UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Season

[Coyster]

Real Madrid will play Leipzig very soon, and it is already expected that Real Madrid will win. By then, the players from Real Madrid will be in good enough shape to defeat any opponent they face. As for Ancelotti, I think he is an excellent coach, but occasionally he makes substitutions without thinking things through, which has an impact on the team.

Real Madrid is strong favorite to qualify for the QF, RB Leipzig is a pretty decent team, but Real Madrid would just be too strong for them, coupled with their experience in this competition, there is no way Leipzig is coming out of that tie victorious. Having said that, i haven't noticed anything wrong with Ancelotti's decisions, whether it be his tactics or even substitutions, he is so experienced and i think more often than not he gets the job done for Real Madrid.

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[Tony116]

Real Madrid will always prioritize Mbappe, they know Mbappe is the best player that is suitable with Real Madrid play style. Moreover, Mbappe's contract will expire soon this year, Real Madrid will try all out to sign Mbappe. Real Madrid will sign Mbappe for free when Mbappe's contract is over. This is the biggest chance to get Mbappe from PSG.

but Real Madrid must be patient in waiting until june this year after everything ends so that if this january they cannot bring in Mbappe, of course Real Madrid will have to compete in the UCL without a pure striker and previously I heard that Madrid actually has an alternative player if they fail to get Mbappe because of winning the UCL title really requires reliable striker players to be able to compete with other teams which almost all have striker players and even though I believe Madrid can win the UCL title without a striker, worry always arises and we can see how Real Madrid always looks won but only by a very narrow score and with achievements like this it made Real Madrid fans worried that if they continued to compete without a striker they would not be able to reach the final round.

I really understand Mbappe reasons for not leaving his team until his contract expires because currently PSG is also in the last 16 of the UCL and maybe Mbappe has an agreement to help win the title in the UCL even though it is very difficult but at least Mbappe kept his promise.

I think Mbappe is one of the best players in the world right now and no one can deny it. Although Mbappe sort of betrayed Real Madrid a few seasons back, I don't think there is a good enough substitute for him just to ignore him. But this season Real Madrid has said that they won't be buying any new players. If that is the case then Mbappe won't be joining Real Madrid this season.

Next season it is likely that he will join Real Madrid but I don't want to say it for sure because last time we all thought that he would be joining Real Madrid but suddenly he extended the contract. I think Mbappe will continue this season with PSG even if he is not happy with the team.

[Strongkored]

How sure are you that Napoli would beat Barcelona in their next UCL fixture? Even with Osimhen in the game, I think the odds would be against Napoli.
Although the Afcon would require Osimhen's presence because the super Eagles don't have an established striker like him, unless we call Iwobi who is doing well at fullham, then he would be unavailable for the rest of the UCL matches or la Liga matches respectively.

It seems like no one is sure that Napoli will be able to beat Barcelona apart from Napoli themselves because of course they have to maintain optimism to raise their motivation, especially in the first leg, but of course, Napoli also realizes how much difficulty they are facing in this match even though the opportunity is still there but look at how their current condition means it is a tough thing to beat Barcelona.
Barcelona is actually not as superior as many people see, they currently often have difficulty beating teams that consider can easily they overcome, especially in Laliga, several wins in local competitions seem like a bit of luck, so if Mazzari can implement the right strategy then Barcelona will also find it difficult to beat them in the first match, as long as the result is not a defeat for Napoli or a draw then Napoli has a chance of advancing to the quarter-finals, but as you said without Osimhen maybe Napoli's big problem is scoring goals.

[snipie]

Ancelotti always stands by what he says even if it damages his performance, even if he is sometime
 naive about it. 

Well, when he says that then he knows what he is talking about. I think Ancelotti is aware about how long it will takes for his injured players to come back to training and to the fields and he knows that he has other temporary options. Additionally getting another defender, means more money to spend for a player to stay in the benches. I think Ancelotti needs to focus more on an attacker and maybe midfield for the long term. For short terms, he might get a defender with a short loan contract rather than signing him a couple of years one?

