Topic: UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Season - page 532. (Read 141818 times)

This match still remains a speculation to me and I can’t for sure say one team will be more superior than the other one in this match. PSG have vast experience in the champions league competition than Real Soceidad but their performance in the competition cannot be overlooked and looked down on. They have passed through many hurdles from last season in the La Liga for their qualification here and also how they’ve farewell in the group stage of the champions league competition before getting to the knockout stage now. I see this match as one that will be very competitive but still giving an edge to PSG because of their quality and also big name in the champions league competitions.

It's easy to compare performances and predict who will qualify and still I would be more confident that PSG will qualify in this round.
We can see all the players that Real Sociedad has as well as all the PSG players and let's compare which clubs have quality players, of course PSG is the main choice because from the performance of the mainstay player Mbappe can always be the best mainstay even though in the champions league he doesn't just rely on one player but at least having a scoring machine gives great hope of getting through to the next round.
Indeed, there are no guarantees because a surprise could shake the world, but whatever happens, if you ask me who will advance to the next round, I will still answer PSG.

I think so too, and I’m surprised that Barcelona is the favorite in this pair (at least that was the case before the game with Athletic, maybe the situation has changed now). I think the better strategy would be to wait until literally the day of the game, evaluate the lineups, and if there are no major changes and Barcelona is still a favorite, then bet on Napoli (the only question is on a single game or on Napoli ending up in the quarterfinals).

Borussia Dortmund is in an unstable state, while PSV has the opposite appearance, therefore the chances of PSV being able to beat Borussia Dortmund are greater. I see a lot of setbacks shown by Borussia Dortmund. This season they are struggling to be able to appear always stable in every match.
I'm not trying to blame them, but this is undeniably due to their habit of selling their great players. Apart from that I see in the game the coordination between the players is not going very well. That's what makes it difficult for them to perform better in the end.
They must prepare for the Champions League matches as well as possible if they still want to be here.

Recently i comment in the Europa League thread we are not gonna see again the Liverpool Klopp in Champions League after this decission of get out of the red team after finish this season, in someways is a little bit sad, but it was a very long journey, lets see where he goes after that and wich team of him we are gonna see in the nexts Champions Leagues we need trainers like him.

Yeah PSV play really good in Eredivisie, but I disagree if Dortmund is struggle in Bundesliga. The results of their recent match is good, Sancho played better than when he was in Manchester United. I think Dortmund will evolving to be better, they still have around 2-3 weeks to improve.

Although PSV seems to be like a good contender, but I still believe Dortmund able overcome that.

I'm curious about how Dortmund will be able to stop PSV in the Champions League last 16 match because this Dutch team is so consistent in the domestic league and up to now they have recorded impressive results and are at the top of the standings for the highest Dutch competition. In the first leg, PSV had the first opportunity to host and here it was clear that Dortmund did not really benefit because they were the visiting team.

If PSV is able to steal the aggregate advantage at home then they only need to make it difficult for Dortmund in the second leg and I think it will be almost impossible for Dortmund to win in the away match. Moreover, Dortmund's job in the domestic league is increasingly difficult because they have not been able to penetrate the competition at the top and their inconsistency will also be quite doubtful in the match against PSV later. I think this is a match we should not miss.

I think that it's time for barcelona to sack him. Xavi is not helping the club to perform better and he deserves to be sacked by the club but i think that just give him last chanec on UCL. It will be a very good competition to determine his fate in the club. Xavi was not improving the club a lot.
Some new players like felix and cancelo was not making a lot of contribution to the club. I hope that he will be considering to leave from the club by himself. Im sure that barca fans were feeling so upset to him,

Barcelona has been failed in many competitions. The only chance to get trophy from la liga and UCL. Barcelona is just degrading itself.

Real Sociedad doesn't have the best of the top quality footballers in Europe on which a club can rely on their brilliance to win matches and that's why they're very good in teamwork. Against a big team like Paris Saint that possesses some of the best legs in Europe, you don't expect Real Sociedad to go for individual brilliance ahead of teamwork.

