UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Season

[KTChampions]

I get the impression that Arsenal basically don’t give a damn how the away game will go if they have a decisive home game in hand. Even in the group stage, they lost to Lens away (when it still mattered - it was only the second round). Probably a lot of bettors were burned out yesterday because of this result, but now it seems to me that a good opportunity is opening up: a bet with a handicap of -1 (or even -2, but this is a big risk) on Arsenal to win the return leg. With all due respect to Porto, I don’t believe that they will be able to hold such a second match with maximum luck.

To me, it is disappointing to see Arsenal lose to Porto. It doesn't matter home or way the match, you are the one seeing these as a small deal, but to me, it is disappointment, and that Porto are too small for Arsenal to defeat even though I know its a football. Furthermore, Porto are weak, and Arsenal are strong, so you are saying that they will meet in the second leg, I don't see that as a reason for them to allow Porto to win them. I was expecting them to do the same thing they are consistently doing in the EPL, so I see these as a disappointment.

Yes, I'm disappointed too, but look at the odds for the return game:

1.24 - 5.39 - 12.25

Even with a -1 handicap, Arsenal's odds of winning are estimated to be 1.76. This means that bookmakers consider the most likely score in the second game to be 2-0 or 3-1 (which would be enough for Arsenal to advance). It’s hard to disagree with them and I must note that the quotes are not as favorable as I expected, because Arsenal can win 1-0, or 2-1 (which is most likely, since I don’t believe that they will score just one goal) and decide everything issues in extra time.

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[Ryu_Ar1]

They have a good history and that cannot be denied but in this case when we only always focus on past history, Barcelona will not progress, it will experience a setback because glorifying the past is only used as an excuse to think they are fine but the fact is that currently their problems are still very much and this is precisely what must be considered for Barcelona today so as not to be too complacent about the past because their difference in the golden era with the present is too far.
The current squad must create a new history for themselves so that the shadow of the past is not always mentioned even though it does not mean to forget but when complacent about the past it will only make them forget that in the end they cannot do their best and only take refuge in the golden era in the past.

Until now, their performance has not been able to be consistent in domestic competitions and that is a fact that cannot be denied especially now that the situation for financial and internal problems, especially after Xavi, who incidentally is one of the coaches who can lift their performance back by bringing the La Liga trophy which in the last few seasons has not been in their hands decided to leave.

Of course, don't equate the past season with this season because there are many differences visible in the Barcelona team. Yes, currently Barcelona performance is not consistent enough, but in my opinion, Xavi is prioritizing their strength for the Champions League because in Laliga they are already quite far behind Real Madrid. Even though their status is hampered by financial problems, this season Barcelona also has many quality players who they managed to bring in this season. For this reason, let's just see how Barcelona performs in the Champions League this season.

So in today match the score is 1-1. Even though Barcelona managed to score first, Napoli managed to equalize through a goal created by Osimhen. So the second half still has a long time, so if Barcelona manages to steal points at home to Napoli of course there is no doubt that they have a greater chance of progressing to the next round. Because in the second leg, Barcelona will play at home which can give them an advantage. But for that we wait for the final results of today's match.

They prioritize the Champions League but we are certainly aware that there are no guarantees about this.
Round of 16 first leg at this time Barcelona is still not necessarily able to qualify even though their big chance is very much there now especially they can dominate Napoli in the previous away match in the first leg but that is still no guarantee because after all even though Napoli is currently like a club in pain but they also cannot be underestimated considering there are several players in the Napoli squad who are quite dangerous and should be aware of their movements.
At the moment Barcelona's problem remains the same, they may indeed shift their focus in the Champions League because for La Liga this is still a little complicated if forced but they also still have to concentrate on domestic competitions because after all when the Champions League they fail then there is hope in domestic competitions although at the moment they can only expect Madrid to lose their concentration and not play well in the remaining matches played.

