "best league lol", but after City and Liverpool, there's some good teams, then some bad, then some terrible.
Teams like Villareal, despite struggling in La Liga, are a legit threat in Europe - I mean, they won the EL last season and should've hammered Bayern yesterday. If you saw the game, the game could've easily ended 3-0 or 4-1 to Villareal.

I do agree City is the favorite, I think they're a bad matchup for Madrid. If Madrid goes through vs Chelsea, that is.
Click to expand...
Saying they have one of the weakest squads isn't necessarily them being truly weak, but them lowering down to the rest of the population instead. Picture how good that squad was like four years ago and the squad they have now. I think they get by with Benzema who is seriously a cheat code at this point and you cannot deny that La Liga has fallen quite a bit since the loss of Messi and Ronaldo. Not that they themselves truly made the league, but I think the squad with those players have aged along with them. There isn't anybody as good as Xavi, Ronaldo, Messi, Busquets, Ramos, etc. in that league. Some great young talent like Pedri, but there is a distinct transition period.

If I would guess, I think Madrid would want to improve on...

X - Benzema - X
Camavinga - Casemiro - Valverde
Mendy - X - Militao - Carvajal
Courtois​

I love me Junior, but I am not sure how much more Perez will give him a chance considering he lives and dies by the shiny new toy philosophy. I like me Valverde, but he isn't a RW. Modric is a warrior, but not sure how much he has left compared to the last World Cup. I never viewed Kroos as a good player and Alaba will probably start aging any year now. After Benzema, they got nobody to trust for when it comes to offence and their CB duo is sort of shady even if Militao is having a solid season.
 

Jersey Fresh

Video Et Taceo
Feb 23, 2004
26,241
9,183
T.A.
hatterson said:
lol "up there with Harry Kane" is amazing.
Click to expand...
Thierry Henry:

AnyQueasyFairyfly-max-1mb.gif
 
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cgf

cgf

FireBednarsSuccessor
Oct 15, 2010
60,421
19,254
w/ Renly's Peach
Corto said:
I'm honestly not sure what you're trying to say.
What I'm saying is that Bayern is lucky to come away with just one goal behind, and the xG really doesn't tell the whole story. Simple as that.
Click to expand...

Just that FC Hollywood was unlucky not to score, as well as lucky to only concede one. And if they had equalized before Villareal scored a 2nd, the match would've likely gone very differently from that point.

xG can be misleading, but in this case, it's not inaccurate for the whole match...even if it doesn't represent the highlights very well...

PS - being the one defending xG in a conversation feels so weird :laugh:
 
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Corto

Corto

Faceless Man
Sep 28, 2005
15,996
943
Braavos
Sonaldo7 said:
That wouldn't have been too controversial prior to this season IMO.
Click to expand...
Prior to this season, Benzema was ranked 4th on the all-time scoring list of the world's greatest club. (he'll end up 2nd by the time he's done)
He has 4 CL wins with them, being an integral part of the team, even if overlooked and underrated cause Ronaldo was getting most of the attention.

The Micah Richards statement would be as dumb last year or in 2020 or 2018 or 2014 as it is today.
 
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Savant

Savant

HFBoards Sponsor
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Oct 3, 2013
37,043
10,711
al secord said:
I was embarrassed for him right up until the Harry Kane bit. Now I just think he was trying to be funny and failed miserably.
Click to expand...
He was being completely serious. Then midway through he realized he has made a huge mistake.
 
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