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

[Hidrofor]

My favourite teams to pass this round respectively are PSG, Liverpool and Manchester United. And I bet that most people have the same opinion as mine. Compared to the other draws, Liverpool have an easier job to do against Inter. I don't underestimate Inter, don't get me wrong about it. I just say that both of them are strong teams but Liverpool's game is way ahead of Inter now.

Liverpool are the strongest at the moment in my opinion although some of the other team were also outstanding during the group stage and I think they can qualify easily. Munich is a German team that is more likely to reach the quarter-finals or semi-finals this season than some of the favorite like Ajax, Manchester United or Real Madrid. But before we talk further about who is the best then I think we just have to wait for the first leg to start in February.

I assume that you mean Liverpool are the strongest among all the teams which have qualified for the current round. It is your claim of course but I also suppose that they are really one of the strongest and closest teams to the Champions League title now certainly. But they should never lose their current level of discipline. Klopp should get them ready very well for their each game.

[AndySt]

Manchester United fans might be a bit scared already facing Athletico Madrid. Prior to this meeting,good thing they have Cristiano Ronaldo,as he holds the record of the only player that has an hat-trick against the defending champion's of La Liga. Will Cristiano secure another hat trick against the Spanish giant's once more ? This might seems to be a new era anyways.

In fact, it is not yet clear who should be more afraid in this pair. Both clubs are in crisis now, but before the games there is enough time to change the game and get the necessary game form, so whoever solves these problems will be the favorite in the upcoming confrontation. I hope it will be United and objectively speaking United has more potential for growth than Atlético.

It's silly to talk about the strength of the teams, because there are still two months left before the confrontation and a lot can change during this time. I have no doubt about the class and strength of Cristiano Ronaldo's game, but football is a collective game and 11 people participate in it, and a lot also depends on the efforts of the other players. I would not dare to talk about the greater potential of the Manchester United squad compared to Atletico Madrid, because Diego Simeone has proven throughout his previous career and skill at Atletico that he is able to remove stronger teams from his path, skillfully building the game and tactics of the team in such matches.

[alegotardo]

I assume that you mean Liverpool are the strongest among all the teams which have qualified for the current round. It is your claim of course but I also suppose that they are really one of the strongest and closest teams to the Champions League title now certainly. But they should never lose their current level of discipline. Klopp should get them ready very well for their each game.

It's complicated to choose which is the strongest team.
I see some possible candidates but I can't say which one is better than the other:
Bayern are in first position, they remember a lot what we saw in the 2019/20 season... many chances to win.
Liverpool are not far behind, they have been undefeated since April and have a real chance of taking first place in the rankings.
City is another team that I respect, they are group A leaders and they also show an excellent result.

It's been a long time before games resumed and these performances could change, only time will tell.

[Jasad]

After seeing the matchups, it is going to be really difficult for me to wait for some of them for two months.    I mean especially the PSG - Real Madrid matchup. PSG are going to be the advantageous team in the first leg of this matchup. As I want them to advance, I hope that they can get a nice score at the end of the match. Even if they win by one goal, I believe that they would be advancing by finishing the job in the second leg.

real madrid is a very strong team now, in the Spanish league real madrid is at the top of the standings and their points are relatively far from their competitors, the meeting between psg and real madrid in the champions league, is like a meeting in the final, because they are both a team that is feared in the europe.. it's a shame to miss the meeting between the two of them..

[CryptocurencyKing]

Inter - Liverpool is also an interesting matchup as far as I can see. Liverpool should never underestimate them in both games. Otherwise, they would screw things up for themselves for sure. Inter are playing very well especially nowadays. Maybe they lost to Real Madrid in Santiago Bernabeu but I see it as a normal incident as it is difficult to beat Real Madrid there in this season. The game in Giuseppe Meazza can be really be crucial for this matchup. But after both games, I still believe in Liverpool to advance to the next stage.

Inter also lost to Madrid at San Siro too. As a matter of fact, Madrid bested them home and away. Our champions league aspirations this season is important to club and the club and they wouldn't jeopardize this by underestimating Inter. Both teams have been playing really good football this season but it's quite obvious that Liverpool would have the upper hand in that fixture. My fingers are crossed for my team, Liverpool to win.

