Champions League 21/1/25 + 22/1/25

Yeah I'm not buying this "New format is better" hype.

Two extra games and for what? For the last day to be really just which team will drop out so City can progress even though they've been crap.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Yeah I'm not buying this "New format is better" hype.

Two extra games and for what? For the last day to be really just which team will drop out so City can progress even though they've been crap.
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Even if they do progress they'll have to play another knockout round. Danger that Bayern, Madrid etc. will too.
 
SilentWitness said:
Even if they do progress they'll have to play another knockout round. Danger that Bayern, Madrid etc. will too.
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Right and that round is interesting from a neutral perspective sure, but then that all comes to the draw. If Real Madrid draw, say, Celtic then you know... there's really only one way that's going.
 
Its very sad that a referee need to help barcelona in order for them win a team that has less money to compete.
 
Final gameweek should be an amazing watch.
I think this format is a big improvement on the old group stages.
 
giorno said:
You did, presumably. Tell us about it

Btw, how would feel about Meeelan signing Gimenez
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Bayerm battered down Feyenoords door for 90 minutes and lost 3-0.

No one will ever know how.

Well, mostly Justin Bijlow.

Meelan can feck off unless they pay 40 million.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Right and that round is interesting from a neutral perspective sure, but then that all comes to the draw. If Real Madrid draw, say, Celtic then you know... there's really only one way that's going.
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Yes but it's very likely that we will see some top teams playing each other already in the playoffs (or exiting against teams like Celtic).

Also it can actually make things interesting inside national leagues. For example Bayern have to go to Leverkusen in between the playoff matches - which Leverkusen likely will not have to play. Could be a factor in the title race here that wouldn't exist without these playoffs.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Yeah I'm not buying this "New format is better" hype.

Two extra games and for what? For the last day to be really just which team will drop out so City can progress even though they've been crap.
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I kind of like ot actually. Usually the last few games have nothing at stake. Less so this time.
 
stefan92 said:
Sabotaging himself? Looking at the results Bayern is worse than last season under Tuchel.
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GhastlyHun said:
Honoring Goretzka's performance on the pitch v Wolfsburg. Next question.
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I was actually trying a joke from the IT crowd because the person's question was similar to that in the show:



Apologies for it being a poor joke :lol:

To the topic of Goretzka, didn't see the match fully so can't say in detail but caught extended highlights. Don't think Bayern struggled to create chances, there were plenty of them but just poor finishing cost them. Add horrendous defensive mistakes for the first two goals and you have a recipe for disaster. Don't know how responsible Goretzka was for that.

On the topic of finishing, we need to have a discussion on Kane. I've honestly thought he hasn't been average since the start of last year, after a great first half of his first season, and his stats this season are being exaggerated by penalties. If you remove penalties then his tally for the season is just 10 goals in 24 games, which is quite poor for a striker. His goals creation is still top class, no doubt, but when it comes to scoring he is really falling off and it's costing Bayern. He's lost a lot of pace and physicality in the last year and looks well past his best.

A striker doesn't seem to be the top consideration for Bayern but honestly they need to upgrade on that soon as well.
 
hasanejaz88 said:
Apologies for it being a poor joke :lol:
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No worry, I didn't catch it, but I love that series :lol:
hasanejaz88 said:
To the topic of Goretzka, didn't see the match fully so can't say in detail but caught extended highlights. Don't think Bayern struggled to create chances, there were plenty of them but just poor finishing cost them. Add horrendous defensive mistakes for the first two goals and you have a recipe for disaster. Don't know how responsible Goretzka was for that.
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Isn't that the story of every top match this season? Bayern attacking with everything, but giving away stupid goals and in the end losing or maybe getting a draw?

It's kind of what alway happens when Kimmich/Goretzka play in midfield together, isn't it? Add bad finishing to that and you have a crisis.
 
KirkDuyt said:
We're really not. We're barely 4th in the Dutch league. Just massively overperforming in the Champions League somehow.
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Why so negative about your own club every time? All I read is that you call out that City and Bayern humiliated Feyenoord. And that Bruges would beat Feyenoord too. Not that the latter can't, but the other way around the same, right? Besides, I find Feyenoord's results this season more impressive than those of Bruges. Against more difficult opponents. In the end, they both perform well. And the fact that Bruges are doing better in the league is mainly due to the competition. They are 2nd but have also already lost points in 8 of 22 games.
 
TyroneSpong01 said:
Why so negative about your own club every time? All I read is that you call out that City and Bayern humiliated Feyenoord. And that Bruges would beat Feyenoord too. Not that the latter can't, but the other way around the same, right? Besides, I find Feyenoord's results this season more impressive than those of Bruges. Against more difficult opponents. In the end, they both perform well. And the fact that Bruges are doing better in the league is mainly due to the competition. They are 2nd but have also already lost points in 8 of 22 games.
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City and Bayern didnt humiliate us at all, but I replied to someone who said we battered Bayern. We didn't. It was an insanely amazing match, but the result flatters us hugely.

I must admit I don't follow the Belgian league at all. So if they're meh as well, I concede that point.

Surely we have plenty to be negative about this season though? We mix historically amazing Europe results with drawing against half the bottom feeding pub teams we face.
 
stefan92 said:
No worry, I didn't catch it, but I love that series :lol:

Isn't that the story of every top match this season? Bayern attacking with everything, but giving away stupid goals and in the end losing or maybe getting a draw?

It's kind of what alway happens when Kimmich/Goretzka play in midfield together, isn't it? Add bad finishing to that and you have a crisis.
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Giving away stupid goals, due to individual mistakes from the defenders, shouldn't be the fault of Kimmich or Goretzka. It's very simplistic, if Bayern win a big game (PSG, Leipzig, Stuttgart) no one would say it's because of Kimmich/Goretzka yet if they lose it seems the blame is on them even if neither played a bad game.

Against Feyernord, again just going by highlights, the blame should be on the players for not finishing chances and the individual defensive mistakes.
 
hasanejaz88 said:
Giving away stupid goals, due to individual mistakes from the defenders, shouldn't be the fault of Kimmich or Goretzka. It's very simplistic, if Bayern win a big game (PSG, Leipzig, Stuttgart) no one would say it's because of Kimmich/Goretzka yet if they lose it seems the blame is on them even if neither played a bad game.

Against Feyernord, again just going by highlights, the blame should be on the players for not finishing chances and the individual defensive mistakes.
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It's something that's going on for years now. Look at the goal differences in the seasons with those two in midfield and the seasons before. You see a significant increase in both goals scored and conceded.

The way the two play shifts the balance of the team more to attack, Bayern score more, but are also more vulnerable. You are right that there were individual mistakes, but the thing is that this team structure/formation doesn't allow mistakes, a good finisher needs only one Bayern mistake to score a goal at the moment.

Which also means that it's highly likely that bad finishing is punished.
 
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