[Phoenix Anka]

Yes, Barcelona is indeed in a better position than Napoli, but still Barcelona's defense and Barcelona's attack also tend to be weak because important players are absent, so Barcelona can only hope with the current composition of players, but if Napoli plays worse, of course this will be lucky for Barcelona in the round of 16.

Both of them are mediocre, they were good in the last season, but in this season they're struggle. So we will see a match between a mediocre vs mediocre, whoever who win is just luckier than the other team.

Yes I agree that this will be a match between two mediocre teams and regardless of what they did last season but that pales in comparison to what they have produced this season. If Barcelona can win, of course it will be luck and vice versa if Napoli does it. I feel that these two teams deserve to get through to the round of 16 but unfortunately only one of them will be selected who will continue their journey to the quarterfinals. With a squad that is not much different from last season, Napoli certainly has the same advantages as Barcelona. But apart from that, I expect an exciting spectacle from these two teams in the next two legs.

The interesting thing about this match is mostly about the situation of these two teams in the last season. Both teams won the title in the league and they were the first teams of the table.
Napoli had a huge defrance between themselves and other teams in the table and Barcelona was racing with Real Madrid while they had a perfect performance with Xavi.
But both of the teams decreased their performance a lot and they can't perform like the last season, especially Napolu and that's maybe a good reason to say Barcelona can have more chance in this match against Napoli.

In fact, there is no dominant favorite in the match. It may be a match that both teams will win. If Napoli prepares well, they can emerge victorious. Barcelona's situation is not good either. They scored a goal in the last minutes and won many matches in La Liga. The game they play has regressed a lot this year. Real is in a better position in the league.

[Merit.s]

Yes, Barcelona is indeed in a better position than Napoli, but still Barcelona's defense and Barcelona's attack also tend to be weak because important players are absent, so Barcelona can only hope with the current composition of players, but if Napoli plays worse, of course this will be lucky for Barcelona in the round of 16.

Both of them are mediocre, they were good in the last season, but in this season they're struggle. So we will see a match between a mediocre vs mediocre, whoever who win is just luckier than the other team.

Yes I agree that this will be a match between two mediocre teams and regardless of what they did last season but that pales in comparison to what they have produced this season. If Barcelona can win, of course it will be luck and vice versa if Napoli does it. I feel that these two teams deserve to get through to the round of 16 but unfortunately only one of them will be selected who will continue their journey to the quarterfinals. With a squad that is not much different from last season, Napoli certainly has the same advantages as Barcelona. But apart from that, I expect an exciting spectacle from these two teams in the next two legs.

The interesting thing about this match is mostly about the situation of these two teams in the last season. Both teams won the title in the league and they were the first teams of the table.
Napoli had a huge defrance between themselves and other teams in the table and Barcelona was racing with Real Madrid while they had a perfect performance with Xavi.
But both of the teams decreased their performance a lot and they can't perform like the last season, especially Napolu and that's maybe a good reason to say Barcelona can have more chance in this match against Napoli.

You are right, it is a surprise to see that these two teams are now having challenges on being consistent with their matches this season. Although, they both started the season with good results and performance but not quite after the season started that they become to lose form. It will be an interesting match to watch because they both have their laxity in one way or the other. Barcelona has weak defense and Napoli should be able to take advantage of that to win the match. But what I don't know is that maybe Barcelona will become strong on that match day since it is champions league and they are in the knockout stage.

[BRINIRHA]

The interesting thing about this match is mostly about the situation of these two teams in the last season. Both teams won the title in the league and they were the first teams of the table.
Napoli had a huge defrance between themselves and other teams in the table and Barcelona was racing with Real Madrid while they had a perfect performance with Xavi.
But both of the teams decreased their performance a lot and they can't perform like the last season, especially Napolu and that's maybe a good reason to say Barcelona can have more chance in this match against Napoli.

I just realized this. You are right that the situation being experienced by Napoli and Barcelona is almost the same in their local leagues. Last season, Napoli won the title very convincingly in Serie A. In fact, Napoli led the standings with a large point difference, which means that Napoli could be said to have won the title long before the season ended. And Barcelona is the same. They are amazing. the only difference is that Napoli was able to go higher in the UCL. Meanwhile, Barcelona lost in the group stage. And they only focused on Laliga last season.

