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

[Minecache]

I would say Ronaldo is both a blessing and a curse to Manchester United.
The main problem is that Ronaldo doesn't play defense and therefore the cohesion of the team is disrupted, because in defense they have fewer players all the time.
The same problem exists in the Portuguese national team.
In modern football, as I mentioned in another post, all players have to play both defense and attack, and one player can't be more important than the whole team.

Nothing of the kind, Ronaldo fulfills all functions. If he hadn't been putting pressure on the opposing defenders (or even simply not being on the cutting edge of the attack, forcing them to retreat back to control his potential dash), then the attacking opponent could raise the midfield and defense lines very high, creating a large concentration of players near United's penalty area. What can we say about how he perfectly helps defenders when playing corners and standarts due to his excellent heading.

Ronaldo is a great player and ugly the best player in the world. And when you have a player like that in your team as a coach you tend to make strategies around the player to enable his best plays. And one player cannot do everything in a team. What Ronaldo needs is everybody doing their work and him doing his which is scoring goals.

[DU18]

I think ole should be sacked nonetheless, he is not of much help to the team right now. Even I think he is causing more problems for the team. A better coach than him would surely dupatta with this type of squad. I think it is time we should understand that.

If Ole had coached another club, he might have been sacked earlier in the season. But, MU still trusts Ole, this is evidenced by a new contract and an extension option. I don't understand what United expect and also their targets. If target is not the title or just need to finish in the Big Four, of course there is nothing wrong with MU's decision to keep Ole. However, fans are fed up with the results obtained by Manchester United since Ole became Manchester United coach. Is there Ferguson behind Ole, so Manchester United still believe in Ole, or is there another factor that strengthens Ole's position.

In my opinion, the treatment that Ole is currently receiving at Manchester is very different from that received by the previous Manchester coaches, and even a coach like Mourinho who was able to award the League Cup, and the Europa League to Manchester during his time, was not given a second chance at all by the managemen  and they immediately fired him and replaced him with Ole, unlike the case with Ole who was not able to provide achievements for manchester united, but they continue to maintain it until now.
Bro @masulum as we all know if all this time Alex Fergusson has been very supportive of Ole, is it possible that Fergusson's influence has made the Manchester management still keep Ole today?

[Pulsar77]

Manchester United are going to play an away game against Villarreal next time. And they have an English Premier League game against Watford before this one. In case they lose points there, we could see Manchester United sacking Ole Solskjaer and starting to search for a new manager before the game against Villarreal. Even though they win against Watford, I don't believe in Manchester United to win against Villarreal in this tough game. I think that both teams will score but Villarreal won't lose unless Ole leaves the team.

That's a pretty bold claim - "Villarreal won't lose unless Ole leaves the team". In your opinion, this means that Villarreal will win as far as Ole is still in charge of Man Utd. I wouldn't say such about this man utd team. They can be unpredictable to an extent. Just a few weeks ago, Atalanta were 2 goals ahead of them and they came back to not just equalize but won the match. It's going to be an interesting match. Looking forward to it. Ole will prolly be sacked if he losses to Watford and Villarreal.

I'm aware that it is a really bold claim. But I said this considering that the real problem is the managing style of Ole Solskjaer for this team. Maybe his departure will start making things better for the team. But they should be able to fill the manager position before this game. And I know that even then there will be an adaptation process for the team. But as long as the new manager starts with the right game plan, we could see its effects in a short time.

[AndySt]

I would say Ronaldo is both a blessing and a curse to Manchester United.
The main problem is that Ronaldo doesn't play defense and therefore the cohesion of the team is disrupted, because in defense they have fewer players all the time.
The same problem exists in the Portuguese national team.
In modern football, as I mentioned in another post, all players have to play both defense and attack, and one player can't be more important than the whole team.

