Atletico Madrid vs. Barcelona QF 2nd Leg 19:45 KO

ThunbergsAreGo

Great performance tonight!! All Madrid final possibly!

Turtwig

Jernal wrote: »

Howard Webb does not have bottle and this will suit Atleti more than it will suit Barca. Atleti can kick them a bit more and are less likely to concede penalties. :.

Webb, reliable as ever. Both sides arguably should have penalties. Mascherano conceded two.

Lapin

Just watched the highlights on RTÉ.

Looked like a cracking game. Well done Athletico.

Didn't see that one coming. Dunphy and co now saying Barca are a spent force.


Oh, another thing. Howard Webb should never be let near a football pitch again.

Barr

Just seen the highlights.1-0 was an injustice to Atletico.

CSF

Andersonisgod wrote: »

90 minutes in which you need to score and you don't is bad. Worse though was the approach, far too many aimless crosses into the box, with 10 minutes to go it became Stoke football. That's not the Barcelona way, that type of football can't be allowed to continue, especially on occasions like this, it was nothing short of an insult to the philosophy of the club. It simply can't continue, changes must be made, none more so than at the top, that 90 minutes tonight must be the death-knell for Martino.

Just give the credit where its due to Atletico. They've managed to go through, despite being the victim of another huge refereeing decision in favour of Barca. And never even really looked that threatened.

Andersonisgod

CSF wrote: »

Just give the credit where its due to Atletico. They've managed to go through, despite being the victim of another huge refereeing decision in favour of Barca. And never even really looked that threatened.

I'm sorry but I'm not entirely sure that I've seen you flooding Boards with praise when Barcelona dismantled Man City over two legs or when they produced a masterclass to beat Real Madrid at the Bernabeu a few weeks ago. Perhaps it's because I don't pay half as much attention to your posts as you seem to pay to mine, or it may be that your posts of worthy praise for Barcelona in those games don't exist. Whatever the case may be, I don't dictate to you what I want you to post, thus I wont be told what to post by you.

Messi could have had two tonight, as could Neymar so I wouldn't exactly say they were entirely untroubled. In any case, the fatal blow in this tie came in the first leg with Diego's strike, going to the Calderon chasing the game was always going to be difficult.

Essien

djPSB wrote: »

Simeone is a cool muderfooka!

Wouldn't look out of place as a villain in Breaking Bad IMO.

ahnowbrowncow

Barcelona had 71% possession yet Madrid had the far better chances. Victory for exciting football.

Amirani

Barca are a mess at the back. Alves is nothing like the player he was. Bartra is young, but he's not good enough to be starting these sorts of games yet. Masch isn't a top CB either. The last thing they need right now is two transfer windows where they can't fix these problems. The departure of Puyol and Valdes is going to make it even worse.

Everything ahead of the back 5 is still world class, but that's not going to cut it against the bigger teams.

Gbear

NiallSparky wrote: »

Barca are a mess at the back. Alves is nothing like the player he was. Bartra is young, but he's not good enough to be starting these sorts of games yet. Masch isn't a top CB either. The last thing they need right now is two transfer windows where they can't fix these problems. The departure of Puyol and Valdes is going to make it even worse.

To be perfectly fair, they've had about 5 transfer windows in which they could've fixed this problem but they dicked around instead.

NiallSparky

NiallSparky wrote: »

Barca are a mess at the back. Alves is nothing like the player he was. Bartra is young, but he's not good enough to be starting these sorts of games yet. Masch isn't a top CB either. The last thing they need right now is two transfer windows where they can't fix these problems. The departure of Puyol and Valdes is going to make it even worse.

Everything ahead of the back 5 is still world class, but that's not going to cut it against the bigger teams.

