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

Difficult to put a finger on the match tonight. Will we be defensive and cautious or will we go for away goals? I'd guess the former, though I hope it's the latter. I think this match will say a lot about our season, La Liga is done so now is the time to step up in the Champions League and give it our best shot. This should suggest a different approach than against Lyon, and we hopefully learned our Roma lesson... we'll see.

With the opponent in mind, the venue and history, this is the one tie where it would be easy for me to accept getting knocked out.
 
We've given ourselves a decent chance now of making the semis. If we score just once in the away leg - and I fancy us to do that even without Kane - then City will have to score 3 times without reply to go through ...

The tie is still evenly balanced, but we're as good as position as we could have realistically hoped for against a very strong team that some claim is the best in Europe.

In the good old days a 1-0 defeat away from home in the first leg was seen as a decent result.

City wont be too bothered Im sure.
 
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.

You've had more luck than us in the UCL this season:lol: . Somehow beating Juve and PSG (x2)when you were completely dominated, in all games.
 
In the good old days a 1-0 defeat away from home in the first leg was seen as a decent result.

City wont be too bothered Im sure.

A Spurs goal leaves City needing 3, and Spurs aren't the easiest team to score against.

I'd say it's pretty much 50/50 right now. Spurs definitely deserve the lead going into the second leg, but they didn't get enough from the game for me to consider them comfortable favourites at the Ethiad.
 
I want Ajax to win so much, I'm kind of embarrassed about it. But feck, I loath Juventus.
 
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.

Laughed to that part i have to say :lol:
 
I want Ajax to win so much, I'm kind of embarrassed about it. But feck, I loath Juventus.

Same here. If Ajax make it through Juve somehow, they've a pretty damn good chance of reaching the final. I guess your Ajax supporting days would be short-lived if they were the case :D Ajax vs Spurs would be a great match.
 
Not fussed either way really. If we win we go through and if we go out we can focus on the league. We'll score 3 at home against Spurs and get by, though.
 
In the good old days a 1-0 defeat away from home in the first leg was seen as a decent result.

City wont be too bothered Im sure.

It's a bad result and they will be bothered.

1-0 away from home is not good. No away goals means that all we have to do is score at the Etihad and suddenly its a very difficult tie for City, and they will have to afford us space because they're chasing the game. We'll be going with Lucas & Son too so plenty of pace on the counter to hurt them.

Obviously they're capable of scoring 3 or 4 without reply and blowing us away, but they won't want to be in that situation. It's turned a tie where they are heavy favourites in to one where maybe they're slight favourites or even down to a 50/50 chance.
 
Same here. If Ajax make it through Juve somehow, they've a pretty damn good chance of reaching the final. I guess your Ajax supporting days would be short-lived if they were the case :D Ajax vs Spurs would be a great match.
Nah, I will support Ajax over any foreign club honestly. I used to root against them regardless of the opponent, but old age (I'm not actually old) has mellowed me a bit.
 
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.

I didn't stutter.

They're an excellent defensive team. They don't concede many goals.

If you think they can be "easily got at" on the counter then you have another thing coming.
 
I have to congratulate Spurs. An amazing Champions League performance. If it was the Premier League, City would probably have won comfortably but Spurs managed to find another level. That's what I love about the Champions League.

Let's see if Manchester United can also find a new level tonight.
 
Same here. If Ajax make it through Juve somehow, they've a pretty damn good chance of reaching the final. I guess your Ajax supporting days would be short-lived if they were the case :D Ajax vs Spurs would be a great match.
Spurs should be fun given half the defense will allow Ajax to score on a True Loyalty basis. ;) :D Seriously though, would be great to see Vertonghen and Alderweireld back in Amsterdam.

Even if it was Manchester City, last time Ajax played them in the Champions League was in 2012. Results: 3-1 at home and 2-2 away. And that was a less experienced Ajax side.

Anything is possible, as long as you work hard and as a team with a clear strategy. I'm definitely excited to watch the match this evening. :)

I want Ajax to win so much, I'm kind of embarrassed about it. But feck, I loath Juventus.

