Champions League Thread (the dawn of time - 2014)

[Auwais]

Juve look very solid at the back and in midfield. A Dortmund/Bayern-Juve final would be interesting and also a nice change to the recent Anglo-Spanish domination.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

I'm not sold on juve's CL prospects yet, they've not picked up a lot of points against the big teams in italy with only 1 draw coming out of the milan, napoli, inter and roma games. They haven't really been tested in the CL yet either, a good home win against chelsea is the only real result of note but that came in september when chelsea were losing against everyone.

 

[Haarithan]

a good home win against chelsea is the only real result of note but that came in september when chelsea were losing against everyone.

They beat Chelsea in November, and staged a comeback 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge in September, when Chelsea were top of the Premiership table.

I'd definitely rate them among the top three candidates (probably tied with Real Madrid) to go all the way. Honestly only Bayern and Dortmund look more convincing imo.

 

[Auwais]

They also won away in Donetsk, which is no mean feat.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Pure class tonight from Barca, but Milan must regret that miss by their striker, and the fact that one of Messi's goals was offside. Playing like that, I can't see past Barca personally.

 

[barmyarmy]

How can one of Messi's goals be offside when both were shots from outside the box with defenders in front of him?

 

[War]

Despite Barca's obvious brilliance which will quiet many in the media who i thought were jumping the gun to suggest, their recent slump could be the start of the "barca decline" - the desperately need a commanding central defender.

Mascherano & Puyol were awful in defense. A strong bid next season for players like Kompany or Thiago Silva i reckon will be hard for those players to ignore.

 

[spooony]

Despite Barca's obvious brilliance which will quiet many in the media who i thought were jumping the gun to suggest, their recent slump could be the start of the "barca decline" - the desperately need a commanding central defender.

Mascherano & Puyol were awful in defense. A strong bid next season for players like Kompany or Thiago Silva i reckon will be hard for those players to ignore.

The problem in the first leg was that Messi was tightly marked by Philippe Mexes, who was happy to come high up the pitch to shut him down, with Cristian Zapata covering.

But with VIlla upfront Mexes couldn't do that anymore and Messi had space to run. 2 Stunning goals and Barca was playing their regular shape which they played before the Pep revolution. It was expected really that a much less experience Milan side would fail rather than succeed.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

Pure class tonight from Barca, but Milan must regret that miss by their striker, and the fact that one of Messi's goals was offside. Playing like that, I can't see past Barca personally.

unfortunately given balotelli was essentially swapped for pato in the january window and he was cup tied and pazzini was injured at the weekend in an absolute bloodbath the ref failed to control there was nowt they could but resort to niang*, being 18 I'm not surprised he made a few wrong decisions...

*well, except start with bojan or robinho, who in all honesty loooked a bit more suited for the tie when they came on (that said, niang is a lot stronger and quicker than those two so it's perhaps doubtful the chance would even have materialised had one of the other two started)

probably went with one too many enforcers when they should have started with a few more guys comfortable on the ball. it's great having flamini and ambrosini track back and get stuck in, or niang surge forward into space, but the best football was played by milan when they didn't win the ball and it was boeteng or montolivio or even robinho that got it and were able to play it out of trouble a bit better. felt constant had a nightmare, but in the long run that could work out for the best as he's an adapted left back and I think him getting exposed should make milan move on someone else.

ah well.

 

[Haarithan]

Niang's miss seconds before Messi/Barca's second summed up it was Barca's night.

Also David Villa's well and truly past it. Cool finish, but looked anonymous throughout.

The problem in the first leg was that Messi was tightly marked by Philippe Mexes, who was happy to come high up the pitch to shut him down, with Cristian Zapata covering.

But with VIlla upfront Mexes couldn't do that anymore and Messi had space to run. 2 Stunning goals and Barca was playing their regular shape which they played before the Pep revolution. It was expected really that a much less experience Milan side would fail rather than succeed.

I've only ever seen you post twice in these football threads (the other one during Man Utd v Liverpool), and on both occasions, you've just shamelessly copy-pasted stuff from zonalmarking.net!

Barcelona 4-0 Milan: Villa plays centrally and allows Messi space between the lines | Zonal Marking

Check out the 'Villa as a blocker' para.

 

[Bevab]

Niang's miss seconds before Messi/Barca's second summed up it was Barca's night.

Also David Villa's well and truly past it. Cool finish, but looked anonymous

A broken leg is a pretty serious injury, and Villa's age doesn't help him here too. So not really a surprise he's slower and less talented, but still he is important for Barca this season I feel. He could make that crucial difference for them in the later stages.

 

[Bevab]

Barcelona can cement their place as favorites to win the Champions League - ESPN FC

Doubt whether they can, unless they start Villa more often.

 

[War]

BBC's spanish expert is suggesting, that Barca played a 3-4-3 diamond yesterday.

BBC Sport - Barcelona v AC Milan: The secrets behind Barca's historic win

On reflection they probably did instead of the initially thought 4-3-3, because Barca when they dominate possession don't look so horrific in defence as they did yesterday.

Alves was indeed high up the pitch for the majority & Alba didn't always go forward as much.

 

[Bevab]

Obviously they did that.


That isn't going to work against a lot of teams though, though it can be quite effective against those containing sides. Alba would often rush on, and that 4th goal was a result of that. A new center back, somebody like Vertonghen or Vermaelen could be perfect for their team, with this ball playing defender running in often.

Or they could just adapt Alba to do this if ever such an occasion comes.

 

[Auwais]

It's a waste of Alba's attacking ability though. If they phase out Alves and bring in a more solid right-back, or even use Montoya in the starting XI, they'll have a more balanced backline.