Pep thinks that the players he signed to replace these players he let go can perform to their standard or above their standards, but they couldn't, and the team is becoming unbalance if one or two players get injured especially Rodri. I think things will become better since their main man KDB is back from injury and will soon start playing with the rest of his team mates.
It takes time to fully adapt to a new club and i am sure Pep knows that and didn’t expect too much from them this season. They are all quality players and with time they will transform into something else and will we see their true potential. Most players that left also joined and improved gradually until they become man enough, the team is missing them but with time they will learn to adapt without them. KDB is an important player for the team, Halland as well is an important player and without them they don’t seem too dominant as they used to be. 
Topic: UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Season - page 584. (Read 141787 times)
Manchester city have lost some of the good hands that have made the club the top for several consecutive seasons and also haven't won other leagues aside from champion League that we are discussing here, shortly after the last season the club was opened up to some team management that the clubs could have pay whatever prize to retain and even increase the good hands on the club to put them up alin better position compared to the present position that Manchester city fund themselves this time around and the underperformance is not only in the champion Leagues but all the other leagues that the club in engaged on in this season.
However, if they are determined and improve on their performance, they might be able to win the league but I see a very slim chance for them this time, because the best team will always win the league.
~~ Snip ~~
By February the knock out stage for the UCL will kick off and for some teams, it'll be an easy slide through regardless of the notion of the strongest teams being the ones able to scale into this stage. City and Copenhagen would go against each other and it's very much clear that City would be the survivors. Well I'm not underestimating Copenhagen, cause I'm pretty aware that sometimes football can be very suprising, however I still got a doubt that they might have succeeded against City's neighbours United, but won't do same against City.Their key men are back and set to run and definitely that's enough charge to weigh down Copenhagen. Yes, in their home ground, they may try to put up a battle but I'm certain that City will be capable to overturn them. They're way ahead of them in capacity and ability too. As always, the round of 16 will have as much fun as there can be in it and it's greatly anticipated. Preparations and games would definitely be intense too.
Man City opportunity to retain the UCL trophy this season is still quite open, if Pep is not hampered by a storm of injuries I think they can do it again. But of course it's not an easy job, because other teams like Madrid or Bayern also want the same thing. It would be a shame if City faced one of these two teams early, because I hope that can happen in the final.
On the other hand, we know that currently the transfer window is open, all teams are evaluating their weaknesses to recruit new players, this will have an impact on their strengths in the future. I feel like time is running slow to get to February, can't wait to see UCL roll again.
Manchester city have lost some of the good hands that have made the club the top for several consecutive seasons and also haven't won other leagues aside from champion League that we are discussing here, shortly after the last season the club was opened up to some team management that the clubs could have pay whatever prize to retain and even increase the good hands on the club to put them up alin better position compared to the present position that Manchester city fund themselves this time around and the underperformance is not only in the champion Leagues but all the other leagues that the club in engaged on in this season.
Manchester City benefits greatly from De Bruyne's return. The man is creative and skilled. It's clear they miss him and Haaland. Their absence has cost City points, clearly. De Bruyne's return will boost the team, especially in big games. I'm doubtful he'll recover quickly. Long-term injuries can be physically and mentally taxing. For Haaland, patience is crucial. I know everyone wants him back, but health comes first. Gundogan has played well, but De Bruyne's return will give City's midfield that extra spark
Manchester city have lost some of the good hands that have made the club the top for several consecutive seasons and also haven't won other leagues aside from champion League that we are discussing here, shortly after the last season the club was opened up to some team management that the clubs could have pay whatever prize to retain and even increase the good hands on the club to put them up alin better position compared to the present position that Manchester city fund themselves this time around and the underperformance is not only in the champion Leagues but all the other leagues that the club in engaged on in this season. Manchester City benefits greatly from De Bruyne's return. The man is creative and skilled. It's clear they miss him and Haaland. Their absence has cost City points, clearly. De Bruyne's return will boost the team, especially in big games. I'm doubtful he'll recover quickly. Long-term injuries can be physically and mentally taxing. For Haaland, patience is crucial. I know everyone wants him back, but health comes first. Gundogan has played well, but De Bruyne's return will give City's midfield that extra spark
Mentally taxing in particular as the player needs time to fully trust his body again. The last problem that De Bruyne or anyone around him wants is that the same injury happens again. That's the point where players really feel they are in deep trouble and his injury came up twice as far as I know. But if he can get back into his best form, the guy is a beast who can decide games. Plus he is fun to watch as he is among the very few who give twice as much as they physically can. The work he does sometimes for the team is alien.
