⚽UEFA Champions League Discussion Thread -- 2021/22 winner - Real Madrid!

[Woodie]

So far Xavi's problem is that don't have the forward qualified on the front, Luuk de jong is underperforming while lord Braithwaite and Aguero are still having problems with stamina. what he can do now is work which exists team, that makes him thinking what formation he can use.

There is not much reason to say Barcelona can win the match unless Depay, Coutinho and Dembele play well throughout the match. Depay shone with his country where he has now scored several goals during the world cup qualifiers while Dembele has not been able to fully give hope as he has only had a few minute after recovering from injury. I hope for some good news ahead of the game, but let's see what Xavi and the players can do when they meet Espanyol this week.

its safe to say Depay is currently at his peak of his career and will perform to his best of his abilities to help Barcelona to win games... on one condition which is : he must not be injured anytime soon, but i cant say the same for Coutinho and Dembele . Btw Xavi heading the time could have an effect of change of mindset for the boys and this fixture against Espanyol should bring another win for the team.

There is less than one week left for the Barcelona - Benfica match. Barcelona have made an important change lately. They have brought Xavi to the team as their manager. We will see if they did the right thing or not in the future. But if Barcelona succeed in defeating Espanyol in the La Liga first, I see that they have a big chance against Benfica too. And I hope that they get better soon.

I guess this will be another great test of the team to see if the team has been patched up with this change of managers , but then again if you think about it its not the manager at fault its the players themselves who need to up their game , so nothing really has changed here  . My prediction Barca 1-1 Benfica , only because of Xavi otherwise Benfica should win here....

[ShowOff]

Maybe Xavi can follow the example of how Tuchel keeps Chelsea productive in scoring goals even without a pure striker, if Xavi can do that too then I think for sure Xavi will succeed in bringing Barcelona to the title track again. In such difficult conditions, the coach should not be spoiled for getting players in their pure position, because in a match a player can be placed in a different position as well and the coach will certainly be able to maximize the skills they have as well.

I know Xavi has the option of playing one of the forward from Barcelona B if needed, but if Coutinho, Depay and Dembele can be played then I think it will be enough to finish his first job at Barcelona. Koeman has tried to play Sergino Dest on the wing before and that has worked for a few games, but he still appears to have not fully recovered from his injury. Sergi Barjuan failed to win his first game at Barcelona as interim coach, but I hope Xavi can do that since his inaugural match vs Espanyol.

its safe to say Depay is currently at his peak of his career and will perform to his best of his abilities to help Barcelona to win games... on one condition which is : he must not be injured anytime soon, but i cant say the same for Coutinho and Dembele . Btw Xavi heading the time could have an effect of change of mindset for the boys and this fixture against Espanyol should bring another win for the team.

Winning is my biggest hope right now for Xavi's first game as Barcelona coach, but it won't be easy.

[BALIK]

Maybe Xavi can follow the example of how Tuchel keeps Chelsea productive in scoring goals even without a pure striker, if Xavi can do that too then I think for sure Xavi will succeed in bringing Barcelona to the title track again. In such difficult conditions, the coach should not be spoiled for getting players in their pure position, because in a match a player can be placed in a different position as well and the coach will certainly be able to maximize the skills they have as well.

I know Xavi has the option of playing one of the forward from Barcelona B if needed, but if Coutinho, Depay and Dembele can be played then I think it will be enough to finish his first job at Barcelona. Koeman has tried to play Sergino Dest on the wing before and that has worked for a few games, but he still appears to have not fully recovered from his injury. Sergi Barjuan failed to win his first game at Barcelona as interim coach, but I hope Xavi can do that since his inaugural match vs Espanyol.

I think Barcelona has enough forward players. But to me, the mid-field is the weakest link of Barcelona. And it is normal for us to feel that way as we are used to seeing a great midfield comp like Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets or Iniesta-Busquets-Rakitich. I hope Xavi can bring out the best of this team with the players he has.

[kro55]

So far Xavi's problem is that don't have the forward qualified on the front, Luuk de jong is underperforming while lord Braithwaite and Aguero are still having problems with stamina. what he can do now is work which exists team, that makes him thinking what formation he can use.

There is not much reason to say Barcelona can win the match unless Depay, Coutinho and Dembele play well throughout the match. Depay shone with his country where he has now scored several goals during the world cup qualifiers while Dembele has not been able to fully give hope as he has only had a few minute after recovering from injury. I hope for some good news ahead of the game, but let's see what Xavi and the players can do when they meet Espanyol this week.

its safe to say Depay is currently at his peak of his career and will perform to his best of his abilities to help Barcelona to win games... on one condition which is : he must not be injured anytime soon, but i cant say the same for Coutinho and Dembele . Btw Xavi heading the time could have an effect of change of mindset for the boys and this fixture against Espanyol should bring another win for the team.