This season the situation is almost the same for Napoli and Barcelona. Namely, both of them are having difficulty returning to the top of the standings and are not very consistent in their respective domestic leagues. But fortunately Barcelona has now qualified for the round of 16. But unfortunately they have to meet directly at this stage.

And the current conditions do show that Barcelona could be superior. because Napoli even fell far from 4th place in the Serie A standings. Meanwhile, Barcelona is still strong in the top 3 of Laliga.

[Blitzboy]

The Champions league is a league that surprises people of the results.Who knew that a team like Manchester United would not qualify from group stage of the tournament,who also thought that Copenhagen would qualify to the next round when there is Galatasary and Man U in that same group.

Regarding the case of Man United, it's actually not that surprising if we look at how they have performed so far in the EPL. Indeed, last season and the rights were able to bring and make Man United's performance improve quite well, but that is quite different from the conditions this season. Since the start of the season, Man United seems to be facing several problems and in the end this has affected their performance both in the English Premier League and especially in the UCL. Meanwhile, Copenhagen is not a top club like Man United, but they are effective and consistent enough to face group matches quite well. and also don't waste so many opportunities.

The performance of Manchester United last season can't be compared to that of their last season which is true but everyone expected them to have a good season since their coach is well known for transforming teams that are facing some difficulties but in the case of the United team, they became worst in their performance as they failed to win matches both in the UCL and the EPL thereby making things difficult for the team. From their performance so far, if the league should end now, Manchester United is not sure of making the top 4 because they are in a very poor form at the moment.

This season's Manchester United performance disappoints me. They seem to have regressed. With Ten Hag's arrival, everyone expected a magic change. However, we're seeing the opposite. Its not just losing games; its their play. The team's spirit is down, and they cant find their UCL and EPL rhythm.

Recruitment is another concern. Seriously, some decisions are perplexing. Overpriced players who havent performed as expected are a major issue. The club takes two steps back for every stride ahead. Im not optimistic about winter transfers. I dont see how they'll fix this without a huge change.

[borovichok]

In fact, there is no dominant favorite in the match. It may be a match that both teams will win. If Napoli prepares well, they can emerge victorious. Barcelona's situation is not good either. They scored a goal in the last minutes and won many matches in La Liga. The game they play has regressed a lot this year. Real is in a better position in the league.

Matches played every weekend, some team recover from their previous poor performance, while some continue to hover in this clueless defeats. Barcelona is one of the club that is unpredictable, it's sensitive not to noticed Xavi Hernandez doing nothing regarding the present situation of the club. Barcelona struggling in La Liga matches but they're able to nail down their opponents last night, I would call it a narrow draw tie escape while waiting for UCL round of 16 fixtures to trigger, we should also prepare our minds for what's coming. Napoli and Barcelona have 50/50 chances of winning, both teams just need to work on themselves because the task ahead won't be friendly as they think.

[Grave Digger]

Manchester City got their first trophy this season, maybe they still have a chance to be the favorites team again in next season, if there are no changes in their squad. But I think they can certainly reach the top 8 or even semi-finals, but also to win again I think it's too early because there are many big clubs who have pocketed tickets for next season. We can't underestimate them either especially Inter, although they unlucky this season but they can reach to the finals, it's a sign of how strong they are this season and maybe next season they can showing more optimal.

Manchester city had a very good one last season, they bagged almost all of the important trophies being the UEFA Champions League, England Premier league and FA Cup but I really don't see them having any of that in this present season, not disputing the fact that they are a good team this season but the likes of Aston Villa, Liverpool,Arsenal, West ham are currently in good form which makes the Premier League tittle very open and competitive.

Since Man City's midfield maestro( Kevin De Bruyne) had an injury, the teams creativity has been nothing to write home about , since the exit of Rihad Mahrez and Gundogan, these players aided the teams victory to bagging those trophies last season and this season there hasn't been such level of creativity anymore so i doubt they will be winners of any competition.

