Champions League

Ode to Django

You're not even a real journalism
Guess Villarreal had an injection of cash just now because they've stepped it up and starting to create chances since the goal

tenor.gif
 

JohnN

Senior Member
My take:
1. City, PSG
2. Chelsea, Liverpool, Bayern
3. AM, Real, Juve
4. Manu, Bvb, tottenham
5. Barca, Arsenal, Porto, Ajax, etc..
 

malvolio

Senior Member
My take:
1. City, PSG
2. Chelsea, Liverpool, Bayern
3. AM, Real, Juve
4. Manu, Bvb, tottenham
5. Barca, Arsenal, Porto, Ajax, etc..

5th tier are just there to pass the groups. even though i could see porto doing better than teams from 3rd and 4th tiers as they have pedigree(don't know about their current status).

otherwise it all depends on Messi's state of mind. as he will surely get along well on the field with neymar and mbappe, he always does with good players.
 

JamDav1982

Senior Member
If Liverpool team all fit would have them in top tier with PSG and City.

After that Chelsea/Bayern and much of a muchness from there down.

Not sure why Spurs, Arsenal etc are there as not in CL and better team than them in EPL last season.
 

BBZ8800

Senior Member
I see that a lot of people rate City and Psg as the strongest.

Ok, we'll have a good trolling spree in May of 2022 then.
Remember:
1. father Pep hasn't won a CL in 8 attempts after Barca, even though he had a CL winners Bayern and unlimited budget Man City.
Why on earth would something change this season, especially with fans returning to stadiums which means 0:3 defeats for Pep's team in quarters and semis on away games.
This season was his golden opportunity because away matches were played without fans.
And choirboys teams (like Barca and Pep's teams) usually crumble under pressure and under yelling of 80 000 opponent's fans.
That is one of the reasons why City went this far this season.
With fans, booing and aggressive fouls back in 2022, we'll probably see a good old sulking contest from Pep's team.

2. about Psg, Messi more or less had 9 years of mysery in CL matches.
And in the last few years, he almost turned into a non factor in big games.
Yet, in the next season he will be almost 35 by the time of quarters and semis.
Not only that, he is paired with an eternal loser Neymar, with whom he already played at Barca for 4 years and managed to get past quarters only once, even though back then, they were 8 years younger than in a spring of 2022 (and played in the most expensive attacking trio ever = MSN)

So, basically, people aren't valuing patterns, history, mental strength, age and real problems of teams but they just rate fancy names:
Oh, Messi, that team will surely win, lol.
Omg, Pep is the coach, that team will surely win.

Those two teams will win shit, as in majority of the last 8-10 years of Pep and Messi.
Sorry.
 
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malvolio

Senior Member
I see that a lot of people rate City and Psg as the strongest.

Ok, we'll have a good trolling spree in May of 2022 then.
Remember:
1. father Pep hasn't won a CL in 8 attempts after Barca, even though he had a CL winners Bayern and unlimited budget Man City.
Why on earth would something change this season, especially with fans returning to stadiums which means 0:3 defeats for Pep's team in quarters and semis on away games.
This season was his golden opportunity because away matches were played without fans.
And choirboys teams (like Barca and Pep's teams) usually crumble under pressure and under yelling of 80 000 opponent's fans.
That is one of the reasons why City went this far this season.
With fans, booing and aggressive fouls back in 2022, we'll probably see a good old sulking contest from Pep's team.

2. about Psg, Messi more or less had 9 years of mysery in CL matches.
And in the last few years, he almost turned into a non factor in big games.
Yet, in the next season he will be almost 35 by the time of quarters and semis.
Not only that, he is paired with an eternal loser Neymar, with whom he already played at Barca for 4 years and managed to get past quarters only once, even though back then, they were 8 years younger than in a spring of 2022 (and played in the most expensive attacking trio ever = MSN)

So, basically, people aren't valuing patterns, history, mental strength, age and real problems of teams but they just rate fancy names:
Oh, Messi, that team will surely win, lol.
Omg, Pep is the coach, that team will surely win.

Those two teams will win shit, as in majority of the last 8-10 years of Pep and Messi.
Sorry.

mate, city and psg have been in semis and final for the past two years. there aren't many clubs around to challenge them as they are constantly renewing and improving their squads with better players.

spanish clubs are in the mud or nowhere near as good as they were. italian clubs are dead at CL level. that leaves us with chelsea, liverpool and bayern as contenders for city and psg.

so, would it be unusual that from those 5 top teams that one of city or psg to make it to a final?
 

