Luis Enrique

[gatsu]

Tie is over.

I was a little confident against psg but juve is a completely different beast. They will not crumble under pressure and most of all this is one of the best team in the world in terms tactical IQ. Even barca pep in its best form cannot achieve such miracle.

Season is over at best we are getting the useless copa.

 

[Neymessi]

You are not dealing with a young relatively inexperienced PSG defence and midfield. You are going up against world class experienced Italians who are historically masterful at defending leads. This is what the Italians are known for and this is their identity.

What you are saying really no different than a team getting smashed at Camp Nou by a in-form Barcelona and then saying "we are stronger at home, we will just out posses and out pass Barcelona and beat them in the end".

Sure it is possible, but it is extremely unlikely to happen. With the 3-0 beating, we gave them a huge cushion and allow them to do what they do best.

Suddenly PSG are termed as a not so good side after the comeback but when they smashed us 4-0 everyone everywhere just couldn't stop praising them and people going on about how they will finally win a champions league this time. I don't think I saw many posts belittling PSG when we used to discuss a possible comeback in the match thread. Everyone would be going all praises as how it is a very hungry and godlike side and even considering a small chance of comeback against them is like underestimating PSG by a lot.

PSG did what we all expect juventus to do,park the bus, and we already did smash 6 past them. Yes their defence is better obviously but if we can smash 4 past PSG by playing okayish, can't we smash 3 or 4 past juventus if our players actually step their game up? PSG had no way a terrible defence considered by the majority before the comeback.

PSG even had unai emery who is like one of the best manager along with simeone of knockout matches and has made our life hell to get through even sevilla in knockout matches. Him having a 4-0 lead and then losing later is what no one would have expected.

My point is everyone had held PSG at a very high status after the 4-0 and people were making exactly these similar points more or less that are being made right now like they will park the bus and just have to see the game out and the tie is over and that they are not elche etc etc.

We can surely, surely make a comeback going all out. Its a bit tougher than PSG but not by a lot.

 

[gasgas]

Is that directed to my post? So is that funny because you think he is not good or because he is too great to be called good? If its the former you are dead wrong and if its the latter, then there is nothing wrong with calling great players good in general.

Buffon is the GOAT of goalkeepers.
You don't say Messi is a good forward, or Xavi is a goood midfielder

The bust kind of hurts more from an eyesore standpoint, than one of personal pride. I got used to the Paco avatar eventually. This one is gone midnight on May 11th.

This avatar is


Whoever made you put it must be hanged afterwards

Buffon is a good GK, but not a god. You can't bet and say he is surely going to make great saves. If we show clinical finishing we will score. Thats it

Where did you pull the 100 to 1 numbers from? Our chances to qualify are way more than that.

https://www.oddschecker.com/football/champions-league/barcelona-v-juventus/to-qualify

We are placed 5 to 1 to qualify.




Its a case of a useless statistic if you ask me. Sure their defence is great but they have only played sevilla,lyon,dinamo zagreb and porto before us in this season champions league. If we have a good day we can definitely match their defence. What you said is pretty much what everyone was saying in the PSG return leg.



Same thing everybody said for the PSG return leg.

Are you for real? Buffon is the best GK i have ever seen

Even in the UCL final 3-1 he stopped countless goals from going in (i rewatched the highlights)

 

[FlaFCB]

Suddenly PSG are termed as a not so good side after the comeback but when they smashed us 4-0 everyone everywhere just couldn't stop praising them and people going on about how they will finally win a champions league this time. I don't think I saw many posts belittling PSG when we used to discuss a possible comeback in the match thread. Everyone would be going all praises as how it is a very hungry and godlike side and even considering a small chance of comeback against them is like underestimating PSG by a lot.

PSG did what we all expect juventus to do,park the bus, and we already did smash 6 past them. Yes their defence is better obviously but if we can smash 4 past PSG by playing okayish, can't we smash 3 or 4 past juventus if our players actually step their game up? PSG had no way a terrible defence considered by the majority before the comeback.

PSG even had unai emery who is like one of the best manager along with simeone of knockout matches and has made our life hell to get through even sevilla in knockout matches. Him having a 4-0 lead and then losing later is what no one would have expected.

My point is everyone had held PSG at a very high status after the 4-0 and people were making exactly these similar points more or less that are being made right now like they will park the bus and just have to see the game out and the tie is over and that they are not elche etc etc.

We can surely, surely make a comeback going all out. Its a bit tougher than PSG but not by a lot.

It's not a "bit" tougher. It's night and day. Psg had a great home game vs Barça, but they bottled it big time. Lack of European experience. Something Juve have a lot, experience. They won't feel intimidated or panic like psg did. Their coach is not the coward emery either.

 

[Neymessi]

Buffon is one of the best gk ever. Saying he is "good, but not a god" is dead wrong, yes. Mats is a good gk.

I said 'is' which means present tense. A keeper can have an amazing career but be not that great currently. And he is not godly right now even though he is a great keeper.
Prime casillas,prime buffon,prime kahn will be godly.

