Not quite
Champions League
- Thread starter El Flaco
- Start date
Not quite
Barcelondoner
Member
Why didn't Guardiola start Sane or substitute him on much earlier? That player's an absolute gamechanger.
Saving him for the league run-in and FA Cup Final? lol
Saving him for the league run-in and FA Cup Final? lol
He has done it to Sané all season, no idea why. But I know if love him at Liverpool. Amazing player.
gregorrin10
Senior Member
Liverpool are gonna need to really kick it up a gear in the league now. City now have just the EPL to play for, and they are ahead by one point minimum, if they win all their remaining matches. This gives us a big chance against a distracted Liverpool side, torn between two competitions. Most of their fans would actually prefer to win the league more than the CL, since they are waiting 29 years to win the league title.
We can wreck them if we're on point. Even though they have pace and hard work on us, especially in midfield, we have technique and talent, which we know can easily prevail. Play smart and let them run around in circles like headless chicken, chasing the ball. We can destroy them in midfield and our attack is capable of ripping apart the best defenses, much less one where Lovren or Matip are in it, even if a top 3 center-back right now like Van Dijk is beside him. While we also have a top 3 center-back in Pique right now, but alongside him we have another top 10 (maybe even 5 in this form) one in Lenglet.
So while I'm not over confident, I'm certainly not scared of them, like some of you are. It's truly a final before the final, two possibly best teams on the planet right now coming face to face, gonna be two cracking matches, hopefully filled with goals just like tonight was at the Etihad! But I trust in my team to prevail !
Even though they have their strengths, we also have ours. And most importantly, we have something they don't, the GOAT. Messi is a like a beast this year, out for blood. He wants the CL at all costs, he said so in July. And now after all the biggest names like Juve, PSG, Bayern, Real, City are all out too, I'm confident he won't let it slip through our fingers. But we do need to win at least with 2 goals at the Camp Nou to really put pressure on them instead of falling it on us before the Anfield trip. Liverpool will be the toughest opponent Barcelona faces in Europe since Pep’s Bayern in 2015, when we interestingly also played the first leg at home, but that could be a good thing too, like we saw in that tie. The team and Valverde know they need to go full force right from the start of the tie in this situation, like we did it against Bayern in 2015 and succeeded.
But for that to materialize Valverde needs to go full bat shit crazy rotation (ala Huesca) again on the weekend game before the 1st leg, I don't care if the whole B team plays, which is home against Levante by the way, (we really have been lucky with the fixtures right before CL this season, first against the last team on the table away, now against a relegation candidate at home), where even our reserves should take the win without much problems, as we know we're a lot stronger at home. But even in the unlikely event that we lose that game, we'd still have a 6 points advantage for the last 3 rounds, which basically guarantees us the title. Maybe even more, since in that same time period Atletico play Eibar away (this weekend) and Valencia at home next midweek, so they could lose points too!
But hopefully we do manage to beat Sociedad at home this weekend and Alaves away next Tuesday to give ourselves complete cover for that Levante game in 9 days. In my opinion, if we manage to win the Sociedad and Alaves games, not one of our meant starters for the Liverpool game should play the Levante match, to really minimize any chance of injuries.
Hopefully EV continues to be 100% focused on CL regarding his team selection. Next week is where our shot at the treble truly begins.
We can wreck them if we're on point. Even though they have pace and hard work on us, especially in midfield, we have technique and talent, which we know can easily prevail. Play smart and let them run around in circles like headless chicken, chasing the ball. We can destroy them in midfield and our attack is capable of ripping apart the best defenses, much less one where Lovren or Matip are in it, even if a top 3 center-back right now like Van Dijk is beside him. While we also have a top 3 center-back in Pique right now, but alongside him we have another top 10 (maybe even 5 in this form) one in Lenglet.
So while I'm not over confident, I'm certainly not scared of them, like some of you are. It's truly a final before the final, two possibly best teams on the planet right now coming face to face, gonna be two cracking matches, hopefully filled with goals just like tonight was at the Etihad! But I trust in my team to prevail !
