Atleti weren't very good, but you have to give Juve so much credit in that game. They physically dominated one of the most physically imposing sides in Europe. When Napoli were at their best, Juve battered them 3-1 in Turin with the same run of overpowering play. It shows how good Juve can be when they turn up.
Bayern have slowly been losing quality and are in need of a rejuvenation. This version of them isn't even close to Pep's team and certainly not their prime 2011-2015 squads. Lewandowski is Aguero/Higuaín/Benzema level. He is a very good volume scorer but rarely shows up against the elite defenses. Obviously that's hard to do, yet that is what Bayern needed of him. Plus for as good as Coman and Gnabry may become, a team at the level of Bayern shouldn't be relying on them. Can't understand why they let Douglas Costa go to Juve.
Germany, in general, is in need of rejuvenation. Bayern/Dortmund/Schalke were outscored a collective 17-3 by Liverpool/Spurs/Man. City. And Germany finished last in its group in the UEFA Nations League after failing to advance to the knockout rounds at WC 2018. Biggest issue is a lack of talent development....not a single German player finished in the FIFA top ten for 2018 player of the year.
Of the teams remaining: Best defenses: Liverpool- .56 allowed per match Juventus- .63 per City - .7 per Tottenham - .83 per Barca - .96 perAjax - United - 1.33 Porto Attacks: City - 2.63 Barca - 2.55 per Liverpool - 2.26 per Juventus 2.19 per Tottenham - 1.9 per Ajax United - 1.9 per Porto GOATS : Barca - 1 Juve - 1 Juve, City, and Barca also have the most depth to sustain them until the end of the season. This is probably the one area along with the non-GOAT factor that Liverpool lack a bit of. Still, those seem to be the best four teams in Europe this season.
Bayern are a financial powerhouse yet they just haven't aggressively invested in their squad enough to keep up with the rest of the European elite. Do you know why that is? I understand that youth development is important, but the very big teams largely depend on buying players every year to improve their squads. Bayern haven't really done that. Coman may have great talent, but there is a reason why PSG and Juve passed on him. He isn't good enough yet to start for a team like Bayern in these matches. Neither is Gnabry. Bayern's defense and midfield weren't really the issue. The attack just offered very little threat against Liverpool's very very good defense.
I honestly don't think that Liverpool's defense is that great. Van Dijk is the only great defender. The rest are mediocre at best. However Coman and Gnabry are also mediocre at best, and Ribery is old and a shadow of what he was back in 2008-2013.
Such bitter people in this thread. Can you just stick to the topic and not run to the mods like a bunch of whiners.
Van Dijk is Chiellini, Godin, Ramos, etc level. Absolutely monstrous. The outside backs are also very good. Robertson is fantastic while Arnold is great in attack. Their only possible defensive weaknesses are their 2nd CB & depth. Robertson can also be vulnerable at times (very similar to Cancelo). Juve & Liverpool are without question the two best defenses left. Can't disrespect them.
Inter are out. They could have knocked out the last German team in Europe. The good news for Serie A fans is that as of right now Italy retains 3rd spot next year. But only by a very slight margin. 3. Italia - 55.440 4. Germany - 54.927
Does anybody really believe the Bundesliga is better than the Serie A? I mean for me the top 3 leagues (Spanish, Italian and English) are miles ahead of the German League.
2018/2019 UEFA Coefficients England 16.357 Spain 17.142 Can anyone explain how the hell Spain has more points this season? Feels like Spain just have to turn up and they get points lol 6 English teams in the 1/4 finals 3 Spanish. Ridiculous.
Hopefully the current second round points are delayed otherwise this is outrageous. Only Barcelona left in the CL and they have more points, insanity. UEFA WEBSITE: Clubs that reach the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals or final of the UEFA Champions League, or the quarter-finals, semi-finals or final of the UEFA Europa League, are awarded an extra point for each round. Really UEFA?
I personally believe the system is flawed and that it should be changed to the previous 3 seasons. What happened 4 or 5 years ago is so far in the past and doesn't have anything to do with where the current teams are at in terms of quality. To put it in perspective. 5 years ago, Juventus was dumped into the EL in a group containing Real Madrid, Galatassaray and Copenhagen. Milan were in the R16 with Rami, Essien, Kaka, DeJong and Balotelli. 4 years ago, Juventus made their first final being led by a midfield trio of Vidal, Pirlo and Pogba with Tevez leading the attack.
If I am IAF, how do you know I didn't ask the mods to ban the IAF account? If you remember both accounts were active at the end of IAF and beginning of MeanMachine. I could of just told the mods that I wanted to restart again with a new account.
The short answer is: Because the season is not over yet. Long answer: even though Spain lost a team in the CL group-stage, the others dominated their group while the EPL teams mostly finished runners-up. In the EL, all 3 Spanish sides won their group while one English side were eliminated early. The fact that now England has more teams remaining is going to help their coefficient over the next 2 months, and they will easily pass Spain who has fewer teams left. But up until these past 2 weeks there were as many teams from Spain left in Europe as from England, so why would you expect England to have a much higher coefficient?