Topic: ⚽ FOOTBALL: UEFA Champions League 2020/21 Season - page 4. (Read 3901 times)

How confident?  I got the match ending in 2 - 1, 3 - 1 for Man City.  I don't think Guardiola will tweak his squad like he did before as there's no need to do it anymore.  It's just one fixture more and then it's over.  Those tweaks Guardiola liked to do earlier in the tourney was prolly mind games in preparation to the second leg or the reverse fixture or due to a key player have some sort of injury.

Afaik City has no injuries except for Kyle Walker who's just doubtful to play at best.  All in all the squad and the bench are in good shape. 

Regarding the FA Cup final between the Manchester clubs yesterday, I also thought it was more a case of Manchester United not playing good football rather than Manchester City playing excellent therefore was not anything impressive about them. The two goals they scored were not exactly great either and I have no idea how De Gea did not manage to save either of them.

Inter Milan will be out to create their own history in the Champions League final and I am confident they will win the game leading to another European Champions League night of misery for Guardiola and his Manchester City team.

It appears that we both voted for Inter Milan. I'm also confident that Inter will win the CL this season; I believe Man City has had enough success this season and may become overconfident when they face Inter later this month; I watched them play against Manchester United yesterday and was not impressed; the players appear to be tired already, and Inter will be under less pressure as underdogs.  Mourinho has just lost a European final for the first time, and anything can happen in Istanbul.   

A poll has been to the thread. Which team will win the Champions League final will it be Manchester City or Inter Milan. I will be confident enough Inter Milan will be champions of Europe when the two teams meet in Istanbul on 10th June 2023.

Manchester City have already won the domestic double and on course for a treble but I think Inter Milan will win the game and that would leave Manchester City manager Guardiola still with Champions League trophies way back in 2009 and 2011 when on both occasions they beat Manchester United in the finals.

With the amount of money Manchester City have at their disposal being backed up by the Abu Dhabi state, they should have won several Champions League titles by now but they have zero.

Inter Milan take on Manchester City in the Champions League final in a game that will define Guardiola as a manager. I am quite confident Inter Milan will win the game because as usual he will make peculiar substitutes and put out a non-regular starting team. His tactics will backfire on him again as Inter Milan will probably allow Manchester City to possess the ball but will not let them press and will also catch them on the counter-attack.

What are the latest odds for Manchester City winning the treble this season?

I would have put Real Madrid as favourites to win the tournament again this season but well done to Manchester City for making it to the final. Regarding the treble, Manchester United play Manchester City in the first ever All Manchester FA Cup final therefore they do not have to rely on Inter Milan if they are trying to stop Manchester City winning the treble 

Real Madrid have suffered 3 losses in their previous 5 La Liga games and have allowed Barcelona to race to the title but that cannot be an excuse to the miserable display and loss. There is a mix of youth and experience in that team but they will need to buy more players if they intend to make an impact on the domestic and European scene next season.

Haaland has been phenomenal in his first season at Manchester City. I have never seen a player managed by Guardiola that sees very little of the ball throughout 90 minutes yet consistently manages to score and assist goals.

Guardiola found a way out against Ancelotti's classical simple strategies and this resulted in a huge win for Manchester City. Courtois really tried to keep them away by a couple of solid saves but he couldn't hold the door against Manchester City any longer after that. Manchester City played a dominant game just as they did in the most part of the first leg but the main difference was the effectiveness at finishing this time.

The interesting thing is that Haaland couldn't contribute with either goals or assists. However it was still not a hindrance for Manchester City to get that comfortable win. This is a really important point because it shows that they aren't fully dependent on him all the time.

By the way, it was unlucky for Haaland at the same time. After he was replaced with Alvarez the guy just scored a goal in only two minutes.  

Yup it seemed like it was gonna be a close match just basing it on the first leg and to some extent on paper.  But I don't follow the La Liga and I have no idea on what trajectory Real's momentum was before the match.  They prolly had a couple of tough matches before travelling to Manchester?  They all looked slow, fatigued, tired out there and never really had anything, any threat against Guardiola's squad.  

@JollyGood I’m disappointed because Real Madrid surrendered the match too easily and I hope that they focus on rebuilding their squad if they want to win the champions league next season. Also while City will definitely be the favourites but I would yet support Inter because I’m a Manchester United fan and I don’t want to see City win the treble .

It would have been almost impossible to have gone with a 4-0 win for Manchester City before the game started but yes congratulations to them. They are in the final again but are going up against Inter Milan who beat AC Milan 3-0 on aggregate.

I would not be surprised if Inter Milan win the final against Manchester City even they would be deemed to be underdogs by most bookmakers.

Here we go guys...  Match starts in around 5 minutes.  The real final match of the UCL.  Lol.  I think we will witness something hilariously funny.    My money is on the draw no bet for Real Madrid at 4.05.  I'm not really sure why the books and the sharps are discounting Ancelotti and his boys here.  I'm betting we're seeing a master class for the Spanish club.

Then again, I could look like a dumb idiot.  

Edit:  I'm a dumb idiot.  Congrats to City.

The second semi-final 1st leg is being played this evening:

AC Milan vs Inter Milan

This will guarantee an Italian team will be in the final and this could be the time Italian football starts becoming a European force again.

--------

The result from the game yesterday was: Real Madrid 1-1 Manchester City

This one is almost finely balanced but Manchester City have the away goal advantage.

If the return leg ends 0-0 then Manchester City are through to another Champions League final. If the game ends 1-1 it will be decided in extra-time or on penalties. If the game ends in a 2-2 draw Real Madrid will play another final because of the away goals rule.