Paris Saint Germaine will not only make rely on their best players to destroy Real Sociedad but will also be doing their best by playing more like a team in other to eliminate Real Sociedad because if they choose to rely on individual performance of their star players, their opponents Real Sociedad might just capitalize on that and win the tie.

Speaking of strength, for individual skills they are still below PSG but for teamwork problems they are not a weak club and it could be that their strength is comparable to PSG when talking about cohesiveness and teamwork.
Don't forget that last season's semi-finalists Inter just had to be willing to be positioned below Sociedad in the group phase so they need to be wary even though they are dark horses.

The current situation for PSG remains a favorite in the match in the round of 16 this time but that does not mean they will win easily in this match considering as I said Sociedad is a dark horse that could surprise.
If in the end PSG let their guard down or underestimated Sociedad, they could lose the match later. The advantage that PSG has is that at least some of their players have known how Sociedad plays because surely Asensio and Dembele know what to do because this is not the first time for them to face Sociedad.

You're right, for me, My the only player who has a higher level in Barcelona is him, there is no other, in fact I think that Lewa's biggest mistake is having gone to a Barcelona that is not close to winning anything, yes, they are good in the UCL , They had a team that really won Serie A through pure luck, because they have not shown that they are winners or that they are defending champions , but rather that things have happened to them by pure luck, so if they have a chance of passing and beating Napoli, He could not deny that sometimes Barcelona has good luck and they win , Especially in the UCL , but from then on things are not so good to try when they come across teams like City,  Bayern who That's where the race will come to them.

It seems to me that things with Barcelona are complicated, I don't see it very well, they also lost in the Copa del Rey and nothing is going well for them, I think that now their main contender is not Madrid, it is Girona, Therefore, when we do something to see what could be happening, I realize that Xavi himself is to blame for everything, he can't take it anymore, he doesn't have any more ideas, and that shows on the playing field, I also believe We have all laughed at the excuses he makes that are truly useless, say that he lost and that's it, but don't make excuses because that makes the team look bad, it's as if they were children, know that type of thing that he says sometimes no I know, it could be that he says it like that to save his job, but I really don't see this team well, for me they lack a lot, and they are falling very far behind, at least in the League it is like that, it is very easy for them to be beaten too Get out of the UCL quickly, as its level is very demanding.

Barcelona not doing well in European competitions under Xavi is one big worry the fans are having for their round of 16 fixture. Yes, they’re facing Napoli who aren’t doing pretty well domestically but you can’t compare domestic form to European form. Napoli are superior than Barcelona in this fixture because they can take their chances and those chances could hurt on Barcelona. Well I think Barca and Xavi have lot to do if they want to get through Napoli.

 Winning the UCL consecutively is one crazy deal that’s only being achieved by Real Madrid. Now Man City trying to achieve that feat, yea I’ll say it’s somewhat possible especially if they’ve got the whole squad in full shape. Then I think think Real Madrid on the other end wouldn’t want this to happen again and that’s why I feel Madrid will be the only obstacle they’ll have to get the UCL consecutively.

Real Sociedad is not stronger than last season and in terms of quality the PSG team is much stronger than Real Sociedad so PSG is quite the favorite to take the next step.
However, in football anything can happen, PSG is not stronger than last season, but overall we can see the performance of the two teams and make a comparison for speculation.

since having financial problems; Barcelona lost its glory days and had almost very little chance of qualifying for the semi-finals because the players they had were not ready enough to face other big teams and in terms of reserve players; Barcelona does not have quality reserve players while several injured players can worsen Barcelona condition.
facing Napoli in the round of 16 may not be too tough, but the problem is that Napoli, even though they have problems, this team still has slightly superior performance compared to Barcelona, which is currently really down in the UCL and in La Liga.

and regarding Man City, I slightly disagree with your opinion, although it will not be possible to win consecutive UCL titles. The return of key players provides a big opportunity for Man City, but the only doubt is that KDB has returned with the same performance as before the injury and whether Haaland will return with good performance as before?
If Haaland is back and can still perform as before, it is possible that Real Madrid will have problems because they have to face the strength of Man City.