I don't think PSV will actually be that much of a problem for Dortmund. The problems will be coming after they pass the Round of 16. Sure, PSV has beaten some good teams to get in the playoffs but Dortmund was in the group of death in my opinion. They topped a group where everyone thought they would be the bottom team. In their group, there were AC Milan, PSG and Newcastle. Newcastle performed very well in the last season in the Premier League but this season they are underperforming. But PSG and AC Milan are no joke. And they beat both of them to become the table topper.
PSV will not be a difficult opponent for Dortmund in the round of 16. I believe they will qualify to the Champions League quarter-finals because Dortmund has more experienced players than them, but PSV is in good form this season, topping their league table, and I believe they can give Dortmund some difficulties before winning the game, and the first leg is in PSV's home, which will give PSV more motivation to defeat Dortmund but it won't be an easy task for them, but anything can change because football is unpredictable The team you didn't expect to win the game will win it, however for now, psv are better than Dortmund in the league, but I believe Dortmund will never make mistakes to lose a game in the Champions League in the round 16 against PSV. I just think if they qualify to quarter-finals they will be knockout if they join them with Manchester City, Real Madrid, or BayernMunich, they will easily defeat Dortmund without stress.
return of Haaland and KDB has had a positive impact on Man City even though they have just recovered from injury, but Guardiola still provides the opportunity for these two players to join the field if he thinks they are truly capable of competing and Guardiola as coach does not want to force these two players to appear on the pitch. the field because it will have a bad impact and I understand a little bit that this is all Guardiola is doing because so that these players can really recover when the UCL match starts De Bruyne and Haaland will be able to perform optimally to help Man City beat every opponent that comes their way.
the match that will start against Copenhagen will certainly have a little doubt and fear if Man City mainstay players cannot appear in the match but we have to be sure that Copenhagen will be very easy to beat by Man City even though they will probably only get a narrow score when playing away from home but after that If Man City hosts the second match, Copenhagen will definitely be eliminated easily and I hope KDB will at least be present at the match.
Their key men are back and set to run and definitely that's enough charge to weigh down Copenhagen. Yes, in their home ground, they may try to put up a battle but I'm certain that City will be capable to overturn them. They're way ahead of them in capacity and ability too. As always, the round of 16 will have as much fun as there can be in it and it's greatly anticipated. Preparations and games would definitely be intense too.
Their midfield was key last season and if we now think about who is left of that midfield, both are gone. Gundogan and De Bruyne. Since the two controlled the whole Manchester City game and also scored goals and gave countless assists, it doesn't come as a surprise that now when both of them are absent the game is much worse than it was last season. I think this is probably the difficult task ever for Guardiola to find two successors for Gundogan and De Bruyne who are able to manage the Manchester City game on the same level.
Kevin De Bruyne is arguably one of the best players in the Premier League. In a few years, he will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the icons of the Premier League. İlkay Gündoğan was also a midfielder who scored a lot of goals despite being a midfielder. Especially in critical moments, he could come on the scene and change the fate of the match. He was very cool and very professional. Kevin De Bruyne suffered an unfortunate injury and Manchester City were helpless. But it was clear that Ilkay Gundogan would leave the team. I think Manchester City should have made a good signing to replace him. They are a bit wrong in this regard.
