Champions League Semifinals - Leg 1
- Thread starter CPT Neuron
- Start date
Klopp deserves a ton of credit for developing a system with players that seems to lead to someone sprinting away into space towards goal about a dozen times per game. Considering they lost arguably their best playmaker mid-way through the season and there were some rumblings his job was on the line; the turnaround into this offensive machine is damn impressive.
Salah is menace; but Firmino is one of the most underrated players in Europe. He's an excellent all-around attacking player and deserves a lot of credit for Salah's production.
Salah is menace; but Firmino is one of the most underrated players in Europe. He's an excellent all-around attacking player and deserves a lot of credit for Salah's production.
Man would this have been a different match if Roma hadn't botched their tactics so terribly for the first 70 minutes.
Well, it goes from a meaningless second leg to one that can have some drama, especially if Roma get a goal early.
Still, it's a 3 goal lead. We would all have taken that before kickoff.
Still, it's a 3 goal lead. We would all have taken that before kickoff.
A really good result, but they pissed all over their party favors with 10 minutes of sloppy play.
The Robertson ball to Wijnaldum at 5-1 really should have been put away. Regardless, 3 goal lead going into leg 2 of a CL semifinal is absolutely bananas for this squad.
Onwards.
Onwards.
I know why he took Salah off, 5 up etc...but Salah is a one man wrecking crew and was keeping Roma's defence occupied. Easy to double guess afterwards...but I did think it was strange.
It's not the 3-goal lead I have a problem with (I don't think anyone should, ultimately), it's the two away goals. Roma came from behind and won on away goals in both of the prior knockout rounds. Though I doubt this team would go down as meekly as Barcelona did with the 3-0 2nd leg, I still don't think there's enough alcohol in the world to keep me sane during next Wednesday's game.
There's a report that 80 or so Roma supporters came down a side road and attacked some Liverpool fans outside the Albert, a pub right next to the Kop.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43883201
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43883201
Doesn't surprise me...I have my own reasons, but I have a huge dislike for them. Although...they must be fucking idiots to attack Liverpool fans on their own turf.
They sure put Liverpool fans through hell in 1984, which is one of the major reasons why Heysel happened.
Yes, Roma is a culprit for Heysel.
Salah getting taken out had a pitcher tipping his cap to the crowd effect on Liverpool. They relaxed, which is no good since their best defense is a relentless and overpowering offense. I feel very firmly they will score at least one next week. I don’t think Roma has the firepower to make up the gap. But it should be fun.
I don't know how anyone can say this. This is precisely the same gap they overcame just two weeks ago - the only difference being that this leg ended 5-2, instead of 4-1 in favor of Barcelona. YMMV on whether they're in a better position now because of the two away goals.
A different way of looking at it is that Liverpool has enough firepower to avoid the 3-0 result Roma needs.
Of course, Barca has one the top living footballers of his generation, and they still got shut out.
I think both sides can be looked at.
First... Liverpool offense.
They've been shutout 7 times this year.
1) Man City 1 - early red card for Mane.
2) Leicester City - League Cup. No Firmino or Salah in squad. Marco Grujic started in midfield.
3) Man U 1 - No Mane. Mourinho parks the bus.
4) West Brom 1 - Baggie Magic?
5) Swansea 2 - week after beating Man City.
6) Porto 2 - 'Pool up 5-0 in aggregate after first leg. Salah started on bench.
7) Everton 2 - Between Man City CL games. Firmino on bench. Salah off squad.
So... there are only 2 of 7 with a full complement of Salah/Firmino/Mane (if we discount City 1 due to the red card). And I'm not sure West Brom or Swansea are instructive for Roma since they need to score 3.
Defensively...
'Pool hadn't given up more than 2 goals in a game since FA Cup West Brom in January (w/ Mignolet in goal and a Matip OG.) and before that Man City 2 (2 late goals for city... No Van Dijk for Pool).
Roma can come back. They have shown that recently. But... Liverpool is clearly in the drivers seat.
To make this a useful comparison, you should look at Barca as well.
Barca got shut out 5 times prior to the Roma debacle:
2-0 vs. Madrid in the Supercopa. This match took place on 8/16/17 and the club was still staggering around at this point.
0-0 vs. Olympiakos in UCL Group play (10/16/17). Full squad, surprising result.
0-0 vs. Juve in UCL group play (11/22/17). Full squad, tough competition.
0-1 vs. Espanol in CDR (1/17/18). Pathetically water-logged pitch in a vicious match. Very much an outlier result.
0-0 vs. Getafe in La Liga (2/11/18). Had Digne playing at CB alongside Yerry Mina, but full attacking squad.
0-3 vs. Roma in UCL. F.M.L.
My only point in bringing this up is that Barca is a very attacking and successful goal-scoring club too, and the result against Roma in the return leg was anomalous. I think Liverpool cruise into the final on a 2-1 scoreline (don't know which way, but it doesn't matter), but Barca's cautionary tale (and seeing Roma's tactics is a similar situation against Barca) will be a big help.
Today's match looks huge on paper. Two superclubs ready to do battle. Madrid comes in feeling very stable, with Isco, CRon, Benzema forming the primary attackers along with Kroos, Modric, and Casemiro MF (don't think we see Kovacic start). Marcelo will do his bombing forward thing and Carvajal actually gets forward quite a bit as well, but is happy to hang back and provide balance. Varane and Ramos are a formidable CB pair.
Bayern OTOH comes in still rebounding a bit from some untimely injuries to Vidal, Alaba, and Coman (to say nothing of Neuer). Every year I expect Robben and Ribery to finally drop off form, but I'm still waiting. Vidal in particular is a big loss since he can be such a workhorse.
