Champions League Last 16 games - Feb/Mar 2015

UweBein said:
Suarez: "1:2 is a good result for them" :lol:
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Hes right.

Barca do this a lot against English teams when they are winning by 2 goals. They could have killed City tonight but kinda eased off imo. Theyve done it against Arsenal and Chelsea in the past too. I would say United but finals are different :(
 
prarek said:
It was a poor penalty but credit to Hart he had a good game. And so did Aguero and Silva. Kompany was atrocious, constantly losing his man. Messi MOTM despite the penalty miss. The headlines will be the red card and the penalty save(they'll milk that thing like a starving calf) when the real story should be how the Premier League champions were outplayed comfortably by the second best team in Spain.
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Why would you want to milk a (starving) calf?
 
4-4-2 with Nasri in CM against Barca without Yaya Toure.....the blame has to go to Pellegrini!!!!
It really seems Pellegrini is too stupid and naive to play Champions League football.

But the City players are guilty too....3 sent-offs in 3 matches against Barca....eeehh sorry :wenger:

No injuries in the next weeks then i think Pellegrini must play this team in the 2nd leg.....
Starting XI: Hart - Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Kolarov - Yaya Toure, Fernandinho; Milner, Lampard, Silva - Aguero
Bench: Caballero, Sagna, Mangala, Jesus Navas, Nasri, Dzeko, Bony

Barca's Luis Suarez speaking to ITV: "The 2-1 defeat is a good result for City." :lol::lol::lol:

JSArsenal said:
Barcelona have two away goals though, all they need to do is score once at the Nou Camp and its game over. Can you see City scoring three goals in that scenario? I can't
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Eeh goal for Barca or no goal for Barca in the 90 minutes......City need anyway two goals in the 90 minutes.
 
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City are as good as out. Scoring 2+ at Camp Nou is a tall order, not mentioning their menacing front line, either.
 
Random thoughts from Barca-Citeh:

How weird was it watching Busquets make runs to get in behind City's D once Clichy went off and Mascherano was standing in his position?

I don't trust Enrique at all. What if he has to manage against all 3 of Guardiola, Mourinho and Simeone in the knockout stages to win the CL? Their best chance may be if they get outplayed and can get on the counter. Mourinho won't let anyone but Costa press more than 30 yards up the pitch.

Zabaleta's head had gone, I think. He made a poor error minutes before conceding the penalty. Just seemed mentally shot from a tough night. May have cost himself the chance to replace Dani Alves, though he's probably too old for that spot anyways.

Aguero is incredible. Just so quick and low to the ground. Gotta be the best 9 in the world now that Messi is a right winger again.

Clichy got sent off but had a strong game. Took the ball from Messi to start the attack that Aguero scored from, and a bit unlucky to be sent off, though he was reckless. I've been thinking they should replace him, but they have bigger problems to deal with first, really.
 
NoPace said:
Random thoughts from Barca-Citeh:

How weird was it watching Busquets make runs to get in behind City's D once Clichy went off and Mascherano was standing in his position?

I don't trust Enrique at all. What if he has to manage against all 3 of Guardiola, Mourinho and Simeone in the knockout stages to win the CL? Their best chance may be if they get outplayed and can get on the counter. Mourinho won't let anyone but Costa press more than 30 yards up the pitch.

Zabaleta's head had gone, I think. He made a poor error minutes before conceding the penalty. Just seemed mentally shot from a tough night. May have cost himself the chance to replace Dani Alves, though he's probably too old for that spot anyways.

Aguero is incredible. Just so quick and low to the ground. Gotta be the best 9 in the world now that Messi is a right winger again.

Clichy got sent off but had a strong game. Took the ball from Messi to start the attack that Aguero scored from, and a bit unlucky to be sent off, though he was reckless. I've been thinking they should replace him, but they have bigger problems to deal with first, really.
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He was pretty bad, I thought. City's best players were, as usual, Silva and Aguero. Fernandinho looked alright when he came on, gave the ball away a bit, but added some impetus to the midfield. The rest had nights to forget, Kompany, Zabaleta and Clichy in particular.

City probably need to address as many positions as us in the summer. IMO, they need a CB, LB, CM (possibly two, if Toure leaves) and a winger. I wouldn't bank on Dzeko staying, so maybe another striker will be needed, considering Pellegrini's leaning towards a 442 - if he's still the manager, of course.
 
