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

[Boristhecat]

I wonder how the issue will be resolved if there are local outbreaks of the virus in individual teams. It is impossible to postpone the entire tournament, but it is also impossible to force City or Liverpool to play with the second line-up, as this will violate the logic of the tournament and give a huge advantage to the opponents. I would like to be mistaken, but most likely many decisions await us that will be absurd and unfair but inevitable because of this whole situation.

Until now the solution is still floating and it is very difficult to decide because this is actually when viewed from both sides it will have the same impact.
If the match continues to be forced then prevention will be very difficult and every club will certainly not play optimally because there are indeed several players who are affected by the epidemic.
on the other hand, when they delay it will automatically make the schedule change and the time delay is uncertain until when.
everything has a detrimental impact and now it's just a matter of waiting what steps will be taken now

By the way, I recalled that last year in the championship of my country there was an interesting situation: one of the teams (which was the favorite) was almost completely quarantined, but it was forced to play against a formal outsider. As you can imagine, it was a match of the second squad against the main squad of the other team - that is, it was completely unfair. Nevertheless, this match took place and ended with a score of something like 8-0. I would not want this to happen in the Champions League.

[kro55]

PSG has the ability to score. Every striker in the squad is experienced and talented. The bonding between Messi and Mbappe is excellent now. They are playing very well together. So now it will be difficult for any team to stop PSG team from scoring. Their only weakness now is defense. However, Real Madrid legend Ramos is now in the PSG squad. He will definitely want to prove his mettle by beating Real Madrid. Within two months, coach Pochettino will have to take the necessary steps to strengthen his defense.

Ramos is sitting on the bench more than playing. I even think that PSG bought him only so that he could not play for Real and thereby weaken their defense. Mbappe and Mesi's pairing may be good, but it's only good because Mbappe scores goals regularly. For Mesi, the whole season and the transition to PSG is an unfortunate action, because he is used to being a star at the club, and at PSG all the stars and he is lost.

I do not agree with you. If PSG had not been interested in signing Ramos, Real Madrid would not have kept Ramos in the squad. However, Ramos has been on PSG since. PSG should use Ramos properly. You said that joining PSG was an unfortunate step for Messi. I don't think you have seen Messi's performance in the Champions League. In the Champions League, Messi is playing great and scoring goals. You can understand by watching the past matches of PSG in the Champions League.

[rahmad2nd]

PSG has the ability to score. Every striker in the squad is experienced and talented. The bonding between Messi and Mbappe is excellent now. They are playing very well together. So now it will be difficult for any team to stop PSG team from scoring. Their only weakness now is defense. However, Real Madrid legend Ramos is now in the PSG squad. He will definitely want to prove his mettle by beating Real Madrid. Within two months, coach Pochettino will have to take the necessary steps to strengthen his defense.

Ramos is sitting on the bench more than playing. I even think that PSG bought him only so that he could not play for Real and thereby weaken their defense. Mbappe and Mesi's pairing may be good, but it's only good because Mbappe scores goals regularly. For Mesi, the whole season and the transition to PSG is an unfortunate action, because he is used to being a star at the club, and at PSG all the stars and he is lost.

I do not agree with you. If PSG had not been interested in signing Ramos, Real Madrid would not have kept Ramos in the squad. However, Ramos has been on PSG since. PSG should use Ramos properly. You said that joining PSG was an unfortunate step for Messi. I don't think you have seen Messi's performance in the Champions League. In the Champions League, Messi is playing great and scoring goals. You can understand by watching the past matches of PSG in the Champions League.

Ramos have make debut for PSG on Ligue 1 and later not see again with Ramos decision how ever he got injury or not but PSG still not giving new announcement can Ramos back on the field when Madrid against with PSG on 16 phase champion league round. Still left two months later for this big match and everything can happening but I worry to see Ramos is ready faced with Real Madrid on champion league, maybe he still injury.

