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

[Falconer]

Inter - Liverpool is also an interesting matchup but Liverpool are favoured to advance the most too. Because they have been very successful for a long time and they won the Champions League title a few years ago. Inter will be under a big threat in this matchup because of that. But they are not an easy opponent also. They are in a great shape in the Serie A. If they manage to play like in there, then they might not let Liverpool advance comfortably.

I want both teams to win at home, but Liverpool will qualify. Compared to Inter, I prefer to see Liverpool in the next round of the season because I think Liverpool will be able to show a better competition. I don't underestimate Inter's strength, they are strong but I support Liverpool.

At the moment I feel Inter and Liverpool are in good form in their respective domestic League but the record of the second meeting shows that Liverpool are ahead of Inter by 3 wins from a total of 4 match in history. The 2008 Champions League proved Liverpool took Inter home early in the last 16 and this season is their first meeting since 2008.

[Coyster]

Maybe that's why they recruited Messi. As we saw that with even a bad squad like Barcelona's Messi was able to do wonders. Barcelona can now feel that how important Messi was for them. He single-handedly carried them to success. Maybe that's why the PSG board thought that Messi will be able to help them get the CL trophy. So far this season PSG do look like a contender for the title, let's see what the future holds for them.

Messi was a great player for Barcelona, prolly the best to ever come out of camp nou, but I'd not say that he singlehandedly carried Barcelona to glory, I know he was their most important and influential player, But Barcelona is a great club and they had a lot of quality players, Messi made them absolutely complete, but he wasn't everything, he also needed other players to function as well, what I mean is, Barca and Messi had a seamless relationship. Just take a look at how things are panning out in PSG for Messi, he isn't at his best cause he does not seem to have the sort of connection he had at Barcelona. Having said that, I still don't think PSG are somewhat ready to win the CL, they have the individual talents, but as a team, they are not the best and it could still take them a while before they are CL champions.

[baeva]

Inter - Liverpool is also an interesting matchup but Liverpool are favoured to advance the most too. Because they have been very successful for a long time and they won the Champions League title a few years ago. Inter will be under a big threat in this matchup because of that. But they are not an easy opponent also. They are in a great shape in the Serie A. If they manage to play like in there, then they might not let Liverpool advance comfortably.

I'm not sure that a relatively recent Champions League title win Liverpool can have any effect on the mental preparation for playing Liverpool. At this rate, Inter are knowingly losing to any other team that has taken the lug? This match will be very tense just because both teams are very strong and we should expect a rough, possibly tedious game

[alegotardo]

I'm not sure that a relatively recent Champions League title win Liverpool can have any effect on the mental preparation for playing Liverpool. At this rate, Inter are knowingly losing to any other team that has taken the lug? This match will be very tense just because both teams are very strong and we should expect a rough, possibly tedious game

A tedious game?
Quite the contrary... in a match where two big teams play I expect to see a brilliant game.

A beautiful game doesn't necessarily need to have multiple goals, but accurate ball passes, rehearsed plays, and good assists for shots on goal.
However, I believe that this game can have about 5 goals, without much difficulty. However, I definitely don't know who to bet on as the winner of the match.

[AndySt]

Maybe that's why they recruited Messi. As we saw that with even a bad squad like Barcelona's Messi was able to do wonders. Barcelona can now feel that how important Messi was for them. He single-handedly carried them to success. Maybe that's why the PSG board thought that Messi will be able to help them get the CL trophy. So far this season PSG do look like a contender for the title, let's see what the future holds for them.

Messi was a great player for Barcelona, prolly the best to ever come out of camp nou, but I'd not say that he singlehandedly carried Barcelona to glory, I know he was their most important and influential player, But Barcelona is a great club and they had a lot of quality players, Messi made them absolutely complete, but he wasn't everything, he also needed other players to function as well, what I mean is, Barca and Messi had a seamless relationship. Just take a look at how things are panning out in PSG for Messi, he isn't at his best cause he does not seem to have the sort of connection he had at Barcelona. Having said that, I still don't think PSG are somewhat ready to win the CL, they have the individual talents, but as a team, they are not the best and it could still take them a while before they are CL champions.

