Topic: UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Season - page 328. (Read 76990 times)

I'm not saying that they'll be one of the clubs that qualify straight away and think they're as good as the other big clubs in the Champions League at the moment but the fact that they played well against Barcelona is undeniable.
We can't deny that fact and we have to admit that in this first match they played very well despite the mistakes of the Barcelona players in yesterday's match, we still have to praise Monaco's game which managed to beat Barcelona even for this season Monaco has won 2 times when dealing with Barcelona.

Although the match is still very much where the Champions League competition is clearly still very difficult for them but when Monaco still shows this spirit it is not impossible that they can qualify even through the play off route.

Regarding the game between Atalanta and Arsenal, I don't know why but Arsenal had totally disappointing performance in this match and they easily lost a point against Atalanta while this team was not strong like Arsenal and they didn't have superstar players like this team at all. It seems Arteta is even more experienced enough and he still can't have a good performance in the bigger tournaments like the Champions League with Arsenal.
Also, Arteta should thank David Raya for his good performance because he saved a penalty kick for his team otherwise they could lose this game against Atalanta.

I feel like giving breaks time to time is a must because teams end up playing their domestic cup games too, or just rest and wait for the next one, if you keep putting games back to back then it would be quite hard and we wouldn't have a good result at all, we should be something that is getting a great result if teams end up resting their players, if they do not rest and play every single week then we are not going to see the teams do fine.

Plus, when are you going to put the domestic cup games if every week there is a UCL game? That is why there must be some weeks that these teams are given free so they could either rest or play cup and 8 games for group stages is something that we can all agree that's a good thing. Which is why I feel like the best thing in this case should be a great deal when you end up putting some money into it at as well. I believe that if we can put some money on when it's on, that would be good, gives us an edge until next time.

I can't say Monaco had a good performance because of beating a team like Barcelona in the ChampionsLeague, they really won the game but it doesn't mean Monaco is a good team, they were playing against Barcelona while Barcelona had one fewer player for the whole this game and this was effective for them to beat Barcelona.
Since Barcelona got good results in La Liga, I think time after time they can have better performances in the Champions League too.

In the previous match, Barcelona suffered defeat. But yes, this only happened because Barcelona played with 10 players in that match after a red card was received by one of the players. And I see that Barcelona is still strong even though they played with 10 players in the previous match. So I think Barcelona will be able to win the next match in the UCL as long as Barcelona doesn't make the same mistakes that could result in them getting another red card. In Laliga we see that Barcelona is able to play very perfectly. Because yesterday they managed to beat one of the strongest teams in Laliga, namely Villareal, with a big score of 1-5. And I think that in the next match against Young Boys, Barcelona will be very favorites and it is hoped that they will win with quite a large score.

The strategy used in Laliga may not be effective in UCL. And yes, sometimes there has to be a little change. But if, for example, the strategy currently used is quite effective, then no change in strategy is not a problem. You just have to adapt to your opponent's playing style later. Hansi Flick seems to have learned a lot from the first UCL match. So he definitely won't make the Barcelona squad make a second mistake in the second match.

Barcelona's unexpected defeat to Monaco was caused by Barcelona playing with only 10 players from the 10th minute. Eric Garcia was sent off for a foul on a Monaco player, so the defeat was a mistake that should not be repeated in Barcelona's next Champions League match. It can be said that Barcelona is one of the teams that has the chance to qualify for the last 16 this season, but their performance at the start of the match was clearly not pleasant.

The next matches are against Getafe and Osasuna, after that it's against Young Boys for the home match in the Champions League. Barcelona are expected to win the home match, of course because the third match is much more difficult because Bayern Munich is the most frightening team so far with their goal productivity.

This year, they are really fighting for this. Both Xabi Alonso and the players are fighting to make them forget what they were told last year, that it was only a one-season success. The first match in the Champions League was amazing. They also had only one defeat in the league and were ahead in that match and then lost. Now they have the Bayern Munich match ahead of them and they should focus on it completely because the match is in Munich. You should always be in control in the matches you play away. I am sure the Spanish coach will implement this next week.

Are we forgetting the main cause of Barcelona's loss match to Monaco? It's like we have forgotten that it was Garcia's red card at 10 minutes of play disorganized the whole formation of the Barcelona team to hold Monaco to a draw or even win them. However, there is always a second leg, which I know, for a team to correct their mistake and win their opponent. We will see what happens next, whether Monaco will stand up tall when they face Barcelona in an away match. Towards then, we would see how mentally and physically fit the Barcelona teams are, under Hans Flick, to take Barcelona to great heights in the Champions League and Laliga League

I won't say Leverkusen don't have a good defence as if they didn't have one then how did they go last season unbeaten and won their league. It might just be that they haven't gotten their rhythm this season but when they get it, they'll be strong again. Well the champions league is a different game altogether. Leverkusen didn't concede any goal in their last game but they scored four. They played against Feyenoord and were dominant in the whole game. Their next game is against Milan and there's every possibility that they're still going to win but it won't be by many goals as the last game. Leverkusen has alot to prove that they're not a one season wonder.

If Barcelona lost against Monaco, the red card had a big impact on this. Barcelona lost team discipline because they received a red card. Since they played shorthanded and were away, they probably had deficits and could not respond to the positions. Frankly, even a draw is good when there is a red card away, but Barcelona could not do this. Barcelona, ​​who won 5-1 against Villarreal yesterday, would definitely have beaten Monaco with the same number of players, in my opinion. But this is football, a red card can disrupt the balance of the entire team.

