Part of Pep's game is to put them defenses under pressure for long periods of time to induce mistakes.
Yeah but again it was a really close game and Juventus were playing without 3 very key players. Also Juventus have improved since then and Pep's City is not as good as Pep's Bayern was.
Teams evolve and break through barriers. But you're right both teams have problems in the defense (Man City) and midfield + defense (PSG). However, other teams have their flaws as well. Madrid may step up in 2 months time, but don't underestimate how bad their defense has been playing and their scoring woes. Barca are running away in La Liga, but are clearly not as scintillating on offense. Bayern have aging main pieces on offense and are pretty injury prone. Haven't seen Juve play other than the Barca games. But I hear you have a Dybala problem right now. I think the title race is pretty open.
PSG have signed Alves from Juve and Neymar from Barca. They also won the CL group with major contenders Bayern in it. City have destroyed every one in the league that has 5 teams left in the CL, and are breaking new records every weekend. So, now, what have Juve done to make them so much better?
The media is really exaggerating about the Dybala problem. The only thing is he is going through a period where he is not quite in form which happens to every singe player. The media is just exaggerating and going crazy about it. Yes the title race is still open, but usually it is every season until February.
You are for sure the only remaining Juve fan that still thinks this team is better than the one of 1, 2 and 3 years ago. That’s fine - you might prove everyone else wrong. But you are 100% alone.
I am ok to be alone. This Juventus is definitely better than 2015-16. Not sure about 14-15 and 16-17, but definitely superior to 15-16. Also I am pretty sure we are better than 16-17 as well. Not sure about 14-15 though as that was a really good Juventus. Mark my words. I still believe we would beat Man City and PSG this season over 2 legs if we face them in the knockouts. Many people will disagree with me, but I am sticking to my words. We will see who is right when the time comes.
As long as they keep avoiding Barca I'll definitely be rooting for Juve as I've done the past few seasons simply because of Buffon. Would love to see him win perhaps the only trophy missing from his collection. But not at Barca's expense.
He’s not retired yet? Talk about a long goodbye. Different strokes... I hope Kane puts him out of his misery.
He retired from the Azzurri after the Sweden playoffs last month and added he was "99.9 percent certain" he will retire for good at the end of the season.
No games played for another few weeks but the odds have changed some due to domestic form. Here are the OLD POST DRAW ODDS, new odds on RIGHT SIDE: BIG Changes post draw, new favorite, etc. 1 ManCity 3:1 (was 4.5) BACK TO 4.5 2 PSG 5.5 (was 3.5) SAME 5.5 3 Bayern 6 (was 8) NOW 7 AND 4TH MOST FAVORED 4 Barca 7.5 (was 7) NOW 6.5 AND 3RD MOST FAVORED 5 Real 9 (was 6) NOW 8.5 6 ManU 15 (16) NOW 17 AND 7TH 7 Liverpool 16 (25) NOW 16 AND 6TH 8 Juve 20 (same) SAME 20 9 Tottenham 25 (20) SAME 25 10 Chelsea 33 (was 22) SAME 33 11 Roma 50 (was 66) SAME 50 12 Shaktar 125 (was 300) NOW 200 AND 14TH 13 Porto 150 (same) SAME 150 ---Sevilla (also same) SAME 150 15 Besiktas 200 (was 150) NOW 250 16 Basel 500 (was 300) NOW 750
Well the way to take advantage of that is to bet for the non-EPL teams, no? It may also reflect that most of the bettors on these sites are from the UK or otherwise overrate EPL teams, so naturally the bookies need to shorten the odds on those teams drawing the most money, or risk a huge payout should they win. In short the odds are influenced by the bettors.
Its the first time since I can remember that it might actually make sense to put money on Barca. They're always given such short odds, even when they're not that good (like last year after they beat PSG, they were first or second favorites IIRC). Third-favorite is still up there I guess, but the length of the odds (7.5) seems much higher than normal at this stage of the competition.
