Champions League Thread

[The Skipper 20,609]

8 minutes ago, killer1257 said:

Atletico did only concede 4 goals this season. Gimenez is injured right now.

With guys like Werner, Tammy and Giroud, who need 100 chances to score a goal, we do not have a chance. Also, Atletico only needs one chance. That is all they need

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They aren't that good. Watch the Madrid derby from this weekend. 

[Jase 43,479]

Maybe things will change in February but I'd fancy our chances against Atletico, especially with the first leg being in Madrid. 

[Jase 43,479]

2 minutes ago, The Skipper said:

They aren't that good. Watch the Madrid derby from this weekend. 

Atletico are a bit of a peculiar bunch. We know they can be good but they also can be underwhelming. They failed to beat to Lokomotiv Moscow over the 2 games and somehow couldn't beat a Bayern B side in the group stage. And then there was the Champions League last season, where they were so flat against Leipzig. 

[killer1257 3,282]

Currently, Simeone is trying something new. He changed his classic 4-4-2 into a 3-5-2 or sometimes 3-4-1-2.

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[Jase 43,479]

Looking from a pessimistic POV, it'd be less of an embarrassment if we lose to Atletico than say Porto, Gladbach or Atalanta. 

But either way, the tie will be good learning curve for this team and their development. If we can get past Atletico, it'd give the players confidence for the quarter finals etc.

[The Skipper 20,609]

3 minutes ago, Jason said:

Atletico are a bit of a peculiar bunch. We know they can be good but they also can be underwhelming. They failed to beat to Lokomotiv Moscow over the 2 games and somehow couldn't beat a Bayern B side in the group stage. And then there was the Champions League last season, where they were so flat against Leipzig. 

Honestly they are so uninspired in big games recently. We won't even have to overcommit to beat them I don't think. Safe possession game with some quality chances created in the final third should do it. 

[killer1257 3,282]

Honestly they are so uninspired in big games recently. We won't even have to overcommit to beat them I don't think. Safe possession game with some quality chances created in the final third should do it. 

And who scores those goals? Zouma? He is probably our only reliable scorer right now. Every other of our strikers needs too many chances.

 

 

 

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[The Skipper 20,609]

25 minutes ago, killer1257 said:

And who scores those goals? Zouma? Some is probably our only reliable scorer right now. Every other of our strikers needs too many chances.



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On the flip side, by February who knows maybe guys like Werner, Pulisic, Havertz find their shooting boots? Guys like Mount, CHO, Abraham will chip in as well. Both of our fullbacks have shown they aren't adverse to goals and Zouma is a huge set piece threat. There's goals in this team. We're literally one of the highest scoring sides in Europe this season. 

This is a great game for the squad because winning this would give them a huge boost of confidence in big games in the future. 

[Jase 43,479]

33 minutes ago, killer1257 said:

And who scores those goals? Zouma? He is probably our only reliable scorer right now. Every other of our strikers needs too many chances.

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You're making it sound like they are very prolific. Only 4 Atletico players have scored at least 3 goals this season - the rest are either on 1 or haven't scored - and their top scorer has 8 goals, which IIRC is the same as ours. 

As @The Skipper mentioned above, our players could become more prolific by February. Who knows? Heck, maybe someone will be super clinical on the night for us like Giroud was at Sevilla recently. 

[Jase 43,479]

Look at this way, if we get KOed in the Round of 16, we can focus on the title race. 

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Laylabelle 9,535]

It be lovely to get further then the last 16..definitely been a stumbling block for a years now

[Fernando 6,585]

I don't think we have a chance. 

But this is in February so a lot of things can happen between then. 

[NikkiCFC 8,319]

Oh irony, Sevilla got easier opponent..

Worst possible draw but it is all in our hands. Play like Leipzig last season and be clinical. Big test for Lamps.

[Jase 43,479]

39 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

Oh irony, Sevilla got easier opponent..

No guarantee we would have gotten Dortmund anyway because say Sevilla had finished 1st and they were drawn in our place, they couldn't have gotten Atletico due to the draw rules and subsequent draws would have turned out differently.

And besides, Dortmund are also tough opponents in their way - e.g. way more firepower than Atletico - and god knows how will they fare under their interim manager. Could be even better than they were under Favre. 

[King Kante 1,643]

I think this is a worse draw than Bayern for us. The problem with AM is that they're the best drilled side in Europe. They aren't the type of team to beat you 5-0 but they can do a 1-0 job in both legs fairly easily and completely stifle you. Bayern on the other hand will fly and you and provide you with counter opportunities. 

My biggest worry with AM is that we are still a little open to the counter as we haven't got anyone to sit in there and break up their play when they counter. Simeone will be rubbing his hands if we have to play Jorgi or Kante there. 

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

Rather have Atlético than Dortmund tbh. Dortmund have insane pace and can really hit you on the break. Atlético are quality but quite slow and predictable too. Dortmund are hit and miss. They have so much talent of Harland is fit and gives one of his crazy performances he can put 2 past you in a blink of an eye. Atlético will let’s US play out game mostly and we either use our chances and win or don’t and deservedly go out. 

[Jase 43,479]

The dates for the tie has been confirmed:

Feb 23 - Atletico (a)

Mar 17 - Atletico (h)

When seen with our league schedule, it looks like this...

Feb 20 - Southampton (a)
Feb 23 - Atletico (a)
Feb 28 - Man United (h)

Mar 6 - Everton (h)
Mar 13 - Leeds (a)
Mar 17 - Atletico (h)
Mar 20 - Liverpool (a)

[Tomo 21,751]

Damm, second leg inbetween Leeds and Liverpool is rough, are the latter on the same week as us? 

United after the first leg however is fine as it will get moved to Sunday anyway due to them in Europa.

[Jase 43,479]

28 minutes ago, King Kante said:

I think this is a worse draw than Bayern for us. The problem with AM is that they're the best drilled side in Europe. They aren't the type of team to beat you 5-0 but they can do a 1-0 job in both legs fairly easily and completely stifle you. Bayern on the other hand will fly and you and provide you with counter opportunities. 

Bayern may give opposing teams more chances than Atletico - don't know what the exact stats are - but at the same time, Bayern also have more attacking firepower than Atletico. They have goals from their attacking players and midfielders. Different case with Atletico. 

Not sure how will Atletico approach the two legs because Simeone has been trying to make them more of a possession based side, an attacking side since last season but like facing Tony Pulis, Sam Allardyce's teams or Burnley etc, we at least absolutely know what to expect from Atletico.

Moreover, if you look at Atletico results and performances in Europe in recent seasons, they have not been all that impressive. Not saying they will be easy but you would think they are some sort of dominant European champions with the way some people are talking about them. 

33 minutes ago, King Kante said:

My biggest worry with AM is that we are still a little open to the counter as we haven't got anyone to sit in there and break up their play when they counter. Simeone will be rubbing his hands if we have to play Jorgi or Kante there. 

Compared to last season, this hasn't really been an issue for us. We have been involved in next to zero basketball games this season and if the games against Sevilla, United, Spurs etc are anything to go by, they showed we can be defensively solid in these big games and try to eek out the wins.

And you talked about Atletico and their counter attacks, ironically, they haven't scored a single goal from counter attacks in La Liga since the start of last season. Think they have scored 2-3 in Europe during that time but nothing too wow to suggest they are super dangerous on counters. They aren't exactly a team blessed with pacey players.