The Official 15/16 UEFA Champion's League and International Club News Thread

[devo22]

the good news for Bayern that it's "just" 1-0 at half-time. Atletico should have scored a second one, but since they haven't, it's still a very open game.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by devo22

the good news for Bayern that it's "just" 1-0 at half-time. Atletico should have scored a second one, but since they haven't, it's still a very open game.

This is true. I hope they can get out of here maybe only down by 1. Even would be fantastic.

[Luder]

I even wore my jersey today

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Just saw the score. Glad I was unable to follow it at all. I'm not surprised by the score, I thought Atletico matchesup incredibly well against Bayern.

But Muller on the bench? You've got to be kidding me. Hopefully Boateng is healthy was to go for the second leg

[Locke]

Could have been worse, a lot worse.

[devo22]

yeah, Torres should have killed it off when he had the chance to. Bayern had a much better second half, but Guardiolas substitutions didn't work at all and apart from that Alaba shot they weren't that dangerous.

still a pretty good result for Atletico since they didn't concede an away goal. If they score in Munich, they'll probably go through ... I simply can't imagine how that Bayern team would score 3 goals against that Atletico defense.

If you haven't seen the goal, I urge you to watch it. Better call Saul!!!

https://streamable.com/fdy9

[Locke]

Originally Posted by devo22

yeah, Torres should have killed it off when he had the chance to. Bayern had a much better second half, but Guardiolas substitutions didn't work at all and apart from that Alaba shot they weren't that dangerous.

still a pretty good result for Atletico since they didn't concede an away goal. If they score in Munich, they'll probably go through ... I simply can't imagine how that Bayern team would score 3 goals against that Atletico defense.

If you haven't seen the goal, I urge you to watch it. Better call Saul!!!

https://streamable.com/fdy9

Lord that is terrible defending. Alaba is a wingback and a defender in name only.

[devo22]

no. Alaba is a midfielder, but Guardiola is too stupid to realize it.

Alaba has been horrible lately as a center back, but to be fair, Thiago, Bernat and Alonso are even worse in that sequence.

[SuperMatt18]

Yeah Guardiola deserves some criticism for having no defensive cover in that team.

For a team that spends so much much it is pretty ridiculous that they have so many midfielders and very few natural center backs.

Should have been the downfall of them against Juventus and it appears it may once again hurt them against Athletico.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Yeah Guardiola deserves some criticism for having no defensive cover in that team.

For a team that spends so much much it is pretty ridiculous that they have so many midfielders and very few natural center backs.

Failing to address squad issues and preferring to play players out of position while there is a ton of resources at his disposal eh? Sounds like Arsenal may have dodged a Wenger-shaped bullet...

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Addick

Failing to address squad issues and preferring to play players out of position while there is a ton of resources at his disposal eh? Sounds like Arsenal may have dodged a Wenger-shaped bullet...

It isn't a new thing for Guardiola either - always seems to have issues building defensive depth in favor of building mid-fields that are 10 deep with internationals.

He did the same thing at Barca when he didn't have true coverage for Pique & Puyol - often led to him having to play guys that were traditionally defensive midfielders like Mascherano and Busquets at center back.

Defensive depth was their downfall during the 2012 Champions league semi-finals against Chelsea when Pique was unable to play, and similar things happening with Boateng at Bayern this year.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

It isn't a new thing for Guardiola either - always seems to have issues building defensive depth in favor of building mid-fields that are 10 deep with internationals.

He did the same thing at Barca when he didn't have true coverage for Pique & Puyol - often led to him having to play guys that were traditionally defensive midfielders like Mascherano and Busquets at center back.

Defensive depth was their downfall during the 2012 Champions league semi-finals against Chelsea when Pique was unable to play, and similar things happening with Boateng at Bayern this year.

Very true, and its infuriating.

Also, did anyone else just get that Score Update that a deal is done 'in principle' for Mats Hummels to Bayern??

The Score rarely trolls me.

[devo22]

There's no deal in principle yet because Dortmund hasn't received a Bayern offer yet. They have confirmed though that Hummels has asked for a transfer to Bayern.

Sickening.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by devo22

There's no deal in principle yet because Dortmund hasn't received a Bayern offer yet. They have confirmed though that Hummels has asked for a transfer to Bayern.

Sickening.

That is a HUGE blow to Dortmund. Your Captain has explicitly asked for a transfer to your direct rival.

Dortmund are over a barrel on this.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by Locke

Your Captain has explicitly asked for a transfer to your direct rival.

