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

[Polkeins]

Atletico Madrid - Manchester City game is approaching us now. Atletico Madrid are going to need to have a more attacking game plan at this point. Because they are already 1-0 behind now and they need to find that goal before their opponent. If they succeed, then things can go on very interestingly. Otherwise it is the end for Atletico Madrid I'm afraid.

For sure, they have to score asap and then they can Apply their defensive strategy otherwise city will find many spaces and can score alot of goals

This is not the style of Atlético Madrid. They won't force things as they actually only need one goal to fix the situation. Most likely they will look for their chances as before in a tough defensive game. Maybe they will massively go forward only if at the end of the game there are 10-15 minutes before the end and only if the score does not suit them.

That's right, and a total defensive style like they did before they will definitely apply again now because they certainly know how dangerous City can be if faced with an open defence.
but for the first minutes I think they will start trying their luck because usually in the first 10 minutes of the game sometimes they always create a good chance there

In general, Atletico does not always play defense. They used to attack very well and a lot. They had a very good and creative midfield, especially Saul Alegiz and Koke, and a competent transfer policy allowed them to get a good forward like Suarez, Diego Costa, Alvaro Morata or Griezmann. Now, for some reason, there are no such successful transfers, the defense does not play so smoothly, hence the desire to defend more because of the fear of conceding a goal.

[KTChampions]

Personal Opinion: All teams left in the champions league quarter finals have an equal chance to proceed to the next round, is it Chelsea, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Benfica, Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, Villareal and Bayern Munich. I say this firstly  because there is no soft landing in the champions league and also because there are only a goal and 2 goal deficits which can be easily overturned

Chelsea vs Real Madrid, Real Madrid are 2 goals up against Chelsea and without away goal rule have to play to their utmost best to ensure they score atleast a goal in Spain and concede less than 3 goals

Liverpool va Benfica - Liverpool was found wanting defensively against Benfica as they went away with 2 goals advantage, Klopp needs to tidy up his defense because this second round, if Benfica take their chances could usurp and cause an upset

Manchester city vs Athletio Madrid and Villareal vs Bayern Munich - a goal defeat is the easiest to overturn in the champions league because you are just a mistake away from going to the next round or fighting for victory. Anything other than an excellent performance will ensure qualification from either teams.

To be honest, this is complete nonsense. Even if you had stated this before the first games, in some pairs the outcome was obvious and some surprises that always occur would not change anything. But if you really believe in your opinion, then you can bet on all the underdogs in these pairs, and given that the results will be 50/50 and the odds for underdogs are incomparably higher, then you will win a lot of money 

[Wawa2013]

But indeed on the other hand Unai Emery seems to be serious now by wanting to hold Bayern even though their chances are quite slim even though they are still ahead of Aggregate but they want to try now. and that was evident when Unai Emery rotated his players while in their 31st La Liga Jornada Continuation.
it seems they want to make this fun and don't want to be seen as mere decoration at UCL Now.
I quite appreciate what they are doing at least they dare to try now and Emery is not afraid and doesn't feel the slightest bitch like that

If we look at the starting eleven that Emery played against Bilbao, Emery clearly prioritizes the second leg against Bayern. Finally Emery had to
be willing to let Villarreal drop points against Bilbao in La Liga, hopefully Villarreal can give a surprise in the second leg against Bayern.
But my prediction is Bayern will show Villarreal that they deserve more to qualify for the next round. Moreover, Bayern playing at the Allianz Arena
used to play more frightening. Indeed, Villarreal has a one-goal lead on aggregate after beating Bayern in the previous match, and that is not
safe at all. Because we know Bayern sometimes humiliate their opponents with very big scores, hopefully that doesn't happen to Villarreal.
Actually Bayern to qualify for the next round is enough to win the match with a score of 2-0, but looking at Bayern's history, I believe Bayern
will score more than 3 goals against Villarreal.

