2016-17 UEFA Champions League

The Talking Bread

The Golden Miller wrote: »

And to think, some people laughed when I posted the above!

Nice predictions but all outdone by last Thursdays anti Ronaldo deluge of posts!!

The Golden Miller wrote: »

If it's money your after, you should follow my tips. I'll even PM you as I feel sorry for Ronaldo fanboys and all the money they normally lose backing him to score every game (plumping up his stats with countless goals against cannon fodder defences while going missing for the next 5 games). You see, I didn't actually back against Madrid or Ronaldo not scoring, isn't that what he's paid half a million euro a week to do? He's finally scored two against a big team...FINALLY, one of the goals against 10 men. The greatest of all time now I guess? Sure I'll level with you seeing as I'm a betting man. Even if Madrid progress he'll be anonymous for the rest of the tournament....sure they won in the final in spite of him last year, just like Portugal. They'll be handicapped by having to effectively play with 10 men as he contributes so little in open play, but I guess they always are. Didn't he score 2 against Wolfsburg last year and disappear for the rest of the tournament? As I said, if it's money your after, a good bet would be on Ronaldo not doing anything for the rest of the tournament, history would put the odds against him even scoring in the tournament for it's duration. He's had his little moment thanks to his generous teammates, a penalty is his best chance of scoring again from here on out

The Golden Miller wrote: »

And to think, some people laughed when I posted the above!

The Golden Miller

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Nice predictions but all outdone by last Thursdays anti Ronaldo deluge of posts!!

Ach, can't win them all. The only prediction I've gotten wrong on this thread so far, and tbh, was after a heap of pints. Although, I'll happily take a bet with Ronaldo not scoring for the duration of the tournament again. A naive bet last time under the influence, as I hadn't fully considered how weak Bayern were at the back, thought they had become more solid in the last few weeks but hadn't really seen much of them. Winged it abit on that bet. A solid defence though, and I can't really see Ronaldo getting a kick of the ball

NIMAN

So then, Golden Miller, who should we put our money on to lift the trophy?

The Golden Miller

NIMAN wrote: »

So then, Golden Miller, who should we put our money on to lift the trophy?

Juve

The Talking Bread

The Golden Miller wrote: »

Ach, can't win them all. The only prediction I've gotten wrong on this thread so far, and tbh, was after a heap of pints. Although, I'll happily take a bet with Ronaldo not scoring for the duration of the tournament again. A naive bet last time under the influence, as I hadn't fully considered how weak Bayern were at the back, thought they had become more solid in the last few weeks but hadn't really seen much of them. Winged it abit on that bet. A solid defence though, and I can't really see Ronaldo getting a kick of the ball

So what odds will you give for him not scoring again? You gave evens last time so with less possible games left, you will need to raise the bar! Let's see how naive you are again!

The Golden Miller

The Talking Bread wrote: »

So what odds will you give for him not scoring again? You gave evens last time so with less possible games left, you will need to raise the bar! Let's see how naive you are again!

Not really. Evens is still a great price

The Golden Miller

Pete Moss wrote: »

"Needless to say, I had the last laugh." - Alan Partridge

I'm just sitting here very smugly, reminiscing on all the times I've been told I know nothing about football by certain posters after I've given an honest opinion on Ronaldo. Calling him a world class goal scorer but not close to being on Cryuff or Maradona's level means you know nothing about football apparently. But alas, that's just how it goes

764dak

Pathetic Barcelona couldn't even score a goal over two legs.

Corholio

The Golden Miller wrote: »

I'm just sitting here very smugly, reminiscing on all the times I've been told I know nothing about football by certain posters after I've given an honest opinion on Ronaldo. Calling him a world class goal scorer but not close to being on Cryuff or Maradona's level means you know nothing about football apparently. But alas, that's just how it goes

Smugly over what? a few quarter finals predictions and something completely separate to the whole Ronaldo argument? Not fair to say anyone knows nothing about football absolutely and wouldn't defend anyone over that, but to say you've been over critical of Ronaldo is an understatement of enormous proportions.

