Topic: UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Season - page 1191. (Read 141749 times)

It's very natural that after losing Lionel Messi, Barcelona seemed to have lost a leader on the field and that was clearly felt. Even other players such as Sergio Bosquest and Jordi Alba also could not restore the confidence of every player. I think barcelona should have prepared for that and there's no way they will continue to rely on just one player. On the other hand, they also have to develop more and with a new squad, all the legacy of their seniors must continue with the same mentality. Maybe it's not appropriate for a team like Barcelona to experience this continuously and I think they have to break this bad result in the Champions League this season.

Pep Guardiola will never regret for his decision to release some players in this summer, because his plan always bring good result at the end of the tournament, which I know that the players that left will not affect the Manchester city performance in this season. I don't think the coach will disappoint his fans in this season because Erling Haaland and other strikers are still there to make things happen in this season like last season that made them to embraced UEFA champions league title and premier league title. Based on the way other teams are bringing in new players in this season showed that they will make this season tough for Manchester city, but I still have confidence that Pep Guardiola will still help the team to win the title.

Barcelona can have improvement in a new season by going through the group stage but at knock-out phase, they will face with stronger team and with more experienced squad. It will become big issue for Barcelona with their young players and the young coach like Xavi. They need more experience in Champions League to play well and win it but everything needs a start and a new season will help them to gain more experience.

It is not about what they want or don't want, it is about their ability to play well and achieve good results. Barcelona have been playing worse in Champions League after losing Messi. But previous seasons, when they had Messi, all responsibilities were blamed on Messi unfairly. Now they have to pay the cost and accept the fact that their squad is not actually good and competitive, with or without Messi.

Barcelona never hesitated when they appointed Xavi as head coach, even though at that time he had no experience as a coach in European competition. Xavi's presence received full support from Laporta and the entire club management, even though at that time Barcelona was experiencing a financial crisis, club officials continued to look for ways to facilitate Xavi with quality players.

Xavi has succeeded in giving Barcelona the La Liga title, this season he will try something new in the Champions League, of course, Xavi has great hopes in bringing Barcelona to win the Champions League hunt. Xavi is well aware that it is not easy to win the Champions League trophy if it is not supported by an established squad. I see that Barcelona is trying to form a squad according to Xavi's wishes, this season Xavi will try to do his best for Barcelona by working hard to fulfill his hopes of becoming a champion in the Champions League.

The last two seasons have been a nightmare for big teams like Barcelona and they probably don't want that to happen again in the Champions League next season. As a coach Xavi is fully responsible for the performance of the team he has built and as long as they can still prove their capacity then they will probably be much better later.

The problem that often arises for Barcelona is its inconsistency while in European competitions such as the Champions League and it is still a question of how a team with so many good players can go down to the European league and even happen in a row. Gundogan will clearly be a differentiator because he is a game creator and his previous experience in Manchester City will certainly make Barcelona more confident.

I think right now, barcelona should not be thinking about doing well in the Champions League. They should concentrate in one competition only. And I genuinely believe that they have a better chance to win the La Liga titles instead of winning the Champions League. So even though some people are saying that Barcelona should be able to do better in European competitions, I am going to say that it is very understandable why they are not doing well in the Champions League. It’s because they are not even trying to. Last season, they went for the La Liga title and they have successfully achieved that. Let’s see what is the approach from them in this season.

Barcelona might need a quite long time to bring back their old days in the Champions League. Because I don't feel like it is only related to Xavi's strategies now. Barcelona are rebuilding with very young players mostly. This team will need some more time to be able to reach the level at which they can fight harder against the biggest favourites.

Hence I won't be expecting them to have a magical change this season as well. Maybe this time they would manage to complete the group stage successfully. But I don't think they still have a strong mentality to deal with big teams in later stages. This tournament is nothing like a domestic league.

Pep guardiola is a experienced coach which we all know and he performed very well in last season, and everyone is hoping he will be able to maintain his good performance in the coming season, since their is no much player’s that left his club, and the main players that left, he is already looking for perfect replacement for them, so that the team will be stabilized. But we all just have to wait for the season to start and see how Manchester City is going to perform, lots of people have confidence in pep guardiola to maintain his good performance, but let’s wait for the season to start and let’s hope he won’t disappoint most of us that have confidence in him.

Manchester City dominated the game with full confidence in both halves but things got difficult for the cityzens in the extra minutes of the second halve, the Nerazzurri keeps attempting their shots at them, however Guardiola men absolved all the pressure and sealed their victory. It was really a disappointing season for Seria A clubs, three clubs making it to the UEFA CL final, European Final and Conference League final, they all returned home without a single trophy. This season would be competitive for them, they stand to improved their performances.

Inter's defense focused game was really working well against Manchester City. Maybe they lost but it was still not a humiliating type of loss. They could have even turned things around if they didn't waste big goal opportunities. Therefore I believe Inter also deserved to win that title with their smart game.

