Topic: UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Season - page 112. (Read 88963 times)

It's been a poor campaign for Manchester City in the English Premier League but I don't think they'll fail to finish the season in the top four at the end of the current season. Pep Guardiola have made comments that suggests that Manchester City will be making few significant signings to further strengthen the squad this January

My current fear for Manchester City isn't about their qualification to play in the Champions League next season but if they'll be able to reach the knockout stages of the competition this season. They're currently sitting in the 22nd position of the UCL table after garnering just 8 points in six games and would travel to Paris Saint Germaine in their next game in the competition. If Manchester City fails to win that game, they might not reach the knockout stage competition.

If this game had been held last month I can categorically say that Manchester city will have been out because they were literally losing to every opponent they come up against, but as things stands now I can say that they will most likely scoff out a win in either of this game to get to play offs, the game against PSG will be a make or break for them because both clubs need that win to go to the next round but should Manchester city lose then the Club Brugge game will be very tense one.

Club Brugge seems to be the underrated here but they have been upsetting big clubs this season and it is definitely going to be a tough encounter with the premier league champions this should be Pep biggest game of the season just to save his face from early elimination which has never happened to him before in his career

But for now that is not the focus of Manchester City, They want to perform better in the Premier League and also the Champions League. They face another tough match in the Champions League where the team based at the Etihad Stadium will face a team from Ligue 1, PSG. Both teams will fight it out to become the winner, and for Pep guardiola where his team has not found its best form in the Champions League, the challenge in the match against PSG is so tough for them.

PSG this season is certainly not too strong in the Champions League because they have suffered 3 defeats so far. Even so, when teams of equal strength meet, PSG performance will usually be much more difficult to predict, I think Luis Enrique position is not under pressure because they can change their fate if they can beat Manchester city.

Manchester City still has a big chance to secure a ticket to the Champions League next season through the Premier League, they are only two points behind Chelsea who are in fourth place. The journey to the last 16 of the Champions League is Pep Guardiola main concern at the moment, where Manchester City must work hard to maintain their position in the Play Off zone. The last two wins over Leicester City and West Ham marked a turning point in their performance, I think they are on their way back to their best performance.

Pep Guardiola is reportedly looking to strengthen his team defense by recruiting a center back in the near future, the addition is really needed by Manchester City, as an effort to rise and perform consistently in the future. Although Manchester City dominance in the Premier League is threatened to be broken by Liverpool, I think they still have the potential to be a trophy challenger in the Champions League if they manage to reach the round of 16.

Madrid must end the remaining 2 matches with a win to secure a place in the play-off round, it doesn't matter if they have to go through that round before heading to the R16 place. The journey will not always be smooth that's what they are experiencing right now but in the end if they manage to advance to that round I am also sure there Madrid will perform brilliantly and continue to advance to the next rounds until finally the final is their target, I don't doubt their mentality and experience in the UCL, that's what they have always shown so far.

This is due to changes in the preliminary round format, so things could happen that we didn't expect before, where now we see big teams like Real Madrid, Man City, PSG, Bayern Munich and other big teams that usually play in the UCL, they have difficulty getting tickets directly to the round of 16. This is different from the previous format, where we saw big teams always dominate the group.

With this new format, in addition to making the competition to the round of 16 tighter and more difficult, we are also presented with the opportunity to see more matches, because the teams that finish in positions 9 to 24 will return to play in the playoffs to compete for 8 tickets to the round of 16.

On the other hand, what makes it difficult for some big teams to win matches and secure tickets to the round of 16 is because big teams usually have a fairly tight schedule, which can make the team lose its consistency, either because some players are tired or injured. and for example, in January alone, Real Madrid have to play a total of 9 matches in five different competitions, and if Real Madrid are unable to maintain the performance of their players, their consistency on the field could decrease, which could cause the team to lose.

and regarding Barcelona, ​​at least they can play well, even though financial problems continue to haunt the club for quite a long time.

Manchester City can secure their position for the Champions League next season because the Premier League journey is still quite long, especially since some players in the transfer this time will likely get fresh players.
What needs to be considered now is that they must be able to qualify for the playoffs and there they must also be able to qualify even though the opponents they face will be quite tough.

Yeah. Sure, Manchester City will do everything to remain in a position where they can be able to play in the Champions competition next season, although their performance in recent matches is getting better, and that is good for Manchester City because they have been facing tough times throughout the season, so if they get better, at this point it will be a good one for them. However, Manchester City will get better for sure, so let’s keep watching them. 

If Real Madrid eventually get to fight through the play offs, I strongly believe they with scale through and when they do it will be smooth sail going forward, ofourse we know how reputable Real Madrid are when it comes to competing in the champions league and their form at the knockout stages, they become stronger and play better with optimism in the champions league which is something to look out for this season too. They still remain my favorites so far in the competition.

Yes, indeed things will be like that because considering that they are local, they have a lot of things in their favor, in part the people have to support their team a lot in France , and here Pep will end up tearing his face off if things start to go wrong for him, so this is something that cannot be hoped for much, on the one hand it is the moment for PSG to vindicate itself in every sense, PSG has not made it to many finals in a UCL , Luis Enrique is going to play everything in that match, so everything is on a very delicate level.

Amongst all of them that you have mentioned, Liverpool is the only team that is look better by comparison with all that others are struggling with currently. The challenge Liverpool may be having may fall around their performance in the champions league because Slot isn't that experienced with the champions league so he may lack the technicality to handle some of the stages of the UCL but then he's still got a chance currently much  more than his counterparts.

Let's have a look at the top clubs which have surprised us after 6 games:

• Real Madrid... 3 wins, 3 losses until now. They lost meaningless number of games against weaker clubs in some of them also. But after seeing their effort against Atalanta I believe they won't be out of playoffs area surely.    Maybe they would even finish in top 8.