[bitpotter]

Porto was just lucky with their win against Arsenal because the gunners dominated the match unfortunately couldn't capitalize on their dominance of the game by being wasteful in front of goal probably due to inexperience of their players, however I don't think Porto can defend their lone goal advantage at the Emirates it's going to be a different ball game because Arsenal would launch massive attack to win the return match knowing that failure to win means they are out of this season UCL, of course Porto would deploy a defensive tactics because of the attacking prowess of the gunners and utilize or adopt a counter attack

How could that be luck? Porto achieved it with great difficulty and even until the last minute they didn't give up. Arsenal really deserved to lose because they couldn't produce results equivalent to what they performed in the English Premier League and once they lost they had to regret it because it was in a bigger competition. I still believe that Porto will do the same thing at home to Arsenal and if Porto succeeds in widening the aggregate then Arsenal will be eliminated in the Champions League.

[Solidized]

Manchester city will definitely go back to back in winning the UEFA Champions league because the biggest challenge I think they will face right now is Real Madrid of which I think even Madrid can not stop them.

[Weawant]

Everyone also knows that an athlete's performance will decline as they get older, but I think you can rethink your words. Look at the rating on their match yesterday, he played well with Joao Mario, Otavio & Wendell. Usually older players will be played for half game, but not Pepe, he played the full game. Arsenal still have the biggest opportunity to progress to the next round, but that doesn't mean we have to underestimate Porto, we'll see what will happen in the second leg. Honestly, I wouldn't bet on this match because I think it's too risky.

The quality and total productivity of almost every human declines with age and not just withe athletes or footballers so it's really something that we shouldn't see like a  thing peculiar to athletes alone both every other person in their various field but they will have the advantage of been much more experienced than the younger ones and they be able to get more hacks to get their jobs done even faster.

With athletes they usually have the advantage of been able to still perform regardless of their age because they actually participate in daily active works that keeps their body always moving and so their productive for a while is still able to be maintained.  Arsenal still got a chance to play and get pass this stage of the champions league and also at the same time they are at the verge of loosing it to the Porto too because if they allow their self not to in the second leg, they may stand the risk of not been able to continue with the champions league again this season and it will be a good achievement for Porto because I'm sure they wouldn't believe they would make it to this point.

[marcous]

Although in this match or in this first leg Napoli only had 1 shot on target but anyway, the fact is that Napoli managed to score a goal also in this match. That means, Napoli's performance was not bad at all because anyway, if Napoli played badly then with the lack of shots on target then at least Napoli would not be able to score. But anyway, the fact is that Napoli managed to hold Barcelona to a draw and therefore, I cannot judge about a bad performance on Napoli in the first leg. But indeed, with the quality that Napoli and Barcelona have at this moment, of course Barcelona still has a better chance of qualifying than Napoli, and I also believe that Barcelona will succeed in defeating Napoli in the second leg later.

Barcelona will act as hosts in the second leg, in this case I think Xavi fleet is lucky and will most likely make it through to the quarter-finals. However, beating Napoli is certainly not as easy as turning the palm of your hand, we know that Osimhen is a player who can make a difference, Xavi must apply a special strategy to reduce his movements.

Basically, the performance of Napoli and Barcelona is very difficult to predict recently, as defending champions in their respective domestic competitions, these two teams have experienced setbacks this season. However, Napoli decline in performance was more significant, so management had to fire Rudia Garcia and Walter Mazzarri, now Francesco Calzona is managing Napoli as the new coach.

As a first match with Napoli, a draw against Barcelona in the first leg may be a big achievement for Calzona, but that will soon end when the second leg rolls around. It is possible that the match will end in a draw in normal time, and it will take extra time to find a winner. On paper, Barcelona deserves to be superior, but Napoli cannot be taken lightly.

[Oluwa-btc]

The good thing after this first round is, we have basically all the keys open, and everything can happen, for me we can expect as i said before an Atletico Madrid coming back on Madrid, and also we expect the comeback of Arsenal in London, about Napoli Barcelona is a no clue game.

