Topic: UEFA Champions League Discussion Thread - page 478. (Read 130210 times)

This is an opportunity for Intermilan to avenge their defeat that occurred in 2008 later, so far Intermilan and Liverpool have faced off 4 times and Liverpool have won 3 wins and only 1 win has been won by Inter Milan, I think so far Inter Milan  have record who were bad against English teams, especially Liverpool, so I think the match against Liverpool could be a good opportunity for Inter Milan to improve their record, especially now that Inter Milan has had quite an impressive performance in the league.

Serie A leaders Inter Milan will meet Liverpool in the last 16 of the Champions League. It will be an interesting match. This is the first time Inter Milan has returned to play in the last 16 after a 10-year absence. This is an opportunity for them to get back on track, although it will be difficult for them to meet one of the English giants.

In my opinion, Chelsea have a really easy matchup for themselves. Because Lille are not even near their performance in the last season. I'm aware of the fact that Chelsea have been having a hard time winning matches in the recent times but this doesn't show that they are a bad team now. They still have a powerful lineup and a great manager like Tuchel. It is all about a tactical war in this tournament. And we saw how great they were in the last season.

Bad decision with one bigger team will leave tournament early between Madrid or PSG, but how ever PSG failed touch first standing position on group stage have regulation will faced with leader group stage where Madrid as against for 16 round. Both team playing well and Madrid keep consistent on champion league group stage just got one loss, different with PSG just collected 11 points from three time with winning and one time loss and get two draw, different with Madrid success get five winning and collected 15 points with one loss only. But domestic league Madrid more consistent than PSG will give favorite for Madrid take to quarter final.

The fact that Real and PSG meet at such an early stage is bad because someone will leave the tournament, but good because already at this stage we will see a dramatic confrontation. The problem of the Champions League is that this tournament becomes interesting in the final matches of the group stage (in some, not in all) and in the playoffs, and as you rightly noted, even in the playoffs some teams get weak opponents and their confrontation is not very interesting.

To say that it was solely due to Messi goes way too far, but if you look at some of the solo goals he scored in important matches (against Real Madrid in the CL semis, or against Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final for example), it showed that at least some of the titles were won because of him. Even in a game where he didn't score (which rarely happened), the opponents were so focussed to keep Messi out of the game that there was tremendous space for all other players. I can't think of a single player who would have scored 50 goals in a single season in the Primera División even with Xavi and Iniesta still playing.

However, I fully agree with you that Barcelona was THE perfect squad for a couple of years from goalkeeper to the offenders. The balance within the team was out of this world and yet Messi still was the one who stuck out. There are phases where free-kicks were almost like penalties for him. That's just unreal.

We were lucky to have had the chance to see two of the best soccer players of all time to compete with each other, Messi and Ronaldo. I remember when everyone thought that Henry for Barcelona and Raul for Madrid was crazy, but that wasn't even close to Messi vs. Ronaldo. Not sure if we get to see it again on that level or even beyond within our lifetime.

5 goals is a lot and I'm not sure about that, because both teams will definitely play more carefully and with discipline. Indeed, for the initial minutes they played more openly because they were targeting a goal, but when 1 goal has been created I am sure that the team that wins early will implement a defensive strategy. I only predict this but that doesn't mean the team that wins early will stop their attack, because the counter-attack strategy that will be applied later in such a situation and condition will very promise a definite victory.

I have different thing with Lionel Messi is not greatest player for Barcelona but he got many support and service were played with Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta he always got good service and assists, look on statistic right now after Barcelona without Xavi and Iniesta never success reach champion league trophy and Barcelona never take final any more, now he try challenge with PSG and I think will the same situation until half season of Ligue 1 Lionel Messi faced difficult how to make goal. I think he just lucky when playing for Barcelona where support by Xavi and Iniesta to make him can easy for creating goal.

I also disagree with the fact that Messi allegedly single-handedly created the success of a team like Barcelona. Barcelona was just as strong as a team and their famous tiki-taka just requires great teamwork and the same great performers that were available. Therefore, of course, it is foolish to say that all the recent successes of Barcelona are solely the merits of Messi. Let's not forget that the backbone of that Barcelona was also an important part of the Spanish national team that became world and European champions. In addition, let's not forget that Messi is not getting any younger, and therefore his factor as a player also weakens with time, so the Paris Saint-Germain management should definitely keep this in mind.

A tedious game?
Quite the contrary... in a match where two big teams play I expect to see a brilliant game.

