Topic: UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Season - page 650. (Read 141787 times)

Napoli won the Italian Serie A last season hasn't been as impressive as they were last season but their performance in their recent matches since the new manager Walter Mazzarri took over the managerial position at the club suggests that they can still finish the season on a good note. Barcelona who also is the reigning champions of Spain has also failed to maintain their performance of last season that helped them win the the Spanish La Liga title which is believed to be caused by injuries to some important members of the squad since the start of the season.

Napoli i think will progress from the tie if they can continue with their current form. There are rumours in different quarters that the their striker Victor Osimhen who was recently crowned the best player in Africa by CAF will leave the club when the winter transfer window opens but I don't think that'll happen as the Nigeria international will rather prefer a move away from the Diego Armando Maradona stadium next summer. Barcelona is currently having some financial issues that's limited them in signing many more players and that I think will cost them when they meet Napoli in February.

I saw only the Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid matches which were fierce and the rest was nothing that difficult I thought.
Bayern will play Lazio, this is not too difficult for Bayern because in terms of quality Bayern is much stronger than Lazio.
Real Madrid will meet Rb Leipzig, this is not a difficult thing for Real Madrid I think, Leipzig is not a strong team that has a strong mentality in UCl.
Meanwhile, Manchester City will meet Copenhagen, this is an advantage for the Man City team, they did not experience difficulties at the start.

Regarding Kevin De Bruyne, winning while he was injured since the start of the season made the performance of Pep Guardiola's team quite disturbed or decreased without his presence in midfield, but rumors are circulating that he will recover in January but in my opinion don't expect too much from the player who have been injured for a long time because there is a big possibility that their performance will not immediately return to normal.

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.

It’s happened to many clubs, not only Manchester City. Once some key players in the team have injuries, there will be changes in their play, which will even lead them to losses. However, it’s obvious that Manchester City have deformed this season. Halaand and Kelvin De Bronce are their key players, and once these two players are not around in the Manchester City squad, there is always a problem. Because if you look at their performance this season and last season, it is not the same thing. They did better last season than this season because at the beginning of these seasons, Kelvin De Bryune was not around, and De Bryune is one of the key players who always assists Halaand in scoring games. Although other players also do that, adding Bryune makes it up to Halaand anytime.

Issue of the PSG I also think they depend on one or two players, especially Mbappe. Their dependence is very good, but what they need to understand is that only he can do it; they also need the assistance of other players. I hope they should get more experienced players to join the squad so they can give out the positive results they are supposed to.

I think City and Bayern are the two luckiest teams in the round of 16, because the strength level of Copenhagen and Lazio is still below their two opponents. I think Madrid is also in a lucky position too, because in meeting the Bundesliga representatives, namely Leipzig, I think Madrid can finish the match easily. apart from that I think Arsenal, Barcelona Inter and Dortmund get equal opponents.

Of course, this is only an assumption on paper, which means that clubs that have already qualified for the round of 16 have the same opportunities and opportunities to advance to the quarter finals or further. I agree with you, many surprises can happen and sometimes when we are too confident in one of the teams, and are favorites, we end up being eliminated early.

The knockout rounds which will start in february next year will give the 16 teams time to focus on their respective domestic leagues. City, Bayern and Madrid, as the most favored teams in the UCL, are losing the top of the standings at domestic level at the moment. however in my opinion, this does not necessarily eliminate their status at UCL.

Talking about the injuries suffered by Haaland and De Bruyne will certainly make us worried if Manchester City does not compete until the final round but we will see first that the injury suffered by Haaland is not too serious and in a few days he will return to the field and I also read from various media sources from a few days ago regarding De Bruyne that he had started training independently but had not yet started training with Manchester City and also Pep Guardiola did not put pressure on when he would return but preferred to wait until De Bruyne was completely recovered and said that he was ready to compete again and I'm not sure if anyone has said it before here but what is certain is that I'm just giving an explanation so that we don't worry.
Source : https://www.mancity.com/news/mens/luton-town-v-manchester-city-pep-guardiola-injury-update-63837635

For PSG, yes, the chances of getting a title in the Champions League are very small and that has been very clear since the era of coach Galtier and since the existence of star players like Messi and the reliable player Neymar. PSG have not been able to win a title in the CL and in terms of experience they have not yet can be declared worthy of winning the trophy here.
If we only assess PSG, in fact this club does not have any shortcomings in terms of finances, it is quite good, even in terms of players, it has been very perfect before, but it is still difficult to reach the final round and this season, only Mbappe is left, it will definitely be more difficult to win the title in CL.

