Champions League 2019/20 (15 Viewers)

[icemaη]

It was outside. It was fault. Pick one. Whatever one it works? I get it, you're trolling... or blind

It wasn't offside because does none of these:

Offside offence

A player in an offside position at the moment the ball is played or touched* by a team-mate is only penalised on becoming involved in active play by:

• interfering with play by playing or touching a ball passed or touched by a team-mate or
• interfering with an opponent by:
• preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or
• challenging an opponent for the ball or
• clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent or
• making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball

Was it a foul? Maybe? It'd have been really harsh if it was given though. Laporte moves to the side to play the offside trap and gets himself tripped. Dembele does absolutely nothing wrong there, he just kept running, didn't change direction or make any movement that'd have constituted a foul.

 

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[piotrr]

 

[Luca]

What a cringeworthy tweet. Basically lording it over the french doing well in an overglorified version of the international champions cup. LOL

 

[JuveJay]

What a cringeworthy tweet. Basically lording it over the french doing well in an overglorified version of the international champions cup. LOL

There's a lot of people getting very excited over this anomalous season.

 

[BayernFan]

When he took over Bayern, they came off a CL final and victory. He reached the SF maximum 3 years then. With City he took over a team coming off a CL semifinal. He never reached that in the following 4 years

Exactly. He actually made his teams perform worse in the CL, at least thats the case with Bayern.

3 straight semifinals is not a bad record at all, but if you look at the overall picture is it not impressive. Heynckes managed to get us into two straight finals and Pep not a single one.

 

[kao_ray]

Man City vs Lyon

 

[Pirlo's Beard]

I've no illusions on whether we should've beaten them now or in Feb, just like with Ajax last year.

It's just puzzling that in a year where frogs didnt play a competitive game for months, suddenly there are 2 Ligue 1 teams in semi finals, something I don't remember happening ever. Makes you question whether fresh legs and preparation arent more important than the mythical match fitness.

I think the ability to press relentlessly and as a Group is the best weapon a team has nowadays. Even so called elite clubs can't handle it at times. Of course it's not sustainable to have your squad run about like a bunch of mad men every 3 days all season but yeah, I'd rather have a completely fresh albeit a bit rusty team going into a knockout match than a 'match fit' team that has been playing twice per week for a while. Obviously you want a balance but I agree fresh legs are invaluable.

 

[DAiDEViL]

 

[Bisco]

Has any one seen the post match interview with Muller? The guy is brutal and I have to say I love the mentality this Bayern has... He sounds ruthless to put it nicely. I hope pirlo sits the team so they can watch this post match Interview. Impressive



Starts at Min 3:09
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[duranfj]

It wasn't offside because does none of these:


Was it a foul? Maybe? It'd have been really harsh if it was given though. Laporte moves to the side to play the offside trap and gets himself tripped. Dembele does absolutely nothing wrong there, he just kept running, didn't change direction or make any movement that'd have constituted a foul.

If the balls goes through a rival player that it was clearly moving in the direction of the ball and the defense does the move for the outside, and that guy just let it pass the ball at the last moment without touching it: How is that NOT interfering? Of course it is

And it was fault. If that have happened in the box with Var, you are going to get a penalty 99% of the times because is fault

 

[Jethro]

"What have I done?!"

 

[icemaη]

If the balls goes through a rival player that it was clearly moving in the direction of the ball and the defense does the move for the outside, and that guy just let it pass the ball at the last moment without touching it: How is that NOT interfering? Of course it is

And it was fault. If that have happened in the box with Var, you are going to get a penalty 99% of the times because is fault

This guy, who was a professional referee, doesn't agree. But you do you my friend.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...ews/former-referee-lyon-offside-city-18776899

 

[juventus4life]

Juve and Man City going out because of Lyon's fresh legs is one argument. But if the situation was switched, meaning Juve and Man City had fresher legs, the results are unknown. Maybe Lyon would still win because they gave a better approach and hungrier young players with not much pressure. Temporary form is very important for this tournament. In other words, I want to say Lyon, Ajax are one season wonders.

 

[tassard]

It turns out hiring sarri over pep wasn't so bad after all, might even have been the better hire considering all the demands and higher salary guardiola would command.

I was actually very pro-guardiola in that period of madness last year.I'm talking about the period between Allegri's firing and Sarri's hiring.
But it was more excitement and craving for a top coach than actual appreciation of Pep as a coach.

Seems we dodged the bullet

 

[zizinho]

I was actually very pro-guardiola in that period of madness last year.I'm talking about the period between Allegri's firing and Sarri's hiring.
But it was more excitement and craving for a top coach than actual appreciation of Pep as a coach.

