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

[KTChampions]

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.

In my opinion, this is a biased statement - Xavi and Iniesta made the greatest contribution to the team. If you remember Xavi and Iniesta won the 2008 European Championship, then the 2010 World Championship and then again the 2012 European Championship - the greatest achievement. They did it without Messi, and without them, Messi himself failed at the 2010 World Cup and then at the 2011 America's Cup.

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[Xxmodded]

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.

Lille is not heavy team for Chelsea because this season have inconsistent performance, after success get Ligue 1 trophy last year and break down the domination of PSG in Ligue 1 right now become bad season for Lille, just lucky pass to 16 round on champion league because Lille have bad position standing on Ligue 1. Have pass twenty match Lille out from champion league standing position and take 10th position where is not way for Lille back to champion league next season, looks terrible how come Lille achievement is broken without one year and now need magical what is the way for Lille back to top standing.

[Btcvilla]

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.

I think it will be very difficult for Lionel Messi to adapt to PSG, especially since Messi is often ostracized by his teammates.which makes him appear so bad for Paris Saint Germain in various matches.thus making it very difficult to develop where we can see how Lionel Messi is performing at the moment.this is different from Sandhya strengthening Barcelona where he gave the captain's armband to lead his strength so that he was more flexible in setting the rhythm of the game with the strategy given by the coach

[terrorJR]

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.

In my opinion, this is a biased statement - Xavi and Iniesta made the greatest contribution to the team. If you remember Xavi and Iniesta won the 2008 European Championship, then the 2010 World Championship and then again the 2012 European Championship - the greatest achievement. They did it without Messi, and without them, Messi himself failed at the 2010 World Cup and then at the 2011 America's Cup.

Even though messi played well and scored a lot of goals there, but as you said it started with the tiki taka barcelona game and attack pattern at that time and it's true, xavi and iniesta are still very good generals in their midfield and one might even say the best of all barcelona midfielders since they were around.
they played pretty solid, two playmaker with a lot of creativity in making movement.
they are both very good combos and almost all la league teams give up because of their crazy tactics.

[baeva]

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.

That's not exactly what I meant to say, not tedious, but heavy with hard fighting between each other. Both teams have good defending, so I don't expect a lot of goals, for the most part there will be a lot of both attacking and counterattacking, which is what I expect from such a match. I can't say that there will be many goals, but probably about three.

[bestcoins1]

Yes, there are a lot of stars players there, and they have been there for years. But how much did they help to win the league?? there were unable to help PSG win the champions league.

Yes, and maybe that's a very logical reason for the PSG club in terms of recruiting Messi, but I'm also not sure that Messi can bring PSG to become champions because the problem of winning is always inseparable from luck, even though there are many star players there.

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.

If for title challengers this year PSG do have the potential for that and even in the past before Messi it was also seen like that and in Barcelona before messi ended his contract with them they also lost a lot, so try to look at each club from two points of view so that can balance between winning and losing.

[Boristhecat]

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 don't understand why it's bad that the "big" clubs will meet now so that someone is eliminated from the tournament. We will see two great matches, it would be worse if it was one match (final). There should be only one winner in a tournament, so it's normal for even good teams to leave the tournament. By the way, if some small team reaches the finals by knocking out big clubs, then this will also be good, as it will increase the diversity among the winners of the tournament and bring some fresh trends.

[hahay]

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 don't understand why it's bad that the "big" clubs will meet now so that someone is eliminated from the tournament. We will see two great matches, it would be worse if it was one match (final). There should be only one winner in a tournament, so it's normal for even good teams to leave the tournament. By the way, if some small team reaches the finals by knocking out big clubs, then this will also be good, as it will increase the diversity among the winners of the tournament and bring some fresh trends.

The teams that can be said to be small that have qualified in the round of 16 can probably be said they are Salzburg, Sporting, Lille, Villarreal, Benfica and Ajax. Apart from Benfica and Ajax I don't think they all have a great chance of going ahead, considering their opponents are quite tough especially about Salzburg against Bayern Munich and Sporting against Manchester City. So, even though PSG or Real Madrid will fall early, the reality is that the UCL will still be interesting with other big teams, especially for Manchester City who looks like they will reach the final because they were previously beaten by Chelsea.

[Minecache]

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 don't understand why it's bad that the "big" clubs will meet now so that someone is eliminated from the tournament. We will see two great matches, it would be worse if it was one match (final). There should be only one winner in a tournament, so it's normal for even good teams to leave the tournament. By the way, if some small team reaches the finals by knocking out big clubs, then this will also be good, as it will increase the diversity among the winners of the tournament and bring some fresh trends.

I think I disagree with you. Yes, big matches are always enjoyable to watch. But what if we compare a finals RMA vs PSG and a normal practice RMA vs PSG match?

Which match will be more thrilling to watch?

Obviously the finals match. Why is that? Because there is more at stake, more to win, more to lose. So if we had the same match in the semi-finals, for example, it would have been more compelling to everyone and also both the clubs as they would only be two steps away from being the champions. This is why I personally don't like big matches earlier in the tournament.