Don't be embarassed. I've always been more than happy to support all Dutch teams in Europe, as a fan of Dutch footy should. It's in all our interest. Speaking of which, I really hope next season Feyenoord will have a good European run with Stam. Think he's a good pick for a Feyenoord manager. Van Bronckhorst did quite well, but it seemed to me he needs as much a breath of fresh air with a new side as Feyenoord does. Should be an interesting few Klassiekers next season too if this year's are anything to go by too. :)
 
I didn't stutter.

They're an excellent defensive team. They don't concede many goals.

If you think they can be "easily got at" on the counter then you have another thing coming.
They concede one goal per game on average in the league, which is not that great imo.

Atlético have 10 goals less conceded, that's an excellent defensive team.
 
They concede one goal per game on average in the league, which is not that great imo.

Atlético have 10 goals less conceded, that's an excellent defensive team.

For the way Atletico and Barcelona play, you would expect the goals Barcelona conceded to be closer to Madrid's. 1 goal per game to 0.7 goals per game isn't that significant.

But for semantics sake. They're a very good defensive team.
 
For the way Atletico and Barcelona play, you would expect the goals Barcelona conceded to be closer to Madrid's. 1 goal per game to 0.7 goals per game isn't that significant.

But for semantics sake. They're a very good defensive team.

I probably shouldn't have used the word 'average' to describe them but I wouldn't certainly say they are very good or excellent, tactics obviously plays a huge role in judging a team's ability to defend as well. A team with the attacking quality of United shouldn't feel overawed by their defense I feel. I would like Barcelona to remain overwhelming favourites in everyone's eyes, therefore lowering the expectations from United and also maybe making Barcelona overconfident, but I certainly don't think United are very far off from being able to win this tie.
 
In the good old days a 1-0 defeat away from home in the first leg was seen as a decent result.

City wont be too bothered Im sure.

I bet they will be.

For starters, they won't now be able to rest and rotate any of their best players for the 2nd leg, because too much is riding on it and they didn't get their desired advantage from the 1st leg.

But more importantly they'll be very nervy about Spurs getting an away goal, which we are quite capable of doing. And if we do get an away goal it's no use pretending that City can just flick a switch whenever they want to score 3 goals without reply.
 
It's a bad result and they will be bothered.

1-0 away from home is not good. No away goals means that all we have to do is score at the Etihad and suddenly its a very difficult tie for City, and they will have to afford us space because they're chasing the game. We'll be going with Lucas & Son too so plenty of pace on the counter to hurt them.

Obviously they're capable of scoring 3 or 4 without reply and blowing us away, but they won't want to be in that situation. It's turned a tie where they are heavy favourites in to one where maybe they're slight favourites or even down to a 50/50 chance.

They obviously would have liked the cushion of an away goal. But you are relying on what no team has done this season, which is keep a full strength City side from scoring at least 2 goals at the Etihad. They've done it against Liverpool (a much better side), United, Arsenal and Chelsea. I'd love to see you guys bunker in and hit them on the break. It's not 50/50 though, odds are against you still. Any chance Kane can make it back?
 
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.
Nice try :p

Casillas is still being a little bitch, mind.
 
They obviously would have liked the cushion of an away goal. But you are relying on what no team has done this season, which is keep a full strength City side from scoring at least 2 goals at the Etihad. They've done it against Liverpool (a much better side), United, Arsenal and Chelsea. I'd love to see you guys bunker in and hit them on the break. It's not 50/50 though, odds are against you still. Any chance Kane can make it back?


They can score 2 goals! We just need to score 1. 2-1 will suit us fine.

I think it's a little different to the games you mentioned. This is one where we will know we hold an advantage from the first leg and the approach should be a little different than in your standard league game. Obviously though it's still going to be incredibly difficult to keep them out, I mean this is Manchester City, on their day we all know they could turn us over 4-0 and it wouldn't be a surprise. I think we've put ourselves in with a good chance though, especially if we can hold out long enough and somehow eek an away goal.

But yeah, 50/50 was probably me being a bit too optimistic. Last night I put it at 60/40 after the game and that's probably more accurate, but it's an improvement over our odds before that game for sure.

You just know we'll get called bottlers if we lose 3-1 or something, as if this City team isn't absolutely unreal and arguably the best in the world. Ah well.
 
