⚽UEFA Champions League Discussion Thread -- 2023/24 | Prelim Qualifiers

[KTChampions]

Bayern Munich already scored a goal against Barcelona i wasn't really expecting this poor performance from Barcelona it's only 20 minutes i can see that xavi is focusing on attack more and left the defense so open. Sadio mane could skip the defense and easily scored a goal after he got alone against Ter Stegen. My bet is still on Barcelona no matter what happens i wish they can reverse things
Champions league without Barcelona is really boring after all

Not surprising. Firstly, this is Bayern, secondly, Barcelona is under psychological pressure from the fact that literally before the game they found out that it does not mean anything. I made a prediction that Bayern would win but with the condition of BTTS, so I hope that Barcelona's focus on attack will bring at least some results.

[Marykeller]

Porto takes revenge for the defeat it suffered against Club Brugge (0-4 in the first round). They have just won by 4 goals, without a response, at Club Brugge. Despite the difficulties they felt in the first half, they still managed to reach the break with a 1-0 lead. Then, in the second half, everything was different and they scored 3 more goals, setting the final score at 4-0.

If Atlético de Madrid doesn't beat Bayer Leverkusen, Porto will be in the next phase. Will it happen?

Porto's win against Club Brugge is revenge well served. Is a commendable victory. After missing so many chances to score in the first half. Porto's win against Brugge has given Porto the hope to eye for the second position in their group table if Atletico loses against Leverkusen.

A few minutes to end the match, Atletico is losing to Leverkusen(1-2). Porto moving to the next phase is certain.

[LTU_btc]

Damn, Porto lost first game against Brugge 0:4 at home and now they made revenge, winning game by same score 4:0 away. Though, Brugge is still 1st in a group. Meanwhile, Atletico, when you can't beat Bayer at home, you can't think about other scenario than dropping to Europa league.
But this night was great for other Simeone. Son of Atletico coach scored 2 goals and Napoli won against Rangers 3:0. Rangers with Plzen remains to be only teams with 0 points.
I already thought late Spurs goal saved my bet, but here comes VAR and there was offside. It was such minimal that without VAR it was impossible to notice it.
Ajax 0:3 Liverpool. That moment when result is logical. But it's sad to see such poor European campaign of Ajax.

[Captain Corporate]

I don't know what happens with Barcelona after this, I mean it is clear that they are not going to end up with something that is clearly profitable anymore, spending 100+ million in a single year to get players (and consider salaries + operational costs too) means that you need to win something huge, if you are not even going to next stage here, will they have a path to break even? Or is this season already a loss for them and only get worse? If thats the case then I do not know what to say because Xavi is a great manager in my mind, but the results do not show that to be fair and that makes me a little sad.

[Joca97]

Porto takes revenge for the defeat it suffered against Club Brugge (0-4 in the first round). They have just won by 4 goals, without a response, at Club Brugge. Despite the difficulties they felt in the first half, they still managed to reach the break with a 1-0 lead. Then, in the second half, everything was different and they scored 3 more goals, setting the final score at 4-0.

If Atlético de Madrid doesn't beat Bayer Leverkusen, Porto will be in the next phase. Will it happen?

Porto destroyed Club Brugge who didnt even concede one goal before this. Porto and Club Brugge are in the next phase and no body expected this outcome in the group. Atletico Madrid missed a huge chance against Bayer Leverkusen to have a chance of going to the next phase.

[8rch7]

I don't know what happens with Barcelona after this, I mean it is clear that they are not going to end up with something that is clearly profitable anymore, spending 100+ million in a single year to get players (and consider salaries + operational costs too) means that you need to win something huge, if you are not even going to next stage here, will they have a path to break even? Or is this season already a loss for them and only get worse? If thats the case then I do not know what to say because Xavi is a great manager in my mind, but the results do not show that to be fair and that makes me a little sad.

Barcelona must return to play in the Europa League for the second time, it is very difficult to restore Barcelona's performance as before, because it takes years to be able to compete again for a good place in the Champions League, Xavi Hernandez is a good coach he has done every way to restore Barcelona's performance as before, but unfortunately it's still far from perfect, I personally think Barcelona should immediately bring Messi home from PSG, because in my opinion Messi is Barcelona's life, even though he is not young anymore, but Messi is capable providing motivation to other players Messi can also boost the performance of other Barcelona players.

