Champions League 2019-20: The Final Countdown

Zososoxfan

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Ederson’s reflexes and athleticism are absolutely incredible. Coupled with strength with the ball at his feet. He’s an above average goalkeeper.

The biggest knock against him is his positioning. He has absolutely no clue where he is relative to his goal. Those reflexes and leaping ability mostly make up for it. This has lead to some truly spectacular saves on shots a correctly placed keeper would routinely catch or comfortably parry. He will not age well as his explosiveness diminishes and reaction times increase.

The other piece holding him back is his decision making, and that’s what let him down here. He was caught in absolute no-man’s land and almost totally flat footed. I think that’s why Dembélé pulled the trigger. He looked up and saw Ederson unprepared for a shot. He took a bad one but Ederson had no time to set and react.
Obligatory:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=522vr0kTe0Q
 

Zososoxfan

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Koeman is a fine stopgap. He had a rough start to his managerial career, but he has enough experience to handle this teetering ship in a storm with some dignity and has the decorated career to at least draw some respect from the players. Everything I've seen indicates that he won't give up managing the Oranje next summer, so not sure how that jives, if at all.

If Poch is willing to come to Barca (a possibility apparently since Enspanyol got relegated), then the club and the socis would be utter morons not to beg him to come and restart the project. But, Catalans are stubborn and intensely proud, so this is probably not going to happen due to Poch's previous comments and having played for Espanyol and being quite proud and vocal about it. In addition, if Espanyol's relegation is a real factor in Poch agreeing to come, it begs the question what happens if Espanyol get promoted.

In any event, any managerial appointment is window dressing. The rot starts with the Board and anything other than Barto getting fired into the sun is a half measure.
 

67YAZ

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Dec 1, 2000
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I came here to watch a fearless underdog ferociously press and counter. Instead all I got was Emery’s Arsenal?
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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Kimpembe easily could have drawn a second caution there. I actually think that's a pretty easy routine yellow but for the fact that he's already sitting on one.
 

coremiller

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Jul 14, 2005
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PSG have scored from a free kick, the RBL goalkeeper passing the ball straight to them, and a turnover where the RBL defender just fell down (maybe because he was fouled). PSG have been better and deserve to be ahead but I think 3-0 flatters them.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Jun 15, 2002
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PSG have scored from a free kick, the RBL goalkeeper passing the ball straight to them, and a turnover where the RBL defender just fell down (maybe because he was fouled). PSG have been better and deserve to be ahead but I think 3-0 flatters them.
They've missed on their beautiful plays that deserve a goal and scored on absolute nonsense.

SOCCER!
 

McBride11

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Gnabry with a scorcher. Wow. Lyon has been generating more chances too, much to my surprise. Lyon is going to regret not finishing some of those
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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Crazy that Bayern is leading against the run of play, but they just have so much quality that all they needed was one half chance and zing, it's in the net.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Beginning to think that Wenger shouldn't have decided that giving Gnabry more game time would be too detrimental to Oxlade-Chamberlain's stellar career and subsequently lent him to Tony Pulis.

Wenger is often slated for not spending enough money during his time at Arsenal but the truth is that the last few years were really just a train wreck of terrible footballing judgement and personnel decisions.
 

McBride11

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After Lyon carrying play the first 15-20 min, Bayern has asserted dominance after the first Gnabry goal. Lewandoski looked like me trying to play striker on the second goal though.
 

Pesky Pole

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Such a crazy game. Lyon really needed one of those two early chances because now it feels like Bayern will steamroll them.

Am I the only person who tries to figure out a way to make Alphonso Davies American every time I watch Bayern? After 30 or so tries, you'd think I'd give up. If only Liberia > Ghana > US instead.....sigh.
 

cromulence

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Aug 25, 2009
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Such a crazy game. Lyon really needed one of those two early chances because now it feels like Bayern will steamroll them.

Am I the only person who tries to figure out a way to make Alphonso Davies American every time I watch Bayern? After 30 or so tries, you'd think I'd give up. If only Liberia > Ghana > US instead.....sigh.
I just deal with Davies by telling myself that playing at Bayern means he never really has to defend, so maybe that's his big weakness and he's really just a winger playing fullback and......yeah. It's a huge reach.
 

