Topic: UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Season - page 363. (Read 141787 times)

I won't say that they managed to score. Arsenal worked very hard and scored one goal in the first half in 41 minutes, which was a great opportunity for Trossard, even when some people were saying that Arsenal would definitely find the match difficult against FC Porto. I was only smiling at them, so many people predicted the match, that's FC Porto is going to win the match, due to how they saw Arsenal perform in the first leg. The Arsenal performance was a little low.

And that's why in today's match tonight they try to improve their performance so that they can dominate the match, which I'm expecting the winner from them because they're capable of it. Currently now, the second half is beginning. Let's wait and see a positive outcome from Arsenal.

Both CL games right in the balance tonight, Arsenal level on aggregate. In Spain Barcelona lead Napoli 3-2 on aggregate, the second halves of both games have just started. I’m expecting drama in both ties before the night is out.

Barcelona had their two goals in quick succession giving them an early  relieve in this game only for Napoli to later get one goal making the first 45 minutes to end in a 2:1 result. Am not impressed with Napoli performance in the first half as they were losing countless possessions of the ball.  It at this moment a 3:2 aggregate in favour of Barcelona although a tension still arises as it's possible Napoli could make a game changer in the next half.

Getting almost to the end of the first half martin odigard made a classic pass to  Trossard who gave Arsenal a 1 goal lead. Arsenal should make sure to retain their pressure on the Portugal side Porto   as it's the only way to cause damage and break into Porto strong defense in this match to get another goal in the second half as going by aggregate this game is still open for any one of the two teams to qualify. whatever happens in the second have will decide it all.

FC Porto defense is really very solid this first half and that was also the formation they use in their first leg with Arsenal but however, L. Trossard has finally found the back of the net in 41 minutes and Arsenal is leading by 1:0 in halftime.

Arsenal really need more improvement in the second half because with the pressure Porto players are mounting on them they might equalized this goal if Arsenal is not careful because Porto had More control of the ball in the first half though the ball possession is balanced by 50-50 which means the both teams performed equally in the first half but Arsenal was fortunate to have scored. I know that now that Arsenal have scored, FC Porto will come out to play in the second half unlike the defensive pattern they used in the first half and we should expect more goals in the second half because this match is really entertaining.

There are always people who underestimate Barcelona regardless of their chances, but that doesn't matter as long as Barcelona can do their best. As I said, Barcelona always find it difficult to prevent conceding goals even though they are in good form. Napoli scored a goal and the two ended the first half with the score 2-1.

Napoli improved after they conceded 2-0, they even had a good chance to make it 3-3 on aggregate, but Ter Stegen was lucky to make a good save. I hope the second half will be better where Barcelona can score more goals and strengthen their defense, only that will make it easy for them to get to the quarter-finals.



Arsenal finally scored a goal and won the first half with a score of 1-0. Porto also had opportunities, but they were not able to maximize their chances even though that was normal. The second half is likely to be more intense, especially if Porto is able to score a goal to equalize.

The first half of the Champions League matches for today was interesting, Arsenal and Barcelona won in the first half but the match was very intense and interesting to watch. Both the teams are have equal chance of qualifying right now, as Arsenal has already leveled they goal difference, while Naploi is putting a huge effort to level the score line before the end of the match.
Nevertheless, Arsenal have hope because of their fans and the performance they have displayed in the first half even though Porto was very clinical and have a lot of Champions League experienced players in their squad.

Ita already pas 30 minutes into the game and I see a very balanced game between both teams as they are both effectively forcing the attack and at same time keeping their defense safe enough against any kind of penetration by their opponent, Arsenal is really looking for an opportunity to get a counter attack upon which they will capitalize you get the scoreboard balanced but it's not looking like that's what they case will be.

Porto aswell is looking like they are pushing for a draw because they have got a very firm lock on their defense such thst all efforts by Arsenal to penetrate the defense in the early hours is almost futile, Arsenal has actually be able to break the defense of Porto a few times so has Porto done aswell buy I think adding some more creativity will help Arsenal much better because it's obvious thats what they may need any this time so their atrempts can be able to give them the kind of results they will be needing to get pass their current stage in the champions league.