Dirty Dingus McGee

The Golden Miller wrote: »

I'm just sitting here very smugly, reminiscing on all the times I've been told I know nothing about football by certain posters after I've given an honest opinion on Ronaldo. Calling him a world class goal scorer but not close to being on Cryuff or Maradona's level means you know nothing about football apparently. But alas, that's just how it goes

Did people actually say you know nothing or that your Ronaldo bashing is idiotic, because there is a big difference between the 2.

I notice all the backhanded compliments you've been throwing towards Ronaldo since Tuesday night to try and cover yourself now that your prediction about him blew up in your face.

sReq | uTeK

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Did people actually say you know nothing or that your Ronaldo bashing is idiotic, because there is a big difference between the 2.

I notice all the backhanded compliments you've been throwing towards Ronaldo since Tuesday night to try and cover yourself now that your prediction about him blew up in your face.

I don't think he's aware of the Irony in his posts calling someone a world class goal scorer who doesn't affect a game...even though scoring goals is widely accepted as the hardest part of modern football and it's goals that sways and wins games.

Give him time though.

inforfun

764dak wrote: »

Pathetic Barcelona couldn't even score a goal over two legs.

That is because they had a 7-year old on fifa17 doing their transfers the last few years.
Might have, arguably, the best set of 3 forward players in the world, if you have no one behind them who can give them the ball, you ll be found out.

Hope Monaco win it. If only for the fact they have a manger who 1 season puts about the most boring teams in the world on the pitch and the next the most exciting one.

Trouble with those kind of teams, the scoring for fun ones, is they always have 1 match where their finishing lets them down.

Dirty Dingus McGee

inforfun wrote: »

That is because they had a 7-year old on fifa17 doing their transfers the last few years.
Might have, arguably, the best set of 3 forward players in the world, if you have no one behind them who can give them the ball, you ll be found out.

Hope Monaco win it. If only for the fact they have a manger who 1 season puts about the most boring teams in the world on the pitch and the next the most exciting one.

Trouble with those kind of teams, the scoring for fun ones, is they always have 1 match where their finishing lets them down.

Also Monaco aren't going to be playing against a team as flaky in defence as Man City and Dortmund are.

NIMAN

Messi and Neymar had an incredible amount of time on the ball last night, so to say they had no supply is fake news.

Barca also had more possession in the away leg too iirc, so I'm sure they seen plenty of the ball that night too.

So the argument is whether they are up to it or if the juve defence is just excellent at doing their job? We aren't even talking about Suarez, he was anonymous over the 2 games.

And I also think it was first time in 15 games barca failed to score at home. In the CL up to now they were scoring for fun at camp nou.

So I'm going to go with option b, and give credit to Juve.

inforfun

Indeed.
They might be best of with Real as it comes to that. At least they have some in the last line that might lose their head and get sent off.

chopperbyrne

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Hopefully the semis are Atletico v Real and Juve v Monaco with the final being Atletico v Juve.

An Atletico v Juve final would be great as whoever wins you could be happy for them.

I wouldn't be happy if Juve won. They are a scummy club, and have been for generations. As evident by them being implicit in match fixing in Italy.

I want Real to win because I like the way they play.

NIMAN

I think a Juve Atleti game could be a dull affair.

Dirty Dingus McGee

chopperbyrne wrote: »

I wouldn't be happy if Juve won. They are a scummy club, and have been for generations. As evident by them being implicit in match fixing in Italy.

I want Real to win because I like the way they play.

I mainly want Juve to win because of Buffon,Chiellini ,Bonucci and Barzagli.All class acts who haven't won the champions league.

I'm pretty sure every single Italian club have been dodgy in the past to some degree.

The Golden Miller

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Did people actually say you know nothing or that your Ronaldo bashing is idiotic, because there is a big difference between the 2.

I notice all the backhanded compliments you've been throwing towards Ronaldo since Tuesday night to try and cover yourself now that your prediction about him blew up in your face.

Regularly said I know nothing about football. Which back handed compliments are these?

chopperbyrne wrote: »

I wouldn't be happy if Juve won. They are a scummy club, and have been for generations. As evident by them being implicit in match fixing in Italy.

