Champions League, Round of 16

Zososoxfan

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Semedo makes a nifty run in behind, gets a beautiful ball from Busi, centers awkwardly for Griez who finishes a tricky chance for the big away goal. VAMOS!!
 

67YAZ

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Barca figured out how to get forward down the flanks this half. They look somewhat likely to get a winner.
 

Zososoxfan

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Welp, this got fucked in a hurry. Vidal draws a double yellow and gets sent off. So both he and Vidal are gone for the return leg. And now Pique looks hurt. Barca may only have 13 senior players available for the next match :(
 

67YAZ

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Welp, this got fucked in a hurry. Vidal draws a double yellow and gets sent off. So both he and Vidal are gone for the return leg. And now Pique looks hurt. Barca may only have 13 senior players available for the next match :(
Ooofff, Vidal.

Napoli played so defensively that I’m not sure what else they can pull out for the return leg.
 

67YAZ

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In his prime Fernandinho did so much for City. Rodri is just not to that level.
 

Vinho Tinto

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It's remarkable that Ramos is an unquestioned captain, the equivalent of a first ballot hall of famer, and also has 26 career red cards.
 

Zososoxfan

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Ramos and Red Cards. Name a more iconic duo. TBF, Jesus went down super easy, but in a blatant last man scenario like that you have to expect it.
 

Vinho Tinto

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They spent a fair amount of money to bring in Militao from Porto last summer, only to have him stapled to the bench for most of this season. Have to assume he replaces Ramos in the return leg.
 

Zososoxfan

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They spent a fair amount of money to bring in Militao from Porto last summer, only to have him stapled to the bench for most of this season. Have to assume he replaces Ramos in the return leg.
It was really jarring for me to see the likes of Jovic and Bale coming off the bench for Madrid, whereas Barca are relying on Martin Braithwaite (early promising returns notwithstanding) and Barca B graduates.
 

SocrManiac

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Sarri might be the biggest fraud manager in the modern era. It takes an awful lot of effort to make the volume of talent on his roster completely toothless.
 

67YAZ

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Lyon take Juve today in the 'other' UCL matchup. Lyon sit 7th in the Ligue 1 table, but they are 3rd on GD. They put the ball in the net and concede at a very respectable rate. They're 2-1-2 (W-L-D) in their last 5, losing to PSG and drawing with Strasbourg and Amiens. One of their wins was over Marseille in the French Cup. Most of their scoring comes from Moussa Dembele (not that Moussa Dembele). He has 14 goals and has been relied upon with Depay going down. The other stars here are Aouar and Thiago Mendes. From what I can tell the rest of the XI are also solid although not household names. This is a very young squad that got some experience making it to the knockouts last year. They played Barca to a draw at home before getting shellacked 5-1 in the return leg. Ndombele and Mendy were on that team though and Depay was healthy. Nevertheless, I think they will give Juve some problems.
This was a good call even if it was in the wrong thread.
 

Zososoxfan

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This was a good call even if it was in the wrong thread.
Ha! Didn't even realize that till now. Watching the highlights (was this match even broadcast in the US?), it seems like Lyon dominated the first half but were wasteful with their finishing. 1-0 is good but not great result at home. I only saw 1-2 real chances for Juve and that has to be a concern for Sarri although Juve at home only facing a 1 goal deficit is NBD. It gets real interesting though if Lyon get an away goal.
 

Zososoxfan

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Bump!

Spurs travel to Leipzig to try and overturn their 0-1 loss at WHL. Looking at the preview, there must be some kind of glitch because it says that Spurs' recent form is DLLLL...

Valencia take on Atalanta down 4-1. Although La Liga has announced that the next 2 rounds and future UCL/UEL matches will be behind closed doors, I believe that policy doesn't go into effect until Friday.
 

The Raccoon

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Some Champions and Europa League matches to be played in empty stadiums. La Liga too.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/51813756
https://en.as.com/en/2020/03/10/football/1583837356_282703.html
Already half of the 8 matches played this and next week will be without fans:
Valencia-Atalanta
PSG-BVB
Juve-Lyon
Barca-Napoli

I would be very surprised if the remaining 4 will all be played with fan attendance though. News about cancelled events are coming in every minute right now in the EU (or germany in my case).

Edit: Bavaria just cancelled all fan attendance for events with >1000 fans, which will include the Bayern-Chelsea game next week....
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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Bulgaria has announced the Euro qualification playoff in a few weeks will be behind closed doors as well, and there is speculation the other 7 games may follow. Or at least some of them. Iceland is an interesting case. They have some geographic advantages that could keep them able to contain the virus relatively effectively so it will be interesting to see whether they wish to play their playoff game with fans, including the travelling Romania fans.
 

