2013

[5DOM]

I hope Bayern draw Chelsea and/or Madrid at some point. They are the two biggest threats.

Maybe next season when Matic is eligible and we can play with a striker.

[Ted Lasso]

I hope Bayern draw Chelsea and/or Madrid at some point. They are the two biggest threats.

Maybe next season when Matic is eligible and we can play with a striker.

Ohh yeah, i forgot Matic can't play. That's a problem.

So is Madrid's midfield trio in my opinion, but Bayern do look eminently beatable.

[MaliBrah]

ozil injured , yikes. Could be the end of our season if its longterm

[5DOM]

lol pep brought over his barca diving

I don't like Peps approach anyway. Heynckes was much more direct, less predictable and better to watch.

I guess as long as he is winning you can't hate but I think Munich was stronger last season.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/honigstein/status/443511386896084992[/tweet]

He agrees, but then he always sounds annoyed

[Man of Steel]

I hope Bayern draw Chelsea and/or Madrid at some point. They are the two biggest threats.

Maybe next season when Matic is eligible and we can play with a striker.

Ohh yeah, i forgot Matic can't play. That's a problem.

So is Madrid's midfield trio in my opinion, but Bayern do look eminently beatable.

Really? IMO this is the best our midfield has been in some time. Xabi playing the deepest, Modric for the advanced playmaking, and Di Maria as the box to box + defensive coverage on the Marcelo/Cristiano wing. It's worked a charm both domestically and in Europe thus far. Aside from swapping Pogba or Vidal for Di Maria I don't think it can be improved much.

I'd love to draw Bayern sooner rather than later. Less heartbreak if we lose since it's Carlo's first year, but more uplifting if we win as well. PSG, Chelsea, and Bayern are sides I wouldn't want to meet late in the CL.

The other thing about Bayern (and IDK if this is a Pep Guardiola thing because there are similarities with Barca's situation) is their defense doesn't look as strong as it did last year even though there haven't been personnel changes. I think some of the defensive issues of his side get masked by the pressing of the players up the field. I didn't watch enough of their games last year either but when I did, it seemed like they were conceeding less under Heynckes than they are with Guardiola.

[IronChef]

Bayern are the diviest team since prime Barca. Robben, Javi, smh

[TheAdmiral]

The other thing about Bayern (and IDK if this is a Pep Guardiola thing because there are similarities with Barca's situation) is their defense doesn't look as strong as it did last year even though there haven't been personnel changes. I think some of the defensive issues of his side get masked by the pressing of the players up the field. I didn't watch enough of their games last year either but when I did, it seemed like they were conceeding less under Heynckes than they are with Guardiola.

They're pressuring significantly higher up the field this season, whereas last season they'd sit quite deep in comparison. For Pep's defensive tactic to work optimally though, especially when pressuring high up the field, the side needs to be properly organised. Not that easy to achieve in a short period of time. They don't seem to do as good of a job as last season's Bayern when it comes to closing passing lanes (partly thanks to the change in formation), staying compact and moving as a group.

Bayern just last season had a faster and more vertical style of playing, whereas nowadays they try to control the flow off the game with their (dominant) passing. Even though a lot has changed already, they still have a lot of adjusting left to do (offensively and defensively) .

They're still the team to beat in the Champions League though.

[MaliBrah]

Bayern are the diviest team since prime Barca. Robben, Javi, smh

I hope they get mactched up with barca again and that barca put up a better fight this time. Then I hope a player diving decides the tie.

[Maex]

I do think, that everyone judging Bayern on the two games against Arsenal, is doing a mistake and will be surprised in the later stages.

It is no accident, that we had our two worst games against Arsenal within the last two season.

[Foye]

ozil injured , yikes. Could be the end of our season if its longterm

Another big game. And he disappeared again. Just like in the first leg after he missed the penalty. Or against Dortmund last season.

[MaliBrah]

ozil injured , yikes. Could be the end of our season if its longterm

Another big game. And he disappeared again. Just like in the first leg after he missed the penalty. Or against Dortmund last season.

Tore his hamstring in the first 10-15 minutes and is out for "weeks".

