Topic: UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Season - page 136. (Read 50414 times)

Any team participating in the champions league now has the right to boast over their opponents. This is very understandable as all of the teams participating in the competition are top teams and none of them can be underrated. The UCL this season is very wide open and all teams will have equal chance of qualifying. Not playing in an home and away format from the first round makes it more intriguing to watch. Bayern Leverkusen are no more a small team like they use to be in the league matches before, they’re now amongst top contenders for their league title been the correct holders of that title. Just by replicating what they did in the champions league gives them a good chance of making it far in the champions league also. So I’m not looking down on any team given them same opportunity.

Things do go wrong for players sometimes and mistakes happen and it's fine I do not think that it would be a big deal, they had one mishap and that's it, if they keep losing or failing to get any decent points then we could say that there is a problem but at the point we can say that it is not really that complicated and we should not be really considering this as that much of a trouble.

I believe that we are going to see this getting a good result eventually, and that is going to be fine for Barcelona because as long as they are in the first eight at the end of the group stages then they are going to be considered strong, and even if they are not in the first eight, if they end up with first 24, that means they have a chance to win one more and go to last sixteen, so I am sure they will do fine.

Yeah true! Monaco game was a dominative one, there was alot of pressure on the weak barca defence, Barca in the first place does not have a very  strong defence and loosing a mand out of the defence line made it even more obvious and they took their chance to advance even more while Barca could only do more of defence.
At first, I was expecting more goals in the first half from Barcelona after Yamal and an equaliser for the team but It seem every changed completely in the second half, they changed their tactics somehow...

Winning the first match of the Champions League is a good record for Xabi Alonso and Leverkusen, but the challenge is not over.
Milan, Liverpool, Inter and Atletico Madrid are not weak teams that Leverkusen can easily beat, so Xabi should be grateful when they were able to maximize their opportunities to win a match that was not too difficult.

Leverkusen is likely to lose points in the 4 tough matches against the teams I have mentioned above, but they can maximize their chances of winning points in relatively easy matches. Only in this way will Leverkusen have the opportunity to qualify for the round of 16, but that doesn't mean they can't win in a match that is considered very difficult.

Leverkusen started the match in the Champions League this season well, although the match against Feyenoord was Alonso first match in the Champions League as a coach but he was able to maximize his squad well, just like last season, Alonso was able to bring his team quite well in European competitions but it is still difficult for us to see them can overcome every challenge in the Champions League this season, especially if they have to deal with a team like Milan,  Liverpool and Intermilan later, but even so the achievement of 3 points over Feyenoord can at least motivate Leverkusen to be able to continue to maintain its consistency in the league especially before their unbeaten record in the league has ended earlier this season, Feyenoord is not a strong team this season in the Champions League, although they are one of the big teams in the Eredivisie, there is still a significant difference between them and Leverkusen in terms of strength and also the current team performance.

Xabi Alonso has always been able to prepare his team for every match they face in any competition this season and apart from Leverkusen's more prominent team when playing against Feyenoord, the team that Leverkusen played against was also not a very strong team so Leverkusen could immediately win without reply in that match. And for the match in the Bundesliga I think Leverkusen can also win again because Leverkusen will be playing at home by welcoming Wolfsburg as their opponent this weekend.

The first match of the Champions League went very well, all the representative teams from the Bundesliga managed to win, Bayer Munich, Leverkusen, and Dortmund. Of course for Leverkusen this was a desired victory, especially being able to win with a landslide score, indirectly this will increase their confidence after not playing in the Champions League for so long, but once playing in the Champions League they become a team that must be reckoned with by other opponents.

Leverkusen's game in this match was very fun but deadly in this match. Xabi Alanso was really able to utilize all the players available to create an impressive game, Leverkusen's game whenever there was a gap immediately passed without any sense of selfishness, not wanting to score goals themselves, they played very compactly. If this kind of game continues to be maintained, it is not impossible that they will easily advance to the last 16.