Currently they are few teams that can match the playing power o Klopp's Liverpool. Maybe only Man city, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. You need to posses vibrant and fast players to be able to match the high press of the Liverpool team. Inter Milan may be playing well at moment, more domestically and been able to standout against their fellow country rivals, but they are not a match of Liverpool. They play a very slow game, everything about the players is just slow, even their transition and tactics. Liverpool posses fast wingers and fast fullbacks that can disable your idea of play. Besides Italian teams do not really pose as a big threat to an English side.

Agree, for some reason when the English team against the Italian team I personally feel the English team has the advantage with a fast game although indeed, there is no guarantee about that because even at Euro 2020 yesterday Italy could win the title. One thing is for sure, these two teams are currently in their best form so it is no wonder they both look good in their respective leagues so it can be said that they are almost evenly matched. Maybe one other factor that makes a difference is also about the coach, at least here Klopp has been in the team longer and that makes Klopp more promising. Unlike Simone Inzaghi who in reality this is his first season with Inter but with his performance so far it is something great achievement Simone Inzaghi also made for Inter. So yes, both have a chance in this match, player fitness and the right strategy is something that guarantees them to get good results.

I feel that Inter Milan will drop this form in any time. Yes, they may be playing very well now and have more attacking options than Liverpool, talking a about Eden Dzeko, Martinex Lautaro, Joaquin Correa, Alexis Sanchez, Ivan Perisic and Calhanoglu. They have more experienced players too than this Liverpool side too.  These advantages and their ''right strategy'' wont be enough to down down this Klopp's Liverpool side. Liverpool have that fast style of football. Pressing with the help of Auxiliary forwards(Full backs). This makes them very dangerous on the ball. Inter Milan do not have that energetic and fast players to match this. You will have to forfeit your own tactics halfway to break than this Liverpool from scoring, and by so doing end up playing trash because you want to stop them. 

[hahay]

Inter - Liverpool is also an interesting matchup as far as I can see. Liverpool should never underestimate them in both games. Otherwise, they would screw things up for themselves for sure. Inter are playing very well especially nowadays. Maybe they lost to Real Madrid in Santiago Bernabeu but I see it as a normal incident as it is difficult to beat Real Madrid there in this season. The game in Giuseppe Meazza can be really be crucial for this matchup. But after both games, I still believe in Liverpool to advance to the next stage.

Inter also lost to Madrid at San Siro too. As a matter of fact, Madrid bested them home and away. Our champions league aspirations this season is important to club and the club and they wouldn't jeopardize this by underestimating Inter. Both teams have been playing really good football this season but it's quite obvious that Liverpool would have the upper hand in that fixture. My fingers are crossed for my team, Liverpool to win.

Currently they are few teams that can match the playing power o Klopp's Liverpool. Maybe only Man city, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. You need to posses vibrant and fast players to be able to match the high press of the Liverpool team. Inter Milan may be playing well at moment, more domestically and been able to standout against their fellow country rivals, but they are not a match of Liverpool. They play a very slow game, everything about the players is just slow, even their transition and tactics. Liverpool posses fast wingers and fast fullbacks that can disable your idea of play. Besides Italian teams do not really pose as a big threat to an English side.

Agree, for some reason when the English team against the Italian team I personally feel the English team has the advantage with a fast game although indeed, there is no guarantee about that because even at Euro 2020 yesterday Italy could win the title. One thing is for sure, these two teams are currently in their best form so it is no wonder they both look good in their respective leagues so it can be said that they are almost evenly matched. Maybe one other factor that makes a difference is also about the coach, at least here Klopp has been in the team longer and that makes Klopp more promising. Unlike Simone Inzaghi who in reality this is his first season with Inter but with his performance so far it is something great achievement Simone Inzaghi also made for Inter. So yes, both have a chance in this match, player fitness and the right strategy is something that guarantees them to get good results.

