The European Competitions Thread

[Jase 43,479]

Pellegrini could be naïve and play 2 strikers and barcelona will kill them in the middle.

Against us, they let us have the ball in the 2nd half and it worked for them, but that's exactly what barca are suited for, city players will run, till they are tired. They are used to having the ball, so they are not prepared to chase it, imagine yaya chasing iniesta around They'll be far better than us on the ball, I don't think using our game will be the best example, because we were playing so slow and clueless in possession. And if they couldn't handle hazard 2 weeks ago when we were fully fresh, they should get ready for one little 4 time world best player. City only have a chance because they are very clinical.

Pellegrini will really be an idiot if he plays 2 STs again after getting torn apart by Bayern and us because he played a 4-4-2.

No against us, City practically sat back, defend and played on the counter even in the first half. It's because they did that, we couldn't create much. They pressed, hurried, tackled and intercepted our passes and we ended up couldn't do anything. They couldn't handled us two weeks ago because they were simply too attack minded which resulted in them being open and susceptible to counter attacks. City changed their approach against us on Saturday and they looked much better, never mind the stupid overused excuse of tiredness. Also, just because they are used to having the ball doesn't mean they can't tweak their approach to play on the counter. It's ridiculous to suggest so. I simply used that game as an example on a broader scale that they can be adaptable. Even we, United, Bayern etc all used to have tons of possession in most of our games but still capable of being defensive and play on the counter when coming up against a team like Barcelona.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Man City face 'worst Barcelona team in years', says Mourinho

I agree, but they are better than last year's team though...

[kellzfresh 7,229]

02

Pellegrini will really be an idiot if he plays 2 STs again after getting torn apart by Bayern and us because he played a 4-4-2.

02

No against us, City practically sat back, defend and played on the counter even in the first half. It's because they did that, we couldn't create much. They pressed, hurried, tackled and intercepted our passes and we ended up couldn't do anything. They couldn't handled us two weeks ago because they were simply too attack minded which resulted in them being open and susceptible to counter attacks. City changed their approach against us on Saturday and they looked much better, never mind the stupid overused excuse of tiredness. Also, just because they are used to having the ball doesn't mean they can't tweak their approach to play on the counter. It's ridiculous to suggest so. I simply used that game as an example on a broader scale that they can be adaptable. Even we, United, Bayern etc all used to have tons of possession in most of our games but still capable of being defensive and play on the counter when coming up against a team like Barcelona.

I understand what you mean by how they adapted to our play.

But,

1. The simple fact that they were better than us at pressing,(our own game) was sheer evidence of our tiredness. If they press us, we should have pressed back, but we ended up looking far slower out of possession than when we faced them in the league.

2. They used that tactics against us successfully because, we didn't expect that gameplan, and we were couldn't press them back like we usually do(again evidence of tiredness) We are not even half as creative as barcelona in possession. If they use that tactics on barca, barca will still carve them open with that tactics(this is what I'm trying to get you to understand). Their pressing is no where near as impressive as what bayern did last season and they certainly won't park the bus like RDM. So chances are barcelona will create far more chances than mancity will and they are clinical finishers themselves.

Mancity are used to holding the ball, they will have to run, chase, mark, double mark messi, for a full 90mins. They are not going to be experts at something they havnt done often this season so that's their disadvantage.

Their only advantage is that they are the most clinical team in the world now and need few chances to score goals. So they would score.

[Jase 43,479]

I understand what you mean by how they adapted to our play.

But,

1. The simple fact that they were better than us at pressing,(our own game) was sheer evidence of our tiredness. If they press us, we should have pressed back, but we ended up looking far slower out of possession than when we faced them in the league.

2. They used that tactics against us successfully because, we didn't expect that gameplan, and we were couldn't press them back like we usually do(again evidence of tiredness) We are not even half as creative as barcelona in possession. If they use that tactics on barca, barca will still carve them open with that tactics(this is what I'm trying to get you to understand). Their pressing is no where near as impressive as what bayern did last season and they certainly won't park the bus like RDM. So chances are barcelona will create far more chances than mancity will and they are clinical finishers themselves.

