2020/21 UEFA Champions League: The Road to Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

rguilmar

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That seems a little over-the-top, at least in terms of best young players. Camavinga is extremely impressive for his age but its hard to be a truly dominant player as a non-goal scoring central midfielder and he has a lot of growth ahead of him before becoming a dominant player. In contrast, Haaland - who hasn't really played any more first team football in a real league than Camavinga - is not only a goal scoring player but might already be one of the five best center forwards in the world.
A little apples to oranges, though, isn't it? Haaland is three years older and a different position. Unless you are a hardcore Molde fan, I doubt anyone knew about Haaland at age 17. Don't get me wrong, I will take both on any of the teams I root for today. And I am just basing this on the 60 whatever minutes I saw of Camavinga against inferior competition, but the kid looks legit. And he wasn't flopping around at all except for when he was taken out by a poor timed challenge (which got the deserved yellow for the opponent).

Also, I feel like its relatively rare for a teenager to break through as a box to box CMF, probably because a mistake there can be more disastrous than out wide or up top. That's more anecdotal than anything.

Whatever the case, he gets 2 games each against Sevilla, Chelsea, and PSG to showcase his talents. Then he can pick the club he wants to suit up for the next few years.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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A little apples to oranges, though, isn't it? Haaland is three years older and a different position. Unless you are a hardcore Molde fan, I doubt anyone knew about Haaland at age 17. Don't get me wrong, I will take both on any of the teams I root for today. And I am just basing this on the 60 whatever minutes I saw of Camavinga against inferior competition, but the kid looks legit. And he wasn't flopping around at all except for when he was taken out by a poor timed challenge (which got the deserved yellow for the opponent).

Also, I feel like its relatively rare for a teenager to break through as a box to box CMF, probably because a mistake there can be more disastrous than out wide or up top. That's more anecdotal than anything.

Whatever the case, he gets 2 games each against Sevilla, Chelsea, and PSG to showcase his talents. Then he can pick the club he wants to suit up for the next few years.
Camavinga is younger but Haaland is still very young himself and really has no more experience playing first team football in a big league.

I’ve only seen Camavinga a few times but have been very impressed by him. I just think the hype is getting a little out of hand.

Am I right in thinking that you support Real Madrid? If so, you may get to see a lot of him as I’ve read that Zidane is a big admirer.
 

67YAZ

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A little apples to oranges, though, isn't it? Haaland is three years older and a different position. Unless you are a hardcore Molde fan, I doubt anyone knew about Haaland at age 17. Don't get me wrong, I will take both on any of the teams I root for today. And I am just basing this on the 60 whatever minutes I saw of Camavinga against inferior competition, but the kid looks legit. And he wasn't flopping around at all except for when he was taken out by a poor timed challenge (which got the deserved yellow for the opponent).

Also, I feel like its relatively rare for a teenager to break through as a box to box CMF, probably because a mistake there can be more disastrous than out wide or up top. That's more anecdotal than anything.

Whatever the case, he gets 2 games each against Sevilla, Chelsea, and PSG to showcase his talents. Then he can pick the club he wants to suit up for the next few years.
Renato Sanches stands out as the recent example of the central mid who looked like a future balon d’or contender at 18 and then faded quickly.
 

rguilmar

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Camavinga is younger but Haaland is still very young himself and really has no more experience playing first team football in a big league.

I’ve only seen Camavinga a few times but have been very impressed by him. I just think the hype is getting a little out of hand.

Am I right in thinking that you support Real Madrid? If so, you may get to see a lot of him as I’ve read that Zidane is a big admirer.
I cannot put into words what my Catalan family would say about this. Even in today's world, it would be inappropriate by message board standards.

I actually didn't know that there was so much hype surrounding him. Just saw him play this week and thought he looked good.

Renato Sanches stands out as the recent example of the central mid who looked like a future balon d’or contender at 18 and then faded quickly.
Fair enough. Sanches and Fabregas were the only two CM teens that came to mind initially, but I'm sure that there is a much longer list.
 

Zososoxfan

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I do think Bayern is in a tier by themselves with VVD out. Liverpool are very close with him in the lineup. As I was watching highlights last night, I remembered how Bayern's campaign started last year and it gives me hope that someone else can topple them, or at least approach their level.
 