A beautiful game doesn't necessarily need to have multiple goals, but accurate ball passes, rehearsed plays, and good assists for shots on goal.
However, I believe that this game can have about 5 goals, without much difficulty. However, I definitely don't know who to bet on as the winner of the match.

I'm not sure that a relatively recent Champions League title win Liverpool can have any effect on the mental preparation for playing Liverpool. At this rate, Inter are knowingly losing to any other team that has taken the lug? This match will be very tense just because both teams are very strong and we should expect a rough, possibly tedious game

Messi was a great player for Barcelona, prolly the best to ever come out of camp nou, but I'd not say that he singlehandedly carried Barcelona to glory, I know he was their most important and influential player, But Barcelona is a great club and they had a lot of quality players, Messi made them absolutely complete, but he wasn't everything, he also needed other players to function as well, what I mean is, Barca and Messi had a seamless relationship. Just take a look at how things are panning out in PSG for Messi, he isn't at his best cause he does not seem to have the sort of connection he had at Barcelona. Having said that, I still don't think PSG are somewhat ready to win the CL, they have the individual talents, but as a team, they are not the best and it could still take them a while before they are CL champions.

I want both teams to win at home, but Liverpool will qualify. Compared to Inter, I prefer to see Liverpool in the next round of the season because I think Liverpool will be able to show a better competition. I don't underestimate Inter's strength, they are strong but I support Liverpool.

At the moment I feel Inter and Liverpool are in good form in their respective domestic League but the record of the second meeting shows that Liverpool are ahead of Inter by 3 wins from a total of 4 match in history. The 2008 Champions League proved Liverpool took Inter home early in the last 16 and this season is their first meeting since 2008.

Inter - Liverpool is also an interesting matchup but Liverpool are favoured to advance the most too. Because they have been very successful for a long time and they won the Champions League title a few years ago. Inter will be under a big threat in this matchup because of that. But they are not an easy opponent also. They are in a great shape in the Serie A. If they manage to play like in there, then they might not let Liverpool advance comfortably.

Bayern, City, and Chelsea got quite easier opponents compared to the Liverpool-Inter and PSG-RMA matchup. I would've liked it if we had the Real Madrid vs PSG match in the semi-finals or finals.

Having one team eliminated this early is a sad thing to see. But I'm hoping that no team among City, Bayern, and Chelsea will fumble and they should be going to the next round fairly easily. But one thing that worries me is Bayern's recent form as a lot of their players are out due to COVID including their captain Neuer.

Yep this is one big match that will definitely be very exciting, I don't really pay much attention to messi in this match but I want to see how Sergio is at Santiago Barnabeu but not as captain of Madrid but opponents.
Of course, this match will be emotional, I think, besides that, it will also determine whether PSG will be able to reach the next round or is it true that Madrid, which in fact collects the most UCL titles, is the winner.

This match will be a huge one for both Real Madrid and PSG. There's no denying that PSG bought Messi expecting him to help them win the CL trophy. But he alone can only do so much. He also hasn't been in his best form after he shifted to Paris.

Mbappe and Neymar will also need to play a leading role and a consistent one if PSG wants to beat Real Madrid.
As Real Madrid this season are looking like a very tough opponent as the Benzema-Vinicius duo upfront is very lethal and they are getting constant supplement from the midfield trio of Kroos-Modric-Casemiro. So I'd say that along with Messi, others will have to step up to the occasion.

You should have seen how Ronaldo was after leaving Real Madrid, did Juventus and Ronaldo actually win the UCL title at that time? no. Then Messi left Barcelona and you assume the PSG board expected Messi to be able to give him the UCL title, those are two old players who still have star charisma but not the UCL title because of their unproductive age. But by the way, I also agree that at PSG it's not only Messi because almost all PSG players are star players, if PSG are able to win the UCL title it's not only about Messi.

Yes, there are a lot of stars players there, and they have been there for years. But how much did they help to win the league?? there were unable to help PSG win the champions league.

Maybe that's why they recruited Messi. As we saw that with even a bad squad like Barcelona's Messi was able to do wonders. Barcelona can now feel that how important Messi was for them. He single-handedly carried them to success. Maybe that's why the PSG board thought that Messi will be able to help them get the CL trophy. So far this season PSG do look like a contender for the title, let's see what the future holds for them.

What is the basis for these rumors? Does PSG expect Messi to win the Champions League for it or does Messi expect PSG to win the Champions League for him? Both options seem strange to me - Messi is far from the age to demand something from him, or vice versa, that he demanded something. PSG is a great option for him to end his career and I don't think he will go somewhere where there is tougher competition.