Well everyone has their opinion, but tomorow is not the match to start Villa. We need an away goal yes, but we also need to press Bayerns defense high up and try and force errors before they are able to get the ball in dangerous places at the feet of dangerous players.
I don't know guys maybe its a ploy. To me jupp is sounding like Bayern are trying to play a 1-0 type of game and go all out at the camp nou.. We're not a bunkering team, so it's interesting to see how this pans out.
Good day guys. This is my very first on these boards but I've been lurking around here for a while now. This forum in particular impressed me most as discussions tend be cultured and clean. so, credit where credit is due. As a newcomer, I'd like to introduce myself in a few lines. I'm not strictly a "Culé" but I do love and support Barça. In fact, I'm not a supporter of any single club; I'm a fan of the game and I love any club that persistently tries to play the game cleanly and beautifully. Porto, Benfica, Roma, Dortmund, PSV, 80's Liverpool (yes I'm old ), 90's Juventus, Boca Juniors, River Plate, mourinho-less Madrid and, above all, Barçelona are all clubs that I love (loved in the cases of Juve, Liverpool and Madrid). What I hate is parking-the-bus, long balls and most of all jose mourinho. Now, back on topic. I'm of the opinion that if there's a match where you should play cautiously, it is this match. By caution I certainly don't mean playing defensively. What I mean is playing Barça's usual style but with players who are capable of defending; because away to this Bayern defending is something you are likely to need to do for extended periods. This, as I see it, entails two things: 1- To NOT play with two flying full backs. Munich has two of the most destructive wingers in the business and playing two attacking full backs in front of them is a footballing suicide 2-To play with attackers who are good at pressing the opposition defence while at the same time are capable of tracking back to help defend against Bayern's strong wingers. Therefore, I'd like to see Alexis and Pedro partner Messi upfront and Abidal (If deemed fit enough) to play at left back, along side Pique and Bartra.
Bayern won't go all-out in either game I assure you, unless the scoreline deems it totally necessary. 301 consecutive games where Barca out-possess their opponent. And after tomorrow it will be 302. So it that sense we have a rough idea how the game will go. Only rough of course because we don't know how effective Bayern's defensive wall will be or how crisp Barca's passing will be, but Bayern won't see that much of the ball (obviously).
This is the first time after 2009 CL final, where Barca is seen as a slight underdog. I just hope the players are listening and hearing all these things so that they are fired up for this.
Believe me nobody despite some delusional Bayern fans are seeing Barca as underdog.. You might not be as dominant as usual the last view matches but that doesn't mean anything for future matches and it also doesn't mean you weren't the better team these past matches anyway. As much as I want to see a full German final the semi-final composition is made up for a full Spainish line-up. True story.
Lol who is saying Barca is underdog? even on the sports betting sites we are third behind Barca and real.
I was just about to ask when was the last time Barca was out-possessed. If it's 300+ games ago are we talking Rijkaard era? Speaking of the Rijkaard era, I remember many we're expecting a high scoring semifinal against Manchester United in the 2008 semifinals yet United advanced by only a 1-0 aggregate.
If I remember correctly, the 4-1 Clasico was the last time Barca were out possessed. So, we're talking about Rijkaard's last days.
I don't care what the betting sites are offering as they are bound to be cautious to offer generous odds for a Barca win. If you listen to most neutrals and "experts" around the world, there is no doubt that the higher percentage have Bayern as favourites and rightly so. We have looked ordinary without Messi and he is still not declared fit and our defence looks messy at the moment, while Bayern has never looked better in several years. For me it's a 50-50 tie, but general opinion around me is "well Bayern are very strong and they will win it but...... you can't write off Barca".
no one saying Bayern have the advantage and if anyone saying that then they lost their mind. if ANYTHING , its 50/50
I've not heard anyone call Barca the underdogs, it's more like people saying that Bayern has what it takes to beat Barca fair and square with very offensive tactics and that they can go toe to toe with Barca
Ugh, the pasillo game. When Pep took over a few weeks later I could just imagine how much he used that situation to motivate the players.
Bayern are the slight favorites for this, but it's not a big deal about who gets that tag because it is a 50-50 tie for the most part. I hope it's just as tight on the pitch. Well, that United team had the management and the personnel to pull off two strong defensive performances against Barca in that tie. This Bayern does as well and with just as much firepower perhaps. Xavi, Iniesta, Pique, Messi, Busquets, Alves, Alba, and so on are all much better players than they were then so it'll be a different story but I wouldn't rule out a 1-0 win or a 1-1 draw tomorrow. Low scoring first leg is the norm and it's probably what I expect for this.
I love how most of us Barca fans are thinking "Bayern are slight favorites" and most of the Bayern fans are thinking the same about us. It just goes to show how even of a match up this is. I believe that this tie will be a low scoring affair. I think both the sides are going to be reluctant to go all out this first leg and unless its completely necessary to do that for one team, I think second leg will be more of the same. Thats usually what ends up happening when two great sides meet. Hopefully I'm wrong and there are bags of goals, but more for us obviously. Another thing thats worrying me is how the whole week they were saying Messi is making great progress and that he will be fit for Bayern. But all of a sudden now they're saying we'll see how he feels tomorrow and we can win without Messi. I hope this is just our way of playing mind games. On the Alexis, Villa discussion I'd like Alexis to start for the same reason that everyone else has said, his work rate. Trust in Tito, I guess. Can't wait til tomorrow!
Yeah I don't know if it's the media's way of hyping this tie up more, but I forget if it was EMD or Sport that had a headline that said Tito had to refrain from using Messi against Levante. I inferred that meant that Messi wanted to play. However, today in other news outlets, the narrative turned to "Will Messi be fit to play?".
because its the truth most of the bayern fans are realistic and know where we stand when facing a team like Barca... we are not real madrid fans after all.
Mandzukic will miss the first leg for Bayern, we are stuck with Gomez who is also elite but has been very rusty of late due to lack of playing time this season. Bayern's biggest goal threat is going to be Thomas Mueller tomorrow IMO. He is our leading scorer in the CL as well.