Real Sociedad's performance was good, but it wasn't that strong. I believe the first leg against PSG is an advantage for PSG. If Sociedad can hold back or at least reduce their losses by conceding a lot, they can hit back in the second leg.
PSG will still be the favorite, but I don't expect PSG to be eliminated faster if they lose to Soicedad. There is still enough time to prepare. and Sociedad also still has a match against a strong team like Girona to prepare for the match against PSG.

In fact, the chances of both are still the same, we also cannot underestimate Real Sociedad because they also appear in a competitive league and Real Sociedad performance is also quite good in the domestic league. PSG is at a league level that is not very competitive but their performance in the domestic league is the strongest and the squad they have is also quite strong but Real Sociedad defense is also quite solid so I think PSG will not easily beat Real Sociedad but because PSG squad depth is better maybe many people are favorite for PSG to winning.

Indeed, in terms of experienced PSG has more experience in the Champions League, unlike Real Sociedad, but even though PSG has more experience, in fact they had difficulty qualifying for the round of 16, while Real Sociedad did not have too much difficulty. Even though in the Real Sociedad group there were club of runner up in the Champions League this season then (Inter Milan) so we can't underestimate a club that not too much experience because if they are able to perform impressively anything can still happened.

It is clear that Barcelona will definitely have far more advantages than Napoli and in this match we already know who is the favorite and who is the superior team, Barcelona will definitely be able to get an absolute win in these two matches in the round of 16.
Napoli will be eliminated, they will fall in the round of 16 and of course there is no hope whatsoever unless Barcelona experiences some problems such as player crisis or some other mistake occurs then there is possibility that Napoli can win.
In the match at home to Napoli there is chance of ending in draw but later in the second leg which is home match for Barcelona there will be big victory that can be achieved by the squad coached by Xavi.
This is the round of 16 which is the first start of the knockout round with quite worrying conditions because if there is problem or even the slightest mistake it can be profitable for the other team, each team must be able to play at full performance.
But Napoli doesn't seem to be able to play well because they are even struggling against small teams and are losing, what with Barcelona who are clearly far above them.

I understand your point and it's very much valid and I do say it always that in football a team been big and have the better squad isn't enough to think they are going to win their small opponent because these all opponent will definitely want to show as much strength as they can and that will .means possibly sweeping the big boys off their foot

Real Madrid has got a better squad with the much needed experience to be able to just get over Leipzig on a normal day but then we have to consider that in champions league most teams seem to give out only their best and that means they don't play their regular pattern of football because they are aware of how much competition they will be facing and how much of efforts they need to put in to get something out of every maychas every match counts for them in the UCL so it's very possible Leipzig may constitute a very strong resistance to Madrid.

Personally I don't think Barca will even achieve a semi-finals in UCL because let's be honest and admit that Barcelona football era is long gone and that magic is also gone since Messi left. Sure , they can win LaLiga and stuff from time to time but when it comes to UCL , it's seems like a forbidden dream for them. I also don't think City can win back 2 back either as UCL tends to have big surprises for the winner from time to time ( porto 2004 , inter 2011 and so on ).

Funny how you think Barcelona will make anything off this season’s UCL, like this team is poor and doesn’t have that winning mindset. Not just that but also the fact that Xavi haven’t been able to make it in European stage is another worry, it would take a miracle for Barcelona to get to the finals in the UCL, maybe it could be possible in seasons to come, but with their current form and squad I don't see them doing that.

 Well this team still lacks the creativity to challenge teams like Madrid and City for the UCL and it’ll be absurd trying to see them as contenders. They’re not doing well in their local league and going forward in the UCL I don’t see them performing better. Not this season, probably if they get things right next season they could pose a challenge. They need right and appropriate signings to help boost team’s performance and also they probably need a more experienced manager than Xavi.