Nothing of the kind, Ronaldo fulfills all functions. If he hadn't been putting pressure on the opposing defenders (or even simply not being on the cutting edge of the attack, forcing them to retreat back to control his potential dash), then the attacking opponent could raise the midfield and defense lines very high, creating a large concentration of players near United's penalty area. What can we say about how he perfectly helps defenders when playing corners and standarts due to his excellent heading.

Ronaldo is a great player and ugly the best player in the world. And when you have a player like that in your team as a coach you tend to make strategies around the player to enable his best plays. And one player cannot do everything in a team. What Ronaldo needs is everybody doing their work and him doing his which is scoring goals.

Indeed, the presence of a player like Ronaldo in the club should by no means be regarded as a curse, but on the contrary as a huge trump card, which alone at one moment can turn the course of the game in your favor. Another question is that eleven people play football, and even such a great player cannot beat eleven opponent players alone, I'm not afraid of such a word. As they say, a diamond needs a decent frame so that it sparkles with all colors. And when fashionable conversations begin, about the old-fashioned nature of players like Ronaldo in modern conditions and about versatility, I will not fully agree with this. It all depends on the specific style of the team's game and if you manage to fit Ronaldo into it, then such a team becomes almost invincible.

[Lordhermes]

I think ole should be sacked nonetheless, he is not of much help to the team right now. Even I think he is causing more problems for the team. A better coach than him would surely dupatta with this type of squad. I think it is time we should understand that.

If Ole had coached another club, he might have been sacked earlier in the season. But, MU still trusts Ole, this is evidenced by a new contract and an extension option. I don't understand what United expect and also their targets. If target is not the title or just need to finish in the Big Four, of course there is nothing wrong with MU's decision to keep Ole. However, fans are fed up with the results obtained by Manchester United since Ole became Manchester United coach. Is there Ferguson behind Ole, so Manchester United still believe in Ole, or is there another factor that strengthens Ole's position.

Yes! Obviously yes,Manchester United is fully behind Ole,Sir Alex Ferguson is fully behind Ole,and that is the reason Manchester United have refused to sack Ole,he has the backing of the the boards,so no matter the pressure that the fans put,the coach will not be sacked now,he will continue to manage the club despite the present Manchester United form.
Ole is a good coach because despite the lack of trophy at United,he has been making sure there top four hope is not tampered with,and at a particular time of the season,they will start performing well to meet up the top four.

[bitzizzix]

I think ole should be sacked nonetheless, he is not of much help to the team right now. Even I think he is causing more problems for the team. A better coach than him would surely dupatta with this type of squad. I think it is time we should understand that.

If Ole had coached another club, he might have been sacked earlier in the season. But, MU still trusts Ole, this is evidenced by a new contract and an extension option. I don't understand what United expect and also their targets. If target is not the title or just need to finish in the Big Four, of course there is nothing wrong with MU's decision to keep Ole. However, fans are fed up with the results obtained by Manchester United since Ole became Manchester United coach. Is there Ferguson behind Ole, so Manchester United still believe in Ole, or is there another factor that strengthens Ole's position.

Yes! Obviously yes,Manchester United is fully behind Ole,Sir Alex Ferguson is fully behind Ole,and that is the reason Manchester United have refused to sack Ole,he has the backing of the the boards,so no matter the pressure that the fans put,the coach will not be sacked now,he will continue to manage the club despite the present Manchester United form.
Ole is a good coach because despite the lack of trophy at United,he has been making sure there top four hope is not tampered with,and at a particular time of the season,they will start performing well to meet up the top four.

It looks like Ole will last longer even until the end of the season, and not only the club's support but Manchester United's officials are reportedly still showing full support and also still trusting Ole.
and will see developments in the next game which looks like there will be more wins than losses in the remaining matches, except for Chelsea and Arsenal which will be faced in the next match and Manchester United will meet Chelsea on 28 November.
and we'll see if Ole will bring Manchester United better than before or not, because after all the club still believes in him.

[hd49728]

It looks like Ole will last longer even until the end of the season, and not only the club's support but Manchester United's officials are reportedly still showing full support and also still trusting Ole.