Gambling is done by Unai Emery here. they have not been able to be optimal in the last few matches in La Liga and indeed this is why they want to focus there because it might still be a good achievement for them if they make it to the semi-finals.
But I think it will just be a blunder for them now. it's really very good to try but forgetting the top 6 in La Liga and being in an uncertain phase in the semi-finals I think it's too much pushing now

I can understand Emery's way of thinking, maybe because Villarreal won the first leg of the Champions League, Emery thinks it's a good chance
to be able to qualify for the next round. So Emery did sacrifice a match in La Liga against Bilbao, even though Villarreal actually need a lot of wins
in La Liga to get into the top 6. But like you said Emery gambled on this, because facing Bayern in the second leg will not be easy. Because it is
certain that Bayern will play attacking since the early minutes of the match, and it looks like Emery will play defensively and hope the game ends
in a draw. But quite a lot of teams that carried out this strategy when facing Bayern ultimately ended up failing. What's interesting if it turns out
that in the first half Bayern managed to score a goal first, surely the Villarreal players would start to panic. But Emery will still play with
a defensive strategy if Villarreal concede a goal, and Villarreal will decide to start daring to play attacking if they concede two goals.

[EdenHazard]

-snip- And we can't predict what will happen in the second leg of the Chelsea-Real Madrid match because Real Madrid only grabbed their chances in the first half and took advantage of Mendy's gaffe in the second half. Chelsea was the better team in the second half, with several excellent chances to score, but Lukaku was unable to convert any of them. If Chelsea can improve their defense, I believe they will make life difficult for Real Madrid. We've been terrible lately.

If it took Real Madrid just split seconds to turn the game around Chelsea, Chelsea may well do the same in Real Madrid's home! Real Madrid might be a great team but not to Chelsea head-to-head. Kudos that they got their first-ever victory over Chelsea. However, Chelsea has yet another 90 minutes in their backyard before the case could be well-rested! Chelsea isn't done yet! We will know both team's fates by Tuesday this week

The front three of Werner, Havertz, and Mount were excellent against Southampton yesterday. I would like to see the same front three at least, as they appear to have good link and if they maintain their performance from yesterday, Real Madrid will have a major problem at the back. The only difference between the two teams last time was that Real Madrid was more clinical in front of goal and took their chances, whereas Chelsea squandered theirs.

With an aggregate of 1-3, Chelsea clearly had to go through tough conditions in order to qualify for the semifinals. The condition is that they must win by a three-goal margin. With that, the final aggregate will be 4-3 for Chelsea's advantage. I think it's very difficult for Chelsea. No club has been able to make an away comeback like that in the Champions League era.
maybe real madrid lose but it's hard to catch up on aggregate.

Well , chelsea have got a huge boost in the premier league as they trashing southampton 6-0.

chelsea will only try to score 2 in order to force the game into extra time and possibly a penalty shootout.
we will see how things could went for the what so called chelsea mission impossible. the odds would of course very high for chelsea to get through to the next round but for this reason i get tempted to bet on chelsea to win and through the next round!

[Woodie]

-snip- And we can't predict what will happen in the second leg of the Chelsea-Real Madrid match because Real Madrid only grabbed their chances in the first half and took advantage of Mendy's gaffe in the second half. Chelsea was the better team in the second half, with several excellent chances to score, but Lukaku was unable to convert any of them. If Chelsea can improve their defense, I believe they will make life difficult for Real Madrid. We've been terrible lately.

If it took Real Madrid just split seconds to turn the game around Chelsea, Chelsea may well do the same in Real Madrid's home! Real Madrid might be a great team but not to Chelsea head-to-head. Kudos that they got their first-ever victory over Chelsea. However, Chelsea has yet another 90 minutes in their backyard before the case could be well-rested! Chelsea isn't done yet! We will know both team's fates by Tuesday this week

The front three of Werner, Havertz, and Mount were excellent against Southampton yesterday. I would like to see the same front three at least, as they appear to have good link and if they maintain their performance from yesterday, Real Madrid will have a major problem at the back. The only difference between the two teams last time was that Real Madrid was more clinical in front of goal and took their chances, whereas Chelsea squandered theirs.

