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

[Vilarrubi]

Can this happen again?

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If this happens again this game 3 years ago will be the last reason for it happening lmao

Man United beat us AND Real Madrid in pre seasons......

 

[JedBanker]

I miss the days of when a high press would get torn to shreds by the xavi and iniesta combo. Unless we do something completely different I just cant see our midfield dealing with their pace. It is a real shame Valverde never put in a real effort to try integrate coutinho in the midfield. I feel like him and arthur could have given almost the same dynamic that xavi and iniesta had...not on the same level of course. But at least a mid that would not require messi to drop so deep to bring the ball forward.

 

[Howlgrana]

I miss the days of when a high press would get torn to shreds by the xavi and iniesta combo. Unless we do something completely different I just cant see our midfield dealing with their pace. It is a real shame Valverde never put in a real effort to try integrate coutinho in the midfield. I feel like him and arthur could have given almost the same dynamic that xavi and iniesta had...not on the same level of course. But at least a mid that would not require messi to drop so deep to bring the ball forward.

Yeah I agree with the first part. Unfortunately there is no prime Xavi and Iniesta to counter hard that style. Xavi alone would be the perfect antidote to Liverpool's pressing intensity.

I don't think Coutinho could ever have operated in that role effectively, he has become too Premier Leagueified, meaning, he's got too trained in the English game-style of being loose with his passes and touches and technique has suffered. In this game we're gonna have to rely on Rakitic and Artur finding those passes behind Liverpool's defence. Busquets can do it occasionally but I suspect he'll be too deep during the games.

 

[clemente]

I wouldn't be afraid of anyone if it was a final, because we are a different team in finals for some reason and everyone is always intimidated, but Liverpool for 2 legs is a problem

 

[GOAT_SUAREZ]

I miss the days of when a high press would get torn to shreds by the xavi and iniesta combo. Unless we do something completely different I just cant see our midfield dealing with their pace. It is a real shame Valverde never put in a real effort to try integrate coutinho in the midfield. I feel like him and arthur could have given almost the same dynamic that xavi and iniesta had...not on the same level of course. But at least a mid that would not require messi to drop so deep to bring the ball forward.

We'll win easily.

 

[booge]

I am absolutely astonished the difference there is in the opinion on which team will win. The bias is unreal from either set of fans. It's a walker over for Liverpool in the eyes of United and Liverpool fans in their forums.

Their literally speaking the way you guys are on here lol.


wow!!!!

 

[Givenchy]

I am absolutely astonished the difference there is in the opinion on which team will win. The bias is unreal from either set of fans. It's a walker over for Liverpool in the eyes of United and Liverpool fans in their forums.

Their literally speaking the way you guys are on here lol.


wow!!!!

majority of them don't even watch Barca or la liga. according to PLtards, La liga is a 'farmers league' despite Spanish teams dominating the overrated English teams over and over again in Europe

they live in their own little bubble and usually blame their own mediocrity on the PL's 'toughness'

 

[booge]

majority of them don't even watch Barca or la liga. according to PLtards, La liga is a 'farmers league' despite Spanish teams dominating the overrated English teams over and over again in Europe

they live in their own little bubble and usually blame their own mediocrity on the PL's 'toughness'

thats very interesting then it's like thier living in thier own universe/bubble.

 

[jairzinho]

I wouldn't be afraid of anyone if it was a final, because we are a different team in finals for some reason and everyone is always intimidated, but Liverpool for 2 legs is a problem

As strange as this sounds, I prefer Liverpool over 2 legs as opposed to Athleti or Juve.

 

[raskolnikov]

Atleast the matches will be a lot of fun. Both barca and Liverpool will go out swinging like two boxers brawling it out.
Home match first can be an advantage if we get a good result.
If we strike first we can take their high intensity counter match away from them since they need to score.
Im hoping for a Bayern 2015. Remember though, Barca is pretty unbeatable in camp nou in cl. If we get a 2-0 type win we should be in a good position to travel to anfield and qualify.

