The European Leagues & Competitions Thread V2

[Jase 43,479]

I want city and arsenal out, the look on wengers face on another trophyless season is priceless. We can cope with the league, champs lge is not every week.

Same but later in the competition. If City and/or Arsenal get KOed now, they can pretty much focus on the league while we can't (assuming we beat Galatasaray), even if we can cope. The amount of fixtures and mental focus here can make a huge difference.

[communicate 2,703]

I don't really care who will go through, I just want a good game

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Same but later in the competition. If City and/or Arsenal get KOed now, they can pretty much focus on the league while we can't (assuming we beat Galatasaray), even if we can cope. The amount of fixtures and mental focus here can make a huge difference.

Well even if they would be focused in the league, they are unlucky to get drawn against barca and bayern.

They don't stand a chance in the tie anyways imo. Possession football from barcelona renders city's sexy football useless. So I want them to be battered while they are going out, so I can have a laugh.

[edetarod 2,155]

Bayer Leverkusen v Paris Saint-Germain 1-2

Manchester City v Barcelona 2-2

AC Milan v Atletico Madrid 0-0

Arsenal v Bayern Munich 1-2

Zenit v. Borussia Dortmund 1-1

Olympiakos v Manchester United 0-2

Galatasaray v Chelsea 0-2

Schalke v Real Madrid 0-3

[bushman 2,043]

To me, Citeh do have a chance to beat Barca tomorrow. Barca is not the same team as 2 or 3 years ago.

As for the goons, I just hope Bayern just hammers them 3 or 4 zip.

[Pacquiao 1,834]

Bayer Leverkusen v Paris Saint-Germain 1-2

Manchester City v Barcelona 2-2

AC Milan v Atletico Madrid 0-0

Arsenal v Bayern Munich 1-2

Zenit v. Borussia Dortmund 1-1

Olympiakos v Manchester United 0-2

Galatasaray v Chelsea 0-2

Schalke v Real Madrid 0-3

Really? I see Atletico destroying Milan home and away! Milan are woeful.

[Jase 43,479]

Well even if they would be focused in the league, they are unlucky to get drawn against barca and bayern.

They don't stand a chance in the tie anyways imo. Possession football from barcelona renders city's sexy football useless. So I want them to be battered while they are going out, so I can have a laugh.

Anyone who watches Barcelona these days will know they are not all about possession football anymore and the defence is even more hopeless than before, it that wasn't the case already, which City can definitely exploit. And the way City setup and played against us on Saturday showed they can mix it up and play on the break. It was almost if they were experimenting that against us then...

[Pacquiao 1,834]

Bayer Leverkusen v Paris Saint-Germain

Manchester City v Barcelona

AC Milan v Atletico Madrid

Arsenal v Bayern Munich

Zenit v. Borussia Dortmund

Olympiakos v Manchester United

Galatasaray v Chelsea

Schalke v Real Madrid

[edetarod 2,155]

Really? I see Atletico destroying Milan home and away! Milan are woeful.

they didn't lose to Barcelona at home

i think they'll raise their game 100% for this, they have nothing else to play for this season

[Jase 43,479]

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

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Anyone who watches Barcelona these days will know they are not all about possession football anymore and the defence is even more hopeless than before, it that wasn't the case already, which City can definitely exploit. And the way City setup and played against us on Saturday showed they can mix it up and play on the break. It was almost if they were experimenting that against us then...

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.

[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 6,496]

Hoping for a good match as well.

I don't care who wins.