Won't Kevin recover from his injury by the Champions League game or at least by the 1/4 stage? As far as I remember he will already be fit and Manchester City will not be without one of their key players for these matches. Even if you think about it that way, the 1/8 match is not so difficult to worry about the absence of some players
I missed something apparently, didn't see the info that he was already training, but overall it doesn't matter. The fact is that Manchester City would have coped without him in this match, because I repeat, Copenhagen are not the opponent that can bring them the threat of relegation. I think their main focus is on the premier league anyway.
I don't think PSV will actually be that much of a problem for Dortmund. The problems will be coming after they pass the Round of 16. Sure, PSV has beaten some good teams to get in the playoffs but Dortmund was in the group of death in my opinion. They topped a group where everyone thought they would be the bottom team. In their group, there were AC Milan, PSG and Newcastle. Newcastle performed very well in the last season in the Premier League but this season they are underperforming. But PSG and AC Milan are no joke. And they beat both of them to become the table topper.
PSV will not be a difficult opponent for Dortmund in the round of 16. I believe they will qualify to the Champions League quarter-finals because Dortmund has more experienced players than them, but PSV is in good form this season, topping their league table, and I believe they can give Dortmund some difficulties before winning the game, and the first leg is in PSV's home, which will give PSV more motivation to defeat Dortmund but it won't be an easy task for them, but anything can change because football is unpredictable The team you didn't expect to win the game will win it, however for now, psv are better than Dortmund in the league, but I believe Dortmund will never make mistakes to lose a game in the Champions League in the round 16 against PSV. I just think if they qualify to quarter-finals they will be knockout if they join them with Manchester City, Real Madrid, or BayernMunich, they will easily defeat Dortmund without stress.
...
Kevin De Bruyne is already back from injury and is training with the first team of Manchester City. Kevin De Bruyne was named among the players who faced Sheffield United in their last match in the premier league. I believe Pep Guardiola will start him against Copenhagen in the Champions league to start finding his form back.
Kevin De Bruyne is already back from injury and is training with the first team of Manchester City. Kevin De Bruyne was named among the players who faced Sheffield United in their last match in the premier league. I believe Pep Guardiola will start him against Copenhagen in the Champions league to start finding his form back.
Kevin was included in the list of players when Man City against Sheff Utd at the end of December last year, although he was still not given an opportunity to play, but this implies that he is in a fit condition and ready to play again.
The UCL match will return to start in February, and it is more than a month, so Kevin still has time to continue to make him as good as fit before facing Copenhagen later, as long as Kevin is injured, Man City's performance seems to decline and this makes me sure that Man City's performance will increase again after Kevin can play again.
Man City started the match at UCL very well, they were still unbeaten, their performance was the same as Bayern and Madrid.
I don't think PSV will actually be that much of a problem for Dortmund. The problems will be coming after they pass the Round of 16. Sure, PSV has beaten some good teams to get in the playoffs but Dortmund was in the group of death in my opinion. They topped a group where everyone thought they would be the bottom team. In their group, there were AC Milan, PSG and Newcastle. Newcastle performed very well in the last season in the Premier League but this season they are underperforming. But PSG and AC Milan are no joke. And they beat both of them to become the table topper.
One mistake Dortmund will make at this stage of the UCL will have to be underestimating PSV and thinking they will be able to win them at ease probably because they seem to appear superior but then I believe PSV may give them a really tough game to play such that they may loose or draw the game if they are not at their best performance.Checking back in their domestic league, PSV is really doing so well and at the top of the table with a very good margin ahead of other teams, I'm very optimistic about their performance because even at the group stage they were able to qualify at the second position with four points behind the team at the top of their group, PSV is very likely to get a draw in this game because recently Dortmund has not been of a very good performance enough to be sure they will be able to beat such a determined team but then both teams do not have so much of UCL experience so they can battle themselves out.
Kevin De Bruyne is already back from injury and is training with the first team of Manchester City. Kevin De Bruyne was named among the players who faced Sheffield United in their last match in the premier league. I believe Pep Guardiola will start him against Copenhagen in the Champions league to start finding his form back.