Arsenal beat them 2-1 at home and went 1-1 away without a shot on goal (never mind on target) in 2011. In 2010 Arsenal came back from 2 down to draw and Puyol got himself sent off. Barcelona's defence has never been up to much when facing a halfway decent side.

miralize

Deleted User wrote: »

Arsenal beat them 2-1 at home and went 1-1 away without a shot on goal (never mind on target) in 2011. In 2010 Arsenal came back from 2 down to draw and Puyol got himself sent off. Barcelona's defence has never been up to much when facing a halfway decent side.

Tell that to RM, United, etc...

ahnowbrowncow

miralize wrote: »

Tell that to RM, United, etc...

What about Bayern Munich?

JP Liz V1

So Barcelona out too

CSF

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I'm sorry but I'm not entirely sure that I've seen you flooding Boards with praise when Barcelona dismantled Man City over two legs or when they produced a masterclass to beat Real Madrid at the Bernabeu a few weeks ago. Perhaps it's because I don't pay half as much attention to your posts as you seem to pay to mine, or it may be that your posts of worthy praise for Barcelona in those games don't exist. Whatever the case may be, I don't dictate to you what I want you to post, thus I wont be told what to post by you.

Messi could have had two tonight, as could Neymar so I wouldn't exactly say they were entirely untroubled. In any case, the fatal blow in this tie came in the first leg with Diego's strike, going to the Calderon chasing the game was always going to be difficult.

If it was against my team I would. Barca beating City or Real has no bearing on me so no reason for me to be humble.

There there though, wanna hug it out? The 2nd best player in the world might not get to play in the Champions League semifinals now, but at least the best in the world will after Real sneaked through last night!! Small consolation!!!

bradlente

When's the draw for the next round?

Talib Fiasco

Disappointed Barca are out due to the players they have but fair f*cks to Atletico...who would have thought they would have come on so much after Falcao left last summer. I genuinely thought they'd struggle to make CL next season but they're doing incredible all year. They've got some cracking players to be fair to them. Lads like Turan and Koke are great to watch. Would love them to win it now.

Fudge You

CSF wrote: »

There there though, wanna hug it out?

Ya cant get better than the soccer forum!

Mr.Micro

What a class side athletico were over the two legs. They should have been 3 nil up by half time. Barca in decline, despite the addition of neymar.

Andersonisgod

CSF wrote: »

If it was against my team I would. Barca beating City or Real has no bearing on me so no reason for me to be humble.

There there though, wanna hug it out? The 2nd best player in the world might not get to play in the Champions League semifinals now, but at least the best in the world will after Real sneaked through last night!! Small consolation!!!

And yet I would be very confident that were I to go through your post history you will have commented at least once on each of those games, so clearly they meant enough for you to comment on them yet not enough to praise Barcelona even when they deserve it.

haha a cheap attempt but therein lies the difference between you and I, your aim seems to be to wind me up, while I care so little about you that I don't even know who you support. I comment, you respond, that's how this works. In football terms (since we are on the soccer forum) I'm proactive, you are reactive. Perhaps one day I will go out of my way to bait you, however to do that I would have to find out things about you (starting with who you support I suppose) and I am simply not interested enough to do that.

miralize

miralize wrote: »

Tell that to RM, United, etc...

In league games this year Madrid scored 4, 4 last year, 3 the year before. Barcelona mostly won but those games in fairness. Barcelona rarely have to defend and they look terribly porous any time they do.

Nuri Sahin

Andersonisgod wrote: »

And yet I would be very confident that were I to go through your post history you will have commented at least once on each of those games, so clearly they meant enough for you to comment on them yet not enough to praise Barcelona even when they deserve it.

haha a cheap attempt but therein lies the difference between you and I, your aim seems to be to wind me up, while I care so little about you that I don't even know who you support. I comment, you respond, that's how this works. In football terms (since we are on the soccer forum) I'm proactive, you are reactive. Perhaps one day I will go out of my way to bait you, however to do that I would have to find out things about you (starting with who you support I suppose) and I am simply not interested enough to do that.

I'll expand on my post another time believe you me I certainly will , but for now, the part in bold, you're very much guilty of doing this yourself.