LEts see what is ahead for us, prepare your bets.

It is still wide open that is currently behind 1-0 on aggregate while in the second leg many of them return to play at their home this could determine the result where they will qualify so this match will be more interesting at the odds offered by the bookie.

Arsenal returning to London can turn things around with Porto because falling behind is not a big thing so Arsenal are still able to return the goal back.
Atletico playing at home, they still have motivation but remember Inter Milan's game is now better and stronger in defense, the host must have a way to win.
Barcelona, still a bit in doubt but they still have a chance.
Bayern Munich, still big to win but if they fail then Tuchel will be under pressure.

Seem like whenever you check them meeting together, Arsenal has them way of returning to be winners of the second leg or the games they play at home. Gunner's can still go ahead to win the game two goals to nothing to finally cross into the next round of the tournament.

Arsenal would be cautious while attacking as they would be paying close attention to the midfielder's and the defenders otherwise if they attack too offensively they'll be exploited.
Mikel Arteta should learn all the available lessons right now. He needs a striker who has the abilities of shinning during Premier League games and Competitions and also the Champions League Competition.
Right now, Saka and Odegaard have not helped the te successfully in the Champions League Competition.

[Falconer]

-snip-

Full defensive is very good tactical for FC Porto on second leg match against Arsenal, get capital winning over one goal and draw result on second leg match more enough for FC Porto qualifying to quarter final although Arsenal's advantage with playing in their home. I think will make frustrated with the opponent team when FC Porto make full defensive strategies on second leg match.
I think FC Porto can take advantage with counter attack with Arsenal will play more offensive make space with their defense position, be careful for Mikel Arteta if Porto will play more defensive and Arsenal payer get frustrated how difficult scoring goals make their defense players will leave their position.

Regardless of strategy, Porto only needs to end the match with a draw or win to qualify for the quarter-finals. However, it is unlikely that this plan will easily come true because Arsenal will try to maximize their home advantage to win the match. It is this away game that is the real challenge for Porto, even if they have 1 goal in hand, it is not much.

Arteta is likely to change his playing strategy after learning something in the first leg against Porto. He knows Porto is strong in defense, so Arteta will adjust his strategy to damage Porto's defensive dominance. Maybe it was too risky for Porto to use the bus parking strategy, it was not a very wise choice when they had a chance to play a little offensively.

[Raflesia]

Most likely Porto will use a defensive strategy and target a draw at the Emirates, Arsenal will have difficulty beating Porto even though the goal margin is only 1-0. On paper Arsenal chances were very good, but when they dominated the match and created chances, no one could convert them into goals. Porto would really benefit if Arsenal still played with the same style, they also wanted to qualify for the quarter finals and Arsenal failed to anticipate their style of play.

Full defensive is very good tactical for FC Porto on second leg match against Arsenal, get capital winning over one goal and draw result on second leg match more enough for FC Porto qualifying to quarter final although Arsenal's advantage with playing in their home. I think will make frustrated with the opponent team when FC Porto make full defensive strategies on second leg match.
I think FC Porto can take advantage with counter attack with Arsenal will play more offensive make space with their defense position, be careful for Mikel Arteta if Porto will play more defensive and Arsenal payer get frustrated how difficult scoring goals make their defense players will leave their position.

A 1-goal aggregate is enough to secure their position and indeed defending the same as in the first leg is a strategy that is still very good for them to do but it will certainly be very difficult for them.
In the first leg we saw Arsenal's dominance was very good, it's just that they missed in the last minute of extra time which made them have to chase the aggregate that happened now but we know for the second leg they will play at their own home which sometimes emirates stadium is very haunted and it could be that Porto must be willing to lose a place.
I think it will be interesting because after all, Arsenal certainly don't want them to be eliminated when the opportunity they have been waiting for for several years waiting to play in the Champions League stops at this time.

