The Chels

He's probably just watched us in the bigger games because that's when we tend to be televised and play separately to (or against) Man City. We haven't been anything special in those games to be fair.

I quite like us being the only good English team in the CL and would love to see City fall (very) short again but on the flip side it would probably be better that they progress. Like you say we don't want them to have no midweek games and if Barca are knocked out of the CL that is one less big obstacle in the way of CL glory. I reckon Messi will be extremely motivated against us after his penalty miss last time and because of the fact that he hasn't scored against us. And a motivated Messi spells massive trouble for absolutely any team. PSG are a good side but I don't think they'll be too difficult to overcome if we play well. Barca, meanwhile, have looked scarily good this past month. Press them high and you're screwed because they now have a lethal counter attack. Sit back and try to play on the counter and you're probably also screwed. Did you watch Barca's 1-0 win against Atleti in the Copa Del Rey? Barca's (counter) pressing looked to finally be at its best again, which meant that the best counter attacking side in the world (IMO) were often penned in and could barely get out of their own half. Simeone praised Barca's excellent pressing after the game too. Like you say anything could happen but I think that if we get our tactics spot on against PSG we will win. If we get our tactics spot on against Barca we might well still lose.

Definitely. Good luck to The Engineer - he'll certainly need it.

Surprised that you sound more confident about beating Barca as they would make a much more formidable opponent IMO, especially with the way Messi is playing this year.

Sorry I didn't phrase that very well. Away goals can be hugely important as we saw in this very tie last year and I think it's worth risking a defeat for the benefit of an away goal (although you're right that a 2-1 loss isn't better than a 0-0 per se). If we actively seek to score then I think the worst that could happen is a 3-1 repeat of last year but if we play for a 0-0 then given how we have struggled to keep clean sheets in the big games I could see it being 2-0 to PSG and that would all but knock us out. Bottom line is we should not just sit back the entire game and I don't think we will.

Form will definitely go out of the window when it comes to a huge CL tie like this.

Would rather lose this 2-1 than draw 0-0.

Would a 3-match ban rule him out of the COC final?

You know that how? Mourinho is not adverse to defender-attacker substitutions when we take the lead and I was just pointing out that I think they can do more harm than good. You're right that it didn't make any difference in this particular game so I won't moan about it anymore

I don't think Cahill for Willian was particularly necessary either. Did he play in midfield when he came on? I'm not sure but it is surely better to keep Willian on the pitch to press high and keep the ball in the opposition half than it is to add another defender to the mix and encourage the opposition onto you. It didn't matter in the end but I do always dread the effects of that kind of substitution.

He won't get banned so soon after Costa (and the subsequent outrage) for such a minor incident. Who could argue if he were to be tried for crimes against defending though? http://gfycat.com/AntiqueAnchoredDowitcher

He was mostly very good defensively, starting several counter attacks through excellently timed interceptions. That said he was poor going forward (unsurprisingly) although Ivanovic wasn't much better either. It really is a shame that we will likely never get to see the Azpi-Luis pairing on a consistent basis.

Fabregas and then Luis should be our go-to attacking changes if the score stays the same.

Mostly good control of the game. We've wasted quite a few counters and have conceded a few a little too easily - need an immediate press on the Everton player when they gain possession in their half because otherwise they end up playing an easy ball forward with most of our players out of the game.

Haha it's only a matter of time

Would say when he can't defend anymore but we're already past that stage

Koke > Oscar Griezmann > Willian Tiago > Cesc (for the big games) Hazard > Turan Costa > Mandzukic It's very close imo - neither set of players is much better than the other and like you say it's up to preference.

I don't doubt we can beat them but it would probably require a lot of luck and them missing several clear-cut chances at least. Even in Jose's best defensive performances as a manager his side conceded clear-cut chances (e.g. Bojan header v Inter or away to City last year Silva missed 2 clear-cut chances) so to not concede any in a match against this Real side whilst creating so many yourself is an unbelievable feat - the perfect performance. I think we have the players for Atletico's tactics, but if we're honest our pressing is nowhere near as good as theirs (their CBs and CMs are a lot more mobile and better defensively as individuals than ours which already gives them an advantage) and to be that proactive in defending requires bravery from the manager. It would be very naive to expect bravery from Jose against Real. I'm not sure we have the better attacking players either - I'd take Griezman and Koke over Willian and Oscar. Also Atleti's counter attacks and attacking combination plays are very well rehearsed and consistently excellent whereas our counter attacks have been easily nullified by City (twice) and Liverpool this season. I just cannot see us convincingly beating Real but I'd love to be proven wrong. Definitely huge credit to Jose. His record against one of the best sides ever towards the end of his spell at Real was excellent. That said he has played City five times now and our recent performances don't suggest much improvement. Holding out hope for next season though!

If we play Real Madrid then we will be virtually camped inside our box with no pressing and little attacking output. Think of our performance away to Atleti but even more defensive. There is only one team in Europe who can limit Real to 1 shot on target (0 clear-cut chances) in a game and who can remain undefeated against them in 6+ games. We are good but not that good.

Like who?

In Jose's last game as Real manager he lost the Copa Del Rey Final (2013) against Atleti 2-1 at the Bernabeu. Atleti had not beaten Real since 1999 (25 games) before that game so there was obviously a huge inferiority complex. After that cup win at Real's own stadium, there was a mentality shift and coupled with the massive strides they had been taking under Simeone it is no surprise that Atleti's record against Real since improved. It would have been interesting to see how Mourinho would have fared against them after that cup final. I doubt he'd have done as well as he did prior to it but I think he'd still have a better record than Ancelotti who gets tactically outdone by Simeone very often.

I didn't watch the game and don't plan on doing so given how bad it apparently was. How were we defensively - did Villa get behind our midfield and at our defence often?

Why does he find it so hard to maintain concentration?