Topic: UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Season - page 382. (Read 57213 times)

However, it cannot be denied that Barcelona without Messi will not have much to say on the European stage, whether it is necessary or not, but that is how it is. It cannot be denied that Messi is a differentiating figure on and off the field, and this cannot be denied. Like it or not, like it or not, this is how Barcelona without Lionel Messi finds it increasingly difficult to compete in the UCL League. As a result of Barcelona's mistake of relying too much on one player, that player was bigger than the club. Very different from Real Madrid, even though Ronaldo is no longer at Real Madrid, they are still a team that opponents fear.

Barcelona currently needs time to recover from its downturn, especially with a new coach and financial problems. Of course, Barcelona in the UCL League next season is considered not to be the favorite in the race for the title. I will prioritize Real Madrid and Man City in the fight for the UCL title next season because these two teams have very good squads compared to other teams and have great coaches.

In my opinion, Lionel Messi was managing the team like a maestro. He meant a lot to Barcelona and I didn't believe they would send Messi off the team. Messi was their idol. I believed that he would stay in the Catalans until he retired, but I was wrong. If Messi leaves Barcelona and Ronaldo leaves Real Madrid, we cannot say that any team player will definitely stay in a team for the long term.

When Messi left Barcelona, they did won the laliga league title for last year under Xavi , so messi wasn't their problem, they didn't win Champions league for over 3 years when Messi was still in the club before he left for psg.
I think this year flop was due to injuries of their key players even the ones that were playing just recovered from injuries so it was an injury  season for the team not to mention of their financial problem to bring in good players... I think Messi was never their problem...just that Messi was a feared name in Barca whenever they face any opponent 

The presence of Real Madrid should not always be forgotten because only them can stand as a threat to any club that is hoping to win the champions league trophy next season. Pep Guardiola have done very well for Manchester City and the height they’ve gotten to now was only achieved by his brilliancy in managing the team. Leaving the club now is not the right time because a lot are already envisioning Manchester City to be the next champions of the UCL. He will want to take another challenge but should have informed the club earlier whenever he is ready to take on another challenge and not just leaving at a time they expect him to triumph them to success once more.


This is not a time for blame games and Messi should not be seen as the main problem in the club. Only Messi cannot do it alone and needs the collective support and efforts of other players in order for the team to succeed. Messi was just a pivotal player in the midst and can change the game but when he tries and the rest of the squad cannot add their own effort, his own effort becomes useless and the whole team will fail again and again.

There were many things that made PSG fail to win the UCL title even though it was filled with star players such as Neymar, Mbappe and Messi. If there is no unity then it is difficult to win in football. Teamwork is really needed to achieve success and at that time PSG didn't have it, plus they didn't have a coach who was firm in managing their star players. Indeed, in a team that contains many star players, it is very difficult to manage, only certain coaches can compensate for the selfishness of players like this and the only club that can compensate for this is Real Madrid because they have proven it, there are many star players but these players are not bigger from the club. If you cannot manage star players, of course there will be internal problems and this also happened to PSG between Messi and Mbappe, so it is not surprising that PSG at that time failed to win the UCL title.

However, with Mbappe's move to Real Madrid, it can be predicted that the team that will win the next UCL trophy will definitely be Real Madrid again. Because it must be admitted that this season Real Madrid only lacks the goal thirst sticker, it is proven that this season Real Madrid is lacking in terms of scoring goals. With the presence of Mbappe, Real Madrid is predicted to be productive in scoring goals next season.

In the level of Real Madrid, I can only put Manchester city there and the other clubs will definitely be in the second tier. This is because to be generally successful, from home league to Europe, you need to have good squad depth. It is only Real Madrid and Manchester City that have good squad depth.

Secondly, I do not consider Liverpool as good contenders in this season's champions league. I'll rather place Arsenal above Liverpool. This is because of the change of Liverpool's head coach. It takes exceptionalism to immediately take up a job and start contesting. Although the new coach has time for preseason, let's see what happens.

This season we see them meet in the quarterfinals too early, the match between the two teams in the quarterfinals is more interpreted as a morning final because it is indeed a fairly exciting and balanced match, but we cannot deny that since Barcelona began to experience a decline in performance, Manchester City has become the only team that does have the potential to make it difficult for Madrid in the Champions League so far,  Next season we will see both teams will return to play in the Champions League, of course with a new format and of course also with a new feel, I personally hope that the two teams can meet in the final or semifinal matches later because it seems that the match will be able to make the Champions League next season even more exciting.

