PBP: FC Barcelona v Olympique Loynnais | UEFA Champions League R16 - 1st Leg | 19 February 2019 [R]

Atlético should be considered the only contender, not Real. Liverpool, Utd and Spurs are also PL contenders and the fight is pretty tight this time. Plus, the level of physicality in that league is annoying which makes it harder to score goals even against small PL teams.

 

We're going O/T but the facts don't back you up. Look at City and Liverpool's goal difference compared to anyone in La Liga. And the same for the bottom teams.

La Liga is far more balanced.

 

Plus this is the first time since 2008-09 season, Real have lost 7 games.

 

With this squad we should able to win it even if Suarez is garbage currently. Real won a damn 3 peat with Benzema around. Hell, winning the treble isn’t a big stretch considering our midfield and defense is sorted out. Valverde doesn’t seem ambitious at all and there’s no pressure because Bartomeu backs him even if he doesn’t win any trophies. We don’t play good football and we’re also not an intimidating team anymore. I don’t think Barca will win the CL even if De Bruyne was our key midfielder. This shit tier mentality and manager should be changed.

 

When your main striker has scored 1 goal in 17 CL games then we are always going to be up against it. And we have alternative .

 

I watched both games, and they were entirely different situations.

I do agree that Sergi Roberto as a midfielder didn't offer a ton of creativity. Nelson Semedo has been looking a LOT MORE assured as our right back; I repeat the dude doesn't lose the ball, and if he does, he wins it back pretty quickly.

Against Roma they were tired, perhaps a little cocky with a 3 goal lead. Roma were using 5 in the midfield to try and swing things their way. They were overpowering us inside and landing dangerous crosses all game. EV did nothing to absorb any of that danger until it was too late. The offense had no thrust to it whatsoever.

Against Lyon, there was thrust, but also hurried finishing in very tight spaces. Our own countering against their careless possession.

Our three forwards were trying to play too fast and loose especially in the 1st half; just ended up losing possession or taking a non-threatening shot. In the 2nd half, I don't remember ever seeing any Lyon midfielder let our guys get behind them at all. Dembele was rusty and a bit out of sync, but he was still the main creative force.

During our slower possessions, I didn't really like how Messi and Suarez were both in the center; their positioning didn't really create much space, except for the space that Roberto should've taken advantage of. Either Messi needs to stay on the right with Suarez or if he's going to be central, put him in flanked by both Dembele and one of Coutinho/Malcom. I think the criticism of EV being too conservative is dead on when it comes to stubbornly sticking with Suarez in a way that he doesn't with the younger, fresher, less senior players.

 

That was supposed to say SKILL levels not SKIP

My point is that the bottom teams in the EPL are more likely to get a result against the top teams .. but the levels of skill aren’t anywhere near as good as in La Liga imho

 

Err Liverpool and Spurs plus a resurgent ManU who have won about nine out of their last 11 games or something.. even Arsenal and Chelsea aren’t too far behind ...you’ve surely heard of the ‘top six’ ...

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Stay on topic! Stop comparing PL with Liga to justify CL, who cares. The topic is EV doesn't have what it takes to be a CL winner. He's a cautious coward with no winning mentality. He and Bartomeu are a curse! They have no vision!

 

In last 35 years, EPL team only won CL 4 times and UEFA/Europa cup 3 times. Definetely overrated no matter how you twist it.

 

Winning the UCL is greater though. The club should be ambitious instead of being content with only league titles. Barca is a powerhouse and we need to win more UCLs and surpass LPB’s record. That’s just my opinion anyways because I absolutely despise being a loser and as a Barca fan I hate it when Real fanboys troll us.

 

At least someone agrees with me. Winning league titles with a world class team doesn’t make him top class manager if he doesn’t win the UCL. Come on we shouldn’t underestimate ourself and expect us to only win La Liga every single season even with someone unambitious like Valverde.

 

Why do you think it’s toxic? So are you implying we should be happy even if Barca doesn’t win the biggest club competition trophy which we haven’t for 4 years

 

I mean labelling me as a “spam account” for being ambitious is a bit insulting

 

I’m proud of that accomplishment, but we got to focus on something bigger. Here I am being labelled as a “spam account” for being a bit passionate *smh*. I thought the Barca fans here were decent.