UEFA Champions League 2014-15

[Ryu Hayabusa]

They did struggle they had very few chances.

Real madrid

Maybe that had something to do with the fact that Moyes played ultra-defensive football for 180 minutes with 10 players in their own box.


I have no idea how EE can mean Real Madrid.

 

[StarLord]

Bayern are better than us. Simple as. From an objective viewpoint and a subjective.


Objectively better because: 1. They could field 2 full starting 11's. They have WC backup players for almost every position
2. Have been dominating their league and as shit as it is, it's still a good achievement.
Subjectively better because: 1. Pep is arguably the best coach in the world right now. The magic of having Pep is a huge plus to that team.

They are really good, but not unbeatable. RM last season took them to the cleaners. If we play them it would need to be a counter attacking style. They play possession football but nowhere near as direct as we do. This could work in our favor. I would prefer RM to go through and face Bayern again, since I believe they are the only team who can beat Bayern comfortably. I would in fact root for RM when they play against Bayern, because I know for a fact we can beat RM comfortably when on form and with motivation.

1. Their strength in depth matters little if we are at full strength. That factor simply will not come into the equation. What you need to examine first is the respective starting XIs of the two teams. Are they better in that department?

2. Their league is not shit in the slightest. In fact, the Bundesliga ranking is very close and will almost certainly overtake the EPL ranking next season. What you meant to say I think, is that our league is better, and more crucially, far more competitive than theirs. We are locked in an epic title race, while they are walking their own due to a lack of a second great Bundesliga team.

3. The role of managers is grossly exaggerated by fans and pundits alike. As good as Pep is supposed to be, the fact remains that he has had success with only supremely talented groups of players etc. He also failed miserably with us on two occasions. I am of course referring to the 09/10 vs Inter, and 11/12 vs Chelsea. It was partly his fault that we failed those semis we should have easily won, especially against Inter. And as great as Pep may be, he could not prevent Bayern's drubbing last season at the hands of Real Madrid. Bayern have also not been genuinely tested this season. The only team Barca and Bayern played in common this season, has been Man City, and I think it is absolutely safe to assert that we have looked the most accomplished side.


Now don't get me wrong, Bayern are indeed our number one rival for the Champions League (unless Real Madrid can rediscover late 2014 form, in which case we will have two uber-rivals) and they do have the more than considerable advantage of having only the CL to worry about which is a massive luxury we cannot even dream of. The thing is that people have been overrating them for some time now. People have been overrating Chelsea all season long as well, and look what happened to them. If you can recall, the vast majority of this forum were dismissing our potential for this season, and considered our team as vastly inferior not only to Bayern and Real Madrid, but also to Chelsea.

Now, I think that we should not worry about Bayern that much, our next rivals are PSG and they are darn good and could really hurt us. We can talk much more about Bayern Munich if/when we eliminate PSG. If we do eliminate PSG, then our rivals will almost certainly be:


1. Bayern Munich (98%)
2. Juventus (95%)
3. Real Madrid (85%)*


*Yes, I don't think that Atletico can keep their amazing track record against Real going.

 

[trsn]

Now you know


Their depth didnt matter last season when they struggled to beat Moyes' Man Utd or when they got slaughtered by EE

Why you everytime bring on last season things? Last season we struggled with our top form after winning BL. This season I dont think we will have the same problems. Believe me, we are much stronger than last season. I would say we are going to our form from 2013.

 

[Ryu Hayabusa]

3. The role of managers is grossly exaggerated by fans and pundits alike. As good as Pep is supposed to be, the fact remains that he has had success with only supremely talented groups of players etc. He also failed miserably with us on two occasions. I am of course referring to the 09/10 vs Inter, and 11/12 vs Chelsea. It was partly his fault that we failed those semis we should have easily won, especially against Inter. And as great as Pep may be, he could not prevent Bayern's drubbing last season at the hands of Real Madrid.

That is odd, Pep is to blame for Barca's failures but he is not to blame for Bayern's failure against Real last season? He himself admitted to have been the culprit.
And in fact, Bayern generally have the upper hand over Real when the two meet (outside of last year and the galacticos years). Only a few years ago, it only appeared close in result when Jupp's Bayern met Real in the semis when in fact they were the far superior team for 180 out of the 210 minutes.
Pep simply got his tactics completely wrong against Ancelotti, even though it was completely obvious how he would let Real play.

 

[StarLord]

That is odd, Pep is to blame for Barca's failures but he is not to blame for Bayern's failure against Real last season? He himself admitted to have been the culprit.
And in fact, Bayern generally have the upper hand over Real when the two meet (outside of last year and the galacticos years). Only a few years ago, it only appeared close in result when Jupp's Bayern met Real in the semis when in fact they were the far superior team for 180 out of the 210 minutes.
Pep simply got his tactics completely wrong against Ancelotti, even though it was completely obvious how he would let Real play.

Pep should have rotated right before the Inter way game, instead he fielded a full strength team versus Espanyol away late on a Saturday night ( a game we still could only draw) Of course Pep could not know that we would have to drive all the way to Milan by bus, but still.

The reason why Bayern have a very good record versus Real Madrid is because the two teams met very frequently during the weak years of Real and the best years of Bayern Munich.