See, that's where you get it wrong ... Dortmund isn't Bayerns direct rival. Nobody is. Bayern is a few steps above everybody else in Germany, and when another team threatens their dominance, they raid them for their best players. In 2002-04 it was Leverkusen and Ballack, Lucio and Ze Roberto, now it's Dortmund and Götze, Lewandowski and Hummels. Rinse and repeat.

The Bundesliga will never be able to compete with England and Spain because they all bow to one club.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by devo22

See, that's where you get it wrong ... Dortmund isn't Bayerns direct rival. Nobody is. Bayern is a few steps above everybody else in Germany, and when another team threatens their dominance, they raid them for their best players. In 2002-04 it was Leverkusen and Ballack, Lucio and Ze Roberto, now it's Dortmund and Götze, Lewandowski and Hummels. Rinse and repeat.

The Bundesliga will never be able to compete with England and Spain because they all bow to one club.

Pretty much. It was the same story in England for a while, granted it was more than one club, but top talent was poached from lower end teams.

The thing is though, Dortmund dont have to. If I were in charge of Dortmund and I met new players on their first day I'd be telling them:

"When you're done here at Dortmund you can be sold to any club in the world not named Bayern Munich. Any club in the world. Any club at all. Except that one."

[devo22]

hey, I hear you. It's the same situation with United and Real Madrid where I just don't understand how you can keep giving in and feed another club with that much talent. Just tell them to #### off already and be done with it.

But realistically it seems to be impossible. Listen to Watzke a few years ago when Lewandowski wanted to move to Bayern ... there still was some fight and intent to keep their players. Listen to him now and you hear defeat. It's like they've given up, and can you really blame them? Realistically they are a level below Bayern and that won't change if you can't stop your top players from moving there.

oh, and I don't blame Bayern in this case at all, to be fair. It's not their fault that Dortmund are in that miserable position (the contracts of Hummels, Mkhitaryan and Gündogan all end next year. How can you possibly screw it up like that?!) and Hummels is a brilliant fit for them. They get a fantastic player very cheaply, especially if alternatives are both inferior and more expensive (like Mustafi or Laporte). It's a no-brainer for them, really. It just sucks if you're not a Bayern fan.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Big goal for Villarreal in extra time to get the advantage for the second leg.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by devo22

hey, I hear you. It's the same situation with United and Real Madrid where I just don't understand how you can keep giving in and feed another club with that much talent. Just tell them to #### off already and be done with it.

But realistically it seems to be impossible. Listen to Watzke a few years ago when Lewandowski wanted to move to Bayern ... there still was some fight and intent to keep their players. Listen to him now and you hear defeat. It's like they've given up, and can you really blame them? Realistically they are a level below Bayern and that won't change if you can't stop your top players from moving there.

oh, and I don't blame Bayern in this case at all, to be fair. It's not their fault that Dortmund are in that miserable position (the contracts of Hummels, Mkhitaryan and Gündogan all end next year. How can you possibly screw it up like that?!) and Hummels is a brilliant fit for them. They get a fantastic player very cheaply, especially if alternatives are both inferior and more expensive (like Mustafi or Laporte). It's a no-brainer for them, really. It just sucks if you're not a Bayern fan.

Here's a scenario.

Mourinho gets hired. What happens with De Gea to Madrid?

[devo22]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

Here's a scenario.

Mourinho gets hired. What happens with De Gea to Madrid?

just like in every other scenario, I'd hope De Gea stays in that scenario, obviously. To me, he's already the best goalkeeper in the world, and at 25, he probably hasn't even peaked yet.

It's a really strange case with De Gea. Nobody knows for sure who botched the transfer and why, and we'll probably never know. So far this season there hasn't been a lot of buzz surrounding a transfer in the summer ... heck, there have even been some reports out of Spain that Real isn't interested anymore. And while that seems unbelievable at first, remember that Keylor Navas is a huge fan favourite in Madrid and most Real fans were already against a De Gea transfer last year. Navas has even been better this season than last year. The only way Perez risks to upset the fans is if it's a Spanish goalkeeper coming in but even that would piss off many, many fans.

In any case, De Gea has been a consummate pro in all of this. He's been excellent on the pitch and has said all the right things in interviews, so part of me is naive enough to hope that he stays long-term. He could become a real club legend and supplant both Schmeichel and van der Sar ... heck, he's been so good that I'm not even sure how I'd rank them right now. Probably Schmeichel > De Gea > van der Sar.