[Maidak]

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.

In my opinion, this is a biased statement - Xavi and Iniesta made the greatest contribution to the team. If you remember Xavi and Iniesta won the 2008 European Championship, then the 2010 World Championship and then again the 2012 European Championship - the greatest achievement. They did it without Messi, and without them, Messi himself failed at the 2010 World Cup and then at the 2011 America's Cup.

If you are solely talking about the 2010 WC, I have to say that compare the teams Spain and Argentina had. Yes, Argentina were a decent team back then but Spain National. the team was just far better. They had Iniesta, Xavi, Ramos, Casillas, and also the legendary David Villa and Fernando Torres.

So we should not be comparing the international achievements here.

If you wanna do so, look at what impact Messi had with this shit-current Argentian team. Without Messi, they are barely able to do anything. So, I could be biased but Messi has one of the most influence on both Barca and Argentina.

[S A KHAIR]

Yes, there are a lot of stars players there, and they have been there for years. But how much did they help to win the league?? there were unable to help PSG win the champions league.

Yes, and maybe that's a very logical reason for the PSG club in terms of recruiting Messi, but I'm also not sure that Messi can bring PSG to become champions because the problem of winning is always inseparable from luck, even though there are many star players there.

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.

If for title challengers this year PSG do have the potential for that and even in the past before Messi it was also seen like that and in Barcelona before messi ended his contract with them they also lost a lot, so try to look at each club from two points of view so that can balance between winning and losing.

You are not wrong I have to say. PSG were always like the team who always had the potential to win the trophy for the past few years but they were not able to. Maybe this season they have more probability to win but in order to win the CL, the stars have to align right and the team also needs to play well on the specific matchday. But so far what worries me is that the Messi, Neymar, mballe trio is still not gaining the needed chemistry, right?

[Luzin]

I just realized that Ajax don't lose in the group phase, even they always win. They equaled Liverpol's record. Even Dortmund became unqualified because they lost on goal difference to Sporting Cp.
The next round Ajax will against Benfica, they will go to Portugal first in February. If you look at Ajax's performance in the group phase of course I believe they can win. In fact I feel confident that Benfica might not be better than Dortumd. So I'm a little bit sure Ajax can win 2-1. 

[BALIK]

I just realized that Ajax don't lose in the group phase, even they always win. They equaled Liverpol's record. Even Dortmund became unqualified because they lost on goal difference to Sporting Cp.
The next round Ajax will against Benfica, they will go to Portugal first in February. If you look at Ajax's performance in the group phase of course I believe they can win. In fact I feel confident that Benfica might not be better than Dortumd. So I'm a little bit sure Ajax can win 2-1. 

Ajax will easily win against Benfica. There is no reason to think the Benfica  team is strong. They are strong in their own league. But champions league is totally a different platform. Even they are not able to perform well in the primeira league now. However, Benfica's players can score a lot of goals. Benfica has probably scored the most goals in the Primeira League. So Ajax's defenders have to play an important role in this match. If the defenders can play well then the road to victory of Ajax in this match will be easier.

[KTChampions]

In my opinion, this is a biased statement - Xavi and Iniesta made the greatest contribution to the team. If you remember Xavi and Iniesta won the 2008 European Championship, then the 2010 World Championship and then again the 2012 European Championship - the greatest achievement. They did it without Messi, and without them, Messi himself failed at the 2010 World Cup and then at the 2011 America's Cup.

If you are solely talking about the 2010 WC, I have to say that compare the teams Spain and Argentina had. Yes, Argentina were a decent team back then but Spain National. the team was just far better. They had Iniesta, Xavi, Ramos, Casillas, and also the legendary David Villa and Fernando Torres.

So we should not be comparing the international achievements here.

If you wanna do so, look at what impact Messi had with this shit-current Argentian team. Without Messi, they are barely able to do anything. So, I could be biased but Messi has one of the most influence on both Barca and Argentina.

But isn't it logical to compare Messi's success apart from Barcelona? In the 2010 World Cup, he was bad, not because the national team played badly, but because he himself played badly. At the same time, Xavi and Iniesta played equally well both in Barcelona and in the national team. Isn't there a pattern to be seen here?

[izsara]

I just realized that Ajax don't lose in the group phase, even they always win. They equaled Liverpol's record. Even Dortmund became unqualified because they lost on goal difference to Sporting Cp.
The next round Ajax will against Benfica, they will go to Portugal first in February. If you look at Ajax's performance in the group phase of course I believe they can win. In fact I feel confident that Benfica might not be better than Dortumd. So I'm a little bit sure Ajax can win 2-1. 

Ajax will easily win against Benfica. There is no reason to think the Benfica  team is strong. They are strong in their own league. But champions league is totally a different platform. Even they are not able to perform well in the primeira league now. However, Benfica's players can score a lot of goals. Benfica has probably scored the most goals in the Primeira League. So Ajax's defenders have to play an important role in this match. If the defenders can play well then the road to victory of Ajax in this match will be easier.