If there is a year we will see an underdog in the Champions League, I think this year will be one. As it stands mow, it is not yet clear who will be reaching the semi finals. Barcelona is at the verge of being eliminated by Monaco and if this happens,  then Manaco will be a team to watch. Their style of play is great and with what they played Barcelona,  they can challenge any team including Manchester City and the dreaded Real Madrid. Although we will be talking about Champions league experience when we get to that stage.

The coach of Atalanta is actually a gem and I wonder how good of results he could actually bring if he was given a better squad!  I am pretty sure everyone realized that he is a great coach when he was able to beat Leverkusen in the last season when any other team or coach was unable to do so. And yes I absolutely agree that Atalanta players were just playing as per the instructions that the coach had given them. That is why sometimes it is very important to actually listen to the words of the coach. I don't think anybody expected Arsenal to not score in this match. But Atalanta has been able to pull that off.

Arsenal was not that bad in this match. Arsenal was just trying to do the things that worked for them in the past. It's just that Atalanta was just better prepared for that. I bet Arsenal didn't even think that Atalanta would play so well.

Last year Dortmund (who finished 5th in the Bundesliga lol) reached the Champions League final and they had a few good chances to open the scoring before Real coocked them.
It's not every year that we see a clear underdog in the final, but it does happen sometimes and sooner or later someone will repeat Porto's feat (by the way, there were two underdogs in the final then, haha).
And by the way, it seems to me that Atalanta in the playoff format is not that much weaker than other contenders.

It's the vulnerability of their internal relationships that makes this a bit of a worry for Atalanta.
They can be unpredictable in terms of performance and we can't underestimate them under Gasperini because although the majority of their players are mediocre, their teamwork is very good and worthy of appreciation.

It's just that when their internals don't have a good ending then this will forever interfere with their performance. The start of the season was rocked by Scamacca's injury which must have taken some time to heal considering ACL is a major enemy for athletes. In addition, they also had some other problems where some of their players even went on strike because they wanted to leave Atalanta which made the situation even more complicated.
Although the rumors have now died down as the transfer window has also closed but still the internals of players wanting to leave and not being allowed to will cause friction that hampers their performance. This is precisely what Atalanta is worried about when they are in many competitions when one competition they are destroyed then other competitions also follow and that has happened in the past few seasons. If in the end the situation remains the same then this season they will repeat the same mistakes as before.

It might be a problem for Leverkusen to win Milan because Italian teams are used to playing defensive games since that is their game pattern. Imagine Atalanta was able to win Leverkusen very easy and that might be the game plan in which Milan might want to use in order foe them to defeat Leverkusen.

Leverkusen does not have a good defense which will be an advantage for Milan but Leverkusen might still be able to win Milan if their game strategy outsmarts that of Milan.

I also think that it would be difficult for Arsenal to excel in the champions league this season because at the champions league level, Arsenal still have some boxes to tick and one of those boxes includes getting a proper number 9 in the team. As for Atalanta, I don’t expect them to pass the knockout stages. I expect to see the usual suspects in the final stages of the season.

It'll be almost impossible for Atalanta to win the UEFA Champions League and that's because of there are over seven teams in the competition that have better quality players as well as players with more experience of the competition than Atalanta but drawing their first match of the season in the competition doesn't necessarily mean that Atalanta will not be able to have a good European campaign. Arsenal who also couldn't beat Atalanta in their first game of the season in the competition also stands a chance of reaching at least the semi finals of the competition despite not winning in the first game. It's too early to predict which team will do well or not in the UEFA Champions League competition this season if you ask me because of how difficult and complicating the new format is

So far, I don't see something special with Atalanta. What makes people to expect Atalanta be the champion in UCL? If people assume winning the Europa league last season to be the reason of Atalanta reaching the final UCL, it is something nonsense. Sure, the level of Champions League and Europa League are different. Champions League is much harder, we have too many strong teams here. Even some teams become the favorite to reach the final (Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern Munich). These favorite teams is surely stronger than Atalanta.

However, I don't underestimate Atalanta. It doesn't mean Atalanta will have 0 chance to survive. However, if we consider its current performance and the squad quality, it is unlikely to see Atalanta in the semi-final or final UCL. I personally assume the realistic target is to reach the quarter final. If Atalanta can qualify the next round, they will have a chance to go to quarter final.

Still can't figure out AC Milan's game... In UCL they lost at home... In Serie A they won away to Inter Milan... And in the coming week facing away against Leverkusen then this is a difficult point for Milan because we know how Liverkusen in their domestic league they win goals in large numbers... A little carelessness in Milan's defense then Leverkusen can break more goals.

It doesn't really matter too much about playing at home or away, because at this moment every team playing away can also win easily if the home team doesn't have a good performance. So, for me the draw that occurred for Atalanta against Arsenal I can still say is a good result because afterall, Arsenal in the Arteta era has good quality. So, with a goalless draw it is at least a good result for Atalanta because after all, Atalanta in my view is also not a consistent team, they very often experience a decline in performance at any time.

But indeed, there is still a chance for Atalanta to be able to play and qualify for the last 16 later,  and in the next match Atalanta will also play against Shakhtar Donetsk. In fact, in the previous match also Shakhtar Donetsk only played a goalless draw against Bologna. I think it is clear,that Atalanta has better quality than Bologna but Bologna can also hold Shakhtar Donetsk to a draw, so there will be a very good chance Atalanta to win in the  next match against Shakhtar Donetsk.