Yeah, the odds are not bad, I think PSG and Real both got longer odds, as did Chelsea and to a lesser extent Barca, when they drew each other. Once were down to 8 teams and we know which two teams emerge from those four, the odds will get shorter for the survivors.
Well just to point out what they did against PSG last season was extraordinary. I mean that was a record breaker, and probably under 5% of the world expected that to happen. And not to mention, Juventus, Real, and Bayern were the only real superior teams to Barca despite them not being so good, and Juve did not really look too impressive until they knocked out Barca. Bayern although was very impressive against Arsenal that time, many people were questioning the team and Ancelotti's tactics. Before the quarterfinals, Barcelona was arguably the most impressive team in the tournament. Even Real Madrid was only just starting to hit peak after they demolished Napoli.
Updating... Just noticed that Barca will play Espanyol in the Supercopa de Catalunya on Wednesday 7 March in Lleida. No doubt most of the key players will sit this one out. Also, Chelsea v Hull City will be played on Friday 16 February (20:00) allowing for extra rest compared to Barca who will play just over 20 hours later (16:15). CHELSEA ...................................... FEBRUARY .............................. FC BARCELONA FAC-5R (H) Hull City ................. weekend 17-18 ................................. J24 (A) Eibar ................................... Tue 20: UCL-2R1 Chelsea v Barcelona .................................. R28 (A) Man Utd ....................... weekend 24-25 .............................. J25 (H) Girona open ............................................ midweek 27-1 ....................... J26 (A) Las Palmas .......................................................... MARCH ............................................................. R29 (A) Man City ............................ Sunday 4 ...................... J27 (H) Atlético Madrid open ............................................. Wednesday 7 ........................... ScC (N) Espanyol R30 (H) Crystal Palace ................. Saturday 10 ................................ J28 (A) Málaga ................................... Wed 14: UCL-2R2 Barcelona v Chelsea .................................. PL31 (A) Burnley ....................... weekend 17-18 ................. J29 (H) Athletic Bilbao
Quick update where changes have happened and before the first balls are kicked later today. I have italicized my last post from January 25th, should not be too many changes, but transfer window did close with some late activity, some teams have slumped of late, other teams (like the long shots at the bottom) may have not drawn enough money so odds shifted to tease out some 'counter bets'. New info will be on right side. No games played for another few weeks but the odds have changed some due to domestic form. Here are the OLD POST DRAW ODDS, new odds on RIGHT SIDE: BIG Changes post draw, new favorite, etc. 1 ManCity 3:1 (was 4.5) BACK TO 4.5 same 2 PSG 5.5 (was 3.5) SAME 5.5 now 5 but 5.1 and 5.2 outliers exist 3 Bayern 6 (was 8) NOW 7 AND 4TH MOST FAVORED now 6 and tied for 3rd 4 Barca 7.5 (was 7) NOW 6.5 AND 3RD MOST FAVORED now 6 and tied for 3rd 5 Real 9 (was 6) NOW 8.5 now 10 BIG CHANGE 6 ManU 15 (16) NOW 17 AND 7TH now 18 7 Liverpool 16 (25) NOW 16 AND 6TH same 8 Juve 20 (same) SAME 20 same 9 Tottenham 25 (20) SAME 25 same 10 Chelsea 33 (was 22) SAME 33 now 35 11 Roma 50 (was 66) SAME 50 now 60 12 Shaktar 125 (was 300) NOW 200 AND 14TH now 175 13 Porto 150 (same) SAME 150 now 175 ---Sevilla (also same) SAME 150 now 175 15 Besiktas 200 (was 150) NOW 250 now 300 16 Basel 500 (was 300) NOW 750 same As always odds are from here and I take the best / longest odds: https://www.oddschecker.com/football/champions-league/winner