Nevertheless, this should be a cagey affair. Will be interesting to see if Bayern can keep track of CRon and keep the sizzling hot striker off the sheet. RM obviously have other weapons, but Bayern are no slouches themselves.
Bayern OTOH comes in still rebounding a bit from some untimely injuries to Vidal, Alaba, and Coman (to say nothing of Neuer). Every year I expect Robben and Ribery to finally drop off form, but I'm still waiting. Vidal in particular is a big loss since he can be such a workhorse.
Nevertheless, this should be a cagey affair. Will be interesting to see if Bayern can keep track of CRon and keep the sizzling hot striker off the sheet. RM obviously have other weapons, but Bayern are no slouches themselves.
No doubt. Shit happens. I should have phrased that as "should have enough firepower".
But my point about whether or not Roma has the firepower to overcome a 3-goal deficit remains; and may actually be bolstered by the fact that it was done against Messi.
I still can't believe Roma played such a high defensive line yesterday. Once they adjusted (and Salah came off) they started playing alright but Liverpool have a case for having the quickest attack in football and to play 3 at the back while pushing them up the field was suicide.
Very surprised by Di Francesco, who you'd think would have been happy soaking up pressure.
Very surprised by Di Francesco, who you'd think would have been happy soaking up pressure.
I guess I’m weird in that I’m weighing all of Roma’s other performances this season over their home leg vs Barca. That result was a minor miracle. I don’t think they will keep their home clean sheet run in the return leg, which means 4+ goals will need to be scored. In their prior 4 home CL matches they scored 5 goals. In Serie A they have scored 27 goals at home In 17 matches. I don’t think Roma has another offensive explosion against a superior team in them, but I do expect they will not go down quietly.
Playing Juan Jesus at LCB (Salah's side) was borderline suicidal, particularly after Jesus picked up a yellow on 26' and had to back off him. He was getting 0 help from Nainggolan tracking back, and De Rossi too often had to deal with the runs of Firmino and a surprisingly active Wijnaldum from midfield.
Got to expect a 4-man backline for Roma for the return leg. Karsdorp is out for the year for them right? So it'd be Peres at RB?
Those filling in will be big tonight: Alaba just came back in the last matches, but will be heavily tested. Coman is out, so Bayern will depend on some combination of Robben, Ribery, Müller, James on the wings. Vidal being out is a good thing IMO. He is a special player and very important, but in those late-stage CL matches and vs. spanish teams, he seems oh-so-close to a 2nd booking each time.
Reports from Germany (kicker) have the lineups:
Ulreich - Kimmich, Boateng, Hummels, Rafinha - Robben, Müller, Martinez, James, Ribery - Lewandowski
Navas - Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo - Modric, Casemiro, Isco, Kroos - Benzema, Ronaldo
Ulreich played like he belongs to the WC as a backup for Neuer+ter Stegen while filling in also. Rafinha played great, but both are not on Neuer+Alaba-level obviously. Kimmich could have a lot of trouble with Marcelo I think. Maybe he is able to go forward behind Robben. That´s a better working pair than Kimmich+Müller or Kimmich+ James or Kimmich+Coman (so far), so there´s hope.
Alaba seems to be not fit for tonights match.
I would prefer Thiago instead of James (as a 4-2-3-1 with Martinez in DM and Müller in the advanced central role), but all the german news stations have Heynckes picking James...we´ll see how it ends.
Bayern is playing a squad very oriented toward attack - Lewandowski, Ribery, Robben, Muller, and James all in the team. They're not even trying to fight for control of possession in midfield with this team. Five attacking players, five defensive oriented players.
And Real are playing a team that is much more defensive and oriented toward ball control, with Kroos, Modric, Casemiro, and Isco included and Lucas Vazquez up front with Ronaldo.
And Real are playing a team that is much more defensive and oriented toward ball control, with Kroos, Modric, Casemiro, and Isco included and Lucas Vazquez up front with Ronaldo.
You obviously follow Roma more than I do, so I’m willing to concede my pessimism may be unwarranted.
That said, I’m still traumatized by Sevilla in November.
Schnerres: what is the talk surrounding Neuer’s foot injuries in Gernany? Is the thinking that it’s flukey and he will be fine or is there long term concern?
There´s nothing about his future career and him being having a Robben career full of injuries. It´s more that everybody´s thinking about Neuer being available to join Bayern this season, then people having their own opinion abouts about Ulreich having earned the right to play the cup final (and a possible CL final) and thinking about Neuer even being able to join Germany for Russia this summer.
A lot of mistakes so far...many bad passes, in every part of the field, with some leading to semi-dangerous scenes...Bayern with bad passing in their buildup and Real doesn´t find the last pass. If Bayern keeps up such a high turnover rate, there will be a guy named Ronaldo, and he´ll score.
Kuypers lets them play, so far. Some fouls could have been yellow (Boateng after 30 seconds) and some fouls weren´t even called. Could have ended in a bad way, but it looks good right now, as the nervousness ended...
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLL!!!!!!
Kuypers lets them play, so far. Some fouls could have been yellow (Boateng after 30 seconds) and some fouls weren´t even called. Could have ended in a bad way, but it looks good right now, as the nervousness ended...
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLL!!!!!!
Kimmich takes a probably ill advised shot from a crazy angle on the break and it goes in!
Yikes, terrible stuff from Navas on that goal. That'll get Florentino on the phone to De Gea's agent if they lose the tie.
Yikes, terrible stuff from Navas on that goal. That'll get Florentino on the phone to De Gea's agent if they lose the tie.
I'd really like to think he knew Navas would cheat on the cross, but yeah, I can't believe he shot that.