2014

[Foye]

Robben just had to leave the game vs Dortmund after playing just 15 minutes. This could be huge.

Barca > Bayern currently. With or without Robben.

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[Andi Obst]

Robben just had to leave the game vs Dortmund after playing just 15 minutes. This could be huge.

Barca > Bayern currently. With or without Robben.

Yeah, but a healthy Robben would still increase Bayern's chances. I mean right now they're starting Mitchell Weiser...

[Andi Obst]

Lewandowski might be out as well with a head injury. If he is able to play, it'll like be with a mask.

[J-Mezzy]

Barcelona staying so healthy while everyone else is falling apart. Sucks

[SniperHawk10]

Robben out for season. Lewandowski broke his nose and upper jaw. He's hoping to be ready for the first leg
Bayern can't catch a break

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[Man of Steel]

Really ironic that the teams that came into this season with the most depth are the ones that suffered the most devastating injuries this season. I'd laugh if we weren't one of them

[cgf]

Barcelona staying so healthy while everyone else is falling apart. Sucks

At least it gives us some hope that they'll stop Bayern...though I still have that sinking feeling that Bayern will turn it up when they have to and score 4+ in the second leg to take it.

[cgf]

Really ironic that the teams that came into this season with the most depth are the ones that suffered the most devastating injuries this season. I'd laugh if we weren't one of them

You could make two teams talented enough to make the CL semifinals with the players Bayern, Dortmund and Schalke have seen miss significant time this year. It's just been crazy.

[truth18]

Müller is better than everyone.

As always, Rasho wins and everybody else loses.

Realgm legend

[truth18]

Robben out for season. Lewandowski broke his nose and upper jaw. He's hoping to be ready for the first leg
Bayern can't catch a break

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Good.

[Man of Steel]

You could make two teams talented enough to make the CL semifinals with the players Bayern, Dortmund and Schalke have seen miss significant time this year. It's just been crazy.

Haven't been paying attention to any domestic football but La Liga and the odd EPL game tbh, who'd Schalke lose this year?

[Ted Lasso]

At least it gives us some hope that they'll stop Bayern...though I still have that sinking feeling that Bayern will turn it up when they have to and score 4+ in the second leg to take it.

The way you pretend you don't want Bayern to win, it's unnecessary.

[cgf]

You could make two teams talented enough to make the CL semifinals with the players Bayern, Dortmund and Schalke have seen miss significant time this year. It's just been crazy.

Haven't been paying attention to any domestic football but La Liga and the odd EPL game tbh, who'd Schalke lose this year?

Most of their squad has missed significant time, including Fahrmann; Huntelaar ,although less than he usually does; Draxler, for most of the season; Farfan, for most of the season; Leon Goretzka, for most of the season; Sam, who came back from injury only to sit on the bench for a couple of weeks before bowing out again; Boateng has missed almost 2 months of the season; Kolasinac has missed most of the season; Nastasic missed over a month of action; Matip has missed about half of the season; Howedes missed 4 weeks; and two games after Fahrmann got hurt, his backup (Giefer) got hurt...an injury he's still recovering from.

I used the transfermarkt chart to check these because honestly I've long since lost track of who all they have injured.
http://www.transfermarkt.de/fc-schalke- ... /verein/33

*looks like I missed hoger bowing out for the season.

I blame Di Matteo a lot, because he could've done much better in a lot of specific cases and he's been damaging to Max Meyer's development; but he has had a **** hand dealt to him on the injury front...even if that doesn't excuse his hatred of attacking football with a club like Schalke's.

At least it gives us some hope that they'll stop Bayern...though I still have that sinking feeling that Bayern will turn it up when they have to and score 4+ in the second leg to take it.

The way you pretend you don't want Bayern to win, it's unnecessary.

Oh I don't pretend like I'm not conflicted when it comes to Bayern. I like many of their players, both for the things they've done wearing other jerseys and just cause Alaba/Thiago/Robben are spectacular. It's why I root for them to get through the group stages. But I know that seeing them win it all upsets me more than seeing those players I like celebrating cheers me up. And I do enjoy seeing them suffer, which is why I was chelsea fan on that night in munich. Because ultimately, the club is evil, may be not as evil as VFL/Leverkusen or y'all, just cause of their greater financial sustainability that isn't dependent on a corporate stipend.

So though I am conflicted, I know I don't want to see them win it all; and if Barca can't stop them that's exactly what they will do. This tie is the second leg against arsenal two years ago, when Bayern left an opening to get knocked out but arsenal could not capitalize and the bavarians proceeded to do what I thought they would after that. Likewise if Barca doesn't do what they have to put this tie out of reach in the first leg, I will remain worried; because Juve and this year's Real can't stop them, even if Robben is out for the final.

[J-Mezzy]

Real Madrid can beat them. Let's not act as if Bayern is unbeatable.

Wish Chelsea was still in. A repeat of 2012 would be so much fun lol

[cgf]

Real Madrid can beat them. Let's not act as if Bayern is unbeatable.

Wish Chelsea was still in. A repeat of 2012 would be so much fun lol

I really don't think that they can. They'd put up a fight, but actually beating Bayern when the chips were on the line? I just don't see it this year.

A repeat of 2012 would've been delicious, especially if Chelsea's path was just as flukey as it was then.

[J-Mezzy]

I think they can, especially if Modric is back. James is also in the former of his life. Depends on what kind of form Kroos is in and if Ancelotti uses a 442 as he did last year.

Mou knows how to beat Guardiola. As stale as we have been, I'd like our chances vs Bayern lol

[Man of Steel]

Damn, that's brutal. In your opinion, has Meyer's development been seriously affected by it?

I trust in Carlo's ability to outcoach Guardiola again. Not looking ahead of this Juventus tie at all though, because even with a returning Bale (already in training) and Benzema probable for the first leg, things could still go sour for us.

That being said, if we were to meet Bayern again I don't think it would be so different. James is almost as good as Di Maria was at pressing the midfield and significantly better offensively. I have a feeling we would play something similar to what we did against Atletico, with one of our CBs being moved up as a DM to allow Kroos, James, and Modric (Isco if Modric isn't healthy) the defensive support they need to really press Bayern. The 4 man set up would also allow us to get compact against Gotze, Muller, and Lewandowski and really punish Xabi (and possibly Dante) on the counter. I know that game was crazy, but Bayern aren't exactly in the best vein of form right now.

The real test for Real is the upcoming fixtures against Sevilla and Valencia. If we can get 6 points from those games while worrying about CL during the week, we'll have done as much as possible on the domestic front.

[cgf]

Sort of. I don't think di matteo has done any permanent damage in killing Meyer's creativity, but he has kinda squandered a whole season of the kid's development when he could've improved soooo much more with a coach that didn't hate when his team had the ball.

I guess we'll see if it comes to that, but until I actually see this real stopping Bayern, I'm not going to be able to believe it. Even with their crazy injury crisis Bayern have cranked it up to a level no other team has in europe when needed, and that is what scares me about them, they've just flipped a switch and absolutely dominated whenever they've really needed a result.

[J-Mezzy]

^^Not against a **** Dortmund team they didn't

[cgf]

lol true, that's why I said after that match that I hoped it was foreshadowing for Bayern's CL campaign, but I'm more apt to chalk that up to weird things happening when two teams who have played each other so many times over recent years and learned to neutralize one another, meet up, as happens in regular derbies.

Also don't think Bayern cared nearly as much about the cup as they do about the CL. So I'm not sure whether they really saw it as a match they had to get a result in the way they did the shaktar or porto matches.