[shinratensei_]

The Champions league is a league that surprises people of the results.Who knew that a team like Manchester United would not qualify from group stage of the tournament,who also thought that Copenhagen would qualify to the next round when there is Galatasary and Man U in that same group.

Regarding the case of Man United, it's actually not that surprising if we look at how they have performed so far in the EPL. Indeed, last season and the rights were able to bring and make Man United's performance improve quite well, but that is quite different from the conditions this season. Since the start of the season, Man United seems to be facing several problems and in the end this has affected their performance both in the English Premier League and especially in the UCL. Meanwhile, Copenhagen is not a top club like Man United, but they are effective and consistent enough to face group matches quite well. and also don't waste so many opportunities.

The performance of Manchester United last season can't be compared to that of their last season which is true but everyone expected them to have a good season since their coach is well known for transforming teams that are facing some difficulties but in the case of the United team, they became worst in their performance as they failed to win matches both in the UCL and the EPL thereby making things difficult for the team. From their performance so far, if the league should end now, Manchester United is not sure of making the top 4 because they are in a very poor form at the moment.

How can you say that? I meant if the fact that manchester united are still using mostly the same players like the previous season. MU is still using antony, rashford and garnacho as its wingers. There were no changes in the mid and defenders as well. The change is only slightly coming to the striker as MU has been kicking the old striker to be replaced by hojlund but this guy was also showing another flop. I can't even understand how can't we compare the current line up to the last season while in fact if mostly of its players are still the same? Manchester united will not even make it to the top 5 if it keeps performing like shit. Just said about the truth if the performance of manchester united has been declining so hard compared to the last season.
Pardon me if im only saying based on the fact if MU is showing the degrade of its club.

[rendravolt]

Ancelotti always stands by what he says even if it damages his performance, even if he is sometime
 naive about it. 

Well, when he says that then he knows what he is talking about. I think Ancelotti is aware about how long it will takes for his injured players to come back to training and to the fields and he knows that he has other temporary options. Additionally getting another defender, means more money to spend for a player to stay in the benches. I think Ancelotti needs to focus more on an attacker and maybe midfield for the long term. For short terms, he might get a defender with a short loan contract rather than signing him a couple of years one?

What Real Madrid needs now is a defender and as for the attacker, they will still be able to decide next summer. They lack defenders with the current list of injured players so to maintain the stability of the defensive line they must prioritize that if they want to win the champions league title.

The option of loaning defenders until the end of the season is quite good, especially at the end of the season, all injured players will definitely recover. But perhaps the selection of a new defender is quite difficult to determine and we'll just have to wait and see whether Real Madrid will bring in a defender this January or continue to use the existing squad by rotating like Tchouameni who currently fills the CB position.

[Altryist]

Well, when he says that then he knows what he is talking about. I think Ancelotti is aware about how long it will takes for his injured players to come back to training and to the fields and he knows that he has other temporary options. Additionally getting another defender, means more money to spend for a player to stay in the benches. I think Ancelotti needs to focus more on an attacker and maybe midfield for the long term. For short terms, he might get a defender with a short loan contract rather than signing him a couple of years one?

Ancelotti is an experienced coach and he understands that there is no point in him considering any short-term contracts for the players, since he is building a fundamental team for many years. And the fact that he expressed a desire to stay in the team and extended his contract until 2026 shows how much he enjoys working here. Moreover, I read that he says that he would like to stay in Real Madrid after 2026, and in this case you understand how much he can plan, how global his vision for the team is. He doesn't look one year ahead and is therefore only interested in long-term contracts for players and the team.

[KTChampions]

As far as I remember, the meaning of the restrictions when changing clubs is so that a player who started a tournament in one club cannot play for another team during this tournament (probably to avoid the paradox when a player plays for team A in the group stage, but against team A in the playoffs). Mbappe has not played in the Europa League this season so there are no restrictions on him. By the way, it’s funny, but a paradox could theoretically arise. For example, if a player plays in the Champions League and his team is relegated to the Europa League, and the player himself changes clubs, then in the Europa League playoffs he can play against his former club.
Yes, I also think that these are nothing more than rumors and such a transfer will not take place in the winter.