I also disagree with the fact that Messi allegedly single-handedly created the success of a team like Barcelona. Barcelona was just as strong as a team and their famous tiki-taka just requires great teamwork and the same great performers that were available. Therefore, of course, it is foolish to say that all the recent successes of Barcelona are solely the merits of Messi. Let's not forget that the backbone of that Barcelona was also an important part of the Spanish national team that became world and European champions. In addition, let's not forget that Messi is not getting any younger, and therefore his factor as a player also weakens with time, so the Paris Saint-Germain management should definitely keep this in mind.

[Xxmodded]

Maybe that's why they recruited Messi. As we saw that with even a bad squad like Barcelona's Messi was able to do wonders. Barcelona can now feel that how important Messi was for them. He single-handedly carried them to success. Maybe that's why the PSG board thought that Messi will be able to help them get the CL trophy. So far this season PSG do look like a contender for the title, let's see what the future holds for them.

Messi was a great player for Barcelona, prolly the best to ever come out of camp nou, but I'd not say that he singlehandedly carried Barcelona to glory, I know he was their most important and influential player, But Barcelona is a great club and they had a lot of quality players, Messi made them absolutely complete, but he wasn't everything, he also needed other players to function as well, what I mean is, Barca and Messi had a seamless relationship. Just take a look at how things are panning out in PSG for Messi, he isn't at his best cause he does not seem to have the sort of connection he had at Barcelona. Having said that, I still don't think PSG are somewhat ready to win the CL, they have the individual talents, but as a team, they are not the best and it could still take them a while before they are CL champions.

I also disagree with the fact that Messi allegedly single-handedly created the success of a team like Barcelona. Barcelona was just as strong as a team and their famous tiki-taka just requires great teamwork and the same great performers that were available. Therefore, of course, it is foolish to say that all the recent successes of Barcelona are solely the merits of Messi. Let's not forget that the backbone of that Barcelona was also an important part of the Spanish national team that became world and European champions. In addition, let's not forget that Messi is not getting any younger, and therefore his factor as a player also weakens with time, so the Paris Saint-Germain management should definitely keep this in mind.

I have different thing with Lionel Messi is not greatest player for Barcelona but he got many support and service were played with Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta he always got good service and assists, look on statistic right now after Barcelona without Xavi and Iniesta never success reach champion league trophy and Barcelona never take final any more, now he try challenge with PSG and I think will the same situation until half season of Ligue 1 Lionel Messi faced difficult how to make goal. I think he just lucky when playing for Barcelona where support by Xavi and Iniesta to make him can easy for creating goal.

[hahay]

I'm not sure that a relatively recent Champions League title win Liverpool can have any effect on the mental preparation for playing Liverpool. At this rate, Inter are knowingly losing to any other team that has taken the lug? This match will be very tense just because both teams are very strong and we should expect a rough, possibly tedious game

A tedious game?
Quite the contrary... in a match where two big teams play I expect to see a brilliant game.

A beautiful game doesn't necessarily need to have multiple goals, but accurate ball passes, rehearsed plays, and good assists for shots on goal.
However, I believe that this game can have about 5 goals, without much difficulty. However, I definitely don't know who to bet on as the winner of the match.

5 goals is a lot and I'm not sure about that, because both teams will definitely play more carefully and with discipline. Indeed, for the initial minutes they played more openly because they were targeting a goal, but when 1 goal has been created I am sure that the team that wins early will implement a defensive strategy. I only predict this but that doesn't mean the team that wins early will stop their attack, because the counter-attack strategy that will be applied later in such a situation and condition will very promise a definite victory.

[mv1986]

Maybe that's why they recruited Messi. As we saw that with even a bad squad like Barcelona's Messi was able to do wonders. Barcelona can now feel that how important Messi was for them. He single-handedly carried them to success. Maybe that's why the PSG board thought that Messi will be able to help them get the CL trophy. So far this season PSG do look like a contender for the title, let's see what the future holds for them.

