PBP: FC Barcelona v Manchester United | UEFA CL - Quarterfinal - 2nd Leg | 16 April 2019 [R]

The ballon is his for sure this time. In fact 3rd treble incoming.

 

We're already set to face the winner of Liverpool/Porto.

 

We need to beat Liverpool in semis, otherwise Salah will win it.

 

salah? he is not even best player of liverpool team now

 

Beating current Liverpool will be a tougher task than beating 2014-15 season Bayern. We will win the tie nevertheless. The team doesn’t fear nothing.

 

Man U only had three SOG through the two legs, none at Old Trafford.

 

I think so, too. I didn't see where the goal would come from if not for Messi. The second was 100% a gift.

 

It doesnt even matter. He has scored the biggest amount of goals for them, that is enough

 

The thing is, in the semis the first leg will be at Camp Nou. Those European nights at Anfield are a daunting task, especially for the return legs.

 

Which we are you talking about, Barca or Ajax? Barca will for certain face the Liverpool v Porto winner; and Ajax will for certain face the Tottenham v ManCity winner? There is no re-draw this year. Barca cannot face Ajax (or City or Spurs) till the final, should they manage to get that far.

MAtS save again:

 

Assuming they get through Liverpool will be hell of a lot tougher than Man Utd. But the fact they are obsessed with winning their first title for something like 30 years may work in our favour, they have to go flat out in every league game. Have to say what a team Ajax have, to beat both LPB and Juve away from home, wow.

 

I’d be surprised if Juve doesn’t sack Allegri. This man is a serial choker.

 

Yes, my bad.

 

Completely agree.

I am dreading that match against Liverpool. We were very slow in defence against United before the goal and this will be even more evident against Liverpool if EV don’t start doing whatever he is not doing until now.

Messi, however, acknowledged right after the game that we were bad for the first 15 minutes. He also said that we can’t play like this as 10 bad minutes will get us out of the competition like in Rome. This gives me some hope at least.

 

semi final first leg at camp nou, so it gonna be fine.

 

Did I say ******** you Smalling?

 

.. As I said earlier , we could/should have been two nil down after 2 minutes and then gawd knows what the score could have been.

As usual Valverde was SAVED by MESSI ..and he’s got maybe two or three years at this crazy level ..

I thought the usual players shone brightly plus Coutinho joined the party again.. Busqs was back to his best I felt . Messi Alba Arthur all brilliant .

Rakitic played slightly better than usual but thankfully FDJ is a massive upgrade on him for next season. Roberto was again utter dross and Samedo should always start at RB imho .
The two CBS were ok but they were torn apart easily for the first ten minutes or so .. Hopefully De Ligt agrees to sign for us .

Suarez occasionally shows glimpses of utter brilliance but those are few and far between nowadays.. I’d love to get Firmino in for next season as he’s tailor-made for us . That said Lewandowski and Diego Costa May both be available in the summer ..

I’d love to see Messi in the slightly withdrawn CF role and flanked by Dembele AND Malcom but that’s just another dream ..

 

just check upcoming schedule, we can win liga before semi final first leg, 3 matches (2 home, 1 away). our opponents are real sociedad (home), alaves(away), levante(home). Just 3 wins then liga is done

 

UEFA United?

 

All goals came from outside the box, pretty unusual. Now lets win the treble

 

Alright Coutinho, I see you. That's what I'm talking about, now if he can just keep this up... He really is a typical Barcelona player when he's on his game; passing, movement, ball retention, footballing brain, and those curlers are a bonus.

 

He is a good player but he's lost his starting spot to a couple younger (and somewhat cheaper) players: Dembele and Arthur. Still great quality to have around, especially given Dembele's frequent injuries. I wasn't a fan of the goal celebration though, and would also like if he had other ways to score great goals besides the one which well trained teams will often deny him, the curler to the opposite corner.

EDIT - now reading the Guardian's MBM here's some good Coutinho commentary:
Half-time email: “All is not lost for United,” reckons Charles Antaki. “They have a secret agent in the Barcelona side, i.e. Philippe Coutinho, who is doing exceptionally well at contributing virtually nothing, and giving the ball away in a charitable manner. Apparently he’s looking for a new club in the summer.”

I think Barca said yesterday that he’s definitely staying, but I’m not altogether surprised that he’s struggling. First of all, he’s not a winger - least of all in a side who like to stretch the pitch - and he’s a player who can win you a game but won’t really help you control it. if he’s not sticking in brilliant finishes from around the edge of the box, he’s not generally doing that much.

Then, when he scored:
60 min BRILLIANT GOAL! Barcelona 3-0 Man United (Coutinho 61) (agg 4-0)
You don’t even need me to describe this! Messi, under no pressure, clips a ball out to Jordi Alba who feeds back inside to Coutinho, 25 yards out, left of centre. He looks up, the unfurls a curler that he places past De Gea and into the roof of the net for another superb goal. And he celebrates with his fingers in his ears and such, but the thing is, everyone knows he can do that - the problem is what, if anything, else he does.

73 min “Your comment on Phil Coutinho reminds me of the late NFL coach Buddy Ryan,” tweets Hubert O’Hearn, “who griped about one of his wide receivers Cris Carter, ‘All he does is score touchdowns’.”

At the elite level, it’s not enough to hammer in a few pearlers, especially in a flowing game like football. Coutinho has a lot of work to do, I’d say, as the only real future for him at Barca is in the midfield three. [ME - not enough quality and defensive workrate for Barca midfield to beat out Arthur, Rakitic, Frenkie when he comes]

Oh, and Lukaku replaces Rashford, who’s being saved.

81 min And another change for Barca: Coutinho accepts the applause as he leaves, but probably wondering how much of it is actually for Dembele, replacing him.