 

[Centauri B]

majority of them don't even watch Barca or la liga. according to PLtards, La liga is a 'farmers league' despite Spanish teams dominating the overrated English teams over and over again in Europe

they live in their own little bubble and usually blame their own mediocrity on the PL's 'toughness'

The last decade of European football has been dominated by Spanish clubs to an astonishing degree with Real/Barca winning 7 out of 10 CLs, including the last 5, Atleti making two CL finals and winning 3 ELs, Sevilla winning another 3, Bilbao making another final, and Spanish teams winning 9 out of 10 Super Cups!!!! By comparison, PL clubs have only won 1 CL and 2 ELs. Yet, half a good season from PL clubs (partly thanks to a huge dose of luck, Spurs, United and indeed Liverpool were all very lucky to get out of the GS) is enough for PL fans to act smug as if it was 2008.

Don't get me wrong, the PL is showing great strength this season, but as per usual, its fans are going overboard. Just imagine what these people would be saying if they had a decade anywhere near as good as La Liga has had in recent years.

On a similar note, this is a post from Redcafe, from a self-styled expert:

It's going to be a Liverpool vs Ajax final... Liverpool are going to win the whole thing. I absolutely hope I've got that wrong.

Some of the attempts not to see how Liverpool's strengths are a hellish problem for this Barcelona side are hope overriding the reality of the situation, I think. It will take a mammoth effort from not only Messi but also the midfield unit to kill the tie before they even get to Anfield. Liverpool will beat them handily at home, I suspect. Busquets and Suarez are not the players they once were and the former, in particular, is going to have to have a couple of games for the ages to stave off the unsettling tactics designed to suffocate supply to the front line. He isn't as press resistant as he used to be and disrupting him can shake the whole Barca side as it will drag Messi deeper and deeper, which in turn forces the attack to have to go it alone - Suarez is not going to do much without Messi in close proximity.

Further, Barca rely on Alba galavanting to create width and an outlet ball. It's not a good idea vs. to expose your flank to the counter against the pace Liverpool break at.

If Messi has a top performance, a lot of this will be redundant and he can kill the tie, but I'm not sure he will. The absolute worst thing of all is if Liverpool score early at the Nou Camp. It'll be a walk over if that happens as they are then more likely to score on the break than Barca are to break them down.

Spurs are decimated and Ajax are young, aggressive.and persistent. Spurs need to stay in the tie in the 1st leg and make the second a winner takes all match. Delli Alli also needs to step up as they need more than Son to be on his game to make the second leg a contest.

 

[FC B]

Klopp's Liverpool is impressive in KO stages. They never been kicked out of KO stages after playing 10 doubles and only losing two matches out of 20, they've got past Augsburg, Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund and Villarreal in EL and Hoffenheim, FC Porto x2, Manchester City, AS Roma and Bayern in CL.

Whilst Valverde was knocked out by mighty Roma after winning 4-1 in the first leg...

Gonna be very difficult but certainly doable. Got to play an excellent game at Camp Nou and get at least a decent result for the second leg, ideally like they did vs. Bayern in 2015 cause if they won't I don't see Barca going into the final.

 

[Vilarrubi]

Klopp's Liverpool is impressive in KO stages. They never been kicked out of KO stages after playing 10 doubles and only losing two matches out of 20, they've god past Augsburg, Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund şi Villarreal in EL and Hoffenheim, FC Porto x2, Manchester City, AS Roma şi Bayern in CL.

Whilst Valverde was knocked out by mighty Roma after winning the 4-1 in the first leg...

Gonna be very difficult but certainly doable. Got to play an excellent game at Camp Nou and get a good restult for the second leg, just like they did vs. Bayern in 2015 cause if not I don't see Barca into the final.

There's stats all over the place for and against us. Like us only losing 1 in 51 home games in the CL since 2010. It's more or less 50/50.

 

[FC B]

There's stats all over the place for and against us. Like us only losing 1 in 51 home games in the CL since 2010. It's more or less 50/50.

Not only stats, look of how they play, it seems their strenghts are our weakneses, gonna be really tough for Barca imo.

 

[Vilarrubi]

Not only stats, look of how they play, it seems their strenghts are our weakneses, gonna be really tough for Barca imo.

They've also lost against PSG, Napoli and City this season all teams who are good with possession and attack. It's definitely not as one sided as you make out.