Messi was a great player for Barcelona, prolly the best to ever come out of camp nou, but I'd not say that he singlehandedly carried Barcelona to glory, I know he was their most important and influential player, But Barcelona is a great club and they had a lot of quality players, Messi made them absolutely complete, but he wasn't everything, he also needed other players to function as well, what I mean is, Barca and Messi had a seamless relationship. Just take a look at how things are panning out in PSG for Messi, he isn't at his best cause he does not seem to have the sort of connection he had at Barcelona. Having said that, I still don't think PSG are somewhat ready to win the CL, they have the individual talents, but as a team, they are not the best and it could still take them a while before they are CL champions.

I also disagree with the fact that Messi allegedly single-handedly created the success of a team like Barcelona. Barcelona was just as strong as a team and their famous tiki-taka just requires great teamwork and the same great performers that were available. Therefore, of course, it is foolish to say that all the recent successes of Barcelona are solely the merits of Messi. Let's not forget that the backbone of that Barcelona was also an important part of the Spanish national team that became world and European champions. In addition, let's not forget that Messi is not getting any younger, and therefore his factor as a player also weakens with time, so the Paris Saint-Germain management should definitely keep this in mind.

To say that it was solely due to Messi goes way too far, but if you look at some of the solo goals he scored in important matches (against Real Madrid in the CL semis, or against Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final for example), it showed that at least some of the titles were won because of him. Even in a game where he didn't score (which rarely happened), the opponents were so focussed to keep Messi out of the game that there was tremendous space for all other players. I can't think of a single player who would have scored 50 goals in a single season in the Primera División even with Xavi and Iniesta still playing.

However, I fully agree with you that Barcelona was THE perfect squad for a couple of years from goalkeeper to the offenders. The balance within the team was out of this world and yet Messi still was the one who stuck out. There are phases where free-kicks were almost like penalties for him. That's just unreal.

We were lucky to have had the chance to see two of the best soccer players of all time to compete with each other, Messi and Ronaldo. I remember when everyone thought that Henry for Barcelona and Raul for Madrid was crazy, but that wasn't even close to Messi vs. Ronaldo. Not sure if we get to see it again on that level or even beyond within our lifetime.

[Boristhecat]

Bayern, City, and Chelsea got quite easier opponents compared to the Liverpool-Inter and PSG-RMA matchup. I would've liked it if we had the Real Madrid vs PSG match in the semi-finals or finals.

Having one team eliminated this early is a sad thing to see. But I'm hoping that no team among City, Bayern, and Chelsea will fumble and they should be going to the next round fairly easily. But one thing that worries me is Bayern's recent form as a lot of their players are out due to COVID including their captain Neuer.

The fact that Real and PSG meet at such an early stage is bad because someone will leave the tournament, but good because already at this stage we will see a dramatic confrontation. The problem of the Champions League is that this tournament becomes interesting in the final matches of the group stage (in some, not in all) and in the playoffs, and as you rightly noted, even in the playoffs some teams get weak opponents and their confrontation is not very interesting.

[Xxmodded]

Bayern, City, and Chelsea got quite easier opponents compared to the Liverpool-Inter and PSG-RMA matchup. I would've liked it if we had the Real Madrid vs PSG match in the semi-finals or finals.

Having one team eliminated this early is a sad thing to see. But I'm hoping that no team among City, Bayern, and Chelsea will fumble and they should be going to the next round fairly easily. But one thing that worries me is Bayern's recent form as a lot of their players are out due to COVID including their captain Neuer.

The fact that Real and PSG meet at such an early stage is bad because someone will leave the tournament, but good because already at this stage we will see a dramatic confrontation. The problem of the Champions League is that this tournament becomes interesting in the final matches of the group stage (in some, not in all) and in the playoffs, and as you rightly noted, even in the playoffs some teams get weak opponents and their confrontation is not very interesting.

Bad decision with one bigger team will leave tournament early between Madrid or PSG, but how ever PSG failed touch first standing position on group stage have regulation will faced with leader group stage where Madrid as against for 16 round. Both team playing well and Madrid keep consistent on champion league group stage just got one loss, different with PSG just collected 11 points from three time with winning and one time loss and get two draw, different with Madrid success get five winning and collected 15 points with one loss only. But domestic league Madrid more consistent than PSG will give favorite for Madrid take to quarter final.

[Distraction]

In my opinion, Chelsea have a really easy matchup for themselves. Because Lille are not even near their performance in the last season. I'm aware of the fact that Chelsea have been having a hard time winning matches in the recent times but this doesn't show that they are a bad team now. They still have a powerful lineup and a great manager like Tuchel. It is all about a tactical war in this tournament. And we saw how great they were in the last season.

