Topic: UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Season - page 623. (Read 141787 times)

In Barcelona, there have been no significant player changes or transfers in the squad, whereas in the Champions League, the financial strength and transfer budgets of rival teams are notable. For instance, Bayern Munich signed Harry Kane, Real Madrid acquired Jude Bellingham, and Paris Saint-Germain with new coach Luiz Enrique made several expensive signings, including some from Barcelona player,  Ousmane Dembele. In local competition, they can still compete with Real Madrid or Girona if their performances remain consistent.

No opponent is weak when entering the Knockout stage. Moreover, it's crucial to remember that Real Sociedad is competing at the top of La Liga. This is an opponent that PSG must absolutely respect and prepare thoroughly for the upcoming match, regardless of their chosen playing style. A strong team is one that knows its strengths, be it in attack or defense, and Real Sociedad is such a team. Although currently considered the lowest-rated team in the Round of 16, I believe they will surprise other giants, specifically PSG in the upcoming Round of 16 if they can continue to maintain their current form. Higher-rated teams often face more pressure in decisive Knockout matches.

Of course, making the most of the first match in Paris is a must. If possible they should make a 2-3 goal difference. It will be a little safer to hold the series in the leg 2 match in Spain. Statistically Sociedad's group matches have never lost. That means they have good statistics. Of course PSG should not underestimate. PSG must be able to take advantage of the advantages of players including Mbappe. He must be able to make Mbappe move freely to open up space for other players. In addition, it seems that there will be additional players due to the transfer season.

I'm not much positive about Barcelona's chance to eliminate Napoli honestly. Because their game is just not good enough. I believe that they haven't faced a real challenge yet. Porto were the second strongest team in the group but Barcelona won against them twice anyway. But I think Napoli are a bigger challenge than Porto for them.

Napoli have a stronger squad in the first place. They have a very dangerous player like Osimhen in their offense line. They are just trying to improve their form lately. But until this matchup I think Napoli will be in a better shape than now. If Barcelona don't make improvement at the same time then they can really say goodbye to the CL early.

That is a fact that cannot be denied Barcelona condition is no better than last season the main reason is Lewandowski the player seems to have lost his ability this season, we remember his contribution to Barcelona was very significant but this season he can't do much, but to face Napoli I don't think it's a big problem because Napoli is also in the same situation inconsistent in some matches. If we compare overall Barcelona looks better than Napoli and Barcelona should be able to qualify for round 8 apart from that, I don't think Napoli is able to compete in the Champions League we can see their history in the last season when they are at their best they still cannot compete so what do we expect from Napoli this season with worse conditions, that's why I say Barcelona is better even without Lewandowski. Whether it's a coincidence or not, I think Barcelona is lucky because their opponent is Napoli.

Apart from Barcelona, there are also several teams that can be said to be lucky because they faced weaker opponents for example Manchester City, Real Madrid, PSG, Arsenal and Dortmund while Inter Milan and Bayern Munich had to fight hard to beat their opponents. Anyway, so far we can see which teams have the potential to qualify for round 8 we already have 6 teams and have to wait for 2 more teams between Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid and Lazio vs Bayern Munich. Special for Munich, they usually always qualify for the next round at least in the semi-finals.

Not every club will be prime form every season, there are some clubs that don't have the capacity to win rather they stick to lose. The word consistency have practiced by Girona and Real Madrid this season, exclude Barcelona and Atletico Madrid who are struggling in matches. Xavi Hernandez having no change in his game pattern, he keep repeating his strategy and  his opponents have noticed his formulation and they have implement strategies to stop him and his team from more games than usual. Barcelona won the league title last season but this is new season, is different and alot of actions have taken place.

I still feel that winning La Liga is not really a benchmark for the Champions League especially for the Champions League is a collection of the best clubs that are in European competition so for champions in domestic competitions such things become commonplace here because after all some clubs like Napoli, PSG, Bayern and Manchester City also have the same title in domestic competitions.

On the other hand talking about the current performance and referring to a change in tactics for Barcelona I think is a little difficult. Tiki taka is the hallmark of Barcelona and indeed they are very good at doing this scheme it's just that for now their players are lacking which makes their tiki-taka hampered. Some players are still not even able to appear in Barcelona because of their injuries which make the tiki taka conditions disturbed. In addition, their progress in goal productivity is now a little faded because Lewandowski still cannot contribute more this season for several reasons such as adaptation after injury and age which is no longer young. Rather than changing their tactics it would be better to make some emphasis especially on motivation as this is quite important in my opinion considering they cannot buy players quickly due to financial constraints.

I still think that Barcelona is a better team overall, I am not saying it is a clear cut situation, I mean they are definitely close and I do not disagree with that, but I wouldn't really make it equal odds neither. I would make it like Barcelona is just a little bit better, like maybe 2.30 to 2.80 odds or something, that would make a lot more sense, it is a smart move for sure.

I believe Barcelona has a better squad and a better manager as well, but they do not have the chemistry that Xavi requires for this tactic to work, if the team doesn't have the perfect chemistry then the tiki taka method doesn't work at all, they do have some players showing promise, but some of them are not used to this style so having trouble.

No one knows what really the problem is but i know Xavi is not a bad coach and compared to past coaches he is far better them and have shown significant improvement in the team. Not sure where the problem lies this season because they added a few talent to their squad like Felix and Cancelo but it seems those two can’t really help out much, i get surprised how they were excellent last season and went on to win the La Liga title and this season they are struggling to win matches when they are supposed to be challenging for the title.

This season is not a good season for them but that is football, at times things are bad and while sometimes things are good so i think we should bear with them and exercise patience and hope for a change before the season ends or next season.

