Soccer 2017-2018

I only saw the 2nd half. Oblak was pretty fucking good but A. Madrid still gave up plenty of chances, Arsenal will only have themselves to blame if they go out here and they probably will.

Bayern were the better team in both legs but their finishing really let them down. Not sure if Lewa is just done at this point since he thinks he's going to RM but Muller and him were just garbage in both legs. Not that I care but that's gotta suck for Bayern fans.

What other chance did RM really have than the Ronaldo one? Bayern had probably 2 penalties they should have gotten plus all the other shots in the 6yrd box that they couldn't put in.

Merrith said:

Not sure I agree on the one Marcello "hand ball" when it was tucked in to his body. Ronaldo played Marcello in at one point where a simple pass to 2 different open guys should have resulted in fairly easy finish. Also played Bale in late but a horrible first touch ruined that chance. As noted though, Benz's brace to start the 2nd was an absolute gift, and how James' shot actually gets through with Navas in position to shut down anything is beyond me.

Click to expand...

It's a general frustration of mine but the "intent" part of hand ball is kind of bullshit as it gives refs a grey area to hide in. You also said nothing of the second penalty that Ramos should have been called for plus his non-stop swan dives in his own box starting on 80+ minutes.

And I guess what I'm getting at as far as chances over the 180 minutes is who do you think had more? Not that it matters now but if Bayern had their finishing boots on there's no way they lose this tie mistakes or not.

Jozu said:

Bad luck for Bayern....but Madrid defended their home soil and did enough to win the tie.

They are the two time defending champions, you cant make a critical mistake and expect to beat this team in the CL.

Liverpool vs RM is going to be epic. Ronaldo is going to have to show up Salah, not only in order for RM to have a chance to win, but to deny Salah a Ballon D'Or. If Salah scores twice and Liverpool beat RM to take the CL he is winning the Ballon D'Or. If Ronaldo upstages him and is the man of the match and wins his 3rd straight CL title he has to win another Ballon D'Or given what he accomplished during the CL and back end of the La Liga season.

Also, this is RM's 4th final in 5 years, if there ever was any football team that was battle hardened when it comes to European Championship experience its this Ronaldo/Benzema/Marcelo/Ramos nucleus of RM (as well as other important guys who have been there the last 5 years). Liverpool needs to have nerves of steel and Salah needs the game of his life.

Click to expand...

They got outplayed on their own field, same as Juve game, and if it wasn't for Bayern's GK having a complete brain fart they wouldn't be advancing. You can call it grit and experience and that might be true in the past but it's basically luck in regards to this tie. Would Rafinha head the ball right to RM on a corner every time? Would the GK be confused on a back pass consistently? That's why I've said all along the randomness of the CL always means that the teams you think are the best are just one random thing away from going out. And honestly after watching all these games I think if it wasn't for LFC knocking out ManC they would wipe they floor with any team left.

Half of RM's starting IX are over 30 and I'm not sure if you noticed but even with both teams starting attackers instead of their DM's the transitions weren't exactly lightning. I don't want to get ahead of myself in that we still need to finish off Roma but Salah against Marcelo is going to be hilarious unless the ref lets him just wrestle him non-stop like what happened with Young and then Peters this weekend. Continental refs don't really go for that so I'd be pretty surprised.

As far as the Ballon D'or, maybe Ronaldo outperforms Salah in the final. Today he had the least touches of any player in the first half (including GK's) and I don't think it improved much from there while missing a sitter. Again I'm not arguing about Ronaldo's legacy but to say it's a debate between Salah and Ronaldo for this award just shows somewhat how worthless this award has become in the Ronaldo/Messi era.

faille said:

I got to say, I'm pretty nervous. Yes we blitzed them last week but that was due to some really stupid tactics on their part. Even chasing the tie they won't be pushing as high a defensive line again, though I'd love it if they did. When they went to a back four they were far more solid and they looked far more threatening at the end of the game.

Click to expand...

Not sure if you've watched much of Roma aside from our one game against them but they always play a 4-3-3 and press high up the field. As a manager are you going to change what you've done for the whole season that got you to that point just for this one game when you're 3 goals down? I'd say more than likely their going to do the same thing they do in every game and the manager will just hope they do it better and get some bounces to go their way. LFC is well equipped to exploit that, just a question of weathering the initial storm and taking our chances. I'm expecting us to win outright as we're just a match up nightmare for Roma with how slow their midfield and defenders are.

Jozu said:

Don't worry guys Liverpool got this.

And lol Brando, you can point to luck all you want, but when the same nucleus of guys reaches 4 CL finals in 5 years your argument sucks.

Luck doesn't see you through to 4 finals in 5 years, quality and determination does.

Yea Ronaldo missed a sitter, so did Lewandowski. It's a high pressure game. But acting like the Ballon D'Or is a joke because Ronaldo and Messi win it every year is retarded.

Those guys deserved it.

Click to expand...

The results are the results, there is no argument there. Will and determination affect another GK's concentration? A linesman that cannot see Ronaldo 3 feet offsides? A ref that refuses to red card Casemiro as he throws himself at other players recklessly over and over but gives one to Vidal for his first foul? No.

Will and determination get them to the game, they've still had to have a lot of things go their way in each year but that's the same for any team as the margins are so thin.

Jozu said:

Yet here they are on the verge of winning a 4th Champions League title in 5 years and you walk back your luck narrative and supplant it with them getting help from the refs.

lol.

I know you want Liverpool to win and hate Madrid and Ronaldo, but their success is undeniable, and they will probably end up beating Liverpool on penalties.

Click to expand...

Not sure where you're coming from but help from the refs IS luck unless you want to wade into conspiracy theory territory.