[RondoAnyar]

Serie A leaders Inter Milan will meet Liverpool in the last 16 of the Champions League. It will be an interesting match. This is the first time Inter Milan has returned to play in the last 16 after a 10-year absence. This is an opportunity for them to get back on track, although it will be difficult for them to meet one of the English giants.

[DU18]

Serie A leaders Inter Milan will meet Liverpool in the last 16 of the Champions League. It will be an interesting match. This is the first time Inter Milan has returned to play in the last 16 after a 10-year absence. This is an opportunity for them to get back on track, although it will be difficult for them to meet one of the English giants.

This is an opportunity for Intermilan to avenge their defeat that occurred in 2008 later, so far Intermilan and Liverpool have faced off 4 times and Liverpool have won 3 wins and only 1 win has been won by Inter Milan, I think so far Inter Milan  have record who were bad against English teams, especially Liverpool, so I think the match against Liverpool could be a good opportunity for Inter Milan to improve their record, especially now that Inter Milan has had quite an impressive performance in the league.

[laurenB7742]

The fact that Real and PSG meet at such an early stage is bad because someone will leave the tournament, but good because already at this stage we will see a dramatic confrontation. The problem of the Champions League is that this tournament becomes interesting in the final matches of the group stage (in some, not in all) and in the playoffs, and as you rightly noted, even in the playoffs some teams get weak opponents and their confrontation is not very interesting.

Bad decision with one bigger team will leave tournament early between Madrid or PSG, but how ever PSG failed touch first standing position on group stage have regulation will faced with leader group stage where Madrid as against for 16 round. Both team playing well and Madrid keep consistent on champion league group stage just got one loss, different with PSG just collected 11 points from three time with winning and one time loss and get two draw, different with Madrid success get five winning and collected 15 points with one loss only. But domestic league Madrid more consistent than PSG will give favorite for Madrid take to quarter final.

I will opt for Real Madrid in this match.
You know, they are known as the kings of CL but PSG are not that good in CL. PSG are dominant in their own league and so is RMA. But if we solely talk about CL, I think that RMA might have the edge over PSG. Still now, the PSG front trio are not clicking together.
Mess-Neymar-Mbappe are individually really great players, but their chemistry is not on point. But Benzema and Vinicius are on insanely great form this season.

[babo]

I will opt for Real Madrid in this match.
You know, they are known as the kings of CL but PSG are not that good in CL. PSG are dominant in their own league and so is RMA. But if we solely talk about CL, I think that RMA might have the edge over PSG. Still now, the PSG front trio are not clicking together.
Mess-Neymar-Mbappe are individually really great players, but their chemistry is not on point. But Benzema and Vinicius are on insanely great form this season.

I totally agree with you, Real Madrid have a lot of experience compared to PSG.
PSG remains a very strong team with a lot of talents, but maybe they haven't found a way to use them properly together yet.
You are talking about the trio that fails to synchronize.
When it does, it will be a war machine.

[Maidak]

Messi was a great player for Barcelona, prolly the best to ever come out of camp nou, but I'd not say that he singlehandedly carried Barcelona to glory, I know he was their most important and influential player, But Barcelona is a great club and they had a lot of quality players, Messi made them absolutely complete, but he wasn't everything, he also needed other players to function as well, what I mean is, Barca and Messi had a seamless relationship. Just take a look at how things are panning out in PSG for Messi, he isn't at his best cause he does not seem to have the sort of connection he had at Barcelona. Having said that, I still don't think PSG are somewhat ready to win the CL, they have the individual talents, but as a team, they are not the best and it could still take them a while before they are CL champions.

Messi wasn't singlehandedly carrying but he had the most impact on the pitch for Barcelona. We also cannot deny the impact players like Xavi, Iniesta or Neymar had but Messi had the most impact. Before Neymar and Suarez joined, he had the duty of scoring goals and he did that very well. Even scoring 91 goals in a calendar year.
(I dunno how he did that) After Neymar and Suarez joined, he moved to the right flank and assisted them with tons of goals also while he scored lots by himself.

