It may be hard to judge them entirely based on 2 games against Madrid, however they did give Bayern Munich a tough game in the group stage. I reckon Ajax is one of the top 2-3 teams at this EXACT moment. They can give anyone trouble. Atletico might be their toughest match just because of a match up issue. But because barcelona, Man City, liverpool, bayern, Man City, tottenham all play open football, Ajax has a great chance against any of them. I just hope that Ajax goes into every game with the same confidence and doesnt sit back when things seem a little too good to be true as they progress in the tournament. You know, sometimes its easy to look good when there is no pressure UNTIL you have to start playing under pressure with expectations to win
This thread is still open because everyone knows Modric's Ballon D'Or win was absolute bullshit, right?
In 4 of the “big” domestic games in Portugal this season that Benfica played against Sporting and Porto this year, he’s scored in 3 of 4. And that includes both away games. Not only doing extremely well in general, but showing he’s a big-game player too. And only 19. Then again, this is expected when you have that Benficafan3 blood amirite guys Planning on shooting him a text soon, will keep y’all updated on that. Hopefully hasn’t changed his number.
Neymar has still a chance if he wins the Copa America this year (Brazil has the best squad and is a press favorite) and starts next season strong. Another help would be if the Champions League gets a relative outside winner. Atletico Madrid for example, but also Manchester City winning it would help his case (and of the other 'megastars'). Man City, Atletico and Liverpool are now one, three and four among the bookmakers. Simeone with the best win percentage of all foreign La Liga managers in history
Is that really something people will care about? Winning the CA in Brazil with Brazil looks to me like a "if you fail you ********ed up, winning is expected" achievment. Can't see it at all unless everything comes together for him (every other serious candidate looks horrible, he is exceptional at the CA....) If Atletico finally wins the CL Griezmann gets it for sure. City has a problem that they don't have a real standout player, but someone might step up in the Final/SF.
Normally, I'd say KDB who is clearly their best player. However, he's been injured for most of the season. If Aguero can score the goals that help them win the league and the UCL, then surely, he'd be the standout player. Winning the Copa America wouldn't hurt either
Following #Ajax tremendous victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League this week, some might be interested in this analysis of their 2017/18 financial results, which underlines the scale of their achievement https://t.co/bVQeQSvFdo— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) March 8, 2019 Barcelona £431m and Real Madrid £350m again have the highest wage bills (even after excluding other sports), followed by #MUFC £296m. Then come 3 clubs in a narrow range: Bayern Munich £268m, #LFC £263m and #MCFC £260m. #THFC £127m is 2016/17 figure. Ajax wages only £47m. pic.twitter.com/OaWYifZgbK— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) February 11, 2019
Probably learned it from watching CRonaldo ... who's still diving up to this day. But you don't get that I don't even like Neymar. So you can troll all you want.
Yeah, I wouldn't go that far but agree in general. If PSG had won CL, then winning Copa America would boost Neymar's chances. But Copa on its own? Nah. It might not even offset the twitter post he just made. Even if PSG had won CL, Neymar would've probably still had a fairly low goal tally and limited involvement due to his injury, so him winning Ballon d'Or wouldn't have been a sure thing even with a treble + copa america.
meh, don't be so mechanical. Despite someone else winning Ballon d'Or last year, we're still waiting for someone to actually have a better year than both Messi in CR7.
Never underestimate the hype machine, man. All it takes is say a couple goals in the UCL final, and it wouldn't even matter that he missed most of the KO stage through injury. If anything, it'd make it a fairy tale narrative.
The PSG loss effectively takes Mbappe out of the Ballon D'Or race. Probably Neymar as well who's going to be missing a whole lot of games as well. Copa America on its own isn't enough to make a strong case even if he wins the Golden Ball which is somewhat likely but not a guarantee.
"It is the news of the year," journalist Luigi Guelpa has claimed.“It's the same person who told me that Ronaldo was going to Juventus."The man who broke the Ronaldo news believes Pep Guardiola has agreed to a four-year deal with Juventus.#OptusSport pic.twitter.com/yL7AheZt6u— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) March 8, 2019
Mbappe is still young enough that he can stay at PSG, rack up easy titles, pad his stats, and take his time to improve (eg. working on his mentality as the star player of a UCL club.) Even if he stays at PSG for another couple of years before moving to a bigger club like Madrid, where he could win the UCL, it wouldn't really hurt his legacy at all. Neymar, on the other hand, is really running out of time. He probably has just one more big move left in him, if he leaves PSG. I do hope Mbappe moves to a team that can win the UCL though. He's got the potential to become an all-timer (current trajectory, maybe top 50-ish) but he won't get the recognition unless he plays for a UCL-winning club or work with a manager who can push him onto the next level. Don't want him to have the same fate as someone like Henry, who spent his peak at a manager/club who was never going to win the UCL. Imagine if Mbappe replaced Aguero at City, and Pep is still there to work with him. Sky's the limit then. Madrid is a different case. Needs big mentality for things to work out for him there.
Messi and CR have redefined the standards of greatness but make no mistake these two players are already at the level of many 1995-2005 era legends but just without a ballon dor to show for it As far as hazard is concerned he is already making my top 5-7 PL all time legends Henry,CR,bergkamp,Roy Keane,Giggs,cantona,hazard A 2x PFA winner could’ve also easily won in 17/18 One of the best conventional dribblers the English game has ever seen If he leaves to Madrid as expected in the summer he will leave a huge void in the PL(I wouldn’t say irreplaceable especially if Neymar goes to Manchester City) Still though one of the greatest European players of the 21st century
Always liked this generation. I remember watching YouTube/Dailymotion videos of Neymar v Hazard v Isco v Gotze. Coincidentally I preferred the latter two but arguably the first two have accomplished more.
Guess Messi basically sealed the 2019 Ballon d'Or this week. Unless Salah scores a hat-trick in the second leg and Liverpool pull-off the near impossible(?).
Nah, I think Messi wins the Ballon D'or even if Barcelona doesn't win the UCL. He's been by a clear margin the best player this season, and without a summer tournament, there's no opportunity for anyone to close the gap.
New thread ... can Messi or CR7 win again after their streak is broken. Answer: yes .. close thread Yeah, Salah will have to do a whole bunch to have a chance. Still having a decent EPL season enough stats wise. But his CB took EPL Player of the Year award. So ...