However, no matter how this victory, Leverkusen should not be complacent, because it must also be admitted that Feyenoord's defeat was also because they were still in a new transition period with a new coach after coach Slot left for Liverpool, because last season before changing coaches, Feyenoord's performance in European competition matches was quite good. So Leverkusen must always improve their performance because in the future they will face strong teams such as Milan, Inter and Atletico Madrid.

Yes it's true that we weren't ready to beat Barcelona but Barcelona showed that in our field game. Moreover, in the football match between Barcelona and Monaco, the Monaco football team completely dominated against Barcelona. Monaco were also ahead of Barcelona in the battle for possession and passing positions.

Barcelona stumbled in the first ten minutes against Monaco. Monaco's Takumi Minamino was fouled by Erik García and sent straight off the field after receiving a red card which made Barcelona more vulnerable in this match. Barcelona then tried to find themselves, but they left the field feeling defeated until the last minute. For Barcelona though, their young striker Lamine Yamal scored his first Champions League goal to give his side some relief. Still, it could not prevent Barcelona's defeat. Barcelona's next match is against Young Boys Club and their win is crucial in this Match.

Xabi Alonso decided to stay with Bayer Leverkusen and if in this season, he succeeds with Leverkusen in Champions League, his value will increase a lot. After getting success in Bundesliga (a title) and Europa League (a final with a runner-up position), now he is participating in Champions League, to prove that he is able to do management well at a highest level in Europe.

Rumor is Xabi Alonso wanted to join Real Madrid but because Ancelotti signed a new contract with Real Madrid, Xabi decided to stay in Bayer Leverkusen, to prove himself as said, and to wait for an opportunity from Real Madrid.

Indeed things the right time for Xavi Alonso to show the world his great coaching skills. This Champions League will be another great achievement for him if he go far in the Champions League, because him personally as a manager will not be willing to stay in a small team like Leverkusen, he will wants more achievements which he can get in bigger teams like Madrid because the achievement he has last season has brought him to the limelight among the best coaches in the world because achievement which greatness is not easy.

This season will equally be a hard season for all the teams in the Champions league, the matches schedules are much and players will not have enough time to rest, and international duties will come again with injuries and lots more; therefore squad depth is very vital this season.

I don't think it is so strange mate. I just didn't like the match too much because of not watching a single goal. It is that simple.    Otherwise yeah there were a lot of goal attempts.

And of course, I had a bet on Manchester City win. I was frustrated with the wasted chances. İlkay also wasted a really huge chance in the last second...

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It was a great week in the Champions League other than that. I'm really glad to see there are 8 matches instead of 6 in this stage as of now. It is good for the viewers while a really busy schedule for teams.

This makes me wonder which teams will be ahead of handling this kind of a schedule better.

The two clubs played well in the match, which I expected even before the match started, and I know the two clubs are strong clubs, but I never expected a draw in the match. I was expecting Manchester City to win the match, but the result of the match was just kind of surprising to me, and I was kind of disappointed in Manchester City in the match. Most people which I know that placed bets in the match, bet on Manchester City to win, which I also did, but a draw in the match was a disappointing one.

No one will think that Barcelona won’t be able to win the match. With the way Barcelona have been playing in their league, we all expected a win from Barcelona, but they lost to Monaco. Seriously,  that’s really a bad start from Barcelona.

A big task awaits Xabi Alonso in the Champions League, this is the right time for him to prove that he is a great coach. After his success in bringing Leverkusen to become champions last season, now he has to bring Leverkusen to talk a lot in the Champions League. Because there is still a narrative that his success last season was a matter of luck. Although I also agree that one of the factors is luck, the luck he achieved was thanks to the effort and hard work he did. Leverkusen actually has enough capital because in terms of chemistry it should have been created, because there are not many changes in the current squad, there are only a few players who come in and out. In the Bundesliga they did experience a slight decline, but they could improve even more in the future.