I did a quick google search and found the following excerpts from the rules:

"46.01: As of the round of 16, a club may register a maximum of three new eligible players for the remaining matches in the current competition. Such registration must be completed by 2 February 2023 (24.00CET) at the latest. This deadline cannot be extended.

46.02: Any or all of the players from the above quota of three may have been fielded for another club in the qualifying phase, play-offs or group stage of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League or UEFA Europa Conference League."


This means it is indeed allowed to register three new players that were signed during the winter transfer window regardless of whether they played for another club in the respective tournament already. The only rule is that not more than three players can be registered for those competitions. I think I remember that Chelsea ran into problems some years ago when they signed a lot of players and had to tell some of them they won't get registered for the Champions League.

I think it all depends on how you interpret the words “three new eligible players” - obviously if a player has already played in this tournament this season, then he is no longer new to it. I think therein lies the nuance.
I wanted to see the details (suddenly the rules really changed), but in your article the link to the UEFA website leads to a page where it says that the material has been deleted 

[topbitcoin]

Ancelotti always stands by what he says even if it damages his performance, even if he is sometime
 naive about it. 

Well, when he says that then he knows what he is talking about. I think Ancelotti is aware about how long it will takes for his injured players to come back to training and to the fields and he knows that he has other temporary options. Additionally getting another defender, means more money to spend for a player to stay in the benches. I think Ancelotti needs to focus more on an attacker and maybe midfield for the long term. For short terms, he might get a defender with a short loan contract rather than signing him a couple of years one?

Indeed, the thought is not entirely wrong because in order to reduce the expenditure of money in vain but in the end when only adaptation problems are used as the main reason in this case I don't think it will make sense because after all at this time giving tasks to Carvajal or Tchouameni and Nacho could also have an impact on the performance in defense especially on several occasions it seems that Tchouameni has said that he is not very comfortable at the center but because he is forced to be there to advance a club then he continues to do so.

We can also take the example of last season's striker problem because Ancelotti insisted on not bringing a striker at that time even though Benzema's situation was in danger because he had recurring injury problems that made his performance a little less than before and when that decision was made in the end Madrid failed to compete even in their 2 competitions where in the domestic competition and the Champions League they failed to defend their trophy which was taken by Barcelona and Manchester City.

[Weawant]

Matches played every weekend, some team recover from their previous poor performance, while some continue to hover in this clueless defeats. Barcelona is one of the club that is unpredictable, it's sensitive not to noticed Xavi Hernandez doing nothing regarding the present situation of the club. Barcelona struggling in La Liga matches but they're able to nail down their opponents last night, I would call it a narrow draw tie escape while waiting for UCL round of 16 fixtures to trigger, we should also prepare our minds for what's coming. Napoli and Barcelona have 50/50 chances of winning, both teams just need to work on themselves because the task ahead won't be friendly as they think.

Barcelona isn't performing much as expected of them and it's gradually looking like the coach have some part of the blame to share in their recent performance because in their last night game it was obvious he was trying a tactics that wasn't working in the first half so he had to make some adjustments in the second half of the game.

Like you correctly state they had a narrow escape with from a draw, they would have ended in a draw if not for the few changes made in the later part of the game and in the champions league, the competition is much more than it is in the la Liga so if they should follow up inthe champions league with this form and tactics I can be sure they will be losing some good game and may not be able to make it pass the quarter finals that's if they succeed and get pas the round of sixteen.

[Volgastallion]

Manchester city had a very good one last season, they bagged almost all of the important trophies being the UEFA Champions League, England Premier league and FA Cup but I really don't see them having any of that in this present season, not disputing the fact that they are a good team this season but the likes of Aston Villa, Liverpool,Arsenal, West ham are currently in good form which makes the Premier League tittle very open and competitive.

Since Man City's midfield maestro( Kevin De Bruyne) had an injury, the teams creativity has been nothing to write home about , since the exit of Rihad Mahrez and Gundogan, these players aided the teams victory to bagging those trophies last season and this season there hasn't been such level of creativity anymore so i doubt they will be winners of any competition.

