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

[muslol67]

I don't know about UEFA and there love for money, but what I know is this, the plan to make the next knockout phases a one legged matches -proves they have acknowledgement of the pandemic situation...

I don't think that is the main reason for making the knockout matches a one-legged affair. I think it's more due to the fact that players will already be tested physically due to them playing every 3 days in their national competitions. They will be dead-tired. Take the heat into consideration as well. They just want to end the season to prepare and save the next one. 

Actually, I think this is one of the biggest problems. I think it's not right to make big plans for the next year. The second wave has already begun to speak for the virus. The number of cases in some countries is growing rapidly. I think a smaller organization could be designed as part of the measures for the next year. I know it doesn't look normal, this is what I said but we don't live in a normal time either. I think such a decision should be made in order to avoid problems in case of a possible epidemic growing.

[DeathAngel]

I can’t believe they’re doing the 1/4 final & semi final as one off games, it devalues the competition for me. There should be a * against the name of the winners this season.

[snipie]

I can’t believe they’re doing the 1/4 final & semi final as one off games, it devalues the competition for me. There should be a * against the name of the winners this season.

Just think about it as a world cup match and let it go. Better to have a "done" competition that "nothing". Teams should understand that they have one chance and they should not miss it.

[Darkoth89]

Do you think teams will have an advantage depending on the state of the league they come from?

Let me explain what I mean: In August teams from France (PSG and Lyon) will not have played an official match for almost 5 months because the French league was cancelled. Sure, you can argue that the players are well rested now and that they had a lot of time to prepare for these matches. But no actual match practice for such a long time?

Quite the opposite for the teams from the Serie A. Juve, Napoli and Bergamo will have 12 more matches before they finish their league! That's a lot in only 7 weeks time! The BPL with their teams ManCity and Chelsea have a bit more 'relaxed' schedule but still have 10 in the next 7 weeks. For Barca, Real and Atletico it will be 9 more matches. These three leagues will all finish in the end of July, so not that much time to really prepare for the UCL but on the other hand they are still in the rhythm of playing matches regularly?

The German Bundesliga on the other hand shows parts of both worlds. They had their restart in mid May and the league is coming to an end soon. So for Bayern and Leipzig there is still more than a month pause between end of the league and the start of the Champions League tournament but still they had played matches in their league. A compromise between time for the players to rest and prepare specially for these remaining matches and thus an advantage for them? What do you think? I know it's still a lot of time until August but I was wondering if you also take these kind of thoughts into account.

[cryptofrka]

Do you think teams will have an advantage depending on the state of the league they come from?

Yup, definitely. A great argument there, but personally I do not think it could have been avoided by the UEFA.
National football associations chose whether football will continue or not, but it definitely puts some teams in a big disadvantage.

PSG will play some friendlies to prepare themselves for sure, but they will lack that match fitness and game sharpness.

Premier league/La liga teams will probably have the best match fitness going into the Champions League games.

[LTU_btc]

@Darkoth89, I have no doubts that it will be big factor. I have no idea how PSG and Lyon are going to play after such long break without official games. Yes, probably they are going to play some friendly games, but it's not same. I think that French government did bad decision by forcing league to end season. As we see from other top leagues, season can be finished behind closed doors with all precautions during pandemy.
While Bundesliga clubs are in strange situation. More than month break until Champions gives chance players to rest and get rid of injuries. But now players are in good rhytm and they will have to keep it somehow until August. It's not good for Bayern, who are playing probably best football in Europe right now.
EPL, La Liga and Serie A now have intensive calendar and there won't be long break until Champions league, so I suppose that teams from these leagues will be in the best rhytm.

[JeromeTash]

Yup, definitely. A great argument there, but personally I do not think it could have been avoided by the UEFA.
National football associations chose whether football will continue or not, but it definitely puts some teams in a big disadvantage.

PSG will play some friendlies to prepare themselves for sure, but they will lack that match fitness and game sharpness.

Premier league/La liga teams will probably have the best match fitness going into the Champions League games.

Think of it also from this angle.
Clubs from the Premier League/La liga may be faced with problems like fatigue and injuries due to very intense match schedules as compared to the situation before the break. On the contrary, teams like PSG might actually have an advantage since their player might be fresh with a few friendly matches to keep them fit.

[examplens]

I just thinking about that. It seems Manchester City and Bayern Munich have pole position for this year champions league.
PSG as one of serious favourite, they lost a lot due to not playing. Especially now, when they will play only one game, so there is no chance to fix if you make a mistake in the first match.
based on the current situation what we can see, Man City, Bayern and Atletico M. are the most serious to go to the end.

[Darkoth89]

Premier league/La liga teams will probably have the best match fitness going into the Champions League games.

[..]
EPL, La Liga and Serie A now have intensive calendar and there won't be long break until Champions league, so I suppose that teams from these leagues will be in the best rhytm.

At first I thought the same as you. But time will have to tell how the players of these leagues are getting along with their intense schedule. With this many games the possibility of getting an injury is higher than usual, especially when you had no game practice for so long and when you couldn't get a perfect preparation as a team (as after the summer break). Avoiding to lose their key players and also giving them time to rest during (not so important) league games will be crucial for the teams from BPL, La Liga and Serie A imo.

This is why I (partly) see it like @examplens. Bayern Munich looks damn solid in their matches since the restart and I can totally see them winning the Champions League this year. I wouldn't say that this one month pause is a disadvantage because the players lose their playing-rhythm. Hansi Flick said that, after their last match in the DFB Pokal on 4th of July, the Bayern players will get a 12 day holiday to regenerate and then they start again with the training and preparation for the Champion League matches. Imo this schedule favours Bayern.