Calling someone good means one can mean anything from good to great. You are just debating about needless semantics.

Are you for real? Buffon is the best GK i have ever seen

Even in the UCL final 3-1 he stopped countless goals from going in (i rewatched the highlights)

A goalkeepers role is very limited. He can only save a small portion of shots that are savable. The post I replied to was argued how the comeback is impossible BECAUSE buffon is playing. If we create enough chances and finish clinically we can score 4,5 or even 6.

It's not a "bit" tougher. It's night and day. Psg had a great home game vs Barça, but they bottled it big time. Lack of European experience. Something Juve have a lot, experience. They won't feel intimidated or panic like psg did. Their coach is not the coward emery either.

This is what I was talking about. Suddenly PSG are chokers and all this. You were definitely one of those who kept reminding every page in the match thread how we are being uselessly optimistic and there was hardly any chance of a comeback and anyone hoping for a comeback was most definitely underestimting PSG.

Emery is one of the best in grinding out knockout matches win. He did exactly what has worked against barca many times in the past, parking the bus

 

[serghei]

He has probably the best front line ever assembled and his last 4 knockout games results are 2-0 vs Arsenal 0-2 vs Atletico, 0-4 vs PSG, and 0-3 vs Juventus. Last 3 KO away games in Europe he is 0-9.

He is a decent manager. Villareal level. Not more than that. No good manager goes 0-9 in away games with that attack.

 

[KingMessi]

A goalkeepers role is very limited. He can only save a small portion of shots that are savable. The post I replied to was argued how the comeback is impossible BECAUSE buffon is playing. If we create enough chances and finish clinically we can score 4,5 or even 6.

Buffon is the GOAT goalkeeper and he has perhaps the best defensive line in football in front of him. Juve have only conceded 2 in this Cl campaign, and you expect us to put twice that past them in one game? We're not going to score 4, 5 or 6. I can appreciate that you believe in the team, I really do, but you have to be realistic. 4-1 would have been a better score line than 3-0.

 

[Devils]

Suddenly PSG are termed as a not so good side after the comeback but when they smashed us 4-0 everyone everywhere just couldn't stop praising them and people going on about how they will finally win a champions league this time. I don't think I saw many posts belittling PSG when we used to discuss a possible comeback in the match thread. Everyone would be going all praises as how it is a very hungry and godlike side and even considering a small chance of comeback against them is like underestimating PSG by a lot.

PSG did what we all expect juventus to do,park the bus, and we already did smash 6 past them. Yes their defence is better obviously but if we can smash 4 past PSG by playing okayish, can't we smash 3 or 4 past juventus if our players actually step their game up? PSG had no way a terrible defence considered by the majority before the comeback.

PSG even had unai emery who is like one of the best manager along with simeone of knockout matches and has made our life hell to get through even sevilla in knockout matches. Him having a 4-0 lead and then losing later is what no one would have expected.

My point is everyone had held PSG at a very high status after the 4-0 and people were making exactly these similar points more or less that are being made right now like they will park the bus and just have to see the game out and the tie is over and that they are not elche etc etc.

We can surely, surely make a comeback going all out. Its a bit tougher than PSG but not by a lot.

Your comparisons of PSG to Juventus are seriously undermining what Juventus are as a club and where their strengths are.

PSG coming to the Camp Nou and playing 10 men in the box an Cavani upfront wasn't playing to their strengths. In fact it went against everything they did right in the first leg. Of course there was the expectation for them to defend, who wouldn't, but their execution was terrible.

You know why we struggled against Atletico so much in recent CL campaigns? Because in the CL, under Simeone, the Calderon is a fortress where Atletico rarely concede goals and usually score 1 or 2. This is why they have been so great in Europe in recent history, they don't concede at home and they defend the hell out of their opponents in the away leg. It's their game-plan and they execute it to perfection. They know if they score one or two goals at home and concede none, they can put on a defensive masterclass in the away leg and claim the tie.

If we lost 3-0 at the Calderon, the chances of a comeback at the Camp Nou would be extremely unlikely....Well now we are going up against a team that has the same game-plan as Atletico, but are even more experienced and defensively masterful than they are this year.

Respect your oppositions strengths. Juventus have us right where they want us. Both Iniesta and Lucho admitted yesterday that this was a nightmare scenario because they know the Italians, they know Juventus are a club who thrives in these situations.

 

[serghei]

Our only chance is to go for 3-0. We can score 3. Key is not conceding, that is the near impossible task imo.

 

[Neymessi]

Buffon is the GOAT goalkeeper and he has perhaps the best defensive line in football in front of him. Juve have only conceded 2 in this Cl campaign, and you expect us to put twice that past them in one game? We're not going to score 4, 5 or 6. I can appreciate that you believe in the team, I really do, but you have to be realistic. 4-1 would have been a better score line than 3-0.

My point wasn't that buffon is not goat. It was that keepers role is limited and someone just said buffon alone is reason enough for us to not score in the return leg. A keepers role is very limited. A team can lose 5-0 and there would still be a chance that the keeper couldn't have done better in any of the goals.

