2021-22 UEFA Champions League Discussion Thread

SgtPepper · Post #81 » by **SgtPepper** » Wed Mar 9, 2022 11:10 pm

True, fan banter aside, culture set by the club leadership is clearly the culprit. Tuchel winning the CL at a professional club in 1/2 a season is a pretty strong indictment. Ancelotti, Emery, and others also have had more coherent spells post-PSG.

HIF · Post #82 » by **HIF** » Fri Mar 11, 2022 11:51 am

Only one of them still in European competition and it's the same one who scored and assisted in a last 16 match this week. The true GOAT Marc Albrighton.

Post #83 » by **Baphomet** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 5:08 pm

Last night was incredibly embarrassing for Juventus. A collapse that frankly rivalled PSG in the implosion stakes.

Credit to Villarreal for digging deep and staying sturdy defensively, but man do Juve have some rebuilding to do.

wco81 · Post #84 » by **wco81** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 5:26 pm

Read an article that Chelsea may not be able to fly to their games in the next round. Some kind of 20k Pounds limitation on their trips or something.

Tuchel said they will take trains or buses if they have to.

Well if they get either City or Pool the next round, they won't have to travel far.

fbalmeida · Post #85 » by **fbalmeida** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 5:28 pm

BENFICA!

That's all I have to say.

This joint commercial produced in tandem by both Benfica and Ajax was pretty cool. But defeating them 1-0 in Ajax was even cooler.

Watch on YouTube

HIF · Post #86 » by **HIF** » Fri Mar 18, 2022 8:28 am

wco81 wrote:Read an article that Chelsea may not be able to fly to their games in the next round. Some kind of 20k Pounds limitation on their trips or something.

Tuchel said they will take trains or buses if they have to.

Well if they get either City or Pool the next round, they won't have to travel far.

Or one of their players could use less than half of his weekly wage and take the whole squad to wherever. :banghead:

fbalmeida · Post #87 » by **fbalmeida** » Fri Mar 18, 2022 2:05 pm

Benfica - Liverpool

We've had a good run.

wco81 · Post #88 » by **wco81** » Fri Mar 18, 2022 6:05 pm

Bayern Villareal another mismatch?

SgtPepper · Post #89 » by **SgtPepper** » Sat Mar 19, 2022 2:49 am

3 of 4 fixtures have an obvious favorite. The potentially tight one is Chelsea-Madrid, where I consider the latter an underdog given how relatively easy it is to shut them them down by marking out a couple individuals. It should be tighter than last year though since Chelsea are dealing with Lukaku nonsense and Madrid's backline changes over the summer actually make it more compatible with 3 atb.

Post #90 » by **Baphomet** » Wed Apr 6, 2022 7:26 pm

Just give Benzema the Ballon d'Or now.

What a level he's playing at this season. Absolutely sublime footballer.

Post #91 » by **Baphomet** » Wed Apr 6, 2022 8:04 pm

And Mendy gifts him a third, two hat-tricks in a row in the CL with 45 minutes still to play.

The_Brecht · Post #92 » by **The_Brecht** » Thu Apr 7, 2022 11:32 am

Courtois getting boos from the Chelsea crowd is just pathetic.
The guy won two titles and cups. He only wanted a transfer, because he wanted to be closer to his kids, who live in Madrid.

To think, he wasn't mentioned in the best gk debat, is just insane.

HIF · Post #93 » by **HIF** » Thu Apr 7, 2022 1:29 pm

The_Brecht wrote:Courtois getting boos from the Chelsea crowd is just pathetic.
The guy won two titles and cups. He only wanted a transfer, because he wanted to be closer to his kids, who live in Madrid.

To think, he wasn't mentioned in the best gk debat, is just insane.

I don't have a problem with ex-players being booed. It's part of the game. You love them, they **** on you

SgtPepper · Post #94 » by **SgtPepper** » Thu Apr 7, 2022 7:27 pm

I'm a Madrid fan and don't think Courtois should be in the best gk debate. Of the last 8 years I though Navas was the best, and when Courtois was at Chelsea he didn't displace Cech on performance but on contract risks.

I'm really happy about the Madrid CL performances this season but it's a shame the hard matches started so early. I doubt the squad has the stamina to compete well through the next round of ko with the injuries and low amount of rotation. This was also the first Madrid fixture in this CL where Ancelotti drove the win as a superior tactician with his use of Fede.

UcanUwill · Post #95 » by **UcanUwill** » Fri Apr 8, 2022 9:49 pm

That first header from Benzema was one of the best headers I have seen, second was great too.

P.S. I thought a lot of Real fans hated Courtois, him in best keepers discussion sounds off to me, he is tall, but his leg game is not good at all from what I remember.

SgtPepper · Post #96 » by **SgtPepper** » Sat Apr 9, 2022 3:25 pm

The fanbase is relatively split, but at worst no one thinks he's a bad keeper. Given the contract timing of his swap he was a financial bargain, similar to how Madrid got Kroos. The split is more for political reasons, such as Courtois having his best form at Atleti and being a pretty vocal advocate for Madrid's worst buy (Hazard) at the expense of an underrated guy who was quite pivotal to a lot of titles (Bale).

Post #97 » by **Baphomet** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 8:33 pm

Hate to say it but Chelsea have been incredible today. Well deserved if they go through.

Don't know what happened to Real, they've gone to pieces.

Post #98 » by **Baphomet** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 8:38 pm

Holy crap what a goal by Rodrygo. Modric **** goated.

Classic tie right here.

Post #99 » by **Baphomet** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 9:03 pm

BENZEMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Foye · Post #100 » by **Foye** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 9:29 pm

I have been critical of the Bundesliga for a while now. Too much of an athletics approach, not enough on ball skillset.

Today is the final confirmation that the league has entered Ligue 1 level of irrelevance in Europe.

Bayern can’t even beat Villarreal.
Everyone else is already out of UCL.
Leipzig and Frankfurt are the last remaining clubs in Europa League (will see for how long).