NIMAN

Now that was a game of football.

Atleti could have had 5 or 6 easily.

Jelle1880

According to the Atletico chairman Atletico will not be able to pay the fee needed to allow Courtois to play if they draw Chelsea (€9m I believe it is). Hope Chelsea get Real or Bayern then.

NIMAN

What a scandalous state of affairs.

Would be sad if this was true.

Just looking at the stats of the game, Barca had 71% possession, proves that stats mean nothing in the end. Bit like Munich at OT, loads of possession for possession sake, but no end product.

CSF

Andersonisgod wrote: »

And yet I would be very confident that were I to go through your post history you will have commented at least once on each of those games, so clearly they meant enough for you to comment on them yet not enough to praise Barcelona even when they deserve it.

haha a cheap attempt but therein lies the difference between you and I, your aim seems to be to wind me up, while I care so little about you that I don't even know who you support. I comment, you respond, that's how this works. In football terms (since we are on the soccer forum) I'm proactive, you are reactive. Perhaps one day I will go out of my way to bait you, however to do that I would have to find out things about you (starting with who you support I suppose) and I am simply not interested enough to do that.

I comment on most games of any significance. Don't have much of a life outside football unfortunately.

GavRedKing

Its meant to be 3 million STG for every UCL game Courtois plays against us.

TBH they'ed be mad to bench or drop him, gambling the fee against a chance of winning the competition is worth it IMO.

dan1895

GavRedKing wrote: »

Its meant to be 3 million STG for every UCL game Courtois plays against us.

TBH they'ed be mad to bench or drop him, gambling the fee against a chance of winning the competition is worth it IMO.

Does the fee go to Chelsea or UEFA?

Btw, how good we're Atleti in that first half? Only saw the highlights this morning.

LuckyLloyd

NIMAN wrote: »

What a scandalous state of affairs.

Would be sad if this was true.

Just looking at the stats of the game, Barca had 71% possession, proves that stats mean nothing in the end. Bit like Munich at OT, loads of possession for possession sake, but no end product.

Well some stats can mean a great deal. Possession as practised by Barca generally or Guardiolaball doesn't mean a whole lot if you are well organised, can defend with discipline and can counter attack fiercely with power and pace.

GavRedKing

dan1895 wrote: »

Does the fee go to Chelsea or UEFA?

Btw, how good we're Atleti in that first half? Only saw the highlights this morning.

I assume it goes to us as there is no stipulation in Europe like in the EPL where a player cant play against his parent club, I assume it was worked into his loan deal when Atelti got UCL football.

I was watching the games side by side and Ateli were very good in the 1st half and had numerous chances in the 2nd half too, how they only won 1-0 is beyond me, Pinto made 2/3 good saves but their finishing let alot to be desired.

kingshankly

I see messi ran 6.8 km last night goalkeeper ran 1.5km less aparantly

Turtwig

Yep, his effort and application last night was terrible.

Re: keeping possession. Hell of a difference between pep's Bayern and Barcelona when they keep the ball.(Even bigger difference when they lose it) Barcelona were effectively playing with 10 last night and the lack of Valdez meant Atletico could press higher easier. I said it before and I'll say it again, the teams overall game and coherency stutters when messi plays.

rob316

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I don't agree and the performance against Real Madrid away a few weeks ago back that up. Imo tonight the wrong approach was taken and the problem, imo, was not enough tiki taka and too much aimless crossing. Admittedly a couple of areas in the team could do with strengthening but the style and philosophy must stay the same.

It is not an effective style for CL anymore, the lesser sides will succumb and let Barcelona play much like a lot of the teams in La Liga who they spank by 4 or 5 goals.
Press the midfield, defend from deep and get the ball to your front players quickly and they have no answers. Bayern, Chelsea and Atletico all have done it.
Barca at first under Pep were a glorious side to watch but the style hasn't changed and is too predictable for the better sides. Case in point Bayern don't look as effective side as last year playing possession based football.

