Football

[Gen]

I would 8 2 be a Barca fan

Yeah shame my son was so upset he was even upset with Shakira.

 

But something he said stood out.. this loss has saved them..they now have to make changes.

[Gen]

Barca fire sale coming in 3.2.1

 

Get them while they are erm hot.

 

 

Also side note.. Messi has a release clause in his contract that he can activate now (or soon..can't remember)and leave on the free..just so that everyone knows.

Edited August 14, 2020 by Gen

[Gen]

Piqué: “It’s an embarrassment. We can’t be in Europe like this. The club needs changes, structural ones, not players or managers. I’m the first to leave if new blood is needed, because now, we’ve hit rock bottom. We can’t keep covering it up any longer.” https://t.co/UcmMqCN3cn

 

 

 

 

I see the oposing candidate (Font) is calling for emergency elections (elections are due next tear I think).

Edited August 14, 2020 by Gen

[RoddieJ]

Woah.... What carnage was that!!

 

I’m so up set that I didn’t watch the game. Missus is not well so Zi had to fall asleep, lol...

 

I’m going to watch this right now. At least the 7-2 lesson that Bayern gave Spurs in the group stage last year, doesn’t feel sooooooo bad. But I didn’t expected this, although I do agree that both Bayern have been really good this season, and Barca have been really average this year.

 

Weird seeing Coutinho score 2x against his parent club (who don’t think he flopped).... [emoji1787][emoji1787]

[Gen]

Woah.... What carnage was that!!

 

I’m so up set that I didn’t watch the game. Missus is not well so Zi had to fall asleep, lol...

 

I’m going to watch this right now. At least the 7-2 lesson that Bayern gave Spurs in the group stage last year, doesn’t feel sooooooo bad. But I didn’t expected this, although I do agree that both Bayern have been really good this season, and Barca have been really average this year.

 

Weird seeing Coutinho score 2x against his parent club (who don’t think he flopped).... [emoji1787][emoji1787]

Yeah look I expected Bayern to give them a 4 goal hiding.. but that was just humiliation.

 

The defensive line was terrible Ter Stegen was really bad that first half.. time and time again misplaced balls playing out from the back.. how do you continue playing out from the back when Bayern are pressing the way they did. The midfield complete collapsed..

 

The quality of some individual players have covered up so much of what is wrong at the club ... now they are forced to have a look at the whole structure.. and its not just players.. although I believe there are a few that really should call it a day.. but they still have so much quality in the squad.. change is needed.

 

Bartomeu will probably hang on to his seat as long as he can or until elections (can't see him stepping down voluntarily)but I suspect Abidal and Setien will be the first to go.. they have spent something like €800m so certain the sale of Neymar and have a wage bill of I think €600m

Edited August 15, 2020 by Gen

[Gen]

Take a bow Lyon take a bow.

A very well organised team..[emoji122]

My youngest son called it.

Edited August 15, 2020 by Gen

[RoddieJ]

I recall someone, a couple of weeks ago, taking about how uncompetitive the football is in Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1...

 

Well, now we have the last 4 in Champions League between 2x French and 2x German teams... :fencelook:

Edited August 16, 2020 by RoddieJ

[Gen]

I recall someone, a couple of weeks ago, taking about how uncompetitive the football is in Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1...

 

Well, now we have the last 4 in Champions League between 2x French and 2x German teams... :fencelook:

Yeah maybe now they'll start watching other leagues.. sometimes I think they only think football exists in England. The Enlgish pundits on the coverage we get should also just start watching football..it's actually quite shocking how they lack knowledge and understanding of other leagues.. its actually embarrassing..they spent most of the post game analysis trying to find fouls that weren't there and controversy to justify the loss. They also continue to say that the PL is the best in the world.. crap..every league brings different qualities to the game..as a football fan if you can't see it you are just ignorant..no wonder when it comes to these losses they can't understand what went wrong.

 

.. .. KDB said it quite well in his post game interview..they didn't do enough and weren't good enough esp in the first half when asked about calls that could've gone the other way.

 

Any case..