Yeah its a tough job to comeback but a messi and neymar turning goat mode will surely make this better than "next to impossible".

 

[BBZ8800]

I get what you're saying, but in our current squad that simply does not apply. Technical vs Physical in terms of balance or heavily favoring one over the other is a debate that has no end. In context of our current squad, only Busi, Iniesta (on form), Rakitic(?) and Roberto have the bare minimum technical level to possibly forego and overshadow physical deficiencies or vice versa. Gomes is neither technically proficient and despite his physical stature, he has the physicality of basically a toddler. Arda can't play in the midfield period. Rafinha and Denis would qualify as Atletico style wide midfielders/wingers(?) in a 442. And Masche for all his qualities is not a good fit to play in a style of midfield such as Barca.

It's my opinion that technical play outweighs physicality if pitted against each other like we saw the physical French midfield overrun by technical and physically weak Spanish midfield in the International break. What plagues our midfield is years of mismanagement, negligence and outright incompetence when it comes to tactics and planning.

I wouldn't buy 3 physical midfielders.
BUT, I would personally (as a coach of Barca) NEVER play with 3 Xavis in midfield (ok, I would play with 3 cloned Xavis, but you get my point).
I would play with 1 guy like Xavi/Iniesta, one guy like Rakitic (but faster and technically better) and some Dmc like Busi but with some physical skills like Edmilson, Motta, Cocu etc.

Also, I would never play with 3 short midfielders and 3 short attackers, I hate that Pep's style.
It worked for some time, but when the opponents figured that out, it is totally sterile system.

So, I personally wouldn't buy Arda, Denis, Paco etc.
I mean, we already have 2 short attackers in Messi and Neymar, we have short Munir on a loan and then we buy Paco who is neither fast, neither strong nor anything.
Then when a team like Juve parks a bus, you don't have any options but trying over and over through the middle or waiting for a winger to dribble 2-3 players (and they are marked with 2-3 defenders all the time) and pass in the middle again.

Can you play long balls from time to time (in some actions)? No
Can you play crosses? No
Can you do something with attacking corners and free kicks? No

And then, our main targets next summer are Verratti (short), Coutinho (weak and short) or Bernardo (weak and short).
I love these guys, but we need some balance.
If we want Verratti, then we'll need some physical guys also.

 

[xXKonan]

I think it's amazing how the basic fundamentals have been disappearing since the 2014/15 season under Lucho. there's been so many games this season that arguably have been much worse than anything during the first half of the 2014/15 Pre-Moyes disaster.

There's so many games this season you look at the team and you wonder "What's the point of training when the team keeps playing like they only just kicked the ball for the first time?" yeah it's true the team has quality issues but the lack of proper coaching in most aspects is clearly missing.

With young players, you need to help coach them on their individual problems and what they need to do to improve and so on. play time is important as well but it feels pretty pointless if you give them a shit load of game time but don't bother to do anything else to help them work on the issues they got.

I think Gomes is the perfect example of this. He may not be Barca quality, but you get the feeling Lucho, has done jack shit to help him other than just throw him in the starting lineup no matter how bad he performs.

 

[FlaFCB]

I said 'is' which means present tense. A keeper can have an amazing career but be not that great currently. And he is not godly right now even though he is a great keeper.
Prime casillas,prime buffon,prime kahn will be godly.

Calling someone good means one can mean anything from good to great. You are just debating about needless semantics.



A goalkeepers role is very limited. He can only save a small portion of shots that are savable. The post I replied to was argued how the comeback is impossible BECAUSE buffon is playing. If we create enough chances and finish clinically we can score 4,5 or even 6.



This is what I was talking about. Suddenly PSG are chokers and all this. You were definitely one of those who kept reminding every page in the match thread how we are being uselessly optimistic and there was hardly any chance of a comeback and anyone hoping for a comeback was most definitely underestimting PSG.

Emery is one of the best in grinding out knockout matches win. He did exactly what has worked against barca many times in the past, parking the bus

Not semantics at all. You are under rating buffon. And yes, I wasn't expecting psg to choke. They did choke, blowing a 4-0 lead is nothing more than that. Even more with an away goal. It won't happen again.

 

[Neymessi]

Not semantics at all. You are under rating buffon. And yes, I wasn't expecting psg to choke. They did choke, blowing a 4-0 lead is nothing more than that. Even more with an away goal. It won't happen again.

It is semantics. You made this into a debate when I didn't even call him bad. You picked just one word, 'good' and argued that I don't consider him great. Pretty much semantics.

 

[FlaFCB]

It is semantics. You made this into a debate when I didn't even call him bad. You picked just one word, 'good' and argued that I don't consider him great. Pretty much semantics.

No, I picked your whole sentence. "Buffon is good, but he's not a god". When he actually is top 2 gk yet, even at his 38 or 39 years old. That comment was belittling him. Maybe you didn't mean that, but that's how it looked. So much, I wasn't the only one quoting you on that.