Its just gotten boring to watch.

NIMAN

Watching Munich v Utd over 2 leagues, I think Pep has made them a worse team.

They have gone from a clinical, powerful team that often destroyed opposition, to one that is too tippy-tappy, obsessed with possession and not shooting.

Ulysses Gaze

NIMAN wrote: »

Watching Munich v Utd over 2 leagues, I think Pep has made them a worse team.

They have gone from a clinical, powerful team that often destroyed opposition, to one that is too tippy-tappy, obsessed with possession and not shooting.

Would that style work in the Premier League?

rob316

Ulysses Gaze wrote: »

Would that style work in the Premier League?

I don't think so, La Liga is a much more technical league a lot of the teams kind of play the same way. Liverpool tried to play possession based football with no great effect at first under Rodgers only for him to abandon it for counter attacking football.
It has worked for Barca because they scored a ridiculous amount of goals.

elefant

rob316 wrote: »

It is not an effective style for CL anymore, the lesser sides will succumb and let Barcelona play much like a lot of the teams in La Liga who they spank by 4 or 5 goals.
Press the midfield, defend from deep and get the ball to your front players quickly and they have no answers. Bayern, Chelsea and Atletico all have done it.
Barca at first under Pep were a glorious side to watch but the style hasn't changed and is too predictable for the better sides. Case in point Bayern don't look as effective side as last year playing possession based football.

Its just gotten boring to watch.

Yet they eliminated the side on course to win the Premier League. And now are also looking good to win La Liga too.

A defeat over 2 legs to a really well organised team while missing their starting goalkeeper, two best centre-halves and with their star player playing at half-tilt doesn't mean Barca's philosophy has suddenly become defunct.

partyguinness

I flicked between both games last night but watched more of the Barca game (I have seen plenty of Bayern this year).

I tell you what...Atletico Madrid are the best team left in the competition by a mile and their best player is injured.

Morzadec

What a phenomenal performance from Atleti last night!

Had a last minute chance to go to the stadium for 100e, was a bit pricy for me though I'm slightly regretting it now! The atmosphere looked incredible, better than I've ever seen it.

In terms of courage, application, bravery, heart, passion, team spirit, togetherness, toughness both physically and mentally, concentration, effort, no team can match Atleti when they put in a performance like last night.

In the heart and in the head they are the best around imo.

And this would largely go down to Simeone.

The synergy he has with the crowd is phenomenal. He gets every last drop of sweat out of his players and he gets every last strained vocal chord and energy out of the fans.

He uses the fans expertly. He realises they are an asset and he makes sure he takes full advantage. On Saturday Atleti stumbled over the finishing line to beat Villareal 1-0. They were tired, they didn't play well, and Simeone saw they were struggling. He was constantly turning to the crowd, waving his arms, asking them to sing, shout and whistle their team over the line.

There were similar scenes last night.

In my opinion Simeone is the best manager around when it comes to building team spirit and a tough winning mentality. You get the sense that the players would do anything for him and the club.

Impossible not to admire what they are achieving on a comparitively shoe-string budget. As the commentator Michael Robinson said last night, they are an incredibly admirable bunch of guys.

And last night they did it without their two best players.

They must be every neutrals favourite. In this cynical age of billionaire owners, dodgy transfer deals and an unfair duopoly designed to keep the small clubs down in Spain, Atleti are defying the odds and doing it a way that is incredibly inspirational and admirable.

gimmick

Morzadec wrote: »

They must be every neutrals favourite. In this cynical age of billionaire owners, dodgy transfer deals and an unfair duopoly designed to keep the small clubs down in Spain, Atleti are defying the odds and doing it a way that is incredibly inspirational and admirable.

Absolutely. Obviously I wanted Barca to win last night, but I am 100% behind Atleti now. I just really hope they dont draw Real in the semi.