He was introduced into tue game they played today and few minutes into the game he was able to assist, his Belgium International teammate and Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku who are both back in action for Manchester City. The Premier League Competition are not ready for such terror and hazards coming their way from Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.
They've seen a decline though and that has lead most of us to think they'll not be available for the win the Premier League not to talk of the Champions League this season. We'll get to see about that.
Before the game against Copenhagen, he should be in a good form but i hope he avoids being Injured one more time. Manchester City better make cool cash from him before he get Injured once again.
Well, even though De Bruyne only came on as a substitute in the second half when Manchester City played in the FA Cup against Huddersfield but ya, in reality De Bruyne still managed to make an assist in that match. Thus, it seems that De Bruyne has not experienced a bad decline in performance after his long injury. Also, playing in the Champions League later, in reality there is still plenty of time for De Bruyne to recover his performance.
Moreover, the opponents that Manchester City will face in the Premier League before playing in the Champions League against Copenhgen later, at least Manchester City will not face tough and difficult opponents there. Therefore, of course De Bruyne will get good playing minutes beforehand playing in the Champions League later . Therefore, of course Manchester City's performance will still be good to compete in the Champions League in this knockout phase.
Actually PSV is not really difficult opponent team for Dortmund on 16 round of Champion League depend have to face top teams from La Liga, Premier League or Serie A. Current standings, PSV lead top position awhile and have most impressive performance in domestic league with 16 won of 16 matches and not get loss or draw yet. But Eredivisie not really compete such as Bundesliga have many top teams with Dortmund can improving their performance get chance qualify to quarter final.
PSV group phase in Champion League not really difficult than Dortmund success eliminated AC Milan and defeat PSG to lead top position standings, I think Dortmund have bigger chance qualify to next round than PSV.
Borussia Dortmund is a big club that often plays in the Champions League, but I'm still wondering whether their goal is to become champions or not. Yes, realistically we would definitely say which club doesn't want to be champion, but what Borussia Dortmund still often does is contrary to the principle of clubs wanting the title. When other clubs bring in star and quality players, they actually sell those players, and they do this not just once or twice, but they do it almost every season.PSV group phase in Champion League not really difficult than Dortmund success eliminated AC Milan and defeat PSG to lead top position standings, I think Dortmund have bigger chance qualify to next round than PSV.
Yes, maybe Borussia Dortmund's level is still above PSV, but my doubts still linger when I see Borussia Dortmund. Even if they can get past this round, I'm not sure they will get past the next round. I don't mean to demean Borussia Dortmund, but they themselves forced me to think like that.
But even so, Borussia Dortmund should not underestimate PSV in the first leg of the round of 16, especially since the first leg will be played at PSV's home ground, of course this will be a motivation for them to beat Borussia Dortmund in front of their own supporters. Apart from that, PSV this season has appeared very impressive in the domestic league, so far they have not been defeated, of course this will make it difficult for Borussia Dortmund to win in the first leg. So my prediction is that the first leg of PSV vs Borussia Dortmund will end in a draw.
I don't think PSV will actually be that much of a problem for Dortmund. The problems will be coming after they pass the Round of 16. Sure, PSV has beaten some good teams to get in the playoffs but Dortmund was in the group of death in my opinion. They topped a group where everyone thought they would be the bottom team. In their group, there were AC Milan, PSG and Newcastle. Newcastle performed very well in the last season in the Premier League but this season they are underperforming. But PSG and AC Milan are no joke. And they beat both of them to become the table topper.
Osimhen is going to be unavailable for around a month the most for Napoli. He is going to perform in AFCON. He is playing for Nigeria and I think they are one of the favourites for the AFCON title also. Let's say Nigeria have reached the finale then that game is going to be played on February 11. Therefore it is still no problem for Napoli in the Champions League.
He will miss quite a lot of games in the Serie A meanwhile for sure but at least he can be ready for the first leg of the Barcelona draw.
Napoli will really need him against Barcelona to be able to advance to the quarter finals.