I'm hoping to see a better performance by the second half from either teams as I'm actually not supporting any team in particular because both teams have got good performance and one of the teams already has an edge in the fact that they did win their first game at their home so any of them who's got the best performance and the is aswell lucky should win while the other hope to try their luck again next season.

Luckily now Arsenal have managed to take a 1 goal lead thanks to Leandro Trossard who managed to score a goal in the 41st minute which allowed Arsenal to play with more confidence thanks to that 1 goal. But you are right that Porto were really dangerous and made some good counter-attacks. but Arsenal also had a solid defense in this match. So I'm not that worried about it. But in the second half, Arsenal will have to be more careful. because Porto will definitely make another strategy. Because now they will also be encouraged to be more offensive because they also have to score goals. Because the advantage they had in the first leg has now been offset by Arsenal thanks to 1 goal that Arsenal managed to get. This will be very interesting and yeah the second half will definitely be even more heated.

After barca  dominated the exchange in the early contest of the game, and went 2 nil up, they felt relax a little bit which Napoli have took advantage of and have gotten a goal from Rrahmani, and they are actually pushing for an equalizer, so the game is becoming more interesting since Napoli came back into the game, and they need to keep on this kind of tempo if they want to stand a chance of equalizing.

On the other hand, barca need to do more attacking if they want to win this game, because I really don't think they can defend this game till the very end if they go defensive,  so they need to keep on attacking if they want to progress.

I think the match will be boring but for Barcelona as much as possible they will continue to widen the aggregate against Napoli. In the first half, 3 goals were scored and this made the match even more exciting. How could it not be that now Barcelona holds the aggregate advantage with a difference of 1 goal and Napoli needs 2 goals if they want to get rid of Barcelona. I wonder how the second half will end and maybe I will be happier if there is extra time later.

The Champions League second leg match between Arsenal vs Porto has begun, in the last 39 minutes Porto continued to control the game and several times had great chances to score, as well as Arsenal who were more dominant in attacking from the right wing but actually had to struggle with the defense built by Porto, seeing the last 39 minutes seemed to be a difficult match for Arsenal because in addition to being difficult to destroy Porto defense,  they were also often pressured when Porto counterattacked which was really very effective so that Raya had to work hard enough to save his goal from conceding.

In another match, currently Barcelona is 2-1 ahead of opponent Napoli, the second match is no less exciting with aggregate goals in the first leg which does allow for both to have equal chances to qualify for the next round, since the match started, Barcelona continued to try to attack Napoli defense and made them score in the 15th minute through Lopez and it didn't take long for Barcelona to add to his team  lead with Cancelo goal in the 17th minute,  Conceding two goals in a fast time made Napoli respos by continuing to attack and finally able to score 1 goal through Rrahmani in the 30rd minute which made the current score 2-1 or 3-2 aggregate for Barcelona victory.

Opportunity well utilized by Barcelona to score two great goals but that's not over because the Napoli team seems to have realized their mistakes and have come all out ready to attack Barcelona even as they have gotten a goal by A. Rrahmani to make the score 2:1. It is very difficult right now to right off Napoli seeing how dangerous they have become after getting the one goal I think Barcelona team needs to be careful because from what am watching on the screen right now, they are not yet winners of this match.

Still 1 goal down but this makes the match exciting to watch again hehe. Bookies are having a good time adjusting the odds for this one hehe.

Porto are expecting Arsenal to start and apply pressure early but they seem prepared for that. Impressive defensive stops so far. I think this is going to be a battle of attrition and one mistake could change the whole game.

And there it is.... Now a 1-1 on aggregate.

In terms of chances in the second leg, Madrid lost and that was coupled with not very good finishing because looking at some of the chances they had, I honestly felt that Leipzig's chances were actually better in 90 minutes of the match than Madrid because Madrid showed more of a quick counterattack in this match but that is not important now because they have qualified and are just waiting for their opponents in the quarter-finals.