BBZ8800

Senior Member
mate, city and psg have been in semis and final for the past two years. there aren't many clubs around to challenge them as they are constantly renewing and improving their squads with better players.

spanish clubs are in the mud or nowhere near as good as they were. italian clubs are dead at CL level. that leaves us with chelsea, liverpool and bayern as contenders for city and psg.

so, would it be unusual that from those 5 top teams that one of city or psg to make it to a final?

Psg is fine, they had two good years, but they lack something.
Neymar is injured, older and not a good leader.
Mbappe is hot and cold.
The rest of the team is meh.
Imo, Messi will not solve problems because he will change team's dynamics and he will slow them down a lot and the play will go through him all the time.

About City, they had 1 good season in Pep's 5 seasons with them.
In the first two KO rounds they played very bad German teams (so, a lucky draw), and vs Psg they were weaker but scored some wtf goals and went through.
So, basically, City played two strong ties this season: vs Psg and City.
Against Psg they scored lucky goals when they were down and Psg lacked mental strength and leaders to return.
When City faced the first "normal" team (Chelsea), they lost right away.
** and again, we played without fans, which is a dream of choirboys teams led by Pep's cleanshaven nice guys.

For whom will I cheer and who can beat City and Psg?
= good old semi-normal teams: Bayern, Liverpool, Chelsea.
Plus, both Psg and City can always go out against someone like Atletico and Juve.

And of course, Pep can go out against ANY English team, even against Man Utd.
You can never underestimate Pep, his ability to pull some experimental lineup and to lose against anyone.

Also, there is an element of know-how/experience where Psg and City are eternal CL loosers, compared to Bayern, Liverpool, Chelsea who have all won 1-2 Cls in the last 10 years.
 
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malvolio

Senior Member
Psg is fine, they had two good years, but they lack something.
Neymar is injured, older and not a good leader.
Mbappe is hot and cold.
The rest of the team is meh.
Imo, Messi will not solve problems because he will change team's dynamics and he will slow them down a lot and the play will go through him all the time.

About City, they had 1 good season in Pep's 5 seasons with them.
In the first two KO rounds they played very bad German teams (so, a lucky draw), and vs Psg they were weaker but scored some wtf goals and went through.
So, basically, City played two strong ties this season: vs Psg and City.
Against Psg they scored lucky goals when they were down and Psg lacked mental strength and leaders to return.
When City faced the first "normal" team (Chelsea), they lost right away.
** and again, we played without fans, which is a dream of choirboys teams led by Pep's cleanshaven nice guys.

For whom will I cheer and who can beat City and Psg?
= good old semi-normal teams: Bayern, Liverpool, Chelsea.
Plus, both Psg and City can always go out against someone like Atletico and Juve.

And of course, Pep can go out against ANY English team, even against Man Utd.
You can never underestimate Pep, his ability to pull some experimental lineup and to lose against anyone.

neymar, mbappe and messi will have that league on cruise control. they only need to push themselves for a couple of CL KO games. they now added ramos and messi for experience and leadership.

city will probably add harry kane and improve further. lucky draws or not. sure pep is his own worst enemy, but that doesn't mean they won't be there or thereabout.

good old semi-normal teams: Bayern, Liverpool, Chelsea :lol: oil club chelsea and bayern who treats the league as psg do in france, even hoovering all talent from the rivals.
 

JohnN

Senior Member
I don't disagree that city and PSG have failed on the big stage, but realistically if you have to rank them on potential, you have to put them on top. From the traditional strong teams, only Bayern ( if lewa performs miracles again) can, on paper, challenge them, so I don't see the disagreement.
Barca right now are a group stage team. If we get a bad draw (Liverpool, Porto and Russian team perhaps), we could even be eliminated in the group stages.
 

snowy

Well-known member
..

So, basically, people aren't valuing patterns, history, mental strength, age and real problems of teams but they just rate fancy names:
Oh, Messi, that team will surely win, lol.
Omg, Pep is the coach, that team will surely win.

Those two teams will win shit, as in majority of the last 8-10 years of Pep and Messi.


Sorry.

errr no you're not

and that's a vanilla/stevia malibu prediction duuuude :mathieu:


Given their age and shaky defense, PSG's attack will have to score way above par to grab Big Ears and many pundits already predicting a Bayern vs one of Pool, Manu, City Final.

I like the underdogs so calling a final made of 2 of Atalanta, Barca and PSG :coffee:


Even better, I'm calling Leeds, Brentford, Palace, Troyes and Montreal to kick ass make top 5 in their respective leagues. Mark this post!
 

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