Topic: UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Season - page 638. (Read 141787 times)

I think there is no word surrender in Xavi dictionary, either in La Liga or at UCL. as you said, domestic competitions cannot be used as a full benchmark, because UCL is very different in many ways, including the atmosphere. The round of 16 will only start in february, which means that Xavi still has a lot of time to improve his club to be even better in the future. apart from that, Napoli will also do the same thing, their ambition to talk a lot at UCL is one of their current priorities.

It is clear that the knockout round is more difficult than the group phase, all contestants will try their best to beat each other from the first leg. no team can be guaranteed that they will advance to the quarter-finals, because we have seen so many surprises happen so far. Several other favorite teams have also experienced ups and downs in performance, therefore the room for surprises is wide open.

The transfer window must be used as an alternative solution to increase strength, but what needs to be paid attention to here is recruiting players who are mature and experienced. because when the competition is running at the current stage, the adaptation period should not be a new challenge, because the recruitment of new players is expected to have an instant impact on the club.

It looks like that will happen again because we all know and have to admit that in terms of players Bayern Munich is superior and in terms of performance Munich is also superior.
Bayern Munich is still in the same form as before, even stronger and it is very easy for Tuchel to secure victory to continue the match in the next round and for Lazio only luck can help him to qualify because in the first match Bayern Munich will definitely not want to miss out on scoring The score is bigger so that in the second match you can win with an even bigger aggregate.
Meanwhile, Lazio seems like their attacking player is injured, but it is not known whether this is true and when the player will be able to return. Losing an injured player will definitely have a bad impact on Lazio.

Barcelona has more experience in UCL than Napoli and I see this as an opportunity for Barca. We cannot use the performance of a club in his domestic league to judge their strength in the champions league. We might be surprised at Barca performance in the knockout stage. On the other hand Napoli is somehow in the same situation with Barca based on their inconsistency this season and that has also brought down the performance of these two clubs. It will be a do or die affair but I think Barca will be the favorite in this match, because the coach will also determine the victory of his club and Xavi is a good coach no matter the difficulties Barca is passing through now. Who knows maybe Barca will give up in the Laliga race and focus more on the champions league.

I don't know what will happen in their squad or in their form in that long time, anything can happen. But it's going to be a tough game for both of them because in the domestic league they're not doing too well either. Although Barcelona managed to win the group, the group they were in was an easy group because it was inhabited by several clubs that were not better than them. Napoli are also the same, they became runnersup, but the 2 clubs that did not qualify were not superior clubs so they could also be easier to advance to the next round.
Barcelona and Napoli have a long preparation time and I hope they can make good use of it. They can also take advantage of the transfer market to add to their ammunition.

Yes indeed, at least there is still plenty of time for them to improve the quality of their performance to be even better later, but it is not fixed only about the transfer market later. Although yes, of course there will be new players and maybe even players who leave in the transfer market but yes, I think it still won't be able to change the quality of the team to be very good in a short time.

Therefore, the point is how they improve the quality with the current players in their squad, because the fact is that so far the two coaches are also at least still failing or still not optimal. Considering these factors then yes, at least I am still not sure Barcelona and Napoli will managed to recover later, because their goal is not only the Champion League, at least their main goal is to improve their position in their respective league standings.

Of course, the intensity of the competition has increased compared to the previous round in the group stage, and the facts about the current situation of Napoli and Barcelona really make us wonder. A gradual decline in performance is what can be seen from the two clubs at domestic level, I mean difficulty in taking over the top of the standings, and this meeting is quite ideal because it brings together the defending champions of Serie A and La Liga.

The january transfer window is approaching, both Barcelona and Napoli will definitely do something to strengthen the depth of the squad. Regardless of the club financial condition, there are many ways to attract the players they are targeting. The last 16 match is still very long away, of course there will be an increase in performance again, Xavi and Mazzarri will prepare the club to fight optimally. In terms of mentality in the UCL, I still see Barcelona as better than Napoli, but that cannot be used as a complete benchmark to influence the final result.

Barcelona may not be able to really reinforce their team by getting new players except they have probably gotten over their financial constraints but I think Napoli may be able to do that over the January transfer window this season because they may have the capacity financial as they have not publicly stated if they have any financial challenge recently.