[bekti3]

I wonder how the issue will be resolved if there are local outbreaks of the virus in individual teams. It is impossible to postpone the entire tournament, but it is also impossible to force City or Liverpool to play with the second line-up, as this will violate the logic of the tournament and give a huge advantage to the opponents. I would like to be mistaken, but most likely many decisions await us that will be absurd and unfair but inevitable because of this whole situation.

Until now the solution is still floating and it is very difficult to decide because this is actually when viewed from both sides it will have the same impact.
If the match continues to be forced then prevention will be very difficult and every club will certainly not play optimally because there are indeed several players who are affected by the epidemic.
on the other hand, when they delay it will automatically make the schedule change and the time delay is uncertain until when.
everything has a detrimental impact and now it's just a matter of waiting what steps will be taken now

By the way, I recalled that last year in the championship of my country there was an interesting situation: one of the teams (which was the favorite) was almost completely quarantined, but it was forced to play against a formal outsider. As you can imagine, it was a match of the second squad against the main squad of the other team - that is, it was completely unfair. Nevertheless, this match took place and ended with a score of something like 8-0. I would not want this to happen in the Champions League.

a few months ago also happened in the portugal league where at that time 13 players of the Portuguese club Belenenses were tested positive for Covid and they had to be forced to play matches with their youth squad.
they inevitably have to fight benfica at full strength with some young players and a shortage of players.
As a result, they conceded 7 goals and in the second half only 7 Belenenses players were left on the field.
This is very worrying and like you said, I don't want something like this to happen because it will definitely harm everyone

[mv1986]

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.

Home away system there will be those who feel lucky and not. But for the hosts of the first leg they have to win big to make them a little comfortable. But in the PSG vs Madrid game this time I don't think they will score many goals. If one wins maybe they will win by a margin of 1 goal. Both teams are great teams, but as a Madrid fan I chose Madrid to win and qualify at the next phase. Obviously there's a winter break and player transfers. At least it will be hard to guess who will qualify.

The first leg must be won so that the second leg does not become a heavy burden for both parties, but what is certain is that this match will be fierce later.
Who will qualify, I can't predict it, for sure every fan wants to qualify for their favorite team, and it looks like both the domestic league and UCL are playing very well, you can say on fire, so later we will look forward to the real match.
And in the transfer window, they will definitely be competing to get the players they want.

Yes the PSG vs. Madrid game is one of the biggest games that could have happened in the whole final round regardless of the stage. Now it is so early that one team with ambitions to win the title has to say goodbye. That's kind of crazy. Madrid would be pissed as much as PSG would be. PSG maybe even more because there is nothing else they can do if they now fail. Messi, Neymar, Mbappe, and many other stars were signed. If they now get kicked out in the first round of the final round, they are into a whole lot of trouble.

If Real Madrid come up to the match against PSG in optimal shape, then PSG will have little chance of making it to the next round in the Champions League. PSG is not a balanced team. They have strong players in attack, but there are not three players in defense at once. Although the match is against Real Madrid will be fundamental for many. A pretty hot game awaits us.

I would say that PSG is definitely able to beat any team even if the opponent is in great shape. Last year they kicked out Bayern Munich with a little bit of luck and it is also not like PSG lost the final against Bayern in the CL very clearly. It was close with 1 - 0 for Bayern back then. But it is correct that the team is not really that balanced. The defense still is the weak spot for PSG.

[Furious 7]

PSG has the ability to score. Every striker in the squad is experienced and talented. The bonding between Messi and Mbappe is excellent now. They are playing very well together. So now it will be difficult for any team to stop PSG team from scoring. Their only weakness now is defense. However, Real Madrid legend Ramos is now in the PSG squad. He will definitely want to prove his mettle by beating Real Madrid. Within two months, coach Pochettino will have to take the necessary steps to strengthen his defense.

Ramos is sitting on the bench more than playing. I even think that PSG bought him only so that he could not play for Real and thereby weaken their defense. Mbappe and Mesi's pairing may be good, but it's only good because Mbappe scores goals regularly. For Mesi, the whole season and the transition to PSG is an unfortunate action, because he is used to being a star at the club, and at PSG all the stars and he is lost.