 

I quite enjoy this format of just the one game...it brings a completely different dynamic to it and I also like the 5 subs rule.. hope they keep it going forward.

Edited August 16, 2020 by Gen

[Benjamin]

Take a bow Lyon take a bow.

A very well organised team..[emoji122]

My youngest son called it.

I honestly thought City would cruise in after De Bruyne’s goal. Maybe got sucked in by the commentary, but Lyon just upped the gas . Well done. 

 

[Skubarra]

I recall someone, a couple of weeks ago, taking about how uncompetitive the football is in Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1...

 

Well, now we have the last 4 in Champions League between 2x French and 2x German teams... :fencelook:

 

Good point - although the focus of the noncompetitive football discussion was more the Italian league...

 

But I don't think a knockout competition is ever really a good measure of these things, with a bit of luck in a one-off game an average team can beat a better team and can come far without facing the best teams (does anyone (aside from their fans) consider Tottenham to be the second best team in Europe last year? or Arsenal the best team in England this year?).

 

So I pity coaches from big teams in the "noncompetitive" leagues whose jobs depend on their performances in the CL.

[Gen]

I honestly thought City would cruise in after De Bruyne’s goal. Maybe got sucked in by the commentary, but Lyon just upped the gas . Well done.

 

Yeah thats the problem with getting coverage that is heavily biased towards certain teams... sure City looked to have the upper hand at stages and we're definitely unlucky with the Sterling miss and created a lot of chances in the second half.. but credit to the Lyon guys . They stuck to the plan and were able to read the threats really well..

 

Lyon are very organised we saw it with the Juve games and earlier in the competition. Garcia is a motivator and a good tactician as well.. that we know from his time at Roma as well.. they kept calm didn't panic and stuck to their game plan

 

 

Something that was quite noticeable right from the start..was how quickly they went back into their defensive formation after losing the ball higher up the pitch.. that nullified city's counter and prevented the overload on the sides.... city could not get in behind the defence thenway they normally do.. Lyon kept it very tight in the midfield as well..[emoji122]

[RoddieJ]

This format of single game “world-cup-style” knockout is absolutely brilliant. It makes the Champs League a whole lot more exciting

[Skubarra]

This format of single game “world-cup-style” knockout is absolutely brilliant. It makes the Champs League a whole lot more exciting

 

I agree, the format is very exciting, but precisely because it is unpredictable and "anyone" can win it as opposed to a league where the best team will always rise to the top.

[Gen]

This format of single game “world-cup-style” knockout is absolutely brilliant. It makes the Champs League a whole lot more exciting

Agreed.. would love for them to keep this format.. but the revenue lost and the home ground advantage issue will unfortunately prevent that [emoji53]

[Gen]

I agree, the format is very exciting, but precisely because it is unpredictable and "anyone" can win it as opposed to a league where the best team will always rise to the top.

The two hot favourites PSG and Bayern have been exceptionally good throughout the tournament.. ..they are both in the semi's so they did rise to the top .. there wasn't really any stumbling through the group stages ..Bayern won every group stage game (Bayern won every game in total) PSG won 5 and drew 1 in the group stage... while PSG had a result they had to overturn against Dortmund, Bayern just steam rolled through.. so yeah IMO they have been the best teams during this tournament and are in the deservedly in the semi's. So too Leipzig who have been really good throughout..Lyon played themselves into great form after stumbling a bit in the group stage.

 

The WC brings another dynamic of bringing players who play for different clubs all over the place together for a tournament..then anything can happen.

 

Or course an element of luck sometimes plays a part but that is so with all formats and all competitions.. sometimes the football gods smile on you, sometimes they don't.

Edited August 16, 2020 by Gen

[Gen]

This year of course is a bit more unique than other years,. some leagues finished earlier than others etc etc..this could have played a part.. we wouldn't know for sure it has advantages and disadvantages.. what we do know is we will all remember this season.. what a crazy one it has been...besides the world Cup and Euros I don't recall ever watching as many games in such a short period of time before.[emoji1787]

Edited August 16, 2020 by Gen