2015-16 UEFA Champions League (Thread II)

[Baphomet]

I don't know why De Bruyne took a shot with that FK. It was a perfect position to find the head of a team mate with a nice inswinger. Shockingly selfish.

[Geddy]

De Bruyne has been invisible for most of the game. Still 7 minutes to get something

[Baphomet]

Holy **** that was close! Nice dipper.

[Foye]

Spanish domination continues. Expect another all Spanish CL and EL finals.

1/2 already completed.

Boring game today.

Real will probably get their 11th UCL title this season, though.

[Geddy]

Just couldn't get any attack going. Pellegrini has had so many good forward players over the years but could never get them into a proper formation.

[Merc_Porto]

Kevin de Bruyne ?
LOL what a FLOP.

[No_20]

Spanish domination continues. Expect another all Spanish CL and EL finals.

1/2 already completed.

Boring game today.

Real will probably get their 11th UCL title this season, though.

The only good thing about them winning it is to see how bitter and mad Barca "fans" will be. There are few things I hate more than German Barca "fans".

[EArl]

Spanish domination continues. Expect another all Spanish CL and EL finals.

1/2 already completed.

Boring game today.

Real will probably get their 11th UCL title this season, though.

It's going to be a tough match up for them against Atleti. They are the favorites, but Atleti I has taken out the other two favorites coming in. I think everyone not a madrista will be rooting for them to win. I wonder if they test Ronaldo in la liga games so he can be at full strength for the cl. It's a close tie between the three teams though so it will be interesting.

[No_20]

Will Bale be on the Ballon D'or podium if Madrid win the final? I think he'll do ok at the Euros as well, he is amazing for Wales.

[Baphomet]

Will Bale be on the Ballon D'or podium if Madrid win the final? I think he'll do ok at the Euros as well, he is amazing for Wales.

Don't know. I think he deserves to, but obviously I'm an ardent Bale fan.

I'm not looking forward to seeing him terrorise England's defence. Meanwhile, Ramsey will do his usual schtick of falling over and grimacing a lot.

[No_20]

Will Bale be on the Ballon D'or podium if Madrid win the final? I think he'll do ok at the Euros as well, he is amazing for Wales.

Don't know. I think he deserves to, but obviously I'm an ardent Bale fan.

I'm not looking forward to seeing him terrorise England's defence. Meanwhile, Ramsey will do his usual schtick of falling over and grimacing a lot.

England - Uruguay Suarez 2014 all over again. Although there will be no Stevie G this time to make one of his trademark backpasses.

[DD12]

De Bruyne. What a bust. Obviously, his stats were inflated in BuLi but i didn't expect that bad game from him.

[Cactus Jack]

Pellegrini is worthless. City should have won the league this year, with all the talent they buy. KDB was bad, but really just a lack of intensity from most of the team.

[CalamityX12]

I would think Atleti would be favorites heading in....

A Madrid derby battle at the CL final..... this will be a good one!!!

[Kaiser30]

Now I would like to see those who were laughing at me when I was saying Pep is overrated and he is a horrible coach.

In three years with the most expensive squad in the world, piece of cake league, the guy couldn't even make the finals in CL. What an absolute loser.

How in the world does Bayern have the most expensive squad in the world? They don't and it's not even close. If you ask Pep, I think he would've liked Bayern to spend some crazy amounts of money (He's still disappointed Bayern couldn't afford to go after Neymar) and we will see City spending a hell lot of money this summer.
"Couldn't even make the finals" sounds too negative to me. Reaching the semi-finals every year is pretty big, consistency on the highest level of football. And I remember we had a conversation where you denied that Bayern is even top 3 in the world. Pretty harsh to expect them to make the finals then.
Last year, some posters here expected Barca to be the first team to defend the CL title. Instead, they went out in the quarter finals. It happens, that's football where 180 minutes decide about the outcome and not 7 games as in the NBA.

From my point of view, it was a great ride with Pep as our coach. He constantly developed this team and pretty much every season, there were some very interesting tweaks in our lineup. And pretty much every player praises him for his immense knowledge, game preparation and work ethic. So I really cannot understand how posters on RealGM are able to not only judge him, but absolutely trash him.
He will do well in Manchester, no doubt about it.