Pochettino doesn't really care about Sergio Ramos being a regular player so he is mostly on the bench why so look at the other defenders who are still solid at their best, so Pochettino prefers another defender over Ramos to start.
Messi is still only able to process the ball to continue to supply to Mbappe and his finishing is good enough for Mbappe for Messi is still a little unlucky in terms of scoring goals.
Otherwise just one goal with 1/2 season in league 1.

[mv1986]

PSG has the ability to score. Every striker in the squad is experienced and talented. The bonding between Messi and Mbappe is excellent now. They are playing very well together. So now it will be difficult for any team to stop PSG team from scoring. Their only weakness now is defense. However, Real Madrid legend Ramos is now in the PSG squad. He will definitely want to prove his mettle by beating Real Madrid. Within two months, coach Pochettino will have to take the necessary steps to strengthen his defense.

Ramos is sitting on the bench more than playing. I even think that PSG bought him only so that he could not play for Real and thereby weaken their defense. Mbappe and Mesi's pairing may be good, but it's only good because Mbappe scores goals regularly. For Mesi, the whole season and the transition to PSG is an unfortunate action, because he is used to being a star at the club, and at PSG all the stars and he is lost.

Pochettino doesn't really care about Sergio Ramos being a regular player so he is mostly on the bench why so look at the other defenders who are still solid at their best, so Pochettino prefers another defender over Ramos to start.
Messi is still only able to process the ball to continue to supply to Mbappe and his finishing is good enough for Mbappe for Messi is still a little unlucky in terms of scoring goals.
Otherwise just one goal with 1/2 season in league 1.

Well in the Champions League he has scored a couple of goals so far. In Ligue 1 it's definitely not going well for him. If I were Pochettino I would also leave Ramons on the bench. He doesn't seem to be at top level anymore. Way too bus with things that happen outside the pitch. Crazy that PSG decided to pay him such a high salary although they knew that Ramos is frequently injured and misses most of the games these days.

[KTChampions]

It is naive to assume that Real will play defensively in this pair and will give PSG a lot of chances to score. Real Madrid have one of the strongest middle lines and PSG will not be able to dominate in order for their strikers to feel at ease. Even if Neymar fully recovers to this confrontation, I think that Real will at least have no worse chances than PSG.

In the game, I believe Mbappe's he will try to do everything he can do to make Real Madrid buy him. Real already has an amazing coach and they play as a team on the other hand, although PSG have a good team, they most times are playing individual not as a team. I’d suggest that the coach improve on his tactics for them to be able to beat Real.

Are you implying that Mbappe will score goals into his own net?  In order to please the management of Real Madrid even more
In fact, I do not think that in this match there will be at least some background to this transition (which can already be considered as 99% completed). All football players will try to show their best game and maybe Mbappe will be able to score, but whether this is  will be enough for overall success is unknown (my prediction: not enough).

[mv1986]

It is naive to assume that Real will play defensively in this pair and will give PSG a lot of chances to score. Real Madrid have one of the strongest middle lines and PSG will not be able to dominate in order for their strikers to feel at ease. Even if Neymar fully recovers to this confrontation, I think that Real will at least have no worse chances than PSG.

In the game, I believe Mbappe's he will try to do everything he can do to make Real Madrid buy him. Real already has an amazing coach and they play as a team on the other hand, although PSG have a good team, they most times are playing individual not as a team. I’d suggest that the coach improve on his tactics for them to be able to beat Real.

Are you implying that Mbappe will score goals into his own net?  In order to please the management of Real Madrid even more
In fact, I do not think that in this match there will be at least some background to this transition (which can already be considered as 99% completed). All football players will try to show their best game and maybe Mbappe will be able to score, but whether this is  will be enough for overall success is unknown (my prediction: not enough).

