Topic: UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Season - page 371. (Read 141787 times)

The UCL round of 16 leg 2nd leg continues this week and one of the major match of focus is Athletico vs Inter Milan. This match holds lots of excitement because of how similar both teams plays.Though I’m not expecting any excitement from the match especially and I don’t have any other expectation than seeing Inter being able to go through. Many will want to argue and talk about Athletico playing at home and its effect and I just can’t help but to laugh like as if they can’t easily predict what will go down. Yes it can be easily predicted because they’ll come into this match to try to get the fast one on Inter amd then might get hirt by a counter this is because the front and backline of this Athletico team isn’t balanced as they used to be some years back.

 This is one major reason why you see them all calm and trying to hold up the defense line like they did in the first leg. The Athletico mAdrid team have zero urgency to progress the game forward or play through the lines and this will keep them lacking when opportunities present itself. As this is the best way to hit on Inter if they really want to get anything off this match. The Inter Milan squad are a very paced squad and have strong attackers who can be able to break between the lines and they’re also organized defensively as you can see how the played in the first leg. For this reason I’m sure banking on Inter again to get the win.

 Inter will sure win this as they’re not looking like a team satisfied with the 1-0 aggregate score as they want to also hurt the Spanish team the more and they’re very balanced to do so and will do so. Athletico will have to come out and attack and try out their lucks but they must do so being wary of the fast pace attack of Inter Milan.This match like I said I think will be going the way of Inter and nothing is going to change that. Inter can be quiet and still dirty when the match wants to go dirty and they’re a team that can match Diego Simeone toe for toe. The defense of Athletico isn’t as strong as we know it to be and can’t be fully relied on.

Even though they are still favorites, Arsenal are still under pressure after achieving poor results in the first leg. Porto which is still consistently maintaining its performance, only needs a draw in this match to qualify for the quarter-finals. Porto's last two matches were also very impressive, they managed to score 8 goals without conceding. A strong defense was Arsenal's threat in the second leg, Porto only needed to close the space so that Arsenal players could not easily build attacks.

I still think Arsenal can turn things around, because if we refer to their previous three matches, Arsenal consistently won, two of which were achieved with big scores. It would be a shame if the Gunners failed to catch up on the goal deficit, considering they will act as hosts at the Emirates. But if Porto plays with a defensive strategy, Arteta fleet will find it difficult to penetrate.

There is a possibility that the match will end in a draw, so Arsenal will be eliminated because Porto is 1 goal ahead. The second leg is the toughest test for Arteta fleet, his skill in formulating strategies will be determined in that match. Apart from that, Arsenal are often eliminated in the round of 16, Arteta must instill a winning mentality in his players, and must work hard to break this bad trend.

On paper, Arsenal deserves to be the favorite, they will get full support from their own fans, the Gunners don't want to see their fans disappointed and crying again. Now they have gained valuable capital and good confidence, in the EPL they have the luck to lead the standings.

I think it is quite risky to bet on a draw or on Porto winning because Arsenal's percentage of being able to turn things around is very large.
Arsenal have quite strong strength at the moment, apart from the hard-fought victory they got against Brentford last weekend, this cannot be used as a reference because they only look at one match, but look at Arsenal's overall performance.

Porto cannot be underestimated, but realistically, Arsenal's strength is much stronger and this match will be played at Emirates Stadium, Arsenal's home ground, so I think it is better to bet on Arsenal winning this match.

Looking at the odds, Arsenal remains heavy favorite.

It's really worth to bet draw or Porto to win, looking at their previous match, Arsenal was struggling to beat Brentford while Porto is still strong until now. So I expect this match should ends in draw, Porto don't have to win while Arsenal will try their best to win.

Let's see who is more effective in implementing strategy in this match or who can carry out the instructions better given by the coach, whether the Barcelona team or the Napoli team. In terms of advantages, Barcelona has a bigger advantage than Napoli, because they will play at their home base. Their target in the first leg was to at least succeed in preventing Napoli from winning the match, because if Napoli managed to win the match, then their task in the second leg would be even more difficult because they would most likely face a team that was defending deeper. However, with this draw, Napoli did not have many options and had to play aggressively to enable them to progress to the next round.
To be honest, I personally have the same doubts about these two teams, because they are both not in very good condition, so these doubts arise in my mind. However, for this match, I prefer Barcelona as the favorite, I think many people will have the same prediction, because if you look at it in terms of profits, it is clear that they have the advantage.

