UEFA Champions League Quarter Final fixtures (9th - 10th, 16th - 17th April 2019)

For those that need a translation from Spanish:

I'm 100 percent an optimist. The tackle was a complete accident and only looks bad when you zoom in. Salah is a nice man. And you can't call handball there because both players have their eyes closed. Let's not pick on these little things because it's unfortunate enough to be a man called Alisson. That is my sister's name. The tie is not lost and we have hope going to play the return leg at home at the Dragao where we can make all the Liverpool players my sister.

Eh? Is he inferring he’s going to make all the Liverpool players undergo gender reassignment surgery in a cunning tactic to put them off their games?

Or is he just calling his sister a bitch?

Perhaps something has been lost in translation?!
 
For those that need a translation from Spanish:

I'm 100 percent an optimist. The tackle was a complete accident and only looks bad when you zoom in. Salah is a nice man. And you can't call handball there because both players have their eyes closed. Let's not pick on these little things because it's unfortunate enough to be a man called Alisson. That is my sister's name. The tie is not lost and we have hope going to play the return leg at home at the Dragao where we can make all the Liverpool players my sister.

fecking hell :lol:
 
Happy to hear Kane got injured (nothing serious) as that will help us in the race for top 4 - they won't be as good hopefully. This is great news for us.
Also good to hear city lost. Hope they get dumped out so they can mainly focus on just the league.
 
I've just realised that, should we get through to the semis, we'll face either Juve or Ajax. That's a better set of options than the likely alternatives on the other half of the draw .. and big incentive for Spurs to go to City, score an away goal and then defend for our lives.
 
Happy to hear Kane got injured (nothing serious) as that will help us in the race for top 4 - they won't be as good hopefully. This is great news for us.
Also good to hear city lost. Hope they get dumped out so they can mainly focus on just the league.

You have issues.
 
All this talk of Pep over complicating thing is ridiculous. I think Pep's teams perform bad when they face a team which is fearless, ready to take their chances and get in their face. Watch all the defeats pep's sides have suffer in last 3-4 years. I think the match against swansea in on of the domestic cho competitions is perfect example of it. Even though city win it in the end. The way swansea played city was very good. You dont expect a second division team carve through defending champions like that. If team has the stamina to high press city and ability to break city's press, they panic. City did the same against Liverpool and Utd last year. Liverpool was agressive and fearless from the kick off, in all three matches. While Utd tried to play defensive in first half but after conceding, pogba and co thought "feck it, we cant let it happen" and in matter of minutes, City collapsed.

Teams are more likely to play that way in cup competitions, especially in home tie and thats why his teams are poor in CL away ties.
 
I've just realised that, should we get through to the semis, we'll face either Juve or Ajax. That's a better set of options than the likely alternatives on the other half of the draw .. and big incentive for Spurs to go to City, score an away goal and then defend for our lives.

I’m not sure, I think I would rather play anyone on the other side of the draw than Juventus if I were you. A team with Ronaldo is always super tricky in CL.

Good job by Spurs last night, I was giving them maybe 5% chance to knock out City before the game, now it’s probably like 60/40 in City’s favor. They should still be able to beat Tottenham by a couple at Etihad but if Spurs score first or second goal of the game things will get tough for City.
 
Happy to hear Kane got injured (nothing serious) as that will help us in the race for top 4 - they won't be as good hopefully. This is great news for us.
Also good to hear city lost. Hope they get dumped out so they can mainly focus on just the league.

If city gets knocked out of CL, they will surely lose the league as well, if you want city to win the league, pray for them to get to semi-final atleast. All of the city's last defeats have come in bunches. One defeat and it takes them 3-4 games to get back on track. Example :- Last season they lost three matches, 2 to liverpool and 1 to Utd within a week. This season they lost i believe 3 in december.

So getting knocked out of europe will have domino effect on their performance.
 
I've just realised that, should we get through to the semis, we'll face either Juve or Ajax. That's a better set of options than the likely alternatives on the other half of the draw .. and big incentive for Spurs to go to City, score an away goal and then defend for our lives.

