Champions League 2013/2014

[TornAndFrayed]

gonna watch that first half now, cheers

I was lucky to see PSG's first half. Very impressive.

And yea, there is a generational problem in France, those Nasri, Menez, Ben Arfa and many others have too much talent and too little brains

 

[Irish_Cules]

Gareth Bale cost more than the whole of Bayern's starting XI tonight.

 

[Semi-Neutral]

Thanks a ton for that mate, I actually won't have much to do over the next few days and will get a chance to watch. Cheers!

And Rosicky does have more defensive awareness, you're right there, but I don't know how much he'll help when you consider the pace of Dortmund's counter. Every bit counts I guess.

 

[Luftstalag14]

I think if we come across Bayern, we'll beat them, but we are the only team who look like doing it. Maybe Atletico could scrap their way through, maybe Madrid, maybe Arsenal (that would be wonderful ), but aside from that no one.

Semi, adore your everlasting optimism, even in the middle of our 0:7 defeat you were able to retain it. But seriously, we might give them a run for their money, I don't think it is a sure thing that we will beat them. We are marginally better than we were last season, our defense is still as shaky as an old lady. We are too slow in building up our attack, despite the possession %, we are not creating that many scoring chances. And we don't have a plan B.

BVB is the probably the only team that can beat Bayern now. I'd love to prove myself wrong, I still think we will have a very hard time playing Bayern.

 

[Semi-Neutral]

If we have a fit Messi and Neymar, that's already two or three goals right there, our midfield is in better form, Valdes is on fire, Sanchez and Pedro are in better form... And it's not just us playing better than last season, it's that I can't imagine Pep hunkering down and playing defensively against us. Knowing him, he'll want to prove that he is a good manager outside of Barcelona and he'll come at us and try to beat us at our own game; he would hate people saying he won by "parking the bus". And we are much better when a team opens up and tries to actually play against us; sure, Bayern's wingers are intimidating, they're much better in the air than us, their counters are pretty scary, but I feel we can hold them.

 

[Luftstalag14]

J

If we have a fit Messi and Neymar, that's already two or three goals right there, our midfield is in better form, Valdes is on fire, Sanchez and Pedro are in better form... And it's not just us playing better than last season, it's that I can't imagine Pep hunkering down and playing defensively against us. Knowing him, he'll want to prove that he is a good manager outside of Barcelona and he'll come at us and try to beat us at our own game; he would hate people saying he won by "parking the bus". And we are much better when a team opens up and tries to actually play against us; sure, Bayern's wingers are intimidating, they're much better in the air than us, their counters are pretty scary, but I feel we can hold them.

But they didn't park the bus when they beat us 7:0 last two times, did they? They came all out attacking, I thought.

Having Neymar is definitely a plus, as Messi is likely to be cornered and nullified every time he touches the ball.

And I just have very little faith in our defense, especially against those tall and physical Bayern players on headers. Also, Robbery will beat Pique easily, I am afraid.

 

[suckabov]

It isn't.

Dortmund have only beaten Bayern once in thier last 5-6 meetings and it was in the Supercup.

When was the last time Bayern beat Dortmund in Bundesliga? They drew twice last season and Dortmund beat them in the seasons before that.

Of course they can beat them. Dortmund is stronger than last season too. Bayern has never been the problem for Dortmund; losing the league was mostly due to dropping points against smaller teams.

I don't get the Bayern hype anyway, or the City hype for that matter, as I didn't expect City to be a tough oponent for them at all. So I don't really see City as a 'big club'. As for Bayern, sure they are a great team and among the favourites win it once again. But they had a poor showing against Wolfsburg and a few other Bundesliga teams. Didn't look unbeatable there at all. And it was clear from the start Bayern would finish top of their group, so no surprise there.

 

[Elite-BkD]

Just another reminder, that 7-0 has absolutely nothing to do with this season.

Messi was way below par and returning from an injury, Busquets was carrying an injury, Xavi was carrying an injury, and more importantly than any of that was the situation with Tito which we all know, and no disrespect to the man but he was utterly useless for that tie.
The team is performing at a completely different level at the moment, no comparison whatsoever.
Bayern are obviously a strong team, but to rate them based on how pretty their approach looked against City would be a huge mistake. There's definitely a good handful of clubs who could realistically beat them at the moment.

 

[oz187]

But they didn't park the bus when they beat us 7:0 last two times, did they? They came all out attacking, I thought.

No they didn't come out attacking. They played on the counter. When they got the ball(usually quite high up) they then did attack and got a few bodies forward, but their starting point and priority was stopping Barca playing through them. The tactics they used wouldn't work now against Tata's Barca, but now we have Pep who will likely do things differently were the teams to meet.

 

[suckabov]

Just another reminder, that 7-0 has absolutely nothing to do with this season.

Messi was way below par and returning from an injury, Busquets was carrying an injury, Xavi was carrying an injury, and more importantly than any of that was the situation with Tito which we all know, and no disrespect to the man but he was utterly useless for that tie.
The team is performing at a completely different level at the moment, no comparison whatsoever.
Bayern are obviously a strong team, but to rate them based on how pretty their approach looked against City would be a huge mistake. There's definitely a good handful of clubs who could realistically beat them at the moment.

Well said!
That Bayern-is-invincible-and-will-definitely-beat-us talk looks like overreaction to me, something that seems to be habit on here, at least if it's about something that could work against Barca.

 

[Gaudi]

Agreee with @zealot, ver impressive movement is their main strength, what also they have on us is strength in general, maybe stamina, counters and willingness to shoot from distance. It's much easier when you take a lead in 7th minute through long shoot.
They do lack our flair, spark, vision, but we must improve to be able to beat them. I would say it like this: we are still the best team when 100%, but we are still not there...if only we have this movement Bayern has.

 

[barca7788]

If we have a fit Messi and Neymar, that's already two or three goals right there, our midfield is in better form, Valdes is on fire, Sanchez and Pedro are in better form... And it's not just us playing better than last season, it's that I can't imagine Pep hunkering down and playing defensively against us. Knowing him, he'll want to prove that he is a good manager outside of Barcelona and he'll come at us and try to beat us at our own game; he would hate people saying he won by "parking the bus". And we are much better when a team opens up and tries to actually play against us; sure, Bayern's wingers are intimidating, they're much better in the air than us, their counters are pretty scary, but I feel we can hold them.

arguable. madrid doesnt play defensive anymore against us and we have looked vulnerable against them.

 

[darthvader7888]

If we have a fit Messi and Neymar, that's already two or three goals right there, our midfield is in better form, Valdes is on fire, Sanchez and Pedro are in better form... And it's not just us playing better than last season, it's that I can't imagine Pep hunkering down and playing defensively against us. Knowing him, he'll want to prove that he is a good manager outside of Barcelona and he'll come at us and try to beat us at our own game; he would hate people saying he won by "parking the bus". And we are much better when a team opens up and tries to actually play against us; sure, Bayern's wingers are intimidating, they're much better in the air than us, their counters are pretty scary, but I feel we can hold them.

Madrid, Milan and Bayern didn't park the bus against us last season...

 

[Alissa]

I saw the game last night and it was the first time that I really really liked Bayern's game, they impressed me. It will be difficult for any team that will have to face them, they look dangerous in every freaking aspect.

 

[XaviMessiGirl]

I saw the game last night and it was the first time that I really really liked Bayern's game, they impressed me. It will be difficult for any team that will have to face them, they look dangerous in every freaking aspect.

Watched Bayern instead of Juve eh? I don't blame you