[AndySt]

Barcelona must return to play in the Europa League for the second time, it is very difficult to restore Barcelona's performance as before, because it takes years to be able to compete again for a good place in the Champions League, Xavi Hernandez is a good coach he has done every way to restore Barcelona's performance as before, but unfortunately it's still far from perfect, I personally think Barcelona should immediately bring Messi home from PSG, because in my opinion Messi is Barcelona's life, even though he is not young anymore, but Messi is capable providing motivation to other players Messi can also boost the performance of other Barcelona players.

I have great respect for Lionel Messi, but I'm afraid that his return to Barcelona will not necessarily solve all the game problems and raise the team's game to a new level. Or to put it another way, it does not necessarily immediately lead to the desired result. Let's look at the situation that happened with the arrival of the Messiah in Paris Saint Germain. Let's be honest that the player's first season was pale and he almost spent all of it on adapting the player himself and adapting to a new club and adapting the club itself to a new player, and only in the second season Messi began to show the level that was expected of him. Now imagine a situation when Messi returns to the club. The team has somehow already learned to do without him and build the game in a different way, and now everything is for nothing and everything is new and the season can be sacrificed to this restructuring. Or a situation similar to the situation with Ronaldo may happen again, when a player could not be integrated into a new scheme and the player becomes a victim of a new scheme and sits on the bench and the head coach is not going to change anything because of this. Therefore, we need to think specifically about whether Messi's return to Barcelona is necessary?

[Dewi Aries]

I don't know what happens with Barcelona after this, I mean it is clear that they are not going to end up with something that is clearly profitable anymore, spending 100+ million in a single year to get players (and consider salaries + operational costs too) means that you need to win something huge, if you are not even going to next stage here, will they have a path to break even? Or is this season already a loss for them and only get worse? If thats the case then I do not know what to say because Xavi is a great manager in my mind, but the results do not show that to be fair and that makes me a little sad.

Barcelona income doesn't only come from competitions they have sponsors and many more collaborations
But of course failing in the champions league will have an impact on their income this season they lose money in every UCL match
Because in every Champions League match they make money and now it's stopped.

[CryptocurencyKing]

Bayern Munich already scored a goal against Barcelona i wasn't really expecting this poor performance from Barcelona it's only 20 minutes i can see that xavi is focusing on attack more and left the defense so open. Sadio mane could skip the defense and easily scored a goal after he got alone against Ter Stegen. My bet is still on Barcelona no matter what happens i wish they can reverse things
Champions league without Barcelona is really boring after all

Not surprising. Firstly, this is Bayern, secondly, Barcelona is under psychological pressure from the fact that literally before the game they found out that it does not mean anything. I made a prediction that Bayern would win but with the condition of BTTS, so I hope that Barcelona's focus on attack will bring at least some results.

Yes I agree with you. It’s a normal feeling when you don’t think there’s a reason to continue. Barcelona players did not compete against Bayern Munich like I expected owing to the psychological blow of elimination before the match. Inter Milan did the spoil before Barcelona Vs Bayern Munich kick off and the hunger wasn’t just there to fight and continue. Now they have to accept the fate and play the Europa league and see if they can win something.

[joker_josue]

Yes I agree with you. It’s a normal feeling when you don’t think there’s a reason to continue. Barcelona players did not compete against Bayern Munich like I expected owing to the psychological blow of elimination before the match. Inter Milan did the spoil before Barcelona Vs Bayern Munich kick off and the hunger wasn’t just there to fight and continue. Now they have to accept the fate and play the Europa league and see if they can win something.

I don't understand why this year the games aren't all being played at the same time, causing this kind of situation. Mainly these last 2-3 games, which become decisive, to know who remains in the competition or not. This kind of situation only makes the show less interesting and the games less competitive.

Regardless, Barcelona only have to complain about themselves, for having been performing so poorly in recent years. They really need to improve, and get a truly competent coach. This thing about choosing coaches, just because they were legends of the club's past, doesn't make any sense. Juventus suffered the same problem and still haven't recovered.

