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

[buwaytress]

I see that mostly in organizational department on the pitch, players move and act more chaotic, with no clear lines when they are defending. Also a change in approach and mentality in players is palpable. They are back to looking like scared kids instead of hungry motherf..rs on the pitch.

Don't know the team in question but I can certainly understand this sentiment and have seen it many times myself. People really forget how important a coach is to a team of 11 players, and a wider squad of 25-30 players, each with their insecurities, and mentalities. That's really what sets a coach apart from others, not simply tactics but the mentality they imbue in squads. Turning scared little shits into fearless mfkrs is no easy feat.

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[Daniel91]

Dinamo from Croatia lost in Hungary and continues to compete in the EL.
Another bad game of a club that was very close last season to pass the group stage of the CL and after the departure of the best Olmo and the coach again become an average club.

Yeah, i watched the entire match of course and you can clearly see how the coach is the missing link. If you look at it objectively Dinamo is not that much weaker after Olmo left, but it is severed in coaching department significantly after Bjelica left.

I see that mostly in organizational department on the pitch, players move and act more chaotic, with no clear lines when they are defending. Also a change in approach and mentality in players is palpable. They are back to looking like scared kids instead of hungry motherf..rs on the pitch.

Tough time ahead for sure.

It turns out that Dinamo also has serious problems in the domestic championship and that the team has lost stability and strength from last season, especially in defense.
Their biggest problem is the owner of the team who wants to control everything, especially the flow of money.
It's a pity, because with Bjelica they made a huge step forward in Europe and now they play much weaker with almost the same players.
Other clubs from the region, Serbian, Slovenian, Bosnian etc. are also not convincing and it is possible that no club will be able to enter the group stage of European competition this season.
Great performances of Dinamo, Zvezda or Partizan in the group stages of the Champions League and European League in recent seasons may become just nice memories for all these clubs.
It seems to me that the biggest problem is the lack of vision and long-term planning in these clubs which is unsustainable in the long run.

[kassex]

I think Simeone has taken them as far as he can. Their negative style doesn’t give them a good chance of winning the big trophies. An attacking team usually wins the CL & their domestic league.

The last time they won La Liga was 2013/14 season & they have 0 CL titles. They also do spend big on players, Joao Felix was £113,000,000 & Morata was £58,000,000 but = 0 trophies.

I agree, i think real madrid and ronaldo broke simeone at UCL. although their recent performance in UCL is quite bad but Simeone has taken them far, now they are a UCL regular and one of top clubs right now. Their attack is the problem right now, costa is declining and i don't think morata is dependable as the main striker. If they can sort their attack then they will have a chance at the league this season.

Last three years was the last season for Atletico Madrid to qualify for the Champions League final, but in the final they had to be defeated by their city team Real Madrid. I think Simione always gets really bad results against Real Madrid in the Champions League, before last Final simione have got lost from Real  Madrid with score 4 - 1 and keep continue to get bad result after lost again in Final, Ronaldo become bad think for simione and this season will give stronger for Simione to show how their team will talk more in UEFA champion league.

I don't think Simeone will be able to win the Champions League this time. The team has slowed down in recent years. And it is weaker than it was a couple of seasons ago. Simeone needs to leave and try his luck elsewhere. With this team he has already won everything he could.

[kawetsriyanto]

@kawetsriyanto in my personal opinion Atletico lacks the winning mentality ~~~~ I also feel that Simone has failed to develop that winning mentality, ~~

Yep, Atletico doesn't have a strong winning mentality but I think we cannot blame Simone. He doesn't work alone. There should be other coaches to train physical players, mental players, specific skill players, or etc. Atletico must evaluate what is wrong with the training approaches, especially on mental and physical players. Why I also involve physical? Because it has a big role, if players don't have good physical strength, they may be easily frustrated in the filed.

