NFT: UEFA Champions League: Barcelona vs PSG

They are constantly pressing the backline of Barcelona and they are unable to get the ball forward, wonder if they will be able to keep this press going all match.

Christian Pulisic on the bench for Dortmund.

DiMaria with the perfect free kick.

Barca look like shit.

in the 18'to give PSG a well deserved 1-0 lead.

They had a good thing going when they were relying heavily on their academy. Now they're just spending huge money like everyone else. Iniesta is getting older, and they still haven't replaced Xavi years later.

This is why the Golden Ball is such bullshit. Messi and Ronaldo get goals, but it's the guys like Iniesta, Kroos, and Vidal that are the real engines behind the teams that are constantly in the mix for all the silverware. Those guys are the actual best players in the world.

from being a 1st half blow out.

shredded. 2-0.

makes it 2-0.

.

Xavi and Iniesta from your youth academy. Even if you replace them with very good players, every other top team is stocked with very good players.

3-0. Di Maria again.

by DiMaria! 3-0.

Mitroglou! 13 goals in 13 games.

In comment 13361033 giantBCP said:

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Xavi and Iniesta from your youth academy. Even if you replace them with very good players, every other top team is stocked with very good players.

You obviously can't expect the next class of kids to reach the quality of Xavi and Iniesta, but they wouldn't necessarily have had to. The key would have been to maintain the style that brought Barcelona so much success.

I can understand spending for Neymar and Suarez, but this team could have stuck with Fabregas and Thiago and not needed to spend on Rakitic, Gomes, or Turan. And they never should have let Pedro walk; that guy was key to doing the dirty work to let Messi roam free.

They're going to be in a bad way in a couple years. Wait and see.

Aubameyang is having an awful game - missed a ton of chances and now a penalty.

like this is Bayern a few years back. Never saw something like this coming. Di Maria looking like he's back at Madrid, Rabiot going box to box, Draxler looking like a fantastic addition, Veratti pulling the strings. They're countering at will.

Had heard so much about PSG not being the same team this season but this is great football to watch.

I've loved watching Pedro at Chelsea this season. Completely agree, does all the little things and is still capable of moments of brilliance himself.

Andre Gomes was a horror show today. Their midfield 3 was invisible

to speak of... No longer a great team.
Good, can't stand the Catalans...

Amazing

Maybe Barca can go after Maurizio Sarri when they sack Enrique.

big-time save.

without Thiago Motta slowing the play down.

Dortumund just couldn't finish.

in the 10 minutes he played....I don't watch much (any) Bundesliga, so it's nice to see him play with the big boys. Odd game, they blew it, but they are still very much in it when they get back to Germany.

Mitroglou is on fire, and took the only change they had. Wouldn't be shocked to see 2-0 Dortmund in Germany.

... some thrashing there. Nice goals by PSG.

When they play again, if Barca wants to move past this round they have to win by 5 goals right?

In comment 13361137 NYG27 said:

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When they play again, if Barca wants to move past this round they have to win by 5 goals right?

there are some variations on that theme, but basically yeah - note that no Champions League team has ever come back from losing 4-0 in the first leg.

eat the clock as much as they can on their possessions. Yeah, had to see Barca coming back, those two second half goals were huge for Paris SG.

The biggest UCL comeback I know of was pulled off by the team I support: Deportivo La Coruna. They lost 4-1 away to AC Milan, but won 4-0 at home in the second leg. Highlights below.

The early 2000s Depor teams were really, really good.
Link - ( New Window )

That's one approach, but scoring even one away goal would be huge for PSG. So, for example, PSG losing 5-1 is not a tie even though goal differential is even, because PSG's away goal would be the tiebreaker.

(That was to NYG27, not GT...)

In comment 13361154 Go Terps said:

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The biggest UCL comeback I know of was pulled off by the team I support: Deportivo La Coruna. They lost 4-1 away to AC Milan, but won 4-0 at home in the second leg. Highlights below. The early 2000s Depor teams were really, really good. Link - ( New Window )

At that time they wanted Javi but Gijon wouldn't let him go

Their star player at the time (a very long time ago) Juan Valeron just recently retired from football at the age of 40.

Read a piece on him a few weeks ago, but don't remember where...could it have been Rory Smith.

