At least it would be interesting. The last time we faced Liverpool was in 1981 and Atlético way back in the 1974 finals. It's time to meet again. )
I agree with most of what you said, but I don't think Cech has 5 more years at the top level left in him. Maybe 3, but not more, but that's my opinion. Even if he does, by then Courtois has a good chance of surpassing him. Chelsea might pobably let him go and include a buy-back clause for later, Spanish clubs usually agree to buy-back clauses. From Courtois's perspective, it'd probably be great on a sporting level to play at Atletico for the next 2-3 years and then head back to Chelsea to rake in the moolah whilst still competing for trophies at the hightest level. This way Chelsea get a great GK, Atletico get a hefty transfer sum as usual, and Courtois gets success both on the field and contract wise. Win-win-win.
I think we can beat Liverpool in both legs.. Liverpool is hyped a lot but that don't play 3 competitions.. They remind me of bvb in 11 and 12. With a team like that with full energy and focus, runs like this happen. I thought about us getting Liverpool in the CL a couple years ago after watching that Liverpool series on fox
I really want to support Bayern at Anfield though...I wasn't even born the last time we faced them in 1981.
From what I've read and heard, Anfield is quite intimidating for visiting teams. If the team gets a bit rattled at Old Trafford, I wonder how they'd react to the Anfield atmosphere. It's not as if they haven't faced such a situation, the yellow wall at Dortmund seems quite intimidating to me, but our players (esp Schweinsteiger) seem to be in awe of the traditional English teams. Whether that is because of the hype, the history or the success of the EPL in the last decade is up for debate.
Liverpool need at least three class signings and not losing Suarez to compete next season. Will be interesting to see what happens in summer with them. Title should give them draw to attract top class talent again.
Not initially though. The first few minutes of the game, ManU kept coming at us and the team took it's time to stamp authority on the game. And do you remember the first half in 2010? You should hear some of their quotes before the matches. Also, they seem to take more time to settle into a game vs English opposition than against others, that's my inference.
I think you underestimate the challenges which lie ahead of Liverpool, they still have a huge mountain to climb, on and off the pitch. They won't be even thinking about expensive top-class talent at this point. The new Anfield Stadium is only in the planning stages and at least 4-5 years away from realization. Even then they will have to pay back roughly € 300m for the construction costs, money they won't be able to spend on the team. Arsenal is at least 10-15 years ahead of them in that regard and United has the huge Old Trafford Stadium while Chelsea and City aren't dependent on match-day revenue due to their sheikh/oligarch support. Furthermore they accumulated a loss of € 100m over the last two years which was only partially caused by old and very expensive player contracts. After this successful season Liverpool has to extend player contracts and raise wages or they risk losing key players. On top of that they need to add quality and depth or they won't stand a chance to defend their top4 finish while competing in the Uefa Champions League. Considering their low match-day revenue and relatively weak commercial income, Liverpool will eventually get problems with the Uefa FFP control body. They don't like owners balancing the annual losses of their clubs. I wish Liverpool had invested into a new stadium much earlier... Their only hope is smart management and superior coaching by Brendan Rogers. Otherwise they will drop out of the top4 again sooner rather than later.
I definitely agree. Likewise I don't think they can immediately attract top talent but a title and Suarez stay will go a long way in competing for talent and getting their name into those tug of wars again. Not to mention their image and perception for that matter will improve drastically. Rodgers mentioned Dortmund as a model for success for a reason. I think they will take it slow this time and build gradually but I don't discount them making one or two clever moves this summer. Either way, keeping Rodgers is key above all else. I could seem them looking to the Bundesliga for acquisitions.
Sure in 2010 things were very different for both of these sides. United was coming off of a runner up season in the CL, and Bayern was in a transition phase with a new coach implementing a brand new playing philosophy. It makes sense that we would struggle then. Especially considering our lack of quality and depth. ManU "came at us" this time around, but we merely passed our way through their press and they didn't really cause any trouble.
I agree with your assesment. However, this was the same team that defeated them 2-1 at the Allianz arena, so they showed that they were capable of matching upto them. But in the first half, most of the players seemed shell shocked, like in the 2008-09 game against Barcelona. I'm probably not expressing myself correctly. I just feel that the players respect the traditional English teams more than the other big teams in Europe.
Bayern also generally play like shite in many games for the first 20 minutes. This time moreso due to United scoring, it lasted for 40 minutes before we started to play better.
This is so true... We seem to take about 20mins to get in the groove of things.. That's when teams usually take advantage of things early.
Do you think that Atletico can advance to the final? Sure, Matic can't play in the UCL and they got literally the worst strikers in European elite football, but they are defensively very solid and Mourinho's record at Stamford Bridge speaks for itself. Add the fact that Atletico lack depth and have to win all their competition games to win the league, and I'd say the chances are pretty much even.
Of course they can... In fact I think that this tie is 50-50, anything can happen ... I heard the best definition of this Atletico side the other day on an Brazilian TV sport show... " Atletico is an Copa Libertadores team playing the Champions League " Meaning that they play with heart and give everything they have on the pitch. And that obviously is thanks to their coach, who was the definition of heart, desire and effort back in his days as a player... That desire is the thing that makes me believe that they will beat Chelsea and hopefully, meet us in the final, just like 40 years ago...
I'd rep if it the button wasn't missing. You're right, but as I said they lack depth. I don't think they can keep this up for very long - while Chelsea, but also your club and Real Madrid can do that since they got so many depth players. Atletico seem to heavily rely on Courtois, Costa and Arda Turan. Without those 3, it's going to be hard for them to win their remaining games, especially if that agreement between them and Chelsea regarding Courtois is going to be activated. Btw Simeone (and Pochettino) is a former apprentice of Bielsa.
Indeed, they have less depth, but I disagree that they rely too much on Costa and Turan, after all they best Barca without both ... Courtois is definitely a key player, and he will definitely play, given that UEFA already warned Chelsea that they don't recognize such agreements and that if they activate the clause they will be punished ... As for the "La Liga", if they win their next 4 games they will be champions before their game against Barcelona... I think and hope they can do it...
But I couldn't visit the Vincente Calderon Stadium. :/ On the other hand, the Estadio Da Luz is also on my to-do list.