Champions League Quarter Finals (5th - 13th Apr)

To be fair Darwin came from Almeria in the Spanish second division - cost them €22m I believe.

That said, that's definitely the Benfica model!

Fair enough. I had no idea. Never heard of him until this season. They'll still make a killing on him. Could see him go for 60-70m.
 
Atletico Madrid were pushed to "madness" because of Manchester City's time-wasting tactics, according to Koke, who insisted he was "proud" of his team's performance in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final. Koke defended his team-mates in a post-match interview, insisting they were unfairly provoked by City throughout the 90 minutes. The Spanish midfielder also claimed that if the shoe was on the other foot, Atletico would have been slammed for using underhand tactics to slow the match down. “The match takes you to that madness when you see that you have chances and they drop to the ground and waste time," Koke said.

The level of irony here is too much... Mentally broken by a midget from Stockport.
Comedy on high level.
 
Fair enough. I had no idea. Never heard of him until this season. They'll still make a killing on him. Could see him go for 60-70m.

Yeah though I think Almeria get a significant portion of any future sale. It's funny how fast it's turned around for him - last year his signing was considered a bit of a joke as he was so inconsistent, and Benfica wound up blowing the CL group stage qualifying. Granted Darwin had pretty bad COVID, but he also went like 4-5 months without scoring.
 
Weigl looked alright, certainly better than what we put out at the #6 position. Maybe a replacement for Rice if he leaves, too.
Always said he would have been a bargain for what Benfica paid, worth a shot. Maybe not the world beater some have hoped he could become, but very solid as a 6.
 
Atletico Madrid were pushed to "madness" because of Manchester City's time-wasting tactics, according to Koke, who insisted he was "proud" of his team's performance in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final. Koke defended his team-mates in a post-match interview, insisting they were unfairly provoked by City throughout the 90 minutes. The Spanish midfielder also claimed that if the shoe was on the other foot, Atletico would have been slammed for using underhand tactics to slow the match down. “The match takes you to that madness when you see that you have chances and they drop to the ground and waste time," Koke said.

The level of irony here is too much... Mentally broken by a midget from Stockport.
Absolutely mental. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of hypocrites.
 
Yeah though I think Almeria get a significant portion of any future sale. It's funny how fast it's turned around for him - last year his signing was considered a bit of a joke as he was so inconsistent, and Benfica wound up blowing the CL group stage qualifying. Granted Darwin had pretty bad COVID, but he also went like 4-5 months without scoring.

I checked out his surface level stats. Yeah that's a pretty stark turnaround, 14 goals in 44 games last season, 32 goals in 37 games this season. Can see what they saw in him too, looking at his numbers in his lone season at Almeria.
 
Absolutely mental. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of hypocrites.
yeah pretty funny. Sometimes i wish people would have a collection of video clips to show players so when they say shit like this media can just show it to them. This and clips of players faking contact/injuries would be hilarious to watch players try and explain
 
Does anyone that watches Villarreal regularly give them much of a chance against the scousers?

As much as against Bayern actually. I do not think that the league position really tells everything about a knockout specialist - Emery is expert in this. They sit a lot more back than in the league, are tough in battles but know the full spanish repertoire of time wasting and can absorb power very well. I think that a lot of the top teams would have been an easier draw.
 
Is there a newer Europa League thread than of August?

About 30,000 Eintracht fans are in Barcelona tonight - probably not all have gotten tickets...







 
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Is there a newer Europa League thread than of August?

About 30,000 Eintracht fans are in Barcelona tonight - probably not all have gotten tickets...









That last one sent me for a loop, like what the feck does Stamford Bridge have to do with this. It's 3 year old tweet from when we played them in the EL semifinals.
 
That last one sent me for a loop, like what the feck does Stamford Bridge have to do with this. It's 3 year old tweet from when we played them in the EL semifinals.

It's probably to highlight that this isn't a one-off for Frankfurt, they have a lot of enthusiasm for the EL and bring massive numbers to away games on a somewhat regular basis.
 
It's probably to highlight that this isn't a one-off for Frankfurt, they have a lot of enthusiasm for the EL and bring massive numbers to away games on a somewhat regular basis.

Yeah I figured. I remember running into big groups of them in London.
 
Real Madrid-
People know they are a very strong team rn but Modric at 36, Kroos at 32, casemiro at 30, carvajal 30, nacho at 32, Alaba at 29, benzema at 34, that’s a old ass team man. Those are all starters from the second champions league leg.

of course mbappe and maybe possibly Haaland will be a huge change and boost but still that team needs a massive overhaul. Mendy, Valverde, Camavinga, Militao are young, add Mbappe but still need a lot of additions there. Shame because maybe they’re gonna try to overhaul the same summer we are.
 
Villarreal winning the whole thing would be the biggest surprise and achievement of the century, surpassing Leicester's Premier League.

Emery PLEASE DO IT.
 
Villarreal winning the whole thing would be the biggest surprise and achievement of the century, surpassing Leicester's Premier League.

Emery PLEASE DO IT.

I don't think it surpasses Leicester. Villareal just won the Europa League. The Champions League is a big step up and it would be a major surprise if they pulled it off, but not on the level of 2016.
 
Atletico Madrid were pushed to "madness" because of Manchester City's time-wasting tactics, according to Koke, who insisted he was "proud" of his team's performance in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final. Koke defended his team-mates in a post-match interview, insisting they were unfairly provoked by City throughout the 90 minutes. The Spanish midfielder also claimed that if the shoe was on the other foot, Atletico would have been slammed for using underhand tactics to slow the match down. “The match takes you to that madness when you see that you have chances and they drop to the ground and waste time," Koke said.

The level of irony here is too much... Mentally broken by a midget from Stockport.

That's great. They're the Burnley of the Champions League, out to stop others rather than having any real ambition themselves. Would anybody really miss them if they weren't in it?
 
lip reading but it looked like Grealish called him a cnut and then Savic pulled his hair during the schmozzle.
Pretty much what I think. Also, from the press leaks, it seems that some of our players didn’t enjoy having to work harder in training. Don’t know what they’re expecting under Ten Hag because it won’t be any different.
It was seen on the replay. He’s on the bench yet ran up to Savic and gave him some lip. Handbags.
Grealish said something to him in the midst of the sideline scuffle with a shít eating grin, and then Savic pulled his hair. Savic was then being held back at the final whistle, so it's far more likely Savic was looking for him.
They had a little hair pull on the pitch so assume just afters from that.

City really tried their best to bottle that, weird subs and Atheltico missing some glorious chances. Help us Unai Emery, you are our only hope.
You could see Grealish calling him a cnut after the Foden incident and then Savic pulled his hair
I know all that but everyone was assuming Savic caused the drama in the tunnel and Grealish was completely innocent. Could easily have been Grealish goading Savic that made things kick off.
 
I know all that but everyone was assuming Savic caused the drama in the tunnel and Grealish was completely innocent. Could easily have been Grealish goading Savic that made things kick off.

Savic ran up the tunnel after Grealish had left. It was clear the dude wanted a fight from the 89th minute (12 before the end of the match)
 
Savic ran up the tunnel after Grealish had left. It was clear the dude wanted a fight from the 89th minute (12 before the end of the match)

Yes but have you considered that Atletico were triggered and therefore apparently not responsible for their actions??????