It's an incalculable loss and seeing Martinelli's role as a left winger is so important, it will make it more difficult for Arsenal to penetrate from the left side of the opponent's defense. However, Mikel Arteta doesn't need to be confused because he still has Trossard to replace Martinelli and the Belgian player is actually quite good. But Trossard is more often used by Mikel Arteta as a supersub and seeing him possibly playing as a starter makes me doubt whether he can make a difference or not.

The problem for Arsenal is how they will be able to get past Porto's strong defense, especially since there is an experienced defender in this competition, namely Pepe. Even though he is 40 years old, his role as controller of Porto's defense in the first leg repeatedly succeeded in thwarting Arsenal's attacks. It will be very difficult if this main job cannot be completed and it is possible that if Arsenal is still deadlocked, then Porto will maximize this aggregate advantage and Arsenal could go home sooner.

Yes, I understand that Barcelona has a bigger chance and most people here really favor Barcelona as the winner, but even though Napoli performance was bad when the coach changed, Barca should not underestimate Napoli because they have Victor Osimhen who is endangering Barca defense and Xavi will definitely know this so It is possible that when the match starts, Xavi will give the defense players a strategy to focus on Osimhen and not leave even the slightest gap so that Osimhen is unable to score and end up winning.
There is something I am worried about if the Barca players are trying to defend but Osimhen is a reliable player who can find gaps wherever he is so I am worried if it will end with a draw but I still hope that a narrow win is very good.

Another concern I have is wondering whether Barca main players will be able to return when playing against Napoli because de Jong is really a player who can be relied on so if in this match Barca can't compete with de Jong, it will definitely be a little difficult to win at the end of the match.
From all experience, Barcelona is very convincing but Napoli has more complete players and does not have the problem of absent players.
The hopes of all supporters are on Xavi to be able to manage the Barcelona players well to continue the match until the semi-finals.

Napoli could not take advantage of their home advantage in the first leg match against Barcelona because it only ended in 1 - 1 draw and in the second leg match Barcelona will have the advantage over their home match, this will be tough match for Napoli.
I not sure Calzona can bring Napoli to victory in the second leg, even though he is great coach and has pretty good strategy in building team, he will have difficulty bringing Napoli forward in the next round.
Barcelona will win the match, even though they are in conditions that can be said to be unstable, but they clearly have all the support to win over Napoli.
Moreover, currently Napoli are also not showing good consistency in every match, even though after changing coaches they have been able to get several wins in Serie A, but this is UCL competition and they are eliminating each other in order to continue to survive.

Well see what Calzona will do, whether he is able to bring Napoli to victory in the away match against Barcelona or instead suffer defeat and be eliminated from the UCL competition.

You are actually right on this one here, inter Milan Is of a more formidable opposition than this atletico side, just look at their current form they are in their league and the experience they have in their ranks, I really don't see atletico Madrid reversing this game, and sending inter Milan home, because I don't think they are better than inter Milan regardless of the home advantage they will have in this reverse fixture,  though I think it might end in a draw and Inter Milan will progress to the next stage of the competition through that, but atletico Madrid beating inter Milan is a No no to me, because they aren't good enough to achieve such result.

Not only that Inter Milan also appear quite consistent this indicates where they can win again even though it is an away match, it does not matter as long as Inter Milan is able to hold a draw because it is certain that Atletico Madrid will continue to press now on Inter Milan when they need goals to win.

Why do I believe Inter Milan can qualify, because in Serie A and the Champion League they already have a mentality especially with Serie A it is a comfort where Inter Milan will definitely win Serie A.

Inter Milan's experience in the champions league is much greater than Atletico, in this match may be willing to bet on Inter Milan or a draw of 1X2 bets.

Inter Milan is much more favored than Atletico Madrid and this is not only because they play consistently in Serie A but also the mentality and experience that makes Inter Milan much more favored. Inter Milan were also runners-up last season in the Champions league so they will definitely try to repeat the success and try to chase the trophy for this season. Of course it won't be easy because Atletico Madrid is also a club that often plays in the Champions League so their mentality and experience are also the same and Atletico is slightly superior because they are playing at home.

Maybe it will be a little more difficult to predict this match because in the first leg Inter Milan also won narrowly when playing at home, so when the second leg takes place Atletico Madrid has the opportunity to reply. But I am much more confident that Inter Milan will be able to withstand the pressure and they will qualify for the next round.

