Champions League Round of 16 (13th Feb - 14th Mar)

bond19821982 said:
Barca - Bayern
Man city - Real Madrid
Juve - Liverpool
Man United - Roma

Juve - Man Utd
Barca - RM

RM - MU final. :D
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You haven't beaten Sevilla yet and failed to get the crucial away goal. Let the tears shed in Wembley tonight not be for nothing. ;)

Seriously, though, Sevilla are wily old foxes in Europe as much as Juventus. Sevilla have actually won European trophies recently so know what it takes to scratch and fight. Plus, they're not bad skill wise.
 
Dumbstar said:
Obviously, we're both biased in favour of our teams. Let's ask the neutral (ha, not likely they hate our guts) Utd fans on here what they think of Mane, Salah and Firmino's chances against Benatia, Chiellini and Barzagli.
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The same argument can be made regarding your defense against their attack. The midfielders would be the real key, in my opinion.
 
JPRouve said:
The same argument can be made regarding your defense against their attack. The midfielders would be the real key, in my opinion.
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Yeah I have still have a lot of questions about Liverpool's midfield. On paper even Roma's midfield is better.
 
JPRouve said:
The same argument can be made regarding your defense against their attack. The midfielders would be the real key, in my opinion.
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Our defence would have zero pace to deal with other than Costa, which Robertson can quite easily take care of (as he did Sterling). If Juventus want to keep it tight then one or both of Dybala or Higuain are dropped. So what attack against our defence are you alluding to?

Their midfield will be tightly packed but we usually bypass that nowadays with long balls to Salah or Mane. When their midfield has possession they will have no outlet as mentioned above Costa marked and no strikers on the pitch. Plus, you know, rock and roll football. :D
 
Just watched highlights of the Spurs / Juve game. I'd actually feel sorry for them if it weren't for one specific fan of their's on here. Chielini two handballs and Barzgali with what should have been a straight red - that was super dirty on his part.
 
Shimo said:
Just watched highlights of the Spurs / Juve game. I'd actually feel sorry for them if it weren't for one specific fan of their's on here. Chielini two handballs and Barzgali with what should have been a straight red - that was super dirty on his part.
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You're kidding me? You missed Vertonghen chopping down Costa in the penalty box?
 
ShadesOfTomato said:
Yeah, Juve were horrendous for 85% of that tie but it'll be completely ignored now.



Just hope we steer clear of the English teams. I think we'll get Barca next round. Either way, will be great to host a CL quarter final at Anfield again.
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It will and no matter who we get their arses will go at Anfield.
 
Dumbstar said:
For Juventus to "stop Mane, Salah and Firmino" (say that out loud, go on. You'll get a shuddering feeling while I have a smile) Juve will have to drop Dybala AND Higuain to bring in defensive midfielders. Leaving Costa on his own up front. Don't forget we have Ox who is as every bit fast as our front three. That's a feck load of defending for 90....oh no....180 minutes. You make Chiellini and Barzagli sound like some sprightly youngsters. Those two's combined age alone is probably 80!! Maybe they should bring Maldini and Baresi back from retirement. That will stop us for sure.

As for Carlos, the old swine, he was just milking the fact he stopped us from scoring a hundred years ago (honestly, it feels that long ago now). Its his prerogative and obviously he's going to make his CV look as sexy as possible. What you want to hear are other managers saying the same thing after following Carlos' super duper masterplan.
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sure sure, I suggest you go back to see what Salah did with Roma against those old defenders over the past 2 years:D
 
Dumbstar said:
You haven't beaten Sevilla yet and failed to get the crucial away goal. Let the tears shed in Wembley tonight not be for nothing. ;)

Seriously, though, Sevilla are wily old foxes in Europe as much as Juventus. Sevilla have actually won European trophies recently so know what it takes to scratch and fight. Plus, they're not bad skill wise.
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They're a worse side now than when they won the EL. Spartak put 5 past them, would be a huge surprise if they got past United who whilst not particularly pretty are damn effective with a god in goal.
 
This thread as amused me.

You have United fans saying they wish we played like Spurs and complaining about our style of play (yawn) only for later on Spurs to crash out of the competition.