@Woodie I probably don't think that Barcelona will have too many problems beating Espanyol. And I do hope that all the players stay fit as Barcelona cannot afford to have injuries in the squad right now. Actually, they can barely effort anything right now, lol.

[LittleBitFunny]

actually, it's not so important for both clubs because they guaranteed the places in the next stage. there is only question which team will take the 1st spot and who will take the 2nd.

It can be said that the main mission of the competing clubs is to qualify for the next round, but as much as possible they will aim for the grup winner as their last position in an elimination grup, as group winners of course they have the opportunity to avoid other teams who also end up as other group winners and that way at least the group winner will most likely face a team that ends up as a runner-up in another group and has the potential to meet a weaker club later.

Of course, the main goal of any team in the Champions League is always to reach the next stage of the tournament and therefore success or failure is determined, but this can only be for teams that do not claim more. But if the team claims more, then winning the first place in the group can give the team the necessary confidence and, at least on paper, ensure that the opponent gets easier. Because it is unlikely that the same Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain want to get Bayern or Liverpool in the first round of the playoffs. Therefore, you can rely on your strength as much as you like and say that you still need to beat everyone on the way to the finals, but it's still better to protect yourself a little if there is at least some opportunity for this.

Yes, and I am sure that the teams are aware of that and they will surely try to be in the first place rather than anything. It is true that you do have to beat everyone on the way to the finals. But it is always better to face at least One less strong team if you can.

[Pulsar77]

Barcelona - Benfica is a game that I wonder about the result of. If their current manager was still Ronald Koeman, I wouldn't be curious about it much. Because I already remember the result of the Benfica - Barcelona game before this one. Barcelona were terrible in that game and got a big defeat. But this time, things are different. Xavi is in charge from now on. I hope to see substantial changes as soon as possible. And I hope that they can win this game also.

[snipie]

-snip-

I also really hope that chelsea can secure the three points, according to my prediction chelsea is able to beat juventus, because chelsea has versatile players and has players who want to work hard, especially later they play at home, it will definitely add their motivation to get a win ..

Chelsea will likely revenge its defeat against Juve last time imo. I checked odds in bookies and Chelsea seems favorite and backed by many bettors too.
BTW both teams have quite challenging games in their league before and after their match so they will not rotate players and they have to avoid unnecessary injuries for main players

[poldanmig]

actually, it's not so important for both clubs because they guaranteed the places in the next stage. there is only question which team will take the 1st spot and who will take the 2nd.

It can be said that the main mission of the competing clubs is to qualify for the next round, but as much as possible they will aim for the grup winner as their last position in an elimination grup, as group winners of course they have the opportunity to avoid other teams who also end up as other group winners and that way at least the group winner will most likely face a team that ends up as a runner-up in another group and has the potential to meet a weaker club later.

Of course, the main goal of any team in the Champions League is always to reach the next stage of the tournament and therefore success or failure is determined, but this can only be for teams that do not claim more. But if the team claims more, then winning the first place in the group can give the team the necessary confidence and, at least on paper, ensure that the opponent gets easier. Because it is unlikely that the same Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain want to get Bayern or Liverpool in the first round of the playoffs. Therefore, you can rely on your strength as much as you like and say that you still need to beat everyone on the way to the finals, but it's still better to protect yourself a little if there is at least some opportunity for this.

Indeed what you say is very true, if some teams will actually try to come out as top of the group to avoid meeting a strong opponent, but sometimes they actually meet runners up who are even stronger than themselves, just like this season, we can see if many the runner-up team that is even stronger than the group winners so that it has the potential to be very surprising later in the round of 16.
I see this season maybe only the runners up and group G winners look a little weak and in fact the other groups have almost equal strength between the first and second positions.

[Altryist]

Barcelona - Benfica is a game that I wonder about the result of. If their current manager was still Ronald Koeman, I wouldn't be curious about it much. Because I already remember the result of the Benfica - Barcelona game before this one. Barcelona were terrible in that game and got a big defeat. But this time, things are different. Xavi is in charge from now on. I hope to see substantial changes as soon as possible. And I hope that they can win this game also.

It's not really clear what to expect from Barcelona right now. The players in the team remained the same, there was no any updates, but we also know many examples when the whole problem was in the psychology of the players. Here, a lot will really depend on Xavi, how strong a tactician and psychologist he is, how much he knows how to work with players. Benfica is an excellent opponent to check if there are any changes in the team, or everything remains the same.

[Silberman]

Maybe Xavi can follow the example of how Tuchel keeps Chelsea productive in scoring goals even without a pure striker, if Xavi can do that too then I think for sure Xavi will succeed in bringing Barcelona to the title track again

It is not fair to compare Xavi and Tuchel as well as Barcelona and Chelsea. They are different coaches and have different experience in top levels before they took over the coach position in Chelsea and Barcelona.

