2017 Champions League Knockout stage

DJnVa

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Dec 16, 2010
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No reports that it was firecrackers thrown by fans. Although there are reports that police are saying 3 "explosions".

Also, Juventus nearly grabs a very early one against Barca.
 

McBride11

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I see why Dybala didnt make Arg national team. Sweet turn and placement on that shot

Edit: Cuadrado's nifty step over and pass was perfect too
 

InstaFace

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This is the fastest-paced game I've ever seen Juventus play, including their UCL Final vs Barca. All 22 players are flying around the field, goalies included.
 

InstaFace

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that one's on MATS. A shooter always has more margin for error on the near post, so you take away the near post. If he'd curled that into the upper far corner, you tip your cap, but you can't get beat near-post like that, especially at knee level.
 

SocrManiac

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He just re-signed with Juventus. The transfer fee might make Pogba's look reasonable by comparison.

Edit: important hyphen is important.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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I really like Allegri's setup here. A very disciplined 4-4-2 with Mandzukic surprisingly as the left sided midfielder. He has been really good in that spot, staying disciplined defensively and then bursting forward to set up the second goal.
 

McBride11

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So does Real or Barca sign Dybala for an obscene amount of money?
It is always interesting Juve's sell structure. Italys best club (even with sanctions) yet never have quite the money. Imagine if Pogba and Vidal were still there.
Id wager Dybala goes to Real given the SNM line it will be harder to get time.
 

Vinho Tinto

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It is always interesting Juve's sell structure..Italys best club (even with sanctions) yet never have quite the money.
It's not a reflection on Juve. It screams about the divide between the top 4-6 clubs and everyone else. There are a number of articles written about how Juve has modernized their economic model (With the stadium being at the center of it) and have blown past everyone else in Serie A. They were 10th in the last Money League, but that still puts their revenues at half of ManU's (1st).
 

wonderland

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It is always interesting Juve's sell structure. Italys best club (even with sanctions) yet never have quite the money. Imagine if Pogba and Vidal were still there.
Id wager Dybala goes to Real given the SNM line it will be harder to get time.
I think they made smart decisions on those two players though. Got the production from them and sold at peak. Good business.
 

McBride11

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It's not a reflection on Juve. It screams about the divide between the top 4-6 clubs and everyone else. There are a number of articles written about how Juve has modernized their economic model (With the stadium being at the center of it) and have blown past everyone else in Serie A. They were 10th in the last Money League, but that still puts their revenues at half of ManU's (1st).
Oh you are right. I didnt mean to say Juve was mismanaging. Just the current climate
of economic football.
Think back to the late 90s when they kept Zidane, Davids, Del Piero, plus the Italian defense and just such a difference DESPITE modernizing as you say.

Other people alluded to how much better Barca / Real are compared to others and it all stems from the changing economics.
 

McBride11

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I think they made smart decisions on those two players though. Got the production from them and sold at peak. Good business.
Not trying to imply bad decisions. They werE good decisions. But is is the economic structure they live in despite being the most succesful team in Serie A, a top 4 club league.
 

InstaFace

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Other people alluded to how much better Barca / Real are compared to others and it all stems from the changing economics.
Well, not the first 25 minutes of this game.

I still think the offsides on Messi's walking-the-ball-in play was BS. Or was that called for a foul on the tackle? I had the game muted at that moment.
 

InstaFace

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Juve hasn't lost a match by 3 goals, nevermind 4, in more than a year (March 2nd 2016, Coppa Italia SF, 2nd leg @ Inter, 3-0 for Inter). Before that it was more than 5 years, Jan 2011 at Napoli (0-3). As best I can tell, they have not lost by 4 goals at all this decade.

They last gave up 4 goals a few weeks later, 3/16/16, in the UCL R16 at Bayern Munich. Before that, it was on Oct 20th, 2013, at Fiorentina.

Barca would need back-to-back 2nd-leg miracles. I wouldn't put anything past them, but Juve will not fold like a cheap suit the way PSG did.
 
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Zososoxfan

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Tip of the cap to Juve, they played a perfect match and the scoreline was fair. Dybala gets a 10 from me. Mandzukic was outstanding on the left. Cuadrado remains one of my favorite players. The defense is stout and Buffon is immensely likeable. Felt like Allegri was playing chess while Lucho was playing Gomes. I think Allegri will get overtures from the Barca board to come join them. Higuain is a still a ball of wasted chances thank goodness. I'll take my grievances re: Barca to the Barca thread.
 

InstaFace

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Marc Bartra confirmed by Dortmund to have broken his wrist in the blast. Considering at LB he would have been facing off against (I think) Mbappé, that's a rough position to take a big drop-off at.
 

SocrManiac

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I'm not looking forward to the next week of comparisons between Juventus and PSG. I just don't see Juve's defense folding like PSG's- they're too organized and experienced. Who knows, though- a phantom penalty like the one awarded in the last tie can change things immensely.
 

cromulence

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Marc Bartra confirmed by Dortmund to have broken his wrist in the blast. Considering at LB he would have been facing off against (I think) Mbappé, that's a rough position to take a big drop-off at.
Bartra is primarily a CB. They usually have one of Guerreiro/Schmelzer/Pisczcek at LB, though they sometimes have three in the back which changes things. I'd think they'll be OK with Sokratis and Ginter/Bender at CB, but we'll see.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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I'm not looking forward to the next week of comparisons between Juventus and PSG. I just don't see Juve's defense folding like PSG's- they're too organized and experienced. Who knows, though- a phantom penalty like the one awarded in the last tie can change things immensely.
I would be absolutely shocked if Juve loses this tie. Barca will have to push forward in numbers and their defense just isn't good enough to keep a clean sheet in an open game unless MATS plays completely out of his mind and they get very lucky with poor Juve finishing. That means Barca will likely need to score at least five and when is the last time anybody scored five against Juventus?
 

McBride11

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I have Comcast, FS2 of course isn't offered and also not available via FSGo. Any other options besides the streams like vipbox?
 
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Schnerres

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I guess it´s:
Bürki - Piszczek, Ginter, Sokratis, Schmelzer - Bender, Weigl - Dembélé, Kagawa, Guerreiro - Aubameyang.

Very cautious approach, if they line up like this.

Kicker has it with a 3 in the back turns to 5 in the back:
Bürki - Ginter, Sokratis, Bender - Piszczek, Schmelzer - Weigl - Dembélé, Kagawa, Guerreiro - Aubameyang.

At least the attacking 4 are set, as Guerreiro is left footed and will play strictly on that side and so Dembélé will stay on the other wing. There´s Pulisic and Mor on the bench, but Reus isn´t although he was rumored to be included in the squad. It´s probably better in the mid- and long term interest of everyone involved.

Tuchel said in his interview yesterday that they will play very offensive and they try to score lots of goals. I mean most coaches say something like "[...]cautious...keep a clean sheet...try to score a goal...perfect result would be +2[...]." or smth like that he is just talking like he wants to put on a show. Seems weird, as they don´t have an unbeatable opponent and could reach the next round, so let´s see how this plays out.
 

swiftaw

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Yep, replay showed it was definitely offside as announcer is saying it definitely not offside.

Edit: What are the announcers watching, they just doubled down on their "not offside" view.
 

swiftaw

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Okay, either I'm going blind or something weird is going on, because I certainly didn't think the Dortmund player was "certainly offside" there.