Actually I look at this issue from a totally different angle. If I was Mbappe I wouldn't want Real Madrid to win the Champions League the year before I sign a contract with them. In fact I would want them to lose early and then when I join the team win the trophy, so everybody says that Mbappe made the difference. I never thought a player who was about to transfer to another club would harm the club he is currently playing for.

[Woodie]

PSG has the ability to score. Every striker in the squad is experienced and talented. The bonding between Messi and Mbappe is excellent now. They are playing very well together. So now it will be difficult for any team to stop PSG team from scoring. Their only weakness now is defense. However, Real Madrid legend Ramos is now in the PSG squad. He will definitely want to prove his mettle by beating Real Madrid. Within two months, coach Pochettino will have to take the necessary steps to strengthen his defense.

Ramos is sitting on the bench more than playing. I even think that PSG bought him only so that he could not play for Real and thereby weaken their defense. Mbappe and Mesi's pairing may be good, but it's only good because Mbappe scores goals regularly. For Mesi, the whole season and the transition to PSG is an unfortunate action, because he is used to being a star at the club, and at PSG all the stars and he is lost.

lol I like your analysis, PSG made sure that their likely opponents in the knockout stages might bring them Real Madrid and before anything happens they needed to weaken the team and what better way of doing this if not removing Ramos from the picture....brilliant game excursion!! But this is also selfish of PSG of not giving this lad the game time he deserves!

[AndySt]

It is naive to assume that Real will play defensively in this pair and will give PSG a lot of chances to score. Real Madrid have one of the strongest middle lines and PSG will not be able to dominate in order for their strikers to feel at ease. Even if Neymar fully recovers to this confrontation, I think that Real will at least have no worse chances than PSG.

In the game, I believe Mbappe's he will try to do everything he can do to make Real Madrid buy him. Real already has an amazing coach and they play as a team on the other hand, although PSG have a good team, they most times are playing individual not as a team. I’d suggest that the coach improve on his tactics for them to be able to beat Real.

Are you implying that Mbappe will score goals into his own net?  In order to please the management of Real Madrid even more
In fact, I do not think that in this match there will be at least some background to this transition (which can already be considered as 99% completed). All football players will try to show their best game and maybe Mbappe will be able to score, but whether this is  will be enough for overall success is unknown (my prediction: not enough).

There was information that Real Madrid changed its tactics about Mbappe after it became clear that Paris Saint-Germain would be the opponent and decided to postpone negotiations with the footballer until March. I don't even know how to treat such information. By the way, the management of Paris Saint-Germain does not lose hope of still agreeing with the footballer on the extension of the contract. In any case, the situation is quite piquant and let's hope that Mbappe will play these matches in full force, regardless of where he is going to continue his football career. By the way, maybe Mbappe's efforts alone may not be enough, but there are other good players in PSG whose efforts in total may be enough to win

[nurilham]

It is naive to assume that Real will play defensively in this pair and will give PSG a lot of chances to score.

Why it is naive? It is my prediction, I consider how Real Madrid should deal with PSG strikers. I think Real Madrid coach may consider about this. Focusing in defending doesn't mean Real Madrid stop attacking and has no intention to control the match. What I mean, those defenders must be more discipline and more strict to keep PSG strikers. You are misunderstood, I never state that Real Madrid players to let PSG players be easier in attacking.

[Rabi3]

I might have to disagree with that, PSG play better in counter attacks and have difficulties when a team is all the way back in defense, and we have seen that multiple times in ligue 1, especially in the match against Lens, Psg were having a lot of difficulties getting through Lens's defense and we have seen Lens players several chances to score a second goal and end the match but they missed some easy ones, and with players such as Vinicius and Benzima we probably won't see the same thing, Real Madrid was and still one of the best teams in counter attacks.