I want Real to win because I like the way they play.

Ah come on. You can't call Juve a scummy club, and then hope one of the most corrupt clubs, the club of the Spanish establishment, goes on to win. The Spanish tax payer has paid for Real's 11 European Cups

Subacio

Billy86 wrote: »

No matter which anyone prefers (if either at all), there is no denying that as a general overall fanbase they put their rivals in Madrid to utter shame.

That's a little unfair on Real fans, I think. In recent memory I can recall them giving Iniesta a standing ovation as he was substituted near the end of a 4-0 defeat and Ronaldinho brought them to their feet in similar fashion after destroying them in "The Classic".

inforfun

They really have no shame......

HalloweenJack

Would love to see Atleti and Monaco in the final, just so we could have a new winner. I imagine Monaco would win it.

I think Monaco Madrid would be the most entertaining tie. Hope Atleti get Madrid because I reckon they could do them over two legs.

Jan_de_Bakker

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

I thought it was lazy by his standards.
He seems to believe that the Premier leagues money will strip teams like Barcelona of top players.
Has he forgotten about brexit, the drop in sterling, work visas etc?
The standard of football in the Premier league is on a downward slope, one team in the last eight of the Champions league, none in the last four.
It's miles behind La liga in terms of technical skill.

Don't think Brexit will have any effect on the PL to be honest ...

Jan_de_Bakker

inforfun wrote: »

They really have no shame......

Of course, this is mundo deportivo ... that and SPORT are just Barca Propoganda rags ... hate them ...

In 2009 after the 0-0 Barca - Chelsea match they had as a headline :

IN LONDON, WE PASS TO THE SEMIS

absolute arrogant ***** ...

in 2012 after 1st leg in London (CFC 1 - 0 Barca)

WE ARE IN MUNICH

oh yeah .... :cool: :cool: :cool:

inforfun

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

I thought it was lazy by his standards.
He seems to believe that the Premier leagues money will strip teams like Barcelona of top players.
Has he forgotten about brexit, the drop in sterling, work visas etc?
The standard of football in the Premier league is on a downward slope, one team in the last eight of the Champions league, none in the last four.
It's miles behind La liga in terms of technical skill.

Been the case for quite a while now.
But the UEFA took care of that by giving away 50% of the group stage spots to the "big 4"

jacool

inforfun wrote: »

They really have no shame......

Barcelona might feel that they have a point, if they are talking about Neymar's booking when no Juve player was booked for the foul.
To use the picture of Iniesta who had just committed a blatant professional foul wasn't clever though!

TheCitizen

chopperbyrne wrote: »

I wouldn't be happy if Juve won. They are a scummy club, and have been for generations. As evident by them being implicit in match fixing in Italy.

I want Real to win because I like the way they play.

You don't want Juve to win cos they're scummy and you want Real to win instead
Lol.

Jan_de_Bakker

The SF draw is tomorrow correct ?

edit - yes it is

http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=2459098.html

Giggsy11

The Golden Miller wrote: »

I'm just sitting here very smugly, reminiscing on all the times I've been told I know nothing about football by certain posters after I've given an honest opinion on Ronaldo. Calling him a world class goal scorer but not close to being on Cryuff or Maradona's level means you know nothing about football apparently. But alas, that's just how it goes

I'm saying it again, you know **** all about football.

Quazzie

Giggsy11 wrote: »

I'm saying it again, you know **** all about football.

Do you not think that perhaps, you might be a bit biased in your opinion?

Giggsy11

Quazzie wrote: »

Do you not think that perhaps, you might be a bit biased in your opinion?

Biased about what?

If you are playing Ronaldo card, I have praised Messi lot of times too.

inforfun

jacool wrote: »

Barcelona might feel that they have a point, if they are talking about Neymar's booking when no Juve player was booked for the foul.
To use the picture of Iniesta who had just committed a blatant professional foul wasn't clever though!