Yeah I felt pity for Napoli because they were doing very well on there previous matches until they meet As Roma and funny enough Napoli would have won As Roma if not for the red card they had, although they were able to still maintain there performance after they receive there first red card but when they got the second one that was actually were there failure started from, perhaps they would have not receive the second red card if the player had not retaliated by trying to kick the As Roma player, so after he was issued the second card that's was when Napoli lost hope and As Roma took advantage of it and win them so actually with all the things that happen to Napoli on that match it will take them sometimes to process everything before they can come back with there normal performance.

It makes sense, Xavi has an obligation to balance his squad in the La Liga and Champions League competitions. The busy match schedule is one of the biggest challenges for Xavi, because on the other hand, several key players being injured is also a problem that must be found for a solution. The potential for a revival in the future is quite open, especially if Xavi gets budget support from management to hunt for players in the transfer window, I think releasing young players and recruiting more experienced players is the best option.

Barcelona will face Napoli in the round of 16. The first leg will be played at Napoli headquarters. I don't think it's an exaggeration to put Barcelona ahead, because we know Napoli is also in an unstable condition too. The change of coach has not been able to make the performance of Osimhen and his colleagues consistent, this is a favorable situation for Xavi in his efforts to bring Barcelona to the quarter finals by beating Napoli.

Barcelona's performance in the previous season in La Liga was very consistent and they won the title. The main reason for this was that in the previous season the focus of the Barcelona team was only on La Liga matches. We have not seen Barcelona players play well in the Champions League and Europa League. They only focused on La Liga so the team was able to win the title by consistently performing well.

This season's scenario is different. Barcelona also wants to play well in the Champions League. This is why Barcelona has fallen behind in the title race by performing poorly in several matches in La Liga. Barcelona's performance is also somewhat erratic now due to the busy schedule. But I would say Barcelona have the potential to do well in the Champions League.

I agree with you,  Barcelona won the last season La liga beating even stronger team's like Real Madrid to top the league,  which was a good performance and to keep to that trends,  there is a need to further ride on the record and performance better than the last season,  but truly this season,  Barcelona have not really shown any level pf consistency in their performance and in the last few matches,  it has become clear that the club is struggling in this season much more than the last season when their we're able to win the league title.

Most of the time,  is either they play draw game or even lose to their opponents in this season.

It's evident that there are challenges within the team, particularly in front line being clinical and defensive stability. The lack of a prolific finisher and defensive vulnerabilities are critical aspects that Barcelona needs to address to compete at the highest level. These weaknesses can indeed impact their overall performance. Football is a dynamic sport, and teams often need to adapt and evolve to stay competitive. Changes in tactics and strategies might be necessary, as you rightly pointed out.

Fans indeed expect strong performances and success in major tournaments. It's a crucial time for the club to make necessary adjustments, and work towards achieving the standards that Barcelona is known for. Barcelona has the potential to turn things around with the right adjustments and improvements. While the current performance may not meet expectations, the club has a history of resilience and the ability to overcome challenges.

To be honest, this is the only match in the Uefa Champions League which will be a 50/50 in my eyes. None of them are doing great right now, both struggling in their own league. Napoli just lost to Roma 2-0 Yesterday and Barcelona had a tough victory against Almeria in their last La Liga match. Almeria is the team which is sitting at the bottom of the La Liga. Lewandowski seems out of touch and they have problems in both forward side and the defender side.

Napoli doesn't seem to be doing much lately. After that defeat against Roma, they are in the 7th spot. Whoever wins their match between Barcelona vs Napoli, will get eliminated in the Quarter Finals. I don’t see any of these 2 teams going to the Semi-Final. Napoli and Barcelona have a chance of doing something in January with transfer windows but Barcelona is struggling financially as well.

Indeed, if you look at the statistics of the last 4 meetings between the two teams, Barcelona have not once lost to Napoli, but it seems difficult for us to continue to rely on the curent statistics, especially since both teams as a whole have experienced many changes so it can be said that the statistics will probably not apply in the next match.
So far, Napoli have experienced difficult conditions in the league, but it looks like they will try to focus on the Champions League as their main focus at the moment, and As the two teams that came out as champions last season, of course we will see a high intensity match taking place in the first leg.
The first leg match will be played in February, so both teams still have plenty of time to improve their respective weaknesses when the transfer window opens in January.

Barcelona won the La Liga last season but with the way they are performing this season, nothing good can be expected from them this season as well. They lack a great finisher and have considerable weaknesses in their defense as well. They enter the field with the same strategy to catch every match. To do well in major tournaments, Barcelona must work on their weaknesses as well as change their tactics, only then will they be able to do well. Barcelona is a big name for those of us who follow La Liga regularly and we always have a bit higher expectations for Barcelona but currently Barcelona are not able to perform to our expectations at all.

Arsenal has taken a new dimension since Mikel Arteta became their head coach and Arsenal has been at the top of their games. Arsenal topped the group B of the Uefa Champions League to set up a round of 16 with Porto. FC Porto is a test that Arsenal will overcome easily.

We are talking about the actual Barcelona and the current Napoli performance without taking on consideration the winter transfer window and the injuries that might happen in the future.
So far Barcelona record are better than Napoli. In fact, Barca didn't lose any of their games against Napoli for at least four years if not more. I expect them to win but I wouldn't judge about which team is favourite until few days before the game in order to have a better look on the situation.

I dont really see Barcelona in any good position, they still being a trash, no one is backing them this year, they lack all, this year they also is doing bad in local competition, so for the only thing they can go far his for luck in the draft.