Valverde is being described as a coward, not sure if he deserves that, but he made a big mistake last night and it appears as if his fate is sealed
Yeah, I was referring to 'wanting to win'. In terms of toughness, it depends a lot on the league and who you are in that league. For a team like Juventus, winning Serie A is probably alot easier than winning CL. In fact, winning Serie A is probably easier than even being the last Italian team standing in CL.
Last night he was a coward, just like Emery. Took Roma and the tie for granted and then choked completely.
Maybe - however, I didn't watch the game, so I don't know if there was any cowardice on display.... I'm guesssing that if Barca start Dembele in that game instead of Sergei Roberto they prob win or draw and go through.......... I like Sergei Roberto as a utility guy, but he's no threat like Dembele..... When you pay all that dosh for a big player you need to trust him....
Not that far. Much of the time he's only about 10-20 yards from the best central defender in the world.
I don't know about him starting since the onus was on Roma to score. But by the 60th minute when Roma only needed one more goal he should have been subbed in. Or Paulinho. Or Denis. Or SOMEBODY! Another twenty minutes passed (81') before the first sub was finally made.
Why not add in the pen for Pellegrini? Which on replay shows contact was a foot over the line. Tactically we destroyed you in that second leg. I've never watched a barca side look so clueless.
There's clear replay of the contact happening outside the box. And you got help from the ref too, which turned out to be crucial, again. Three of the four qf ties were decided by ref mistakes, if you count the ManC 2-0 as such too. Refs have too much power nowadays.
I have seen pictures of it inside. It was a very tough call but it was a pen. The only thing I will concede is fazio should have been given a 2nd yellow at 2-0. As for those saying if Barca played like they did at 3-0 down they would have destroyed Roma, well football doesn't work like that. The mentality shift in that moment meant Roma now had it all to defend and Barca had to throw caution to the wind. Yous are clearly a very good team but not the super team of old at the back or in midfield. That allowed us to play the very aggressive press and leave you with no options. This would not have been so easy with the likes of xavi and inesta at their peaks. Good luck in your domestic campaign!
It wasn't as the foul didn't continue in the box. Yeah I agree Barca mental change was the downfall of Barca, I've never seen us play so bad after going 3-0 up. Mascherano said couple years back when the same almost happened, that when you start to relax, it's very hard to get back going again.
Jupp Heynckes defeated real in 2012 semi final. but yeah prepare for off side goals, red card,penalty
There are ref mistakes in almost if not every game and quite often they swing the game one way or another. It has been that forever and is no different today than it was before.