Chelsea stand no chance of progressing after they lost miserably on their home turf and we all know that Real Madrid are technically the better team here especially that they got their striker back in their team to help them win, and with the experience Madrid they have ,they game plan will be to try to slow down the game and not allow these guys to play their game...best result 1-1 is what ama expecting.

[lulumiya]

In the Real Madrid - Chelsea game, I won't be expecting any surprise. I just expect a similar level of effort by Real Madrid, that's all. It would be fair enough for them to maintain their score advantage in total and even get another win in Santiago Bernabeu maybe. Chelsea have no other choice than fighting with all they have in this game. It is like they have literally nothing to lose now. In the worst case, they would lose once again but they would at least show a decent effort.

[kawetsriyanto]

With an aggregate of 1-3, Chelsea clearly had to go through tough conditions in order to qualify for the semifinals. The condition is that they must win by a three-goal margin. With that, the final aggregate will be 4-3 for Chelsea's advantage. I think it's very difficult for Chelsea. No club has been able to make an away comeback like that in the Champions League era.

Yep, it will be a very difficult mission for Chelsea. But I don't want to say it is impossible, there were ever some clubs that can come back from their defeat with more than 2 goal margin in the Leg 1. Barcelona, Liverpool, and AS Roma ever experienced a great comeback with a margin of more than 2 goals. So, it is not impossible for Chelsea if they are lucky enough and want to play more effectively than previously. However, I agree with you that Real Madrid looks like to not give them a chance.

[AndySt]

This is not the style of Atlético Madrid. They won't force things as they actually only need one goal to fix the situation. Most likely they will look for their chances as before in a tough defensive game. Maybe they will massively go forward only if at the end of the game there are 10-15 minutes before the end and only if the score does not suit them.

It could be that Altletico Madrid's game will change, but almost all the big games they participate in, the game that is highlighted is always the same, defending without a single attacking formation, meaning they are trying to secure a draw position and continue the second round at home, but the situation this time is different, they conceded one goal, without equalizing it is certain they will have no chance of qualifying for the next, I predict Atletico Madrid will play defensively and attack all out in the last 10 minutes

To play an attacking game against Manchester City in the second leg for the current Atletico Madrid is akin to suicide, so I don't think Diego Simeone will risk such a move. Therefore, most likely there will be a cautious game with a rapid transition to a counterattack. The gap of 1 goal is negligible and it is because of this that Atletico Madrid will not take unnecessary risks. Still, I think the main thing will be how Manchester City will play and, accordingly, based on this, the Atletico Madrid game will be built. If nothing extraordinary happens, then I'm afraid that the most boring first half awaits us and the main events will unfold in the second half, when the time comes for decisive action and not necessarily in the last 10 minutes, because it may be too late.

[Alanaz]

That's right, and a total defensive style like they did before they will definitely apply again now because they certainly know how dangerous City can be if faced with an open defence.
but for the first minutes I think they will start trying their luck because usually in the first 10 minutes of the game sometimes they always create a good chance there

In general, Atletico does not always play defense. They used to attack very well and a lot. They had a very good and creative midfield, especially Saul Alegiz and Koke, and a competent transfer policy allowed them to get a good forward like Suarez, Diego Costa, Alvaro Morata or Griezmann. Now, for some reason, there are no such successful transfers, the defense does not play so smoothly, hence the desire to defend more because of the fear of conceding a goal.

It's true that their players are quite good but only individually for now, but as a whole in attack they are very bad in my opinion.
They don't always apply a defensive strategy but sometimes when they change their strategy to attack it becomes a boomerang for them, for example in this week's La Liga match when they lost at home to a club far below them.
I don't think there's any other choice for Simione right now but to defend and keep defending against City

[onetwostep]

In the Real Madrid - Chelsea game, I won't be expecting any surprise. I just expect a similar level of effort by Real Madrid, that's all. It would be fair enough for them to maintain their score advantage in total and even get another win in Santiago Bernabeu maybe. Chelsea have no other choice than fighting with all they have in this game. It is like they have literally nothing to lose now. In the worst case, they would lose once again but they would at least show a decent effort.