I feel that Inter Milan will drop this form in any time. Yes, they may be playing very well now and have more attacking options than Liverpool, talking a about Eden Dzeko, Martinex Lautaro, Joaquin Correa, Alexis Sanchez, Ivan Perisic and Calhanoglu. They have more experienced players too than this Liverpool side too.  These advantages and their ''right strategy'' wont be enough to down down this Klopp's Liverpool side. Liverpool have that fast style of football. Pressing with the help of Auxiliary forwards(Full backs). This makes them very dangerous on the ball. Inter Milan do not have that energetic and fast players to match this. You will have to forfeit your own tactics halfway to break than this Liverpool from scoring, and by so doing end up playing trash because you want to stop them. 

That's the reason why I say that, because English teams usually have faster and harder gameplay but in this era each team has their own strategy which is very likely they already have plans to break such gameplay. Anyway, whatever the conditions later, for me personally, the English team will still be wary of the match and it will also be a consideration for us to bet, because at this time a team can play very defensively throughout the match until the match is tough, this may still happen later.

[coderben]

Maybe we missed a big chance to watch a Ronaldo vs Messi rivalry after the draw took place one more time. But we can still see this in the next round I guess. It is going to be depending on PSG to eliminate Real Madrid and Manchester United to do the same against Atletico Madrid. Both matchups are very difficult for them I believe. Real Madrid can make things very difficult for PSG especially in the rematch. But PSG still can move them out of the CL. And Manchester United can do the same by a close aggregate to Atletico Madrid.

[MK-74]

The mistake during the play-off drawings of Champions League was a great dissappoinment for the fans, for example me, I as a fan have been always relying on the justice of organization regardless of rumours like hot balls or big team effects until this incident . So, from now on I will be watching the games much more carefully than past and focusing on the refree decisions in detail.

We want a clean Champions League and please pay much more attention in next drawings !

[joker_josue]

Maybe we missed a big chance to watch a Ronaldo vs Messi rivalry after the draw took place one more time. But we can still see this in the next round I guess. It is going to be depending on PSG to eliminate Real Madrid and Manchester United to do the same against Atletico Madrid. Both matchups are very difficult for them I believe. Real Madrid can make things very difficult for PSG especially in the rematch. But PSG still can move them out of the CL. And Manchester United can do the same by a close aggregate to Atletico Madrid.

I think both teams, Man United and PSG, will have more difficulties now.
Real Madrid have the Spanish league under control, so they will channel all their efforts into the match against PSG.
Man United, on the other hand, will have to reorganize to become more competitive. And Atletico Madrid are a very unpredictable team and can make the opponent's game very difficult.

These will be two very interesting games to watch, and risky to bet on.

[kayiboyu]

I think both teams, Man United and PSG, will have more difficulties now.
Real Madrid have the Spanish league under control, so they will channel all their efforts into the match against PSG.
Man United, on the other hand, will have to reorganize to become more competitive. And Atletico Madrid are a very unpredictable team and can make the opponent's game very difficult.

These will be two very interesting games to watch, and risky to bet on.

Their jobs are even more difficult now, yes. None of the Madrid teams should be seen as an easy target. Real Madrid are even a more difficult team to defeat now when we consider their dominant performance in the recent times. They will be one of the biggest threats for PSG in the Champions League. And Atletico Madrid will also be a tough target for Manchester United. If the Manchester club don't develop their game plan more, their job will be even harder than it was before.

[BALIK]

I think both teams, Man United and PSG, will have more difficulties now.
Real Madrid have the Spanish league under control, so they will channel all their efforts into the match against PSG.
Man United, on the other hand, will have to reorganize to become more competitive. And Atletico Madrid are a very unpredictable team and can make the opponent's game very difficult.

These will be two very interesting games to watch, and risky to bet on.

Their jobs are even more difficult now, yes. None of the Madrid teams should be seen as an easy target. Real Madrid are even a more difficult team to defeat now when we consider their dominant performance in the recent times. They will be one of the biggest threats for PSG in the Champions League. And Atletico Madrid will also be a tough target for Manchester United. If the Manchester club don't develop their game plan more, their job will be even harder than it was before.