Neither team will play defensively in the PSG vs Madrid match, both teams have strong defense and strong forward lineup. However, Real Madrid's game is more stable than PSG's. PSG's Neymar-Messi-Mbappe trio will have to play well if they want to win against Real Madrid. At the same time, Ramos has to handle the defense. PSG will not win if defenders do not perform well against Real Madrid.

there are two things that could affect that, the coach's approach and how well a team controls the ball and keep it on their side, I am guessing real madrid will play safer against psg for sure, especially in the first match in France, you can't leave spaces open for Mbappe and Messi no matter how good your defense is, the possession of the ball is going to be for PSG with more than 58% is my guess, Real Madrid in the 1st leg won't have to attack and score, they can steal a goal from a counter attacks.

[perfect999]

Pochettino doesn't really care about Sergio Ramos being a regular player so he is mostly on the bench why so look at the other defenders who are still solid at their best, so Pochettino prefers another defender over Ramos to start.
Messi is still only able to process the ball to continue to supply to Mbappe and his finishing is good enough for Mbappe for Messi is still a little unlucky in terms of scoring goals.
Otherwise just one goal with 1/2 season in league 1.

Well in the Champions League he has scored a couple of goals so far. In Ligue 1 it's definitely not going well for him. If I were Pochettino I would also leave Ramons on the bench. He doesn't seem to be at top level anymore. Way too bus with things that happen outside the pitch. Crazy that PSG decided to pay him such a high salary although they knew that Ramos is frequently injured and misses most of the games these days.

There is no doubt he was very good player and have very good career as professional footballer specially he was very good at Real Madrid and now here at PSG because of his quality but sadly recently he is facing some serious injuries just because of this not able to play PSG is paying him because he is in contract with them for this all as this contract is going to end surely they are going to leave him which is very simple, but one thing is sure they have to pay him until this contact is going to end even it's very high fees.

But, the good thing with PSG and Pochettino is that they have some good and reliable substitutes, so they are using them for their good game.

[gabbie2010]

Well in the Champions League he has scored a couple of goals so far. In Ligue 1 it's definitely not going well for him. If I were Pochettino I would also leave Ramons on the bench. He doesn't seem to be at top level anymore. Way too bus with things that happen outside the pitch. Crazy that PSG decided to pay him such a high salary although they knew that Ramos is frequently injured and misses most of the games these days.

From my point of view PSG signed Ramos so as to add his wealth of experience into club defence, UCL trophy is the main target for PSG in order to win that coveted trophy they need to improve on their defence line and with the signing of Ramos that area of the team would have been taken care of, it is not compulsory Pochetino plays Ramos in every league-1 matches, which I agreed with you, of course PSG has dominance in that league but their main objective and aim is winning UCL this season thus has to fix their team in every department once they achieve that they might sell him.

[Alanaz]

Well in the Champions League he has scored a couple of goals so far. In Ligue 1 it's definitely not going well for him. If I were Pochettino I would also leave Ramons on the bench. He doesn't seem to be at top level anymore. Way too bus with things that happen outside the pitch. Crazy that PSG decided to pay him such a high salary although they knew that Ramos is frequently injured and misses most of the games these days.

From my point of view PSG signed Ramos so as to add his wealth of experience into club defence, UCL trophy is the main target for PSG in order to win that coveted trophy they need to improve on their defence line and with the signing of Ramos that area of the team would have been taken care of, it is not compulsory Pochetino plays Ramos in every league-1 matches, which I agreed with you, of course PSG has dominance in that league but their main objective and aim is winning UCL this season thus has to fix their team in every department once they achieve that they might sell him.

this is indeed quite good, but on the other hand by making him linger on the bench it will actually affect his performance because even though he is a great defender but when he is not played for a long time it can actually interfere with his performance because he has to adapt to the field .
If you look at it from this angle, Poche should be able to act more wisely

[skscengeng]

PSG - Real Madrid. What a matchup it is! PSG are seen as the favourite side by most people. However, they don't have a comfortable work to do here. Real Madrid have been showing an incredible performance so far in most of their games. As long as they keep their effort level, PSG would have a really hard time beating them. They had better get an advantageous result in the first leg. Otherwise, Real Madrid can have a big opportunity to advance.