That might have been a mistake.
You can hardly say the ref is the opponents 12th men because of 1 mistake.
And certainly not after what happened in barca - PSG.
You better be quiet for a bit then as it comes to accusing referees favouring your opponents.

jacool

I was laughing earlier on about the two posters arguing over how well or poorly Juan Cuadrado played, until I logged onto UEFA.com to see he won the MOTM award! I thought he was adequate as an out ball but he achieved little with the possession, save run down the clock. All the stats showed how attacking Barca were in what was a really enjoyable game. Personally, I would have given the MOTM to Neymar because he tried his socks off and looked like the only one who might get close to testing Buffon.
Juventus' stats on UEFA.com make them appear nigh on invincible at home, so whoever draws them should hope for the home tie first to get some kind of advantage when heading to Turin. 531 minutes now since conceding - their defence is unreal. I'd like to see them drawn with Real Madrid in the semi-finals now, although the "hot balls" might keep them apart.
So my suspicious mind says that Juventus will draw Atletico, with the first leg in Italy, meaning that Real can host Monaco in their first leg.
It makes it easier to manage life in Madrid without having games there on consecutive days.

The UEFA website is very polite and tip-toes around controversy - no mentions of offside and this quote "Casemiro was adjudged to have tripped Robben" doesn't say if he did or didn't trip him! The stats for free are interesting too. Bayern committed 3 times the fouls of Real but got 6 times the amount of cards.
Last night Juve committed double the amount of fouls of Barca yet both got 2 yellows, which makes sense as Neymar got booked for dissent. Bayern must be really bad though as their foul count was on a par with Juve's (22 vs 20) - they must just be a bunch of hackers!!

Quazzie

Giggsy11 wrote: »

Biased about what?

If you are playing Ronaldo card, I have praised Messi lot of times too.

About Ronaldo. I just tend to find it's very hard to find a United fan that doesn't wear rose tinted glasses when talking about Ronaldo.

Shanotheslayer

The Golden Miller wrote: »

The Talking Bread wrote: »

So what odds will you give for him not scoring again? You gave evens last time so with less possible games left, you will need to raise the bar! Let's see how naive you are again!

Not really. Evens is still a great price

Can I take €20 on evens on Ronaldo to score another goal in tournament?

Giggsy11

Quazzie wrote: »

About Ronaldo. I just tend to find it's very hard to find a United fan that doesn't wear rose tinted glasses when talking about Ronaldo.

Then you are very much wrong.

Shanotheslayer

sReq | uTeK wrote: »

GreNoLi wrote: »

Was sickened by last nights shenanigoats, left a bad taste, hope juve can wash it down.

Easy progression for Juve. This Barcelona team have no bottle and it will show tonight, no leaders on the pitch and one very petulant genius who doesn't show up much when the chips are down

Jesus fantastic call saying the team that won 0-3 away would progress easy.

Mystic Meg over here

Quazzie

Giggsy11 wrote: »

Then you are very much wrong.

If you say so :rolleyes:

irishman86

The Golden Miller wrote: »

I'm just sitting here very smugly, reminiscing on all the times I've been told I know nothing about football by certain posters after I've given an honest opinion on Ronaldo. Calling him a world class goal scorer but not close to being on Cryuff or Maradona's level means you know nothing about football apparently. But alas, that's just how it goes

You made one decent call. Juve/Atletico not exactly magic calls. Infact I thought Juve/Atletico/Madrid the same with many so I still think you know nothing. Carry on being smug though, its a delusion

Giggsy11

Quazzie wrote: »

If you say so :rolleyes:

Obviously. Boards.ie doesn't represent ManUtd fans all over the world. At best you have 5-10 ManUtd fans who post regularly about Ronaldo on boards.

For a record check RedCafe and how many rates Messi miles better than Ronaldo.

jmayo

theoneeyedman wrote: »

...
Juventus are one of the great underachievers in European football (only 2 European Cups) if anyone can lose this, they can.

WTF.
You do know that the great Barcelona club some are always raving about only won their first European Cup in 1992 and it was thanks to a dodgy free kick.
Take out the Barcelona team of the last 12 years and they would have had 1 (yes 1) European Cup.