[babo]

exactly, for example the professional mentality of Juventus is very good.
I have always admired that way of thinking, even if it is sometimes too rigid.
a very strong team but with a wrong mentality is Inter
of course in my humble opinion

[swogerino]

exactly, for example the professional mentality of Juventus is very good.
I have always admired that way of thinking, even if it is sometimes too rigid.
a very strong team but with a wrong mentality is Inter
of course in my humble opinion

I think you are right but the comparison you have made is not valid for the Champions League and is only valid for the Serie A.The reason I think this is that both teams in European competition fail just like Inter did against Sevilla in this last final of Europa League the same has done Juventus in Champions League finals.

[masulum]

it is true, the Serie-A team still does not have enough mentality in the UEFA League or Champions League. In fact, AC Milan, which has a good history at UCL, is not enough to measure the mental strength of players on the field. This is proofed by the failure of AC Milan in recent years when they had the chances to play in the UEFA league. This season AC Milan have another chances to join in UEFA League, Juventus, Inter and Atalanta another Italian club playing in UCL, hope it will be different this season

[kassex]

exactly, for example the professional mentality of Juventus is very good.
I have always admired that way of thinking, even if it is sometimes too rigid.
a very strong team but with a wrong mentality is Inter
of course in my humble opinion

Also Roma. And unfortunately Juventus cannot find a balance that could help them win the Champions League. And they rely on experienced players, but they are inferior in physical sense. And without this there is nothing to do in football.

[Smartvirus]

Also Roma. And unfortunately Juventus cannot find a balance that could help them win the Champions League. And they rely on experienced players, but they are inferior in physical sense. And without this there is nothing to do in football.

It's all in the mentality thing for me with regards to Juventus. Last two seasons, they seemed a better contender to the UEFA champions league than the just concluded one, with Mario Makzukish being a wonderful header and threat to most teams. Imagine Olympiacus in Greece giving Juventus a hard time winning. Not like Olympiacus isn't a good team but for a team like Juventus and with Ronaldo on the pitch, it should have been a way lot easier.
The team hoped so much on experienced players in this case, Ronaldo. It was said he was supposed to deliver them the league and I guess that idea got socked up in their mentality and one man can't be a team.

[kassex]

Also Roma. And unfortunately Juventus cannot find a balance that could help them win the Champions League. And they rely on experienced players, but they are inferior in physical sense. And without this there is nothing to do in football.

It's all in the mentality thing for me with regards to Juventus. Last two seasons, they seemed a better contender to the UEFA champions league than the just concluded one, with Mario Makzukish being a wonderful header and threat to most teams. Imagine Olympiacus in Greece giving Juventus a hard time winning. Not like Olympiacus isn't a good team but for a team like Juventus and with Ronaldo on the pitch, it should have been a way lot easier.
The team hoped so much on experienced players in this case, Ronaldo. It was said he was supposed to deliver them the league and I guess that idea got socked up in their mentality and one man can't be a team.

If Ronaldo had been 5 years younger at the time of his transfer to Juventus, there might have been a chance to win the Champions League. Now Ronaldo does not even show 50% of the game that he showed in Real.

[DeathAngel]

It’s natural that Ronaldo isn’t at his absolute peak any more. Age waits for no man, he’s obviously past his peak but he’s still world class & Juve could win the CL this year.

[-CryptoViking-]

It turns out that Dinamo also has serious problems in the domestic championship and that the team has lost stability and strength from last season, especially in defense.
Their biggest problem is the owner of the team who wants to control everything, especially the flow of money.
It's a pity, because with Bjelica they made a huge step forward in Europe and now they play much weaker with almost the same players.
Other clubs from the region, Serbian, Slovenian, Bosnian etc. are also not convincing and it is possible that no club will be able to enter the group stage of European competition this season.
Great performances of Dinamo, Zvezda or Partizan in the group stages of the Champions League and European League in recent seasons may become just nice memories for all these clubs.
It seems to me that the biggest problem is the lack of vision and long-term planning in these clubs which is unsustainable in the long run.

Well we will surely have one team in the Europa league since Dinamo Zagreb got really lucky in the draw and got an opponent he should dispatch honestly, but I'm hoping they won't think the way I do and get so cocky and somehow fail to pass.Everything is possible though.

