CL | 1/4 Final: FC Barcelona - FC Bayern Munich 2-8

[Tackle]

We need a few miracles in a row to win the CL.

1. Get past Bayern
2. Hope that Lyon somehow eliminates City if not, get past City
3. Beat whoever we get in the final. Atleti or P$G.

Geting past Bayern and City is extremely unlikely and if we reach the final, it'll be a miracle in itself.

Bayern will be the biggest test. If we get past them we likely win the entire competition.

Not too concerned about City. They are nothing special.

 

[FCBfan22]

Bayern will be the biggest test. If we get past them we likely win the entire competition.

Not too concerned about City. They are nothing special.

Compared to us, they are. They are faster, can make our oldies' stamina dissapear with passing around in a heartbeat. Yes, we can win if we reach the final. But City and Bayern are superior teams to this Barcelona. By a margin.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Napoli finished 7th this season in Serie A, behind Juventus, Inter, Atalanta, Lazio, Roma, Milan. We are talking about a mediocre team in Europe, who would probably go out against most contenders of the last 16.
And in the second half they looked much better, they even had decent chances. And I am sure many of you would say we were much better yesterday in terms of chances in the first half. The scoreline is completely distorting.
Here is what happened yesterday:

And Setien thinks they can do the same against Bayern?
A Bayern which does not let you approach the halfway line with intense pressing, and which when in possession suffocates much better defensive lines than our might defense at the moment.

And then Setien thinks hey can do it also against City?
So, he thinks the same strategy that "worked" against the 7th placed team in Serie A and one of the worst 16 teams left in Champions League, would work against the 2 out of the top-3 sides in Europe at the moment?

And then in the final?


Sing your prayers guys...

First off, people need to cool the Bayern hype. They have not met a team of Barca caliber all season long. Bundesliga isn't in a good shape right now and their opponents in CL was Tottenham, Olympiacos, Red Star & Chelsea. Barca for example had to play RM/AM/Inter 6 games this year and all better than any Bayern opponent.

Second, what is your alternative? Do you think a midfield battle would make us victorious? It was terrible against RM in Liga, terrible against Napoli too. We lost 9 points in 10 games playing it in league.
Bayern has fast wingers and if we played Setien ball we will be destroyed worse than 2013 because our CBs are slow and our FB can't be in attack and defense at same time.
Playing defensive helped us beat Liverpool in Barcelona 3-0 and they were far superior side than this Bayern and it is probably not close.
If we are gonna shit ourselves the way we did against Roma and Anfield second half, then no game plan would help us.

 

[Porque]

Did anyone watch the Bayern-Chelsea game?

Bayern ran less than Napoli did and only a few Km more than our lineup of no subs. Maybe they were not playing at their top game as the tie was all but over, but it is a huge drop off from their peak physical numbers.

Perhaps the Bundesliga post covid had been lower intensity than LaLiga and their physical preparation is further from their peak than we realise.

If there is any truth to this small detail gives me a glimmer more of hope. If we utilise our subs (lol. yeah right) we may be able to stand toe to toe with Bayern for a one-off 90 minutes.

City is a different ballgame though. These guys run more against Madrid than Liverpool did against us at Anfield. The advantage we would have against them however is a days extra rest.

 

[bismp]

Either Griezmann or Suarez have to be benched for Dembele.

Also,Puig has to start instead of Rakitic or Vidal.

But we all know we'll see the same old Rakishit-Busi midfield(hopefully FDJ can shine) and the MSG front line.

 

[JamDav1982]

Either Griezmann or Suarez have to be benched for Dembele.

Also,Puig has to start instead of Rakitic or Vidal.

But we all know we'll see the same old Rakishit-Busi midfield(hopefully FDJ can shine) and the MSG front line.

There is no way Barca would start Dembele after so long out and he doesn really suit the forward line as set up v Napoli and will be against Bayern.

Suarez should be dropped for someone else at AM and Griezmann put up top.

Griezmann is comfortable linking play in final third but looked lost yesterday when tht formation askd him to get ball deeper.

There is no threat at all in behind with Messi/Suarez and teams will just sit with high line while neither of them consistently bring others into play. It is all or nothing most of the time and trying to force openings with lot of possession lost.