Brown Toothpick said:
Feels more like a loss, as dramatic as it sounds. The pen would've nailed us the qualification, a boost for City now.
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How are they going to score 2 goals at the Nou Camp without conceding a couple as well? Yaya returning is a massive help, but eventually they'll have to press high and surely Barca can handle that at home?

Wonder if Pellegrini would have the balls/insanity to go 3 at the back and just play them man for man. Bilbao made it interesting a few years ago (At the San Mames) with that approach. Something like this, and you make the Barca keeper go long with every goal kick and make the game a 1 on 1 battle.

-----Pique---Mascherano-
------Aguero----Bony--------
Alves------------------Alba
Milner------------------Navas
----------Busquets---------
-----------Toure------------
----Rakitic-------Iniesta
--Fernandinho------Zabaleta
Messi----Suarez---Neymar
Clichy-Demichelis-Kompany

It won't work, in all likelihood, and Citeh only needing 2 for extra time until Barca get 2 of their own means they'll go conservative, but I wonder if Enrique would adjust to it as well as Guardiola was able to. Be interesting to see them try this for the first 10-15 minutes of each half then play normally once Barca adjust and the players start moving around to deal with it. Think of how United game Barca trouble for the first 10-15 of that CL final. Their players are to smart and experienced not to adjust, but maybe try dividing the half into sections like Mourinho used to do against Barca. Press hard and man to man for a bit, then relax and try it again in the 2nd half.
 
TooBias said:
He was pretty bad, I thought. City's best players were, as usual, Silva and Aguero. Fernandinho looked alright when he came on, gave the ball away a bit, but added some impetus to the midfield. The rest had nights to forget, Kompany, Zabaleta and Clichy in particular.

City probably need to address as many positions as us in the summer. IMO, they need a CB, LB, CM (possibly two, if Toure leaves) and a winger. I wouldn't bank on Dzeko staying, so maybe another striker will be needed, considering Pellegrini's leaning towards a 442 - if he's still the manager, of course.
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Messi didn't abuse him too badly. That's a good performance from an LB. The first goal was Kompany's fault, the 2nd created by Messi's run across the right side of Citeh's defence and the penalty on Zabaleta's side.

Clichy and Demichelis did well, overall. The more fancied Citeh right side was all over the place.
 
NoPace said:
How are they going to score 2 goals at the Nou Camp without conceding a couple as well? Yaya returning is a massive help, but eventually they'll have to press high and surely Barca can handle that at home?

Wonder if Pellegrini would have the balls/insanity to go 3 at the back and just play them man for man. Bilbao made it interesting a few years ago (At the San Mames) with that approach. Something like this, and you make the Barca keeper go long with every goal kick and make the game a 1 on 1 battle.

-----Pique---Mascherano-
------Aguero----Bony--------
Alves------------------Alba
Milner------------------Navas
----------Busquets---------
-----------Toure------------
----Rakitic-------Iniesta
--Fernandinho------Zabaleta
Messi----Suarez---Neymar
Clichy-Demichelis-Kompany

It won't work, in all likelihood, and Citeh only needing 2 for extra time until Barca get 2 of their own means they'll go conservative, but I wonder if Enrique would adjust to it as well as Guardiola was able to. Be interesting to see them try this for the first 10-15 minutes of each half then play normally once Barca adjust and the players start moving around to deal with it. Think of how United game Barca trouble for the first 10-15 of that CL final. Their players are to smart and experienced not to adjust, but maybe try dividing the half into sections like Mourinho used to do against Barca. Press hard and man to man for a bit, then relax and try it again in the 2nd half.
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Clichy can't play ;)
 
Sean_RedDevil said:
Clichy can't play ;)
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Ah. I don't think anyone else is quick enough to even consider throwing on Messi. Pellegrini isn't a defensive genius/idiot anyways, though that is what you want when you draw Barcelona and they're playing well.
 
I was switching back and forth between the two games from last night. Barcelona and Juventus should be kicking themselves for not finishing off the tie with a third goal. Barcelona dominated City in the first half especially and should have scored more goals, in the second half they dropped off slightly which gave City a chance to get back in with Aguero's great goal (Silva's touch was crucial) I dont understand why Enrique subbed Rakitic, he was doing so well in the game and I dont think Enrique needed to use him to break up the CB partnership. City have some quality players so it is expected that they would make a comeback during the match but I thought their initial setup was not good enough. I hope the second leg is even more entertaining with Yaya coming back it will be a big upgrade over Fernando/Fernandino. Still I think Barcelona have even more quality than City in attack and will progress to the next round.

