DYC.

I've always rated him. Thought his age was catching up with him.

Why is Barzagli no longer a starter? Decline?

City was the worst of the lot. Barca embarrassed them home and away. They're just lucky it doesn't show in the score.

Well, I have to disagree with you. To dribble past players is one thing. To keep your composure, find the open man in a split second and deliver inch-perfect passes is a completely different thing. Hazard is great but he's no Messi. Not even close. Terrible finishing today. Barca could've scored 3 in the first half and they should've scored 3, 4 or 5 in the second. City could've scored 1or 2. But fair play to Hart, he was fantastic. Juventus have killed Dortmund. Very disappointed. Tevez is class. I remember him having a very poor record in Europe. What a turnaround.

Not happening, kellzfresh. And there is no shame in that at all. Messi is the only player capable of doing what Messi does.

Barca annihilating City. How embarrassing this must be for them hahaha. Mouth watering football. If it wasn't for some poor decision making by Neymar and a bit of luck on City's side, they would've been trailing by 3 or 4 goals. I'm loving this. Edit: Messi is putting on a show btw. He is just so good.

Good try by Arsenal. Monaco were very disappointing. They did well for the first 10-15 min, but they just stopped playing after that. Every time they had the chance to break forward, they would just slow down and pass it sideways. That went on until the 60' min. Very strange since they kept losing the ball anyway and they didn't even pack 10 men in front of the box. After that they tried to go for goal again but they couldn't. Berbatov was drained and their midfielders were tired. Dirar and Martial were poor. Very strange game Monaco played but they're through. No one expected that to happen. They won't make it past the quarter finals like this though.

I assume you'll be supporting Atleti? I will be rooting for Leverkussen. I think they will surprise.

It's funny because Bas Dost received more attention for his insane goal streak in 2015 than de Bruyne for his entire season. People love goal scorers. Mata won the Europa League in 12-13 haha. It didn't really help. Falcao is probably the only player to reach world fame for his EL exploits. Another goal scorer.

I'm confused. Maybe you misunderstood me but you just repeated what I said.

I'm sorry but those kind of numbers for Werder and Belgium do not make you an elite player. I know what you're trying to say, but he has a long way to go. It takes years and years of performing at top level to make you a great player. Wolfsburg players don't win the Golden Ball, they're not even considered. Misimovic, Dzeko and Grafite racked up outstanding numbers for Wolfsburg when they won the league. I'd be surprised if any one of them made the top 50 that year. Remember when Mata scored 20 goals and provided around 30 assists in 12-13? Did he even make the top 20? Top 30?

Most PL fans have no respect for other leagues. It's quite funny, actually. Messi and Ronaldo are the only players to rack up crazy numbers consistently. Robben, Ribery, Xavi, Iniesta, Ibrahimovic, Ozil, Silva, Muller, Rooney, Van Persie, Sanchez, Aguero, Suarez... the list goes on. All these players have all experienced stand out seasons in their careers. Never to reach such a level of influence again. That's just football. Unless KDB is some kind of new phenomenon, he probably won't play like this again. Not consistently that is. Those are some crazy numbers and he is really carrying that Wolfsburg side. That doesn't mean he's not a quality player. It remains to be seen whether he can keep playing at a top level. But he is genuinely enjoying a world-class season, there's no doubt about that.

I said the same thing about moving Hazard into the middle earlier in the season. But the problem is, with the way Chelsea play, a midfield consisting of Matic, Cesc, Hazard lacks balance. The centre of the midfield would be very open and vulnerable to counter-attacks. Matic, Cesc and Hazard would only work if you start playing a very dominant style. Lots of possession, high pressing. Even then, the lack of mobility of Matic and Cesc remains an area opponents can (easily) exploit. I don't think Mou would play Hazard in the middle with or without Fabregas. That's just a hunch though.

I don't see anything in there about anyone questioning the whole season. It's about the criticism after the PSG game. People commented on Gary's words concerning the draw. You said you didn't see anything wrong with his words and questioned why others would think the opposite. I explain why. Though I can only speak for myself. 'We've gone out but we didn't actually lose the game'. Not a smart choice of words imo. It sounds weak. And he should realise, the criticism is also and mostly about the performance. You can't just focus on the score that says 2-2.

