Not sure that there was anything wrong with Viergever's challenge. He got the ball away with his knee before Dembele barrelled into him. Messi with a beautiful free kick and that probably should open things up for Barca.
Exactly my thought, that was not a foul. That’s said, the free kick was simply too beautiful. PSV has a couple decent chances with Pereiro and Bergwijn inside the opening 13 minutes. They should have at least tested the GK.
I just got home for the second half. I'm guessing it was all one-way traffic for Barcelona so far, am l right??
PSV MF was extremely poor in all aspects tonight. Defensively they did well until the Dembele wonder goal and the Messi runs right pass Hendrix for the third. Even when Umtiti was sent off PSV could not do much at all. Hope for better from Ajax tomorrow.
Hugely disappointed with the result! Barca were good, but I though PSV had a decent chance to keep the defeat low. I found the substitution of Viergever (Isimat-Mirin) was a strange one. The defense looks awfully unorganized since that moment. Not saying Viergever would save all the subsequent three goals, but changing the defense in a critical moment like that was certainly confusing. Pereiro and Luuk De Jong offered no speed, especially if the intent was to counter-attack. Maybe Van Bommel should have gone with Malen, but of course, Luuk was the captain - so hard to sell there. 1 shot on target (out 14 attempts), I think the shot that tested the GK was from Angelino, a left-back, of all people!! That's simply terrible at this level, regardless who the opponent is. Oh well, onwards for tomorrow's Ajax game.
van Bommel was worried that Viergever would pick up a second Yellow and then everything would have been beyond reach.
I actually vBommel will EVENTUALLY turn into a really good coach (or manager, or what have you). He's got that feel to him
Nice win by Ajax!! Only watched the second half. I thought everybody played well. One-way traffic... defense wasn't tested at all. I don't think Onana touched the ball, except for the formality of goal-kicks. Van De Beek lighted up the midfield when he came on, he was energetic and looked hungry capitalizing his playing time. Well-taken goal... I hope the goal gave Ten Hag the much-needed confidence. V.D Beek over Schone, every day. And we need Donny to perform week-in, week-out to be an option for Oranje.
PSV again not good enough on the evening. Some dice play by Zoet and very poor play by Hendrix. de Jong is easily neutralized once he moves outside the comfort of the Eredivisie and other than Lozano and occasionally Berwijn they have no dangerous players. Let's hope for a better performance against Spurs.
Pretty disappointing result for PSV. I only watched the first half and a few opening minutes of the second, I thought the game was balanced and quite competitive. Both teams had some good moments and produced decent scoring chances. The midfield, save Rosario (who covered his ground and scored a cracker), was the weakest link for PSV. Too many lost battles there. Pereiro in particular was ghosting a lot, I recalled his only notable move was a shot that bounced off the goal post. Luuk De Jong was hugely ineffective. Inter's GK not seeing red after handling the ball outside the box (quite deliberately, I must add!) was mind-boggling. It could have been the turning point of the match. At any rate, uphill battle from here on for PSV to qualify (which was a monumental task to begin with). If there's any consolation, Tottenham were also with zero point after two games. So I guess the battle for the third spot is on! Overall, it was a discouraging night for Dutch contingents in the UCL. Groeneveld scored for Brugge, but they lost. Liverpool was on the losing end, too.
The handling Yellow by Handanovic (how about that for a name!) was strange. I posted something over on the Referee forum to see if someone could weigh in. It may be that it was not a direct goal scoring opportunity which is why Yellow rather than Red, but it was deliberate.
Over on the Referee forum, two have said it should have been a Red Card. There is a like to the very good Dutch television clip. My sense when I was watching the match was that it should have been Red.