How sure are you that Napoli would beat Barcelona in their next UCL fixture? Even with Osimhen in the game, I think the odds would be against Napoli. He will miss quite a lot of games in the Serie A meanwhile for sure but at least he can be ready for the first leg of the Barcelona draw.
Napoli will really need him against Barcelona to be able to advance to the quarter finals.Although the Afcon would require Osimhen's presence because the super Eagles don't have an established striker like him, unless we call Iwobi who is doing well at fullham, then he would be unavailable for the rest of the UCL matches or la Liga matches respectively.
I'm not sure about anything. I'm just favouring Napoli to eliminate Barcelona in this draw as long as they have Osimhen in the lineup.
The reason why I think like this is Barcelona's being not much different than Napoli when it comes to consistency and performances. Maybe bookies are favouring Barcelona against Napoli but there isn't actually an enormous difference. While Barcelona are below the expectations this season Napoli can see this as an opportunity to push through. We can watch really close games between these two teams. Whichever side in this draw advances I don't expect it to be very easy for them.
Borussia Dortmund is a big club that often plays in the Champions League, but I'm still wondering whether their goal is to become champions or not. Yes, realistically we would definitely say which club doesn't want to be champion, but what Borussia Dortmund still often does is contrary to the principle of clubs wanting the title. When other clubs bring in star and quality players, they actually sell those players, and they do this not just once or twice, but they do it almost every season.
Yes, maybe Borussia Dortmund's level is still above PSV, but my doubts still linger when I see Borussia Dortmund. Even if they can get past this round, I'm not sure they will get past the next round. I don't mean to demean Borussia Dortmund, but they themselves forced me to think like that.
Indeed, Borussia Dortmund's experience in the UCL league is no longer in doubt, they have participated in the UCL league every year, even though they did not become UCL champions, they often trouble the big teams. In fact, this season they managed to advance to the last 16 from the hell group.Yes, maybe Borussia Dortmund's level is still above PSV, but my doubts still linger when I see Borussia Dortmund. Even if they can get past this round, I'm not sure they will get past the next round. I don't mean to demean Borussia Dortmund, but they themselves forced me to think like that.
But even so, Borussia Dortmund should not underestimate PSV in the first leg of the round of 16, especially since the first leg will be played at PSV's home ground, of course this will be a motivation for them to beat Borussia Dortmund in front of their own supporters. Apart from that, PSV this season has appeared very impressive in the domestic league, so far they have not been defeated, of course this will make it difficult for Borussia Dortmund to win in the first leg. So my prediction is that the first leg of PSV vs Borussia Dortmund will end in a draw.
Neither Borussia Dortmund nor PSV should underestimate each other, because after all they are the clubs that managed to get through the group stage and that proves that they are worthy competitors to be in this round.
As you said, it is possible that in this first meeting the score will end in a draw, but if that happens then Borussia Dortmund will be the more advantageous club because in the second round they will act as hosts, that is an advantage in itself, because the presence of spectators will be external weapons that they can utilize.
Their midfield was key last season and if we now think about who is left of that midfield, both are gone. Gundogan and De Bruyne. Since the two controlled the whole Manchester City game and also scored goals and gave countless assists, it doesn't come as a surprise that now when both of them are absent the game is much worse than it was last season. I think this is probably the difficult task ever for Guardiola to find two successors for Gundogan and De Bruyne who are able to manage the Manchester City game on the same level.
De Bruyne is about to be back after a bad injury time period. He is one of the most important players for Manchester City now clearly. His creativity and great skills at finishing as well make this team much stronger in big matches as well. Haaland - De Bruyne has made a great duo so far as you know and Guardiola would like to see both of these players back as soon as possible.
Haaland's return might take some more time but for now it looks like he might be back in one or two weeks the most. Gundogan was also an important part of the team before as you said but I think Manchester City are still doing okay without him in the midfield. De Bruyne's return will secure the area more.
...
Kevin De Bruyne is already back from injury and is training with the first team of Manchester City. Kevin De Bruyne was named among the players who faced Sheffield United in their last match in the premier league. I believe Pep Guardiola will start him against Copenhagen in the Champions league to start finding his form back.