Dummy Hoy

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Bayern has won 12 straight champions league games including some absolute demolitions of some pretty good teams (Barca/Spurs/Atleti/Chelsea). The last time they lost in any competition aside from that Hoffenheim game was a 2-1 loss at Monchengladbach- December 7, 2019. I mean, they're 40-1-3 with a +108 GD dating back to last November under Hansi Flick.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Bayern are clearly on top right now but I think their dominance is potentially fairly fragile. They have a number of essential players in their 30s, their CBs aren't that impressive, Thiago is a significant loss, and its unclear how the situation with David Alaba will play out.

Dominating Europe over multiple seasons is hard. Just ask members of Bayern 12-13 or Barca 14-15 how the next couple years went.
 

teddykgb

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Bayern’s transfer strategy of getting players to run down their contract and go to Bayern for cheap or free is their competitive edge.
Werner and Havertz were minor instances of bucking the trend but if they are continually able to get top talent for free then they’re not going anywhere
 

pedro1918

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Matchday 2 is upon us!

Tuesday, Oct. 27

Lokomotiv Moscow vs. Bayern Munich, 1:55 p.m.
Shakhtar vs. Inter Milan, 1:55 p.m.
Atletico Madrid vs. Red Bull Salzburg, 4 p.m.
Borussia Monchengladbach vs. Real Madrid
Porto vs. Olympiacos, 4 p.m.
Marseille vs. Manchester City, 4 p.m.
Liverpool vs. Midtjylland, 4 p.m.
Atalanta vs. Ajax, 4 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 28
Krasnodar vs. Chelsea, 1:55 p.m.
Istanbul Basaksehir vs. Paris Saint-Germain, 1:55 p.m.
Sevilla vs. Rennes, 4 p.m.
Borussia Dortmund vs. Zenit, 4 p.m.
Club Brugge vs. Lazio, 4 p.m.
Juventus vs. Barcelona, 4 p.m.
Ferencvaros vs. Dynamo Kiev, 4 p.m.
Manchester United vs. RB Leipzig, 4 p.m.
 

cromulence

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CBS All Access is a mess today. Sound is at least 30 seconds out of sync with the picture.
 

PedroSpecialK

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I have been so impressed with Valeriy Bondar of Shakhtar during this game v. Inter. He's been nearly perfect on his reads and has largely kept Lukaku and Lautaro at bay.

As I type this, he gets away with a borderline penalty bringing down Lukaku, but for a 21 year old with 13 first-team appearances he's been really solid.
 

teddykgb

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These types of posts tend to age poorly but City are 0-0 and I haven’t been this happy with the team in a long time. Sterling is back on the right and the press is back and the ball is just pinging everywhere. No idea how it plays out but it is like a weight has been lifted. Even Gundogan looks phenomenal
 

Pesky Pole

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That's the third (well earned) yellow for Midtjylland. Feels like all these unnecessary cards could catch up to them if they keep playing this hard pressing style. I guess they are fortunate that two are on forwards.
 

PedroSpecialK

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Really need to just limp into January. The thought of one of Henderson/Wijnaldum/Rhys Williams at CB against Premier League competition is... scary
 

PedroSpecialK

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Fantastic sequence between Trent, Shaqiri, and Jota - finally a goal

Mane looks like he'd rather be anywhere else on earth - Midtjylland starting to generate some chances now

What's the VAR holdup here? Checking for a red on Paulinho?
 
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SoxFanInCali

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Salah puts it away from the spot in stoppage time. Flat performance, but 3 points are 3 points.

Real looked terrible all game then score twice late to save a point against Gladbach.

Atalanta and Ajax draw, giving Liverpool top spot in the group for the moment.
 

bosox4283

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Atletico squeaks out a 3-2 victory over Red Bull Salzburg, which was a hugely important result in the group with Bayern. Joao Felix scored two goals, including the game-winner around the 85th minute. Once again, Atletico decided to sit back and played conservatively, a move that becomes harder to understand when Luis Suarez is expected to run the counter -- he's frankly too slow to take on this role.
 