[Daniel91]

I will opt for Real Madrid in this match.
You know, they are known as the kings of CL but PSG are not that good in CL. PSG are dominant in their own league and so is RMA. But if we solely talk about CL, I think that RMA might have the edge over PSG. Still now, the PSG front trio are not clicking together.
Mess-Neymar-Mbappe are individually really great players, but their chemistry is not on point. But Benzema and Vinicius are on insanely great form this season.

I totally agree with you, Real Madrid have a lot of experience compared to PSG.
PSG remains a very strong team with a lot of talents, but maybe they haven't found a way to use them properly together yet.
You are talking about the trio that fails to synchronize.
When it does, it will be a war machine.

It also seems to me that Real is a more compact and better-organized team than PSG.
Also, unlike PSG, they have more experience and the habit of winning the Champions League.
PSG definitely have a problem with their big three, Messi, Mbappe and Neymar.
They play very well in attack but it is obvious that they are not helping enough in the team's defense.
Against weaker teams this is not a problem but it makes a big difference when they play against top teams like Manchester City or Real.

[kro55]

Messi was a great player for Barcelona, prolly the best to ever come out of camp nou, but I'd not say that he singlehandedly carried Barcelona to glory, I know he was their most important and influential player, But Barcelona is a great club and they had a lot of quality players, Messi made them absolutely complete, but he wasn't everything, he also needed other players to function as well, what I mean is, Barca and Messi had a seamless relationship. Just take a look at how things are panning out in PSG for Messi, he isn't at his best cause he does not seem to have the sort of connection he had at Barcelona. Having said that, I still don't think PSG are somewhat ready to win the CL, they have the individual talents, but as a team, they are not the best and it could still take them a while before they are CL champions.

Messi wasn't singlehandedly carrying but he had the most impact on the pitch for Barcelona. We also cannot deny the impact players like Xavi, Iniesta or Neymar had but Messi had the most impact. Before Neymar and Suarez joined, he had the duty of scoring goals and he did that very well. Even scoring 91 goals in a calendar year.
(I dunno how he did that) After Neymar and Suarez joined, he moved to the right flank and assisted them with tons of goals also while he scored lots by himself.

@Coyster, yes agreed, not singlehandedly but he was the most important player in my eyes. I'm not saying that Iniesta or Xavi didn't do anything for Barcelona but if we look at the larger timeline, with Xavi/Iniesta and after the Xavi/Iniesta era, Messi is the most important one. Even before he left, Barcelona were in a good state. Their attacks were good,, the build-up was good. But after he left, it seemed like Barcelona forgot to build up to the attack.

[Minecache]

-snip

Messi was a great player for Barcelona, prolly the best to ever come out of camp nou, but I'd not say that he singlehandedly carried Barcelona to glory, I know he was their most important and influential player, But Barcelona is a great club and they had a lot of quality players, Messi made them absolutely complete, but he wasn't everything, he also needed other players to function as well, what I mean is, Barca and Messi had a seamless relationship. Just take a look at how things are panning out in PSG for Messi, he isn't at his best cause he does not seem to have the sort of connection he had at Barcelona. Having said that, I still don't think PSG are somewhat ready to win the CL, they have the individual talents, but as a team, they are not the best and it could still take them a while before they are CL champions.

I also disagree with the fact that Messi allegedly single-handedly created the success of a team like Barcelona. Barcelona was just as strong as a team and their famous tiki-taka just requires great teamwork and the same great performers that were available. Therefore, of course, it is foolish to say that all the recent successes of Barcelona are solely the merits of Messi. Let's not forget that the backbone of that Barcelona was also an important part of the Spanish national team that became world and European champions. In addition, let's not forget that Messi is not getting any younger, and therefore his factor as a player also weakens with time, so the Paris Saint-Germain management should definitely keep this in mind.