Kitsunegari wrote: »

It's great to see Barca not getting away with their usual antics. This ref is a breath of fresh air.

It was fantastic to watch a ref that wasn't giving Barca free kicks every time someone touched them and he didn't put up with the old flies around a cowshyte approach adopted by Barca of old where they cornered and badgered the ref to book people.

He quiet quickly told perennial whiner Busquets to zip it.

Armchair Andy wrote: »

Leicester must be watching thinking if only we had got Barcelona

Please tell me you are not comparing the Leicester defense to Juve's ?

Bridge93 wrote: »

Nou Camp really is an incredible crowd and ground

StringerBell wrote: »

Not something I say too often, not something you feel you can say very often.

But, fair play to the Barcelona fans there toward the end.

Actually rather that whoop up the Barca fans I would complain about them.
There were a hell of a lot of empty seats by the end and the flag wavers were masking it.
So much for backing your team to the end. :rolleyes:

If you want to look at great supporters look at likes of Celtic whose fans suffer to the end to watch their team on European nights.

Andersonisgod wrote: »

The times they are changing and changes, real changes, must come to Barcelona in the summer. This tie more than any other shows that. It's Rijkaard 2008, it's a semi final defeat to Man Utd without scoring, it's an incredibly poor league campaign. Laporta appointed the totally untested Guardiola and the rest is history. Here we are again, what does Bartomeu do? Does he play it safe, or does he take a risk and give this club what it desperately needs?

By the way, I love Neymar and I love how much Neymar loves Bar?a. Put him in the right situation, football will be his.

Big difference is the next guy is not going to be gifted a golden generation and probably once in a lifetime homegrown academy of greats like Messi, Iniesta and Xavi.

irishman86

TheCitizen wrote: »

You don't want Juve to win cos they're scummy and you want Real to win instead
Lol.

Are you sure you know what neutral means. Because more and more I think you dont

The Talking Bread

Juve haven't concedes in open play in CL this season!!

The Golden Miller

Corholio wrote: »

Smugly over what? a few quarter finals predictions and something completely separate to the whole Ronaldo argument?

They weren't quater-final predictions, called it well before a ball was even kicked in the knock-out stages. Fairly predictable stuff. I was joking with the smug comment of course, still, not bad for someone who knows nothing about football

sReq | uTeK wrote: »

I don't think he's aware of the Irony in his posts calling someone a world class goal scorer who doesn't affect a game...even though scoring goals is widely accepted as the hardest part of modern football and it's goals that sways and wins games.

I never said it wasn't important. But there's 11 players that contribute. Unless football should now be a game of 1v1? I guess most prolific strikers were better players than Maradona and Cruyff? Ah, lets not get into this again. Well until the next thread lauding a limited goal scorer as the best of all time

Giggsy11 wrote: »

I'm saying it again, you know **** all about football.

Good lad

irishman86 wrote: »

You made one decent call. Juve/Atletico not exactly magic calls. Infact I thought Juve/Atletico/Madrid the same with many so I still think you know nothing. Carry on being smug though, its a delusion

Ah here, I had PSG to hammer Barca in the first leg, Monaco to beat Dortmund in the first game and both to score, Juve -1 in the first leg, and another one or two over the thread. Got one wrong. Not that I'm bragging, they were all fairly predictable results imo. Just funny watching others continually call games wrong, then turn around and tell me I know nothing

Shanotheslayer wrote: »

Can I take €20 on evens on Ronaldo to score another goal in tournament?

