Champions League Semi Final: Liverpool - FC Barcelona 4-3 agg.

[vlad]

Anyone else losing all respect for Liverpool? All Barca social media pages are flooded with arrogant pool fans claiming how they are going to smash us. I've never understood why they were so hated despite being so unsuccessful in their recent history, but am learning fast - they show zero respect for Barca.

You can find here barca fans saying how lpool will smash barca, what do you expect from oposition fans

 

[BarçaBarça]

Coutinho is in form and knows Liverpool better. On the other hand Dembele is the only player with real pace, who can threat on counter if Liverpool press high (which is their best chance against us)... I wonder what is best in the end. Of course if Dembele can deliver, he should play, but his recent form leaves no guarantees.

I bet Valverde plays Coutinho until the 60th minute where Dembele is subbed. I just hope we are leading at that time...

 

[vlad]

If dembele will play, lpool will also count on that he can lose ball easily and probably target that flank for counters. I see you mentioned his positive sides but totaly ignore his flaws, flaws that suits perfect for counter attacking team


Edit: i would also put him in last 20 minutes

 

[Howlgrana]

If dembele will play, lpool will also count on that he can lose ball easily and probably target that flank for counters. I see you mentioned his positive sides but totaly ignore his flaws, flaws that suits perfect for counter attacking team

The benefit of Coutinho is that he'll be extra motivated and more likely to score because of the psychological factor of this being against his old club. But yeh, they know his weakness of giving away the ball/not tracking back.

I would prefer to see Dembele as he did a game-changing run against Levante to open them up for our first goal, so he's getting back in form.

 

[henias]

If dembele will play, lpool will also count on that he can lose ball easily and probably target that flank for counters. I see you mentioned his positive sides but totaly ignore his flaws, flaws that suits perfect for counter attacking team


Edit: i would also put him in last 20 minutes

The lost balls wouldn't affect us that much. We are conservative by nature and would need extra pace upfront to cause some problems. If not the static game is going to be counter-effective even, easy for Liverpool to contain and push men upfront for mistakes on the middle since they are good at creating central overloads with dynamic full backs that put in good crosses. Salah is equally susceptible to lost balls, at an astonishing rate actually this season. Disposession is common for players outwide like Sterling to disrupt their defensive line, it's really not that big of a deal as many put out to be, like how many did last season.

Coutinho is not going to cause much of a problem, they will be focused on staying compact to prevent Messi from cutting inside. Would be easy to shut down Coutinho as well. Their shape is gonna stay perfect and unwavering, not something you would want if you wanna win at Camp Nou.

Camp Nou is the perfect chance to do something like this. No time for that cautious bs.

 

[Gaudi]

Reading a bit what their fans think...they are veeeeery confident

 

[Ernesto GOATverde Tejedor]

Reading a bit what their fans think...they are veeeeery confident

Arrogant - not confident - arrogant. Typical EPL fanbase that thinks everything is inferior outside of their overrated marketing Pub League.

 

[jairzinho]

4/8 english teams in european semifinals this season. they are on the rise again, deal with it.

They're (EPL Teams) making alot of noise lately but only when they start winning i'll take them seriously. Only one champions leauge in the last ten years for the 'best league in the world'. Impressive.

 

[Ernesto GOATverde Tejedor]

4/8 english teams in european semifinals this season. they are on the rise again, deal with it.

It's funny because when Spanish teams WIN (not just reach the semis) EPL fanboys say that's because La Liga is so weak the top teams can rest throughout the season, but now they are doing well in the CL, that is suddenly the barometer for the strength of a league again. How convenient.

 

[Ernesto GOATverde Tejedor]

there's no denying they have delusional fans but you have got to acknowledge that they are doing better lately. replicating their tribalistic attitude of "we are the stronger league" is just petty stuff since at the end of the day football is always evolving

Do not care one bit about which league is viewed as the stronger. Do care about the arrogance and disrespect shown towards the most successful team of the last decade, especially when they have not won a trophy to piss in. Dragging their knuckles talking about Andy Robertson and VVD, as if serial winners at every level Jordi Alba and Pique don't exist? Don't get me wrong I was growing up when they were mythical and winning everything, up until a month ago I wanted them to beat City but not now.

 

[Ursegor]

Still, you could just ignore the crap and reply to the good posts.

The Bayern one was the only key away game they needed to win and they did just that. I find Liverpool to be a very very good side, even though I agree the whining is just way over the top.

Of course they are, any team that is playing a 90+ points league season in a top league is. We can very well lose against Liverpool. If Monaco can put 6 goals in 2 legs past tactical grand master Sir Pep's 2 billion Euro team, we can also lose against the best Liverpool team in years. It's the nature of Cup games where margins are small. They score first from a set piece, we panic, one more counter goal and we're done. Sure, can happen.

It's just ridiculous that people would expect us to not only lose but get TRASHED Bayern-style even though Liverpool haven't trashed any top team the whole season and the circumstances in 2013 were unique. Which top team ever had its head coach fighting with cancer and sending tactical instructions via WhatsApp from across the Atlantic?

I don't even count Bayern's 1-3 loss as a trashing. One goal was a Neuer mistake, one goal was a corner, the last goal was at the end of the game when Bayern had given up. It's a rather heavy loss scorewise but far from a trashing. And that's against a garbage Bayern side under Kovac who is struggling to win Bundesliga. Why the fuck should we get trashed? We never got trashed in 2 years except once which was down to complacency after 4-1 in the first leg against a supposed "minnow" which the entire team undererstimated.

 

[wisconsincule]

Seeing that Digne is one of the best players in the EPl brings me confidence. It’s going to be a tough match but they haven’t played against us.

Imperative that we score and keep a clean sheet.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Yeah it's true. We usually show up vs good teams. Our team is motivate vs big teams.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Seeing that Digne is one of the best players in the EPl brings me confidence. It’s going to be a tough match but they haven’t played against us.

Imperative that we score and keep a clean sheet.

PL is overrated for sure. They have money but no brain. Toonmuh money for their own good.

 

[Neymessi]

Lol @ users here trying to push the narrative that we are just incessant pessimists who can never stay positive.

I would like to know why we should be optimistic. Oh well, I already know the answer to that like domination in the league, so few losses blah blah so let me rephrase and ask what is different this year that wasn't last year to the buildup of Roma

Same old horrible lineups like last season
Same old shitty subs
Same old shitty rotations and rest strategies
Same old mediocre boring play
Some old tons misleading wins thanks to luck or individuals like Messi after a mediocre team performance
Same old Messi saving the day after getting subbed in when he doesn't start and we are losing points
Same old misleading scorelines in CL by playing average (Chelsea last year, Manu this time)
Same old high spirits before the big CL match because we are doing so well in the league and have lost few matches all season (0 last time btw)

The buildup to Roma was totally similar and we got carved open like cake against Roma when a few of us were constantly trying to tell everyone that things weren't right. And we are facing a much better team than Roma and have more losses than last time and I don't see any drastic changes. Not to mention EV still played the gala 11 except Messi 3 days before the match, a mistake one of his assistants revealed in the media that he made last year when he was advised to rest some players before the match, and he still made it when we needed 1 win out of 4 matches to win the league, so he hasn't learned shit.

I am neither a pessimist nor an optimist, I am a realist who sees exactly what it is and I see nothing to stay optimistic about.