Tuchel had some success and more experience than Xavi. Furthermore, Chelsea had better condition and player resource than what Barcelona have now. Xavi debuts in Barcelona with no experience as a coach at top level and the general conditions in Barcelona are worse than that of Chelsea last year.

And not only that, it is not a secret that Barcelona is facing huge economic issues which means that if we assume Xavi can keep his job for some years that he will need to make do with whatever he can get, this means his job is going to be many times harder as not only he will need to maintain the prestige that Barcelona has gotten over the years but he will also need to do this while having a limited budget to bring new stars to the team.

[fullhdpixel]

Maybe Xavi can follow the example of how Tuchel keeps Chelsea productive in scoring goals even without a pure striker, if Xavi can do that too then I think for sure Xavi will succeed in bringing Barcelona to the title track again

It is not fair to compare Xavi and Tuchel as well as Barcelona and Chelsea. They are different coaches and have different experience in top levels before they took over the coach position in Chelsea and Barcelona.

Tuchel had some success and more experience than Xavi. Furthermore, Chelsea had better condition and player resource than what Barcelona have now. Xavi debuts in Barcelona with no experience as a coach at top level and the general conditions in Barcelona are worse than that of Chelsea last year.

Interestingly I would say Barcelona is in a lot better shape than Chelsea right now, not because Chelsea is doing badly or Barcelona is doing good, we all know that is exactly the opposite.

However, Tuchel is in a lot more trouble if he doesn't do well, because he is expected to do well and he can't spend too much money on players neither, it would be very risky for him to spend a lot and then keep on losing. Whereas Xavi has no pressure, he replaced an unsuccessful manager, he is not expected to do well at all, he is expected to do badly but just better and he is expected to do quite well compared to Koeman and he can achieve that very easily.

[blackened515]

Barcelona - Benfica is a game that I wonder about the result of. If their current manager was still Ronald Koeman, I wouldn't be curious about it much. Because I already remember the result of the Benfica - Barcelona game before this one. Barcelona were terrible in that game and got a big defeat. But this time, things are different. Xavi is in charge from now on. I hope to see substantial changes as soon as possible. And I hope that they can win this game also.

Barcelona was indeed very terrible under the leadership of Koeman, but they now have a new Coach (Xavi). Who we are hoping can get Barcelona back on track, but I think that will take some time. So, I don't expect much from Barcelona against Benfica. Although, despite beating Barcelona in their last encounter with a whopping 3-0 score, Barcelona are presently in a good position than Benfica in the Champion League. But, I believe Xavi will bring something positive to the club. Am looking forward to see how Barcelona plays this match.

[KingsDen]

Barcelona - Benfica is a game that I wonder about the result of. If their current manager was still Ronald Koeman, I wouldn't be curious about it much. Because I already remember the result of the Benfica - Barcelona game before this one. Barcelona were terrible in that game and got a big defeat. But this time, things are different. Xavi is in charge from now on. I hope to see substantial changes as soon as possible. And I hope that they can win this game also.

It's not really clear what to expect from Barcelona right now. The players in the team remained the same, there was no any updates, but we also know many examples when the whole problem was in the psychology of the players. Here, a lot will really depend on Xavi, how strong a tactician and psychologist he is, how much he knows how to work with players. Benfica is an excellent opponent to check if there are any changes in the team, or everything remains the same.

How Barcelona may fare throughout this season might not be clear for now.
How Barcelona will solve their financial problems might also not be clear now.
How Barcelona will manage to sign and keep good players will also no be clear now.
The position of Barcelona at the end of the season can also not be clear.
But Barcelona vs Benfica fixtures is clear, Barcelona will get a win for the love of their Legend.

[Lordhermes]

Barcelona - Benfica is a game that I wonder about the result of. If their current manager was still Ronald Koeman, I wouldn't be curious about it much. Because I already remember the result of the Benfica - Barcelona game before this one. Barcelona were terrible in that game and got a big defeat. But this time, things are different. Xavi is in charge from now on. I hope to see substantial changes as soon as possible. And I hope that they can win this game also.

Barcelona was indeed very terrible under the leadership of Koeman, but they now have a new Coach (Xavi). Who we are hoping can get Barcelona back on track, but I think that will take some time. So, I don't expect much from Barcelona against Benfica. Although, despite beating Barcelona in their last encounter with a whopping 3-0 score, Barcelona are presently in a good position than Benfica in the Champion League. But, I believe Xavi will bring something positive to the club. Am looking forward to see how Barcelona plays this match.

We just hope Xavi will take Barcelona to a better place.we hope he brings back glory at the club,he is a legend who did very well in his days at FC Barca,him alongside Andre Iniesta were best of friends,and they had the best midfield.Therefore,building Barca back to how they play games in those days should be Xavi's priority.
They have couple of players that can make that happen,that can determine  games,so under Xavi,that game is a win win for Barcelona.