Mancity are used to holding the ball, they will have to run, chase, mark, double mark messi, for a full 90mins. They are not going to be experts at something they havnt done often this season so that's their disadvantage.

Their only advantage is that they are the most clinical team in the world now and need few chances to score goals. So they would score.

Point taken but don't think they will be THAT useless off the ball and defending against someone like Barcelona like you're alluding to there. They might not be experts if the setup and application is right, then I don't see why they can't defend properly and do the necessary job on this Barcelona team, similar to how others have done it before.

Going back to the game on Saturday, think it's a bit silly to say they did well then because we didn't expect that approach from City. They did well because their application was right and we didn't and really, forget all those nonsense excuses. Should not use it to completely disregard how both teams did then. And mind you, they did not just press, tackle etc us mindlessly without any system and organization in place.

[bushman 2,043]

As Jose said, Barca is not the same team as before & I believe once again he is correct, Citeh do have a great chance to beat Barca. I hope, Citeh even score 2 or 3 goals tonight.

[Jase 43,479]

Oh dear.

Happened in Austria over the weekend.

[Fernando 6,585]

Hoping for a good match as well.

I don't care who wins.

[Roquila 1,335]

Come on City!

[didierforever 7,349]

Oh dear.

http://youtu.be/m7zZu0stUqE

Happened in Austria over the weekend.

Match fixing???

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Match fixing???

Don't think so. Misjudged the flight of the ball. Often happens due to lack of proper warmup.

[samzilla 517]

Match fixing???

There's a great book about match fixing called "The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime" by Declan Hill.

[zyzz 711]

Hoping for a city win today. Bring back the english dominance in the cl

[Jusek 2,031]

Fuck Champions League football, I'm going to watch Chelsea U18 match. :blue scalf:

[Hybrid Angel 2,130]

TEAM NEWS: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany ©, Demichelis, Clichy, Navas, Toure, Fernandinho, Kolarov, Silva, Negredo #mcfcb #mcfc

--

Interesting line-up from City. I guess Kolarov is playing on the left wing. Defenses, prepare your anuses!

[sutro 1,026]

Lol dimichelis starting, thats like messi against a sunday league defender, good luck with that one

[Fernando 6,585]

any good links for the game?

[communicate 2,703]

Lol dimichelis starting, thats like messi against a sunday league defender, good luck with that one

Yap surprise with demichelis selection, probably because of his experience

[communicate 2,703]

Pellegrini will really be an idiot if he plays 2 STs again after getting torn apart by Bayern and us because he played a 4-4-2.

No against us, City practically sat back, defend and played on the counter even in the first half. It's because they did that, we couldn't create much. They pressed, hurried, tackled and intercepted our passes and we ended up couldn't do anything. They couldn't handled us two weeks ago because they were simply too attack minded which resulted in them being open and susceptible to counter attacks. City changed their approach against us on Saturday and they looked much better, never mind the stupid overused excuse of tiredness. Also, just because they are used to having the ball doesn't mean they can't tweak their approach to play on the counter. It's ridiculous to suggest so. I simply used that game as an example on a broader scale that they can be adaptable. Even we, United, Bayern etc all used to have tons of possession in most of our games but still capable of being defensive and play on the counter when coming up against a team like Barcelona.

I don't think they sat back against us in fact they actually pressed us especially our front 3. I am not sure that works against barca.

I haven't watch any barca game this season but last seqson most team that play barca either play narrow deep n counter or high press. Not sure city are that kind of team but who knows, Bayern was possesion based team but they play counter against barca.

[Special Juan 28,141]

As a price raiser I have taken City on the coupon but come on Barca, bury the fuckers.

[Jase 43,479]

I don't think they sat back against us in fact they actually pressed us especially our front 3. I am not sure that works against barca.

I haven't watch any barca game this season but last seqson most team that play barca either play narrow deep n counter or high press. Not sure city are that kind of team but who knows, Bayern was possesion based team but they play counter against barca.

They did. City sat back to make sure there's no space for us to play and break into like we did in the league game 2 weeks ago. Keep it tight and compact. They only started pressing when we got into their half, when we passed the ball to any of our front attacking players.