2014-15 Champions League: the Quixotic Quest to Qualify

[teddykgb]

 
Perhaps he is, and he made some great saves today, but I think Timmy Howard (or Claudio Bravo, more to the point) doesn't give up a rebound straight to Suarez on the game's decisive kick.
 
 
He's either hanging out with this guy, or he IS this guy:
 

Tim Howard? What a strange one

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Tim Howard? What a strange one

 
To be fair, if the last complete game you watched was the US-Belgium World Cup game, you would think that Tim Howard is the greatest keeper ever, too.

 

[MentalDisabldLst]

Thanks SFIC.  I've watched nearly every minute of the CL knockout rounds, just had Howard's book on the brain for some reason after seeing it in Barnes & Noble.
 
Messi's shot in the 68th minute wasn't so far from Buffon that he had to lay out at full extension.  He could have caught the ball.  I'm not saying a top keeper (which Buffon obviously is) catches it 100% of the time, but I'd say maybe 40-50% of the time.
 
Likewise, Ter Stegen didn't cover himself in glory on the Lichtsteiner shot (and Morata rebound), but that was from much closer range.

 

[Zomp]

 
Perhaps he is, and he made some great saves today, but I think Timmy Howard (or Claudio Bravo, more to the point) doesn't give up a rebound straight to Suarez on the game's decisive kick.
 
 

 
 
Don't think so much.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Thanks SFIC.  I've watched nearly every minute of the CL knockout rounds, just had Howard's book on the brain for some reason after seeing it in Barnes & Noble.
 
Messi's shot in the 68th minute wasn't so far from Buffon that he had to lay out at full extension.  He could have caught the ball.  I'm not saying a top keeper (which Buffon obviously is) catches it 100% of the time, but I'd say maybe 40-50% of the time.
 
Likewise, Ter Stegen didn't cover himself in glory on the Lichtsteiner shot (and Morata rebound), but that was from much closer range.

You are crazy. Both initial saves were very good saves. You can't control every rebound. If you watch the replay, Buffon has to come off his line to the right to cut down Messi's angle. Messi then went for the far post. Buffon has to dive to his left to get his body in front of it. The problem for Juve there was that the player who would normally clean up a rebound had to shift to Messi after he beat the first man, and Evra was late getting back to cut off Suarez. If the Messi shot is a bit worse, Buffon can probably smother it, as it was he had to reach while going to the ground just to get his arms in front of it, that's a really tough play to catch.
Stegen's was probably an even better save based on the distance and power on the shot, but he had a bit of bad rebound luck, and his defenders didn't pick up Morata. If that rebound goes up or to the right it's no problem, so a bit of a bad bounce, then terrible defending.

 

[crystalline]

Yes defensive marking in both cases was not ideal. In the case of Messi's shot Juve had two guys closing down Messi, pulling the defense away from Suarez. But in an ideal world Juve has a man on the goalie's weak side marking Suarez.

It was a good shot by Messi. He got two guys off balance and then threaded the ball between them to the far post.

 

[Tangled Up In Red]

I'm with MDL. I think Buffon should have done much better with the original shot / no rebound. Buffon would likely say the same.

 

[Schnerres]

There are a few reasons why Juve got that 2nd goal. The smallest might be Buffon´s save. I mean he was part of the action, so he could have done otherwise, but i wouldn´t say it was a mistake or he could do better. It was bad luck that the ball bounced that way. Messi shot hard from the line of the box, Buffon is standing close to the 6y box, so he is about 12y away and the ball bounces right in front of him. He himself might also take the blame himself, because he wouldn´t throw his teammates under the bus of course (and with a little luck, the ball bounces 20y away).
The first problem was the poor defending of #15 Bonucci, who lets Messi dribble past him 20y away from the goal at full speed? That is asking for a goal. He has to stop him, either get the ball or foul him and let them have a free kick.
Equally minimal bad but part of the goal is Evra, who is just looking for the ball, but i think so close to the goal, that just happens. I guess in a more lucky situation he ends up with the ball.
Another poor showing is Pirlo. This just perfectly shows his tempo. He might run 15km, but he jogs. Look at 2:15 of that video, when the play starts and Rakitic has the ball. Pirlo is 5+yards closer to Juve´s goal. He jogs. Rakitic sprints and then it´s a 2-on-1 where Rakitic+Suarez are vs. Evra and Pirlo is trailing them by 5+yards. He could have sprinted and he could have had that ball, if he would still be 5+yards ahead of Rakitic. I know he probably never does that (sprint back in own box).

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Thanks SFIC.  I've watched nearly every minute of the CL knockout rounds, just had Howard's book on the brain for some reason after seeing it in Barnes & Noble.

It was more a joke at your tendency to come into this forum with strong opinions during big tournaments, then disappear for a couple of years afterwards.

 

[MentalDisabldLst]

It was more a joke at your tendency to come into this forum with strong opinions during big tournaments, then disappear for a couple of years afterwards.

 
I'll cop to that.  I'm not as big a fan as you guys, and don't have as much to say about most of the matches I watch as I do about, say, baseball or tennis.