Fine for one player.. Messi.. to do that but when have Suarez doing it as well then it is not nearly enough. Particularly in a Barca team that will sit deeper at times and defend.

 

[Devils]

Suarez - Griezmann
Messi
De Jong - Roberto
Busi
Alba - Lenglet - Pique - Semedo
MAtS​

We're gonna need the team to run their legs off. Keep Rakitic as far away from this match as possible.

 

[Porque]

There is no way Barca would start Dembele after so long out and he doesn really suit the forward line as set up v Napoli and will be against Bayern.

Suarez should be dropped for someone else at AM and Griezmann put up top.

Griezmann is comfortable linking play in final third but looked lost yesterday when tht formation askd him to get ball deeper.

It is a shame we didn't opt for Puig. If Setien had fears about his attacking play then these would of been minimised with him at AMC.

Hopefully this is one of two changes we make versus Bayern. Puig for Griezmann and Busquets for Rakitic. Also gives us 4 impact subs off the bench (Ansu, Griezmann, Dembele, Vidal).

Suarez - Messi
Puig
De Jong - Roberto
Busi
Alba - Lenglet - Pique - Semedo
MAtS

That is a strong bench.

 

[bismp]

At the very least the midfield should be Roberto-Busi-FDJ.

Vidal should be kept as a sub.

And Rakitic shouldn't play a single minute in this match(in fact he shouldn't play a single minute in a Barca shirt again)

 

[JamDav1982]

It is a shame we didn't opt for Puig. If Setien had fears about his attacking play then these would of been minimised with him at AMC.

Hopefully this is one of two changes we make versus Bayern. Puig for Griezmann and Busquets for Rakitic. Also gives us 4 impact subs off the bench (Ansu, Griezmann, Dembele, Vidal).

Suarez - Messi
Puig
De Jong - Roberto
Busi
Alba - Lenglet - Pique - Semedo
MAtS

That is a strong bench.

Suarez/Messi front line cant press, move, run in behind or link up play consistently.

Griezmann is far better as a two and bringing those aspects than Suarez is but he cant be dropped.

Setien would chose Vidal ahead of Puig due to his physicality without a doubt.

Could see that formation with Vidal in place of Puig v Bayern.

 

[Porque]

Suarez/Messi front line cant press, move, run in behind or link up play consistently.

Griezmann is far better as a two and bringing those aspects than Suarez is but he cant be dropped.

Setien would chose Vidal ahead of Puig due to his physicality without a doubt.

Could see that formation with Vidal in place of Puig v Bayern.

Yeah, but as you say Suarez can't be dropped. If I was going for fantasy then I would put Ansu in there even.

Good point about Vidal. My worry of him is apart from being a turn over machine, he would compromise our structure moreso than Puig. But yeah, Setien would likely opt for him ahead of Puig.

 

[Tackle]

Compared to us, they are. They are faster, can make our oldies' stamina dissapear with passing around in a heartbeat. Yes, we can win if we reach the final. But City and Bayern are superior teams to this Barcelona. By a margin.

City finished their league campaign with 81 points. We finished with 82. Generally speaking they do have the better squad and coach and can be magnificent on their night, but they are hardly clear favourites against us.

We are a mediocre side. City too have been a mediocre side this season, but with a higher ceiling. If they are firing on all cylinders they could smash us 5-0, but they are just as likely to be put out by Lyon.

 

[serghei]

Vidal - Busquets - FDJ should be the starting midfield.

 

[FCBfan22]

City finished their league campaign with 81 points. We finished with 82. Generally speaking they do have the better squad and coach and can be magnificent on their night, but they are hardly clear favourites against us.

We are a mediocre side. City too have been a mediocre side this season, but with a higher ceiling. If they are firing on all cylinders they could smash us 5-0, but they are just as likely to be put out by Lyon.

Would actually prefer Lyon's odds against City then ours. Against them you need a pressing high-workrate no bullshit side, where every player on the pitch puts in a shift. We are as far ad we can get from that at this point.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Vidal - Busquets - FDJ should be the starting midfield.

Why Vidal from the start?

As long as we don't start with Rakitic.. We should be okay.