[püsür]

At least there should be CL and UEFA league games without the crowd.

The problem is many players got infected by the Covid. It harms the clubs who lose a lot of players, especially losing their key players because they must be quarantined. It is surely not as simple as we think, Covid transmission is just starting and looks to increase quickly. The best option is absolutely to stop CL, UEFA, and also local league competitions. Even with no crowd, cannot solve the problem because the real problem comes from many aspects.

I understand your point but if we consider everywhere covid can spread from person to person, football and other sports are not in the top of that list. I wish we could come up with a better solution than stopping CL, UEFA and other leagues and tournaments.

I also think it is obvious that there is a vaccination problem everywhere, including athletes. I acknowledge the freedom aspect but just get the damn vaccine and be done with it:
https://www.si.com/soccer/liverpool/news/premier-league-has-most-unvaccinated-players-in-europes-top-leagues
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/dec/18/covid-chaos-leads-jurgen-klopp-demand-action-anti-vaxx-players-liverpool

[skscengeng]

There are still months to go for the last 16 matchups to be played in the Champions League. And the covid-19 situation is getting heavier in Europe now. Therefore, I think that it is really difficult to comment on the matches. For example, Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones tested positive for covid-19 at Liverpool today and they couldn't play in the Newcastle match.

If the corona virus is spreading now, of course it is not impossible that uefa will stop the champions league competition for a while, several clubs in europe have confirmed that many of their players have contracted the corona virus and make them have to postpone the current match in the league domestic and European competitions.

The situation, hopefully, will not be that bad. The winter of course might be very hard, considering the relatively high number of cases, but I cannot imagine we will go back to quarantine times like 2020. At least there should be CL and UEFA league games without the crowd. Just personally, I cannot bear to live without these normal things we took for granted.

I think that it is normal to see the seriousness of covid-19 increasing in winter. Because the coronavirus gets stronger in the months of this season and spreads at a faster speed among so many people. But as there are still two months for the next stage of the European tournaments, I hope to see a better condition for all of these tournaments. I think that the situation will be highly under control and the games will be able to be underway without postponements.

[KTChampions]

Are you implying that Mbappe will score goals into his own net?  In order to please the management of Real Madrid even more
In fact, I do not think that in this match there will be at least some background to this transition (which can already be considered as 99% completed). All football players will try to show their best game and maybe Mbappe will be able to score, but whether this is  will be enough for overall success is unknown (my prediction: not enough).

Actually I look at this issue from a totally different angle. If I was Mbappe I wouldn't want Real Madrid to win the Champions League the year before I sign a contract with them. In fact I would want them to lose early and then when I join the team win the trophy, so everybody says that Mbappe made the difference. I never thought a player who was about to transfer to another club would harm the club he is currently playing for.

To some extent you are right, but in this case the situation is a little different. PSG is just a bag of money, and Real is a legendary club that wins the Champions League regularly. No young name can change this balance, even if Haaland, Mbappe, Vinicius, etc. are included in one player. No one will say that one player made the difference.

It is naive to assume that Real will play defensively in this pair and will give PSG a lot of chances to score.

Why it is naive? It is my prediction, I consider how Real Madrid should deal with PSG strikers. I think Real Madrid coach may consider about this. Focusing in defending doesn't mean Real Madrid stop attacking and has no intention to control the match. What I mean, those defenders must be more discipline and more strict to keep PSG strikers. You are misunderstood, I never state that Real Madrid players to let PSG players be easier in attacking.

PSG is strong in names. But are names on the pitch that strong? Remind me of the game this season, when exactly did the strikers do something at the extra level and PSG beat a strong team?

By the way, maybe Mbappe's efforts alone may not be enough, but there are other good players in PSG whose efforts in total may be enough to win

All we can do is wait to find out later which team was stronger. I think it will be Real. I hope no force majeure like coronavirus and injuries of individual players will prevent us from enjoying this confrontation.