Zososoxfan

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Both teams came roaring out of the gate and Spurs' 3 at the back system was looking good for a bit, but that was some horribad defending there. You could see all 3 CBs and a 4th man all hustling to get back on the break (good) but all of them were ball watching and didn't see that all of RBL's attackers had pulled back. That left GLC and Winks without an idea of who to cover on the rebound, and the trailer hit a very nice shot low and to the corner. Spurs were likely going to need 2 here anyway.
 

Kliq

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Tottenham are so, so bad. I know they have injuries, but their back three is Tanganga, Dier and Toby. Just a terrible, predictable team. I am so unimpressed with Mourinho right now, he has run this team further into the ground.
 

Zososoxfan

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Welp, that should do it. Serge can fuck right off. The guy is just a very unintelligent player who's good qualities don't even come close to making up for his poor ones. I don't think I have a problem with Tang there--he tracked the runner reasonably well and it was a bang bang play. Same with Hugo, although I guess you always tell keepers to make them beat you far post.
 

Kliq

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Welp, that should do it. Serge can fuck right off. The guy is just a very unintelligent player who's good qualities don't even come close to making up for his poor ones. I don't think I have a problem with Tang there--he tracked the runner reasonably well and it was a bang bang play. Same with Hugo, although I guess you always tell keepers to make them beat you far post.
Tanganga wasn't necessarily responsible for that goal, but this back three is a joke. People have been hard on Jan all season for seemingly losing a step, but I can't believe how much Eric Dier we have seen this year. Playing a back three with Dier in the middle not only exposes his weaknesses, but also forces Toby out of position.

Mourinho was the wrong coach, especially just springboarding him into the club on the wake of axing Poch. His lineups have been consistently odd, the team has played terrible football and I don't know how it improves with Mourinho at the helm, even with Kane/Son coming back.
 

coremiller

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Tanganga wasn't necessarily responsible for that goal, but this back three is a joke. People have been hard on Jan all season for seemingly losing a step, but I can't believe how much Eric Dier we have seen this year. Playing a back three with Dier in the middle not only exposes his weaknesses, but also forces Toby out of position.

Mourinho was the wrong coach, especially just springboarding him into the club on the wake of axing Poch. His lineups have been consistently odd, the team has played terrible football and I don't know how it improves with Mourinho at the helm, even with Kane/Son coming back.
Mourinho has had an inexplicable crush on Dier for years (he tried to buy Dier when he was at Man Utd). He is playing Dier way too much when the performances don't justify it.
 

Kliq

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Mourinho has had an inexplicable crush on Dier for years (he tried to buy Dier when he was at Man Utd). He is playing Dier way too much when the performances don't justify it.
It isn't just that he is playing Dier, but where he is lined up is reckless. If he wanted to put Dier where Winks is, and then play Sanchez/SuperJan where Dier is now, that would be more understandable. The fact that he is now the lynchpin of this defense is a joke.
 

Zososoxfan

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Tottenham are so, so bad. I know they have injuries, but their back three is Tanganga, Dier and Toby. Just a terrible, predictable team. I am so unimpressed with Mourinho right now, he has run this team further into the ground.
Agreed. Both goals and additional chances have resulted from Dier's communication with Tang and Toby.
 

Zososoxfan

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It isn't just that he is playing Dier, but where he is lined up is reckless. If he wanted to put Dier where Winks is, and then play Sanchez/SuperJan where Dier is now, that would be more understandable. The fact that he is now the lynchpin of this defense is a joke.
Dier has said explicitly he sees his future at CB, and I'm sure neutral observers agree (I certainly do). But why in God's name you would try him there in a back 3 with a young player on a huge stage is far beyond me.
 

coremiller

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Dier has said explicitly he sees his future at CB, and I'm sure neutral observers agree (I certainly do). But why in God's name you would try him there in a back 3 with a young player on a huge stage is far beyond me.
Dier's future is on the bench. He is not a good enough passer to play in midfield and he makes too many errors to play at CB. He's a useful squad player because he can cover several positions but if he's first-choice it means the team isn't good enough.
 

67YAZ

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Looks like a damp & raucous night at Anfield. Adrian in goal, and the midfield is Ox-Gini-The Captain. Fabinho on the bench...in Klopp we trust.

Edit: Costa with a fantastic run and good chance inside 30 seconds. Both teams are coming out hot.
 

DLew On Roids

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The set piece that couldn’t connect with Trippier was a carbon copy of one that Wolves almost scored on in the December fixture. Both try to use Liverpool’s high line on set pieces to create space. I wonder if Nuno and Simeone have worked together.
 

fletcherpost

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I don't mind Atletico coming forwards if Liverpool can recycle the ball quickly and make something happen before Atletico park the bus.

It's amazing how much time you can waste when you keep crowding the ref.