ROAD TO LYON update for EUROPA LEAGUE. Below is what I last posted on December 11th after the draw in italics: Road to Lyon post draw update, changes not so big as in CL, but Napoli and Leipzig took a hit for drawing each other: 1-Atletico 5:1 now 5.5, now very clear favorites 3.5 2-Arsenal 7.5 now 6, same 3-Napoli 10 now 12, now 10 again --Dortmund now 11 and alone in 3rd, now 14 5-Milan 14 same, now 18 6-Leipzig 16 now 25, still 25 7-Lazio 17 now 16, still 16 8-Lyon 25 now 28, now 25 --Villarreal now 35 (Lyon and Villarreal were each 25:1, drew each other but Villarreal took a bigger hit for it). Now 25 again, as both were before they drew each other, weird. 10-Real Soc 30 same, now 33 11-Atalanta 33 now 50, still 50 --Sporting same at 33 still, still 33 13-Zenit 40 now 35, now 33 --Bilbao now 35, still 35 --Marseille now 50, now 35 16-CSKA 50 now 60, now 66 --Dynamo Kiev now 100 --Spartak Mos now 66, still 66 19-Nice 60 now 50, now 66 --Salzburg now 100, still 100, still 100 21-Braga 80 now 150, still 150 --Celtic now 100, now 150 23-Steaua 100 now 200, still 200 there are a few other teams of course but all are at least 100:1 and were not tracked previously so not bothering now, but you can see all here: https://www.oddschecker.com/football/europa-league/winner
Big change? I wonder why... November: "Madrid will be on fire by the time February comes around!" mid-December: "Madrid are back!! WORLD CHAMPIONS!111!!1" January: "Now that Madrid can focus on the CL, Madrid are back, baby!!" February: "Oh shit, its February already?"
Looks like Danny Wellbeck will be Arsenal's striker for the next 2 rounds at least. I'll take a pass on those 6:1 to odds.
OK after just the first leg of the round of 16 the odds have moved a bit. In the interests of time here they are from the top and I'll post the odds from my last update (just before the first legs started below): ManC 3.6 Barca 5 Bayern 5 Real 6 PSG 11 Liverpool 12 Tottenham 18 ManU 25 Juve 33 Chelsea 40 Roma 80 Sevilla 150 Shaktar 150 Besitkas; Basel; and Porto 10,000 each. my post from Feb 13th: Quick update where changes have happened and before the first balls are kicked later today. I have italicized my last post from January 25th, should not be too many changes, but transfer window did close with some late activity, some teams have slumped of late, other teams (like the long shots at the bottom) may have not drawn enough money so odds shifted to tease out some 'counter bets'. New info will be on right side. No games played for another few weeks but the odds have changed some due to domestic form. Here are the OLD POST DRAW ODDS, new odds on RIGHT SIDE: BIG Changes post draw, new favorite, etc. 1 ManCity 3:1 (was 4.5) BACK TO 4.5 same 2 PSG 5.5 (was 3.5) SAME 5.5 now 5 but 5.1 and 5.2 outliers exist 3 Bayern 6 (was 8) NOW 7 AND 4TH MOST FAVORED now 6 and tied for 3rd 4 Barca 7.5 (was 7) NOW 6.5 AND 3RD MOST FAVORED now 6 and tied for 3rd 5 Real 9 (was 6) NOW 8.5 now 10 BIG CHANGE 6 ManU 15 (16) NOW 17 AND 7TH now 18 7 Liverpool 16 (25) NOW 16 AND 6TH same 8 Juve 20 (same) SAME 20 same 9 Tottenham 25 (20) SAME 25 same 10 Chelsea 33 (was 22) SAME 33 now 35 11 Roma 50 (was 66) SAME 50 now 60 12 Shaktar 125 (was 300) NOW 200 AND 14TH now 175 13 Porto 150 (same) SAME 150 now 175 ---Sevilla (also same) SAME 150 now 175 15 Besiktas 200 (was 150) NOW 250 now 300 16 Basel 500 (was 300) NOW 750 same As always odds are from here and I take the best / longest odds: https://www.oddschecker.com/football/champions-league/winner