The 2018/2019 UEFA Champion's League and International Club News Thread

[devo22]

"City of Champions"

love Queen, hate that song. You can have it.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Too bad that final had the atmosphere and feel of an ICC match.

Right. And I squarely blame Tottenham for that.

But that 6th trophy still looks nice in the trophy case.

I'll consider that game against Barcelona at Anfield the final. Beating Tottenham was just a formality.

[Senator Clay Davis]

At least that invader could have done us the courtesy of actually being naked. Could have saved the whole thing.

[Locke]

I always find this kind of complaining funny.

The Final almost never lives up to expectations. You go through the insane thrill-ride of Liverpool overturning their deficit against Barcelona and going through and Tottenham overcoming Ajax and then....

You get a technical, tactical Final.

Dont get me wrong, I think that early penalty really soured the milk on this one, but Spurs didnt generate a shot on goal until like the 70th minute. And that was with Superman Kane.

The neutrals can complain, and thats fair, I understand that, but for supporters the Trophy was well earned considering the entire ride.

[devo22]

3 week break and two teams which know each other very well. It being a stinker was always a realistic option.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I don't think anyone is saying Liverpool don't deserve it, this isn't figure skating with judges, they obviously earned it. Just that it was a boring and utterly forgettable final. Neither team was all that threatening, it was a midfield battle that resulted in both teams mostly trying for route one football.

[Slava]

I think that a lot of that was the penalty 25 seconds in though. Once they had a 1-0 lead Liverpool had no incentive to come forward. Spurs struggled breaking down teams all year who sat back and played negative. If we had a hard time against a team like Huddersfield and their lineup, it wasn't going to be easier against Liverpool!

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Slava

I think that a lot of that was the penalty 25 seconds in though. Once they had a 1-0 lead Liverpool had no incentive to come forward. Spurs struggled breaking down teams all year who sat back and played negative. If we had a hard time against a team like Huddersfield and their lineup, it wasn't going to be easier against Liverpool!

You don't have someone who can just do this in hyper dramatic fashion?

[Barnet Flame]

You can’t argue with winning the CL and getting 97 points in the League.

Liverpool have been nothing short of fantastic this season, losing out on the League to a team funded by a dodgy nation state.

[Senator Clay Davis]

No doubt the penalty mattered, but for Spurs they also didn't really take enough risks. Whether you lose 1 or 2-0, or 5-0, what's the difference? Waiting until 20 minutes left to push forward just wasn't good enough. Also didn't help that all of the attacking players on both teams had poor games.

[cam_wmh]

For a new-to-the-sport, neutral Senator, you've been complaining more than any United fan.

As a neutral, you should recognize that since January, this was one of the most exciting Champions League tourney's in a long time.

Where in the domestic league's, money buys titles -- the cinderalla stories can still prevail in CL.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Where did I say the competition itself was terrible? It was awesome. The final? Yeah it pretty much sucked, and especially relative to the rest of the competition. The overall year was a 9/10 and the final a 3/10. And the "Cinderella" take is kind of odd seeing as Cinderella's have won domestic leagues (Leicester and Monaco) more recently than a Cinderella won the CL (who would be Chelsea....basically on relativity and not a true Cinderella). In the end money is almost always the path to winning either.

[VladtheImpaler]

So, apparently the final La Liga game that saw Valencia beat Valladolid 2-0 to take the last CL spot was fixed. Seven Valladolid players implicated. Valencia not implicated as the fix was for gambling reasons. Wonder what the fallout is, as Getafe missed out on CL because Valencia won.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Where did I say the competition itself was terrible? It was awesome. The final? Yeah it pretty much sucked, and especially relative to the rest of the competition. The overall year was a 9/10 and the final a 3/10. And the "Cinderella" take is kind of odd seeing as Cinderella's have won domestic leagues (Leicester and Monaco) more recently than a Cinderella won the CL (who would be Chelsea....basically on relativity and not a true Cinderella). In the end money is almost always the path to winning either.

I'm sorry, I know you're new to this, but what were you expecting?

The semi-finals were some of the most amazing two-round matches I've ever seen.

Then you get two teams who have played against each other all the time. Sorry you got a chess-match instead of Dodgeball, but thats always what it was going to be.

Give it time, you'll figure it out.

[devo22]

Buffon leaves PSG.

pretty much a wasted year for both parties.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by devo22

Buffon leaves PSG.

pretty much a wasted year for both parties.

They coming after de Gea I imagine.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

They coming after de Gea I imagine.

probably yeah. Not too fussed about it any more tbh, United have a big rebuild ahead and DDG might regress further. Might as well cash in.

[devo22]

Mats Hummels returning to Dortmund is certainly a transfer I did not see coming.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by devo22

Mats Hummels returning to Dortmund is certainly a transfer I did not see coming.

And they paid 3M euro more to get him back?

[devo22]

Originally Posted by Locke

And they paid 3M euro more to get him back?

well that's what the Munich media says. Dortmund media says it's more around 30m plus unrealistic add-ons.