FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
What a joke. Clear red one that.
Champions League
- Thread starter El Flaco
- Start date
gregorrin10
Senior Member
Agreed. Ajax to win & over 2.5 and both to score most likely too.
wisconsincule
Senior Member
Benfica massive underdogs at home?? Ajax that good or what?
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
I agree. It should be fun game.
Atletico ManU could be good too, because both teams can meltdown any second. High hopes for today's games!
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
Allegri probably still thinks away goal is worth more than home.
BerkeleyBernie
Senior Member
Inexplicable decision by Lo Celso here. Any smart attacker would see the huge empty space inside staring at them. Lo Celso has his marker backpedaling almost with his back to him, Groeneveld has brilliantly drawn his marker out of the way out to the right. Fake the pass and quickly change direction back inside and Lo Celso is 1 on 1 with the keeper (or can play it to Groeneveld if de Ligt leaves Groeneveld to cover the ball). No way Lo Celso's marker could reverse fast enough to catch him. Lost opportunity.
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Messi983
Senior Member
Yeah, good that we're playing in an Elite European competition now.
It's ok, I've watched Villarreal yesterday (had a visit so missed most of the first half though) and will watch Ajax tonight.
More like Benfica had a lot of internal problems in last 2-3 months. Players have turned against Jorge Jesus who had to left at the end of December and now they have interim manager Nelson Verissimo. Not watching them regularly but from a few games (well, more like parts of the games) I've seen they're not exactly doing great after coaching change (they were actually doing well results wise under Jesus besides being thrashed twice by Bayern in group stage - although that 0-4 home loss was exaggerated as Bayern have scored three goals in last 10 minutes when Benfica went all in - and then also lost vs Porto in the league Cup 3-0 which was the game that eventually led to Jesus's dismisal - but I'd guess some things inside that locker room have gone wrong even before that game).
Results also not what they would expect. Have lost derby against Porto (granted it was just a few days after Verissimo took over when whole team morale was surely very low after what was going on) and are already 12 points behind them on the table. They've lost against Gil Vicente at home a few weeks ago and draw against mid/lower table teams like Moreirense and Boavista (in their last game when they throw away a 2-0 lead in last 15 minutes). And they've also lost Cup final against Sporting.
Ajax had their own Overmars drama that could affect the team but overall still a better team (and in a better shape mentally as they continue to dominate Eredivisie). They are favorites but I'd still expect Benfica giving them a good game, at least at home.
Fati_Future_BallonDor
Well-known member
half W for me, always the one goal which is missing
for today:
Atletico Manu: 2-2
Benfica Ajax: 0-1
serghei
Senior Member
[MENTION=20930]Messi983[/MENTION], there is no doubt CL is a bore until the semis. Every match is with the winner already known, with very few exceptions, and the groups are tragically bad.
Now that they took out the away goal rule, it's even worse. At least that made it more unpredictable and dramatic.
They need to revamp this and make the average CL game count more. A league + playoff format is badly needed.
CL is falling behind the EPL for me. EPL has more consistently top games and every game counts for something. The best game I've seen in weeks was City - Tottenham.
Now that they took out the away goal rule, it's even worse. At least that made it more unpredictable and dramatic.
They need to revamp this and make the average CL game count more. A league + playoff format is badly needed.
CL is falling behind the EPL for me. EPL has more consistently top games and every game counts for something. The best game I've seen in weeks was City - Tottenham.
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