[Solidized]

Porto was just lucky with their win against Arsenal because the gunners dominated the match unfortunately couldn't capitalize on their dominance of the game by being wasteful in front of goal probably due to inexperience of their players, however I don't think Porto can defend their lone goal advantage at the Emirates it's going to be a different ball game because Arsenal would launch massive attack to win the return match knowing that failure to win means they are out of this season UCL, of course Porto would deploy a defensive tactics because of the attacking prowess of the gunners and utilize or adopt a counter attack

How could that be luck? Porto achieved it with great difficulty and even until the last minute they didn't give up. Arsenal really deserved to lose because they couldn't produce results equivalent to what they performed in the English Premier League and once they lost they had to regret it because it was in a bigger competition. I still believe that Porto will do the same thing at home to Arsenal and if Porto succeeds in widening the aggregate then Arsenal will be eliminated in the Champions League.

FC Porto escaping with a lone goal in their home is impressive, kudos to them but I don't think they can repeat that when they visit Arsenal at Emirate in second leg.
Arsenal is stronger at home

[GiftedMAN]

Most likely Porto will use a defensive strategy and target a draw at the Emirates, Arsenal will have difficulty beating Porto even though the goal margin is only 1-0. On paper Arsenal chances were very good, but when they dominated the match and created chances, no one could convert them into goals. Porto would really benefit if Arsenal still played with the same style, they also wanted to qualify for the quarter finals and Arsenal failed to anticipate their style of play.

Full defensive is very good tactical for FC Porto on second leg match against Arsenal, get capital winning over one goal and draw result on second leg match more enough for FC Porto qualifying to quarter final although Arsenal's advantage with playing in their home. I think will make frustrated with the opponent team when FC Porto make full defensive strategies on second leg match.
I think FC Porto can take advantage with counter attack with Arsenal will play more offensive make space with their defense position, be careful for Mikel Arteta if Porto will play more defensive and Arsenal payer get frustrated how difficult scoring goals make their defense players will leave their position.

I don't think it will be a very good plan if FC Porto is going to play more of defense in the returning leg again Arsenal at Emirate Stadium, the one goal victory that Porto got is not enough to see them progress to rhe next round this is because Arsenal will come all out with a lot of pressure to see if they can get an early goal then they will push attack but once they find it difficult to score they will fall back ro defend the one goal they have while they keep pushing to ensure they get a winner goal  even they it won't be an easy game for them.

[baeva]

There was no winner in the Napoli-Barcelona match.Napoli managed to draw with a terrible game at home.Barcelona has the potential to beat Napoli, but it seems that things are not going well for them either.At least it's a good enough result for Barcelona.They will win the next match at home and go through.
I didn't expect Arsenal to lose.I thought the match was very unpleasant because only 2 of the shots taken by both teams during the 90 minutes were accurate, one of which was a goal in the last minute.Arsenal, despite playing well, couldn't be very effective in front of goal against Porto and left with a goal in the last minute.Arsenal will have to show an extra performance at home now.

Clearly, Napoli does not have a good performance because something broke, while last season Spalletti managed to keep everything united and close, this year after the arrival of the Spanish coach the game broke, and not By giving balls to Victor you dont score goals and you dont win.
Osimen proved to be very strong anyway, all see this

Even with those problems, they managed to draw with Barcelona. I don't think Barcelona have any serious problems that prevent them from winning, at least they are playing better than Napoli. Napoli are awful this season, as their play shows, I'll be surprised if they go any further

[Asiska02]

Full defensive is very good tactical for FC Porto on second leg match against Arsenal, get capital winning over one goal and draw result on second leg match more enough for FC Porto qualifying to quarter final although Arsenal's advantage with playing in their home. I think will make frustrated with the opponent team when FC Porto make full defensive strategies on second leg match.
I think FC Porto can take advantage with counter attack with Arsenal will play more offensive make space with their defense position, be careful for Mikel Arteta if Porto will play more defensive and Arsenal payer get frustrated how difficult scoring goals make their defense players will leave their position.