If it were to be last season I doubt if Napoli will struggle to win the current Barcelona who has a weak form currently, but then both teams currently are unstable and inconsistent especially in their various local leagues, but in the UCL so far, they didn't do poorly in their group stage matches so I will not want to judge them completely based on their performance currently in their various domestic leagues as it seems in the UCL the give off a different performance hence it could be possible they will do better in the game than we have expected but it's not going to be an easy one for both teams.

You're right regarding Barcelona's inconsistency this season. They've been inconsistent in LaLiga. Personally, I dont see them dominating the Champions League, especially against Napoli. Their domestic performance isnt great, and it raises worries about their Champions League fitness. Regarding Napoli, they may have the edge. They've played well and shouldnt be underestimated. Arsenal is powerful domestically but not invincible. Porto is a tough opponent, so I wouldnt be shocked if they win. Both matchups are uncertain, so it will be entertaining!

That's true, I expect both team to reinforce during the January transfer window. Also Napoli just got a new manager and before the meeting with Barcelona am sure the team will be executing the new manager game plans very well. That game is going to be an interesting one, it going to be who wants it more that will progress.

Talking about the round of 16 match between Bayern Munich and Lazio, this will be a reunion event because the two teams faced each other in the quarterfinals in the 20/21 season. At that time, Bayern Munich won over two legs and won 6-2 on aggregate over Lazio and of course we already know that the result will still be the same as Bayern Munich's victory in the last 16 match.

Even though Lazio is not a strong team like 1 or 2 decades ago, they will definitely still try to make things difficult for Bayern Munich. Maybe if Lazio manages to take the lead in the first leg, which is their home ground, then it will be a big asset when playing the second leg at Bayern Munich's home ground.

Even though it's just speculation, I'm pretty sure it can happen and Bayern Munich will still be able to qualify for the second leg which will take place at the Allianz Arena. Well, currently the odds are 80% for Bayern Munich and 20% for Lazio and even though this is a match at quite a different level, we hope there will be an exciting performance in this match.

I predict Napoli can win this match, at least they can draw. Barcelona's problem this season is that their defense is not as strong as last season, their defense is often very chaotic, especially when they lose the ball, this is something that Xavi really needs to fix if he wants to beat Napoli.

I also believe that among the teams playing in the round of 16, one of the matches that will be a surprise is the match between Real Sociedad vs PSG, and PSG could be defeated by Real Sociedad. Don't underestimate Real Sociedad, because when they are on fire this team plays really crazy, their attacks are very fierce especially when counter-attacking and their defense is also strong. It's just that unfortunately they often go down after the 70+ minute. So it's just a matter of what the Real Sociedad coach will do in this match, if they can be consistent until the end, PSG will definitely be frustrated and can be defeated.

We all know that when big teams are playing against smaller teams especially in the knockout UEFA Champions League competition, it's always rare to smaller teams eliminate the bigger teams but I think there are exceptions to that popular belief. The Arsenal vs Porto and Barcelona vs Napoli round of 16 ties I don't think are easy games that that can be easily predicted.

Arsenal we know have been impressive since the start of the season but when it comes to the UCL, Porto is a more successful club than Arsenal as they've won the competition before now. So you don't expect a former winner of the competition to be easily beaten. Porto understand how the UEFA Champions League competition is played and would definitely want to make a statement in their tie against Arsenal. Just like bookmakers, I'm backing Arsenal to progress but I expect the two-legged games to be a difficult one for both sides

Barcelona are the reigning champions of Spain and so are their Italian round of 16 opponent Napoli are the reigning champions of Italy and both teams have not been performing like that they did last season in their respective leagues. However, since Napoli sacked their former manager Rudi Garcia and hired the current manager Walter Mazzarri, they've improved their performance both in the league and in their final group stage game and that's why I don't expect Barcelona to easily eliminate Napoli in the round of 16.

The Napoli vs Barcelona match is still quite far away and both of them still have time to improve their performance in January because both of them can take advantage of this time to change all their current shortcomings for the better. Because in general these two teams are not doing well right now so they have to make a lot of improvements in each line of players in order to recover from the bad performance they have experienced so far.

