The Ongoing Serie A, La Liga, All English Football, Champions League Thread - - - - - - - - - - - - - Part 51

[Iceman]

I hope Chelsea are kicking themselves for somehow managing not to win their group and now getting Barca in the last 16 when Roma got Shakhtar.

 

[DeadPresident]

Real draw PSG...perhaps there is a God.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Well you gotta play the best and beat the best if you're aspiring for the top trophies. That's how it works. So bring on Uefalona, we'll deal with 'em. We have done it in the past and history will repeat itself again.

Spoiler

How I really feel right nao

Chelsea to Lionel Messi

Overall summary of my thoughts

 

[Iceman]

Better if you meet the best as late as possible so you actually end up winning the trophy if you beat them as your reward rather than a place in the quarters which could have been achieved by beating Shakthar! t: Plus you'll have to go all out rather than being able to chill out a bit which will make winning the PL fixtures during that time more difficult. But I think Chelsea often have a better chance against Barca than many other English teams.

 

[Iceman]

Real draw PSG...perhaps there is a God.

Yeah saw that one. Awesome haha.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

But I think Chelsea often have a better chance against Barca than many other English teams.

Yeah, we have held our own against Barca on quite a few occasions. Plus iirc, Lionel Messi still hasn't scored against us in the CL. I sure hope that we can continue that streak.

But I still can't believe how profligate we were against Hammers in the weekend. They had a good defensive organisation but Morata really should have scored from Kante's pass from inside the penalty box in the 2nd half plus he also had a chance to put one past the goalkeeper when he out-jumped a WHU defender after a cross from Zappacosta came in from the right. He didn't even manage to keep it on target and he basically only glanced it and it went wide. Should have at-least tested the goalkeeper from that range. Those misses in the ATM home game (Matchday 6 in CL Group Stage) also proved to be costly as we nao hafta square up against Barca in the Round of 16s whereas we could have faced Shakhtar instead. We hafta put our shooting boots on or Liverpool or Arsenal could leapfrog us to secure the final 2 CL spots.

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

clearly he shouldn't have a bottle of milk thrown at his head, but Mourinho is an abnormally sore loser. Should stay out of telling others how to celebrate, especially given his history.

While i agree it was stupid going in city players were going mental screamjng shouting banging walls hell there is photos if the team throwing confetti around the room

 

[Bobber]

While i agree it was stupid going in city players were going mental screamjng shouting banging walls hell there is photos if the team throwing confetti around the room

To be fair, they've just defeated their only competitors, and their fiercest local rivals, at their stadium.

 

[Iceman]

Yeah, we have held our own against Barca on quite a few occasions. Plus iirc, Lionel Messi still hasn't scored against us in the CL. I sure hope that we can continue that streak.

But I still can't believe how profligate we were against Hammers in the weekend. They had a good defensive organisation but Morata really should have scored from Kante's pass from inside the penalty box in the 2nd half plus he also had a chance to put one past the goalkeeper when he out-jumped a WHU defender after a cross from Zappacosta came in from the right. He didn't even manage to keep it on target and he basically only glanced it and it went wide. Should have at-least tested the goalkeeper from that range. Those misses in the ATM home game (Matchday 6 in CL Group Stage) also proved to be costly as we nao hafta square up against Barca in the Round of 16s whereas we could have faced Shakhtar instead. We hafta put our shooting boots on or Liverpool or Arsenal could leapfrog us to secure the final 2 CL spots.

Yeah unfortunately that is the situation but you certainly have a fair chance. I think you are a bit of a bogey team for Barca. And that loss against West Ham puts the pressure back on for securing top 4.

 

[Iceman]

To be fair, they've just defeated their only competitors, and their fiercest local rivals, at their stadium.

Yeah, it's almost confirmation that they're winning the title this year so maybe that's why they got carried away. No excuse for throwing milk at a manager though.