Seems we dodged the bullet

Can agree with this. Still, it does in no way mean sarri was the right choice

 

[duranfj]

This guy, who was a professional referee, doesn't agree. But you do you my friend.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...ews/former-referee-lyon-offside-city-18776899

"No, its not a factor"... Which part of the rule it says factor? he just gave an opinion, maybe a United fan for all I care

 

[Alen]

I've been looking at some stats and I noticed that outrunning your opponent is almost a guarantee to proceed to the next round.
These are the knockouts this year in CL:

Atletico-Liverpool 264 km : 255 km (They played extra time, which explains the bigger numbers compared to the other knockouts)
Bayern-Chelsea 224 km : 217 km
Leipzig-Tottenham 222 km : 213 km
Lyon-Juventus 231 km : 220 km
PSG-Dortmund 213 km : 218 km
Atalanta-Valencia 220 km : 213 km
Manchester City - Real Madrid 225 km : 215 km
Barcelona-Napoli 206 km : 222 km


Bayern-Barcelona 107 km : 98 km
Leipzig-Atletico 115 km : 115 km
Lyon-Manchester City 115 km : 106 km
PSG-Atalanta 105 km : 108 km

The only ones who managed to proceed to the next round by running less are PSG against Atalanta and Dortmund, and Barca against Napoli.

How does this set up for the semifinals?
Leipzig run the most on average in 90 minutes than all the other 15 teams which played the knock-outs. They run 114.8 km per match. PSG run only 105.3 km per match, which is second worst, only ahead of Barcelona. But PSG already beat teams that run more, so can they do it again, or the 10 or so kilometers the Leipzig players run more than the PSG players will be decisive?
Lyon was winning by running more. They ran 9 km more than City yesterday, and they outran us too. But Bayern are also runners. They run 112.7 km on average (which is 4th best in CL) and only slightly less than Lyon (who are third in CL) with 113.1 km per match. This time, unlike their matches with Juve and City, Lyon will face another team that runs just as much as they do.

 

[PhRoZeN]

Talking of Legs...


Lyon coach Rudi Garcia credited their ‘Italian fitness coach’ Paolo Rongoni for victories over Juventus and Manchester City in the Champions League.
The pair met when Garcia was in charge of Roma in 2014-15, following him to Olympique Marseille from 2016-19 and then Lyon in October last year.
Olympique Lyonnais are the shock Champions League semi-finalists after beating Juve and Manchester City, but Garcia tipped his hat to Rongoni during his post-match interview with Sky Sport Italia.

“I was not worried about running out of steam, because we have an Italian fitness coach and I knew we’d hold out brilliantly.”
Sky later spoke to Rongoni himself to ask about the post-lockdown training regime.
“Everything was new after the coronavirus, as we hadn’t restarted the Ligue 1 season, so we had to adapt. I heard from a few colleagues in Italy and other countries to figure out what was happening.
“It was a little frightening before resuming, because there were injuries all over the place. In Germany and Italy in particular, thigh and calf strains were popping constantly.
“So we totally transformed our fitness work and it’s something we might try again in future. As Rudi said, we split eight weeks of training into two blocks. In the first, we worked hard physically, in the second we just played football.
“I also thank the assistant manager Claude Fichaux, who structured the technical exercises on the same rhythm as the fitness work. That’s where we made the difference.”
Considering only French and German teams are in the Champions League semi-finals, did finishing the season earlier and allowing more rest help them?
“I don’t know. My main concern was getting the players ready for the games with some minutes in their legs, because doing weights or sprints in training is not the same thing,” continued the Lyon staff member.
“Football is all about sprinting, braking, accelerating and slowing suddenly. I thought we’d have problems in the final 15-20 minutes, but for now that hasn’t happened yet. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.
“The players worked really well during the lockdown, resuming with a hunger, tenacity and professionalism that this group didn’t have before"

Source:FI

 

[GordoDeCentral]

Can agree with this. Still, it does in no way mean sarri was the right choice

That was not the point

 

[pavluska]

Farca fans asking for Messi to be sold

http://www.barcaforum.com/showthread.php/15825-10-Lionel-Messi/page451

"2 years of me telling you and you’re coming around to the idea at last"
"I think this is the first time everyone is in agreement that he should leave."
"His legacy is damaged beyond repair."
"It's not nice to say, but for the last few years, he is good enough for La liga and not good enough against big teams anymore."
"He is 33, tired and without that spark."
"thank you leo for everything and good luck in the future"
"Retire. He's past it himself and lacks the mentality to lead a past it team. And he's earning an insane amount of money. Any decent board would start to move in to clear us of Messi's wages and rebuild."
"It's time to go seriously. He just gave up, not just as a player but as a captain."
"Rip his legacy"

@zizinho
@Post Ironic

What % of Barca supporters feel this way now?