2020/21 International Club Football Thread

[devo22]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

I see the other Red Bull club, is is trying to make winning the Bundesliga, not a Bayern joke.

Have you watched much of them? I mean outside of watching them eliminate United, I didn't see a singular scoring threat -- and the stats support that story -- scoring by committee, nobody with more than 4.

I have, and they are a really solid side. They need a striker though, losing Werner hurt them big time and his supposed replacement Sorloth has been a huge disappointment, hence the scoring by committee. But apart from that, they are a well-structured team with the typical RB attributes: great press, high intensity, good on the counter. Nagelsmann is also a great coach (his constant screaming on the sidelines is annoying as hell though).

They certainly have the structure to be a top team in Europe and look primed to be number 2 in Germany for years to come. They certainly are in a better position in that regard than teams like Dortmund. Leipzig have money, good scouting and a farm team cheat code, so if anybody is to challenge Bayern in the next years, it's them. That's a big gap to close though, especially since they have to deal with the reality that many good players still see them as a bit of a stop gap. Werner happily went to Chelsea, now they've lost Upamecano to Bayern. Overcoming that won't be an easy feat. I'd say their chances of winning BL this season are still zero, Bayern is just that much ahead of anybody else in that league. But who knows, if Leipzig keeps doing what they're doing, they might be there in a couple of years.

[Cappy]

Some really exciting matchups this week! Champions League Round of 16 is always the best

[CroFlames]

I don't know why I did, because I frankly don't care about athletes' personal lives, but I googled that Neymar thing and it is creepy. The article I read had a bunch of instagrams embedded and like... wtf. Bunch a weirdly kissy/cuddly photos and he's got a massive tattoo of her face.

Anyway, moving on.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Well that's probably Messi's last UCL game at Camp Nou. Should be getting shutout right now if not for an embarrassing penalty.

[devo22]

well you can scratch the "probably" because there's no way they'll come back from this. Mbappe has been unplayable today.

[Locke]

Barca just getting curbstomped.

They are probably thanking God for COVID because I cant imagine what that would be like with a full Camp Nou.

[SuperMatt18]

I haven’t been paying much attention to international club football but how long until Mbappe is considered the best in the world?

Feels like he’s getting ready to surpass Messi and Ronaldo soon here.

[nik-]

Mbappe and Haaland are the next Ronaldo Messi. A level below, granted.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I haven’t been paying much attention to international club football but how long until Mbappe is considered the best in the world?

Feels like he’s getting ready to surpass Messi and Ronaldo soon here.

He has to be more consistent.

The other thing is, he makes a lot of his plays with his speed, something that tends to degrade as players get older.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I haven’t been paying much attention to international club football but how long until Mbappe is considered the best in the world?

Feels like he’s getting ready to surpass Messi and Ronaldo soon here.

I imagine the second he signs with Madrid. And I would imagine that will be this summer.

[devo22]

his contract expires next year, so it'll either be an extension or a transfer this summer, yeah. Funny detail is that PSG has to pay another €35m to Monaco in both cases lol.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

I imagine the second he signs with Madrid. And I would imagine that will be this summer.

Madrid is going to try, but this cash crunch came at a very bad time. Florentino has maintained a pretty positive relationship with PSG though, so we'll see. We'll also see if he still wants to come when it looks like Zidane exit 2.0 is impending.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by nik-

Madrid is going to try, but this cash crunch came at a very bad time. Florentino has maintained a pretty positive relationship with PSG though, so we'll see. We'll also see if he still wants to come when it looks like Zidane exit 2.0 is impending.

Its somewhat the same reason I dont understand why Wijnaldum has his heart set on Barca.

I know he and Koeman are buddies, but that team is going nowhere in Wijnaldum's lifetime and its not like they have cash to burn to really bump his pay.

[d_phaneuf]

Well, big improvement from their last CL knockout game

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Locke

Its somewhat the same reason I dont understand why Wijnaldum has his heart set on Barca.

I know he and Koeman are buddies, but that team is going nowhere in Wijnaldum's lifetime and its not like they have cash to burn to really bump his pay.

Madrid and Barcelona are still Madrid and Barcelona. Even if they're in a funk.

[devo22]

maybe it's just me, but after the last 15 years I'd have absolutely no problem if those Spanish giants both went through a really rough patch for a few years. They've won so much, I'm really tired of em.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by nik-

Madrid is going to try, but this cash crunch came at a very bad time. Florentino has maintained a pretty positive relationship with PSG though, so we'll see. We'll also see if he still wants to come when it looks like Zidane exit 2.0 is impending.

Well as devo says Mbappe's deal is up next year so Madrid will have some leverage to lower the price, or turn it into a players + cash deal. I just can't imagine an immense talent like that wants to spend his prime being ignored outside of UCL, I think he wants the Madrid challenge.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by nik-

Madrid and Barcelona are still Madrid and Barcelona. Even if they're in a funk.

Sure...but it used to be that you'd be living in Madrid and Barcelona.

Now its post-Apocalyptic, you cant do anything fun, they dont have the money to pay you and their squad is weak.

Whats the incentive?

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Well as devo says Mbappe's deal is up next year so Madrid will have some leverage to lower the price, or turn it into a players + cash deal. I just can't imagine an immense talent like that wants to spend his prime being ignored outside of UCL, I think he wants the Madrid challenge.

Yeah, Florentino doesn't really work that way though. I know he gets a lot of vitriol, but he does try to maintain long term relationships with most clubs. He's not going to play games with Nasser, especially since he knows if Qatar FC wanted to they could pillage them.

[Locke]

So just to confirm my understanding, this Liverpool win is technically an 'away' win?