Then you have the Liverpool fans thinking they are the best side in the world ever as they knocked out Porto.

fecks sake :lol:
 
Dumbstar said:
You haven't beaten Sevilla yet and failed to get the crucial away goal. Let the tears shed in Wembley tonight not be for nothing. ;)

Seriously, though, Sevilla are wily old foxes in Europe as much as Juventus. Sevilla have actually won European trophies recently so know what it takes to scratch and fight. Plus, they're not bad skill wise.
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4 CL ties so far, none decided on away goal, the importance of the away goal is way over stated.

Have you forgotten how United qualified for the CL?
 
B&Wandmore said:
well I still hope we play them though :devil:
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Hopefully we'll qualify and draw Juve, not because Juve are weak or anything close to that, it's because we haven't played you guys for about 15 years.
 
The arrogance from Liverpool fans will be made all the more sweeter when we beat them on Saturday.
 
roonster09 said:
Hopefully we'll qualify and draw Juve, not because Juve are weak or anything close to that, it's because we haven't played you guys for about 15 years.
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ti vu said:
How about arranging it for the final?
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Does anyone really fancy playing Juve in a CL final?

I was actually thinking about this today - on one hand, they are the ultimate final bottlers (only 2 wins out of 7 finals), on the other hand, they are massively overdue to win a CL final.
 
Giggs86 said:
Does anyone really fancy playing Juve in a CL final?

I was actually thinking about this today - on one hand, they are the ultimate final bottlers (only 2 wins out of 7 finals), on the other hand, they are massively overdue to win a CL final.
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We lost our last 2 final too, so both teams are back in the corner in that scenario. Nothing to fear.
 
Such an odd overall tie from Tottenham. 99.9% the better side, 0.1% a bag of sh1t.

Bayern and Manchester City are the only two potential winners by a country mile.
 
Dumbstar said:
Obviously its easier to close your eyes when talking out of your arse so you don't get shit in them. :)

Liverpool "featured" the world reknowned clowns Lovren and Moreno for a whole 90 minutes.
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Moreno is like a walking mass confusion. Paid a little extra attention to him on Tuesday and the amount of times he gets out of position and makes wrong choices.

He could play next to Hummels/Boateng/Kimmich AND Alaba and still screw up their defense with his presence. I think VVD, Karius and TAA have been upgrades individually, but the biggest difference is not having to account for all the dumb sh*t Moreno does. In one situation there was Lovren and there was Milner, but there was no Moreno for like 60-90 seconds. I have no idea where the f*ck he was, but Milner is supposed to cover in midfield, not at LB with Lovren coming over to double hard. Of course now the middle is exposed, cause I still don´t know where the hell Moreno was.
 
endless_wheelies said:
Such an odd overall tie from Tottenham. 99.9% the better side, 0.1% a bag of sh1t.

Bayern and Manchester City are the only two potential winners by a country mile.
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Yeah because Barca and Madrid are playing for fun in the CL and never won it obviously.
 
McGrathsipan said:
It's 7 years since United lost a final. It's not the same team at all.
Where as Juventus is.
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The poster I responded to said something about Juve being serial final bottler which I interpreted their long habit that extended back to Lipp's 2 stints there too. That didn't change a habit that last longer than the 7 years we had, so...
 
That was genuinely galling, I haven't felt as gutted about a result genuinely in years.

We were the better team for almost the entire tie but Juventus' experience in these situations (and frankly, our inexperience and poor in game management) counted for it all in the end.

10 minutes in the first leg, 5 in the second. Swung on those. Genuinely gutted.

Such a hard CL run but I hope we will take lessons from it. Some great results in the hardest group and a great performance generally against a team that, let's not forget, have won their league many times in a row and reached 2 of the past 3 finals.

Also a note. Not the main reason we lost or anything but some strange officiating last night. Vertonghen was one of the most stone wall penalties I've ever seen. Barzagli on Son was filthy, he knew exactly what he was doing and who he was doing it to. If the ref had seen it, I don't think he would escaped with that. A couple of Chiellini hands in the box too. A bit up and down really.
 
africanspur said:
That was genuinely galling, I haven't felt as gutted about a result genuinely in years.