Anyway, the story made the case that Valeron was one of the greatest players ever to walk the pitch, his teammates would do anything for him, but injuries sapped his career, a Xavi type player, but I may have this all wrong.

An incredible player whose career was marred by injury. Iniesta said he was the only player he'd pay money to see play. He's also the reason that David Silva wears the number 21. For a very short period around 2003 or so Valeron may have been the best player in the world. He's as good as anyone I've ever seen at making the through pass that destroyed the offside trap.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink said he was the best player he ever played with, and that guy played with Bergkamp.

Seems like a million years ago considering what Depor is now.

but similar in thoughts and tenor on Valeron (I spent three months in the Canary Is. many, many moons ago, incredible diversity, beauty, and nature)...

and to put him above Bergkamp, yes, something

http://thesefootballtimes.co/2015/08/06/valeron-last-dance/

This may be the article you're thinking of.
Link - ( New Window )

are nasty.

How is Callejon working out over there?

They use him off the ball much more, and he's a menace when used that way. When Rafa was there, he was on the ball much more and was trying to play more like a playmaker, and that's really not his game. They attack and create most of the play on the left side through Insigne, and Callejon does a lot of damage making runs and scoring goals.

Quality player that got jerked around at Real Madrid. I'm glad he's settled in somewhere that knows how to use him.

It's amazing the damage that Barcelona and Real Madrid are doing to an entire generation of young Spanish players. It's good that Callejon got away from that circle.

don't know how to play when they don't have the ball.

.

And Ancelotti is the perfect manager for them.

We've seen Robben score that same exact goal a million times. I don't know how anyone could possibly allow him to cut inside on his left anymore.

In comment 13361911 Go Terps said:

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This may be the article you're thinking of. Link - ( New Window )

GT, yes, that is exactly the one. A very poignant, almost elegiac splendid tribute. Wish I had seen him play.
Thanks.

Pretty much across all ten on the field they are very efficient, look for each other--and they are good getting to space--but can also create and threaten over the ball. Amazing how Lahm just keeps going, and your point on Robben is spot on; Lewandowski is so dangerous in the air in the PA.

I must have replayed it ten times, but I still didn't see what the ref saw on the penalty. Sanchez pounced like a cat on the second rebound. Two consecutive 5 - 1 beatings at the hand of Bayern in successive UEFA cycles...poor Arsène.

Is there anyone close to Neuer as a keeper--genuine question. If Navas were the same size (and same agility as he has), I'd place him in the conversation.

A slightly lesser known keeper that is very good is the Brazilian Diego Alves from Valencia. I have never seen anyone better at stopping penalties...last I saw he had saved 22 of 45 penalties he'd faced. Counting others that had missed, I believe the penalty success rate against him is under 50%. It's to the point where he's in the heads of the penalty takers, and they're starting to get too cute with their shots.

But yeah no one tops Neuer. I tend to favor those keepers that are excellent positionally and get involved in the build up play like he does. A goalie's distribution matters...it's the one thing I've always disliked about Tim Howard's game. Someone like Neuer, Ter Stengen, or in his day Victor Valdes adds goals to his team over the course of a season. No doubt about it.

In comment 13362232 Go Terps said:

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A slightly lesser known keeper that is very good is the Brazilian Diego Alves from Valencia. I have never seen anyone better at stopping penalties...last I saw he had saved 22 of 45 penalties he'd faced. Counting others that had missed, I believe the penalty success rate against him is under 50%. It's to the point where he's in the heads of the penalty takers, and they're starting to get too cute with their shots. But yeah no one tops Neuer. I tend to favor those keepers that are excellent positionally and get involved in the build up play like he does. A goalie's distribution matters...it's the one thing I've always disliked about Tim Howard's game. Someone like Neuer, Ter Stengen, or in his day Victor Valdes adds goals to his team over the course of a season. No doubt about it.

Thanks, GT, I'll keep an eye out for Alves, and need to take in more La Liga generally. Quality of the broadcast on Cablevision/BeInSport is sometimes very poor.

No question on the distribution point: it takes vision, an arm, accuracy, and quick decision making and the keeper's team can go numbers up in the attacking half before the defense has a chance to organize. Although Cech is getting up in years, my impression is that he is/was canny about getting the ball out very quickly, to a mid who would let it run or turn with it and go.