Many reasons why they don't want to fire Ole. They don't want to pay the compensation fee for Ole if they break the contract ahead of time. They think it is difficult to find good coaches on the marketplace at the moment. They don't want to hire a tier-2 coach and put the club in a race with transfers again and a new period (few seasons) with uncertainty.

I don't think they actually trust Ole. It is just they feel satisfied with a position in top 4. If Ole can not help Manchester United completes this season in top 4, I am sure he will be fired.

and will see developments in the next game which looks like there will be more wins than losses in the remaining matches, except for Chelsea and Arsenal which will be faced in the next match and Manchester United will meet Chelsea on 28 November.
and we'll see if Ole will bring Manchester United better than before or not, because after all the club still believes in him.

Bad decision with Ole only appears if the board feels that Ole can not help the club to complete this season somewhere in top 4 and fail in Champions League too early. They can skip a few bad matches if Ole can finish the given task.

[blue Snow]

PSG vs Man City is going to be an interesting match. Because if PSG wins they will go ahead of Manchester City as they are currently in second place with eight points and man city is in first place with 9 points. I think Man City should win this match as their squad is more balanced.

whoever loses, they must be careful because still have Club Brugge can defeat them in 2nd position. Club Brugge will meet Leipzig (has eliminated) at home, that possible they will get 3 points. And when one of them lost, Club Brugge have a chance to go next (7 points). I hope both (PSG and Manc city) still continue, but I feel interesting when one of them has been eliminated in 1st round.

[hahay]

PSG vs Man City is going to be an interesting match. Because if PSG wins they will go ahead of Manchester City as they are currently in second place with eight points and man city is in first place with 9 points. I think Man City should win this match as their squad is more balanced.

whoever loses, they must be careful because still have Club Brugge can defeat them in 2nd position. Club Brugge will meet Leipzig (has eliminated) at home, that possible they will get 3 points. And when one of them lost, Club Brugge have a chance to go next (7 points). I hope both (PSG and Manc city) still continue, but I feel interesting when one of them has been eliminated in 1st round.

Winning and losing in this match will not change anything, there are only two matches left which means these two teams will still qualify. For example, maybe we assume PSG lost here and Club Brugge won and thus, their points are 8 and 7. Then, in the last match PSG will play at home against Club Brugge, we assume the result is a draw and their points will be 9 and 8, right. So, whatever result in the match Manchester City - PSG does not change anything in the standings of this group, their position will remain like that until the end. Even though PSG can win against Manchester City tomorrow, it's still these two teams that will qualify too, of course, unless Club Brugge can win in these last two matches then Club Brugge will certainly qualify. I'm not sure PSG will give up easily at home in the last match because the opponent is only Club Brugge, which it looks like PSG will still win in the last match against Club Brugge later.

[KingsDen]

I think ole should be sacked nonetheless, he is not of much help to the team right now. Even I think he is causing more problems for the team. A better coach than him would surely dupatta with this type of squad. I think it is time we should understand that.

If Ole had coached another club, he might have been sacked earlier in the season. But, MU still trusts Ole, this is evidenced by a new contract and an extension option. I don't understand what United expect and also their targets. If target is not the title or just need to finish in the Big Four, of course there is nothing wrong with MU's decision to keep Ole. However, fans are fed up with the results obtained by Manchester United since Ole became Manchester United coach. Is there Ferguson behind Ole, so Manchester United still believe in Ole, or is there another factor that strengthens Ole's position.

In my opinion, the treatment that Ole is currently receiving at Manchester is very different from that received by the previous Manchester coaches, and even a coach like Mourinho who was able to award the League Cup, and the Europa League to Manchester during his time, was not given a second chance at all by the managemen  and they immediately fired him and replaced him with Ole, unlike the case with Ole who was not able to provide achievements for manchester united, but they continue to maintain it until now.
Bro @masulum as we all know if all this time Alex Fergusson has been very supportive of Ole, is it possible that Fergusson's influence has made the Manchester management still keep Ole today?