[babo]

How Barcelona may fare throughout this season might not be clear for now.
How Barcelona will solve their financial problems might also not be clear now.
How Barcelona will manage to sign and keep good players will also no be clear now.
The position of Barcelona at the end of the season can also not be clear.
But Barcelona vs Benfica fixtures is clear, Barcelona will get a win for the love of their Legend.

my heart is broken with pain to see barcelona like this
such a team does not deserve this
just as his great fans don't deserve it
I'm really sorry, let's hope for the best

I hope to see the Barcelona of yesteryear

[KTChampions]

Barcelona was indeed very terrible under the leadership of Koeman, but they now have a new Coach (Xavi). Who we are hoping can get Barcelona back on track, but I think that will take some time. So, I don't expect much from Barcelona against Benfica. Although, despite beating Barcelona in their last encounter with a whopping 3-0 score, Barcelona are presently in a good position than Benfica in the Champion League. But, I believe Xavi will bring something positive to the club. Am looking forward to see how Barcelona plays this match.

‍Benfica has had excellent results this season, but they deteriorated catastrophically in November, so the odds of Barcelona in this match look adequate:
1,62 - 4,40 - 5,20
Barcelona is obliged to win this match as in the last round Bavaria without even needing in points will not miss the opportunity to show its superiority over the historical rival.

[icopress]

[...]

Tempting odds, but I probably won't bet on the match ... The result of this match will determine who will take second place in the group, so Barça will do everything possible to shine at Camp Nou. It's just that if this does not happen, then I doubt that in the last round, Barca will defeat Bayern on a visit, while Benfica can easily win in the last round against Dinomo Kiev, (therefore, we can logically assume that Benfica will even be satisfied with a draw).

To be honest, I don’t even remember when I saw a club of this level in the Europa League, I guess it was long before I got interested in football, lol.  

[BALIK]

How Barcelona may fare throughout this season might not be clear for now.
How Barcelona will solve their financial problems might also not be clear now.
How Barcelona will manage to sign and keep good players will also no be clear now.
The position of Barcelona at the end of the season can also not be clear.
But Barcelona vs Benfica fixtures is clear, Barcelona will get a win for the love of their Legend.

my heart is broken with pain to see barcelona like this
such a team does not deserve this
just as his great fans don't deserve it
I'm really sorry, let's hope for the best
I hope to see the Barcelona of yesteryear

I know Barcelona fans don't deserve this or rather Barcelona themselves but the authorities didn't think of that at the right time because this situation didn't occur in one day. It took a long time for Barcelona to come to this situation. So let's give them time and hope for the best.

[kingangel]

How Barcelona may fare throughout this season might not be clear for now.
How Barcelona will solve their financial problems might also not be clear now.
How Barcelona will manage to sign and keep good players will also no be clear now.
The position of Barcelona at the end of the season can also not be clear.
But Barcelona vs Benfica fixtures is clear, Barcelona will get a win for the love of their Legend.

my heart is broken with pain to see barcelona like this
such a team does not deserve this
just as his great fans don't deserve it
I'm really sorry, let's hope for the best
I hope to see the Barcelona of yesteryear

I know Barcelona fans don't deserve this or rather Barcelona themselves but the authorities didn't think of that at the right time because this situation didn't occur in one day. It took a long time for Barcelona to come to this situation. So let's give them time and hope for the best.

Yes it is very heartbreaking to see barcelona like this sure neither they nor their fans deserve this...barcelona team has a legacy and never thought that barcelona will have soo much issues...yes all their fans hope for the best...I hope everything get solve with time and they come back strong

[CryptoBuds]

Barcelona - Benfica is a game that I wonder about the result of. If their current manager was still Ronald Koeman, I wouldn't be curious about it much. Because I already remember the result of the Benfica - Barcelona game before this one. Barcelona were terrible in that game and got a big defeat. But this time, things are different. Xavi is in charge from now on. I hope to see substantial changes as soon as possible. And I hope that they can win this game also.

Barcelona was indeed very terrible under the leadership of Koeman, but they now have a new Coach (Xavi). Who we are hoping can get Barcelona back on track, but I think that will take some time. So, I don't expect much from Barcelona against Benfica. Although, despite beating Barcelona in their last encounter with a whopping 3-0 score, Barcelona are presently in a good position than Benfica in the Champion League. But, I believe Xavi will bring something positive to the club. Am looking forward to see how Barcelona plays this match.

^ I am having good vibes about Barcelona for this match and I do think Barcelona will win. And I really think that the players are giving their 100% in every match but it's just because the management wasn't right. It can't be that players are playing with fever and the team is losing because players are not committed. But I think this will change now.