The European Leagues & Competitions Thread V2

[Azpinator 2,325]

You know what pisses me off?

When we play defensive physical football, the world labels us "anti-football"
When Atletico play defensive physical football, the world applauds and hails their spirit and character.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Congratulations for Atletico, this year could be your moment.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

I hope many other Chelsea fans dont think the same way. Though the number of RTs suggest otherwiss. 

Yea, Atletico Madrid is everything we used to be, but their better than what we've been in Europe the past 5 years. They don't just defend deep, but have 7/8/9 players who can dribble out of pressure and are sound technically. They create multiple goal-scoring chances, and don't just rely on set-pieces for them either. Their pressing is miles ahead of anything we do, and they have defenders who don't need to be hidden by Willian and Hazard tracking back for every single attack (one 1v1 duel between Neymar and Ivan is an automatic goal) no discussion. 

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Tremendous game plan by Atleti too, and Messi was completely anonymous throughout the match. Im surprised he continued to sit in CM and not move out wide, he played into the ATM gameplan by being so static, and although that tactic worked last match, once Atleti got that 2nd goal, Messi should have positioned himself on the wings to get his feet on the ball instead of hoping Barca would somehow get it to him.

But at the same time you gotta give Atleti credit for defending their wings better, because unlike last match, Alves and Alba weren't a factor at all and only got 1 real threatening cross between them unlike last time. 

 

Back-2-Back Tremendous European nights. You gotta love it. Wish I was there man. The Scenes. 

 

 

[Essien19 1,415]

What is up with Turan these days?
Looks like a big flop, Chelsea thought of buying him in the summer according to reports but didn't, guess what, it turned out to be the right call. SURPRISE
Now it's a difficult one, how can i pin it on Mourinho so he looks bad? Guess i'm not so smart after all.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

This is amazing.. ??

 

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Still think it is battle between 3 giants and City. Atletico proved their worth by beating Barca. Bayern is Bayern, Real is Real. I think, City would not get any further than this.

[Essien19 1,415]

1 minute ago, Blue-in-me-Veins said:

This is amazing.. ??

....

Didn't he say he was fed up with all the running? 
Was desperate to leave, who's laughing now?

[samzilla 517]

Had a good bit o' schadenfreude seeing barca whinge over the handball shout that didn't go their way.

[Azpinator 2,325]

12 minutes ago, Blue-in-me-Veins said:

I hope many other Chelsea fans dont think the same way. Though the number of RTs suggest otherwiss. 

Yea, Atletico Madrid is everything we used to be, but their better than what we've been in Europe the past 5 years. They don't just defend deep, but have 7/8/9 players who can dribble out of pressure and are sound technically. They create multiple goal-scoring chances, and don't just rely on set-pieces for them either. Their pressing is miles ahead of anything we do, and they have defenders who don't need to be hidden by Willian and Hazard tracking back for every single attack (one 1v1 duel between Neymar and Ivan is an automatic goal) no discussion. 

 

 

"In the past" could mean different occasions. For me the Chelsea of 2008, 2010 and even 2009 or 2012 is better than the current Ateltico. We were always criticized and labeled "boring" and stuff, before Willian and Hazard joined.

[The Chels 2,502]

I really thought Barcelona were going to be the first team to retain the CL. They have looked incredibly jaded recently, though, and if they're not careful they could end the season with nothing. Crazy how fast things change in football.

Who do you guys reckon will win it now? I'm going for Atleti but the only surprise winner would be City.

[Essien19 1,415]

1 minute ago, RoyalBlues said:

Still think it is battle between 3 giants and City. Atletico proved their worth by beating Barca. Bayern is Bayern, Real is Real. I think, City would not get any further than this.

Bloody hope so, i for one don't want to find out what the De Bruyne crew would come up with if City made it to the final, god help us, please!

[samzilla 517]

2 minutes ago, The Chels said:

I really thought Barcelona were going to be the first team to retain the CL. They have looked incredibly jaded recently, though, and if they're not careful they could end the season with nothing. Crazy how fast things change in football.

Who do you guys reckon will win it now? I'm going for Atleti but the only real surprise winner would be City.

I thought so too.

