Champions League

[Barcilliant]

There is a degree of luck and refereeing decisions going your way to win this CL format, which is basically 6 KO games to reach a final for the elite clubs.

Thing is Real got there so many a times that you feel everything goes their way in most cases. They just can flip a switch and raise their level when it matters. This year they were on the back foot in all KO rounds but still managed to overcome the odds. FFS it's hard to even explain how they were dominated by PSG, Chelsea and City but still went through.

Curious as to how they would fare in the Super League type format.

They would not be so dominant in a league type format. A do or die KO cup format suits them better. With us it's the opposite.

 

[Temptation]

The main reason is that in the last 20 minutes of a game, most of these teams have butterflies in their stomach with excitement and nervousness and start feeling shaky on the inside.

Real Madrid have so much belief and confidence that they just remain focused with ice in their veins and like cold blooded psychopaths they take advantage of these mental blocks in their opponents and keep pushing and more often than not these guys crumble under the RM pressure. RM just put their head down and keep trying. You feel like they don't even look at the time left, opposition and other external factors. They're never in 2 minds. Their focus penetrates the opponents ultimately. Also helps when the opponents are bottlers like PSG and City with no dedication and are shit scared to lose.

Another thing about RM is they have won so many CLs they have a bit of a "We're not scared of losing", "if we lose, we lose" vibe. In their psychology, they don't have any fear of consequences. It's like a psychopath passing a lie detection test with ease.

 

[malvolio]

Correct. They just have the nous and more importantly the mentality for this competition. They thrive on pressure and don't buckle under it like our soy boys. The CL is an obsession for the Madrid.

They've also did well in assembling a squad of very good players. They were dormant for 40 years before the galacticos took over and then they hit the jackpot 10 years later in putting together the galacticos v2.0 core of players who are helping them win things even now.

And tbf they were irelevant for the past 3 CL seasons.

 

[Porque]

Last season Madrid were completely outplayed by Chelsea and lost the league to Atletico.

This summer they just recruited Alaba and Camavinga. A free signing and one for the future.

So we must not overreact on their project.

We beat them convincingly (albeit without Benz) and then collapsed for the second time this season.

The gap isn't so big nor dramatic. But we need a solid market and to move away from our sacred cows.

 

[Temptation]

Last season Madrid were completely outplayed by Chelsea and lost the league to Atletico.

This summer they just recruited Alaba and Camavinga. A free signing and one for the future.

So we must not overreact on their project.

We beat them convincingly (albeit without Benz) and then collapsed for the second time this season.

The gap isn't so big nor dramatic. But we need a solid market and to move away from our sacred cows.

The real gap is in mentality, ruthlessness and squad building abilities. Barca are too nice and loyal at times.

 

[CatalinR10]

The real gap is in mentality, ruthlessness and squad building abilities. Barca are too nice and loyal at times.

We'll never do anything with mental midgets like Alba , Mats , Busquets playing at the same time in the field

 

[KingLeo10]

They recruited Alaba because no one is bigger than the club and they told Ramos to take a hike. On a paper it's a simple few recruitments but at Barca it would have never happened , still dishing out 5 year contract to past it players and acting like beggars while being the one of the biggest clubs.

The way they moved on from CR7 and Ramos is something no other club could have accomplished.

People are going to say Bayern or Pool would have done the same, but I disagree. Those players are 4 x CL winners and like upper echelon of all time greats. Pool and Bayern haven't even had those kind of players (aside from Neuer who I think is just now getting a new contract...so he'll prolly decline hard while on that contract).

 

[Wambo]

it all returns to nothing, it just keeps tumbling down tumbling down tumbling down

 

[CatalinR10]

He was very unlucky last night

 

[Horatio]

Mentality Monsters > Mental Midgets

 

[Temptation]

Klopp could unironically go to Barca next.

It's the kinda club he loves. Lesser media attention than Real, huge loyal fanbase, etc. Only thing missing is the underdog feeling there was at Dortmund and Liverpool.

But if I had to predict his next job, I'd predict Barca.

Pep will coach Brazil NT after this.

 

[Horatio]

Klopp could unironically go to Barca next.

It's the kinda club he loves. Lesser media attention than Real, huge loyal fanbase, etc. Only thing missing is the underdog feeling there was at Dortmund and Liverpool.

But if I had to predict his next job, I'd predict Barca.

Pep will coach Brazil NT after this.

Thought klopp was gonna extend with liverpool

 

[Porque]

They recruited Alaba because no one is bigger than the club and they told Ramos to take a hike. On a paper it's a simple few recruitments but at Barca it would have never happened , still dishing out 5 year contract to past it players and acting like beggars while being the one of the biggest clubs.

Barca would have never entertained buying Camavinga because replacing Kroos unique skillset is impossible.

Great point and post. This emphasises the biggest gap between Barcelona and Madrid off the pitch. While Temptation correctly pointed out the difference in mentality.

The irony is that when Laporta came he knew how to cleanse the team with Ronaldinho and Deco going. I guess foreign fading stars are easiest to replace. But they forget that Barcelona has more international fans and sponsors than local fans now, is the biggest port of entry for tourists in Spain, and that loyalty to catalan players in a sports club is both passe and xenophobic.

No fan is clamouring to visit Barcelona to see Pique Beckembauer Tortilla, Busquets Rijkaard Broodjes, Jordi Alba Rivelino and Sergi Roberto Talmud.

 

[Temptation]

Thought klopp was gonna extend with liverpool

Ha has.

I was just guessing Klopp and Pep's next jobs.

 

[Devils]

PSG and Chelsea arguably have a better squad than Real Madrid. City surely does.

But Real Madrid have a winning psychology that far exceeds any of those teams.

Barca is a million, million miles away from having that kind of mentality.

There are probably 30+ teams with a better winning mentality than Barca in Europe (I'm not joking), while there are about 10 teams who have a better squad quality.