It’s strange because the first match was pretty even. For Leipzig to collapse like that is surprising. I guess the fact both BVB v City matches earlier this season were very close is something positive by comparison. Clearly Terzic > Rose when it comes to setting up to defend. Looks like possibly only Bayern and Leverkusen will be in the last 8 in either European competition, although Freiburg & Union still have a chance too. I can’t see Frankfurt winning in Naples.
This is what pisses me off the most. Back in December when seven BL clubs advanced to the knock-out phase of European tournaments BL-oriented media outlets started to pat themselves on the back, and I always point out what's the fvcking point when Bayern are usually the only BL club that regularly makes deep runs in the CL whilst the rest are eliminated the moment they step into the KO phase.
Because Bayern are usually th only BL club that regularly makes deep runs in the CL whilst the rest of BL clubs are eliminated the moment they step into the KO phase of European tournaments.
I don't mean posters here but the farmers league narrative is a stupid engagement with today's football anyways. There are only a handful of clubs who make deep runs in the CL consistently. Almost everyone else is a farm team for them. Yeah, no shit, there isn't a level playing field. There's one league where most teams are toys for their billionaire owners. And some celebrate seeing their teams lifted up artificially and not on merit by ridiculing other leagues.
Not sure if this is true. Napoli are proving otherwise and Porto often punch above their league. Sadly even Leipzig have done better than us recently and then Tottenham in previous year have made runs. We have had teams more than good enough to go deep. Even this year we should have made the quarters. That said speaking about the draw this is the best possible result for us. Bayern are guaranteed at least two and maybe 4 extremely hard games. Hopefully this times them out so they drop points in the league.
perhaps a gift was given today in the form of PENS but Bayer Leverkusen may have just stolen some points for us but we knew that match with bayern was the more important match regardless.
As much as I like Bayern to lose, I am afraid that our mindset would be to play for a draw now instead of going for a win when chasing them.
I don't think anything changes in how we approach the game. It's one of 9 games but it's the one game everyone watches. You want to win it either way. Bayern losing points is always good. If we lose 0:6 against them, it's better to only be behind 2 points instead of 5 points. When we play them, it doesn't matter whether they are 10 points behind or 10 points in front of us. They'll play for the win and we'll have to wait for our chances.
Amazing result, at a dramatic time in the season. VAR helped us! I'm glad it's not being misused like in the EPL. These were the right calls. And if there were biases that may have given these calls to Bayern in the past, now we have a way to fix them. I'm a little bit worried that Terzic will be too conservative and that the players won't believe in themselves against Bayern. But Terzic has surprised me overall this season, esp in the department of motivating players. So I'm a little bit optimistic. In the end, it's one game at a time. And even if we win against Bayern it won't be decided. So everyone (including Terzic and the players) please chill, because keeping a cool head is our best chance to win it.
A bit surprised even though his position never seemed solid since he joined. They had a bad stretch after the WC but have still everything in their own hands and looked strong in the CL. Would suck if Tuchel is the one turning things around for them in the league but I hope it backfires, of course.
It's a huge game, but I think this is a stupid decision from Bayern. Nagelsmann looked likely to win the CL. He has won every game against Inter, Barca and PSG. No club can afford to turn down the opportunity of winning a CL.
I hope your're right and Tuchel pulls one of his famous "Tactical Genius" moves which backfire horribly.
Haha re tactical genius. Unfortunately, Tuchel is good at the beginning of his tenure and will only create drama on the second season. But let's hope for instant drama. I think they're really stupid to let Nagelsman go. So much potential. At least we get to no longer hate him.
I think I mentioned that some time ago that I was once one of those who thought that Tuchel is more interested in outsmarting an opponent than choosing the best team and that I've totally changed my opinion after hearing an old lecture of him held when he was still at Mainz. It's not about being cute with tactics, it's about identifying formations and players that help for specific cases and he's someone who sees it at his duty to prepare his team as best as possible for the next opponent. He told a story that after Mainz started the season with 3 wins, before the next game the manager wondered why Tuchel made so many changes and whether that isn't too much. Tuchel was surprised because he thought he found a good selection for the opponent and that is all that mattered for him. He explicitly sees pro football on that level as a players game with the coach having a supporting role. Hearing him talk about his thought processes and all the little things going on let me become a little bit more humble in our beliefs that we could know better doing his job. I think he learned his lessons from Dortmund, went to two CL finals back to back and turned Chelsea around. PSG and Chelsea certainly didn't look like they improved after firing him.
My only problem with Tuchel's tactics is that he stretched the players thin physically, with his demands. His increased rotations are more a criticism on the mental aspect for players than the tactical side, as they are not able to build continuity and get used to playing a certain way. So you could argue that they should learn. My main criticism of Tuchel is on the leadership/personal side, where he throws his players under the bus. That continued at Chelsea. Anyways, I think Bayern is a club that attracts a-holes in its leadership. So maybe it's a good fit. But then again he may have learned from his past experiences as he looked really affected by his sacking from Chelsea.
It really is. It could decide the league, but this is one of those rare times that Dortmund have a chance to build a team to rival Bayern for the 5-6 years. The last time was really in 2013, maybe there was a slim chance in 2016. In 2013 we lost momentum when Gotze left and we decided to replace him with Mkhitaryan. Whether we could have gone him or not the man to go for was Ozil and that would have sent a message across Europe. The board never understood or capitalised on Dortmund being regarded around Europe as one of the top 5 teams in the world. The next 4 months are going to be so decisive. For the first time we have a team which is arguably as promising as Bayern. Kobel>Sommer Wolf and Pavard are both really not good enough. Suele/Schlotterbeck is only slightly below De Light. Adeyemi has the potential to surpass Gnabry Moukoko is incredibly talented. Brandt is better than Sane Reus is still better than Muller. Of course Bayern have Kimmich and Goretzka and Muisiala. This is the summer to close the gap. We can boast we have half the starting Germany or potentially half the starting 11. Wolf--Suele--Schlotterbeck ------------Can Brandt---‐---------Adeyemi ---maybe Moukoko Win the league and we can sell it to Wirtz that we are the future of Germany.
I still think Bayern are the favorite for Saturday. However, I think that this new instability will cost them some more points. So regardless of Saturday's results I feel that both teams are on par for chances to win the league.
I would say Bayern are favorites for one reason; the immediate Tuchel effect. I was giving ourselves a very good chance before this signing.
I just hope we do not go into the game playing for a draw because that will be a guaranteed 5:0 loss.