I think it is very difficult for Chelsea to win this match, they should be aware of that. Real Madrid played very well in the first match and left no chance for their opponent in the second match. Chelsea need to play the best game they've ever played or they will not be able to pass this round.
I think the match could end in a draw, I don't think Chelsea will win

[babo]

the odds are very close, so in reality nothing is safe
even if I wanted to, I would not know who to aim for the victory
they are both very strong and motivated

Real Madrid win -> 2.4
Chelsea win -> 2.9

nothing, draw for me

[bering]

This is not the style of Atlético Madrid. They won't force things as they actually only need one goal to fix the situation. Most likely they will look for their chances as before in a tough defensive game. Maybe they will massively go forward only if at the end of the game there are 10-15 minutes before the end and only if the score does not suit them.

For me it's nothing more than a strategy that Simeone realized Man City very strong at their home ground so playing defensively might be good strategy to minimize big lose from Man City and in fact it is works properly that Atletico lose but only 1-0 and second leg will more comfortable for them because playing as a host and my prediction for next match is Atletico will playing attacking in early minutes to pushing fast goals

[Wawa2013]

This is not the style of Atlético Madrid. They won't force things as they actually only need one goal to fix the situation. Most likely they will look for their chances as before in a tough defensive game. Maybe they will massively go forward only if at the end of the game there are 10-15 minutes before the end and only if the score does not suit them.

For me it's nothing more than a strategy that Simeone realized Man City very strong at their home ground so playing defensively might be good strategy to minimize big lose from Man City and in fact it is works properly that Atletico lose but only 1-0 and second leg will more comfortable for them because playing as a host and my prediction for next match is Atletico will playing attacking in early minutes to pushing fast goals

I can understand why in the first leg Atletico played very defensive, they have a target to achieve a draw and even if they lose they will not concede
in large numbers. It turned out that Atletico only lost by one goal on aggregate in the first leg match, then for the match in the second leg it is not
effective if Atletico use the same strategy. Because after all Atletico must score goals and win the game by a difference of two goals to qualify for
the semifinals. I predict the second leg will be much more interesting, apart from Atlético will play attacking, then Man City is also unlikely to
play defensively, even though Man City has won on aggregate by one goal. After all, as far as I know, Guardiola doesn't play any defensive strategy
against anyone. My prediction is that it will be too difficult for Atletico to beat Man City, even if Atletico play at home, this does not make Atletico's
chances of winning big. Because Man City is too strong to beat by Atletico.

[Davian144]

With an aggregate of 1-3, Chelsea clearly had to go through tough conditions in order to qualify for the semifinals. The condition is that they must win by a three-goal margin. With that, the final aggregate will be 4-3 for Chelsea's advantage. I think it's very difficult for Chelsea. No club has been able to make an away comeback like that in the Champions League era.
maybe real madrid lose but it's hard to catch up on aggregate.

I have to agree with what you are saying because it is clear that Chelsea is very difficult to surpass the existing 1-3 aggregate and I am more sure that Real Madrid will also provide defense and resistance in order to qualify for the Champions League semifinals because Real Madrid only need one more step to qualify for the semifinals because on aggregate Real Madrid won a lot.

[Masplanc]

Atletico Madrid - Manchester City game is approaching us now. Atletico Madrid are going to need to have a more attacking game plan at this point. Because they are already 1-0 behind now and they need to find that goal before their opponent. If they succeed, then things can go on very interestingly. Otherwise it is the end for Atletico Madrid I'm afraid.

Atletico Madrid are not playing like how they used to play before,  they have really changed I'm their good performance.  The last time they play with Manchester City it was not easy for them. This time it will be tough too, Manchester city always tough. I'm still having a thought how will Atletico Madrid will be able to defeat Manchester city.