[arimamib]

Yes I agree with you. It’s a normal feeling when you don’t think there’s a reason to continue. Barcelona players did not compete against Bayern Munich like I expected owing to the psychological blow of elimination before the match. Inter Milan did the spoil before Barcelona Vs Bayern Munich kick off and the hunger wasn’t just there to fight and continue. Now they have to accept the fate and play the Europa league and see if they can win something.

Regardless, Barcelona only have to complain about themselves, for having been performing so poorly in recent years. They really need to improve, and get a truly competent coach. This thing about choosing coaches, just because they were legends of the club's past, doesn't make any sense. Juventus suffered the same problem and still haven't recovered.

So far Xavi has done a good job in La Liga, but not in the Champions League. The atmosphere of the Champions League is like making Barcelona players scared, they always have a hard time getting a win when they hear the Champions League theme song.
Improvements must be made to get rid of the trauma in the Champions League, Barcelona has failed two seasons in a row in the group stage. Barcelona must learn from their failures, Xavi has no experience in the Champions League especially as a coach.

[KTChampions]

Not surprising. Firstly, this is Bayern, secondly, Barcelona is under psychological pressure from the fact that literally before the game they found out that it does not mean anything. I made a prediction that Bayern would win but with the condition of BTTS, so I hope that Barcelona's focus on attack will bring at least some results.

Yes I agree with you. It’s a normal feeling when you don’t think there’s a reason to continue. Barcelona players did not compete against Bayern Munich like I expected owing to the psychological blow of elimination before the match. Inter Milan did the spoil before Barcelona Vs Bayern Munich kick off and the hunger wasn’t just there to fight and continue. Now they have to accept the fate and play the Europa league and see if they can win something.

I didn't expect it to be so bad. In the prediction contest, I predicted the score 3-2 in favor of Bayern. Bayern's 3 goals I guessed, but Barcelona... zero shots on target in the whole game. Terrible result. Now Barcelona gets into the Europa League, but it will definitely not be a favorite there, since such a line-up of good clubs has already gathered there that some rounds will be more interesting than 1/8 in the Champions League.

[ololajulo]

It is an important night for Atletico Madrid. Because their fate in the group depends on getting a win against Leverkusen tonight.

They are two points behind Porto in the group now. Porto are going to play their match earlier by the way and it is an away one against Club Brugge. Atletico Madrid must be hoping Porto to lose points there. If Porto and Atletico Madrid both win then the last week is going to be really problematic for Atletico Madrid. Because they have an away match against Porto then. They defeated Porto before maybe but it was a really difficult win at the same time. As you can remember, they scored two goals in the stoppage time. This time they might not get that lucky. Therefore Atletico Madrid had better get ahead of them by the end of this week. 

1.60 for Atletico Madrid win is a nice odd to take advantage of.

The only performing team in laliga is Real Madrid. Who could have thought Club brugge will sit in the top place in the group. I think Diego Simeone needs to take some time away from coaching to refresh himself. He is a good but has lost touch and required passion for competing football

[tokeweed]

Anybody itt a Tottenham fan?  If you are a fan I think you should start getting worried.  Lol.  The cracks are starting to show in Conte's squad.  I think all the intense training during the summer is also starting to take a toll.  I heard that some players were throwing up on the pitch due to Conte's methods.  It now looks like player fatigue which usually starts around December has started to show a month early in Conte's squad.

Another club that could turn for the worse because of player fatigue is Liverpool.

[Pulsar77]

I'd like to appreciate Porto's incredible effort in the Champions League on the recent weeks.

Because they started the group stage with two losses and even the one against Club Brugge was horrible. But it was such a dedication of them that they won three matches in a row recently and even secured the remaining last 16 ticket in the group. I agree that it was a great answer by them to Club Brugge by defeating them by the same score they lost to them. Atletico Madrid could have still maintained their claim for next round but they couldn't score that penalty. That was the end of their hopes unfortunately. They are even under the danger of not qualifying for the Europa League now.

[OcTradism]

I'd like to appreciate Porto's incredible effort in the Champions League on the recent weeks.