Ole is getting too much undue advantage over his predecessors.  Ole has been given second chance and even third chance and the management is willing to give him more chances. I don't know the reason the management is doing it. Also, Ole is not preserving the legacies of Sir Fagie, yet Sir still wants him to stay.
Now Manchester United has been reduced to mediocre, such that some fans keep saying that appearing in top 4 is already an achievement for Manchester United. It I laughable. Manchester United of trophies are told that top 4 is worth celebrating as if they are Westham.

[Jackl87]

Ole is getting too much undue advantage over his predecessors.  Ole has been given second chance and even third chance and the management is willing to give him more chances. I don't know the reason the management is doing it. Also, Ole is not preserving the legacies of Sir Fagie, yet Sir still wants him to stay.
Now Manchester United has been reduced to mediocre, such that some fans keep saying that appearing in top 4 is already an achievement for Manchester United. It I laughable. Manchester United of trophies are told that top 4 is worth celebrating as if they are Westham.

Same here. I usually always like it when clubs don't sack their coaches so early and give them some more time even though the results may be bad at the moment. In the case of Solskjaer and Manchester united though i am really surprised that he is still coach there. I mean it's not like that he braught a completely new tactic to the club that needs a lot of time to implement, they are just playing bad and it seems like Ole is really benefiting a lot that ferguson and others in the club are fans of him.

[KTChampions]

Nothing of the kind, Ronaldo fulfills all functions. If he hadn't been putting pressure on the opposing defenders (or even simply not being on the cutting edge of the attack, forcing them to retreat back to control his potential dash), then the attacking opponent could raise the midfield and defense lines very high, creating a large concentration of players near United's penalty area. What can we say about how he perfectly helps defenders when playing corners and standarts due to his excellent heading.

Ronaldo is a great player and ugly the best player in the world. And when you have a player like that in your team as a coach you tend to make strategies around the player to enable his best plays. And one player cannot do everything in a team. What Ronaldo needs is everybody doing their work and him doing his which is scoring goals.

Sure. I agree that everyone should do their job, but I definitely do not agree that the game should be built around one player (even if this is Ronaldo in full bloom, which is far from the case - age takes its toll). The coach's task is to find the optimal balance between the strategy and skills of each of the players, I hope United will achieve this. At the moment, judging by the results, the interaction of the players and the chosen strategy are not optimal.

[$crypto$]

Ole is getting too much undue advantage over his predecessors.  Ole has been given second chance and even third chance and the management is willing to give him more chances. I don't know the reason the management is doing it. Also, Ole is not preserving the legacies of Sir Fagie, yet Sir still wants him to stay.
Now Manchester United has been reduced to mediocre, such that some fans keep saying that appearing in top 4 is already an achievement for Manchester United. It I laughable. Manchester United of trophies are told that top 4 is worth celebrating as if they are Westham.

Same here. I usually always like it when clubs don't sack their coaches so early and give them some more time even though the results may be bad at the moment. In the case of Solskjaer and Manchester united though i am really surprised that he is still coach there. I mean it's not like that he braught a completely new tactic to the club that needs a lot of time to implement, they are just playing bad and it seems like Ole is really benefiting a lot that ferguson and others in the club are fans of him.

What is Sir Alex Ferguson waiting for from Ole Gunner asking him to stay? Is there good potential in Sir Ferguson's eyes when I see him Ole is not the type for Man United at the moment?
About the many advantages, it is clear that we can see how Ole benefit heavily but he still benefits and is still trusted by his management, maybe the management's hope is to wait until Ole shines and finds a good strategy while we still keep asking why this time it was different from other coaches his.

