Topic: UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Season - page 649. (Read 141787 times)

The next challenge that must be considered is increasing the depth of the squad, and keeping existing players from leaving in the january transfer window. Apart from that, all teams must protect their players from injury, especially if it happens to several players at once, of course that makes their chances smaller. On the other hand, even though PSG have an easy opponent, I think Real Sociedad will be able to trouble them. because we have seen that they were able to win Group D and beat Inter Milan, who was the UCL runnerup last season. Furthermore, I think Barcelona will have problems if they don't improve their performance in the future, because Napoli cannot be taken lightly. At first glance, it seems that their strengths and situations look the same, and indeed they are both defending champions in their respective domestic competitions.

After the Champions League round of 16 draw, Man City will be up against Copenhagen.

Some folks wonder why City seems to get easier draws. It's necessary to remember that City consistently finishes on top of their group each season, earning them a favorable draw. But, let's not forget, there are no small teams in the Champions League. Copenhagen is a tough team. Man City faced them last season, so it's unwise to underestimate them. Nevertheless, City conquered the best teams on their way to their first UCL, and hopefully, they'll do the same this time around.

After the Champions League round of 16 draw, Man City will be up against Copenhagen.

Some folks wonder why City seems to get easier draws. It's necessary to remember that City consistently finishes on top of their group each season, earning them a favorable draw. But, let's not forget, there are no small teams in the Champions League. Copenhagen is a tough team. Man City faced them last season, so it's unwise to underestimate them. Nevertheless, City conquered the best teams on their way to their first UCL, and hopefully, they'll do the same this time around.

PSG are not yet ready to win the champoins league. The French league is not that competitive and the strongest team PSG struggled with Newcastle and other teams in their group. If they make it pass the round of 16 this season I think they are lucky. It will take PSG many years of consistency to win the Champions league, they should forget about it this season.

Not sure about that.

If they will be out from the race for the title, they will have nothing better to aim for.

From what you say, everything is fact and indeed everyone has their own assessment. Here I agree that if Manchester City gets a very easy opponent, namely Copenhagen, their chances of qualifying for the quarterfinals will definitely be achieved. Real Madrid played against Leipzig, even though many here say that Real Madrid also had an easy opponent, but I don't think they agree because Leipzig is still quite a difficult opponent to beat. They have a good squad and also have a dominant striker like Lois Openda. Real Madrid doesn't have a pure striker in the starting lineup and they always rely on Rodrygo and Brahim for the starting line up. Even though in reality Jude Bellingham can always be a mainstay when Real Madrid needs a goal, what I'm afraid is that Leipzig will prepare intense training to be able to stop these players.

For PSG, perhaps it is true that they were lucky to face Real Sociedad and I think Real Sociedad should not be underestimated because they won the group before the draw for the last 16 of the Champions League. So this assessment is still based on general aspects and let's see later whether there is anything that can make this round of 16 more interesting or not.

According All football, this is the knockout stage draws.
This draws us a bit fair because almost all teams were paired well, although some teams were lucky to have weak opponents that they are almost sure of their qualifying to the next round.

Arsenal might go far this season because their opponents are not too strong to stop their form even though almost half of the players did not have enough Champions League experience.

When you are that good, you do not face a great team until the quarter finals, it's rarely the case. I mean you "may" face someone that is good, but most of the time you really don't. I think it's quite clear that they will not face anyone who will be all that much of a trouble for them. I think quarter finals may end up being a little decent as well, I think it is going to be a bit of a tough deal for the draw, but they are building a great team, maybe during the winter period they will get someone decent as well, who knows?

I think that should be the most important thing, we need to arrange something that will benefit everyone. This is of course not a guaranteed thing but we could always end up with a good PSG win and they may finally get that UCL title they always wanted, that's an important situation. I believe that there is still some time left to see, but I like their current roster, they do look like a good team and they do look like they may do something about it as well.

The knockout round is often the round where surprises occur. Some teams that may experience difficulties in their domestic leagues can appear very strong in the UCL and vice versa.
Yes, I agree that City, Bayern and Madrid as top teams definitely have the quality and experience of competing in the UCL.
However, seeing the clubs that have already qualified for the round of 16 with the same opportunity to progress further gives the feel of a fair and competitive competition. All teams have a chance and should be respected as serious contenders.

According to the updated championship odds in the Champions League the most favoured a couple of teams are lined like this:

Manchester City : 3.00
Bayern Munich : 5.00
Real Madrid : 6.50
Arsenal : 8.00

The gap between Manchester City and Bayern Munich is even closer now than before. But I still have doubts about Bayern Munich as I didn't like their game very much during the group stage. They struggled quite much in some matches despite winning anyway. This can be a big problem for them when they face a title contender in later stages.