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.

There was no big match for round of 16 unless Napoli vs Barcelona and this is interesting match because at their domestic league the performance of both of teams were decline especially Napoli that they have to changing manager from Rudi Garcia to Walter Mazzari because Rudi Garcia was failed to bringing Napoli to performing well in all competitions Napoli even have to out from the race to gets the scudetto because they have already lose 5 times and the difference points between them and Inter Milan is too far 14 points so who will be the winner of this match later whether it Barcelona or Napoli

For other teams Manchester City will gets easy opponent Copenhagen and most likely they will be easily to beat Copenhagen and Real Madrid too will gets easy match because their upcoming opponent is only Leipzig even so with Bayern Munich because Lazio is weaker than them and i am sure Bayern Munich will be able to overcomes Lazio

Copenhagen vs Manchester City - Once again this is an easy and comfortable draw for the manchester side who has always benefited from UEFA by playing the weakest teasm in the round of 16 ties every season; without surprise, many predicted this outcome for city and even won loads of cash prizes online lol

An easy win for pep struggling side; they are sure to play in the uefa champions league quater finals this season

Porto vs Arsenal - This will be an interesting tie; with both teams having equal chances of getting to the quaters of the   uefa champions league this season. Do you think the gunners stand a chance ?

RB Leizpig vs Real Madrid - A huge tie for the galacticos as they face an injury crisis within their ranks; do you think Real Madrid prowess would be enough to outscore Leizpig in this tie?

I think Real Madrid will quality albiet ugly, what do you think ?

PSV vs Dortmund

I tip dormund scaling through here; psv does not just have enough to defeat the bundesliga team.

PSG vs Real Sociedad - An easy routine win for PSG, or can sociedad pull a shock  and knock out the french ligue giants?

Inter vs Atletico Madrid - A tie popular amongst both teams, usually rough and edgy and many cards issued haha. I have an open cast for this game, Inter could edge out and go for the quarters

Napoli vs Barcelona - Napoli has been bad this season, while Barcelona has been very incosistent too; i think the best team over the legs wins the tie

Lazio vs Bayern - great tie; and i am of the opinion that if Bayern doesn;t win this tie comfortably then he should be sacked haha.

MY THOUGHTS

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.

Don't know if I should refer to this as a fairly drawn pairs except for the pairs between Inter Milan vs ATM, and Napoli vs Barcelona all the other draws in my opinion are of unequal pairing. And Manchester City seem to be the luckiest of them all.

At least with this draws we now know to an extent those teams that will survive to the next round and those that their chances of survival are very slim except the unexpected events as we have before now seen in football does happen. Can't wait for February 13th, 2024 to watch the live actions from these UCL  games.

The formula for most of these clubs is getting the job done within good range of time. Real Madrid is a promising club and they have significant odds of reaching the UCL final this season. We have tough clubs that can be portrayed threats to be crowned thr UCL Champs but I don't see that happening anytime soon. English clubs can compete but only few will make it to good phase. But for Arsenal, I thought if they can't stand the chance to survive because they certainly will not reach the desirable points.

I think Manchester city seems to prioritize the UCL more than they do with premier league so most definitely they are showing a better performance in the champions league which looks more like priority to them and that's why in  the champions league they do better but seem to experience a decline in the premier league.

Never the less I still believe Manchester city will still do well in the premier league and definitely get back on their feet, I'm sure Manchester city even if they don't win the premier league but will be able to finish top four and in the champions league aswell they will be able to get pass the round of sixteen even if they eventually don't win the title of which I know they are very likely to because they are very much experienced and have the capacity although this season they have more challenge to face with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and other tough teams.

Manchester City's form is worrying me, especially with Haaland and De Bruyne out injured. It's like missing a vital engine part. A top-tier team like City should be able to function without one or two players, but they're suffering. They dominated the UCL group stage, but this slump is worrisome.

I think City set a high bar last season and aren't meeting it now. More than ever, they depend on important players. Without adaptation, their Champions League chances are slim. They must quickly find that winning formula.