[Juggy777]

Ole is getting too much undue advantage over his predecessors.  Ole has been given second chance and even third chance and the management is willing to give him more chances. I don't know the reason the management is doing it. Also, Ole is not preserving the legacies of Sir Fagie, yet Sir still wants him to stay.
Now Manchester United has been reduced to mediocre, such that some fans keep saying that appearing in top 4 is already an achievement for Manchester United. It I laughable. Manchester United of trophies are told that top 4 is worth celebrating as if they are Westham.

Same here. I usually always like it when clubs don't sack their coaches so early and give them some more time even though the results may be bad at the moment. In the case of Solskjaer and Manchester united though i am really surprised that he is still coach there. I mean it's not like that he braught a completely new tactic to the club that needs a lot of time to implement, they are just playing bad and it seems like Ole is really benefiting a lot that ferguson and others in the club are fans of him.

What is Sir Alex Ferguson waiting for from Ole Gunner asking him to stay? Is there good potential in Sir Ferguson's eyes when I see him Ole is not the type for Man United at the moment?
About the many advantages, it is clear that we can see how Ole benefit heavily but he still benefits and is still trusted by his management, maybe the management's hope is to wait until Ole shines and finds a good strategy while we still keep asking why this time it was different from other coaches his.

I feel the media is being misled about Sir Alex wanting Ole to stay on, because if I’m correct he didn’t want Mourinho at the club and yet Mourinho came.

Lastly while it’s being shown the owners are respecting him, they’re only keeping Ole because he’s obedient, and the club is yet not out of the champions league.

[masulum]

In my opinion, the treatment that Ole is currently receiving at Manchester is very different from that received by the previous Manchester coaches, and even a coach like Mourinho who was able to award the League Cup, and the Europa League to Manchester during his time, was not given a second chance at all by the managemen  and they immediately fired him and replaced him with Ole, unlike the case with Ole who was not able to provide achievements for manchester united, but they continue to maintain it until now.
Bro @masulum as we all know if all this time Alex Fergusson has been very supportive of Ole, is it possible that Fergusson's influence has made the Manchester management still keep Ole today?

This is an hot issue i think, so i decide to tried to find articles related to this, and i found several articles, like this one, there was says if Sir Fergie behind Ole who continued to manage the red devil. In several articles, Sir Alex met with Ole even facing the MU board to prevent Ole's dismissal despite losing 5-0 vs liverpool few weeks back. This seems to be the reason all along, why Ole remains at Manchester United, even he getting bad results. If Fergie believed in Ole, maybe he would slowly give education and share his "secrets" of his strategy to Ole.

[poldanmig]

Bad decision with Ole only appears if the board feels that Ole can not help the club to complete this season somewhere in top 4 and fail in Champions League too early. They can skip a few bad matches if Ole can finish the given task.

No one knows what's on the mind of the manchester united board right now while still keeping Ole, even though we can see if manchester united is currently really down in the english league standings and for the champions league I think they are also still in critical position at this time in the group, but fortunately Ole has ronaldo who is at least able to make changes to the manchester united match as happened in the match against Atalanta last.

[tygeade]

Winning and losing in this match will not change anything, there are only two matches left which means these two teams will still qualify. For example, maybe we assume PSG lost here and Club Brugge won and thus, their points are 8 and 7. Then, in the last match PSG will play at home against Club Brugge, we assume the result is a draw and their points will be 9 and 8, right. So, whatever result in the match Manchester City - PSG does not change anything in the standings of this group, their position will remain like that until the end. Even though PSG can win against Manchester City tomorrow, it's still these two teams that will qualify too, of course, unless Club Brugge can win in these last two matches then Club Brugge will certainly qualify. I'm not sure PSG will give up easily at home in the last match because the opponent is only Club Brugge, which it looks like PSG will still win in the last match against Club Brugge later.

It is 100% guaranteed in my mind that City and PSG will go to next stage, I do not believe that there is any possibility that Bruge would go to next stage. It is sad to see Leipzig doing that badly, that is the only thing that shocked me this year, they are not doing well in bundesliga as well, manager really does make a big difference.