Who is questioning the whole season? Chelsea have Courtois and some wayward finishing by PSG to thank for not conceding more goals. And I've read that 'losing to two poor set-pieces' before. You do realise the goals scored by Chelsea in both legs were due to 'two poor set-pieces' and a penalty?

You don't? Very poor choice of words by Gary. It was 2-2, but you went out. That's the same as losing. Against a 10 men PSG side. At home. Playing very poorly. It doesn't help that Cahill has been one of the weaker performers of the season either.

Not happening. I'm convinced Monaco will score at least 1 goal. And Arsenal are not scoring 3, let alone 4. Monaco won't allow it. Will be supporting Porto, Leverkussen and Monaco. Leverkussen are very fun to watch. Porto really impressed with their win over Basel. They seem to have created a new impressive unit. Monaco are the ultimate underdogs. They were treated like some PL midtable side and proved everyone wrong. Love it when that happens. Would love a surprise CL winner. Atletico and Dortmund came close, sadly didn't happen. Wouldn't mind a Barca- Bayern final though.

It doesn't even make sense. If anything, going into a major tournament in the best possible form is the best way to shine. It's not like footballers have a switch in their body to immediately turn up whenever they feel like it. Oh well. As far as I know, Brazil are not playing any football in the summer of 2016, right? 2017 is empty as well. And with the way he's been performing, he might be dropped as a starter for the Copa.

Thank you. Willian's supposed improved level when he plays in the middle and superiority compared to Oscar there is a real head scratcher for me. His style is cleaner but he remains stale. At least Oscar knows how to put a ball into the net and play the ball at times. At least he did before his slumber. That theory for the World Cup was so ludicrous. Saving himself... Oscar never mentioned anything of the sorts, neither did Mourinho or Scolari. Yet somehow it became some sort of an undisputed fact. I recently read the coach of Israel saying Bale was saving himself for Wales, to qualitfy for the European Cup. Which is why he was performing poorly for Real. How do people come up with these things?

Are you willing to pay me to look for this fantasy purchase that is never going to happen? I warn you, I'm very expensive. In 09/10, teams were looking at that Chelsea team with fear. 4 players in that starting XI highly capable of scoring goals in Drogba, Lampard, Malouda and Anelka. That's one of the main reasons Bayern, Barca and Real are so strong. So much fire power. I think Messi alone has scored more goals than Chelsea's front four... isn't that something? I was hoping for Schurrle and Oscar to step up this season and score goals for the team. Schurrle sadly didn't work out and Oscar has faded yet again after a pretty good start. At a club like Chelsea, you'd expect the player playing behind the striker to either create or score goals. He's doing neither for a long time now. That hurts the team. Take out Costa and the team is in trouble. Set-pieces have been key for not faltering like City. As for options, Reus was my dream signing because of this. That's pretty much ruled out. Griezmann is very good. Depay is the brightest talent in the Eredivisie. Goal-scoring winger. But he's still very young and who knows how he'll do. He could end up like Suarez or he could end up like those other countless 'flops'. A less popular shout would be Pedro, though I think he's quality. He would benefit from a move away from Barca. With the trust of a manager and consistent playing time, I think he would be very good addition. Not the most creative player, but a proven goal-scorer over the years. And you can count on him to control a ball properly. Experienced and good work rate (there's that balance again). They're hard to find but they are out there. The club has a gigantic scouting network and they are paid a lot of money to provide quality players. Put them to work. More Azpi and Matic esque signings. Look at how Zouma turned out. A goal-scoring midfielder would be good too. That de Bruyne chap looks pretty decent. Or steal Alexis Sanchez. Very understandable, I do the same. Dreamland is a fun place to visit. Hmm, a bit like Atletico. I wonder if that works when you're not the underdog. And it would take some back-up striker to score a high amount of goals with Remy like game time.

Varane and Zouma in the middle... I have to say, I don't believe in a youngster couple. Has there ever been a top team with a very young CB duo? Who is leading that defence? Who is that rock you can count on to perform consistently? Another problem I see is just two players in that line up hitting 10+ goals over the season, Costa and Hazard. You would be lucky to get 7 goals from Matic, Willian and Schneiderlin. This team seriously needs a reliable goal scorer.

Why? Not every buy is going to work out, that's part of the game.

Is it me or are (most) Arsenal fans obvlious to this yearly cycle?

Tbf, the results have been good overall.