MBappe gets the RM experience, hankies and boos included, before ever playing for them 
Champions League Round of 16 (15th Feb - 16th Mar)
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
They can also call him Ralle. You should've mentioned that
It's funny seeing this huge underestimation of PSG. Yes, City made them look average, but that same City side played the most dominant football ever seen at OT weeks earlier, wiped the floor with us. PSG were obviously the one to avoid, which is not saying Atletico is some easy fixture. It's the CL. Of course it's going to be difficult. But beforehand I doubt people en masse would have preferred PSG to Atletico. Come on.
Agreed, I didn't fancy us at all against PSG. Against Atletico it will be tough but we have much more of a chance.
Some folks are still stuck in 2014-16. I wasn't sad about getting them in the first draw. They didn't get a sniff on us in last years' group stages, and they really don't look anything better this season. The elimination of the away goals rule doesn't exactly help them either.
Where did I insinuate that? It’s just not easy for everyone to see the difference between ”Atletico” and ”Athletico”.
Agree. I’m just happy to have a different opponent this time other than PSG.
That said Atletico is no easy draw for us, we will need to make big improvements before the tie.
It’s got the ingredients for a proper boring two legs with only a single goal in it.
PSG were in the CL final last spring where they narrowly lost to Bayern. They're currently 13 points clear in Ligue 1, having lost one game in eighteen. While their performances have left something to be desired lately, it's still a frightening team that absolutely ranks amongst the best in Europe. They'll be hungry to win the CL while they still have Neymar, Mbappe and Messi under one roof, and I'm convinced they would flatten us. Atletico are a much, much more manageable opponent, and they're having one of their worst seasons in a long time.
At the end of the day, if both teams and all players play at 100%, PSG beats us on paper. That's probably not the case with Atletico.
one smaller reason is it would feck up the coefficient rankings.
I was just wondering if UEFA should've told Arse to turn his back when the balls were being put in the pot for him to draw then turn round to pick a ball out.
This will be exciting.
This tie will be the most form dependent one I've seen in a while. How will Utd gel under Ralf? Will Atleti get their defensive security back and will Lemar and Felix be fit and in shape?
Since I'm here I obviously have a soft spot for United, and would have rather seen this tie in the final, but alas. Hope it will be a fun game, I think there's a big chance Simeone will focus on neutralizing the high press, but occasionally he puts the focus on Lemar and Joao and in that case they could rule the midfield/left side together (if the aforementioned fitness [and shape] is there).
If Atleti is in the shape they are right now, I think United will win with their showing a bit more decisiveness, even if Atleti is showing more more moments skill. But if Atleti get their consistency-mojo back I think they will be favorites. But all in all it's too far away to judge and both teams are in too much of a process to predict the momentum two-three months from now.
This tie will be the most form dependent one I've seen in a while. How will Utd gel under Ralf? Will Atleti get their defensive security back and will Lemar and Felix be fit and in shape?
Since I'm here I obviously have a soft spot for United, and would have rather seen this tie in the final, but alas. Hope it will be a fun game, I think there's a big chance Simeone will focus on neutralizing the high press, but occasionally he puts the focus on Lemar and Joao and in that case they could rule the midfield/left side together (if the aforementioned fitness [and shape] is there).
If Atleti is in the shape they are right now, I think United will win with their showing a bit more decisiveness, even if Atleti is showing more more moments skill. But if Atleti get their consistency-mojo back I think they will be favorites. But all in all it's too far away to judge and both teams are in too much of a process to predict the momentum two-three months from now.
Thanks Stu
Exactly. I know it's some ways away, but they aren't even in that good of form. PSG can outdo us in the whole 'individual brilliance' thing that we leaned on for some long.
What's the irony here? ATK was Atletico de Kolkata, the current club has no collaboration with Atletico Madrid now. The jersey color is different.
The hyphen should be there when describing a noun. Please do let me know if it's otherwise. At least it's not as bad as saying Athletico.
Don't feel bad. Why are you so uptight about it if you don't care?
That may be, but this reeks of ignorance from people whose world starts and ends with the Premier League.
The lion does not concern itself with the opinion of sheep.
Real Madrid is so low class. I wish Benfica can actually beat them. You don't insult a fellow competitor like this.
Would be an incredible tale for Benfica to knock out real and Barca out of the CL in the same season, even if they’re not near their best.
Even though I would love to see Benfica tear op Madrid solely to see the face of Perez then, I very much hope Ajax denies them the chance...
We can get City in the quarters if we make it, it's a totally open draw from that point onwards.
It was really more of a hypothetical scenario, I don't think your team will have too much trouble knocking out Benfica.
MBappe gets the RM experience, hankies and boos included, before ever playing for them
good one.Lets see.. I think after the group stage we are favourite, but by margins.. We will definitely need to be very good to beat them..
I think it's safe to say the draw is not rigged
I think you'll be fine. Even in your current state you have far more gears in you than what this United team can muster in a few months.
I'd much rather play United in two months than Atletico.
Poor PSG
Spend all that money, sign Messi, etc, try to be some big shot club and they go out in the R16.
And then they lose their best player to the same team
Poor PSG
Spend all that money, sign Messi, etc, try to be some big shot club and they go out in the R16.
And then they lose their best player to the same team
Poor PSG
Sounds like a plan
I take it if we meet PSG in the final you won't bother going then.
It isn't disrespect or ignorance. I imagine most native English speakers when saying it out loud simply feel more natural saying "Athletico", "Athletic" is a word in our vocabulary and it is natural for people to say, you then get people typing in the way they're used to speaking it. It's just someone's brain doing an obvious translation but trying to keep it like the original.
Yes, that's probably it for some. Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen both existing leads to the same sort of thing, Leverkusen getting called Bayern Leverkusen. In that case though Bayern are the more famous so it probably influences it.
I remember loads of people used to to refer to Charlie Adam as Charlie Adams as Adams is quite common last name where Charlie is the only person I've personally heard of with Adam as a last name.
Think it's more what @Ixion said but that would be part of it too.
Sounds like a plan
At the risk of stating the obvious:
Bayern
City
Ajax
Chelsea
Liverpool
Real Madrid*
Villareal and Juventus I'm unsure because they're both shite atm. Could go any way
Atletico and United is pretty much going to be decided on how bad/rough Simeone is going to make this match and if Ronnie shows up. Being that is Atletico I'm guessing he will bring his A game at least over 1 leg
*Real Madrid is in much better but more importantly much more consistent form compared to PSG.
Bayern
City
Ajax
Chelsea
Liverpool
Real Madrid*
Villareal and Juventus I'm unsure because they're both shite atm. Could go any way
Atletico and United is pretty much going to be decided on how bad/rough Simeone is going to make this match and if Ronnie shows up. Being that is Atletico I'm guessing he will bring his A game at least over 1 leg
*Real Madrid is in much better but more importantly much more consistent form compared to PSG.
It‘s French. The „h“ is silent.
What?
We are 4/5 to qualify according to odds checker, while Atletico are 11/8. So we are marginally favored to get through. Not sure what the odds of qualification were when we last played PSG home and away, but I doubt they were that good. From memory, PSG were favored to qualify.
So you’re basically agreeing with me? We’re favorites vs Atletico. We wouldn’t be favorites vs PSG. Our odds of advancing are lower against Atletico.
Oh I see. Yes we are agreeing. I was using "higher odds" to mean "better odds," but that's not technically correct (even if people sometimes speak this way). I should have just said "better" and the intended meaning would have been clearer.