He had a pretty good game against Chelsea at home this season. He looks a square part for PSG though, and Uruguay.
Champions League - Quarter Finals
- Thread starter Rooney in Paris
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
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He had a pretty good game against Chelsea at home this season. He looks a square part for PSG though, and Uruguay.
Yawnnnnn...3 clubs that were in the semis last year will be there again. Can't remember the last time Bayern and Barca were not in the semis.
Last year.
lol
Chelsea, Atleti, Real, Bayern were in the semis last season. Only two of them will be in it this season.
When i saw Porto´s defence with 4 center backs i knew things would end up badly for Porto. Reyes was atrocious. Porto really missed Danilo and Alex Sandro since they don´t have real back up choices for those positions. This result wasn´t surprising. The first leg was the real surprise. Porto will probably end up with nothing to show for silverware wise this year after such hefty investments but they had a good performance in the Champions League.
Yay, you're alive! Welcome back
PSG desperately want Cavani out, despite what they say in public
My mistake - thought Atletico beat Barca in the semis last year, it was the quarters.
Blimey. Bayern's new leeches must have worked some kind of witchcraft.
Yay, you're alive! Welcome back
Hey, thanks mate. Yes i´m alive in the Uk trying to survive Wales weather (although it has been alright this week). Should be back to normal activity next week
Good luck this weekend since i´m an ABB (portuguese version of ABU, anyone but Benfica )Is a Bayern - Barca final possible? That would be incredible. Best two teams in Europe at the minute and Messi-Suarez-Neymar vs Robben-Lewa-Ribery would be feckin incredible to watch in one game.
I don't think the new (non-tikkatakka) Barca have played tikkatakka Bayern yet, so would be very interesting.
I don't think the new (non-tikkatakka) Barca have played tikkatakka Bayern yet, so would be very interesting.
Why enjoy it over 1 game when we can have it over 2? Hope they get drawn in the semis, will be very interesting, the first time in years Barca will be dominated in the possession stats?
I work 300km away from Munich these days - well, i didn't regret hopping into my car today for the ride to take my seat at the Allianz tonight, and i don't even loathe the prospect of having to get up tomorrow - oops, today- at 5 to be at my desk at 8:30 bright eyed and all that.... that was one of those nights i go to football for What a delight! Thiago ripped them apart, and the scary thing is he is not even close to being at 100%.
From the stands, Atkinsons refereeing was shocking most of the times, they had to pull the plug on the stadium replay screens for the 5-1 even (was it as offside as it looked?). Very inconsistent refereeing... but who cares... i'll have my bottle of celebration beer now to chill before i can think about sleeping I'll read some forums and have a good laugh at all those pundits who wrote Bayern/Pep down the last week. Cheers!
What a delight! Thiago ripped them apart, and the scary thing is he is not even close to being at 100%.From the stands, Atkinsons refereeing was shocking most of the times, they had to pull the plug on the stadium replay screens for the 5-1 even (was it as offside as it looked?). Very inconsistent refereeing... but who cares... i'll have my bottle of celebration beer now to chill before i can think about sleeping
I'll read some forums and have a good laugh at all those pundits who wrote Bayern/Pep down the last week. Cheers!Congratulations to Bayern , at this stage of the competition I will begin to support them. Hopefully they will eliminate Barça in semifinal or in the final
Masterclass from Bayern in the first half.
I really can't wait to return to this competition.
I really can't wait to return to this competition.
Well, I kind predicted it I'm drunk as hell right now, have a good night
I'm drunk as hell right now, have a good night Is it a new draw after the quarters or is it bracketed from quarters on?
Draw is on Friday.
Abelardo, Sergi, Bakero, Prosinecki and Cuéllar too, though only the first two have done anything notable, and Roger worked as assistant manager.
Amor was director of football for Barcelona youth teams until recently and Busquets was goalie trainer at Barcelona youth.
