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2017/18 (Soccer) Football Thread
- Thread starter Aurious
- Start date
destinyunknown
Banned deucer.
Impressive first half performance by Liverpool, there's a couple of things that grabbed my attention. First, that Salah had a very easy time finding spaces due to the big distance between Sane and Laporte. Very surprising that Guardiola didnt prepare better for Salah, especially considering that Laporte isnt even a natural fullback, it makes no sense that he had no support on that flank.
Second, Liverpool's pressing was somehow even more effective than in the previous game between the two teams. If you watch the buildup to the 2nd and 3rd Liverpool goals you will notice the same pattern, Liverpool tightened the spaces in midfield, got the ball back, and with City out of position due to their weird formation, Liverpool had an easy time getting the ball forward.
Speaking of which, City's formation was a massive failure. A weird 4-2-3-1 or 3-2-4-1 hybrid of sorts in which Walker was forced to push up (which was a liability when City lost possession), with Gündogan as some sort of makeshift winger, while De Bruyne dropped deeper and played next to Fernandinho... Seemed like an attempt by Guardiola to bypass Liverpool's pressure by having De Bruyne play from the back, but the fact that it required some players to play out of position, and also constantly change the formation from attack to defense meant City was a total disaster during the first half.
Second, Liverpool's pressing was somehow even more effective than in the previous game between the two teams. If you watch the buildup to the 2nd and 3rd Liverpool goals you will notice the same pattern, Liverpool tightened the spaces in midfield, got the ball back, and with City out of position due to their weird formation, Liverpool had an easy time getting the ball forward.
Speaking of which, City's formation was a massive failure. A weird 4-2-3-1 or 3-2-4-1 hybrid of sorts in which Walker was forced to push up (which was a liability when City lost possession), with Gündogan as some sort of makeshift winger, while De Bruyne dropped deeper and played next to Fernandinho... Seemed like an attempt by Guardiola to bypass Liverpool's pressure by having De Bruyne play from the back, but the fact that it required some players to play out of position, and also constantly change the formation from attack to defense meant City was a total disaster during the first half.
Karmic redemption for De Rossi and Manolas's own goals in the first leg. Looks like they told them goals had to be scored on the other side of the pitch.
I'd like to say I'm surprised at Messi's disappointing performance in a match that turned out to be difficult, but I can't. That would be lying.
I'd like to say I'm surprised at Messi's disappointing performance in a match that turned out to be difficult, but I can't. That would be lying.
I woke up at 3:30am to watch the comeback, and hell no I wasn't disappointed. The embraces and emotions throughout Stadio Olimpico with each goal scored, man, that was amazing to watch. Luckily for Schick, his miss didn't come back to bite us (like Suarez would've done). All these years of suffering as a Roma fan has paid off in this quarter finals. De Rossi with 1 goal and 1 assist, Manolas with the clinching goal makes up for those own goals in the first leg. Funny how there were like 5 minutes wasted for free kicks in the first half but there was no time added, though. Gotta hand it to UEFAlona.
Oh, and Fraudiola is still ass. Glad Salah knocked his team out.
Oh, and Fraudiola is still ass. Glad Salah knocked his team out.
Surely Salah is in contention for the Balon D'Or now? I know Ronaldo is the huge favourite but 2nd or 3rd place for Salah wouldn't be out of the question for me. Messi is great, yes but whenever he has an off game, Barcelona simply collapsed (against PSG and Roma). His goal record in UCL is not that great too. Neymar's season has been derailed by injuries so he needs a strong World Cup. Not watched much of Lewandowski so can't comment.
As for the UCL, we are in the Semis for the first time since forever. Of course people say Roma is the "weakest" but any team that beats Barcelona 3-0 shouldn't be underestimated. Remember, they handled Atletico Madrid and Chelsea too. Whoever we get, I think we will give them a good game.