Easy to be picky though and toss aside all the big games he's performed well for club and country in favour of this ozil doesn't perform in every big game agenda.

[Foye]

ozil injured , yikes. Could be the end of our season if its longterm

Another big game. And he disappeared again. Just like in the first leg after he missed the penalty. Or against Dortmund last season.

Tore his hamstring in the first 10-15 minutes and is out for "weeks".

Easy to be picky though and toss aside all the big games he's performed well for club and country in favour of this ozil doesn't perform in every big game agenda.

Injury or not I can count the big games he has impressed in the last few years on one finger.

[TheAdmiral]

Özil shouldn't be singled out, especially when Wenger chose to have so many men behind the ball. He has the tendency of disappearing occasionally, sure, but Özil is and always has been a player who can make the difference (in certain scenarios anyway).

[DD12]

I love how Ozil is. Probably the most overrated player in the world.

I called it a year ago and some of youz were laughing at me and now we almost all think the same lol

[cgf]

Another big game. And he disappeared again. Just like in the first leg after he missed the penalty. Or against Dortmund last season.

Tore his hamstring in the first 10-15 minutes and is out for "weeks".

Easy to be picky though and toss aside all the big games he's performed well for club and country in favour of this ozil doesn't perform in every big game agenda.

Injury or not I can count the big games he has impressed in the last few years on one finger.

This is a lie

[Foye]

Tore his hamstring in the first 10-15 minutes and is out for "weeks".

Easy to be picky though and toss aside all the big games he's performed well for club and country in favour of this ozil doesn't perform in every big game agenda.

Injury or not I can count the big games he has impressed in the last few years on one finger.

This is a lie

The last time I remember him playing well in knockout stages of CL or NT was the Bayern vs. Madrid tie 11/12 and even there he was hugely invisible for many parts of the game.

Against Atletico last year he wasn't invisible but he blew like 4 chances a 10th league striker would've shown more composure on.

Against Bayern 1st leg a single missed penalty was enough to make him lose his cool and play horrible for the rest of the game.

Against Dortmund. First leg completely invisible, 2nd leg he had an assist late but again blew like two big chances to score earlier which could've made the tie go RM's way.
One of them was such a miserable finish going at Weidenfeller 1 vs. 1 that CR7 was absolutely furious Özil didn't pass to him (CR7 was also wide open).

I don't even want to mention the knockout game against Italy in EC 2012.

Now I did not watch some of the Classico's in recent years and it might be possible that I did miss a good game here and there but for a player with a €50 mil. price tag he flat out underachieves in important games.

It seems no coincidence to me that Real Madrid looks stronger this season without him on the roster.

[TheAdmiral]

It sure as hell is no coincidence that Real has been playing better this season. A lot of factors are involved, but the main reason they've looked more impressive is mainly because of the change in mentality and style, not because Özil was magically pulling down the rest of the squad during his tenure with Real. He's played well in plenty of meaningful games.

[MaliBrah]

real madrid is playing better because Ancelotti is utilizing his squad much better and doesn't have everyone hating each other. Their difference in play has more to do with managerial change.

[Ted Lasso]

Maybe next season when Matic is eligible and we can play with a striker.

Ohh yeah, i forgot Matic can't play. That's a problem.

So is Madrid's midfield trio in my opinion, but Bayern do look eminently beatable.

Really? IMO this is the best our midfield has been in some time. Xabi playing the deepest, Modric for the advanced playmaking, and Di Maria as the box to box + defensive coverage on the Marcelo/Cristiano wing. It's worked a charm both domestically and in Europe thus far. Aside from swapping Pogba or Vidal for Di Maria I don't think it can be improved much.

I don't know if that trio has what it takes to deal with a midfield of true tempo and physicality. Xabi Alonso struggles as the lone holder due to his lack of mobility and his best periods have always come when he's been fielded alongside a mobile, physical player such as Mascherano or Khedira because that allows cover both high up in midfield and in front of the defence.

It remains to be seen whether Modric and Di Maria are up to that task. Reminds me of the pre-Marco Senna Xabi Alonso & Xavi midfield pairing a bit.

[MaliBrah]

hopefully city-barca is fun to watch today. Hopefully city make it interesting.