The two best teams in Europe meet in the CL final. ... It doesn't always happen. I don't want any controversies (weird red cards, controversial penalties, dives), and may the best team win... Oh, and no extra time and penalties.
there are people on this board who still think Bundesliga is better than La Liga smh 2 teams from la liga in the ucl final (Barcelona - was knocked out earlier but probably a better team than Bayern is in reality) 2 teams from la liga in the semi-final of uefa europa league (it would have been 3 if Sevilla hadn't knocked out Real Betis on pks in earlier round - draw pitted two La Liga squads against each other just like in the semi-final) the only team to reach Europa League knockout stage was Eintracht Frankfurt and they were bounced right away in the round of 32
Easy now Barca is not better than Bayern. Atleti and Real most certainly are. Atleti more questionable than Real Madrid obviously considering they thrashed Bayern. You cant forget Dortmund have had their whole team injured nearly all season and still were 1 open net miss away from sending Madrid home despite missing key players. I dont like the whole comparing leagues thing at all. It never really works and theres too many counters to anyones argument that it would drag on forever. Lots of teams in Europa league are playing games where they must juggle their squad around and some teams are more desperate to make a run there than in their own leagues(mainly due to possibility/threat of not making it high enough in standings for a spot next year).
Every year I would like to watch teams led by Mourinho, Simeon, ancelotti, Rodgers, klopp and Garcia play against each other in the cl. That would be fun. Anyone ever wanted to watch the managers as they are now get on the pitch and play?
Wow Benfica. Would've much rather seen Juventus in the final. That Jan Oblak goalie though is pretty good.
RANDOM FACT: Benfica with Oblak in goal is still unbeaten - 22 games [20W, 2D, 0L]. The 21 year old goalkeeper conceded 6 goals so far for them and 18 clean sheets!
Unbelievable defending from Benfica. Backline was super impressive. Offsides trap(something I really hate) was on point. Shut down Juve in the box. Oblak made some key saves. And to think they defending this well with 10 men and then 9 men is amazing.
Yea, but Juve also showed they don't have a dominant forward in this game. And that mess up by Lichsteiner at the end of the game... Oh man... That was rough to watch. Vidal also maybe should've put his chance away, but that was a strong ball from Asamoah.
Dominant forward wouldnt have helped. The defending was superb. The Llorente-Tevez combo has killed nearly every team. Llorente holds the ball up. Tevez runs off him takes the ball. Llorente makes a run towards middle of the goal. Tevez either shoots or dinks it back to Llorente. They couldnt do that at all today. Benfica were simply outstanding on defense and were unlucky to snag some goals themselves so cant really use the Juve shouldve buried their chances excuse.
I fail to recall any good chances that weren't tough angles and done with too much pace by Benfica. Literally 0 come to my mind. They waited on the backfoot waiting to counter, but only had 2 decent (key word decent) counters the whole game. Juve SHOULD have buried their chances. Someone strong and good in the air would've been able to carve out at least a very good rebound today with the amount of crosses Juve was trying to send in. And they should've been more aware of the offside trap Benfica were playing. Also you can't tell me Lichsteiner did what the average footballer would've done.
Like I said before Benfica had chances. A chance doesnt always necessarily end with a shot on goal. They were 1-2 touches away from potential goals. The way Benfica played is the way almost any team would play when they have a 1 goal advantage going into the other teams home stadium. Sit back. Wait for mistakes. Hope to get the away goal. And then continue to play masterful defense. The weather certainly didnt help Benfica or Juve. Easy to say they should be aware of offsides trap. Not easy to do when youre focused on a thru ball sent in the air or consistently focused on the ball. The whole point of the offsides trap is to disguise it. Have to be unpredictable with it in order for it to work. Lichtsteiner isnt a finisher or prolific goal scorer. He has 2 goals ALL SEASON. When your relying on him to finish a ball in the rain when he isnt on the field to score then you know the other team is locking you down. Several Juve players are strong in the air. It easy to say that they should get a head on the ball but when youre playing against Luisao(6'3) and Garay(6'2) who are both great aerial defenders you wont always get above them.
FOR €40 MILLION, TO BE OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED AFTER THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL Chelsea snap up Diego Costa http://www.marca.com/2014/05/02/en/football/international_football/1399047921.html
Wise move Mourinho. He'll love Mourinho and Im sure he'll have a great system set up next year since he has plenty of time to observe the WC and a ton of money
I wonder if they will sell Hazard to PSG, Hazard criticized Mourinho after the match and Mourinho replied. Hazard also said something about his wife wanting to live in Paris instead of London a few months ago.