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to Carlo now. Hopefully, he is able to fix our defence because as the high defensive line is not a bad thing in general, it got absolutely exposed in every semi-final (if not earlier sometimes, see Juve this year). While Bayern had twice as many shots on target over both legs, Atletico pretty much had better opportunities because Bayern is too vulnerable on the counter. In the 2nd leg, Atletico was able to punish our first and probably only mistake and score the game-changing away goal. Pathetic that Griezmann had so much space and the ability to go 1 on 1 versus Neuer when there was still so much time to play. The high defensive line doesn't allow any mistakes and offers zero help which is incredibly tough to accomplish against all the other good teams in Europe.
Other than that, I absolutely enjoyed watching Bayern play, they did put up an impressive fight and showed a final-worthy performance. But sometimes in football, that's still not enough.

[DD12]

How in the world does Bayern have the most expensive squad in the world? They don't and it's not even close. If you ask Pep, I think he would've liked Bayern to spend some crazy amounts of money (He's still disappointed Bayern couldn't afford to go after Neymar) and we will see City spending a hell lot of money this summer.
"Couldn't even make the finals" sounds too negative to me. Reaching the semi-finals every year is pretty big, consistency on the highest level of football. And I remember we had a conversation where you denied that Bayern is even top 3 in the world. Pretty harsh to expect them to make the finals then.
Last year, some posters here expected Barca to be the first team to defend the CL title. Instead, they went out in the quarter finals. It happens, that's football where 180 minutes decide about the outcome and not 7 games as in the NBA.

From my point of view, it was a great ride with Pep as our coach. He constantly developed this team and pretty much every season, there were some very interesting tweaks in our lineup. And pretty much every player praises him for his immense knowledge, game preparation and work ethic. So I really cannot understand how posters on RealGM are able to not only judge him, but absolutely trash him.
He will do well in Manchester, no doubt about it.

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to Carlo now. Hopefully, he is able to fix our defence because as the high defensive line is not a bad thing in general, it got absolutely exposed in every semi-final (if not earlier sometimes, see Juve this year). While Bayern had twice as many shots on target over both legs, Atletico pretty much had better opportunities because Bayern is too vulnerable on the counter. In the 2nd leg, Atletico was able to punish our first and probably only mistake and score the game-changing away goal. Pathetic that Griezmann had so much space and the ability to go 1 on 1 versus Neuer when there was still so much time to play. The high defensive line doesn't allow any mistakes and offers zero help which is incredibly tough to accomplish against all the other good teams in Europe.
Other than that, I absolutely enjoyed watching Bayern play, they did put up an impressive fight and showed a final-worthy performance. But sometimes in football, that's still not enough.

They do have the most expensive squad. They have literally very very good 2 players for each position. Even Barcelona and Real Madrid don't have that luxury. They have crazy in depth squad where you can create two different teams and both can play for BuLi championship trophy. Against Atletico Madrid, Pep put XI;

Neuer, Lahm, Boateng, Martinez, Alaba, Ribery, Costa, Alonso, Vidal, Muller, Lewandowski
SUBS: Ulreich, Tasci, Thiago, Rafinha, Gotze, Coman, Kimmich

Even their bench worth is about 100-150 million euros.

Let's look at Barcelona and Real Madrid;

Barca against Atl: ter Stegen, Dani Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Jordi Alba, Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta, Messi, Suarez, Neymar.

Subs: Bravo, Douglas, Arda Turan, Bartra, Munir El Haddadi, Sergi Roberto, Adriano.

Besides Arda, there is no one on that bench.

Real Madrid against city;

1Navas
15Carvajal
3Pepe
4Ramos
12Marcelo
19ModricSubstituted forKovacicat 88'minutes
8Kroos
22IscoSubstituted forRodríguezat 67'minutes
11Bale
20JeséSubstituted forVázquezat 56'minutesBooked at 83mins

Subs: 2Varane
10Rodríguez
13Casilla
16Kovacic
18Vázquez
23Danilo
29Mayoral Moya

I mean their bench is certainly better than Barca but they played Jese and Vazquez etc. This is their depth.

So certainly, Bayern has the most expensive and in depth squad in the world. I don't think pep could complain about the quality of this squad. You have tons of world class players, relatively much weaker opponents in domestic league compare to Barca and Real, they can literally put up 15 pts difference within beginning of the season. So Pep had all the tools that needed to win the CL but he couldn't deliver it. It is a massive FAIL. He came to win the CL not Bundesliga and he couldn't.