 

[Harry_Lime02]

Milk incident is the new pizza incident.

 

[DeadPresident]

If it were United that celebrated that way Mourinho would already be under lock and key with several players in the gulags.

 

[DeadPresident]

Yeah saw that one. Awesome haha.

Neither team can afford to be knocked out in the last 16, it’ll be interesting to see ifadrid get out of their funk against PSG or if PSG end up going out against the defending champions. Either outcome will probably have some repercussions for the losing manager.

 

[Iceman]

Neither team can afford to be knocked out in the last 16, it’ll be interesting to see ifadrid get out of their funk against PSG or if PSG end up going out against the defending champions. Either outcome will probably have some repercussions for the losing manager.

Yeah they are meeting too early for whoever goes out. Real' fault for finishing 2nd in their group.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Yeah unfortunately that is the situation but you certainly have a fair chance. I think you are a bit of a bogey team for Barca.

Yeah. We tend to raise our game against Barca. While they have won some of the head to head games fairly, we were totally robbed of the chance to take revenge against MUTD back in '09. The officials went to extreme lengths to safeguard UEFALONA. It was a f**king disgrace. Ballack and Drogba lost it during the match and also after the game. Never seen favouritism and partiality in a top European fixture like that before. It was heartbreaking for me. From that day onward, I have hated the sight of Barca players. The revenge in 2012 wasn't enough. I want to see more pain inflicted to Barcelona. It's a useless vendetta but I can't get myself to get over it.

And that loss against West Ham puts the pressure back on for securing top 4.

Maybe I'm just being too pessimistic but we have a nice, prolonged run of fixtures throughout the holiday period where we play mid table clubs but we're off to a bad start and that doesn't bode well. We lost 3 crucial points against Wet Ham. Can't afford to let that happen again.

 

[Mandon Knight]

clearly he shouldn't have a bottle of milk thrown at his head, but Mourinho is an abnormally sore loser. Should stay out of telling others how to celebrate, especially given his history.

He's up there with Ferguson in that respect. If they don't win, the excuses get rolled out and it's always someone's else's fault as to why they didn't win.

 

[Iceman]

Yeah. We tend to raise our game against Barca. While they have won some of the head to head games fairly, we were totally robbed of the chance to take revenge against MUTD back in '09. The officials went to extreme lengths to safeguard UEFALONA. It was a f**king disgrace. Ballack and Drogba lost it during the match and also after the game. Never seen favouritism and partiality in a top European fixture like that before. It was heartbreaking for me. From that day onward, I have hated the sight of Barca players. The revenge in 2012 wasn't enough. I want to see more pain inflicted to Barcelona. It's a useless vendetta but I can't get myself to get over it.

Was that the game where you had 4 penalties turned down? If so it was the biggest refereeing joke I can remember. Arsenal also had one really obviously bent ref against Barca. Unfortunately those episodes and the Barca player's reactions complaining when they lost one foul and diving etc made me think much less of them.

Maybe I'm just being too pessimistic but we have a nice, prolonged run of fixtures throughout the holiday period where we play mid table clubs but we're off to a bad start and that doesn't bode well. We lost 3 crucial points against Wet Ham. Can't afford to let that happen again.

Up till then you were keeping yourself nicely just slightly above the real battle where Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal were fighting over 4th. Now you're going to get properly dragged into it and a double header against Barca might make it tough to win the league fixtures around it. More exciting for neutrals at least.

 

[BlackFox]

Pretty good draw all round for the English clubs although I doubt all will make it through but still by and large it couldnt have been much better if you could pick. Spurs and Chelsea obviously have the trickiest ties but at this stage there are few mugs left at some point your going to have beat someone decent to progress if you want to win the thing. The Madrid v PSG game is also a massive one, really hard to call that one both pretty similar in a lot of ways, all about attackers and defending is sort of an afterthought. One to watch closely thats for sure.