[BALIK]

the odds are very close, so in reality nothing is safe
even if I wanted to, I would not know who to aim for the victory
they are both very strong and motivated

Real Madrid win -> 2.4
Chelsea win -> 2.9

nothing, draw for me

I really think it should be Real Madrid winning because the match is going to be played in Santiago Bernabeu. And Real Madrid also has a two goal lead and that will obviously help them to win eventually. But if we forget about the aggregate score and just think about the second leg I think the match itself might also be a draw in my opinion.
odd's 3.5 for draw.

[hahay]

After seeing the big match last night in the EPL then I think Atletico really have no hope of being able to score a goal, especially to win and eliminate Manchester City. Atletico need a miracle if they want to qualify because even Liverpool who last night not only defended but they still find it difficult to win the match. We can compare how Atletico's gameplay in the first leg was just defending, they really didn't have a strategy to attack to score goals. Because when Atletico comes out of defense and tries to score a goal, it will only be a blunder because Pep is very strong in attacking strategy.

[coderben]

There is only one day to go for the rematches to begin. Tomorrow, both of the matches are going to be very interesting. Actually Real Madrid already have a huge advantage as they won by 3-1 in Stamford Bridge. I don't expect Real Madrid to even draw with Chelsea in Santiago Bernabeu. Especially Benzema would carry the team again I think. As for the Bayern Munich - Villarreal match, it can be a really interesting one. Villarreal won by 1-0 in the first leg and their performance was incredible. If they maintain it here as well, then Bayern Munich can be in a big trouble.

[muratsink]

After seeing the big match last night in the EPL then I think Atletico really have no hope of being able to score a goal, especially to win and eliminate Manchester City. Atletico need a miracle if they want to qualify because even Liverpool who last night not only defended but they still find it difficult to win the match. We can compare how Atletico's gameplay in the first leg was just defending, they really didn't have a strategy to attack to score goals. Because when Atletico comes out of defense and tries to score a goal, it will only be a blunder because Pep is very strong in attacking strategy.

the meeting that took place in the first leg where Atletico Madrid had to lose at home to Manchester city 1-0, although in the future the second leg will be held at the Vicente Calderon, ATM headquarters.it is certainly not an easy matter for them to beat Fame Guardiola's men after we want to see the first match where Manchester city tried to keep scoring goals but Atletico Madrid defended well so that the match only ended with 1-0, considering that Atletico Madrid lost the first l of course they will play more attacking of course this can be used by Manchester city wing strikers to continue to tear apart Atletico Madrid's defense while they are catching up with the citizens

[wmaurik]

After seeing the big match last night in the EPL then I think Atletico really have no hope of being able to score a goal, especially to win and eliminate Manchester City. Atletico need a miracle if they want to qualify because even Liverpool who last night not only defended but they still find it difficult to win the match. We can compare how Atletico's gameplay in the first leg was just defending, they really didn't have a strategy to attack to score goals. Because when Atletico comes out of defense and tries to score a goal, it will only be a blunder because Pep is very strong in attacking strategy.

the meeting that took place in the first leg where Atletico Madrid had to lose at home to Manchester city 1-0, although in the future the second leg will be held at the Vicente Calderon, ATM headquarters.it is certainly not an easy matter for them to beat Fame Guardiola's men after we want to see the first match where Manchester city tried to keep scoring goals but Atletico Madrid defended well so that the match only ended with 1-0, considering that Atletico Madrid lost the first l of course they will play more attacking of course this can be used by Manchester city wing strikers to continue to tear apart Atletico Madrid's defense while they are catching up with the citizens

it is very unlikely that Atletico Madrid can win in the 2nd leg later even though the match will be played at their home.
In terms of quality, Manchester City this season is much better than Atletico, and that can be seen in the last few games.
In the 1st leg, Atletico played very defensively, making it very difficult for Manchester City to score. and after being left behind by Agg, it is very likely that Atletico will play attacking in the 2nd leg later and of course with that it is possible for Manchester City to score a lot of goals.