Reaching semi finals with Bayern is not a big accomplishment. Literally, Bayern players without a manager could manage to make it top 4 with the current squad. I don't see any positivity that Pep added to this team after taking over from Heynckes. Under Heynckes, this team played the most direct football, it was so exciting to watch them. They destroyed Barcelona, they reached the finals twice if I am not mistaken. All Pep did was growing hatred towards his playing style by others including Bayern fans. Two of my cousins who live in Munich lifetime season pass holders, member of the club etc. hates Pep passionately. They knew that team wasn't going to win the CL by watching them every week, they were so vulnerable to counter attacks and hated this pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass team.

I am surprised that you enjoyed his era. Certainly, most Bayern fans hated it. He had a huge failure in Bayern. Now he will go to Manchester City that a team already spent 1.3 billion, he will make them spend another 300-400 million, then can't win CL again, then after 2-3 years he'll call out then he will perhaps go to PSG repeat the same failure again.

[Kaiser30]

They do have the most expensive squad. They have literally very very good 2 players for each position. Even Barcelona and Real Madrid don't have that luxury. They have crazy in depth squad where you can create two different teams and both can play for BuLi championship trophy. Against Atletico Madrid, Pep put XI;

Neuer, Lahm, Boateng, Martinez, Alaba, Ribery, Costa, Alonso, Vidal, Muller, Lewandowski
SUBS: Ulreich, Tasci, Thiago, Rafinha, Gotze, Coman, Kimmich

Even their bench worth is about 100-150 million euros.

Let's look at Barcelona and Real Madrid;

Barca against Atl: ter Stegen, Dani Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Jordi Alba, Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta, Messi, Suarez, Neymar.

Subs: Bravo, Douglas, Arda Turan, Bartra, Munir El Haddadi, Sergi Roberto, Adriano.

Besides Arda, there is no one on that bench.

Real Madrid against city;

1Navas
15Carvajal
3Pepe
4Ramos
12Marcelo
19ModricSubstituted forKovacicat 88'minutes
8Kroos
22IscoSubstituted forRodríguezat 67'minutes
11Bale
20JeséSubstituted forVázquezat 56'minutesBooked at 83mins

Subs: 2Varane
10Rodríguez
13Casilla
16Kovacic
18Vázquez
23Danilo
29Mayoral Moya

I mean their bench is certainly better than Barca but they played Jese and Vazquez etc. This is their depth.

So certainly, Bayern has the most expensive and in depth squad in the world. I don't think pep could complain about the quality of this squad. You have tons of world class players, relatively much weaker opponents in domestic league compare to Barca and Real, they can literally put up 15 pts difference within beginning of the season. So Pep had all the tools that needed to win the CL but he couldn't deliver it. It is a massive FAIL. He came to win the CL not Bundesliga and he couldn't.

Reaching semi finals with Bayern is not a big accomplishment. Literally, Bayern players without a manager could manage to make it top 4 with the current squad. I don't see any positivity that Pep added to this team after taking over from Heynckes. Under Heynckes, this team played the most direct football, it was so exciting to watch them. They destroyed Barcelona, they reached the finals twice if I am not mistaken. All Pep did was growing hatred towards his playing style by others including Bayern fans. Two of my cousins who live in Munich lifetime season pass holders, member of the club etc. hates Pep passionately. They knew that team wasn't going to win the CL by watching them every week, they were so vulnerable to counter attacks and hated this pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass team.

I am surprised that you enjoyed his era. Certainly, most Bayern fans hated it. He had a huge failure in Bayern. Now he will go to Manchester City that a team already spent 1.3 billion, he will make them spend another 300-400 million, then can't win CL again, then after 2-3 years he'll call out then he will perhaps go to PSG repeat the same failure again.

