I'm really proud of this performance by our guys. For 60 minutes, the boys played the worst football of our season, and when every Tom, Dick, and Hairy was counting us out of the tie, they came up with a huge, huge result.
We still have a lot of holdovers from getting routed in the CL by these guys the last time we faced them. Do not underestimate the impact of this result; that was a champion-level response. This is a massive experience for the entire squad, but especially the youngsters -- this is a multiple goal comeback against one of Europe's elite. When teams do that once or twice, they start to recognize that they truly belong in that category.
Everybody is talking about Bayern's injuries this, Bayern's injury that, but if our team can get a healthy Alex Sandro, Chiellini, and Asamoah for the 2nd match, I more than like our chances. Everybody could see that we needed to be more physical out there, they fucking walked all over our team for an hour. You inject 3 fucking warriors, two of whom still bring considerable technical ability to the middle of the park, and it changes the dynamic of this matchup hugely. We were soft, and submissive early. Can't happen.
Also not a big fan of our 4-4-2, the team had a terrible time in the first half breaking out of our defensive zone -- again. Cannot play that deep. I also really want to see Pogba in the middle of the action, both for his technical qualities and his ability to use his size to disrupt the opposition.
Hopefully Claudio's situation isn't too bad, desperately need him healthy.
Fino Alla Fine, Forza Juve!