I also see that Manchester City this season is not as strong as last season, apart from the injury suffered by Kevin De Bruyne, but overall Pep Guardiola's team is slightly lower in quality compared to last season.
However, this is only a comparison between two seasons in this one team, and even so, I still favor them in the race for the UCL title this season or they will compete fiercely to retain the title.

If Kevin De Bruyne was the reason for the Man City team's decline in performance, now he is back and let's wait and see how Kevin De Bruyne contributes to the team after the long injury he suffered.

The only dismiss i see in this Manchester City team is they dont have anymore key players for key moments like Gundogan who score for them very important goals in games where they cant score so esasily, so lets see who is gonna replaces him, for me Kevin De Bruyne is well replaced with other guys.

[piebeyb]

If Kevin De Bruyne was the reason for the Man City team's decline in performance, now he is back and let's wait and see how Kevin De Bruyne contributes to the team after the long injury he suffered.

I think the reality is that since KDB was injured, Manchester City's game has not been good in attack, so that's why we will see how Manchester City really is when he actually plays again after his injury. Luckily, Manchester City still qualified for the last 16 of the UCL during KDB's absence. In order to defend the UCL title this season, of course Guardiola also wants his best injured players to recover quickly and play.

At least being able to reach the UCL final is Manchester City's main target to win back the title this season. I also hope that with KDB playing again, Manchester City can really perform better than before and I really can't wait to see that where KDB is already in the reserves. who is ready to play whenever Guardiola wants. At least he was played in the first leg meeting against Copenhagen in order to achieve a landslide victory.

[Abu-Naim]

If Kevin De Bruyne was the reason for the Man City team's decline in performance, now he is back and let's wait and see how Kevin De Bruyne contributes to the team after the long injury he suffered.

I think the reality is that since KDB was injured, Manchester City's game has not been good in attack, so that's why we will see how Manchester City really is when he actually plays again after his injury. Luckily, Manchester City still qualified for the last 16 of the UCL during KDB's absence. In order to defend the UCL title this season, of course Guardiola also wants his best injured players to recover quickly and play.

At least being able to reach the UCL final is Manchester City's main target to win back the title this season. I also hope that with KDB playing again, Manchester City can really perform better than before and I really can't wait to see that where KDB is already in the reserves. who is ready to play whenever Guardiola wants. At least he was played in the first leg meeting against Copenhagen in order to achieve a landslide victory.

Even without Kevin De Bruyne in Manchester City squad, they will qualify to the round of sixteen because the team is not a bad team that solely depend on only one player. I will agree with everyone that without Kevin De Bruyne, their performance is not as last season and they lose some matches they are supposed to win due to his absence, and I will also agree with you if you said that he is a player that if Manchester City play without him, they might not win the Premier League as well as Champions League.

[Jody.Drummer]

Well, when he says that then he knows what he is talking about. I think Ancelotti is aware about how long it will takes for his injured players to come back to training and to the fields and he knows that he has other temporary options. Additionally getting another defender, means more money to spend for a player to stay in the benches. I think Ancelotti needs to focus more on an attacker and maybe midfield for the long term. For short terms, he might get a defender with a short loan contract rather than signing him a couple of years one?

Ancelotti is an experienced coach and he understands that there is no point in him considering any short-term contracts for the players, since he is building a fundamental team for many years. And the fact that he expressed a desire to stay in the team and extended his contract until 2026 shows how much he enjoys working here. Moreover, I read that he says that he would like to stay in Real Madrid after 2026, and in this case you understand how much he can plan, how global his vision for the team is. He doesn't look one year ahead and is therefore only interested in long-term contracts for players and the team.

I think bringing in players on loan or short-term contracts at least until this season ends is one option that can be done, the article to find players intended for the long term will be more difficult because it needs to be careful in seeing the potential of the player. I also heard he wanted Varane to be part of Real Madrid again to cover the defensive shortcomings. And if you look at Varane's current age it is more appropriate for him to get a short-term contract or at least be borrowed from Manchester United.
Real Madrid are currently transitioning to regenerate their players and for now it is going quite well. By combining senior players and young players it is a very wise decision taken by Real Madrid.