• Manchester City... They have been a little worse than Real Madrid. Only 2 wins and couldn't get a win in their last 3 games either. They have had a tough time for so many weeks but lately they look better after winning 2 PL games in a row. I don't expect them to be out also.

• And PSG... They are the one I'm wondering the most. Being out of top 24 with 7 points. This is really dangerous while the phase is close to the end. One of the remaining 2 games is even against Manchester City. I'm definitely watching that game.  

Yes there are certain players who are very important in every team settings but it doesn't necessarily mean that the team has to struggle whenever they are not available for selection which is why every football club has multiple players available at all times.

Manchester city used to be that team that has a double squad, I mean the first eleven and those other exceptional players who are on the bench yet they have so much influence to the extent that they are capable of influencing the outcome of a match, but i guess that is no more the case at Manchester city, which is why I still think it is time for the club to start anticipating getting new players because the team seems to be having a lot of ageing players in squad.

Yes, but this season all the big teams, big boys as you call them, all have serious problems, Barcelona has economic problems, Real Madrid has half their team injured, Mancheter City is doing terribly, Liverpool has its problems. . do you understand what i mean?
I'm not saying that they have become poor but that at the moment there are more teams at the same level

I agree about City being bad this season, they had a terrible period but looks like they might be recovering and if that's the case then we could end up with a much better City coming up and that would end up being a lot better for them. Doesn't mean they will win the league or UCL, they may lose both of them, but they could at least be in top 24 at UCL and do a bit better, depending on who they face, they may go as far as quarter finals or even maybe semi finals, and that is something unexpected during their bad period, but if they do as well as they did in the last two games then maybe they may have a chance.

It's hard to argue about how City will lose, they had a terrible period I agree with that but at the same time they are one of the better teams so it's hard to just say "yeah they are bad" and assume them out, that's not really going to happen, not right now at least, I just can't suddenly accept that and count them out without a doubt.

Manchester City are not in a better shape some weeks ago, but they have picked up form currently, and they will do anything possible to achieve three points against PSG, because if they fail to win the game and give PSG the opportunity of defeating them, Manchester City will definitely be in the elimination rule, because PSG will do anything possible to achieve a point against Manchester City, because if they fail, they will not get the opportunity to qualify to the next round. And PSG are playing at home, they would do whatever to not lose against Manchester City, since psg are performing well in the league, but it is only that they normally perform poorly in the UCL, because they have all the key players in the club but they fail to achieve champions league so I usually think that he will be very hard for psg to win ucl because they are not playing like club that really want to achieve ucl trophies.

Let's see if Guadiola can get three points at home against PSG, and if not, Stuttgart will undoubtedly knock them out of the play-offs and into the elimination zone because Stuttgart will undoubtedly win their game against Slovan. Both PSG and Manchester City are underperforming in the UCL, and we don't know who will win when they meet. Because we can't predict what will happen, no one will want to lose a point, making the game extremely interesting to watch. We can't wait for the day to come. Anyone who misses that game will miss a tough match, because that is the only big club that is facing each other in this stage. The remaining big clubs are facing junior clubs and they will definitely win there games. Real Madrid are in the stages but there remaining two games will be a cheep point for them, they'll do anything possible to achieve 6 point in there two games that remains for them in the ucl before the next round take place.

Of course. Real Madrid will remain the favorites in the Champions League even though Liverpool have been very impressive this season while Real Madrid have to fight to qualify for the play-offs but that does not make Real Madrid not the favorites. In fact, Real Madrid have always been like that, at the beginning they were less convincing but after entering the knockout stages they were very scary for every opponent.

It could be said that Real Madrid are increasingly behind and under pressure which actually fuels their spirit, we can see this from season to season and that is what the big European teams fear. Real Madrid's fighting mentality remains on until the long whistle even though they are behind first but before the match ends they never give up.

Likewise this season even though they have to go through the play-off phase but that is not an obstacle for them instead it will motivate them to get up immediately. There is even a narrative that says, if your team wants to win the UCL, don't let Real Madrid step into the final phase. Imagine, Real Madrid's hegemony in the UCL is so strong, that the UCL DNA seems to be embedded in Real Madrid.

I am sure, Manchester City will still prioritize good results in the Premier League and in the Champions League because anyway, if they keep making efforts to get good results in the two tournaments then they will still have a chance to end this season in a good position. Although Manchester City are not doing well in the Champions League standings, it does not mean Manchester City will give up because of course, the most important thing is to always make efforts to be able to go further.

Although perhaps, Manchester City will still fall in the knockout stage of the Champions League, at least they have made efforts to get good results. I am sure, Pep Guardiola will manage to improve Manchester City's performance quickly because if not, then of course  this season might be a bad season for Manchester City.

I also consider Real Madrid as favourite too in this ongoing Champions League ahead of Liverpool. My reasons are based on squad depth and quality and also Real Madrid has a track record of Champions League success which makes them a better bet on this season UCL than Liverpool, I am sure that if Real Madrid will be able to maintain form they will surely win the Champions League again this season.

It's understandable to not have them as your number one candidate to win this season considering they are 20th, not saying that they will lose or anything like that, Real Madrid could still end up winning this season there is no doubt about that but I could still see how people may doubt that considering the results they have gotten so far. If they keep playing like they have played so far then we could assume that they may end up losing in the end, it would make sense they would regain momentum and win though, so we just need to wait and see how they will do.

To be fair, there are other good teams at UCL this season, so even if Real Madrid does end up winning again, which I doubt it will happen, then they would have to beat many great teams this season and that makes things harder for them.