Kevin De Bruyne scored the all-important equaliser in some style with a brilliant powerful shot after Vinicius Junior scored a stunning goal himself to put Real Madrid in the lead.

This is the first semi-final (first leg) taking place today:

Real Madrid vs Manchester City

You would have to go with the notion that if Real Madrid win this evening without conceding a goal, they will qualify for another Champions League final no matter what happens in the return leg in Manchester. I would expect Real Madrid to score in Manchester therefore they could qualify via the away goals rule. As for Manchester City, well done for them to get this far again but they still have not been crowned Champions of Europe.

If Manchester City lose to Real Madrid and then lose the FA Cup final to Manchester United, they will only win the Premier league this season when they were on the verge of a treble.

RESULTS:

Wednesday 19th April
Bayern Munich 1-1 Manchester City (Agg: 1 - 4)
Inter Milan 3-3 Benfica (Agg: 5 - 3)

Tuesday 18th April
Chelsea 0-2 Real Madrid (Agg: 0-4)
Napoli 1-1 AC Milan (Agg: 1-2)

Bayern Munich, Benfica, Chelsea and Napoli are out of the competition. Congratulations to the teams that have qualified for the semi-finals:

Tuesday 9th May
Real Madrid vs Manchester City

Wednesday 10th May
AC Milan vs Inter Milan

RESULTS:

Tuesday 11th April 2023
Benfica 0-2 Inter Milan
Manchester City 3-0 Bayern Munich

Wednesday 12th April 2023
AC Milan 1-0 Napoli
Real Madrid 2-0 Chelsea

Chelsea need a miracle if they are to reach the semi-finals because Real Madrid must be favourites to win the tournament again. Elsewhere, Manchester City had a comfortable win over Bayern Munich and look set to reach another semi-final. Inter Milan look set to reach the semi-final and the all Italian champions league final is still a possibility.

These are the quarter-final games taking place today:

Benfica vs Inter Milan
Manchester City vs Bayern Munich

I would expect Manchester City manage to lose or draw tonight but expect them to definitely be beaten in the return leg in German because Bayern Munich have played excellent in the competition. If Manchester City get to the semi-final it will be a great achievement but it will be tough. Over two legs I would say Inter Milan would progress to the semi-finals.

This is the draw for the quarter-finals:

Tuesday 11th April 2023
Benfica vs Inter Milan
Manchester City vs Bayern Munich

Wednesday 12th April 2023
AC Milan vs Napoli
Real Madrid vs Chelsea

Like most people I am surprised three Italian teams made it this far. Over two legs I think Inter Milan should get past Benfica. The AC Milan vs Napoli all Italian quarter-final will be full of passion and intensity, it should be a good game to watch and at least guarantees one Italian team will be in the semi-finals but it could be two

Both Manchester City and Chelsea are flying the flag for English teams but Chelsea face Real Madrid again just as they did last season and ended up getting knocked out. If Chelsea manage to beat Real Madrid they will have a serious chance of winning the trophy and that would make Potter a hero and Chelsea would be ready and looking forward to next season.

Manchester City are drawn against Bayern Munich, you would expect Manchester City to win the home game and lose the away game because Bayern Munich are a very good team. It could go to penalties or goal difference.

How can a player that has started playing mediocre football (soon after signing a contract to earn £350,000 per week) deserve every penny? I need to read your reply to this one 

Liverpool legends warned against offering him a record deal because it would upset the balance in the team and because he was already in to his 30s and signing that deal on a 3 year contract was not recommended. Salah, Klopp and Liverpool went ahead to sign the contract and we can see Liverpool subsequently are a shambles and Salah is playing below his own high standards.

It's  difficult to beat real Madrid if no one is breaking the line and starving Vini of passes.

The midfield is completely dead, Thiago is a pass-marchant, he gave only less than 5 assists at Bayern after making about 3k passes, he is nothing but Jorginho pro max, there are too many sideways passes, Liverpool needs to rebuild the midfield if they want to bring the best out of Salah once more, then a good Trent and Van Dyk backup. They possess effective offensive options.

________________++++++++++_________________

Salah deserves every penny he's getting from the Liverpool treasure hub.

RESULTS:

Napoli 3-0 Eintracht Frankfurt (Agg: 5-0)
Real Madrid 1-0 Liverpool (Agg: 6-2)


After the battering Liverpool received in the first leg it was inevitable Real Madrid would go through to the next round. Liverpool have to try to use this season as a learning experience and try better next season. If they knew they were not going to win the Premier League (and knew they were going to struggle to fight for a top four finish), they should have pushed very hard to challenge Real Madrid but they basically fell flat.

Liverpool need a rebuild of their squad, they have young talent coming through but they need to sell or part with senior players such as Milner, Henderson and ask themselves why they allowed Salah to earn the record amount of money he is getting when he is playing awful football.

Congratulations to Chelsea, Benfica, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Real Madrid and the three Italian teams in the competition Inter Milan, AC Milan and Napoli.

^  It looked like an easy bet for Real Madrid on paper but the match was kinda a grueling watch.  It's like You knew a goal was coming but after the first half, I couldn't watch anymore as I was getting on edge and had some things to get done irl.  Was glad to see a goal before the match ended.  Lol...  Sad to see Liverpool go but they really had a low chance of getting back with a three goal deficit on aggregate and with the match at the Bernabeu.  If it was at Anfield, maybe...  At Madrid, low chance imho.

Anyway...  Draw for the quarter finals will be on Friday.