How are all these awful teams like Besiktas, Porto, & Basel qualifying for the final stages. If the Champions League is so good as we are told, the overall standard should be better than this.
Champions League Round of 16 (13th Feb - 14th Mar)
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
I despise Chelsea.
Them? Aren't you a Barcelona fan?
You're touching on the subject that is interesting, it's what separates the journos/pundits who are good and honest about their job and the idiots who recycle clichés. For the first time I was watching via Swiss (in french) TV and the commentator was the best I have heard in a while. Calling everything as they were, when the players were shit, when they were diivng.
He wasn't impressed by Barca rolling around etc etc.. A real breath of fresh air.
They should be negative. Trying to go toe to toe would see them get humiliated just like we did in two god damn CL finals. They know what they are doing against Barcelona. Wish we had done the same and given ourselves a better chance.
Because there are way to many clubs in the competition from the start.
Iniesta moves pretty sharpish there to nick the ball pre the goal and what a football brain to put it on a plate for LM
How on earth do Barcelona even begin to replace Messi and Iniesta? There are tough times ahead for the club when those two hang up their boots.
Nah. I see peeps saying that on here but I think it's just people having poor quality streams.
At least Spurs-Juve, PSG-Real, Barca-Chelsea and United-Sevilla (hopefully not a 0:4 tomorrow or the second game will be boring, because Roma - Donezk isn't that interesting for me) are very close for the second round.
I had HD stream and I thought the atmosphere was was terrible as well but to be fair it's hard to expect it different when opposition has like 80% of the ball...
Coutinho is already a right step imo, not peak Iniesta (although different) but better than the Iniesta we've got playing 90% of the time since 2014. Messi is another story, but let's hope that once we don't have to throw a huge amount of money at our star player we can start building a competent midfield again, with players one or two tiers above Rakitic, Paulinho or Denis
Well replacing Messi likewise is impossible anyway but they do have some top talents in the right age group. They just need to get more of them while Messi is still there (and I absolutely do expect him to last for a few more years).
Is Rakitic really that bad theses days? He was really (surprisingly) good his first two seasons.
Conte, Pep and Klopp must have the same dealer.
It's like a neverending contest for the most cnutish and annoying manager in the world. And it's pretty tied up so far, so fair play to them.
It's like a neverending contest for the most cnutish and annoying manager in the world. And it's pretty tied up so far, so fair play to them.
I agree that Bayern should win it all. They have the strongest team.
But Robben was pretty pissed because he didn't start.
He gave a strange interview afterward.
But Robben was pretty pissed because he didn't start.
He gave a strange interview afterward.
They’re too obsessed with narratives on UK TV. There’s too much hype a lot of the time.
Apparently he was excellent off the bench. Could be a role for him as he gets older and doesn't have the legs for the full 90 any more.
When is Neuer back?
This Barca is nowhere near their best Neymar/Messi/Suarez edition, let alone the 2008-2012 version. At the same time they are dominating La Liga with ease. Modern football is in an odd place, so many of the top leagues are all about the financial disparity between clubs, but I don't see truly exceptional teams forming.
Based on the knock out ties so far this competition is very open.
Based on the knock out ties so far this competition is very open.
Because the standard is really not that good, England is the only top league in Europe that looks to be on an overall upward curve.
5-0 against the weakest team in the last 16, at home, playing against 10 men for 75 mins doesnt really tell you much about the chances of winning. Good game by all means, but the next opponent will be a different story and i was not impressed by the first 40 mins today.
They are better at getting results despite playing mediocre than any other Barca side.
Didn't realise Van Gaal had taken over at Barcelona again. They must have had about 3 shots in the entire game. Actually infuriating to watch.
One thing's for sure:
Barcelona aren't winning the thing.
Barcelona aren't winning the thing.
I watched it on the TV and it sounded like a morgue to be totally honest.
That's because Olly Giroud is getting a hat trick in the next round and knocking them out.
Pretty much. He's not someone to elevate you to regularly challenging for the league/CL.
Not bad, but if you look at what other teams that were built in our image have like Silva-KDB, Rakitic can't hold a contest against those guys.
I love him, he's a hard worker, good player and he's been sacrificing a lot for the team in almost all his seasons (he was basically playing alongside Busquets today), but in a team like our old Barcelona, City or even Bayern (Javi Martinez, James and Thiago/Vidal) he wouldn't be a starter.
Now, we don't need those players because Messi is the one taking the task so Coutinho + Messi and another creative player would be overkill (and Rakitic could play further imo, we just don't do it), but when he's gone the cheat code of fielding a creative midfielder that bangs 40 goals per season is disabled, so we're going to need someone else to play alongside Coutinho if it works at the long term.
Can't see Chelsea getting past Barcelona now, not at the Camp Nou, and I can't see Barcelona going any further than that, no matter who they draw. I'd even fancy us against them over two legs.
Barca is immense defensively, yes William the post twice but if Atletico can go to two CL finals on three years being a pragmatic team then so can Barca.
They’ll do the business at home
I take the domination of the the likes of City/Bayern/PSG/Barca/Napoli/Juve in their domestic leagues with a pinch of salt. There are just so many bad teams who are just there to be thrashed, makes it hard to judge true levels.
Personally I think we are in a down generation in European football, don't think there are as many exceptional individual players around as say 15 years ago, and when the top teams stockpile the few that are around you get this absurd gap.
Fixed this for you.
Has Giroud scored a hat trick in his life?
Time to upgrade that Acoustic Solutions 19" HD ready argos jobbie.
Has Giroud scored a hat trick in his life?
Is this was another forum id say "your girlfriend, you sister and your mum". It's not that type of place though so I wont!
Seriously though? The bridge should be rocking on nights like this! Wasn't sure if there was a reason it was so bad.
I don't know about the first part, but certain teams buying players for two quality starting XI sure is a problem.
They aren't, but they are much better than the last season Barca imo. They relied too much on the individual brilliance of their 3 up front and didn't play like a team. This version can soak the pressure, it's very efficient and more defensively solid.
I can't see them as favourites, but considering they lost Neymar and Dembele is spending practically whole season out with an injury, work from Valverde (and Messi) is impressive.