 

[Iceman]

Pretty good draw all round for the English clubs although I doubt all will make it through but still by and large it couldnt have been much better if you could pick. Spurs and Chelsea obviously have the trickiest ties but at this stage there are few mugs left at some point your going to have beat someone decent to progress if you want to win the thing. The Madrid v PSG game is also a massive one, really hard to call that one both pretty similar in a lot of ways, all about attackers and defending is sort of an afterthought. One to watch closely thats for sure.

It could be a huge aggregate score over 2 legs. t:

 

[Mandon Knight]

Reasonable draw in ECL for us (Liverpool), could have been worse, I would expect us over two legs to engineer a win, and given it's a straight race for 2nd or 3rd now in league and FA Cup is such a lottery these days, it's our only real stake at a trophy this season, if we are to win anything. Would prefer a higher league place as poss and an FA cup (which is more achievable) but 3rd and a CL win would be grand, if waaaay tougher.

 

[BlackFox]

It could be a huge aggregate score over 2 legs. t:

Ha yeah has the potential for that but then that can sometimes lead to major disappointment but lets hope for a goal fest anyway! PSG's front line has got more than enough to damage Madrid after what Spurs did to them but then if Madrid sort themselves out you wouldnt bet against them either.

Reasonable draw in ECL for us (Liverpool), could have been worse, I would expect us over two legs to engineer a win, and given it's a straight race for 2nd or 3rd now in league and FA Cup is such a lottery these days, it's our only real stake at a trophy this season, if we are to win anything. Would prefer a higher league place as poss and an FA cup (which is more achievable) but 3rd and a CL win would be grand, if waaaay tougher.

It seems a lot of people seem to think the CL is more open this year and with all the english teams through and Spurs winning the group against Madrid they no longer look so invincible and Barca arent quite thought of in the same way as 5 years ago so it seems with a fair draw and some good luck along the way a lot of teams will be eyeing it as a potential year to nick it. I still think City have the best shot as the all the other teams will be scrapping for top 4 while City will no doubt coast to the title now but you never know.

 

[Iceman]

Ha yeah has the potential for that but then that can sometimes lead to major disappointment but lets hope for a goal fest anyway! PSG's front line has got more than enough to damage Madrid after what Spurs did to them but then if Madrid sort themselves out you wouldnt bet against them either.

I'll settle for 2 5-5 draws and then a penalty shoot out.

 

[Bobber]

If it were United that celebrated that way Mourinho would already be under lock and key with several players in the gulags.

I doubt many other managers than Mourinho would make a huge deal about it.

Also, this is the sort of attention Mourinho brings to your club. Same happened at Chelsea. It really shouldn't come as a shock to Utd fans.

 

[DeadPresident]

I doubt many other managers than Mourinho would make a huge deal about it.

I don't know about that, I think a few would - Mourinho just gets certain treatment because of his reputation and history in the PL, most of which he brought on himself.

Also, this is the sort of attention Mourinho brings to your club. Same happened at Chelsea. It really shouldn't come as a shock to Utd fans.

Yeah, fair point, a large majority of this is due to his own actions. Unfortunately that combines badly with the English press's love for getting the knives out for foreign managers in particular.

Yeah they are meeting too early for whoever goes out. Real' fault for finishing 2nd in their group.

Yeah, Real's dip definitely came at the wrong time for them. They're struggling in the league and if PSG grow a spine and manage to step up to elite opposition Madrid's CL hopes could end shortly.

It's the kind of combination of factors that could get Zidane sacked. If they crash out to PSG and their La Liga hopes disappear before March Perez would probably axe him.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Was that the game where you had 4 penalties turned down? If so it was the biggest refereeing joke I can remember. Arsenal also had one really obviously bent ref against Barca. Unfortunately those episodes and the Barca player's reactions complaining when they lost one foul and diving etc made me think much less of them.

Yup. It's the same game. We were denied several clear cut penalty opportunities. It was disgusting.