This is a match that is indeed very difficult to predict who will win the match because their conditions are quite balanced, I think.
ajax is currently very strong with their squad. even if I'm not mistaken Haller is still the current top scorer with 10 goals.
but on the other hand benfica also performed well in the group stage and indeed at that stage only bayern were a barrier for them.
but on the other hand I feel that ajax will qualify for the top 8.

[BALIK]

I just realized that Ajax don't lose in the group phase, even they always win. They equaled Liverpol's record. Even Dortmund became unqualified because they lost on goal difference to Sporting Cp.
The next round Ajax will against Benfica, they will go to Portugal first in February. If you look at Ajax's performance in the group phase of course I believe they can win. In fact I feel confident that Benfica might not be better than Dortumd. So I'm a little bit sure Ajax can win 2-1. 

Ajax will easily win against Benfica. There is no reason to think the Benfica  team is strong. They are strong in their own league. But champions league is totally a different platform. Even they are not able to perform well in the primeira league now. However, Benfica's players can score a lot of goals. Benfica has probably scored the most goals in the Primeira League. So Ajax's defenders have to play an important role in this match. If the defenders can play well then the road to victory of Ajax in this match will be easier.

This is a match that is indeed very difficult to predict who will win the match because their conditions are quite balanced, I think.
ajax is currently very strong with their squad. even if I'm not mistaken Haller is still the current top scorer with 10 goals.
but on the other hand benfica also performed well in the group stage and indeed at that stage only bayern were a barrier for them.
but on the other hand I feel that ajax will qualify for the top 8.

Ajax will win against Benfica in any way. Moreover, I have seen the performance of a few matches of Benfica. The teams in the Primeira League are not very strong. Benfica have lost one of their last three matches, and drawn one. They conceded 3 goals against Porto. Although they can win by many goals margin against weaker teams, but they concede a lot of goals when they play against Sporting or Porto. This means that they cannot play well against strong teams. Ajax is very a very strong and stable team. My guess is that we will also see Benfica's poor performance against Ajax.

[KingsDen]

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.

In my opinion, this is a biased statement - Xavi and Iniesta made the greatest contribution to the team. If you remember Xavi and Iniesta won the 2008 European Championship, then the 2010 World Championship and then again the 2012 European Championship - the greatest achievement. They did it without Messi, and without them, Messi himself failed at the 2010 World Cup and then at the 2011 America's Cup.

At everytime Barcelona always has great players.
Players like Eto, Ronaldinho, Ibrahimovic, Ture Yaya, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Neymar, Saurez etc.
These players have their best and played their quota in making the club great.
Yet, there impacts divers based on the time they arrived, their wings and loyalty.
Xavi and I Iniesta had great impact because they span to different generations and were doing it when it seems no one else could handle the midfield.
Messi having rose to arguably the best player in the world, still remained with Barcelona in what seems like a life contract.
So, their levels of loyalty differed according to their roles and how the club made them. I think Messi was Barca made and he gave back to Barca.

[bestcoins1]

You are not wrong I have to say. PSG were always like the team who always had the potential to win the trophy for the past few years but they were not able to. Maybe this season they have more probability to win but in order to win the CL, the stars have to align right and the team also needs to play well on the specific matchday. But so far what worries me is that the Messi, Neymar, mballe trio is still not gaining the needed chemistry, right?

As long as the three of them are not injured and can still play very well, then there will be potential for PSG to win every game and also in certain matches because there are also several other players as well as stars there like Kylian Mbappe who is still staying until this season because next season maybe will be released by the PSG club so that for this season it can still provide a little help in terms of making PSG become CL champions this season

[babo]

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.

In my opinion, this is a biased statement - Xavi and Iniesta made the greatest contribution to the team. If you remember Xavi and Iniesta won the 2008 European Championship, then the 2010 World Championship and then again the 2012 European Championship - the greatest achievement. They did it without Messi, and without them, Messi himself failed at the 2010 World Cup and then at the 2011 America's Cup.

what you say is true
but only European players and teams play in the European leagues
teams like Brazil, Argentina, etc do not play
in your opinion is it a good approximation?

In my opinion it is not a good approximation

[KTChampions]

In my opinion, this is a biased statement - Xavi and Iniesta made the greatest contribution to the team. If you remember Xavi and Iniesta won the 2008 European Championship, then the 2010 World Championship and then again the 2012 European Championship - the greatest achievement. They did it without Messi, and without them, Messi himself failed at the 2010 World Cup and then at the 2011 America's Cup.

what you say is true
but only European players and teams play in the European leagues
teams like Brazil, Argentina, etc do not play
in your opinion is it a good approximation?

In my opinion it is not a good approximation

This is an approximation not to the European leagues but to the games of the national teams. If you noticed, I mentioned the America's Cup, where European teams do not take part, but players from South America can prove themselves. Messi had such an opportunity in 2011, but he did not use it, just like in 2010 at the World Cup.