Juventus- Dortmund was entertaining as well, Juventus were better throughout the game except between the time BVB scored the equaliser til when Juventus took the lead again. Pogba and Moratta stood out from Juventus both of their goals came fromt he left side and Moratta was involved in both of them. Dortmund had more possession but it was Juventus who created the more dangerous chances. Reus' goal gives BVB hope and makes it a decent result for them but can they keep Juventus from scoring in the second leg? I dont think so tbh which is why i'm favoring Juventus to go through.
 
CLARiiON said:
Disgusting performance. Absolutely shit.. Bunch of morons playing as if they have the right to win any match. No way they will progress. Totally gutted with such players. Busquets should be put infront of a firing squad or handed over to ISIS.
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:lol: :lol: What in the world?!

Those 4 points off first place really caused a short circuit in your head I think...
 
bosnian_red said:
You know you did win?
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Winning is not everything in football. I wasn't feeling so angry even after our loss against Malaga. It's not about winning or losing, it's about attitude and respecting the game. Players like Balo, Busquets make me angry because of their attitude. They give the impression that they have the right to placed in upper echelons just based on their names. Alves on the other hand is a typical case of defensive liability and wrong decision making.
 
City will never be an elite club until they find themselves a quality manager. They can invest as much money as they want but if they continue to keep giving clowns like Pellegrini and Mancini the job, then its all rather pointless.

Terrible set up vs barca. They did exactly what you shouldn't do vs them. It was basically what we did in the CL final and got humiliated. They were very naïve and got punished for it. Even when Bayern spanked them 7-1 they had a deep line and contained them, what made city feel as though they could go out there and try to compete for the ball in the middle of the pitch?

Better second half but the damage was already done. Aguero and Silva are truly amazing.

Barca played very well and created lots of worrying moments for city, they just weren't clinical enough in their final passes to completely close the game off.
 
RooneyLegend said:
City will never be an elite club until they find themselves a quality manager. They can invest as much money as they want but if they continue to keep giving clowns like Pellegrini and Mancini the job, then its all rather pointless.

Terrible set up vs barca. They did exactly what you shouldn't do vs them. It was basically what we did in the CL final and got humiliated. They were very naïve and got punished for it. Even when Bayern spanked them 7-1 they had a deep line and contained them, what made city feel as though they could go out there and try to compete for the ball in the middle of the pitch?

Better second half but the damage was already done. Aguero and Silva are truly amazing.

Barca played very well and created lots of worrying moments for city, they just weren't clinical enough in their final passes to completely close the game off.
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Clowns that both won the league? By that standard every manager outside of Mourinho, Guardiola and Ancelloti is a clown i guess.
 
About time one of the English clubs didn't embarrass themselves in the Champions League. Step up Danny Welbeck tonight... :drool:
 
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Winrar said:
City are as good as out. Scoring 2+ at Camp Nou is a tall order, not mentioning their menacing front line, either.
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City won't keep a clean sheet and the only team who have managed to score 3 against Barca this season is Real Madrid.
 
Desert Eagle said:
Clowns that both won the league? By that standard every manager outside of Mourinho, Guardiola and Ancelloti is a clown i guess.
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Once a club invests the sort of money they've invested in the past few years, winning the league becomes inevitable.
 
Good match was Dortmund vs Juve. Very balanced match where space was at a premium, proper big team stuff. Juve's defending really is incredible. Even when dortmund were on top on the game in the first half they barely looked like scoring. The overload in midfield made it difficult for them to play that quick one touch playl with any sort of accuracy and it left the vulnerable to counters with Tevez and Morata running amok. Dortmunds pressing in the first was of ridiculous intensity and for a long period juve didn't even look like crossing the half way line, to a point where fans were disatisfied and started grumbling.

The second was a totaly different story. Juve are at a point where they are a better side when Pirlo isn't playing and after he came off they got a foothold in the game. The 4 men in juve's midfield put in a shift and a half restricting dortmund to a point where it somewhat felt inevitable that they had another goal in them.

Can't wait for the second leg in germany.
 