The format of next season champions league allows big matches to posible place early, because indeed each club in 4 different pots will play 8 matches against 8 different teams, so it is likely that we will see many big teams facing each other in the semi-league phase before the round of 16 is played, so it should make clubs that play in the Champions League next season further improve their squad because with the match  and tight schedules of course require a fairly qualified squad depth, Manchester City is starting to be active in the transfer market so it is indeed possible for Manchester City to have a qualified squad and balance with Madrid next season.

Yes, you are right and that is why it is important to have balance in the team and PSG does not have players in the midfield who are truly creative and even productive. That is why it is important for PSG to look for players who are truly creative and productive in order to maintain balance in the team so that they play according to strategy. and the tactics that Enrique has implemented, I don't want to assume that Enrique failed to bring PSG to the UCL final last season and they played quite well, it's just that luck was on Dortmund's side so Enrique had to find a replacement for Mbappe immediately to fill the main squad in new season later.

PSG will probably take more time to get players like Mbappe and also creative players in the midfield, I also believe they will make progress if they are really serious about recruiting players for the main squad at PSG and Enrique should be given the opportunity to choose the players he wants. want to fill PSG's main squad next season, because it is important to match strategy and tactics to the desired players, if we talk about finances of course PSG has enough money to buy the players they want. PSG will still dominate Ligue 1 and for the UCL it seems they will need a lot more time, especially after Mbappe left PSG.

You can compare squads “on paper” as much as you like, and there can be many different opinions. But I’m wondering how you put some clubs on the same level as Real Madrid in terms of the results obtained? This is not about opinions, but about facts: only one club dominates, while the others compete with each other and some are more successful and others are not, but this is no match for Real.

I also said that not only Man City some other teams like Liverpool Munich Milan PSG and Arsenal are giving a tough time to teams. But lets wait for the starting of UEFA Champions league 2024/25 season.

I think it's a very accurate speculation that Madrid's performance has dropped a bit, of course they have Mbappé and possibly Modic will stay as a midfielder without a doubt, but it's obvious that they need a more specialised midfielder, Kross was the best there, he should have held out a bit longer, however I think they don't need a striker as much now, they need to reinforce the midfield which for me is where games are won, the case of City with Pep and Haaland is a reality, without these characters I think City would look very bad, and although Pep has said something like that, it doesn't hurt that he can change teams.

Real Madrid confirm departure of Champions League-winning captain




Source: https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/real-madrid/transfer-talk/news/one-of-the-biggest-legends-real-madrid-confirm-exit-of-nacho_546729.html?newsnow

Messi didn't perform badly, in fact he is a great player wherever he goes. When he is in the Europa League he is being targeted by big clubs thanks to his skills. At PSG he has also done everything he can, even scoring lots of goals and providing lots of assists, meaning he has worked quite well during his time at PSG. It's just that the lack of solidarity between the club's star players can't win the Champions League. Messi is not the player who should be blamed for everything. The large number of star players at the club makes the players want to show their respective abilities by creating their own attacks without any cooperation. This makes these players become overwhelmed because they don't help each other when they reach the opponent's goal.
I have said many times that even though PSG has many star players, it is not a guarantee that the club can win the Champions League title, it requires a coach who has greatness in building performance and players who have a strong mentality to play in big competitions.

I'm even more surprised to hear this now that Kylian Mbappe disrespected Messi while they were still playing together at PSG because Messi is a very calm player that doesn't quarrel with any of his teammates even when he was playing at Barcelona and most of the time when a penalty is awarded to PSG Messi gives the ball to Mbappe to play the penalty so I'm so confused and even made some research to know if there was actually a time Mbappe disrespected Messi but I haven't seen any. I know Kylian Mbappe to be a proud player but that's simply because he is a good scorer and Messi is more of a play maker when he was in PSG.
The Trio of Neymar Jr, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi not being able to win the UCL together was pure hard luck of the club and not that the players didn't give their best performance and now that Kylian Mbappe who has been the only strong force in the club have left PSG, I am just wondering how they would be able to cope in the UCL maybe they can even get eliminated in the group stage matches.