Currently there are 2 matches that are quite worth watching and Barcelona is already 2-1 ahead now but it is still possible for Napoli to equalize the score again but for Arsenal I the match is still quite monotonous because seeing Arsenal's current match with their appearance in the first leg it seems the same but I expect a victory for Arsenal in today's match.

The Barcelona - Napoli match started really fast. I would never expect Barcelona to get 2-0 ahead in such a short time. I was considering them one step ahead in the rematch but still... Napoli's answer to these goals wasn't too late and this is making the match more watchable.    This match is open to every kind of a result for now. But I'm still siding with Barcelona to advance to next round. It is just not easy to predict if it happens in regular time.    Lewandowski and Osimhen still hasn't scored but this doesn't affect the productivity at all.

Wow, I missed it because I was too focused on watching the Arsenal vs Porto match. Now I am surprised by the results. Barcelona really seems to have proven that they will indeed be very strong when playing at their own headquarters. And Napoli must have started to panic after conceding 2 goals. And it looks like this season is not a good enough season for Napoli. Because it doesn't look like Napoli will be able to go any further in the UCL and in Serie A Napoli are also having difficulty getting close to the top 4 rankings. After Spalletti left, everything really changed.

But the score has now changed to 2-1. Because Napoli managed to narrow the goal difference with 1 goal which they got in the 30th minute by Amir Rrahmani.

I was surprised when the second goal happened so quickly because the first goal and the second goal were only 2 minutes apart. I looked left and right to see if this was true.
Although I hope Napoli can respond and put up resistance, I see Barcelona can handle it well.

Napoli are now trying to apply pressure to score goals, but various efforts are still difficult to succeed.
Now, Rrahmani has just scored 1 goal.
One more goal is Napoli's target to advance to the next round. Hopefully happen.

Barcelona was underestimated in this match, but instead they went crazy where Barcelona managed to lead 2-0 in just 17 minutes. Fermin Lopez and Joao Cancelo scored the goals and the team is showing a very different spirit so far. Obviously I expect Barcelona to really qualify for the quarter-finals even though I don't think this is an easy match for them, but winning 3-1 on aggregate makes progress to the quarter-finals a little easier.

Of course it's only about the first half and I don't know what will happen throughout the match. Barcelona can dominate and take advantage of opportunities well at home, but I hope they don't make mistakes in defense that ruin their chances of getting to the quarter-finals.

There is no digging out of that whole for Napoli. I thought that Barcelona would be the dominant team as they also were in the first game against Napoli, but I likewise thought that they would be inefficient with their chances again. But now in this game it was quite the opposite. Perhaps if Napoli can close the gap a little with a goal out of nowhere, but being down 2 goals in Barcelona means it is fairly over for them.

---

Arsenal is having more trouble that I anticipated. I thought they would take the lead quickly, or at least in the first half. There is still 20 minutes to go, but who would have thought that Porto would have some very promising attempts? This will probably be a close game unless Arsenal finds the trigger and finally scores. I went with Arsenal taking the lead in the first half.

Barcelona can actually find this match so difficult to win due how saw the Napoli today line up the line up real arranged well, which I'm aspect like 2 goals from Napoli since in their first leg they play draw game but today match tonight will be very difficult for Barcelona to win. But currently now Barcelona is leading Napoli by 2 goals Nevertheless let wait and what will happen since the first half is still ongoing, I know Napoli can turn the game and dominate the first half.
I have doubt that Arsenal will never allow what happened to them in their last match against FC Porto to repeat in today match, with the arsenal currently performance I know they can try their possible best and make sure they dominate today match tonight. Because even in their first leg arsenal performance was quite good,  but when the match was coming to an end arsenal didn't hold their consistent that's why FC Porto win them in dai minutes of the match. But in today I'm aspect a good outcome from arsenal.