Turtwig

That Madrid derby could end up being a disaster for theatrics and gamesmanship. The last few ain't exactly been pretty.

Morzadec

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/26966304

Article about Atleti and Simeone, similar to what I put in my post.

He must be the hottest property in football management right now. Well, him or Klopp.

Barca wouldn't touch him as he doesn't match his philosophy, but I'm wondering are there any other clubs that might be looking for managers that could lure him away?

Turtwig

Simeone at utd?

If Barca get Laudrup I'll lol.

Moneymaker

Andersonisgod wrote: »

And yet I would be very confident that were I to go through your post history you will have commented at least once on each of those games, so clearly they meant enough for you to comment on them yet not enough to praise Barcelona even when they deserve it.

haha a cheap attempt but therein lies the difference between you and I, your aim seems to be to wind me up, while I care so little about you that I don't even know who you support. I comment, you respond, that's how this works. In football terms (since we are on the soccer forum) I'm proactive, you are reactive. Perhaps one day I will go out of my way to bait you, however to do that I would have to find out things about you (starting with who you support I suppose) and I am simply not interested enough to do that.

Is it too much to ask for you to have some grace and congratulate Atleti on a hard fought, well deserved win(without their best player btw)?

And claiming Barca could have scored goals is absurd frankly. Yes they had a chance or two(Neymar should have scored that header in fairness) but Atleti had by far the better chances, it could have been 3-0 at half time.

In fairness however, i'm not sure Barca's style is defunct. But they definitely need to freshen things up through the squad. Your clutching at straws bringing up Barca beating Real too, they were very fortunate to win that match in my opinion.

Are Barca finished? No. But they do need some fresh blood and ideas at the club. That includes the management and at board level.

Simone should stay where he is, he's on the verge of building something truly great.

NIMAN

As great as it is to see Atleti doing so well, will the likes of Madrid, Barca, Man City, Bayern, Utd etc now come in during the summer and pick their best players, leaving them to start all over again next season?

Utopia Parkway

Morzadec wrote: »

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/26966304

Article about Atleti and Simeone, similar to what I put in my post.

He must be the hottest property in football management right now. Well, him or Klopp.

Barca wouldn't touch him as he doesn't match his philosophy, but I'm wondering are there any other clubs that might be looking for managers that could lure him away?

Apparently he doesn't speak English. Might put off a few Premier League teams for a while. Even though that's not as big a problem as it once used to be given that clubs are so multi-national these days.

kryogen

You get the feeling the EPO rumours are going to kick into gear soon about A Madrid (if they havent already)

Turtwig

NIMAN wrote: »

As great as it is to see Atleti doing so well, will the likes of Madrid, Barca, Man City, Bayern, Utd etc now come in during the summer and pick their best players, leaving them to start all over again next season?

Yep most likely.:( The club is 500 million in debt.

Corholio

Since when have Atletico become the small, plucky, giant killing team? They've always been a big team but have been horribly mismanaged the last decade or so. This is the first time in years they've played together as a team despite having quality players littered throughout their squads over the years.

I get why they are the neutrals team, and to be honest if Real didn't win it I wouldn't mind seeing them win it, but the amount of violin music paragraphs about them is a bit over the top.

CSF

Moneymaker wrote: »

Is it too much to ask for you to have some grace and congratulate Atleti on a hard fought, well deserved win(without their best player btw)?

And claiming Barca could have scored goals is absurd frankly. Yes they had a chance or two(Neymar should have scored that header in fairness) but Atleti had by far the better chances, it could have been 3-0 at half time.

In fairness however, i'm not sure Barca's style is defunct. But they definitely need to freshen things up through the squad. Your clutching at straws bringing up Barca beating Real too, they were very fortunate to win that match in my opinion.

Are Barca finished? No. But they do need some fresh blood and ideas at the club. That includes the management and at board level.

Simone should stay where he is, he's on the verge of building something truly great.

Don't you tell him what to post!! His body his choice.