As for the 11/12 semifinal tie, I keep hearing Bayern fans say that they were supremely better than Madrid in that tie but I just can't remember such thing ever happening. Keep in mind, that more possession does not equal that a team is playing better. If that were the case, then Barcelona were better in all of their matches for the past 10 years or so. The question is, did Bayern create more chances than Real Madrid over the two legs? I don't think that is true. Also keep in mind that Real Madrid were chasing a league title that season, and sandwiched right between the two Bayern games, they had to play us in the Camp Nou. Bayern on the other hand, were completely indifferent over their own league. It's an extra advantage that Bayern have over both Barcelona and Real almost every season. Bayern either win their own league very easily, or are completely indifferent to it. For the Spanish giants, having the Clasico rival win the league is a disaster. There is no such worry for Bayern, which means that their absolute top priority is the CL every single season, every single game.

As for last year, Bayern played their own game, and Real Madrid were extremely efficient at countering it. As soon as the first Ramos header went in, it was game set and match. It doesn't take too much for Real Madrid to finish off Bayern, especially with Bayern not getting any away goals.

 

[te amo barca]

I wonder why do you defend Bayern on barcaforum after what they did to us in 2013?

 

[Ryu Hayabusa]

As for the 11/12 semifinal tie, I keep hearing Bayern fans say that they were supremely better than Madrid in that tie but I just can't remember such thing ever happening.

Obviously a case of selective memory due to your bias (why would you remember two matches several years ago in vivid detail?) towards Barca rather than Bayern (if not even outright antipathy for Bayern, which seems to be the case given what you've written thus far).

Bayern did not only dominate possession but had goalscoring opportunities to easily win 4 matches, while allowing very little on the other end (relatively speaking to what Real was usually allowed at that time). Also Real was gifted a penalty right from the start (and by gifted I mean not by Alaba, but by the ref) of the second match. Real was the better team for the first 30 minutes of the 2nd leg, but other than that almost invisible due to being suffocated by Bayern's pressing yet they were rather efficient in capitalizing on the few openings they had (as usual...).

 

[Ryu Hayabusa]

I wonder why do you defend Bayern on barcaforum after what they did to us in 2013?

I never claimed to be a Barca fan
I have admiration or rather respect for them, but not more.

 

[linetty]

Thanks, I completely forgot and wasn't aware at all.

That's how good they are. Any decent team and they're trashed on the counter. Stop hyping up them to heavens just because you beat some crap teams 7-0 or 9-2 or whatever the score you wish.

 

[StarLord]

Obviously a case of selective memory due to your bias (why would you remember two matches several years ago in vivid detail?) towards Barca rather than Bayern (if not even outright antipathy for Bayern, which seems to be the case given what you've written thus far).

Bayern did not only dominate possession but had goalscoring opportunities to easily win 4 matches, while allowing very little on the other end (relatively speaking to what Real was usually allowed at that time). Also Real was gifted a penalty right from the start (and by gifted I mean not by Alaba, but by the ref) of the second match. Real was the better team for the first 30 minutes of the 2nd leg, but other than that almost invisible due to being suffocated by Bayern's pressing yet they were rather efficient in capitalizing on the few openings they had (as usual...).

No, I do remember pretty well, and what you are saying is at least inaccurate. The bias accusation that you hurl against me, I can just as easily use against you. If you have any good highlights of that game, then I would be more than happy to review them.

You seem to remember very well that Real Madrid had a very cheap penalty awarded in their favor, but you completely forget that Bayern's penalty (far more important as it resulted in an away goal) was also uber-cheap.

 

[Hamzah]

I don't think so pepe bowled him over

 

[Ryu Hayabusa]

That's how good they are. Any decent team and they're trashed on the counter. Stop hyping up them to heavens just because you beat some crap teams 7-0 or 9-2 or whatever the score you wish.

Yes, because Barca never look weak against fast transition counters, right?
Blame Pep for that unnecessary ultra-high line. The height Jupp had that line was perfectly balanced, Pep's is not, yet he refuses to adjust it.
We will simply come back here and see who was right in their bias after the two Porto legs and possibly the semi-final legs or even the final. If Bayern happens to get under the rails when they eventually meet either Barca or Real, you are welcome to rubb it in my face, but don't expect any mercy if it is the other way around either

 

[te amo barca]

I never claimed to be a Barca fan
I have admiration or rather respect for them, but not more.

Yeah I know that you don't cheer for Barca, just asking. Because it's clear that really few people will agree with you on BARCAFORUM.

 

[Ryu Hayabusa]

If you have any good highlights of that game, then I would be more than happy to review them.

No, not really. Just had a quick look on youtube, but the only clip that wasn't done completely in some epic heroic bs style, was one posted by the Real Madrid channel which even had the Real ensign hard coded into it. So that hardly counts as unbiased or balanced.

 

[StarLord]

I don't think so pepe bowled him over

Just went back and found some highlights of that semi on youtube.

The Real Madrid penaldo was a clear handball, but it was also unintentional as Di Maria's cross/shot was very powerful and the Bayern defender was not far away. I would not whistle that penalty if I were the ref.

The Bayern Munich penaldo, is very unclear. I have not seen a convincing camera angle for it. Pepe seems to be making some degree of contact with Gomez (?) but is it enough to award a penaldo? I would not have awarded any of the two.

As for Bayern's avalanche of goal-scoring opportunities in that game, all that I could unearth were two half chances. One was very early on in the game after a tremendous Alaba run that resulted in a Ribery one on one, but Casillas was already too close to him and blocked the shot. The second chance, was a through ball for diesel-powered Gomez, who needed more than enough time to control the ball for 3 Real Madrid defenders to neutralize him. This according to most Bayernistas was a display of total dominance over Real Madrid. OK.