Kliq

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Such a crazy game. Lyon really needed one of those two early chances because now it feels like Bayern will steamroll them.

Am I the only person who tries to figure out a way to make Alphonso Davies American every time I watch Bayern? After 30 or so tries, you'd think I'd give up. If only Liberia > Ghana > US instead.....sigh.
I’ve said before that if I had a time machine, the first thing I’d do is go into whatever refugee services/customs office that handles such things and push some paperwork through to make sure his family gets to America.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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This had all the makings of an absolute classic. Lyon just could never get the goal that would make it one.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Bayern is great all over the pitch and has to the favorite against PSG. But their high line definitely leaves them open at times and there's no forward duo better at ripping teams apart on the break than Mbappe and Neymar. So I'm hoping it makes for an interesting matchup.
 

Zososoxfan

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Really fun match. The first 20 minutes played out remarkably similar to the Barca match, with the difference being that Lyon never shit all over themselves in horrifying fashion. It would've been real fun if Lyon could've buried a chance or 2 early on. After that, they really struggled to generate offense and Bayern were mostly happy to tighten the vice.

I thought Cornet had an outstanding tournament, but he got dragged out of position and fell asleep on the first goal. Even after the goal, Bayern continued many of the same patterns and Cornet didn't adjust. This may have been intentional and at the direction of Garcia, but I don't think that was the case.

Bayern are insanely deep and talented. The fact that they have Coman, Tolisso, Pavard, and yes Coutinho coming off the bench is just madness. However, they have now shown the same weakness twice and PSG are one of the best teams in the world at exploiting that weakness.

PSG's attack versus Bayern's defense is an incredibly fun matchup. Mbappe should be able to create tons of chances running in behind, and even if he's not 100%, he's still so skilled that he will create problems if he can't run full speed all match. Neymar is the best outlet in the world and can turn an outlet pass into a counter lightning quick. Moreover, he's still the best dribbling wing in the world. Di Maria is super intelligent with positioning and should be able to find the gaps created by Bayern's press while complimenting his mates' positions. However, the question I have is whether PSG's MF can cope with the pressure and can the backline stay focused and mistake free.

Marquinhos, Herrera, and perhaps Gueye (I don't know him well enough) do not have the technical ability to break the press with a quick turn. I also don't know that they have the vision to pick out one-time balls to the forwards to beat Bayern's press. Tuchel's MF selection will be very telling because he needs at least one if not both of Paredes and Verratti to help advance the ball thru the MF.

As I watched Bayern yesterday, I thought their opponents could study their defensive patterns and figure out combinations to create a plan to counterpress. What I mean by that is Bayern's front 4 can be seen pressing clearly every time the opposition's keeper or backline has the ball. However and more importantly, the interesting thing that Bayern do is that they then have 1 of the 2 pivots and 1 of the 2 FB join the press. In other words, the front 4 will always be pressing, but it's usually 2 of Goretzka, Thiago, Kimmich, or Davies that actually puts in the tackle or wins the ball. I noticed this yesterday when Davies pressed up high and Kimmich came all the way across the field to cover the opposite side.

Bayern are obviously very fucking good at this and it's not like beating their D is easy. But if PSG can rehearse some patterns where Di Maria, Paredes, Neymar, and Verratti (if healthy) can beat Bayern's trap on the second pass out of the back, they should be able to attack on the break where it's then up to Mbappe, Neymar, Di Maria, and maybe Icardi and EMCM as subs.
 
Last edited:

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Jan 10, 2004
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Really fun match. The first 20 minutes played out remarkably similar to the Barca match, with the difference being that Lyon never shit all over themselves in horrifying fashion. It would've been real fun if Lyon could've buried a chance or 2 early on. After that, they really struggled to generate offense and Bayern were mostly happy to tighten the vice.

I thought Cornet had an outstanding tournament, but he got dragged out of position and fell asleep on the first goal. Even after the goal, Bayern continued many of the same patterns and Cornet didn't adjust. This may have been intentional and at the direction of Garcia, but I don't think that was the case.

