Champions League, Round of 16

bosox4283

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Can anyone stop Liverpool? Well, I'm hoping that Atletico can emerge today with a result that gives them a chance going to Anfield in a month or so.

Other matches today/tomorrow are:

Dortmund - PSG
Atalanta - Valencia
Tottenham - RB Leipzig

Next week:
Chelsea - Bayern
Napoli - Barcelona
Lyon - Juventus
Real Madrid - Man City
 

DJnVa

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TNT is showing Liverpool? Man, that Dortmund/PSG game could be wild...
 

bosox4283

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Can anyone stop Liverpool? Well, I'm hoping that Atletico can emerge today with a result that gives them a chance going to Anfield in a month or so.
Atletico are without wunderkid Joao Felix, who is still recovering from an injury and a cold/flu. In his place is Lemar, the usually-disappointing midfielder. I guess that "In Simeone We Trust", but this move confuses me. Lemar tends to perform below expectations, while Marcos Llorente has recently been sharp in the midfielder and Vitolo provides more play-making confidence.
 

67YAZ

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I think Liverpool-Atleti has more potential than @bosox4283 is expecting. Both teams will want to win in the midfield. The home side will sit back a bit knowing that breaking down defenses is not Liverpool's strong suit, and Liverpool will probably come out cautiously trying to figure out where to attack. After a slow start, this match should pick up as Liverpool will want the away goal. That's my prediction, which guarantees a raucous start and a slow finish.

Haland starting for Dortmund. At his current pace, he's good for 7-8 goals today.
 

CPT Neuron

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Athleti with 12 men behind the ball now - going to be a 75 or 80% posession game with few if any meaningful chances to speak of...
 

PedroSpecialK

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Honestly, love the response thus far since the goal. Carrying play for the last 10-12 minutes, possession around the area. I'd give this some time

What a clear Robertson
 

bosox4283

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I sort of appreciate that Simeone recognizes that he cannot go blow-for-blow against Liverpool, but this tactic of sit-back-and-wait puts me on edge. I'd like to see a bit more aggressiveness from the Atletico rather than 70 minutes of hoping, praying, for a counter.
 

67YAZ

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This is where the lack of creativity through the middle really hurts - perhaps an early call to Keita?
Liverpool has been good with the long ball this season, especially from Henderson. Atleti are still pressing high - there will be opportunities to go over the top. Uhhh...but they have to defend, though. That was close.
 

teddykgb

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Lodi looks quite a prospect. Atletico have always done well at that position.

Hard to imagine this Atletico team doing much without Saul maintaining this level. He’s everywhere right now but I don’t see how he can hold up as good as he is.

Morata is such an anchor. Liverpool will feel confident they can find an away goal or turn it around at home
 

Catcher Block

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Salah boxes out the defender, has perfect position, and gets called because the defender kicked him. 65 more minutes of this will be brutal.
 

67YAZ

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Some frustration creeping in with the long-range shots. But Liverpool are winning possession in good spots...

TAA has these bad matches, though they are fewer and farther between these days. His last dud was the draw against ManU. But Roberston looks feisty enough for both of them today.
 

teddykgb

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Don’t really understand why Simeone has Correa so central and morata drifting wide so much. To me you beat Liverpool by dealing with their fullbacks who are really just advanced wingers. Fabinho and Henderson are the actual full backs and you need to get the ball wide with pace to make them pay for how forward they commit them. Instead Atletico have two mediocre at best attackers running right at Liverpool’s central defense
 

PedroSpecialK

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Was never gonna be easy going to the Metropolitano - good recovery since the early goal, some decent chances created. Getting out at 1-1 with the away goal would be an outstanding result, but 1-0 isn't the end of the world.
 

PedroSpecialK

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Could've been worse, could've been better. Felix being fit rather than the dumpster fire known as Morata gives me some concern going into Leg 2 for sure
 

bosox4283

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Holding the opponent to zero at home is a huge step, and even more exciting when it is Liverpool. That said, Atletico needs to find a way to score a goal in the second leg.
 

67YAZ

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Robertson avoided a second yellow, which is important for the home leg. I have to assume Mane tweaked his hamstring again? He needs to be healthy for the attack to operate at full force.
 

PedroSpecialK

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Robertson avoided a second yellow, which is important for the home leg. I have to assume Mane tweaked his hamstring again? He needs to be healthy for the attack to operate at full force.
Apparently Klopp removed Mané because didn't want him to incur a second yellow. Given he swung his arm at Vrsaljko and could've gotten a second booking at the end of half 1, that seemed prudent.
 

67YAZ

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Klopp confirms he pulled Mane fearing a second yellow.