CLARiiON said:
Winning is not everything in football. I wasn't feeling so angry even after our loss against Malaga. It's not about winning or losing, it's about attitude and respecting the game. Players like Balo, Busquets make me angry because of their attitude. They give the impression that they have the right to placed in upper echelons just based on their names. Alves on the other hand is a typical case of defensive liability and wrong decision making.
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I didn't watch the game but what did Busquets do to get you this mad?

Also, if you guys don't want him, mind putting him on a plane to Manchester for us? :D
 
NoPace said:
Messi didn't abuse him too badly. That's a good performance from an LB. The first goal was Kompany's fault, the 2nd created by Messi's run across the right side of Citeh's defence and the penalty on Zabaleta's side.

Clichy and Demichelis did well, overall. The more fancied Citeh right side was all over the place.
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Messi took the ball off him more then the other way around, that's pretty bad. The one time Messi lost out was in the build-up to Agüero's goal to be fair to Clichy. I also remember a run from inside his own half to the edge of City's box where Messi just left Clichy for dead. He frequently went inside anyway so it's not as if Clichy was his direct opponent all the time. Kompany was indeed at fault in the 1st goal, but Clichy didn't even attempt to close Messi down when he was right in front of him. He also didn't really deliver offensively despite often having time and space to find a cross (I remember one effort where he was completely free that he just sliced behind for a goal kick).
 
Cal? said:
City won't keep a clean sheet and the only team who have managed to score 3 against Barca this season is Real Madrid.
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Incorrect. PSG managed it as well, before the clásico even. Athletic, Atlético and Villarreal the only other teams to score at least two against them -- Villarreal the only ones to do it at the Camp Nou (so far).
 
RooneyLegend said:
City will never be an elite club until they find themselves a quality manager. They can invest as much money as they want but if they continue to keep giving clowns like Pellegrini and Mancini the job, then its all rather pointless.
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Pellegrini is good at creating sides that play good football and pick up tons of points, just not so much at stifling other teams and coming at them with effective game plans.

So, the other option for Citeh is to keep spending and upgrade the spots around Aguero, Silva and Toure in the front 6 and maybe add a defender or two. Would cost a ton, yes, but depending on FFP it's not an insane strategy.
 
RooneyLegend said:
City will never be an elite club until they find themselves a quality manager. They can invest as much money as they want but if they continue to keep giving clowns like Pellegrini and Mancini the job, then its all rather pointless.

Terrible set up vs barca. They did exactly what you shouldn't do vs them. It was basically what we did in the CL final and got humiliated. They were very naïve and got punished for it. Even when Bayern spanked them 7-1 they had a deep line and contained them, what made city feel as though they could go out there and try to compete for the ball in the middle of the pitch?

Better second half but the damage was already done. Aguero and Silva are truly amazing.

Barca played very well and created lots of worrying moments for city, they just weren't clinical enough in their final passes to completely close the game off.
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:rolleyes:

Granted, they aren't on the same level as Ancelotti, Mourinho and Guardiola, but calling them clowns? Come on. Pellegrini did a fantastic job with Villarreal, did well with Malaga, excellent in the league with Madrid but very poor in the cup competitions, and in his first season in England won the title and the league cup.

Mancini won a Coppa Italia with a Fiorentina side completely devastated financially, did a commendable job with Lazio again under difficult financial circumstances, won three consecutive league titles with Inter, came to England and transformed City from a mediocre side into one that finished joint-second and won a cup, then won the league. Went to Galatasaray and got them out of the CL group stage from a situation that looked lost, and won the Turkish Cup, now he is back at Inter things are looking positive.

So yeah, you might not rate them, and they certainly have their deficiencies, but no need for the gross exaggeration.
 
Arsenal XI: Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ozil, Sanchez, Welbeck. Giroud.

Monaco XI: Subasic, Elderson, Wallace, Abdennour, Toure, Fabinho, Moutinho, Kondogbia, Dirar, Martial, Berbatov.
 
Struggling to decide which game to watch tonight, might just end up switching between the two I suppose..
 
Arsenal's front 5 and Moutinho and Berbatov. Can't call myself a fan of football if I don't watch that match.
 
Ruht said:
Struggling to decide which game to watch tonight, might just end up switching between the two I suppose..
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Same here. I'd have preferred Juve/Dortmund was on tonight to be honest.
 
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