You can indeed, penalties excluded as was the conditions the original bet was taken on

irishman86

The Golden Miller wrote: »

They weren't quater-final predictions, called it well before a ball was even kicked in the knock-out stages. Fairly predictable stuff. I was joking with the smug comment of course, still, not bad for someone who knows nothing about football



I never said it wasn't important. But there's 11 players that contribute. Unless football should now be a game of 1v1? I guess most prolific strikers were better players than Maradona and Cruuff? Ah, lets not get into this again. Well until the next thread lauding a limited goal scorer as the best of all time



Good lad



Ah here, I had PSG to hammer Barca in the first leg, Monaco to beat Dortmund in the first game and both to score, Juve -1 in the first leg, and another one or two over the thread. Got one wrong. Not that I'm bragging, they were all fairly predictable results imo. Just funny watching others continually call games wrong, then turn around and tell me I know nothing



You can indeed, penalties excluded as was the conditions the original bet was taken on

Who called them wrong, I dont think Im the only one who say City losing to Monaco. Its not surprising that a team in shock after a bomb attack loses tbh. PSG are my team so Im had confidence theyd beat them in Paris. For me these arent shocking results. Some people are swung by names like Barcelona but if you just go on to betting sites you will see these werent that shocking of results. The only shocking result Ive seen so far is Barca beating PSG by the amount they did in Barcelona and well.....
Ill come back to you when the draw is made and we shall see how much you get right

The Golden Miller

irishman86 wrote: »

Who called them wrong, I dont think Im the only one who say City losing to Monaco. Its not surprising that a team in shock after a bomb attack loses tbh. PSG are my team so Im had confidence theyd beat them in Paris. For me these arent shocking results. Some people are swung by names like Barcelona but if you just go on to betting sites you will see these werent that shocking of results. The only shocking result Ive seen so far is Barca beating PSG by the amount they did in Barcelona and well.....
Ill come back to you when the draw is made and we shall see how much you get right

It's easy to rationalise bets after the result. There were very few calling Monaco as certs to win the first leg etc, lest not being contenders to win it outright. If you want to scrawl through the thread then be my guest. I don't really care about the bets, my only point was that it's mildly amusing seeing as several posters, including yourself, have regularly slated me for knowing nothing about football

thelad95

Have to say it was nice to see Barcelona so easily shut out last night and indeed over the two legs. There were so many Johnny big balls fanboys saying Barca would walk to a 4-0 or 5-0 win but if there's any team who wouldn't do a PSG on it, it's Juve.

irishman86

The Golden Miller wrote: »

It's easy to rationalise bets after the result. There were very few calling Monaco as certs to win the first leg etc, lest not being contenders to win it outright. If you want to scrawl through the thread then be my guest. I don't really care about the bets, my only point was that it's mildly amusing seeing as several posters, including yourself, have regularly slated me for knowing nothing about football

I think you do know nothing about football, but please find where I said any of those teams mentioned wouldnt progress. I said you know nothing about football from reading your other posts and this is all based on when I joined the forum. Weve never debated CL results. You showed with Ronaldo you know nothing about football for me, everything else was a hint but that drove it home. Like I said when the draw happens, lets see how many results you get right. Its not rationalizing anything its right in your face, imagine playing a match after you have proper feared for your life, Dortmund did well to make a match of it.

Harambe

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Juve haven't concedes in open play in CL this season!!

Wow that's seriously impressive.

The Golden Miller

irishman86 wrote: »

I think you do know nothing about football, but please find where I said any of those teams mentioned wouldnt progress. I said you know nothing about football from reading your other posts and this is all based on when I joined the forum. Weve never debated CL results. You showed with Ronaldo you know nothing about football for me, everything else was a hint but that drove it home. Like I said when the draw happens, lets see how many results you get right. Its not rationalizing anything its right in your face, imagine playing a match after you have proper feared for your life, Dortmund did well to make a match of it.

I never said you didn't say that they wouldn't progress. You must of missed the part where I was speaking in general terms with the word "posterS". Getting a bit petty now, I've called Ronaldo a world class goal scorer who wouldn't be up on a pedastal with the Messi's, Maradona's, Cruyff's and Zidane's of this world, but alongside the other great goal scorers like Gerd Muller etc i.e huge shortcomings in his game outside of goal scoring, which isn't the case with the other top top players. That's a fair and honest opinion, which many other people agree with, the Madrid fans and president have also been on his back all season due to these shortcomings. If that equates to me knowing nothing about football in the eye's of someone who can't differentiate between playmaking and assist stats, then so be it