Kevin De Bruyne is already back from injury and is training with the first team of Manchester City. Kevin De Bruyne was named among the players who faced Sheffield United in their last match in the premier league. I believe Pep Guardiola will start him against Copenhagen in the Champions league to start finding his form back.
Kevin was included in the list of players when Man City against Sheff Utd at the end of December last year, although he was still not given an opportunity to play, but this implies that he is in a fit condition and ready to play again.
The UCL match will return to start in February, and it is more than a month, so Kevin still has time to continue to make him as good as fit before facing Copenhagen later, as long as Kevin is injured, Man City's performance seems to decline and this makes me sure that Man City's performance will increase again after Kevin can play again.
Man City started the match at UCL very well, they were still unbeaten, their performance was the same as Bayern and Madrid.
It's caused by he was still injured. manchester city would let him to play in any game as long as he would be fully recovered. You can give a permission for a player that has not yet fully recovered to play caused by it would be a boomerang for him.
He can get a new injury for the stupidity to play when he was still injured. Manchester city was expecting bruyne to play may be next month. Based on my observations, Kevin De Bruyne has been exhibiting positive indications that he will be able to play again soon, even though there was no specific ETA provided. I hope haaland will be coming back again along with de bruyne then manchester city will still have chance to play better than this time. Those guys were having very important roles in the club. Missing all of them are disaster for manchester city.
The main reason why I have high expectations from them is because I anticipate that they will be able to play again soon. I would like to see a complete squad of manchester city that won treble winners last season.
Kevin De Bruyne is already back from injury and is training with the first team of Manchester City. Kevin De Bruyne was named among the players who faced Sheffield United in their last match in the premier league. I believe Pep Guardiola will start him against Copenhagen in the Champions league to start finding his form back.
He was introduced into tue game they played today and few minutes into the game he was able to assist, his Belgium International teammate and Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku who are both back in action for Manchester City. The Premier League Competition are not ready for such terror and hazards coming their way from Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.
They've seen a decline though and that has lead most of us to think they'll not be available for the win the Premier League not to talk of the Champions League this season. We'll get to see about that.
Before the game against Copenhagen, he should be in a good form but i hope he avoids being Injured one more time. Manchester City better make cool cash from him before he get Injured once again.
Dortmund's opponent in the last 16 of the Champions League is the leader of the Dutch Eredivisie, which Dortmund basically cannot underestimate. Because PSV is a team that has amazing strength in its local league, Dortmund needs to play well enough and not make too many mistakes. Because in this round of 16, all teams will try better in order to qualify for the more challenging round, namely the last eight, so Dortmund needs to perform as well as possible to win at PSV's home ground.
Actually PSV is not really difficult opponent team for Dortmund on 16 round of Champion League depend have to face top teams from La Liga, Premier League or Serie A. Current standings, PSV lead top position awhile and have most impressive performance in domestic league with 16 won of 16 matches and not get loss or draw yet. But Eredivisie not really compete such as Bundesliga have many top teams with Dortmund can improving their performance get chance qualify to quarter final. PSV group phase in Champion League not really difficult than Dortmund success eliminated AC Milan and defeat PSG to lead top position standings, I think Dortmund have bigger chance qualify to next round than PSV.
Yes, maybe Borussia Dortmund's level is still above PSV, but my doubts still linger when I see Borussia Dortmund. Even if they can get past this round, I'm not sure they will get past the next round. I don't mean to demean Borussia Dortmund, but they themselves forced me to think like that.
But even so, Borussia Dortmund should not underestimate PSV in the first leg of the round of 16, especially since the first leg will be played at PSV's home ground, of course this will be a motivation for them to beat Borussia Dortmund in front of their own supporters. Apart from that, PSV this season has appeared very impressive in the domestic league, so far they have not been defeated, of course this will make it difficult for Borussia Dortmund to win in the first leg. So my prediction is that the first leg of PSV vs Borussia Dortmund will end in a draw.
Jump to: