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

[jaberwock]

Dunno about how Simeone and ATM staff are thinking right now but they aren't a favourite team in CL and they know that while in the other hand they are a major candidate for La Liga this season. ATM will try to advance for sure but will they show their maximum strength and play with their best team? I cannot count on them to defeat Chelsea unless I see the squad.

I think they want to win both La Liga and Champions League and at least now they can focus on Champions League. In La Liga, they have good points ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona. If they are careless and lose more points in La Liga, Barcelona can move closer to A Madrid as they almost are out of Champions League with the big defeat against PSG yesterday.

ATM already lost points against levante this week, which they should have won easily but they managed to get a draw at least so it wasn't zero points. I would say there is a very very low chance that ATM would win champions league, so they could just keep focusing on la liga because that would be the best thing they can do this season, giving it all in CL would make it very difficult for them.

Could they beat Chelsea? Absolutely, they will probably win as well, it should be not that difficult for them, but at the same time how further could they get?

Eventually they will lose somewhere and other big teams will move on. Real Madrid, PSG, Bayern, City, Liverpool these are all amazing teams to try and beat, of course they could face a weaker opponent maybe but eventually ATM will face someone that is much better than them, so they should instead just go for La Liga and get away from CL as quickly as possible to not have any fatigue issues.

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[DatKing]

Lots of interesting matches coming up! I count on Atletico to win against Chelsea... Bookmakers do not pick a clear winner and the odds for both teams to win are quite high! In my opinion Atletico looks stronger!

I would bet the opposite. Chelsea have had a very good run after changing the coach and they have improved from game to game so far. The odds speak against Chelsea and that's exactly what's interesting about placing a small bet on a Chelsea win.

Chelsea are much better with Tuchel but this is a quite hard away game for them against a beast like Atletico. But it could be a good chance for Chelsea that the match will be in a neutral location. If Chelsea somehow manage to get a nice result there, they can have a big advantage in Stamford Bridge. I think both games of the draw will be very delightful.

[hd49728]

ATM already lost points against levante this week, which they should have won easily but they managed to get a draw at least so it wasn't zero points. I would say there is a very very low chance that ATM would win champions league, so they could just keep focusing on la liga because that would be the best thing they can do this season, giving it all in CL would make it very difficult for them.

In Champions League, everything can happen. Do you recall the season when Porto and AS Monaco are two clubs in the Champions League finale?

I agree ATM is not the strongest team in Champions League that belong to Bayern Munich and PSG. Athough this fact, they have a good quality to make a surprise and win this league.

Could they beat Chelsea? Absolutely, they will probably win as well, it should be not that difficult for them, but at the same time how further could they get?

I think they will win in both 2 legs against Chelsea.

Eventually they will lose somewhere and other big teams will move on. Real Madrid, PSG, Bayern, City, Liverpool these are all amazing teams to try and beat, of course they could face a weaker opponent maybe but eventually ATM will face someone that is much better than them, so they should instead just go for La Liga and get away from CL as quickly as possible to not have any fatigue issues.

Manchester City has same position in Premier League compares with ATM's position in La Liga. However, I don't have much belief in Manchester City and Pep in Champions League. In some important matches, Pep with his strange approach destroyed Manchester City many times. He tries to create something new and surprise to opponents. But at the same time, he as a coach makes surprise to his players as well. 

[ingiltere]

It was painful to watch Barcelona lose but that Dortmund win cheered my day. Haaland and Mbappe's performances were spectacular. I wonder where will Haaland go next season, clearly Dortmund can't hold him more. Maybe Real Madrid make a move for him, they need a good striker.

Porto win wasn't a surprise for me, I'm also following their Primeira Liga games, they are playing good at home. That's a good leverage for first leg even though they conceded a goal. I'm sure they won't play full defensive in Italy. There's still 3 weeks though.

[babo]

Coach or not, a team like Juventus cannot find itself in a situation like this. Everyone else has been facing covid-19 so that does not justify their lack of performance. I think it is more about the idea of football that Pirlo is trying to share with the team: and that simply is not working.
Juve is probably over and done this year.

performance .. (bad) physical performance can actually do a lot of damage, but in this case we would have to blame the "athletic trainer"
but they're hardly wrong at those levels, it's an exact science!
I really liked Zeman with his theories, he was an excellent athletic trainer in my opinion (a bit too aggressive coach)
but his "game" is funny to see

[Bilgent]

Coach or not, a team like Juventus cannot find itself in a situation like this. Everyone else has been facing covid-19 so that does not justify their lack of performance. I think it is more about the idea of football that Pirlo is trying to share with the team: and that simply is not working.
Juve is probably over and done this year.

In my opinion, Juventus are already over in Serie A and I don't give them a chance for the championship. For the CL, I don't really know now. If Chiesa didn't score and the match against Porto ended 2-0, their job would be very hard. But with a 2-1 score, I believe they will eliminate Porto. But after that, I wonder how far they will be able to go.

[abhiseshakana]

It was painful to watch Barcelona lose but that Dortmund win cheered my day. Haaland and Mbappe's performances were spectacular. I wonder where will Haaland go next season, clearly Dortmund can't hold him more. Maybe Real Madrid make a move for him, they need a good striker.

I didn't get to watch the match between Barcelona and PSG, but when I saw the results it really surprised me. What's wrong with Barcelona? how come they were humiliated by PSG which in that match were the guests. Did they play very badly in that match?

[rig4hodlers]

I didn't get to watch the match between Barcelona and PSG, but when I saw the results it really surprised me. What's wrong with Barcelona? how come they were humiliated by PSG which in that match were the guests. Did they play very badly in that match?

PSG was a better team from minute 0 till the end. Messi time is over, he has no energy to play in this team anymore. If Messi has not a good match, there is no other player who can do anything for the team. Dembele or Griezman are not good enough to boost the team to the victory. I am talking about these matches that they play versus top teams, I am not talking about normal teams like Getafe, Valladolid, Cadiz, etc (with due repect for these teams) but it is always the same with barcelona, a good European team meets them on Champions League and this is the result. You can check what happened the previuos years, it was exactly the same.

[Spack17]

It was painful to watch Barcelona lose but that Dortmund win cheered my day. Haaland and Mbappe's performances were spectacular. I wonder where will Haaland go next season, clearly Dortmund can't hold him more. Maybe Real Madrid make a move for him, they need a good striker.

I didn't get to watch the match between Barcelona and PSG, but when I saw the results it really surprised me. What's wrong with Barcelona? how come they were humiliated by PSG which in that match were the guests. Did they play very badly in that match?

Barcelona were literally helpless against PSG. Even Messi couldn't do anything in such situation. Mbappe made a hat-trick and had an awesome game for sure. I was also surprised by the huge score. Now, I'm more confident that Messi will certainly leave the team this summer. 

[asus09]

It was painful to watch Barcelona lose but that Dortmund win cheered my day. Haaland and Mbappe's performances were spectacular. I wonder where will Haaland go next season, clearly Dortmund can't hold him more. Maybe Real Madrid make a move for him, they need a good striker.

I didn't get to watch the match between Barcelona and PSG, but when I saw the results it really surprised me. What's wrong with Barcelona? how come they were humiliated by PSG which in that match were the guests. Did they play very badly in that match?

Barcelona were literally helpless against PSG. Even Messi couldn't do anything in such situation. Mbappe made a hat-trick and had an awesome game for sure. I was also surprised by the huge score. Now, I'm more confident that Messi will certainly leave the team this summer. 

Barcelona have loss opportunity because playing as home they loss with bigger score and need to make more than 5 goals on second leg, I think is not easy for Barcelona because impossible mission if can win from PSG above 5 goal, how ever PSG will make their supporter happy can defeat Barcelona and have dream to final again.

[kassex]

Everything goes to the fact that in the next round only Atletico Madrid will represent Spain. Barcelona and Sevilla lost. Real Madrid has half of the team injured. And if one more player is injured today, there is no one to replace.

[abhiseshakana]

Barcelona have loss opportunity because playing as home they loss with bigger score and need to make more than 5 goals on second leg, I think is not easy for Barcelona because impossible mission if can win from PSG above 5 goal, how ever PSG will make their supporter happy can defeat Barcelona and have dream to final again.

Yes, I think it is a very tough mission. Moreover, in the second leg, it is likely that Neymar will return to play, and this certainly will make it more difficult for Barcelona, because to get through to the quarter-final they had to score 4 goals without a reply or at least can win with a score of 5-2 and so on.

[snipie]

Everything goes to the fact that in the next round only Atletico Madrid will represent Spain. Barcelona and Sevilla lost. Real Madrid has half of the team injured. And if one more player is injured today, there is no one to replace.

Honestly I think they will all get kicked from CL one by one. Barca is 99% out, Sevilla has a week chance to pass, Real Madrid and ATM have a chance to pass this round but for how long? They couldn't survive against PSG or City or even Bayern tho.. There is a big difference of level. Barca is doing quite good right now and was humiliated by PSG although lacking key players..

[onecall123]

Barcelona have loss opportunity because playing as home they loss with bigger score and need to make more than 5 goals on second leg, I think is not easy for Barcelona because impossible mission if can win from PSG above 5 goal, how ever PSG will make their supporter happy can defeat Barcelona and have dream to final again.

Yes, I think it is a very tough mission. Moreover, in the second leg, it is likely that Neymar will return to play, and this certainly will make it more difficult for Barcelona, because to get through to the quarter-final they had to score 4 goals without a reply or at least can win with a score of 5-2 and so on.

Barcelona was playing against a weak PSG without some key players, as Neymar, Di Maria and still got outclassed by Mbappe. Barca managed a penalty that wasn't even created by them. So, It won't be surprised Barcelona survive once again. Honestly they're not at least in good form, Barca defense so week that anyone can penetrate.

[leea-1334]

Chelsea are much better with Tuchel but this is a quite hard away game for them against a beast like Atletico. But it could be a good chance for Chelsea that the match will be in a neutral location. If Chelsea somehow manage to get a nice result there, they can have a big advantage in Stamford Bridge. I think both games of the draw will be very delightful.

Actually,,, I do not really think there is any home advantage even if they can play in their own stadiums, unless it is environment factor like unusual weather or different types of pitch but I think this neutral zone is just better for all teams in this covid situation.

Both should be very good games hopefully!

[acquafredda]

Coach or not, a team like Juventus cannot find itself in a situation like this. Everyone else has been facing covid-19 so that does not justify their lack of performance. I think it is more about the idea of football that Pirlo is trying to share with the team: and that simply is not working.
Juve is probably over and done this year.

performance .. (bad) physical performance can actually do a lot of damage, but in this case we would have to blame the "athletic trainer"
but they're hardly wrong at those levels, it's an exact science!
I really liked Zeman with his theories, he was an excellent athletic trainer in my opinion (a bit too aggressive coach)
but his "game" is funny to see

There are no more managers like Zeman or Carletto Mazzone and I am quite sure you remember both of them. So yes, Juventus was not prepared physically speaking and I would not blame Covid-19 for that as every other football team in Europe had to deal with it.

[tyz]

It was painful to watch Barcelona lose but that Dortmund win cheered my day. Haaland and Mbappe's performances were spectacular. I wonder where will Haaland go next season, clearly Dortmund can't hold him more. Maybe Real Madrid make a move for him, they need a good striker.

I didn't get to watch the match between Barcelona and PSG, but when I saw the results it really surprised me. What's wrong with Barcelona? how come they were humiliated by PSG which in that match were the guests. Did they play very badly in that match?

This is not a surpise. The club has been rumbling for a few months. Barca is hit hard by the pandemic. The club has 1.2 billion in debt and over 256 million will be due by mid-year. Plus the whole Messi topic, then the change in the board, etc.

[ILuckyGuyI]

It was painful to watch Barcelona lose but that Dortmund win cheered my day. Haaland and Mbappe's performances were spectacular. I wonder where will Haaland go next season, clearly Dortmund can't hold him more. Maybe Real Madrid make a move for him, they need a good striker.

I didn't get to watch the match between Barcelona and PSG, but when I saw the results it really surprised me. What's wrong with Barcelona? how come they were humiliated by PSG which in that match were the guests. Did they play very badly in that match?

This is not a surpise. The club has been rumbling for a few months. Barca is hit hard by the pandemic. The club has 1.2 billion in debt and over 256 million will be due by mid-year. Plus the whole Messi topic, then the change in the board, etc.

Exactly. Barcelona have been fighting with so many kind of problems. They have been still doing great in La Liga for a very long time but it was really obvious that their job was going to be very hard against PSG. However, I didn't expect an embarrassing result for Barcelona even in the first game.

[StartupAnalyst]

That won't come true, Barcelona's finances are in trouble. If able, I hope there will be two new players in the LB and RB position and 1 defensive midfielder. But they also still need a buzz up front like Suarez.

They will sell a couple of players who do not fit into the coach's plans. And I think it would be better if Messi was released. Otherwise, Barcelona will be out of the crisis for a long time. In La Liga they can still compete for the championship, but in the Champions League they can hardly count on anything. ...

I also think Messi should be let go. Barcelona needs to change their tactics in the short term. Because right now they are weaker than the top 5 leagues. I'm not even surprised they conceded 4 goals in the match.

[kassex]

That won't come true, Barcelona's finances are in trouble. If able, I hope there will be two new players in the LB and RB position and 1 defensive midfielder. But they also still need a buzz up front like Suarez.

They will sell a couple of players who do not fit into the coach's plans. And I think it would be better if Messi was released. Otherwise, Barcelona will be out of the crisis for a long time. In La Liga they can still compete for the championship, but in the Champions League they can hardly count on anything. ...

I also think Messi should be let go. Barcelona needs to change their tactics in the short term. Because right now they are weaker than the top 5 leagues. I'm not even surprised they conceded 4 goals in the match.

Barcelona is unlikely to let Messi go. And at the moment no one really needs him. Only if used as a brand to make money. They have already learned to play against him. By releasing Messi, Barcelona will have to go a long way without trophies. Are the fans ready for this?