LAM09

World champions!!!! We relish being underdogs.

Is great having a different profile of CF once again. Delap has had a great cameo & is very unlucky not to be on the scoresheet.

Red all day. This ain't the first time Cucu has received such treatment. PSG deserved all the plaudits until today. They look like sore losers.

We might be 3-0 up with around 15m~, but we still have to be alert and not give this dire ref a chance to have a say.

If only Lavia was fit. Never a fan of square pegs, etc. I just hope it pays off tonight. Our biggest game in some time (don't go with the narrative of biggest game ever).

I agree. It feels like he's someone we'll never be able to fully rely on similar to James.

I feel we have a real chance if Caicedo is fit to start, and we are smart about our approach. If we try to take them head on, we'll follow those before us this calendar year.

Palace's FA Cup triumph didn't count for much on the bigger scale. The reverse of Lyon's relegation means Palace will play in the Conference League instead.

And potentially European football as well (Lyon's relegation being overturned means Conference League qualifiers await).

He has repeatedly saved them over the years. Just look at the last minute save against Dortmund. Alonso's line up was questionable from the get go. Far too attacking.

I doubt Washington will be up to much either.

With more over 35 minutes remaining, all but one of them came on, but they were unable to change the outcome. With the Ballon d'Or and a significant trophy on the line, Dembele is the one (I was going to mention him) who could make the difference.

Maresca might have said it in a tongue-in-cheek manner, but he mentioned telling Caicedo to be reading for Sunday in any way. A win for Maresca would elevate him in an instant.

Depending on who we face - RM have had a dire season up until this point and have a new manager. If anything, I'd put us as slight favourites. If it's PSG, Botafogo showed it can be done in this very tournament. I still feel like we have a good chance, if we don't shot ourselves in the foot.

Kompany did us a solid as well by underestimating Benfica. I feel like at that point, Bayern would have gotten the better of us. It's effectively the WC for club teams, so this doesn't come as a surprise.

Sorry to be blunt, but I hate the Salah comparison at times. He had major European performances prior to making the move (scored the winner against us in Switzerland) and took Basel to the EL semis, starring along the way before losing to us, the eventual champions. Long story short, Salah did more during his time at Basel than Madueke has done in his career so far. I was actually a fan of Madueke & Mudryk before they joined, having seen glimpses during CL matches, and was rather excited when they joined. It's just come to the point where I don't believe either player (Mudryk's career could be completely destroyed, tbh) has what it takes to go to that next level for a host of reasons. As you said, if we are to move to the next level, which is fighting for the top honours, we can't keep saying, "wait another season," where any player is concerned. Jackson really should be in this conversation as well.

We were underdogs in both of our CL triumphs (massive ones in 2012). It's a position where we have thrived in the past.

Maresca's "smart thinking" against Flamengo helped us massively and allowed us to build up some real momentum. We can actually dream of making more history after a topsy turvy season.

I'm still seething about Jackson's greediness. Reason I hope we see the back of him soon. Moving on, back to back finals! I don't care who we face, anything can happen in a one off match.

This ain't the time to do it. Winning above all.

No idea what this sudden fixation is with Nkunku after one goal against 10 men. That's the one question mark about the XI. Huge night for us. One step away from a final.

Based on recent games, I'd say Neto is. Madueke has been shoved to the left & looks lost most of the time. I think the supposed "dislike" is more frustration and his limited skill set.

Madueke really shouldn't be going any less than this unless Arsenal are playing it all that once (I feel that doesn't happen with most expensive transfers).

It's rather comical that Lavia was talking in a recent interview that he can do the dirty stuff similar to Caicedo. If he did anything close to that, he'd be out for the season.

As long as Jackson isn't anywhere near the starting XI, I'm okay with it.