Picking interest in watching Barcelona advances to the next phase. UCL round of 16 is out. The fixtures I'm seeing doesn't really pull any threat because we can easily predict the club's that come out winners and we might also predict the club. Napoli vs Barcelona is the tough fixtures in the UCL round of 16 this season. The Blaugrana are not in good shape this season but can they be able to maintain good game balance against Napoli. Xavi Hernandez doesn't have the capacity to win matches but his players can make him believe in the possible and reverse their direction to winning matches.

There was no match worthy of the words "early final" in the 1/8 round. Defending champion Man City is especially lucky to only have to meet Copenhagen, the most underrated team. Real Madrid seems to have the easiest time among the Spanish teams entering the 1/8 round because their opponent is Leipzig, which is not the strongest in Germany and not a significant force in the European arena. Meanwhile, PSG was fortunate to avoid big opponents and clash with Sociedad. PSG was very lucky to get through the group stage, including a draw with Newcastle at home that they almost lost.
Overall, in this round, the wins belong to the big teams. The next quarter-finals are the "early finals" worth watching.

I'm interested in the match between Napoli and Barcelona. I think it's hard to say which team will pass this round. Napoli are far from last season's performance but they are still a very good team. Other than that, I think the other matches have favorite teams. Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund are the favorites. The excitement in the Champions League will be more in the next round. Of course it is a bit early to talk about it but I don't expect too many surprises in this round.

There was no match worthy of the words "early final" in the 1/8 round. Defending champion Man City is especially lucky to only have to meet Copenhagen, the most underrated team. Real Madrid seems to have the easiest time among the Spanish teams entering the 1/8 round because their opponent is Leipzig, which is not the strongest in Germany and not a significant force in the European arena. Meanwhile, PSG was fortunate to avoid big opponents and clash with Sociedad. PSG was very lucky to get through the group stage, including a draw with Newcastle at home that they almost lost.
Overall, in this round, the wins belong to the big teams. The next quarter-finals are the "early finals" worth watching.

I'm interested in the match between Napoli and Barcelona. I think it's hard to say which team will pass this round. Napoli are far from last season's performance but they are still a very good team. Other than that, I think the other matches have favorite teams. Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund are the favorites. The excitement in the Champions League will be more in the next round. Of course it is a bit early to talk about it but I don't expect too many surprises in this round.

I can't wait for the round of sixteen where the teams will fight hard against teams that are hard to beat like Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, these three teams always seem to be favorites in the UCL and it seems they have opponents that are not as tough as Manchester City vs Copenhagen and Bayern Munich vs Lazio I think Real Madrid have quite tough opponents because Leipzig cannot be underestimated, as well as Inter Milan vs Atlètìco Madrid, the La Liga teams cannot be underestimated because they perform well in the domestic league.
But the Barcelona vs Napoli meeting is no less interesting because both teams don't seem very stable in their respective leagues so all the matches in the round of sixteen will look interesting later.

I think it will be difficult for us to predict, especially since the draw for the round of 16 has not yet been held. even though the team from the Spanish League has 4 representatives, that doesn't mean the other teams will be easily defeated because there are only a few contestants in this competition. I think in any case, City is still worth considering even though their performance is a little less than optimal in the Domestic League. but in reality, they didn't play badly. and I am also very sure that Pep prioritizes the Champions League trophy to be defended this season.

As for Arsenal, I'm not really sure about Mikel Arteta's squad. but at least, they have competitive ammunition and are worthy of being considered as opponents who can make things difficult for any team. apart from that, the only German representative who is really a favorite is Bayern Munich. I think Tuhchel is very aware of how to win the title in this competition. in other words, they will further strengthen their team squad. maybe by bringing in some new arrivals, as well as City and Arsenal. Well, because this is still just an assumption and speculation, we will find out later after the schedule for the draw for the last 16 of the 2023-24 Champions League will be held this Monday. after that, we can see the teams that will face each other. but personally, I still prefer City even though they are not my favorite team. Well, let's just make sure it's time for the round of 16 to be held.

I'm interested in the match between Napoli and Barcelona. I think it's hard to say which team will pass this round. Napoli are far from last season's performance but they are still a very good team. Other than that, I think the other matches have favorite teams. Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund are the favorites. The excitement in the Champions League will be more in the next round. Of course it is a bit early to talk about it but I don't expect too many surprises in this round.