To say that it was solely due to Messi goes way too far, but if you look at some of the solo goals he scored in important matches (against Real Madrid in the CL semis, or against Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final for example), it showed that at least some of the titles were won because of him. Even in a game where he didn't score (which rarely happened), the opponents were so focussed to keep Messi out of the game that there was tremendous space for all other players. I can't think of a single player who would have scored 50 goals in a single season in the Primera División even with Xavi and Iniesta still playing.
However, I fully agree with you that Barcelona was THE perfect squad for a couple of years from goalkeeper to the offenders. The balance within the team was out of this world and yet Messi still was the one who stuck out. There are phases where free-kicks were almost like penalties for him. That's just unreal.
We were lucky to have had the chance to see two of the best soccer players of all time to compete with each other, Messi and Ronaldo. I remember when everyone thought that Henry for Barcelona and Raul for Madrid was crazy, but that wasn't even close to Messi vs. Ronaldo. Not sure if we get to see it again on that level or even beyond within our lifetime.

Okay maybe saying "singlehandedly" was a bit much on my side but you for sure cannot deny that he had the most impactful performance on the field. Even when he is not having the ball, his movement also made space for others to score. He assisted tons of goals for Suarez and Neymar all while scoring by himself. I would say that he was the player that stuck the team together. Even before he left, Barca were in a good place. Look at Barcelona right now after he's gone. They are in shambles.

Messi wasn't singlehandedly carrying but he had the most impact on the pitch for Barcelona. We also cannot deny the impact players like Xavi, Iniesta or Neymar had but Messi had the most impact. Before Neymar and Suarez joined, he had the duty of scoring goals and he did that very well. Even scoring 91 goals in a calendar year.
(I dunno how he did that) After Neymar and Suarez joined, he moved to the right flank and assisted them with tons of goals also while he scored lots by himself.

@Coyster, yes agreed, not singlehandedly but he was the most important player in my eyes. I'm not saying that Iniesta or Xavi didn't do anything for Barcelona but if we look at the larger timeline, with Xavi/Iniesta and after the Xavi/Iniesta era, Messi is the most important one. Even before he left, Barcelona were in a good state. Their attacks were good,, the build-up was good. But after he left, it seemed like Barcelona forgot to build up to the attack.

@kro55, the fact that he has been the most influential and important and also consistent player for Barcelona over the years. Barcelona were always a star squad with lots of tier-one players. But even when Barcelona were a lower-tier squad - last season, he didn't let them feel like they were an average squad without Suarez, Neymar, Xavi, Iniesta. But when he left, Barcelona faced the uncanny. Their downward spiral is still ongoing.

[$crypto$]

Messi was a great player for Barcelona, prolly the best to ever come out of camp nou, but I'd not say that he singlehandedly carried Barcelona to glory, I know he was their most important and influential player, But Barcelona is a great club and they had a lot of quality players, Messi made them absolutely complete, but he wasn't everything, he also needed other players to function as well, what I mean is, Barca and Messi had a seamless relationship. Just take a look at how things are panning out in PSG for Messi, he isn't at his best cause he does not seem to have the sort of connection he had at Barcelona. Having said that, I still don't think PSG are somewhat ready to win the CL, they have the individual talents, but as a team, they are not the best and it could still take them a while before they are CL champions.

Messi wasn't singlehandedly carrying but he had the most impact on the pitch for Barcelona. We also cannot deny the impact players like Xavi, Iniesta or Neymar had but Messi had the most impact. Before Neymar and Suarez joined, he had the duty of scoring goals and he did that very well. Even scoring 91 goals in a calendar year.
(I dunno how he did that) After Neymar and Suarez joined, he moved to the right flank and assisted them with tons of goals also while he scored lots by himself.

@Coyster, yes agreed, not singlehandedly but he was the most important player in my eyes. I'm not saying that Iniesta or Xavi didn't do anything for Barcelona but if we look at the larger timeline, with Xavi/Iniesta and after the Xavi/Iniesta era, Messi is the most important one. Even before he left, Barcelona were in a good state. Their attacks were good,, the build-up was good. But after he left, it seemed like Barcelona forgot to build up to the attack.

You are all right and I also agree about the role of a Messi for a club which he will take precedence over any other club. Barcelona and Messi are a unit that both complement so perfectly. Strength, togetherness, and teamwork are really recorded in our minds. The success that Messi has with his squad has brought the name Barcelona to be the most royal club in creating goals.

However, everything has its time, and today Xavi has a duty to wake up the El Clasico knights to be able to lift the name of Barcelona with a struggle that is not easy.