Even though they have their strengths, we also have ours. And most importantly, we have something they don't, the GOAT. Messi is a like a beast this year, out for blood. He wants the CL at all costs, he said so in July. And now after all the biggest names like Juve, PSG, Bayern, Real, City are all out too, I'm confident he won't let it slip through our fingers. But we do need to win at least with 2 goals at the Camp Nou to really put pressure on them instead of falling it on us before the Anfield trip. Liverpool will be the toughest opponent Barcelona faces in Europe since Pep’s Bayern in 2015, when we interestingly also played the first leg at home, but that could be a good thing too, like we saw in that tie. The team and Valverde know they need to go full force right from the start of the tie in this situation, like we did it against Bayern in 2015 and succeeded.
But for that to materialize Valverde needs to go full bat shit crazy rotation (ala Huesca) again on the weekend game before the 1st leg, I don't care if the whole B team plays, which is home against Levante by the way, (we really have been lucky with the fixtures right before CL this season, first against the last team on the table away, now against a relegation candidate at home), where even our reserves should take the win without much problems, as we know we're a lot stronger at home. But even in the unlikely event that we lose that game, we'd still have a 6 points advantage for the last 3 rounds, which basically guarantees us the title. Maybe even more, since in that same time period Atletico play Eibar away (this weekend) and Valencia at home next midweek, so they could lose points too!
But hopefully we do manage to beat Sociedad at home this weekend and Alaves away next Tuesday to give ourselves complete cover for that Levante game in 9 days. In my opinion, if we manage to win the Sociedad and Alaves games, not one of our meant starters for the Liverpool game should play the Levante match, to really minimize any chance of injuries.
Hopefully EV continues to be 100% focused on CL regarding his team selection. Next week is where our shot at the treble truly begins.
raskolnikov
Well-known member
They still shouls have been trough though. Their whole attacking power is insane and would be a real problem if we were to face them in the final.
Sane, De Bruyne, Sterling, Aguero, Jesus, barnardo silva, Mahrez and David Silva...
Spurs barely survived and were very lucky. Good for cl though.
FCBarca
Mike the Knife
AS’s resident referee Iturralde González commented: ”It hits his hand first then his hip and the UEFA instructions are clear: you can't score if it hits your hand, even if it’s involuntary. It doesn't matter if the elbow is tight to the body. If it happens to a defender it's not a penalty, but if it's an attacker it has to be disallowed. Rossetti has told the UEFA referees.”
He added: "Irrati (the VAR) - the number one VAR official - advises Çakir because he's seen a hand. When Çakir comes back from seeing the images he tells the players 'I didn't see anything. It hit his thigh.' They didn't play him the view from behind where you can see it hits the elbow. The error from the VAR is not showing the two key images. Why? The question is getting it right, not how long it takes."
AS’s resident ref's conclusion: "Manchester City are out because the VAR wasn't used properly".
He added: "Irrati (the VAR) - the number one VAR official - advises Çakir because he's seen a hand. When Çakir comes back from seeing the images he tells the players 'I didn't see anything. It hit his thigh.' They didn't play him the view from behind where you can see it hits the elbow. The error from the VAR is not showing the two key images. Why? The question is getting it right, not how long it takes."
AS’s resident ref's conclusion: "Manchester City are out because the VAR wasn't used properly".
So according to the rules, the goal should not have stood. Damn. That's going to sting for City for the rest of the season. On the flipside, they can now bulldoze their way to the PL title without a care in the world. So its a glass half-empty/full situation depending on what kind of a person one is. Next up is Spurs again in the PL. And you'd better believe City will be aching for payback.
Blaugranaa
New member
It's hard to understand why the referee didn't get this angle when he had to rewatch the situation.
That's one of the things I don't understand about VAR implementation. If they're going to use it, they should be thorough and cover all bases. Take your time. You're stopping play anyway, so if you're going to disrupt play, at least take the time to get things right.
You too? I am disappoint.
Messi983
Senior Member
Home of Barca Fans