I think you might have a terrific chance to make the final. City will crumble under pressure once you score imo. I could see a draw in the 2nd leg. And theres also a chance Ajax knock out Juve making it a much fairer matchup in the semi final stage of the competition. It just depends on whether you're willing to sacrifice top 4 for a chance to win CL.
 
I've just realised that, should we get through to the semis, we'll face either Juve or Ajax. That's a better set of options than the likely alternatives on the other half of the draw .. and big incentive for Spurs to go to City, score an away goal and then defend for our lives.

Ronaldo will put 4 or 5 past you.

Lloris :lol:
 
He may be out for the season with ligament damage.

What's wrong? It just indicates your priorities are screwed up.

He will be okay dude. It didn't look like anything serious or life threatening. There's literally a month left in the season. I want Manchester United to finish very high and I get happy when our chances increase.
 
Liverpool seem to be through. I see them making the final again this year. Urgh.

We often see teams losing in the final
/race come back to win a competiton. Or at least I've always had this feeling that it tends to happen.
 
Liverpool seem to be through. I see them making the final again this year. Urgh.

We often see teams losing in the final
/race come back to win a competiton. Or at least I've always had this feeling that it tends to happen.

Yeah, would be just our luck for Barca to twat us comprehensively and somehow contrive to lose to that lot courtesy of a Messi OG. That's the way their luck is heading.
 
He will be okay dude. It didn't look like anything serious or life threatening. There's literally a month left in the season. I want Manchester United to finish very high and I get happy when our chances increase.
Strange as it seems, I actually think Spurs look better without a half-fit Kane.
 
Yeah, would be just our luck for Barca to twat us comprehensively and somehow contrive to lose to that lot courtesy of a Messi OG. That's the way their luck is heading.
They've had loads of luck but I have to say, they seem mentally very strong this season. No calamities, no hammerings, very few howlers, everyone is keeping their heads and getting the job done seemlessly. I hope they don't end up winning the big 2 when all the focus has been on City. Chelsea need to dent their title hopes IMO. They have a lot of positivity flowing through the team due to being in with a chance in the PL. But Chelsea are crap against big teams of late so I have little hope.

As for the CL draw, I actually feel Liverpool are tailor made to really hurt Barcelona who are prone to struggle against A) Teams with pace and intensity in attack and B) Teams who are capable of overrunning their midfield and defense. I think they'll be happier with this opponent than a RM (last season), Juve or City.
 
I don't see how Liverpool are suddenly favorites against a Barcelona, should both teams advance. Barcelona will moonwalk all over the midfield and sprinkle in some Messi for a treat
 
I don't see how Liverpool are suddenly favorites against a Barcelona, should both teams advance. Barcelona will moonwalk all over the midfield and sprinkle in some Messi for a treat

It’s 50/50 for me if they both go through. Really don’t think current Barcelona are as good as people think they are.
 
It’s 50/50 for me if they both go through. Really don’t think current Barcelona are as good as people think they are.

I think people use the fact that this Barcelona are not as good as peak Pep Barcelona to completely swing the other way and underrated them.

They are an excellent defensive team, and comfortable with the ball and on the break. Plus Messi.

Liverpool have not hit the heights Barcelona have hit this season.
 
I think people use the fact that this Barcelona are not as good as peak Pep Barcelona to completely swing the other way and underrated them.

They are an excellent defensive team, and comfortable with the ball and on the break. Plus Messi.

Liverpool have not hit the heights Barcelona have hit this season.

Perhaps. On their day they are capable of beating anybody convincingly I guess but they’ve been far from impressive in CL for a good while and I just don’t 100% trust them to do their job against good teams.

It doesn’t matter though because Liverpool will not play Barcelona. ;)
 
I don't see how Liverpool are suddenly favorites against a Barcelona, should both teams advance. Barcelona will moonwalk all over the midfield and sprinkle in some Messi for a treat
They're not favourites. But they're very capable of beating them and I'd fancy their chances of doing that with the way their teams are set up.

Barcelona's midfield is nothing special. At least not until Arthur and De Jong become forces at that club. They're capable of dominating anyone of course, with the likes of Busquets and Rakitic. But they can be overrun by other teams too.
 