With the new system in UCL, it gives Alonso a greater sense of enthusiasm to compete and try his best. We saw from his performance yesterday when playing against Feyenoord, Alonso looked very confident and continued to encourage the players to stay calm and control the ball until they could score big.
The opportunity for Alonso this season to prove that he must be able to compete with the top teams even though Milan is one of the popular teams from Serie A but currently Leverkusen is also one of the popular teams from the Bundesliga which is ready to make new history in pursuit of the UCL title.

I can't argue with that, Leverkusen appeared very impressive in this match.
The teamwork and chemistry between the players were brilliant. All are amazing players.
And Congrats to Florian Wirtz for taking Player of the Week.
His performance was top-notch and truly deserving of the recognition, his creativity and impact on the pitch stand out.
I'm excited to watch Leverkusen in the next match
But with little time between the UCL and Bundesliga matches, Alonso must prepare the team well on the pitch and mentally for the against Wolfsburg.

I don't see it your way so I would have to align with the majority, both matches were surprising to me and more reason to know that Arsenal is not what we think it is, last season's feat is seriously dwindling, and it may be obvious later. Although it's better than Barcelona, it did not conceal any goals but neither did it score as Atlanta is even the better team. I also wouldn't use the match between Leverkusen and Atalanta to judge entirely, there are times that the underdogs have the luck and even if Arsenal is at their top feat, they would have performed better, Arteta has more work to do especially when they play outside the local league.



But nothing short of a disgraceful performance was that of Barcelona vs Monaco, even if they would underperform, not to the point that Monaco would give them the tough time as seen on Thursday. I never expected another goal by Monaco after the equalizer by Lamine Yamal even if they would not score another, so it's never far from surprising and those two matches would have "cut" tickets of many bettors this week.

Xabi Alonso's squad must go beyond their limits to keep up in the Champions League it's pivotal for Leverkusen to bag points in every Champions League clash, aiming to secure a place in the last 16. Looking forward, their showdown in the second round against a top tier club from the Italian League, AC Milan, is undoubtedly a mountain to climb. Although AC Milan boasts a wealth of experience in the Champions League, their recent form leaves room for concern, potentially swaying the odds in Leverkusen's favor it is definitely an advantage that the match will be staged on Leverkusen's home ground, in Germany.

What is clear is that Xabi Alonso's troops must fight hard to stay in the Champions League because Leverkusen's main focus at this time is to get points in every Champions League match in order to qualify for the last 16 and Leverkusen's opponent in the second round will be against a top club from the Italian League AC Milan so it is not easy for Leverkusen to beat a club that has more experience in the Champions League but because AC Milan's performance has been bad lately so Leverkusen has a chance to beat the elite club, this match will also be held in Germany, precisely at Leverkusen's headquarters.

Despite Monaco played at home with Barcelona to secured 2 goals from Barcelona, it was very clear that Monaco use the red card to destroyed the plan Barcelona players have in that game. I don't think, there is any Barcelona fans who will not praise Barcelona players for that game because they where able to scored 1 goal before the end of 45 minutes to equalize the goal, but it was a surprised at the end of the game for Monaco player to scored the second goal to beat Barcelona 2:1 to become the winner of the game.

Monaco, Atlanta and inter Milan really prepared well in this la Liga league games because there was a hope that their opponents will beat them with many goals base on their performance in the premier league games, but it's only Monaco that succeeded to beat their opponent but other draw with their opponents.

On a norm, Barcelona should be able to win Monaco if not for the red card and I don't expect Monaco to defeat Barcelona with their complete squad and that was why it was a surprise to most people because that match made them lost their bet.

I am not surprised in Manchester city match against Inter because I know that Inter have a good defense and they play more of defensive game than attacking. Whereas, City plays attacking football and if you have a strong defense, you can resist their attacking pressure, City will not be able to score. This was what Inter did to draw the match. It is hard to win City without a good defense.