Barcelona were so damn impressive last night. Their pressing in midfield was crazy the no PSG was able to get the ball out of their area comfortably in the first half. Barca dropped off slightly in the second half and Verrati was impressive for PSG but to no avail simply put the better team won.
I have to say i'm surprised with Barcelona's performance as of late, I didnt think the so called "MSN" would gel together so quickly and defensively they dont have the best individuals but the pressing and their defensive system has been superb conceding very few goals. They look like the team to beat in the CL right now.
I have to say i'm surprised with Barcelona's performance as of late, I didnt think the so called "MSN" would gel together so quickly and defensively they dont have the best individuals but the pressing and their defensive system has been superb conceding very few goals. They look like the team to beat in the CL right now.
Very good performance from us over the two legs. As for tomorrow c'mon Atlético. Bayern vs Barça in Berlin in the final would be nice.
Muller leading the chanting after the game.
Tailor resigned this morning.
Going back to this point, I think it really played a signficant role. Porto gained momentum last Wednesday and should have kept playing with the majority of their players on the weekend in my opinion. Rest the few players who are really really tired, if possible sub them in for 20-30 minutes to keep the team together and let the players enjoy their success. Keep their mind off the upcoming CL game for a while. Porto looked like a team that thought about possibly pulling off a miracle all week and got nervous when the game started after overthinking the whole thing and putting too much pressure on themselves.
I've seen this happen so often. It's also quite common in international tournaments when teams play really well and are already qualified after 2 games and rest the full team in the 3rd group game, then totally fail to get going again in the first knockout game. Yeah, it's easy to say this in hindsight and if one of the key players got injured on the weekend before the game, all hell breaks loose. The manager will be blamed for doing it all wrong, hindsight again. But especially if your team is the underdog and lacks experience at this stage, it's a lot better to just keep going without changing the rhythm.
True, It's very common in international tournaments and it hardly pays off.
I am a bit envious reading this bit.I work 300km away from Munich these days - well, i didn't regret hopping into my car today for the ride to take my seat at the Allianz tonight, and i don't even loathe the prospect of having to get up tomorrow - oops, today- at 5 to be at my desk at 8:30 bright eyed and all that.... that was one of those nights i go to football for
From the stands, Atkinsons refereeing was shocking most of the times, they had to pull the plug on the stadium replay screens for the 5-1 even (was it as offside as it looked?). Very inconsistent refereeing... but who cares... i'll have my bottle of celebration beer now to chill before i can think about sleeping
He was the youngest Golden Boot winner since Pele in 1958, had an incredible debut season at Bayern, yet there wasn't any hype around him. I guess it's because he's not flashy and people needed a lot of time to give him credit for being special without looking special on the ball. Once that happened, he already was an incredible mature player with several seasons of consistently great performances, so the 'wonderkid' thing didn't really fit anymore.
He also often needed a while to convince his managers. Van Gaal was the only one who instantly trusted him and knew what an important role he can play for a team. It's probably because of the focus on intelligent decision making in van Gaal's 'philosophy' and Müller fits that selfless, intelligent way of playing to a T.
Löw for example wasn't convinced and prefered Trochowski instead of him until very late in the preparation for the World Cup 2010, when Trochowski was god awful in the last 2 friendlies and Müller instantly had a wonderful understanding with Klose and Özil. At this point, there was so much pressure from the media to start Müller, that I'm not sure Löw deserves any credit for changing his mind. Up until this day, I don't think Löw fully appreciates Müller, as seen in the Euro 2012 when he was told to play a very static winger role and then benched in the semifinal, a costly mistake. Löw ripped apart that incredible Klose-Özil-Müller triangle that was destroying teams for fun with outstanding vision and link-up play and until today I don't understand why.
Heynckes actually benched Müller in many important games in 11/12 as well, he didn't start in either semifinal leg against Real for example and usually only came into the team as a replacement if someone was missing. The prefered team clearly was a 3man midfield with Kroos at the tip and then Ribery - Gomez - Robben upfront. It changed in 12/13 and Müller paid back the trust, as always.
