Champions League Round of 16 (14th Feb - 15th Mar)

Mbappe starting is going to make a huge difference. Bayern haven't been good this season
Neymar is out though, evens out. Bayern at home too... Can't see anything but a Bayern win. Quick glance at their underlying stats game by game and they seem to romp teams at home but do a bit shit away. Should help.
 
Neymar is out though, evens out. Bayern at home too... Can't see anything but a Bayern win. Quick glance at their underlying stats game by game and they seem to romp teams at home but do a bit shit away. Should help.

Neuer Lucas Pavard are definitely out, Mane recovering. PSG without Neymar will be more balanced instead of 3 guys who don't track back they only have 2 now. PSG has a very good chance to progress
 
That was a good win for Chelsea. The CL looks pretty wide open this year and they are exactly the type of club that seem to be able to do shite in the league then win a big cup.

I mean looking ahead, Chelsea and Benfica are through, while Real, Inter/Porto, Milan/Spurs, City and Bayern/PSG look to be the last 8.

What are the odds on Chelsea getting a side of the draw that means they have to get through two of Benfica/Inter/Porto/Milan/Spurs to get to the final, then sh*thousing a win in the final, whilst finishing 9th?
 
What are the odds on Chelsea getting a side of the draw that means they have to get through two of Benfica/Inter/Porto/Milan/Spurs to get to the final, thenwin in the final, whilst finishing 9th?


Yep, no matter how bad of a season Chelsea are having they always end up winning something.
 
Neymar is out though, evens out. Bayern at home too... Can't see anything but a Bayern win. Quick glance at their underlying stats game by game and they seem to romp teams at home but do a bit shit away. Should help.

Neymar being out is actually a good thing.

They're too unbalanced with MNM all playing.
 
1 BL club already out, atleast 2 more coming up and still plenty of chance Bayern go out tomorrow as well.
True. Just as expected.

Typical bundesliga. Apart from bayern they all suck in CL and Bayern has one of the strongest opponents, going out isnt out of the question here.
 
So, apparently, the VAR decision on the penalty retake was BS:



My understanding was that any encroachment from the defender who clears the ball is a retake, but the official rule regards whether he influenced any attacker from reaching the ball.

That much was clear from yesterday as well that there wasn't any Chelsea player close to the ball when Ozcan cleared it.

So yea, dodgy VAR decision on the penalty itself and then the retake.
 
1 BL club already out, atleast 2 more coming up and still plenty of chance Bayern go out tomorrow as well.
No chance Bayern will lose to this PSG. They will simply put alot of pressure on the midfield\defense and players like Soler, Ruiz, Vitinha etc will easily lose possesion.

It will be a one way street and Mbappe\Messi will rarely get the ball.

Psg is all over the place tactically with several bang average players who would not even be on the bench for a top 3 club.
 
So, apparently, the VAR decision on the penalty retake was BS:



My understanding was that any encroachment from the defender who clears the ball is a retake, but the official rule regards whether he influenced any attacker from reaching the ball.

That much was clear from yesterday as well that there wasn't any Chelsea player close to the ball when Ozcan cleared it.

So yea, dodgy VAR decision on the penalty itself and then the retake.
The player who cleared the ball was quite far in the penalty box already when the penalty was taken. While it is correct that no Chelsea player is nearby and from this screenshot it looks like it would have been cleared anyway, I think this is one of those cases that you just can never predict what would have happened. I think these cases will nearly always result in retaking the penalty and rightly so in my opinion. If you always need to decide on "what could have happened" it just becomes more subjective. If the player who entered the penalty box too soon clears the ball, it should be be retaken.
 
So, apparently, the VAR decision on the penalty retake was BS:



My understanding was that any encroachment from the defender who clears the ball is a retake, but the official rule regards whether he influenced any attacker from reaching the ball.

That much was clear from yesterday as well that there wasn't any Chelsea player close to the ball when Ozcan cleared it.

So yea, dodgy VAR decision on the penalty itself and then the retake.

I wasn’t aware of that encroachment rule, thanks for sharing.
The penalty itself was ridiculous as well.
Chelsea would probably still have won but it’s an awful decision
 
I found it interesting how much freedom Cucurella had at times tonight. As your LCB you expect him to perform a certain role, but he was getting up the pitch like a wing back at times, along with your actual wing back Chillwell.

The overloads out wide and flexibility in your play tonight caused them all sorts of issues. It's something I thought Potter's Brighton did well, so perhaps he's starting to see some of his ideas come to fruition.

I hope you're right. Hopefully it's a huge step in the right direction.
 
I wasn’t aware of that encroachment rule, thanks for sharing.
The penalty itself was ridiculous as well.
Chelsea would probably still have won but it’s an awful decision

Penalty is reasonable, the only mitigating factor could be the distance.

The retake is fine in law, if VAR is doing that it needs to happen for every single penalty with both teams encroachment though. Even if it goes in.

Can't pick and choose when to enforce the laws.
 
I have a bad feeling for tonight. We scraped by with tons of luck after Mbappe was on last time. The team's performance needs a distinct improvement which also on recent form doesn't seem too likely.
 
I have a bad feeling for tonight. We scraped by with tons of luck after Mbappe was on last time. The team's performance needs a distinct improvement which also on recent form doesn't seem too likely.

For me it is actually too much talk about Messi and Mbappe and too less about what Bayern can do to PSG's defense. But like always - you need a lot of luck for that knockout matches. And Bayern has clinical and not clinical days...
 
Ive got a feeling Spurs might sneak through tonight, AC Milan have won only 1 of their 21 away games against English clubs which I think was a 1-0 win over us at OT back in 2005
 
Mbappe starting is going to make a huge difference. Bayern haven't been good this season

Neither has PSG. It seems consistency is a major issue for both teams this season.
 
That was a good win for Chelsea. The CL looks pretty wide open this year and they are exactly the type of club that seem to be able to do shite in the league then win a big cup.

I mean looking ahead, Chelsea and Benfica are through, while Real, Inter/Porto, Milan/Spurs, City and Bayern/PSG look to be the last 8.

What are the odds on Chelsea getting a side of the draw that means they have to get through two of Benfica/Inter/Porto/Milan/Spurs to get to the final, then sh*thousing a win in the final, whilst finishing 9th?
Yeah I was content with them beating City last time but this would annoy me. I don't really see it though.
 
Ive got a feeling Spurs might sneak through tonight, AC Milan have won only 1 of their 21 away games against English clubs which I think was a 1-0 win over us at OT back in 2005

Sure, but how relevant is a stat like that if the players performing are not the same as the ones who previously lost to an English club? Afterall, you don't inherit bad form in a specific scenario. Each subsequent loss in said scenario has its own relevant context.
 
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BM is huge favorites. Vitinha, Soler, Ramos etc too much mediocre/over the top players. The pressure BM will put on those players will be too much, Psg will loose possession and Mbappe/Messi will rarely get the ball.
 
Another delayed kickoff
They're taking the piss now. First they do it to us in their restaurants when you ask for the bill and now they're doing it to us in the footie.
 


Really confusing message they are trying to send here.