I don't think it will be a very good plan if FC Porto is going to play more of defense in the returning leg again Arsenal at Emirate Stadium, the one goal victory that Porto got is not enough to see them progress to rhe next round this is because Arsenal will come all out with a lot of pressure to see if they can get an early goal then they will push attack but once they find it difficult to score they will fall back ro defend the one goal they have while they keep pushing to ensure they get a winner goal  even they it won't be an easy game for them.

Arsenal was very outstanding in that match but they were just unlucky not to have scored any goal in that game while the goal of FC Porto came at the final minutes when no one expected it which gave Arsenal no time to fight back to equalize the goal. Just more minutes in that game, I am sure of an equalizer from Arsenal because they were playing better football than Porto and FC Porto made use of their home advantage to punish Arsenal and didn’t allow them to get a ball through into their net. The returning leg is going to be a very interesting match and I feel Arsenal can win the game and advance to the quarterfinals of the competition than FC Porto will do. Arsenal just need to give in their best in the returning leg which will be played at the Emirates Stadium and am home advantage to them. I hope they don’t take the match lightly because if they do, FC Porto will win and qualify for the next round of the champions league.

[rahmad2nd]

Manchester city will definitely go back to back in winning the UEFA Champions league because the biggest challenge I think they will face right now is Real Madrid of which I think even Madrid can not stop them.

We all know that City is a team that is quite a strong challenger in this competition. at the start of the group phase, Manchester City played very well even though they were not supported by several of their core players. in the away match against Copenhagen, City defeated the home team with a fairly large score. in the second leg, City's probability is very high to overthrow Copenhagen at the Etihad Stadium. so City is one of the strong contenders in this competition, especially since De Bruyne and Haaland have returned to the regular team. so it's natural if you say something like that. because Pep Guardiola's team has a chance for that. It's just that, in football there are many possibilities and interesting things. we can't say for sure which team will win this competition. there is a big possibility, as you said, that City will win this competition again. it could also be that City slipped when they met an unexpected team. in football, every possibility can happen. or, Madrid is able to overthrow City if they meet again. to be sure, we can't say for sure yet. because, so far what we have discussed is only based on assumptions and predictions. although in reality, both City and Real Madrid have the same probability of advancing to the final round of this competition. maybe, if there is a mediocre team that is unexpectedly able to qualify and overthrow City and Madrid. therefore, let's just follow what this competition will present each round after round until the final match. to me, that's more interesting.

[Falconer]

-snip-

Even with those problems, they managed to draw with Barcelona. I don't think Barcelona have any serious problems that prevent them from winning, at least they are playing better than Napoli. Napoli are awful this season, as their play shows, I'll be surprised if they go any further

Both teams are equally bad in terms of consistency, but Barcelona is certainly better than Napoli. As bad as Barcelona's performance is, they are still a team that has the possibility of qualifying for the Champions League next season. Currently Barcelona is in 3rd place in the La Liga standings and they also have the potential to take second place from Girona if Girona loses points in the next match.

Napoli are not very reliable in the Champions League and basically they are more likely to fail to qualify for the quarter-finals. I think Barcelona will qualify for the quarter-finals, they have a good performance to be underestimated.

[Josefjix]

Even with those problems, they managed to draw with Barcelona. I don't think Barcelona have any serious problems that prevent them from winning, at least they are playing better than Napoli. Napoli are awful this season, as their play shows, I'll be surprised if they go any further

Both team are having poor results in matches, but let's start from Barcelona, they're ranking 3rd position on La Liga table. Barcelona manager, Xavi Hernandez will leave at the end of the season, but he still have work to do with the present team. Napoli president, Aurelio De Laurentiis have sacked his current coach, Rudi Garcia and immediately replace him with Francesco Calzona. He have solid plans to execute for the club and he's busy implementing down more exploring ideas. Napoli and Barcelona are experiencing difficulty this season, none of these teams stand in solid spot to win.