We were the better team for almost the entire tie but Juventus' experience in these situations (and frankly, our inexperience and poor in game management) counted for it all in the end.

10 minutes in the first leg, 5 in the second. Swung on those. Genuinely gutted.

Such a hard CL run but I hope we will take lessons from it. Some great results in the hardest group and a great performance generally against a team that, let's not forget, have won their league many times in a row and reached 2 of the past 3 finals.

Also a note. Not the main reason we lost or anything but some strange officiating last night. Vertonghen was one of the most stone wall penalties I've ever seen. Barzagli on Son was filthy, he knew exactly what he was doing and who he was doing it to. If the ref had seen it, I don't think he would escaped with that. A couple of Chiellini hands in the box too. A bit up and down really.
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Barzagli one on Son was a disgrace. Sometimes in the heat of the moment players kick a bit and move on, he just stood on players leg for few seconds and Son even tried to kick him away. Very poor from Barzagli.
 
Nedved said:
You're kidding me? You missed Vertonghen chopping down Costa in the penalty box?
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And Kane almost got an offside goal with that header toward the end of the game. Pochettino was outsmarted by Allegri.

Happy Juve went through, a much bigger club with a more profound footballing philosophy.
 
Buchan said:
They blitzed Porto last night, arguably the worst side still in the competition. The best sides all possess fire power capable of destroying that naive Liverpool defence. I can't wait to see Barcelona or Madrid running at them.

I'd be wary of them against the English sides on the basis of familiarity and the Liverpool players would take confidence from the fact they know they can beat any of them on their day. Against Barcelona et al, that confidence saps away and is replaced by uncertainty. If we know anything about this Liverpool team (and Klopp teams in general) is that they're a confidence team and when they're bordering on arrogant approaching big games, they generally produce good performances. Throw Madrid or Barcelona into the equation and the self-doubt creeps in, in my opinion.
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Everything has a context for example, lots of people keep mentioning Klopp has terrible record in finals. But except for europa league final has Klopp team ever gone to final as favourites? Even that year he took hold of club mid season and only managed team without any of his signings. Then second point is Klopp team has defeated Real Madrid 4-0, idk how this set of player will respond to klopp but Klopp teams have reputation to be fearless against bigger sides. I believe he has best record against top 6 sides since he has took hold of Liverpool compared to all other managers in that time frame.
 
ti vu said:
We lost our last 2 final too, so both teams are back in the corner in that scenario. Nothing to fear.
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well we lost our last 5 :(:(:( go figure

Unfortunately until we manage to squeeze a win it will keep being an issue and I think anybody on paper would fancy meeting us in a final rather than over a 2 legs tie
 
roonster09 said:
Barzagli one on Son was a disgrace. Sometimes in the heat of the moment players kick a bit and move on, he just stood on players leg for few seconds and Son even tried to kick him away. Very poor from Barzagli.
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I totally agree, it is an absurdity that Allegri who is generally a great coach, keeps doing. Barzagli is not a RB and has neither the pace or age to hold that position against a strong opponent
 
Keeps It tidy said:


I agree with this. There is often a sheer lack of nuance on here.
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Although true, within the context of the game, spurs just needed to stop juve from scoring in the second half to go through. And when they scored anyway, this was still true until juve got a second one.

It's a hard premise to nuance. It's not like Juve is the kind of team that is neigh impossible to keep from scoring. They are at their best protecting a scoreline. Tottenham had a very doable second half ahead of them and basically threw it away.
 
B&Wandmore said:
I totally agree, it is an absurdity that Allegri who is generally a great coach, keeps doing. Barzagli is not a RB and has neither the pace or age to hold that position against a strong opponent
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Well, he seems to have realized just this and
Dennis Viollet said:
Spurs dominated Juve for 150 minutes out of 180, unbelievable how they lost.
Football bloody hell.
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Tottenham were too unfocused defensively... and they lost. Football punishes you for that.
 
B&Wandmore said:
I totally agree, it is an absurdity that Allegri who is generally a great coach, keeps doing. Barzagli is not a RB and has neither the pace or age to hold that position against a strong opponent
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Yeah, when the proper RB was introduced Juve looked completely different team before going all out defense.
 
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