Obviously, the plan tonight was get Sadio out of the game with a yellow card. I was afraid his opponent would go down now even if Sadio takes a deep breath or whatever and I didn’t want to have that situation, so that’s why we took him off. Mo was just a tactical change, that’s all. We wanted to change a little bit and that’s what we did.
Klopp also got in a little jibe at Simone.

I'm not sure if Diego saw a lot of the game because he was constantly animating the crowd, but we have the other side.
 

PedroSpecialK

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Lol for a considerable amount of matches at Anfield, Klopp is essentially conducting the crowd to get behind the team.

Frustrating first leg and it's coming out as some whining. Gotta give credit where it's due sometimes - Simeone was missing his best CB and best attacker, and Atlético still held Liverpool to 0 attempts on target.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Without Son and Kane, how good can the Spurs be? I'm not being sarcastic -- I just wonder what the expectations are down the top two players (and, maybe, adding that Erikson was sold in the transfer window).
They're in a tough spot for sure with the attacking injuries. But I didn't expect them to get so thoroughly outplayed at home.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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I don't disagree, but with Son and Kane they lost to Bayern by a combined 10-3 score in the fall. They're a funny team to figure out.
True enough.

I should also add that RBL deserve a lot of credit. They came with a plan to seize control of the match from the beginning and could have scored twice within the first two minutes.
 

Zososoxfan

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Next week:
Chelsea - Bayern
Napoli - Barcelona
Lyon - Juventus
Real Madrid - Man City
Bump!

Copied from my post in the Barca thread:

Napoli come into the UCL tie winning 4 of their last 5, including a Coppa win over Inter. Most of the wins have been a 1-goal margin except for the Sampdoria match at the beginning of the month. They have good scoring balance between Milik, Mertens, and Insigne. Bizarro Pique (Llorente) is a goof but also a very useful late sub as his late season run with Spurs last season showed. Insigne in particular is a dynamic player and he's helped a lot by Callejon in getting the ball to the forwards. Zielinski (the auto parts King) is also one to watch, and Lorenzo can be effective out of the backline. Fabian Ruiz is also a rising star at just 23. Allan is or at least was a talented player, but I haven't seen much of him recently. Led by hilarious perpetual redass Gattuso, I think this tie should be lots of fun.

Can anyone shed additional light on Napoli's current form and how they're doing generally post-Carlo. They currently sit 6th in the Calcio with a +4 GD with a fairly low score total and a generally unimpressive goals conceded value. Koulibaly being out makes a big difference certainly.
 

Zososoxfan

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Not a lot of a Napoli fans in the Gazza huh?

RM-MANC is a great matchup. Hazard is out for the season as MANC presumably will push all their chips into UCL. Barca are unable to field a front 3 that isn't Messi-Griezmann-Fati. Semedo is sitting on YC accumulation with no backup at RB.

In a tidbit that belongs in the Footy Broadcasting thread, I've decided to replace Sling with Fubo Latino starting next month. Sling can't offer beIN (La Liga) and Unimas (UCL secondary broadcasts) within one package. I pair it with YTTV to get NBC Sports (EPL) and TNT (UCL primary).
 

67YAZ

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Only caught the last 10 for the Napoli-Barca first half, but looks like everything is coming up Mertens so far. His goal was very pretty. And Messi is coming way deep to find the ball - there’s been very little build up or threat from Barca. They’ve got to try something different in the second half.
 

Zososoxfan

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Only caught the last 10 for the Napoli-Barca first half, but looks like everything is coming up Mertens so far. His goal was very pretty. And Messi is coming way deep to find the ball - there’s been very little build up or threat from Barca. They’ve got to try something different in the second half.
Firpo was unlucky on the goal to have the ricochet fall right to the Napoli player. I think there's a small gripe with Semedo for doubling Pique's man leaving his open, but that's a bang bang play and the danger is coming from the striker.

Napoli were setup in an incredibly low block with 10 behind the ball for the majority of the first half. Barca weren't able to create many chances but that's how playing against a low block works. The only real major complaint I have is the MF defensive system. Vidal and Griez are both involved in all the pressing, and because of Messi they have to work their asses off--sometimes leading the press and at other times supporting the other player. WRT the MF, at various times Busi is pushing up and helping the press, and at other times it's Raki, even less often it's FDJ. But what seems obvious is that defensively speaking it's mostly positionless between the 3 of them, and that's a huge mistake. FDJ is young and has legs/lungs for days. Raki may not have the superhuman stamina he once had, but he's still fit, especially if he knows he's not going the full 90. But you know who's slow and not that good in a press anyway?? Busi!! I'd look for Barca to make more changes to their press than the attack, and ultimately bring on Fati, Arthur, or Puig to push on for the away goal after an hour.