Real Madrid is definitely a very strong team. Winning against Real Madrid is definitely challenging for any team. However, Real Madrid will make a mistake if they think PSG team is weak. PSG has one of the top 3 strikers in the world. At the same time, Real Madrid legend Captain Ramos is now at PSG. He will definitely want to win against his former club. Moreover, Messi has always been the biggest enemy of Real Madrid. All in all this match will be an enjoyable match

[Spack17]

It seems to me like that Ajax can advance to the quarter finals after having one of the best matchups which is against Benfica. I wouldn't like to underrate Benfica of course but it should already be seen clearly by many people that Ajax are in a much greater condition than their opponent now. The Ajax team are comprised of very talented players especially for scoring. I expect them to continue to show their real strength in this matchup also.

[Yogee]

The mistake during the play-off drawings of Champions League was a great dissappoinment for the fans, for example me, I as a fan have been always relying on the justice of organization regardless of rumours like hot balls or big team effects until this incident . So, from now on I will be watching the games much more carefully than past and focusing on the refree decisions in detail.

We want a clean Champions League and please pay much more attention in next drawings !

Why was it a great disappointment? Did you already lose money because of it? It was unexpected for sure since it's such a huge organization but I don't think we should overreact. They rectified the error and the clubs have accepted the new results. Let's move on and look forward to next year's matches.

It seems to me like that Ajax can advance to the quarter finals after having one of the best matchups which is against Benfica. I wouldn't like to underrate Benfica of course but it should already be seen clearly by many people that Ajax are in a much greater condition than their opponent now. The Ajax team are comprised of very talented players especially for scoring. I expect them to continue to show their real strength in this matchup also.

They had a strong performance in the group stage and they are rewarded with an "easier" opponent. They should be able to win both legs against Benfica.

[DU18]

The mistake during the play-off drawings of Champions League was a great dissappoinment for the fans, for example me, I as a fan have been always relying on the justice of organization regardless of rumours like hot balls or big team effects until this incident . So, from now on I will be watching the games much more carefully than past and focusing on the refree decisions in detail.

We want a clean Champions League and please pay much more attention in next drawings !

When the results of the first drawing were released, to be honest I was very surprised because manchester united would face villareal again, even though it was clear that both teams were in the same group in the group phase and it happened repeatedly, but thankfully the drawing has been repeated so the team who are in the last 16 get their real opponents right now.

I don't know if it was intentional or purely a technical error, but what is certain now is that many people think that there is a dishonesty in the draw for the Champions League round of 16 drawing.

[KTChampions]

In fact, it is not yet clear who should be more afraid in this pair. Both clubs are in crisis now, but before the games there is enough time to change the game and get the necessary game form, so whoever solves these problems will be the favorite in the upcoming confrontation. I hope it will be United and objectively speaking United has more potential for growth than Atlético.

It's silly to talk about the strength of the teams, because there are still two months left before the confrontation and a lot can change during this time. I have no doubt about the class and strength of Cristiano Ronaldo's game, but football is a collective game and 11 people participate in it, and a lot also depends on the efforts of the other players. I would not dare to talk about the greater potential of the Manchester United squad compared to Atletico Madrid, because Diego Simeone has proven throughout his previous career and skill at Atletico that he is able to remove stronger teams from his path, skillfully building the game and tactics of the team in such matches.

Past achievements are worthless, so they can be ignored. This season, Simeone received the world's strongest (as it seemed at the beginning of the season) bunch of strikers Suarez + Greenzman, and how did he dispose of it? Atlético continued to play tedious defensive football, which yielded mediocre results all season (they miraculously got into the Champions League playoffs and their position in La Liga is weak). What is the likelihood that Simeone will be able to radically change something? Historically, I see that it is very small. What is the likelihood that a great team (in composition) will finally start to play well? Much more since real changes are taking place in United (for example, a change of coach).

[blackened515]

It seems to me like that Ajax can advance to the quarter finals after having one of the best matchups which is against Benfica. I wouldn't like to underrate Benfica of course but it should already be seen clearly by many people that Ajax are in a much greater condition than their opponent now. The Ajax team are comprised of very talented players especially for scoring. I expect them to continue to show their real strength in this matchup also.