Spurs should be fun given half the defense will allow Ajax to score on a True Loyalty basis. ;) :D Seriously though, would be great to see Vertonghen and Alderweireld back in Amsterdam.

Even if it was Manchester City, last time Ajax played them in the Champions League was in 2012. Results: 3-1 at home and 2-2 away. And that was a less experienced Ajax side.


No offence but this is almost entirely irrelevant, I mean that was 7 years ago?

The City team now is a completely different beast to the one it was in 2012. And if they brought their A game against Ajax I'm sorry but there is nothing your lot could do, you would simply be taken apart.
 
Neres (€12.000.000) - Tadic (€11.400.000) - Ziyech (€11.000.000)
Frenkie (€1) - Schone (€0) - Vd Beek (€0)
Tagliafico (€4.000.000) - Blind (€16.000.000) - De Ligt (€0) - Veltman (€0)
Onana (€150.000)

Total: €54.550.001

Ronaldo (€100.000.000) - Mandzukic (€15.000.000) - Bernardeschi (€40.000.000)
Bentancur (€9.500.000) - Pjanic (€32.000.000) - Matuidi (€20.000.000)
Sandro (€26.000.000) - Bonucci (€35.000.000) - Rugani (€5.000.000) - De Sciglio (€12.000.000)
Szczesny (€12.200.000)

Total: €306.700.000
 
Neres (€12.000.000) - Tadic (€11.400.000) - Ziyech (€11.000.000)
Frenkie (€1) - Schone (€0) - Vd Beek (€0)
Tagliafico (€4.000.000) - Blind (€16.000.000) - De Ligt (€0) - Veltman (€0)
Onana (€150.000)

Total: €54.550.001

Ronaldo (€100.000.000) - Mandzukic (€15.000.000) - Bernardeschi (€40.000.000)
Bentancur (€9.500.000) - Pjanic (€32.000.000) - Matuidi (€20.000.000)
Sandro (€26.000.000) - Bonucci (€35.000.000) - Rugani (€5.000.000) = De Sciglio (€12.000.000)
Szczesny (€12.200.000)

Total: €306.700.000

Why decimal points? Did commas not make their way over to the lowlands?
 
Ronaldo cost €100? Bargain!

I don't think Juve will win tonight.
 
I bet they will be.

For starters, they won't now be able to rest and rotate any of their best players for the 2nd leg, because too much is riding on it and they didn't get their desired advantage from the 1st leg.

But more importantly they'll be very nervy about Spurs getting an away goal, which we are quite capable of doing. And if we do get an away goal it's no use pretending that City can just flick a switch whenever they want to score 3 goals without reply.
Pep decided to rest players in the first leg, rather than the second.
Will Spurs rest players in the Second leg or the premier league fixture with City a few days ? Surely they will struggle to play their best 11 for both games.
 
Pep decided to rest players in the first leg, rather than the second.
Will Spurs rest players in the Second leg or the premier league fixture with City a few days ? Surely they will struggle to play their best 11 for both games.

I want us to rest players in the league game. Have little chance of winning that anyway, focus on our other winnable PL fixtures.
 
I want us to rest players in the league game. Have little chance of winning that anyway, focus on our other winnable PL fixtures.
Well that's what Pep is hoping for so he can do the same. Play his strongest team in the second leg then rotate for the premier league game a few days later against a weaker Spurs team.
 
Pep decided to rest players in the first leg, rather than the second.
Will Spurs rest players in the Second leg or the premier league fixture with City a few days ? Surely they will struggle to play their best 11 for both games.
:drool:

No chance of that happening though, especially after last night's result.

However, City now needs to play their best team in the return leg, and also needs to play their best team in the league against Spurs, since yesterday showed that it isn't always all that with a few key players rested.
 
Well that's what Pep is hoping for so he can do the same. Play his strongest team in the second leg then rotate for the premier league game a few days later against a weaker Spurs team.

I'm far more interested in the CL than the Premier League.

Maybe that makes me naive, but I think we can easily get top 4 in the league (don't really care about 3rd or 4th, either one is fine) with the fixtures after the City game. We don't need to get a result in that one.

A while ago I was much more worried, but it's become increasingly obvious that our rivals for top 4 are far from great shakes, and have fixtures they will slip up in.