As for the UCL, we are in the Semis for the first time since forever. Of course people say Roma is the "weakest" but any team that beats Barcelona 3-0 shouldn't be underestimated. Remember, they handled Atletico Madrid and Chelsea too. Whoever we get, I think we will give them a good game.
We are the weakest team of the remaining 4, though. It takes a lot to get the best out of them (hell, we've had draws against teams like Genoa, Chievo, Sampdoria, Bologna and even lost vs Atalanta and that Sampdoria squad). We may not be weak, but we're definitely the weakest of the four. We literally have never been this far in the Champions League, though we did make the finals of the European Cup in the 1983/84 season, where we lost to Liverpool on penalties...
So we have Bayern vs Madrid again in the UCL knock-out stages. Interested to see how Heyneckes's Bayern fare against Real who really looked under siege at the Bernabeu. Ronaldo is still a goal machine though.
The sideshow will be us against Roma. A bit concerned though as I don't think Roma will come at us and allowing us to press.
The sideshow will be us against Roma. A bit concerned though as I don't think Roma will come at us and allowing us to press.
Did anyone see this leak before the draw? It not only has the draw right but also the date on which the game will be played at the Stadio Olimpico. As if we needed more "UEFA rigs the draws" conspiracy theories...
UEFA will have to excuse us, we're not used to being this far in the competition and didn't know this was supposed to be confidential until after the draw :(
UEFA will have to excuse us, we're not used to being this far in the competition and didn't know this was supposed to be confidential until after the draw :(
If there's money to be made then I'm sure they will find a way to rig draws/referees/whatever (short of fixing matches themselves) to get a result they think will maximise interest/TV figures. FIFA and UEFA's track record of blatant corruption obviously doesn't help these theories go away.
Surely they will want to rig it so that Bayern and Real avoid each other? With all due respect, neither us or Roma are a big enough club to make the final more interesting to neutrals.
Maybe their marketing drones calculated they would get 17% more TV viewership if there was an underdog in the final? Maybe to avoid the possibility of a Liverpool vs Roma final and ensure one European heavyweight will be there? I don't know; I'm not saying they did rig it but I'm not naive enough to think they don't have the capability to do it and it wouldn't surprise me if they did.
destinyunknown
Banned deucer.
It's probably better for UEFA to have different teams (and especially countries) represented in the finals, as it makes the tournament more appealing to sponsors and keeps a bigger market interested. If the same 2 countries make the final every year, while a big league like England's keeps failing to reach the finals, that may end up causing a loss of viewership in the long run. In general, a stale competition ends up being boring so diversity is preferred (which is the reason the group stage seeding system was changed to benefit smaller leagues) Furthermore, this draw makes sure that Bayern and Real Madrid face each other, while also being a 2-game affair, so it's all in all a net positive for UEFA. I'd say the fans win in this situation too, because Champions League semifinals have usually been better than the finals in recent times, and we also get an underdog in the finals to root for.
I think the same thing happened in the Europa League draw. UEFA most likely wanted a French team to make the finals, so that's why they made Marseille play Salzburg.
In other news, Julian Brandt signed a contract extension with Leverkusen. This flew under the radar despite being pretty important, as Brandt is one of the greatest talents in Germany and he would have been snatched by Bayern otherwise. Leverkusen have a lot of young talent (Bailey, Havertz, Tah, Retsos, etc) and while it's unlikely that they'll be able to retain all their key players until they're able to challenge for the title, Brandt's decision is a big step towards that. Bailey does have a contract until 2022 as well but with all the hype surrounding him the last few months I'll be surprised if he doesnt get a big offer soon.
Brandt signed an extension? Thought he would join Bayern like so many others.
destinyunknown
Banned deucer.
https://www.bayer04.de/en-us/news/bayer04/bayer-04-agree-new-deal-with-julian-brandt
Yes, there were transfer rumours about Brandt leaving for Liverpool or Munich next summer, which is why I find it surprising that the news of him signing a new contract went unnoticed.