In any case I assume that we will see City and PSG on next stage and then also another stage for sure, quarter finals is where things "may" get serious depending on your draw, but aside from that nothing really changes for these teams, hell maybe they could get some lucky draw on quarter finals as well who knows. They are not even working too hard right now neither, because they know they could get it done. Let's see how things could change, but at the moment it is going to be basically exactly this ranking by the end.

[hahay]

Winning and losing in this match will not change anything, there are only two matches left which means these two teams will still qualify. For example, maybe we assume PSG lost here and Club Brugge won and thus, their points are 8 and 7. Then, in the last match PSG will play at home against Club Brugge, we assume the result is a draw and their points will be 9 and 8, right. So, whatever result in the match Manchester City - PSG does not change anything in the standings of this group, their position will remain like that until the end. Even though PSG can win against Manchester City tomorrow, it's still these two teams that will qualify too, of course, unless Club Brugge can win in these last two matches then Club Brugge will certainly qualify. I'm not sure PSG will give up easily at home in the last match because the opponent is only Club Brugge, which it looks like PSG will still win in the last match against Club Brugge later.

It is 100% guaranteed in my mind that City and PSG will go to next stage, I do not believe that there is any possibility that Bruge would go to next stage. It is sad to see Leipzig doing that badly, that is the only thing that shocked me this year, they are not doing well in bundesliga as well, manager really does make a big difference.

In any case I assume that we will see City and PSG on next stage and then also another stage for sure, quarter finals is where things "may" get serious depending on your draw, but aside from that nothing really changes for these teams, hell maybe they could get some lucky draw on quarter finals as well who knows. They are not even working too hard right now neither, because they know they could get it done. Let's see how things could change, but at the moment it is going to be basically exactly this ranking by the end.

Yes, that's for sure, I've previously only answered those who said there might be something different like Club Brugge that might come as a surprise. In my view, although in this group there are no confirmed teams like Liverpool, Ajax, Bayern Munich and Juventus but still, City and PSG can definitely qualify in this group, because on the one hand they are also a big team and also, the difference in points those with Club Brugge can be quite far away. So, I say win or lose for any team in the City - PSG match, basically they will still qualify and I have no doubts about that.

[ShowOff]

Yes, that's for sure, I've previously only answered those who said there might be something different like Club Brugge that might come as a surprise. In my view, although in this group there are no confirmed teams like Liverpool, Ajax, Bayern Munich and Juventus but still, City and PSG can definitely qualify in this group, because on the one hand they are also a big team and also, the difference in points those with Club Brugge can be quite far away. So, I say win or lose for any team in the City - PSG match, basically they will still qualify and I have no doubts about that.

It would be a shame for City or PSG if either of them failed to qualify for the round of 16. Brugge were a surprise in the group but maybe they couldn't do much in the last 2 match. The results of City vs PSG and Brugge vs Leipzig will be decisive, but I also believe that the top two team will qualify.

Brugge might be able to qualify if they manage to win the remaining 2 match but only if City and PSG lose 2 match in a row, I don't see this scenario going to come true.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

It would be a shame for City or PSG if either of them failed to qualify for the round of 16. Brugge were a surprise in the group but maybe they couldn't do much in the last 2 match. The results of City vs PSG and Brugge vs Leipzig will be decisive, but I also believe that the top two team will qualify.

It is better for all except Brugge and Leipzig if Manchester City and PSG will be qualified for Round of 16. Small clubs can create shocks but they can not manage to go too far. They make shock and enjoy it but at the end, they lose in the next round and most of time lose too easily.

The participation of small clubs make later rounds become less competitive. If am not a fan of small clubs, I would prefer to see big clubs to go next. They will make Champions League more interesting in later rounds.

Brugge might be able to qualify if they manage to win the remaining 2 match but only if City and PSG lose 2 match in a row, I don't see this scenario going to come true.

Me too. Manchester City and PSG are too strong in this group. They did not win perfectly so far but I think they will know how to pass through the qualification round