Barcelona certainly has a bigger chance than Napoli in the second leg this time because they are playing at home. Many bettors definitely favor Barcelona to win because statistically Barcelona has better experience than Napoli. Napoli is actually making progress after changing coaches recently, but Napoli's performance is not completely stable, while Barcelona still has a more stable performance compared to Napoli. Barcelona itself has a coach who is great at rotating players and I am sure that even though Xavi decides to leave at the end of the season, he will also remains professional and continues to provide his best strategy when Barcelona is still struggling in the Champions League.

Indeed, the match between Barcelona vs Napoli is a little difficult to predict because Napoli is also not an easy opponent for Barcelona, but with Barcelona's hard work by taking advantage of opportunities at home, of course Barcelona can get rid of Napoli because on paper Barcelona has a bigger advantage. Napoli does still have a chance to get rid of Barcelona because in the first leg there was a draw but to get rid of Barcelona is not an easy thing for Napoli because they are playing away from home. Betting one of the clubs club is actually risky but if you bet on both teams to score it is a safer option and not too risky.

Totally depends on what strategy is gonna be used by napoli in this match. Calzona shall use his creativity to ensure that his club will be able to win against barcelona soon. Playing offensive against barcelona has same meant like club to do suicide. Barcelona will be fully offensive in this game no matter how complete the line up of napoli.
Blaugrana must able to get a ticket to go to the next stage. The situation may be getting even more difficult since napoli was not getting good warm up in the previous game. Napoli needs to get the main weakness of barcelona to win the match

The problem still lies in the performance of both clubs which is still very difficult to guess until now.
Honestly, by looking at their first leg matches and some of their performances in domestic competitions, I am still quite doubtful about who will eventually qualify for the quarter-finals because their performances are still unpredictable.
At the moment the situation is still fifty-fifty although indeed playing at the Camp Nou is not wrong to make them a favorite in this match but with Barcelona's current performance it also cannot be a guarantee actually.

Currently, Barcelona and Napoli's problems are still the same where the problem is the poor finishing, only Napoli's advantage at this time is that Barcelona will not be strengthened by some of their productive midfielders because De Jong and Pedri are currently following Gavi for a slightly longer treatment so this can be used as a good opportunity for Napoli.

It seems true, as long as real was not losing in that game, and that's enough. This can be a very important lesson for ancellotti and i must also appreciate how ancellotti was also apologizing his mistake during the match against leipzig by wrongly used the incorrect strategy to be implemented in the team.
Yeah the starting eleven seems quite different in that match. It seemed to me that if the match against leipzig used as an experiment for real madrid. Ancelotti will learn a lot from this mistake to make sure he will not repeat it again in the upcoming game.

Glad there was still vini who was able to save the club from losing in that game. His goal helped real madrid to go to the next stage. Real madrid may able to play even better if ancelotti used the correct strategy.

I think ancellotti took all of those decisions without even try to deepely analyze their opponents before.

not too big an impact without the presence of gabriel martinieli. because arsenal players who have high attacking power are still many. there is gabriel jesus who has fully recovered from his injury even though he is still rarely played as a starting eleven in arsenal's line up. bukayo saka, kai harvert, odegard and more.

Barcelona decides about the result of this game, but remember that in the first leg it was quite a typical Barcelona game. They were the better team, had the better start into the game and several chances to get ahead with two goals, but then they conceded that goal because of a brilliant Napoli attack and afterwards Napoli suddenly had all the chances to win that game. Barcelona literally forgets the game plan when they concede a goal and it is not the first time this season. So if Barcelona keeps control over the game most of the time, I guess they will be the winner or at least have bigger chances. But if Napoli can score a goal, it's probably going to be almost equal chances for both teams.

Things will changed on the end of Arsenal but looking at them, they stand strong enough to face any elite side this season. One of my favorite Arsenal frontline, Gabriel  Martinelli is been sidelined due to injury, bad news for the club's progress but they will have to fight with or without the Brazilian. Arsenal will be hosting Porto in the second leg and they hoped to make up for their relenting efforts in the first leg. I've watch Gunners hitting top priorities and winning oppositions, so Porto wouldn't be something Arsenal will struggle or take as challenge.

I can say Barcelona have good odds than Napoli because both team have proven to be stronger and watching them play in their perspective league this weekend was totally dissapointing, Napoli held a draw while Barcelona struggled to score a goal making it 1 nil victory against their opponent. These are elite team and they're not obligated to be facing challenges this season. Thinking about or it more coincidence, Barcelona and Napoli lifted the league title last season but this current one comes with a whole lot surprises on both ends.