Despite being a very deep squad, it's still not the most expensive one. Neither in terms of transfer fees paid nor in salaries. Other teams spend way more money and we still have to compete with them while trying to reach the CL final.
So we can talk about Bayern's squad being the most valuable one due to their depth. But Bayern lacks players like Messi or Ronaldo who are likely as or even more valuable than aging Ribery, aging Robben, Costa and Coman together. So I would disagree again.
Transfermarkt (which is even a German page, but use transfermarkt.co.uk for the English version) tries to estimate market values of players and teams and has Bayern valued third with roughly 100 M € less than Barca and Real. While you could of course argue about their accuracy, I think it is still valid that Bayern does not have the most valuable squad.
Coming back to Bayern's depth. It has only been a deep squad since last summer because of a series of injuries. So when judging Pep, we have to consider that 2 out of 3 times, we struggled with injuries and only had lots of options this year when it was actually a very close semi final. But you could make the case that all these injuries didn't just happen randomly and because of players simply being injury prone but because of Pep's practice routines. That would be a fair point of criticism and I'm very curious to see whether this trend will still be valid next season.

From my point of view, it is indeed a big accomplishment to reach the semi final and I don't take it for granted. In a league system, I would tend to agree that this Bayern squad should easily finish Top 4 every year. And I think their chances would be pretty decent to win it, much better than with knockout games. But in a CL draw, anything can happen.
While I also do agree that the ultimate goal was indeed to win the CL trophy, I don't see his stint as a failure. Looking at the bigger picture, we have still been very successful. As much as I enjoyed our final months with Jupp and eventually winning the treble, I think our team was obviously driven by their previous tough losses and absolutely determined to finally win this god damn trophy. So I didn't expect them to reach this mental level ever again. Even after the coaching change. I think it's pretty much the same with Atletico this year. They were so close to winning that title and are heavily motivated due to having unfinished business.

I have to admit that I do enjoy having so much possession. Seeing players making good decisions and staying in control under heavy pressure is great to watch. But I'm aware that not even every Bayern fan feels the same way. I didn't have the feeling though that they simply passed the ball in order to break some silly passing records. At least most of the time it was a part of the bigger plan, e. g. doing a reset instead of playing a bad pass, switching sides in order to hit the opponent on the "weak side" as you say in basketball, etc.

What I think really bothers Bayern fans concerning Pep is that it is so tough to relate to him. He has only worked her for three years and because it has been the best situation for him after leaving Barcelona. You have never gotten the feeling that he truly embraces how this club works. He always wanted more and more power despite Bayern's successful philosophy to put former players in charge at the top of the hierarchy. No coach is bigger than the club and Pep couldn't really handle it. I think that is also the reason why he is leaving for City: Being able to invest a **** load of money and having his say in every important decision because City doesn't have an established and successful philosophy.
Moreover, he doesn't give any interviews outside of press conferences and post-game interviews. And even then, he pretty much tells the same stuff every time because he is annoyed of having to do any interviews. So you rarely have the chance to get to know more about him personally or even get any worthy information out of him.

[DD12]

While I also do agree that the ultimate goal was indeed to win the CL trophy, I don't see his stint as a failure. Looking at the bigger picture, we have still been very successful. As much as I enjoyed our final months with Jupp and eventually winning the treble, I think our team was obviously driven by their previous tough losses and absolutely determined to finally win this god damn trophy. So I didn't expect them to reach this mental level ever again. Even after the coaching change.

I don't know how many years Ancelotti signed with Bayern but I can assure my brother that Bayern will win the CL within 2-3 years with him.

[Riko]

While I also do agree that the ultimate goal was indeed to win the CL trophy, I don't see his stint as a failure. Looking at the bigger picture, we have still been very successful. As much as I enjoyed our final months with Jupp and eventually winning the treble, I think our team was obviously driven by their previous tough losses and absolutely determined to finally win this god damn trophy. So I didn't expect them to reach this mental level ever again. Even after the coaching change.

I don't know how many years Ancelotti signed with Bayern but I can assure my brother that Bayern will win the CL within 2-3 years with him.

Bayern will buy Hummels this summer, improve their defense and win the Champions next year.

[DD12]

While I also do agree that the ultimate goal was indeed to win the CL trophy, I don't see his stint as a failure. Looking at the bigger picture, we have still been very successful. As much as I enjoyed our final months with Jupp and eventually winning the treble, I think our team was obviously driven by their previous tough losses and absolutely determined to finally win this god damn trophy. So I didn't expect them to reach this mental level ever again. Even after the coaching change.

I don't know how many years Ancelotti signed with Bayern but I can assure my brother that Bayern will win the CL within 2-3 years with him.

Bayern will buy Hummels this summer, improve their defense and win the Champions next year.

I dont think it is an improvement while you are already having boateng, benetia, Javi Martinez and Alaba(can be used there also)