The round 16 results will be full of surprises. Is obvious that Ajax have a great squad, and also they are currently unbeatable in the Champion League. But no team is probably weak as far as Champion League is concerned. However, Benfica will be hosting Ajax in the round 16 Leg 1, and Benfica will struggle not to lose since is will be their home match. The match will be very tough, but honestly I don't think Benfica can be able to resist Ajax in both home and away. Anyway, Let wait and see how they plays.

[Alanaz]

Manchester United fans might be a bit scared already facing Athletico Madrid. Prior to this meeting,good thing they have Cristiano Ronaldo,as he holds the record of the only player that has an hat-trick against the defending champion's of La Liga. Will Cristiano secure another hat trick against the Spanish giant's once more ? This might seems to be a new era anyways.

In fact, it is not yet clear who should be more afraid in this pair. Both clubs are in crisis now, but before the games there is enough time to change the game and get the necessary game form, so whoever solves these problems will be the favorite in the upcoming confrontation. I hope it will be United and objectively speaking United has more potential for growth than Atlético.

It's silly to talk about the strength of the teams, because there are still two months left before the confrontation and a lot can change during this time. I have no doubt about the class and strength of Cristiano Ronaldo's game, but football is a collective game and 11 people participate in it, and a lot also depends on the efforts of the other players. I would not dare to talk about the greater potential of the Manchester United squad compared to Atletico Madrid, because Diego Simeone has proven throughout his previous career and skill at Atletico that he is able to remove stronger teams from his path, skillfully building the game and tactics of the team in such matches.

but if we look at talking about MU vs Atletico later, it can't be separated from Cristiano. Because if you look at history, Cristiano always makes something that makes Atletico inflamed when he is at Real Madrid or Juventus.
Last season, Ronaldo silenced Athletico with a hat-trick when Athletico met Juventus last season.
He will definitely be the main magnet at this time because even though Athletico is a strong team, Ronaldo is one of the players who have scored the most goals against Atlético with 25 goals at the moment.

[Raflesia]

I don't know if it was intentional or purely a technical error, but what is certain now is that many people think that there is a dishonesty in the draw for the Champions League round of 16 drawing.

Surely UEFA will say this is a technical error and it is impossible to speak of dishonesty, but of course there is a lot of speculation at the level of UEFA, only making a few mistakes but causing a lot of harm to other clubs, so I think this is certainly UEFA should not repeat it again.
But I saw that there was indeed an injustice in the lottery and this is the first time I've seen this draw twice, I know.

[RapTarX]

Are you talking about a winning streak of 22 matches?

Not exactly that's one. Ancelotti don't follow a player rotation policy which leave him a injured team at the end of the season or at the time or crucial matches. That's happen with Real Madrid back in 0214/15 season IIRC. Since, Madrid is in winning streak, he can try with rotating some players and send some current players in rest. It's not easy to play 90 minutes two times in a week.

[skarais]

When the results of the first drawing were released, to be honest I was very surprised because manchester united would face villareal again, even though it was clear that both teams were in the same group in the group phase and it happened repeatedly, but thankfully the drawing has been repeated so the team who are in the last 16 get their real opponents right now.

I don't know if it was intentional or purely a technical error, but what is certain now is that many people think that there is a dishonesty in the draw for the Champions League round of 16 drawing.

Speculation about Uefa's dishonesty in the draw hasn't just happened once, but you must have been hearing about it for a long time now. Maybe they can reason about a technical glitch, but I'm sure there must be a shrimp behind the rock. But what is clear is that everything is official now and nothing will change.

In my opinion, the draw for the round of 16 can benefit several team at this time where it will be very easy to guess who will qualify because of the quality of the team. Manchester City, Bayern Munchen, Chelsea and Ajax are some of the team that are highly believed to be able to qualify for the next round easily because they get opponents that are much easier than some other team. Meanwhile PSG, Madrid, Liverpool, AC Milan, Inter, Atletico and Manchester United had to go through a tough match where the quality of the team they faced was very difficult to beat. So maybe we will be surprised by the failure of some Premier League team in this round, but this is the best match in the round of 16.