Manchester City will need to learn to stay stronger against this kind of teams as well. Otherwise they might get eliminated by such team in a really unexpected time. They play easier against teams playing an attacking game or the ones with weak defenses. But the most challenging ones for them are like Inter which know how to deal with teams like Manchester City.

The best reason to not believe that Manchester City wins it again was the final against Inter Milan when everyone thought that they are going to take it home with ease and cover a handicap of 1 or 2 goals, but Inter Milan could have won that game as well. These little things that decide over win or defeat are sometimes out of anyone's control. Otherwise we wouldn't love the game as much if it was all set in stone before the final whistle.

But what strikes me as odd is that you say you don't think they can win it. In like, there is no chance for them? They are too bad? I fully disagree with this. I would say they can win it, but there are a few other teams that can also win it.

The fact that Manchester City conquered the whole of Europe last season and lifted the UEFA Champions League title shouldn't make anyone think that they're gonna repeat that same feat again in the 2023/24 season.
Real Madrid in 2016-2018 were the only to have consecutively won the European Cup for over 3 decades and I don't think the current Manchester City squad has what it takes to repeat that feat. City will perform well in the Champions League next season but I don't think they can win it

Barcelona cant repeat the shamefull performance of last two years, being stuck on group phase and falling into Europa League. So they are gonna be very akward on the draw this year.

Xavi its doing Barcelona play really good footbal, but in europe they are strugling to show that somehow. But i think with Gundogan its gonna be much more team than before, he was the key player they were missing.

As far as I am aware, Xavi has done exceptionally well in bringing Barcelona to this level only a few years after taking over as head coach. Because of how stressful the Champions League matches can be, he needs every bit of help he can get to make Barcelona a wonderful fit for the champions league matches.


I wouldn't be surprised if he does more and achieves his goals in the upcoming Champions League season or the one after that. I don't underestimate Xavi's potential after his fantastic season for Barcelona last season. He made the club stronger and more deserving of consideration for the Champions League trophy next season. I'm sure he's already planning something big for Barcelona next season.

The champions league as the name indicates is not a farmer's league that we can easily assume that because a team outperformed in the previous season and won the title same event will reiterate itself, of course it has happened with the likes of Real Madrid having it back to back but it wasn't that easy and no one saw it coming either. City as sure to do so well next season but winning the title immediately again is what doesn't seem possible, if you take a critical look at the transfers of usual favorite teams in UCL like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich it will scare you to agree that City can win the title again next season.

In domestic competitions I believe because they have proven themselves but in the Champions League it is still difficult even if their development continues.
Let's not forget that in the last 2 seasons they have always failed in the group stage and this is a pretty bad record for Barcelona in their last few seasons.
They have to try something more if they still want to exist and be seen in the champions league but when their performance is still not balanced between the champions league and the domestic league then I think the conditions are still the same as before.
Their current hope is that in the draw for the group phase they do not join the hell group as before so that they are able to improve their performance in the champions league.

But in theory doesn't count. In theory Manchester City should have won that competition for the first time long ago. Guardiola is now going into his 8th season with Manchester City and he only won the Champions League title with them once, which was last season. The theory is quite difference from practice here. A few potential transfers are still left in the dark without agreement so far and they can change the theory very quickly. I think if Mbappe goes to Real Madrid, you will probably adjust your theory from Manchester City to Real Madrid being the favorite.

In theory, Man City should be the favorite team to win the next UCL title because they have strongest squad and keep most of their main players in the last season. Moreover, Guardiola is still the coach of Man City, he knows well how to manage Man City properly. I can agree with this opinion, but there is no guarantee that Man City will be the champion again. Some teams may decrease their performance after they won the title, it isn't impossible to happen with Man City. The other teams are also improving their squads, they can be stronger in the next season. So, the competition for the title can be more difficult in the next season, Man City shouldn't be too confident to win the UCL title anymore.

PSG isn't the team which has a good luck in UCL. In the previous season, even if they have some top players (including Messi), they couldn't win UCL title. Moreover, Messi and some top players already left PSG. Even worse, Mbappe is probably leaving PSG to Real Madrid as well. PSG is surely not in the ideal situation to compete for UCL title.

The capability of Luis Enrique isn't proven yet, he won some titles when he managed Barcelona only. So far, he never won any title with other teams. PSG isn't a team with an established/solid squad, there are many weaknesses in this team. It is very different with Barcelona squad when he ever won the titles.

In the domestic League yes I would say he has seriously improved them after turning them to title winners last season but in champions league competition or even European competitions I would say they have not done anything spectacular mainly because they do not have those players to take them to that height. My biggest criticism against this Xavi’s Barcelona side is the fact that he favours some certain set of players and limit the game time for some. Also the acquisition of all these old players are not going to work for Barcelona.