I think some of them are banter, some come from 'fans' who believe winning one cup means a season of failure, while the others come from an analysis of their spending. It's fair to demand or set a treble as your target, but they definitely to think again if sacking Pep or something similar is the answer. It doesn't help that recently there's a trend of demanding instant results even if your club doesn't spend as much as City. On the other hand, I do agree that this is probably a good time to focus more on UCL for City. There's no need to focus much on the local cups since they won a lot already. CMIIW.

I feel like the fact that they won treble a year before is good enough for them to be fair, doesn't mean that they are going to end up with something good again, we have seen them fail to win UCL this season, but they also got four in a row Premier League title this year, which is good enough for most clubs to be fair.

The expectations for Pep and Man City grew so much that them winning the title fourth year in a row and failing to win UCL only because they lost to Real Madrid at quarter finals somehow sounds like it is not good enough, but the reality is that we are talking a team that would consider to be a lot better so we should definitely not approach this like it is a big deal, we should consider this as a normal situation for sure.

That is a UEFA habit. Once they believe they have not received enough money, they change the format of the competition to make it even more complicated in the hopes of earning more revenue.



Good point, National teams will have valid reasons to complain to UEFA about the busy schedules of their players, but I highly doubt Caferrin will listen to complaints from national clubs. Alexandre Caferrin has ignored any complaints from coaches at major EU football clubs.
Despite receiving numerous complaints, Alexandre Caferrin is unlikely to change the format, and we may continue to use it for a decade or more.

If look at it in the last few seasons when Messi was still playing with PSG, he was indeed able to score several goals but his performance was not that good and he was still quite far behind Mbappe, from this it can be said that Messi presence did not affect anything.
Moreover, if Messi was great player and became PSG best recruit then we wouldn't see Messi leaving to play with Inter Miami, he is no longer star player who is able to bring his team to the title, I don't even think Messi can still be relied on.
If now he is still playing with European team, perhaps only domestic title can be obtained, for important titles such as the UCL there will also be lack because of over other younger players considering that currently European football is starting to be dominated by young players with potential.

Indeed, playing with Inter Miami was the right decision, he will not stand out when he experiences decline in performance and the competition there is not like in European competition.

Messi and Mbappe played together in PSG and there was never a time I heard them quarrelling or heard any rumours of them not having good time with each other or with one player always wanting to be the hero by scoring more goals than the other. Mbappe is more of a goal scorer than Messi to me, so if he scores more goals than Messi when they were at PSG, then ge was worth it at that time. Messi being a playmaker will always provide most of the assist than him scoring the most goals. PSG not winning the champions league when all this three stars where in the club made us to be surprised so much, but it defines what football is. You don’t just have the players and win the competition, you need to put in that extra effort to make it worthwhile and be successful for the title race.

Man City is a strong competitor for Real Madrid in UCL. Real Madrid always got difficulty to win against Man City because they have many top players and they played with good tactics. As long as Pep Guardiola remains the coach of Man City, I think Man City will be always one of the favorite teams to win UCL and be a tough opponent. But there is a rumor stated Guardiola won't extend his contract with Man City. His contract will expire in June 30, 2025. So, in the season 2025/2026 Man City probably will be no longer a favorite team in UCL.

Related news: https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/pep-guardiola-contract-future-news-manchester-city-b2547671.html

I think not only Man City but there are some teams which have the same level with Real Madrid. Man City, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, PSG, and Arsenal have the same level if we consider the squad quality. But if we consider the domination of those teams in the last few years, only Man City and Liverpool that can reach the final round quite often.



UCL final matches

This to me is just a propaganda that the media had developed then to tore the team apart, if we look at the frontline then they had issues of playing together and that was because Mbappe had a problem playing through the striking role which I think every player deserves the right to voice out his choice. After a while they settled in and they started performing well. The declaration that Mbappe doesn’t pass was a lie then. I can remember him assisting Messi’s first Champions league goal for PSG, that was the goal that won that season’s goal of the competition. There are stats that showed how many chances they both created for each other. So it was a lie.

The major problem that PSG lacked and maybe still lacking now is the unbalanced team they have which is mostly the midfield, they don’t have a creative midfielder and they are yet to solve that problem rather they are just buying attacking players. If they still don’t solve this issue they will face same problems again