2016-17 UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg: Borussia Dortmund vs. SL Benfica

PSG are out!!!!!! OMFG this is awesome.

 

Great win. Tuchel deserves a lot of credit for choosing to play Pulisic, who was MOTM.

Auba was great too.

Maybe the game was a bit too soon for all the youngsters except Pulisic, but it will do them the world of good to have won that.

 

LOL so was I.

Schmelzer did brilliantly for the goal, but I thought he was poor until then too.

Even Weigl was very nervous and not playing his best.

I've got to give credit to LP, because despite almost gifting them a goal, which he then brilliantly saved, he gave an excellent performance. It was reminiscence of Weidenfeller at the Bernabeau.

PSG gave a pathetic showing and it goes to show just how much nerves and bottle matter.

On a side note once more it shows the influence Reus has on the team. Dembele's petulance was completely under control with Reus there. Tuchel did very well to calm him down at half time.

 

I knew we are going to kill Benfica. Marching on toward he final.

 

If this was a league match then yeh we would have killed them, but with the injuries and the nature of it being CL, we could have easily gone out today.

I think we really need Sevilla or Leicester next round. Two more big matches in the quarters and I believe the youngsters MAY, MAY be ready to play their best in a CL semi.

 

Hard to say that. Barcelona has a core full of winners. Guys like Leo, Iniesta, Pique, Busquets and Suarez have that never give up attitude. And they are intelligent players. This is more about Barcelona than PSG here.

 

It's not looking good for us so far. It's the best of La Liga and Bayern that are through so far. Gotze is out for sure and the we don't know about RG and MR.

 

Barca's penalty was BS,

 

Great win! Things looking much better than just a couple of weeks ago

 

No it's definitely not. This is all about PSG. Barcelona are not the team they were and even then they should not be beating PSG 6-1. The gap in ability is not that high, especially conceding 3 goals after the 88th minute. As good as Barcelona are this is all PSG choking.

Also Barcelona going through is bad for us. We would have had a good chance against PSG, we have very, very slim chances against Barca.

 

You just contradicted yourself there. How can Barca be crap and we still have slim chance against them?

 

I don't. I'll take Bayern or Madrid any day. They are familiar, especially Madrid since we've played them once more this season. Nobody wants to face a team that has Lionel Messi.

 

I never said Barca are crap. They are clearly still one of the top 3 teams in the world. However, they are not as good as they once were and key players continue to decline.

Secondly as today showed, playing big matches is about a lot more than just football ability. We are not better than Barcelona and even if we were, this team does not have the mental strength or the experience to go and beat Barca.

Thirdly PSG despite the quality are bottlers and have never made it past the quarter final. They blew a 3-1 lead to Chelsea when they were the better team. They lost to a really bad City team last year, that limped to 4th and now they have lost 6-1. So if we got them in the quarters, there is a very good chance they choke again, regardless of ability.

 

Barca are still better than us, but we've not played them. Today has shown me with the exception of Reus, Auba, Sokratis and LP (who is really not that great), the rest are not yet ready to win at the Nou Camp. I really hope they will grow and today will really help them.

 

But we know Bayern just as well. Carlo won't even change much. We've beaten them once. In fact under TT we've improved in competitive matches against them.

Barca's attack is far too strong. And refs favour them more than Madrid or Bayern.

Yeah I'll take Madrid over Bayern perhaps.

 

I agree Bayern is the worst match up. Perfect scenario is Bayern/Barca/Madrid face and knock each other out. We've got a good chance against everyone else. A final against Madrid would be the perfect scenario; a team we are familiar with and have gotten the best of 3/4 recent encounters.

My perfect draw for us would be Sevilla/Leicester then Juventus/Atletico/City and finally Madrid in the final.

We really need Dembele to get used to the CL and put in the performances we see in the league.

I've said it repeatedly and now is not the time to argue over it, Auba is as good as any striker in the world and arguably the best in the world alongside Suarez, Lewandowski, Aguero and Higuain. Those are the top 5. Reus when fit is as good as anyone out wide not called Messi, Ronaldo or Robben.

 

Great game for the team! Really glad that Bartra is improving. Auba found his scoring shoes and the result is evident. The youngsters were nervous but this win will do wonders for their mental strength. All in all - a logical outcome, one that should have happened in Portugal as well, if it weren't for off day we were having. My gut tells me that we will be facing Real. Whether this will be the case indeed, we shall see.

As for PSG - the root of the problem is the lack of a winning mentality. PSG have never been a big club and regardless of how much money Qatar pours into them, they will still lack something to go past the big boys. Barca have a team full of winners that have a 'never surrender' type of attitude, whereas the only such player PSG has is probably Thiago Motta.

 

I think we've reached as far as we're expected, from here on out they're going to be bonuses for each round we get through.

 

Until they end up playing for us just give it time as always.

 

In all honesty, I believe Bayern feel the same way about Dortmund. Too much between the teams to see a favorite in that matchup. Would love to see you boys get Madrid - I think your style is just too much for them PLUS it would be 2 very entertaining matches to watch.

As for Barca, their defending is horrible and their attack has become stale and predictable. You would run past those old dudes on their defense all day.

I hope for a Bayern - Dortmund CL Final.

 

English clubs pay even more under the table than you guys nowadays. But it's nice to dream isn't it?

 

Watching Barcelona vs PSG highlights and it's really pathetic from PSG. The first three goals are hilariously bad. Then they miss two one on ones at 3-1. Trapp had a shocker too.