Ok so next week we have: Real Madrid vs Napoli Borussia Monchengladbach vs Fiorentina Villarreal vs Roma I am afraid Napoli is really gonna struggle hard agains Real Madrid especially at the Bernabeu. I am hoping a miracle will happen and at least they could pull of a draw, or even a 2-1 win for Real Madrid won't be the end of the world. Comparing Napoli now with Roma last season, I have to say Napoli has a much better attack and better finishers. Mertens, Callejon, and Insigne have been on fire recently, and if Milik plays, hopefully he will be like he was at the start of the season although he won't be 100% fit yet. If I were Napoli coach I would have them go all out attack to get as many away goals as possible, but I am not sure what Sarri has in mind. Monchengladbach vs Fiorentina I expect a 1-1 draw, but Fiorentina should progress in the second leg. It will be very difficult because Monchengladbach can be a really difficult team to beat on their day, but I think in the end Sousa should expect to see Fiorentina through marginally. Villarreal is not as good as they were last season. I expect a draw or a 2-1 win by Villarreal now, but I think Roma will go through. Roma have some good players especially in the midfield, and they will trouble Villarreal. Villarreal did knockout Napoli last season, but Napoli and Roma don't play the same way. Napoli is plays sort of like quick/tiki taka style, similar to BVB style of play. Roma is more like high pressing/all attack, which would work well against Villarreal but struggle against Real Madrid because Real Madrid also plays that kind of football.
Napoli needs to be aggressive next week. The most important thing is scoring away goals. If they 3-2 it will be much better than losing 1-0.
Yup. If I were Sarri, I would ask Napoli to go all out attack and not worry too much about conceding goals. They will likely concede at least 1, very likely 2. Kind of like what Legia Warsaw did. Remember Legia Warsaw went all out attack, and while they went 2 behind, they drew 3-3 and Legia Warsaw is not even a quarter of a team Napoli is. If Legia Warsaw can do it, Napoli definitely can. A 3-2 win for Real at the Bernabeau is actually a sort of good result for Napoli in some ways.
Overall good week for Serie A teams. Napoli lost 3-1 in Real Madrid, but that was expected. Its still an ok result in some ways as Napoli did get the away goal, and the tie is far from over. Napoli could go through with a 2-0 win. While I don't see Napoli overcoming Real, they put up a great fight at the Bernabeau. Fiorentina got the win in Germany. This is a huge boost for them to take back to Florence in the second leg. This tie is not over yet, but I believe Fiorentina will progress. They are a lot stronger at home and will probably score at least 2 goals. Roma has already put their tie to bed in Spain pretty much. Outstanding performance from them and they really capitalized well on Villarreal's mistake. Roma are all but through, and they were playing like EL Champions last night. I have high hopes in this team. Spaletti has proven to be taking this seriously with the team he fielded, and if they do, I don't see any team that can really keep up with them. Roma as long as they take this seriously and field strong lineups, they are the best team in the whole tournament, and nobody else really compares. They just humiliated the best defensive team in Spain in their own backyard. We are still waiting for Juventus next week, but I am pretty sure they will go through. My predictions now: Juventus: Anywhere from semifinalists to Champions, unless they get the strongest team they could face in quarters. Napoli: Either out in Round of 16 or quarterfinals if they make it through. Roma: Europa League Champions. Semifinalists at the very very least. Fiorentina: Quarterfinals. Maybe Semifinals or Finals if they get lucky draws.
Monchengladbach dominated that game and probably feel robbed by that call on Bernardeschi. They could very well win the next leg. Roma or ManU.
This is true, but Monchengladbach is usually way better at home than they are away. Just look at their stats in the UCL this season and last season on how big a difference it was. Fiorentina are also really strong at home. Don't forget they beat Juventus, Roma, and drew with Napoli (a game they should have won but drew because of a penalty). Fiorentina can be a really hard time to beat at home, so I expect a very different kind of game in Florence. Manchester United has a good team on paper, but the fact is they don't play as a team, and a lot of their players are selfish and play for themselves. Specifically Ibrahimovic. While their teams on paper are comparable, Roma is way ahead in terms of tactical approach and game plans.
I don't see an updated thread so I'll just put it here. If a mod wants to move it, be my guest. So it doesn't matter so much now that the top four leagues get 4 CL spots, but.... Wednesday Italy passed Germany in the coefficients. Then a day later Italy had two wins and a draw while Germany had three losses so we've increased it, obviously.
Juventus and Napoli should make it out of their group fine. Roma will be battling with Atletico and Chelsea. Atletico and Chelsea are favorites, but Atletico is not the team they used to be, and Roma is not dropping silly points as much like they used to under Garcia. Chelsea just showed today that they aren't unbeatable and can be beaten if their opponent has the right tactics. Even if Roma go down to Europa League, as long as they can deal with the pressure, they should make it far, or even win it. Milan and Lazio are also part of the favorites to win the Europa League. Of course Arsenal, Zenit, and Dynamo Kyiv are tough teams as well, but the chances are high. Dortmund also will likely go down, but they are such an overrated team. Dortmund is probably similar to Roma honestly. Atalanta seems to be a really convincing team and definitely should make it out of their group. They took a point at Lyon which is an amazing result for them, especially considering the other teams in their group are underperforming and taking points off each other. None of the other teams in the group even have a win yet. And let me say that the point at Lyon was definitely not a fluke. In the second half Atalanta were arguably the better side. I am even tempted to say they even have a small chance of winning it, but let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Anyway I do expect Atalanta to go to Round of 16 or Quarters at least as long as they don't get a really tough team in the draws.
@NickyViola https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/italy-v-germany-v-england-in-uefa-coefficient-rankings-r.2066592/