Because they started the group stage with two losses and even the one against Club Brugge was horrible. But it was such a dedication of them that they won three matches in a row recently and even secured the remaining last 16 ticket in the group. I agree that it was a great answer by them to Club Brugge by defeating them by the same score they lost to them.

They improved their performance after two loses and also received opportunities from Atletico Madrid too. Anyway, they did great efforts first before luck comes to them. Brugge is not a big club in Europe and they are not comparable to Porto.

Atletico Madrid could have still maintained their claim for next round but they couldn't score that penalty. That was the end of their hopes unfortunately. They are even under the danger of not qualifying for the Europa League now.

Atletico Madrid only can blame on themselves for this ending. About quality, they have very good players and their club are very experienced in Champions League. With so many star and experienced players, they should get a first position in this group. Simeone likely gets good support from Atletico Madrid boss but he will have to improve a lot of things in rest of season.

In football, nowadays, there is no life-time job for any coach. Clubs can sack their coaches anytime if results simply are too bad. They mostly don't care about past achievement of their coaches.

[Jackl87]

I don't know what happens with Barcelona after this, I mean it is clear that they are not going to end up with something that is clearly profitable anymore, spending 100+ million in a single year to get players (and consider salaries + operational costs too) means that you need to win something huge, if you are not even going to next stage here, will they have a path to break even? Or is this season already a loss for them and only get worse? If thats the case then I do not know what to say because Xavi is a great manager in my mind, but the results do not show that to be fair and that makes me a little sad.

Well you forget to add that they have invested more than 120 Million € into new players despite the fact that they already had 1,3 Billion € of debts and that they had to sell club property for a few hundred Million € in order to eve be able to register some of those new players. For me that is totally irresponsible from the officials of FC Barcelona and i am kinda happy that they still have failed to qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League.
They definitely miss out on a lot of money now that they have already planned with i would guess. So we will see what happens after this season, but knowing Barca they will probably sell more property and buy new players because they never learn until the club is finally out of order.

[CLS63]

Atletico Madrid and Tottenham just destroyed my parlay last night. It was unbelievable to watch the moments after Atletico Madrid won a penalty in the last minute. A save by the goalkeeper, a shot coming back from the goal post... It was really devastating for me to see them wasting a huge chance which cost them the Champions League as well.

Tottenham on the other hand shocked me. I don't know how they couldn't beat Sporting home. Getting a win in this match was going to secure last 16 for them by the way. This should have been another motivation source for them. But instead they started the match terrible. There was nothing good in them in the first half. They even barely scored the equalizer in the last ten minutes. Conte must do something immediately as they are bad not only here but also in the EPL.

[GxSTxV]

That’s really sad what’s happening to Barcelone last years and the way they play is just doesn’t represent a club with great history, Xavi is really destroying his name and what he did as a player  and also destroying the club reputation, Bayern played well last match but also Barcelone was so weak defensively
Barcelone now need to rebuild an new club from 0, coach and player so they can have a chance for having a good journey in champions league next year otherwise they are going to nowhere with these strategies and players

[tokeweed]

Atletico Madrid and Tottenham just destroyed my parlay last night. It was unbelievable to watch the moments after Atletico Madrid won a penalty in the last minute. A save by the goalkeeper, a shot coming back from the goal post... It was really devastating for me to see them wasting a huge chance which cost them the Champions League as well.

Tottenham on the other hand shocked me. I don't know how they couldn't beat Sporting home. Getting a win in this match was going to secure last 16 for them by the way. This should have been another motivation source for them. But instead they started the match terrible. There was nothing good in them in the first half. They even barely scored the equalizer in the last ten minutes. Conte must do something immediately as they are bad not only here but also in the EPL.

^  Player fatigue.  There's no way he can do anything about it and it's just gonna get worse during winter.  Conte needs to take his players somewhere sunny to train and recover.  Alex Ferguson used to do that btw. He'd take his squad during winter to Dubai or somewhere in the middle east.  And it works.

But yeah, CL football is one of the hardest betting markets to beat consistently.  If you're betting in these matches, it's prolly better to just be betting them for fun.