Champions League Thread

[LDN Blue 7,903]

We're definitely in a better position to play PSG this year than we were last. The importance of Matic will never be more in-focus than this 2-legged fixture! We have to get the balance right on this one.. Yes our squad is better, but PSG have also matured so we shouldn't downplay their importance in this.

Mourinho will have his tactical genius on this from today I think, but he needs to play Luis imo. PSG's attack isn't something to be underestimated, Cahill will need to be as professional as we know he can be.. No risky play, just stick to your strengths!

[LDN Blue 7,903]

PSG have been built for the Champions league, it's simply not in the script for them to keep falling this early; we will really need to be at the races for this one.

It's almost the perfect fixture from a marketing/commercial perspective. Funny that..

[Special Juan 28,141]

PSG.....Down in Paris, out in London.

[kobematabryant 400]

Lol Monaco aren't a walk in the park fixture, Monaco knocked out Zenit out of the UCL and only conceded 1 goal the entire group stages. Monaco are a very organised team and Arsenal barely beat Anderlecht over the two legs. I think the Arsenal fans are out for a massive surprise. City will be knocked out, Barca with a comfortable win. Dortmund, Schalke, Leverkusen all to go out already. Munich have a hard fixture against Donetsk, can see them going out. Europa League wise, Everton & Tottenham will probably go through comfortably. Besiktas are a decent team and they probably will beat Liverpool. I can see a Zenit vs Napoli final happening in the Europa league this season.

With PSG, I think this is definitely the draw I wanted. Yes they are a hard side to beat but we need a bit of challenge for our boys before we face the bigger guns like Madrid & Barca. This will get their gears spinning. But I personally think we can beat them this season with an upgraded offence this year. Last season, we beat them with Eto'o, Ba and Torres up front for crying out loud, lol.

Just put in some money today, I put a bet on Chelsea to win the UCL and Zenit to win the UEL.

[ZOS 580]

ahhhh, shit we do not want this right now

[mannyfreshh 164]

Exciting to be playing a good team, this will get us ready for bigger teams shall we advance. If we go down to psg, it's better than losing to a Basel or shaktar.. Looking forward to Luiz returning to London.

[The Chels 2,502]

Just been reading the PSG forums/papers and I see there's been a meltdown after their defeat yesterday lol. Lots want Blanc to be sacked and Thiago Silva said after the match that Blanc is too soft on the players. Would love to play them while they're 'in crisis' but they'll likely pick up form by the time February comes.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Psg will be out there to take revenge and they did look fine against barca at home. Lot will depend on Luiz if he will have one of his better or worse performances.

But its all on us, if we have the winning mentality, we should beat them.

It would be also kinda funny if Luiz fucks up massively, considering they bought him for 50m from us.

[Barbara 15,149]

I think City will actually beat Barça... I really don't know where people get the idea that Barça currently have a great team. They don't. They're a mess, with tons of 'lucky' calls their way, and more ups and downs than rollercoasters at Disneyland.

I'm happy with PSG. I want us to score three past Luiz... in Paris and then four in London

Seriously, I went from loving the guy to not standing him during the WC and all that shit he said (and cried) to the television cameras to pretend he actually gave a fuck. Clown.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Just been reading the PSG forums/papers and I see there's been a meltdown after their defeat yesterday lol. Lots want Blanc to be sacked and Thiago Silva said after the match that Blanc is too soft on the players. Would love to play them while they're 'in crisis' but they'll likely pick up form by the time February comes.

Silva and Blanc seem to be at war generally though,

"Thiago Motta and Thiago Silva are not untouchable, no one is at PSG."

[LondonsFinest 692]

If we win this it will be a massive confidence boost. IF we are to lose, then we get to play Weekend to Weekend, and the rest will be good for the players. So it's a win win thing, if the Special one, keeps their special heads cool.

[Kieran. 6,317]

The CL draws have been fairly kind to us in the past few years so it was just a matter of time tbh.

[Spike 12,049]

Bring on Zlatan.

[Eidur the Spider 4,515]

[CHOULO19 24,332]

And let's not forget this face as well:

That's probably my favorite picture of 2014! I just love it on so many levels :')

[Tautvix 1,321]

Mourinho teached me one lesson this season: "We don't cry".

[robsblubot 3,595]

Not a horrible draw to be honest. They are a good team, but we are a lot better. Arsenal got the best draw, obviously, but City will have to pull off something very special to go through. Barca are prob happy with their draw esp considering City's injuries.

Unlike Barbara, I honestly wasn't surprised by David Luiz performances in the World Cup (the very good, the bad, and the very ugly). as I always thought he was very quirky and needed a system to fit in. However, I was surprised by Silva's mentality which wasn't what I expected from a skipper.

PSG chances, as things stand right now, are small, but they could improve if Blanc got sacked. He's a very naive coach who would go into SB playing as if he were playing Nantes at home. He would never move Luiz into midfield, which for them would be a quite obvious (esp playing away) move considering Luiz is (at lot) better than Motta right now and also that they have Marquinhos as an option in defense.

Their GK is also not at the level of Courtois or Cech.

My only concern is that we are very dependent on the form of 4 players atm: Hazard, Matic, Costa, and Fabregas. If any one picks up an injury, his replacement would not be anywhere near the starter in terms of quality. Esp considering the upcoming concentration of games.

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

Quite tough game, could see us lose 1st leg 2-1 this time around and win the 2nd leg 1-0 nervously, barely progressing again. That is if we are on our game though.

[dee25 1,044]

Lol Monaco aren't a walk in the park fixture, Monaco knocked out Zenit out of the UCL and only conceded 1 goal the entire group stages. Monaco are a very organised team and Arsenal barely beat Anderlecht over the two legs. I think the Arsenal fans are out for a massive surprise. City will be knocked out, Barca with a comfortable win. Dortmund, Schalke, Leverkusen all to go out already. Munich have a hard fixture against Donetsk, can see them going out. Europa League wise, Everton & Tottenham will probably go through comfortably. Besiktas are a decent team and they probably will beat Liverpool. I can see a Zenit vs Napoli final happening in the Europa league this season.

With PSG, I think this is definitely the draw I wanted. Yes they are a hard side to beat but we need a bit of challenge for our boys before we face the bigger guns like Madrid & Barca. This will get their gears spinning. But I personally think we can beat them this season with an upgraded offence this year. Last season, we beat them with Eto'o, Ba and Torres up front for crying out loud, lol.

Just put in some money today, I put a bet on Chelsea to win the UCL and Zenit to win the UEL.

I've only seen maybe one or two of Monaco's league games this season but I watched every one of their games in the CL group stages and in my opinion I don't think there was one match they were impressive. They have dynamic fullbacks and their midfield of Kondogbia, Moutinho and Toulalan is pretty good but I think Arsenal will go through.

I actually think the team a lot people on here seem to be underestimating is Bayer Leverkusen.

[dUMB 189]

Calling it now - We'll lose and Luiz will score the winner.

Nouu, don't be that guy

bold prediction. shakhtar will beat bayern

1.leg will be interesting