Champions League 2017/18

[sickstar]

ok lets just give up on la liga and copa and focus on the CL next season then lol

This is what I was saying for weeks.
If winning a double doesn't mean anything anymore, why try hard?
Barca could be 3rd (at least pass for next season's competition and lose at quarter final copa), but win CL.
Or at least lose the copa, still aiming for la liga. But before every knock off, save players.

 

[Ursegor]

This is a bit exaggerated. Bayern today outshot RM 17-7, a vast majority of which were point blank chances that could easily have ended up in the goal. Liverpool's attack this season is, without a single doubt, superior to Bayern. And they also excel most at scoring in transition/counter which RM is weakest at defending. And Salah right now is in a level of form that no Bayern player can dream of touching. Before this game they were dominated by Juve who were also able to feast on defensive lapses against them.

RM will have several great chances against Liverpool for sure, but it will be the same the other way around. I expect this (potential) final to be a straight up shootout and the team that is more clinical on the day will go home victors. RM being the epxerienced champions they are have the bigger advantages and are easily the favorites, but Liverpool's chance is higher than people make it seem. I certainly think they are a better matchup against RM than Juve was last year, and I think this is the most cohesive/on form offense that RM has faced in the CL in the past 3 years outside of maybe this Heynckes Bayern side (who collectively were great today despite the defensive mistakes and poor finishing). Overall one of the most interesting tests they will have had in a while.

I don't buy the hype. There is a reason why they are behind Manchester United in the league table and Manchester United are terrible.

No one can convince me that Milner and Henderson will hold their own against Modric, Kroos, Casemiro, Isco while Lovren will keep Ronaldo in his pocket just because Salah is in the form of his life and Liverpool scored 5 past Porto and Roma. They are one Salah injury away from gifting the game to Real before the kickoff whistle has even blown. Psychologically.

Liverpool away from home is also nothing special.

City 5 - Liverpool 0
United 2 - Liverpool 1
Tottenham 4 - Liverpool 1
Arsenal 3 - Liverpool 3
Everton 0 - Liverpool 0
Newcastle 1 - Liverpool 1
Watford 3 - Liverpool 3
Swansea 1 - Liverpool 0
West Brom 2 - Liverpool 2

Some glorious Liverpool results this season.

The entire hype is based around Klopp having Pep's number and pasting 2 Europa League teams in the CL at Anfield.

I'm really sorry, Real Madrid fans can already celebrate their threepeat.

 

[Benzema10]

Bayern will not lose in Bernabeu, and Roma will win in their stadium.

 

[FCBfan22]

Bayern will not lose in Bernabeu, and Roma will win in their stadium.

I'd say Roma 3-2 Liverpool in the 2nd leg. Real and Bayern might very well go to ET and maybe penalties.

 

[El Flaco]

Carvajal is out for 2-3 weeks due to injury & will miss the 2nd leg vs Bayern


http://www.marca.com/futbol/real-madrid/2018/04/26/5ae1bcee22601dd6158b45be.html

 

[FCBfan22]

Carvajal is out for 2-3 weeks due to injury & will miss the 2nd leg vs Bayern


http://www.marca.com/futbol/real-madrid/2018/04/26/5ae1bcee22601dd6158b45be.html

Roll in Achraf. Still, I doubt that Ribery can really exploit that.

 

[El Flaco]

Roll in Achraf. Still, I doubt that Ribery can really exploit that.

Probably Lucas Vazquez as a makeshift RB if Nacho still can't play.

 

[Benzema10]

Vasquez will do fine as RB. now there is a free spot up for Bale/Asensio

 

[serghei]

Bayern - Madrid was one of the most boring games I've seen in quite a while in a CL semifinal.

 

[Morten]

We can make due without Carvajal, we lose something going forward, but defensively, we are probably better off without him tbh, he has been a liability in defense the entire year pretty much.

 

[diDi7]

I think it's gonna be similar to last time. We'll almost get there, and then some stupid shit will happen and we'll regret not taking our chances at home.

It really is spectacular how this keeps happening. Oh well, I guess it's just a game of football after all.

 

[Ritchie]

i think that as barca fans we have to stop daydreaming about Pep's team and take a hard look at the fact that real are on the cusp of 4 CLs in 5 years. they have been far more efficient in the CL and we need to be very realistic about the fact that, for example, messi simply needs to do better in the CL. i see a lot of you posting about how even though real keep on winning the CL noone is talking about them like they talked about pep's barca. newsflash: pundits and neutrals hardly care about that, they continue to praise real and CR, and we are just too biased to admit it. In fact considering how dominant this real has been pep underachieved with us (and after us), and real frankly look unbeatable in a two-legged tie. there are posts in other threads about how there are more competitions in world football than the CL but holy shit, nobody cares about the fucking Copa and it means little ultimately if suarez and messi were great in the copa if they could do shit all against Roma in the CL. this is tough but we need to aspire to better things and expect more from our top players or else we risk a small-club, small-titles mentality.

in 2011 when real beat us in the copa Xavi rightly said that Barca was more interested in more important trophies. thats the attitude we need, not this yearly copa nonsense.

We win the Copa every year while they win the CL every year and don't give a shit about the Copa. I was mocked on here for saying why laugh at the Leganes defeat because they're going to win the CL again as that's all they're interested in this season.

The club has gone small time again and rested on its laurels. 3 in a row should have been Pep's legacy (they'll make it 4 next year as they're unbeatable in a two leg tie.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Bayern - Madrid was one of the most boring games I've seen in quite a while in a CL semifinal.

Crosses, crosses and more crosses. andboom counter attacks

 

[Ritchie]

As far as luck goes, take a look at our draws.
Not everybody can be Liverpool or Barca, getting Porto and Rome on their way to the final.
Yes i know Liverpool knocked out City, but Porto - City - Rome isnt exactly equivalent to PSG - Juventus - Bayern, though i guess PSG is only tough on paper.

Its about as hard of a route you can possibly get, and im fine with needing luck against so many good teams, when we were so unlucky to not get a simple easy draw this year.
If we only got Rome we would pretty much be guaranteed another CL-final, but our path to the final is a difficult one.

This whole nightmare started with that 15/16 season where Real were in a real mess and you got the gift of Wolfsburg (who you struggled to beat in the quarters) and then an awful Man City in the semis who couldn't even get forward to create a single chance in 180 minutes and scored Real's 1 goal for them. In the final a missed Atletico pen,, a dodgy goal and a sneak on penalties.

Last season an this season the luck is unreal but at least you're playing against decent sides. PSG, Bayern and Juve have been total bottle jobs though as were Atleti 4 years in a row.

At this level some of the amateurish defending for Real's goals is a pure embarrassment. Chilellini, Rafinha, Lo Celsca etc.

Ronaldo's overhead you can take your hat off to, but most of the goals are just outright gift wrapped.

 

[Benzema10]

Real madrid will lose, i hope we just lose 0-1