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 remaining two teams from the English Premier League are Arsenal and Manchester City and of these two teams I agree with you that if Arsenal meets Real Madrid then they will find it difficult to overcome Real Madrid because Real Madrid is not only in very good condition this season but their experience in the Champions League will be very helpful when facing difficult matches, especially since they are still trained by coaches who are also experienced in the Champions League, without even underestimated on Arsenal, they will face very high difficulties against Real Madrid and to beat the LaLiga team, they have to have a strategy on how to suppress Jude Bellingham.
Meanwhile, if Manchester City were to face Real Madrid, the prediction would still be 50/50, even though Manchester City seems to be struggling in the domestic league, but as defending champions, of course they will try to perform optimally, but Real Madrid vs Manchester City meeting is very likely to happen in the top four or final, right? not at the start of the knockout round, because in the drawing they will be included as the favorite team.

Kevin De Bruyne absence has had a big impact on Manchester City performance and it's uncertain when he'll be able to play again so if he's not in the line up then I doubt Manchester City can go to the next round I will favor other teams. So far Real Madrid is still the best in my opinion or Bayern Munich as the second option, these two teams have a big chance to reach the final well, if this really happens it will be difficult to determine who the winner, what is clear is that one of them will be the winner imo. Atletico Madrid actually also caught our attention even though they didn't record a perfect wins but Atletico Madrid has 2 dangerous players in the attack line Álvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann's collaboration is very dangerous and so far they are in the top 3 of the top scorer list.

The match schedule for round 16 has been released, Manchester City and Real Madrid seem to be a little luckier because it will be against a team at lower level I am not underestimating them but I am comparing their performance in the group stage. On the other hand, Bayern Munich must try harder to beat Lazio indeed, Munich is in a better position but sometimes teams from Serie A can make things difficult for their opponents. The same thing with Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid which in my opinion is still too early to fight each other.

To be honest, I don't really dare to speculate much about Manchester City, but it looks like Haaland's injury won't last as long as De Bruyne's. the good news is that De Bruyne is scheduled to return in January 2024. in fact, there are several rumors reporting that this December De Bryune is scheduled to rejoin the main squad. however, I cannot confirm the validity of these rumors or gossip. what is certain is that, from my point of view, Pep prefers to look for the ideal system for his squad so far. we can refer to every City match, Pep always rotates his players. plus, he always changes patterns. honestly, I don't understand what Pep wants. however, it seemed like he was preparing something. or maybe, what he implemented was not in accordance with the system and game he wanted. what is certain is that if Pep only wants to win his matches, especially in the Domestic League, he can use his core line-up. but Pep doesn't do that, he always experiments and this is what makes me a little confused about City. the point is that if the City players return from their injuries, they will be ready to slaughter the team that will be their opponent. especially for the Champions League. I really believe that Pep has the ambition to defend the Champions League title they just won last season.

Talking about PSG, I'm not sure they will go far. Maybe PSG will qualify in this phase, because their opponent is Real Sociedad. but after that, I wasn't sure. but at least, I'm sure this season the PSG club management is not targeting the Champions League Trophy. referring to the matches they have played and especially away matches, Luis Enrique's squad does not meet the criteria for me personally.

I get your point on PSG's Champions League performance. With all these fantastic players, you dominate Ligue 1. Yes, buying top players doesn't guarantee UCL success. It's strange how money can't buy everything, right? In 2019/2020, they reached the finals. That was impressive, but then they struggled again. Not just Messi, Mbappe, and Neymar on the team. Something's missing. It could be team chemistry or mental game, but I can't tell

Luis Enrique is an experienced coach, but experience doesn't guarantee success. Inconsistency plagues PSG, especially against the big guns. Yeah, it doesn't look like their year for the UCL trophy. Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich have something PSG doesn't. The game is about teamwork, not just skill. Luis Enrique has his job cut out. More than a strategy, PSG needs a cohesive team, not just stars. Undoubtedly, the road ahead is difficult

The draw for the round of 16 of the Champions League 23/24 has been completed and we can see that some of the results are quite good. Maybe I'm quite fixated on the Barcelona vs Napoli match later because this is also the dream of coach Maurizio Sarri, who really wants to meet Barcelona through his interview a few days ago. The last meeting between Barcelona and Napoli took place in the 19/20 season and it also happened in the round of 16, but it was Barcelona who won the match on aggregate.

Apart from that, Inter vs Altetico is also very exciting, followed by Real Madrid vs Leipzig and apart from that, I think it's an ordinary match. Manchester City will play Copenhagen and we definitely know who the winner will be. Likewise Porto vs Arsenal and even though Porto will make things a little difficult for Arsenal, I think Arsenal will still be able to qualify for the quarter-finals. The round of 16 matches are still very far away and it will start in mid-February next year.