SocrManiac

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Jorginho sends a 13th minute PK off the post, off the keeper and cleared. KRA 0-0 CHE
It was a pen, but Werner has cemented his reputation in my mind. He went down screaming, holding his ankle, and motioning for help. He was barely touched. He was on the pitch for the penalty. He is going to embellish and whine over every iota of contact.
 

Kliq

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Goal for Pulisic and he won a penalty. Sadly, no Dest or McKennie starting for the Barca/Junventus clash.
 

cromulence

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Really surprised that Dest doesn't start. McKennie hasn't played since he tested positive - hope he's not gonna have a long wait to get another chance now.
 

Zomp

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United thrash Leipzig 5-0. Rashford, coming on as a sub in the last 30 minutes, with the hat trick. They actually played very well, in a diamond formation. I’d like to see more of that. It allows Pogba to drift out left and lets the forwards go wide if they need to.

After the Spurs game, United have looked pretty good. I thought they were better than Chelsea last weekend and tonight looked very sharp.
 

Zomp

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Yes I think he’s fully recovered. He showed a bit of ruthless finishing tonight that was a welcome change.

will be interesting to see the team selection on Sunday. There are at least 3 or 4 spots in The starting 11 that could go to different players.

With van de beek, Cavani, Greenwood, and magic as mainly bench players now, it’s a deep squad.
 

Kliq

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United thrash Leipzig 5-0. Rashford, coming on as a sub in the last 30 minutes, with the hat trick. They actually played very well, in a diamond formation. I’d like to see more of that. It allows Pogba to drift out left and lets the forwards go wide if they need to.

After the Spurs game, United have looked pretty good. I thought they were better than Chelsea last weekend and tonight looked very sharp.
Imagine how good Rashford would be if he “just focused on football.”
 

pedro1918

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Matchday 3

Tuesday, Nov. 3


Lokomotiv Moscow vs. Atletico Madrid, 12:55 p.m.
Shakhtar vs. Borussia Monchengladbach, 12:55 p.m.
Red Bull Salzburg vs. Bayern Munich, 3 p.m.
Real Madrid vs. Inter Milan, 3 p.m.
Manchester City vs. Olympiacos, 3 p.m.
Porto vs. Marseille, 3 p.m.
Midtjylland vs. Ajax, 3 p.m.
Atalanta vs. Liverpool, 3 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 4

Zenit vs. Lazio, 12:55 p.m.
Istanbul Basaksehir vs. Manchester United, 12:55 p.m.
Sevilla vs. Krasnodar, 3 p.m.
Chelsea vs. Rennes, 3 p.m.
Club Brugge vs. Borussia Dortmund, 3 p.m.
Barcelona vs. Dynamo Kiev, 3 p.m.
Ferencvaros vs. Juventus, 3 p.m.
RB Leipzig vs. Paris Saint-Germain, 3 p.m.

A bit of chaos today as Ajax had 11 players, including Dusan Tadic, Davy Klaassen, André Onana and Maarten Stekelenburg, test positive for COVID. They traveled with only 17 players. Dynamo Kiev had six positives.

I'm a little distracted today. I will be sneaking peeks at Liverpool.
 

nolasoxfan

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Matchday 3

Tuesday, Nov. 3


Lokomotiv Moscow vs. Atletico Madrid, 12:55 p.m.
Shakhtar vs. Borussia Monchengladbach, 12:55 p.m.
Red Bull Salzburg vs. Bayern Munich, 3 p.m.
Real Madrid vs. Inter Milan, 3 p.m.
Manchester City vs. Olympiacos, 3 p.m.
Porto vs. Marseille, 3 p.m.
Midtjylland vs. Ajax, 3 p.m.
Atalanta vs. Liverpool, 3 p.m.

I'm a little distracted today. I will be sneaking peeks at Liverpool.
Crossing my fingers that Sirius-XM covers this today.
 

67YAZ

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Impressed with Liverpool's discipline and organization without VVD. Holding Atalanta to 2 shots in a half is tough work. Obviously, things can change quickly against a balls out side like this, but loved seeing it.
 

CPT Neuron

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I saw a 4-x score line but didn't think the "x" would be 0 at this point in the game....and I couldn't have told you who was more likely to have put up the 4 given Liverpool's defensive issues....