The problem with this Barcelona side is that they aren't one dimensional or up their own arse on a "holier-than-thou" way of playing. Valverde doesn't mind playing ugly to get the win, and this adaptability makes them even more dangerous in a way.

Though, Valverde did say we were very good at set-pieces. If that's his opinion of us, we can hope he hasn't scouted us properly and doesn't understand us at all.:D
 
They're not favourites. But they're very capable of beating them and I'd fancy their chances of doing that with the way their teams are set up.

Barcelona's midfield is nothing special. At least not until Arthur and De Jong become forces at that club. They're capable of dominating anyone of course, with the likes of Busquets and Rakitic. But they can be overrun by other teams too.

Their midfield will not be overrun by Liverpool’s midfield though, no chance. If Liverpool win it will not be because of midfield at all.
 
It’s 50/50 for me if they both go through. Really don’t think current Barcelona are as good as people think they are.
They're a strange team. They are consistent in the league and can hammer anybody on their day. But in the metrics you'll see that teams, and I mean regular La Liga teams, often have just as much of the play /shots as they do. It's just that Messi and Suarez having those changes makes all the difference.

In their general play as a team, they haven't been like City, clocking 20 shots to 5 week in week out. That's why I feel we have a slight chance against them and Livepool would have a good chance, and why they get exposed in the CL knockout phase. Because those fine margins come to hurt them on these big nights when opponents make use of the fairly even contest.
 
Their midfield will not be overrun by Liverpool’s midfield though, no chance. If Liverpool win it will not be because of midfield at all.
Midfield, forwards, fullbacks. Essentially stamina, running power and physicality. Liverpool are one of the most capable teams when it comes to overunning any opposition and overwhelming them with their collective press/intensity. They're doing it less this season but it's part of Klopps toolkit. He's one manager who can dominate the midfield without having a great midfield.

Anyway hopefully we get through and spank them ourselves. In the other event, there's always Messi to do it for us :)
 
Aye, this is redcafe's logic on the issue.

The rule is fecking pathetic. You can't keep your hands firmly by your sides at all times, especially when sliding. He's clearly not meaning to block it with his arm in that moment.

It needs serious change for when VAR comes in to the PL. No way should we be playing by this pathetic rule.

Then don't slide, stay on your feet, keep your hands firmly behind your back, and block the shot with your head, body or legs.
 
I think people use the fact that this Barcelona are not as good as peak Pep Barcelona to completely swing the other way and underrated them.

They are an excellent defensive team, and comfortable with the ball and on the break. Plus Messi.

Liverpool have not hit the heights Barcelona have hit this season.

Excellent defensive team? Ter Stegen has been one of their best players this season because the defense infront of him has been average. They can easily be got at by this United team on the counter.
 
Ronaldo will put 4 or 5 past you.

You obviously meant to say Tadic and Ziyech, but I get where you got confused, it's sometimes hard to tell there's no Ronaldo playing at Ajax. :p ;)

Eh? Is he inferring he’s going to make all the Liverpool players undergo gender reassignment surgery in a cunning tactic to put them off their games?

Or is he just calling his sister a bitch?

Perhaps something has been lost in translation?!

*coughs* Maybe try google translate for yourself and compare. ;)
 
That's interesting, I've seen a few of their highlights (some with Umtiti) and they have struggled in some matches. How many matches have they played together?
Its 7 goals conceded out of 13 games which is a bit disingenuous since it includes two games away to Madrid where they were poor finishing away from Real scoring half a dozen over the two legs.
Its an incredibly small sample size.
 
Its 7 goals conceded out of 13 games which is a bit disingenuous since it includes two games away to Madrid where they were poor finishing away from Real scoring half a dozen over the two legs.
Its an incredibly small sample size.

Still, Pique has been in fantastic form and his partnership with Lenglet has been great. They can be got at though, no doubt about that
 


Chiellini is to Juve's defense what Ramos is to Madrid's so just like Ajax tortured Madrid's defense without Ramos the same can happen tonight. It's going to be the biggest game of Rugani's life.
 
I just hope Juve don't stink the place out like they did in the first leg vs Atletico & play the game on the front-foot like they're very capable of doing.