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

[devo22]

Oblak is a decent goalie, but this was probably the worst goalkeeping I've ever seen in a penalty shootout. Just wait, wait, wait and stay put in the middle ... Real could have taken 20 more and Oblak wouldn't have saved any.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by nik-

I still think PK's are a ####ty way to end a game in any sport.

Tradition or not.

Its not tradition soccer has no choice. Those players can no longer run.

That said i would support tradition and a replay on Wednesday

[nik-]

I was fully expecting a trophyless season as a result of Benitez this year, so coming within one point of the league and winning the big one is a pretty big surprise.

[sadora]

Originally Posted by nik-

I still think PK's are a ####ty way to end a game in any sport.

Tradition or not.

honestly though, it comes down to who can control their nerves and their skill. Not the most ideal situation but great for a dramatic finish. I hate Real Madrid so I'll never be happy in whatever way they win, but their players managed to control their nerves better...Oblack & Juanfran were horrific for Atletico and that cost them the penalties.

[nik-]

Seeing that replay, even if Juanfran didn't hit the post and it was more into the net, I think Navas was saving it anyway.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by sadora

honestly though, it comes down to who can control their nerves and their skill. Not the most ideal situation but great for a dramatic finish. I hate Real Madrid so I'll never be happy in whatever way they win, but their players managed to control their nerves better...Oblack & Juanfran were horrific for Atletico and that cost them the penalties.

Yeah, I get the drama and pressure of it, I'll just never like it in a team game. I accept that it's a discipline, more so in soccer than hockey for sure, but I just like the team game, even though the shootout at that point in the game definitely favoured Madrid over Atletico.

[devo22]

they should get rid of penalties and do a sudden-death extra time where the teams are reduced by a player every 5 minutes. Now that would be fun

[nik-]

Also, starting next year with the more balanced TV contract, La Liga is going to get much better, which might mean some problems for other teams in Europe.

Valencia, Atletico and Seville are all going to get north of 100 million Euro next year, with Villareal right behind. Should make them stronger.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by devo22

they should get rid of penalties and do a sudden-death extra time where the teams are reduced by a player every 5 minutes. Now that would be fun

Have a replay on Wednesday. If tied after 120 minutes again give the trophy to Barcelona

[nik-]

Originally Posted by devo22

they should get rid of penalties and do a sudden-death extra time where the teams are reduced by a player every 5 minutes. Now that would be fun

We all know it would be Oblak v Ronaldo at the end

[sadora]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Have a replay on Wednesday. If tied after 120 minutes again give the trophy to Barcelona

Bahahaha! I would agree with that!

[nik-]

looks like I'll need to go back next year and update my pic

That fifth big one is going to add some pretty nice balance and tighten up the gaps in those white bases

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by MillerTime GFG

I was kind of hoping it would end with an OG off of Pepe's face, so it would give him a real reason to hold said face.

https://vine.co/v/iVa5Uw9OYwB/embed/simple

I wish UEFA would address that sort of bs. Clattenburg had a very good game apart from not addressing this sort of stuff.

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by Bagor

https://vine.co/v/iVa5Uw9OYwB/embed/simple

I wish UEFA would address that sort of bs. Clattenburg had a very good game apart from not addressing this sort of stuff.

It's hard to expect him to address this stuff in the CL final of all games though. The crackdown needs to come from the governing bodies during the off-season.

That was quite embarrassing to watch.

[MillerTime GFG]

Moving one net up o half and playing 5 or 6 a side would be a fun and more fair way to end it, not to mention most teams do that in training sessions.

[Bagor]

Agreed, it takes a significant size of gonads to carry it through but not beyond the realm of possibility. If he gets a yellow for one of those there is not one complaint in Europe.

When I see things like that I think that Collina was/is in a league of his own particularly with reference to tolerance for playacting.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by nik-

I still think PK's are a ####ty way to end a game in any sport.

Tradition or not.

the golden or silver goal is a million times worse

[devo22]

Borussia Dortmund is having a crazy transfer summer so far. Tuchel said at the end of the season that there would be big changes, but I don't think anybody envisioned that kind of turnover, especially that early in the summer.

They have obviously sold Mats Hummels to Bayern and Ilkay Gündogan to Manchester City for a combined €65m and it seems they might sell Henrikh Mkhitaryan as well. His contract ends in 2017 and negotations have gone nowhere ... pretty sure they don't want another Lewandowski situation, so it wouldn't be surprising if they sold him. According to Bild, they are also getting rid of Subotic, Ginter, Ramos, Leitner and Park.

On the other hand, they have signed Barcelona center back Marc Bartra for a mere €8m (his release clause fell from €40m to €8m because he didn't play enough games last year - pretty similar to Thiago a couple of years ago), talented winger Ousmane Dembele from Rennes for €8m as well (fee could rise to €15m) and young defensive midfielder Mikel Merino from Osasuna for about €4m. In addition, they are about to sign Bayern midfielder Sebastian Rode, Leverkusen center back Ömer Toprak and Lorient left back Raphael Guerreiro for a combined ~50m.

Obviously they weren't going to challenge Bayern anyway, but it seems like they choose not to even pretend and instead do a major rebuild. Exciting though, that could turn out to be a very talented young team.

[cam_wmh]

P.E.A could be sold as well; lots of sniffing around

[devo22]

it seems you're right, apparently he's close to a transfer to Man City. Blech.

meanwhile the Dortmund turnover continues, as they've signed Turkish talent Emre Mor and seem to have finally agreed a fee with Lorient for Raphael Guerreiro. The Toprak talk has cooled off a bit, but there's reports that Leverkusen are signing Austrian center back Aleksandar Dragovic, so Toprak might really be on the move.