Bayern are insanely deep and talented. The fact that they have Coman, Tolisso, Pavard, and yes Coutinho coming off the bench is just madness. However, they have now shown the same weakness twice and PSG are one of the best teams in the world at exploiting that weakness.

PSG's attack versus Bayern's defense is an incredibly fun matchup. Mbappe should be able to create tons of chances running in behind, and even if he's not 100%, he's still so skilled that he will create problems if he can't run full speed all match. Neymar is the best outlet in the world and can turn an outlet pass into a counter lightning quick. Moreover, he's still the best dribbling wing in the world. Di Maria is super intelligent with positioning and should be able to find the gaps created by Bayern's press while complimenting his mates' positions. However, the question I have is whether PSG's MF can cope with the pressure and can the backline stay focused and mistake free.

Marquinhos, Herrera, and perhaps Gueye (I don't know him well enough) do not have the technical ability to break the press with a quick turn. I also don't know that they have the vision to pick out one-time balls to the forwards to beat Bayern's press. Tuchel's MF selection will be very telling because he needs at least one if not both of Paredes and Verratti to help advance the ball thru the MF.

As I watched Bayern yesterday, I thought their opponents could study their defensive patterns and figure out combinations to create a plan to counterpress. What I mean by that is Bayern's front 4 can be seen pressing clearly every time the opposition's keeper or backline has the ball. However and more importantly, the interesting thing that Bayern do is that they then have 1 of the 2 pivots and 1 of the 2 FB join the press. In other words, the front 4 will always be pressing, but it's usually 2 of Goretzka, Thiago, Kimmich, or Davies that actually puts in the tackle or wins the ball. I noticed this yesterday when Davies pressed up high and Kimmich came all the way across the field to cover the opposite side.

Bayern are obviously very fucking good at this and it's not like beating their D is easy. But if PSG can rehearse some patterns where Di Maria, Paredes, Neymar, and Verratti (if healthy) can beat Bayern's trap on the second pass out of the back, they should be able to attack on the break where it's then up to Mbappe, Neymar, Di Maria, and maybe Icardi and EMCM as subs.
Gueye is an excellent tackler and ball winner to protect the back line, in the mold of Kante. I think he's as good as anyone at that job.

His passing touch is meh. His attacking game is close to nil.

He is excellent to have on the pitch if paired with good attacking mids. He will pick the pocket of attackers all day long. If you're counting on him to break down a defense he's the wrong guy.
 

Time to Mo Vaughn

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Mar 24, 2008
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Final in just over three hours and not a comment since Thursday. Bayern is rightfully a heavy favorite, but there's enough playmakers on both sides that this could be high scoring with a victory from either side. Sounds like Mbappe is healthy enough to start, which should be a big difference for PSG.

Hopefully the Cs blow out the Sixers, so I can put my full attention to this at 3.
 

Royal Reader

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Final in just over three hours and not a comment since Thursday. Bayern is rightfully a heavy favorite, but there's enough playmakers on both sides that this could be high scoring with a victory from either side. Sounds like Mbappe is healthy enough to start, which should be a big difference for PSG.

Hopefully the Cs blow out the Sixers, so I can put my full attention to this at 3.
I'm torn as to whether to watch the CL final or Mavs-Clips. Might depend on whether the Cs piss me off.
 

SoxFanInCali

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California. Duh.
Given that they have already knocked out Dortmund and Leipzig, if PSG can win this game they are the honorary champions of Germany.

Has anyone ever defeated 3 sides from the same country in the knockout stages before?
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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PSG should take every corner short. It feels like they could have 20 tries to beat Bayern in the air and maybe take 1.
 

Brand Name

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di Maria kissing there is immensely frustrating. You can tell his skills don’t especially lie with his right foot. Must take advantage now with the counter game.

Wonderful pace and form for both sides early on today.
 

67YAZ

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Davies looks a little shaky in defense. PSG have been going down Neymar’s side mostly, but Davies looks more vulnerable.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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This is very entertaining. It's fun to watch two sides in great form really go at it.

Edit: pen all day long
 

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Uh, that’s a penalty. What did I miss about that as a no call, with at minimum using VAR? I say this as a PSG supporter, no less.