[cryptofrka]

I don't believe in Atletico at all. Their gameplay is based mostly on high tempo defense and they will struggle when the games will start coming fast one after another - they will be tired and are technically inadequate to be able to get themselves out of the tiredness trap.

I believe this is City's season, they lost the PL at the beginning of the season when they lost both Stones and Laporte for a long period of time but they have been playing well, they have a top team and by far the most squad depth from the remaining teams.

If the CL takes the 5 substitutions format (which is expected), City is definitely my pick this season.

[swogerino]

I can't really imagine that there will be a chance for fans in the UCL or Europa League this year. Sure, they would love get at least a part of that juicy ticket money but, for example, here in Germany where the Europa League matches will be played all major events are prohibited until November. And to give Football another special treatment would be extremely unfair for all other sport, music or cultural events.

I also don’t think that any fan will be permitted wherever the games will be played because the risk of Covid 19 is still high.Football compared to other cultural events has been always the preferred event from a majority of persons.Usually a Champions League final game is watched by more than 1 billion persons and that is the record I believe.

[LTU_btc]

It's time to bump this topic. On Friday draw of Champions and Europa league 1/4 final stage will be made:
https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/025a-0e9f8bedb223-d27786ba04dd-1000--quarter-final-draw-on-friday/
It's a bit strange why they are making this draw now, when we still don't know half of teams that will play in next round. 4 round of 16 second leg games still weren't played.

[kawetsriyanto]

It's a bit strange why they are making this draw now, when we still don't know half of teams that will play in next round.

Yes, it is much better if all the teams to play at 16 leg games announced together. Delay to announce half of the matches will trigger people to think something strange. But they must have a strong reason for it, maybe about the team's schedules in their local leagues, or other crucial things. Anyway, let's them work on it, mate. If there is something strange, then those clubs must complain about it.   

[logfiles]

It's a bit strange why they are making this draw now, when we still don't know half of teams that will play in next round. 4 round of 16 second leg games still weren't played.

This pandemic situation changed how everything is supposed to work. Given that the time frame once all the Local leagues have concluded is small until the Opening of next season. The UCL will only have August to utilize. The quarter-final and semi-final ,matches will this time also be played on a straight knockout basis in Lisbon, Portugal. No Second Leg 

Important details from the article.

• There are three draws: for the quarter-finals; for the semi-finals, pitting together quarter-final ties; and then a third to determine the 'home' side in the final for administrative reasons.
• There are no seedings and no country protection, so teams can face opposition from the same national association.
• This season's quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be played as a straight knockout tournament in Lisbon, Portugal in August. All these ties will be single-leg fixtures. The games will be split between Benfica's Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (which will host the final) and Sporting CP's Estádio José Alvalade.

[tomahawk9]

The Champions League quarter finals, semis and final draw is over:

Quarter finals

1) Man City/Real Madrid - Juventus/Lyon

2) Atletico Madrid - RB Leipzig

3) Napoli/Barcelona - Chelsea/Bayern Munich

4) Atalanta - PSG

Semis

1) WinnerQuarterFinal1 vs WinnerQuarterFinal3

2) WinnerQuarterFinal2 vs WinnerQuarterFinal4

alright people, make your predictions  

[Shasha80]

From the rest of the teams that still survive in the UEFA Champions League, I predict between Real Madrid or Barcelona that will win
the UEFA Champions League this year. Because only these two Spanish teams that I think are the most mentally prepared, therefore the
quarter finals will be decisive for Real Madrid and Barcelona. If both of them make it to the semi-finals my prediction is close to reality.

[jayce]

The Champions League quarter finals, semis and final draw is over:

Quarter finals

1) Man City/Real Madrid - Juventus/Lyon

2) Atletico Madrid - RB Leipzig

3) Napoli/Barcelona - Chelsea/Bayern Munich

4) Atalanta - PSG

Semis

1) WinnerQuarterFinal1 vs WinnerQuarterFinal3

2) WinnerQuarterFinal2 vs WinnerQuarterFinal4

alright people, make your predictions  

Based on the squad quality and the longest break they have, PSG might have easier way to reach final than Atalanta, Atleti and Leipzig. Can't decide on the other seed since most of favorite teams are there.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

Barcelona vs PSG will be the final (prediction, not betting on this).

I’m pissed off we got knocked out by Atletico, we would have made at least the semi final judging by the route.

[casperBGD]

The Champions League quarter finals, semis and final draw is over:

Quarter finals

1) Man City/Real Madrid - Juventus/Lyon

2) Atletico Madrid - RB Leipzig

3) Napoli/Barcelona - Chelsea/Bayern Munich

4) Atalanta - PSG

Semis

1) WinnerQuarterFinal1 vs WinnerQuarterFinal3

2) WinnerQuarterFinal2 vs WinnerQuarterFinal4

alright people, make your predictions  

would call for semi-finals as following:
- Real - Bayern
- Atletico - PSG

and for the final - Bayern - Atletico, and Bavarians as new Champions league winners

[DeathAngel]

^^
Real need to beat City by 2 goals to advance, I think they are out. I have a good feeling for Bayern this season, I’m not sure why. I think they have the best balance throughout the team, a good defence, midfield & attack. Some of the other teams have great attacks but lack in other areas.