[tiCeR]

-snip-

Even with those problems, they managed to draw with Barcelona. I don't think Barcelona have any serious problems that prevent them from winning, at least they are playing better than Napoli. Napoli are awful this season, as their play shows, I'll be surprised if they go any further

Both teams are equally bad in terms of consistency, but Barcelona is certainly better than Napoli. As bad as Barcelona's performance is, they are still a team that has the possibility of qualifying for the Champions League next season. Currently Barcelona is in 3rd place in the La Liga standings and they also have the potential to take second place from Girona if Girona loses points in the next match.

Napoli are not very reliable in the Champions League and basically they are more likely to fail to qualify for the quarter-finals. I think Barcelona will qualify for the quarter-finals, they have a good performance to be underestimated.

I saw two different games in two different halftimes to be honest. In the first half there is no doubt that Barcelona should have probably taken the lead by at least two goals. But when they had this single goal, I thought all the time that this could backfire as we should keep in mind that Napoli has its own Lewandowski who can score anytime and that is what Osimhen did. And when you see how the game went after that Napoli goal, I think if they won the game eventually it wouldn't even have been undeserved. They had their fair amount of chances and offensive pressure. That's Barcelona's biggest weakness. They play well, don't score and then concede goals.

[Jaycoinz]

Even with those problems, they managed to draw with Barcelona. I don't think Barcelona have any serious problems that prevent them from winning, at least they are playing better than Napoli. Napoli are awful this season, as their play shows, I'll be surprised if they go any further

Both team are having poor results in matches, but let's start from Barcelona, they're ranking 3rd position on La Liga table. Barcelona manager, Xavi Hernandez will leave at the end of the season, but he still have work to do with the present team. Napoli president, Aurelio De Laurentiis have sacked his current coach, Rudi Garcia and immediately replace him with Francesco Calzona. He have solid plans to execute for the club and he's busy implementing down more exploring ideas. Napoli and Barcelona are experiencing difficulty this season, none of these teams stand in solid spot to win.

Barcelona case is more severe of you ask me because this team hasn't been the same for almost two years now while Napoli on the other hand were just crowned champions of Italy and don't really know what went wrong but they seem to have spoiled everything and now with the new coach, if his system is good then Napoli can ignite that last season flare that gave them the serie A.

[coinlocket$]

Napoli has a good chance to earn the quarterfinal vs this not so strong Barca.

With the change of the rule of the away goals, even with a 0-0 they can have a shot in the penalties.

[AYOBA]

Porto was just lucky with their win against Arsenal because the gunners dominated the match unfortunately couldn't capitalize on their dominance of the game by being wasteful in front of goal probably due to inexperience of their players, however I don't think Porto can defend their lone goal advantage at the Emirates it's going to be a different ball game because Arsenal would launch massive attack to win the return match knowing that failure to win means they are out of this season UCL, of course Porto would deploy a defensive tactics because of the attacking prowess of the gunners and utilize or adopt a counter attack

How could that be luck? Porto achieved it with great difficulty and even until the last minute they didn't give up. Arsenal really deserved to lose because they couldn't produce results equivalent to what they performed in the English Premier League and once they lost they had to regret it because it was in a bigger competition. I still believe that Porto will do the same thing at home to Arsenal and if Porto succeeds in widening the aggregate then Arsenal will be eliminated in the Champions League.

FC Porto escaping with a lone goal in their home is impressive, kudos to them but I don't think they can repeat that when they visit Arsenal at Emirate in second leg.
Arsenal is stronger at home

To be honest, Porto's recent victory over Arsenal was largely due to luck; Arsenal's performance flagged as the game was about to end, Otherwise I doubt they could have scored in that match, as Arsenal played with great intensity in both the first and second halves. Everyone had a hard time seeing a goal because they both thought the game was really challenging.

However, given how well Porto has played Arsenal at home, I don't think they can duplicate that performance in the second leg. That being said, even though Arsenal is formidable at home, Porto will undoubtedly find the match extremely challenging.