[The Chels 2,502]

3 minutes ago, Azpinator said:

"In the past" could mean different occasions. For me the Chelsea of 2008, 2010 and even 2009 or 2012 is better than the current Ateltico. We were always criticized and labeled "boring" and stuff, before Willian and Hazard joined.

I know we're all Chelsea fans on here but the overrating of past Chelsea sides and downplaying of other current top teams is a bit much. The 2012 Chelsea side better than current Atletico? Come on...

[ulvhedin 508]

This year's real is enigma, every 2-3 matches they play like complete shit. One night they can destroy bayern and next day make man city looks like world cup winners

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

1 minute ago, Azpinator said:

"In the past" could mean different occasions. For me the Chelsea of 2008, 2010 and even 2009 or 2012 is better than the current Ateltico. We were always criticized and labeled "boring" and stuff, before Willian and Hazard joined.

That may be true, but the "Bus Parking" really only blew up from 2012 onwards, because that 2nd leg vs Barca and the UCL Final against Bayern was some of the most "anti-football" stuff other spectators/pundits have ever seen, And it was really only from then on that social media drove that message home of Chelsea=Bus, and all the Memes of 'Bus parked infront of goal', etc. Imo, that's when it really started.

Yes, JM 1st tenure we were labelled boring and whatnot, but it was minimal tbh, and we had that Exciting 108 goals in PL with Carlo and were getting bounced in Europe while still playing proper football. Bus parking and the criticms from fans/pundits didn't start until 2012 onwards. 

[Azpinator 2,325]

2 minutes ago, The Chels said:

I know we're all Chelsea fans on here but the overrating of past Chelsea sides and downplaying of other current top teams is a bit much. The 2012 Chelsea side better than current Atletico? Come on...

Yes, call me crazy if you want. Our 6th place finish had a lot to do with AVB problems. The strength of our spine (Cech, Terry, Lamps and Drogba) outweighs the cohesiveness of the current Atletico side.

That season is the only arguable one form the ones I've mentioned

[Azpinator 2,325]

10 minutes ago, Blue-in-me-Veins said:

That may be true, but the "Bus Parking" really only blew up from 2012 onwards, because that 2nd leg vs Barca and the UCL Final against Bayern was some of the most "anti-football" stuff other spectators/pundits have ever seen, And it was really only from then on that social media drove that message home of Chelsea=Bus, and all the Memes of 'Bus parked infront of goal', etc. Imo, that's when it really started.

Yes, JM 1st tenure we were labelled boring and whatnot, but it was minimal tbh, and we had that Exciting 108 goals in PL with Carlo and were getting bounced in Europe while still playing proper football. Bus parking and the criticms from fans/pundits didn't start until 2012 onwards. 

We were labelled boring from the get-go in the 04-05 season, while our main competition Arsenal were praised. I've read and heard almost the same criticism since I started supporting Chelsea. I agree it was more talked about from 2012 onwards, but I think some of it has to do with the increased popularity of social media and memes.

One more thing, we had 10 men at the Camp Nou. I bet if Atletico had 10 men today they wouldn't have created as many chances.

[The Chels 2,502]

1 hour ago, Azpinator said:

Yes, call me crazy if you want. Our 6th place finish had a lot to do with AVB problems. The strength of our spine (Cech, Terry, Lamps and Drogba) outweighs the cohesiveness of the current Atletico side.

That season is the only arguable one form the ones I've mentioned

It's hard not to think of the 4-1 in the Super Cup when comparing the 2012 side with Atletico. Anyway I agree that in that in terms of individual ability, Chelsea sides of the past have been much better than this Atletico. In fact I think purely in terms of the players they have, Atletico are completely achieving. They have some good players for sure, but their greatest strength IMO is their tactical flexibility and aptitude. Perhaps what is most striking is their ability to consistently alternate, even against the best in the world, from an incredibly high line to an incredibly deep line with relative easy, yet incredible competence. Whilst we were also a good defensive and counter-attacking side, I don't think there was anything particularly fascinating about it. It was just a team with a lot of good players forged to play in a traditionally conservative style and the collective was good but not much more than the sum of the individual parts. This is the difference and maybe why Atletico receive a lot more praise (less criticism) than we did even though they appear to play in a similarly 'negative' way, albeit in a system that is less reliant on individualism from my perspective at least. A duel between them and a peak Chelsea side would be very interesting but a lot less skewed in our favour than you might think.