I do not want to diminish the performance of Bayern last night but Porto has been shockingly bad. They seem to have forgotten everything that worked last week. Bayern got so much space to play their game it was hilarious.
Have not seen the other game but it seems as Barca had no big troubles. Shame on Chelsea for being eliminated by Paris.
So let`s hope for the big final Barca - Bayern this year. I really could not tell who would be favorite...
Have not seen the other game but it seems as Barca had no big troubles. Shame on Chelsea for being eliminated by Paris.
So let`s hope for the big final Barca - Bayern this year. I really could not tell who would be favorite...
I got a feeling Atletico will knock Real Madrid out today with a score draw, Juventus will be comfortable in Monaco.
I hope you're right regarding the Madrid derby. Juventus will be a tough nut to crack in the semi finals if they make it.
Yeah, I agree. Obviously we played brilliantly and it was fascinating to watch. But the criticism of the last few weeks regarding some of Pep's decisions, the risks of his tactics and some of the individual performances are still valid and aren't washed away by one awesome match. More than anything, it showed that the mentality of the team is still great, that the players can handle pressure, don't care about ridiculous drama at the club and at the end of the day in a difficult situation can work for each other and play selflessly and great.
We need that, but we also need Pep to get his tactics right every time, because Real, Barca, Atletico or Juve won't let us back in the tie after a horrendous first game, no matter how well we play. And we need at least some of our key players back from injury, as soon as possible.
I don't rate Juventus. Whoever will get them in the semis will have a nice path to the final IMO.
Yeah, Juve is surely the weakest team here. Weakest team, weakest mentality, least experience. They had a Dortmund in total disarray and a shockingly bad Monaco to play so far (What the hell, Arsenal...) and have shown nothing that would let them be deserving semi-finalists. They are a better version of Leverkusen: nice game here and there, but shitting their pants when facing good opponents.
Juve are an incredibly well organised and well balanced team. They're tough to break down and can hurt you in a variety of ways. I don't think they're a really great team overall, but Real, Atletico and Bayern aren't in great form and can easily go out against Juventus unless they find their best form for the semifinals. I don't think they lack experience either. The question is if Pirlo, Buffon have one last big fight in them, if Tevez actually shows up, if Pogba returns in time.
Going by form since the winterbreak, I'd say Barca stands out a little, but all of Juve, Bayern, Atletico and Real aren't far apart from each other and not much behind Barca. Injuries to key players might actually decide the games more than the actual strength of the squads. I don't think any of the top teams this year is playing at their peak level, so it might be the perfect time for Juve to sneak through to the final and in one game, everything is possible.
Going by form since the winterbreak, I'd say Barca stands out a little, but all of Juve, Bayern, Atletico and Real aren't far apart from each other and not much behind Barca. Injuries to key players might actually decide the games more than the actual strength of the squads. I don't think any of the top teams this year is playing at their peak level, so it might be the perfect time for Juve to sneak through to the final and in one game, everything is possible.
I still remember the Mardona-Müller ball boy incident and how it came back to bite El Pibe in the arse
I still remember the Mardona-Müller ball boy incident and how it came back to bite El Pibe in the arse
Still funny. Müller's first press conference for the nationalteam after he gave his debut in a friendly against Argentina a few months before the World Cup. It's unbelievable that Maradona didn't recognise a player who just played 70minutes against his team and left the room because he didn't want to sit next to a ball boy
. And yes, it was sweet that Müller then scored the opener in the World Cup quarterfinal 4 months later.As a team, they have little to no experience in Champions League. The last time Juve did beat a serious opponent in CL over two legs was ... Wait for iiit...2004/2005! Real Madrid, to be precise. That happened a decade ago...
I don`t know. Juve might go through today but then it should be game over for them. CL Semis are a huge success for them. If I got the guarantee that we will make it to the semis in the coming season and go out I would take it in a heartbeat.
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