I concur with your appraisal of the CL RO16 matches between Barcelona and Arsenal. Barcelona's poor LaLiga season may affect their Champions League performance. Barcelona's LaLiga struggles may affect their match against Napoli. After difficult seasons, Barcelona just returned to the last 16. Barcelona is a changing team striving to find its identity, making them susceptible.

However, Arsenal's scenario is intriguing. Their return may provide complications after a long absence. It will be difficult to beat Champions League-winning Porto. Arsenal has never won this title, and Porto's expertise in high-stakes contests may prove crucial. I agree - both matches are open-ended, and underestimating Napoli and Porto may be disastrous.

Arsenal is a strong team in all the games we usually see from this team and they had a good performance during this season.
Don't forget that Arsenal is currently in the first place of the Premier League and this means they are in a situation in which they can beat Proto.
But can't forget that Porto is a strong team and they have good players also I'm sure the players of Porto are even motivated more against Arsenal in the Champions League.

MU is already out from the UCL and it's not relevant anymore to talk about it. We can't use the history as the data to mearusing which club is better from barcelona or napoli. There have been many changes happened during the previous seasons.
Due to the financial issue, Barcelona may potentially face the departure of some players, whereas Napoli continues to struggle as a result of inconsistent performances since Spalleti's departure from the club. This match is quite hard to predict.

The problems that have been occurring in Barcelona have not yet been resolved. xavi is still having dozens of unresolved problems especially related to the financial of club.

True but let's give mazzarri some chances. He was starting with very poor result in napoli. Im not feeling doubt that if mazzarri may also get a bad result in the UCL as well since he was not experienced enough.
Barcelona's recent struggle against Almeria reveals the true story, and it is not far-fetched to consider that they could potentially face another defeat against Napoli.

Almeria is obviously far worst compared to the napoli.

Manchester United is also a club with good history but they're already having the worst season ever which we have already. Barcelona are far better than Napoli. Napoli are no match to Barcelona not even in the slightest way possible. Barcelona are just going through a very though phase honestly, if not that, talks about it wouldn't even pop up.

Napoli don't have a good coach, Walter Mazzari is not someone they'll want to boast for, he's a poor coach honestly. I feel like Xavi Hernandez is a more tactical and sound manager than him.
Don't use the position in the La Liga to judge them, rather use them currentl form to measure how they will perform in the Champions League come February.

Current performance in domestic league, I think Barcelona have better performance than Napoli with their standings out from top fourth position, actually not easy for predicting who will settle one place to quarter final phase between Barcelona or Napoli regarding both teams can't consistent on every match. First time for Barcelona success qualify to round of 16 after failure in last two season and pressure for Xavi  Hernandez how to make Barcelona glory for their performance in Champion League.

For Napoli, they have quit well performance in Champion League success lead until quarter final round but how their chance for this season against Barcelona on round of 16 will be success or have eliminated early their appearance in Champion League. Based on my opinion, I think Barcelona have bigger chance than Napoli but still waiting with Walter Mazzari will make new transfer on January or Barcelona have planning sign new players and make their performance more solid in Champion League round of 16.

The match Between Barcelona and Napoli is going to be 50-50. Both Barcelona and Napoli have been looking inconsistent in their performances. Barcelona will be in the 4th position if Atletico Madrid wins their next game and Napoli is in the 5th position.

But it's the Champions League and it brings the best out of every team. I would say Barcelona will have an edge in this match as they are a club with history and their fans will push them for victory. Key players from both teams need to perform. I would say this is the only pair up in the UCL which will be a 50-50 in round of 16. This is going to be very exciting on both legs.

With the depth of Barca's squad when facing Napoli it is clearly quite difficult to overcome. In my opinion, the pair of Napoli and Barcelona is one of the most difficult pairs, not only because of the difference in strength but also because their playing styles are quite opposite. So based on the pairs that have been decided apart from Napoli and Barcelona, there is still a pair that is no less interesting, namely between PSG and Real Sociedad. For me, PSG cannot underestimate this Catalonia team. Being able to become group champion means that the level of game productivity is taken into account. Furthermore, the pair Inter and Atletico Madrid and of course Porto and Arsenal are quite in the spotlight because Porto last meeting gave Arsenal 5 goals in Leg 2 without reply. In other words, this match is an opportunity for the Portuguese team to try to improve their record.