As for others I would give best chances to Rijeka, Lokomotiva is too weak after so many changes in their squad and Hajduk has too difficult draw.

Now watch Osijek after Bjelica (previous Dinamo Zagreb coach) came. They will give headaches to Dinamo now in Croatian league and fight for the title.I'm rooting for them now and hoping he can prove to Dinamo white collars how much wrong they were when they sacked him.

Don't know the team in question but I can certainly understand this sentiment and have seen it many times myself. People really forget how important a coach is to a team of 11 players, and a wider squad of 25-30 players, each with their insecurities, and mentalities. That's really what sets a coach apart from others, not simply tactics but the mentality they imbue in squads. Turning scared little shits into fearless mfkrs is no easy feat.

I know you love HNK Gorica and that you check the results, but if you also watch a match or two you can also maybe watch the match when they will be playing against Osijek

I saw some matches of Osijek and the improvement in players approach and mentality is already visible. Bjelica is turning them into angry, hungry mother..s already

We can bet on it, to make it more fun, what do you say? 

[buwaytress]

I know you love HNK Gorica and that you check the results, but if you also watch a match or two you can also maybe watch the match when they will be playing against Osijek

I saw some matches of Osijek and the improvement in players approach and mentality is already visible. Bjelica is turning them into angry, hungry mother..s already

We can bet on it, to make it more fun, what do you say? 

Love it when I see teams all fired up, seriously;) Would like to see the odds for this matchup you're talking about but can't even find any markets for Osijek on either Fairlay or Betcoin or Sportsbet. Judging from the form of the two, yeah Gorica looks like the winner but if anything above 5/1 would be value for Osijek=D

[-CryptoViking-]

Love it when I see teams all fired up, seriously;) Would like to see the odds for this matchup you're talking about but can't even find any markets for Osijek on either Fairlay or Betcoin or Sportsbet. Judging from the form of the two, yeah Gorica looks like the winner but if anything above 5/1 would be value for Osijek=D

I will check on which date they play and find some sites where we can check the odds, i'll even find a stream for you    We can make our own bet, like something fun or something random

Maybe like the one that loses has to put all 1:1 result in one round on Superbru in Italian or Spanish pool  

Edit: Just checked and guess what? 





Oh, the game is on!!

[Naida_BR]

I just found out an interesting pair that is playing tonight. This is Krasnodar vs PAOK Saloniki.
PAOK Saloniki managed to win Benfica and disqualify them from the Champions League so early. I think that it is a good bet to gamble on their win, I can see that their odds are @3.60 which is quite valuable.

[buwaytress]

I will check on which date they play and find some sites where we can check the odds, i'll even find a stream for you    We can make our own bet, like something fun or something random

Maybe like the one that loses has to put all 1:1 result in one round on Superbru in Italian or Spanish pool  

Edit: Just checked and guess what? 

Oh, the game is on!!

LOLS yea actually I saw it was on this weekend, as soon as I read your post. And yes, why not, I love an underdog any day... I'm happy to go 1-1 on all Serie A if I lose, I mean, I might actually get a lot of points on it;)

So how should we do this, I'll take Gorica at Full-Time results, and even at -0.5 handicap so we force an outcome;) I have no idea what the odds are as no bookie I'm on even has the game, so let me know if that's fair, if not, we can increase the handicap;)

[tyz]

If Ronaldo had been 5 years younger at the time of his transfer to Juventus, there might have been a chance to win the Champions League. Now Ronaldo does not even show 50% of the game that he showed in Real.

I don't see Ronaldo as bad as you do. Of course he has grown older and of course he is no longer at the peak of his performance, but he is still an exceptional player who can decide matches on his own. I think he has held up better than Messi. The problem is that he has a worse overall team around him in Turin than at Real Madrid. I think this is the reason why it is unlikely that he will win the CL again. With Real Madrid I would easily believe that he could do that again.

[efialtis]

I just found out an interesting pair that is playing tonight. This is Krasnodar vs PAOK Saloniki.
PAOK Saloniki managed to win Benfica and disqualify them from the Champions League so early. I think that it is a good bet to gamble on their win, I can see that their odds are @3.60 which is quite valuable.

Even though I pretty much hate PAOK, Greeks gotta support so yeah, I am crossing fingers that PAOK will do the job tonight - kicking out Besiktas and Benfica, they deserve making it. Personally, I won't bet on PAOK to win though.

I think this is the hardest match when it comes to predictions. Krasnodar is definitely the favorite here playing at home. Russians with a good match recently, many players in nice shape offensively and I don't see them not scoring under these circumstances. PAOK on the other hand loves such kind of matches, having proved that several times in the past and the whole city (my city btw ) is looking forward to tonight's match and PAOK making Champions League for the first time in club's history. I am pretty confident they will score at least one, too. BTS is my pick!

[babo]

Love Messi and Barca, and yeah I know I keep saying that but even I agree with you here. Cycles are a fact of life and it's not so much about scrapping Messi away but it is about time to keep the young blood in and keep the old guys to teach the young ones how to play with the same motivation and spirit.

Youth is always hungry, and old is always wise. You need both, never one or the other.

I also love Messi because he makes a show, I love to have fun and I love to watch beautiful, funny football matches!
in the end because we watch the games, to have fun
if the beloved team wins well, hindsight does nothing .. I think a lot about rugby style

[Daniel91]

It turns out that Dinamo also has serious problems in the domestic championship and that the team has lost stability and strength from last season, especially in defense.
Their biggest problem is the owner of the team who wants to control everything, especially the flow of money.
It's a pity, because with Bjelica they made a huge step forward in Europe and now they play much weaker with almost the same players.
Other clubs from the region, Serbian, Slovenian, Bosnian etc. are also not convincing and it is possible that no club will be able to enter the group stage of European competition this season.
Great performances of Dinamo, Zvezda or Partizan in the group stages of the Champions League and European League in recent seasons may become just nice memories for all these clubs.
It seems to me that the biggest problem is the lack of vision and long-term planning in these clubs which is unsustainable in the long run.

Well we will surely have one team in the Europa league since Dinamo Zagreb got really lucky in the draw and got an opponent he should dispatch honestly, but I'm hoping they won't think the way I do and get so cocky and somehow fail to pass.Everything is possible though.

As for others I would give best chances to Rijeka, Lokomotiva is too weak after so many changes in their squad and Hajduk has too difficult draw.

Now watch Osijek after Bjelica (previous Dinamo Zagreb coach) came. They will give headaches to Dinamo now in Croatian league and fight for the title.I'm rooting for them now and hoping he can prove to Dinamo white collars how much wrong they were when they sacked him.

Don't know the team in question but I can certainly understand this sentiment and have seen it many times myself. People really forget how important a coach is to a team of 11 players, and a wider squad of 25-30 players, each with their insecurities, and mentalities. That's really what sets a coach apart from others, not simply tactics but the mentality they imbue in squads. Turning scared little shits into fearless mfkrs is no easy feat.

I know you love HNK Gorica and that you check the results, but if you also watch a match or two you can also maybe watch the match when they will be playing against Osijek

I saw some matches of Osijek and the improvement in players approach and mentality is already visible. Bjelica is turning them into angry, hungry mother..s already

We can bet on it, to make it more fun, what do you say? 

It seems to me that Dinamo is currently in a great mental crisis and regardless of the relative luck in the draw, it is still a possible surprise that they do not enter the group stage of the European League.
As for other Croatian clubs, it seems to me that only Rijeka has some real chances to go further in the European League competition.
Bjelica did not have enough time to prepare Osijek for the match with Basel in the European League, but next season Osijek will be much stronger and more ready.
Gorica is a nice and pleasant surprise for me and I believe that they will play in the European league next year.

As for other clubs from the region, only Partizan and Zvezda have some chances to reach the group stage of the European League, but that will depend a lot on the luck in the draw.
It seems to me that all the clubs in this region are in a certain decline and can't financially and logistically follow the clubs from Western Europe and Russia any more.