2016-17 UEFA Champions League

Mr.Nice Guy

Lucas! 2-2!

PSG with the advantage in the group now.

Edit: may be an Iwobi O.G. Xhaka on as a sub - I think he should have started.

A Dub in Glasgo

blueser wrote: »

Do you REALLY need to ask? Bypassing my own bias, I wouldn't have minded seeing the Arsenal game tonight. But it was never going to happen.

You can, just get BT Sport

jamescd

Would have been a comfortable save if it wasn't for Iwobi's touch.

Lol Cavani

Mr.Nice Guy

Oh Cavani spurns a chance to make it 3!

This is a great game.

jamescd

The Ox coming on again at RB. Arsene hoping to replicate that late goal against Man U.

And Cavani misses another sitter.

Mr.Nice Guy

That was a sensational run from Cavani. Sensational.

...and then he missed. :pac:

Andersonisgod

Messi has scored 2, he's set up Suarez for 2 sitters, he's produced his fair share of awe-inspiring moments, in short it's just another Messi performance.

jamescd

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

That was a sensational run from Cavani. Sensational.

...and then he missed. :pac:

He missed a boat load of chances in the 1st game against Arsenal too. He scores 1, but then misses 3 or 4.

A Dub in Glasgo

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Messi has scored 2, he's set up Suarez for 2 sitters, he's produced his fair share of awe-inspiring moments, in short it's just another Messi performance.

He missed 2 sitters as well so he is human afterall

RoryMac

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Messi has scored 2, he's set up Suarez for 2 sitters, he's produced his fair share of awe-inspiring moments, in short it's just another Messi performance.

Meh, he's no Scott Brown

Mr.Nice Guy

jamescd wrote: »

He missed a boat load of chances in the 1st game against Arsenal too. He scores 1, but then misses 3 or 4.

That's him in a nutshell. He possesses quality but he's not clinical enough to be in the top bracket of strikers like Suarez, Aguero, Lewandowski etc.

A Dub in Glasgo

Rakitic for Barca clearly wanting a yellow to miss the next game and gets it

Andersonisgod

Barça qualify top of their group with a game in hand, is in frightening form everytime he steps onto a pitch. Things look good.

Mr.Nice Guy

Full-Time. 2-2.

Considering the circumstances, Arsenal should be pleased with that point. PSG were the better team and ought to have won had Cavani done his job better. Arsenal were fortunate with their goals tonight.

Emery would have got a ton of stick in the Paris press had PSG lost.

castletownman

Just to put Leicester's qualification into perspective....

Of the last 16 teams, seven of them have won the Champions League (or European Cup) before. Of the remaining others, Sevilla hold the record for most Europa League titles, Atletico have won that particular trophy twice (and have finished runners-up in the Champions League twice in the last two years), while Leverkusen and Napoli have won the UEFA Cup once. Furthermore, Arsenal, Manchester City and PSG have one Cup Winners Cup each.

Of the "rest", while Monaco have never won a European trophy, they were runners-up in both the Cup Winners Cup and the 2004 Champions League final, and have seven domestic titles to their name. Should Besiktas' fighting spirit be rewarded with a deserved last 16 berth, they have also never won a European trophy, but have never been relegated from the Turkish top flight, and have won fourteen league titles in all.

But not alone is Leicester's superb form in the Champions League this year a remarkable achievement in terms of their historic standing on the European stage, but they may well be a modern-day anomaly to the competition as a whole.

In fact, since the turn of the millennium, seven teams in the top five of the Roll of Honour have shared fourteen titles between them (15 if you include joint-sixth placed Porto). Barcelona have won 80% of their Champions League/European Cup titles in this time-frame, Bayern Munich 40%, Real Madrid 36%, Man United and Inter one-third of their tally, AC Milan 28% and Liverpool 20%.

Not suggesting for one minute they will go the distance (they won't), but it's madness all the same.

Skylinehead

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Full-Time. 2-2.

Considering the circumstances, Arsenal should be pleased with that point.

Not really, this might as well be a loss. PSG will handily beat Ludogorets at home to top the group now.

citytillidie

Results
Group A
Arsenal (ENG) 2 V 2 Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL) 0 V 0 Basel (SUI)

Group B
Beşiktaş (TUR) 3 V 3 SL Benfica (POR)
Napoli (ITA) 0 V 0 Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)

Group C
Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER) 1 V 1 Manchester City (ENG)
Celtic (SCO) 0 V 2 FC Barcelona (ESP)

Group D
Rostov (RUS) 3 V 2 FC Bayern München (GER) 5pm
Atlético Madrid (ESP) 2 V 0 PSV Eindhoven (NED)

Group E
CSKA Moskva (RUS) 1 V 1 Bayer Leverkusen (GER) 5pm
Monaco (FRA) 2 V 1 Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)

Group F
Borussia Dortmund (GER) 8 V 4 Legia Warszawa (POL)
Sporting CP (POR) 1 V 2 Real Madrid (ESP)

Group G
FC København (DEN) 0 V 0 Porto (POR)
Leicester City (ENG) 2 V 1 Club Brugge (BEL)

Group H
GNK Dinamo (CRO) 0 V 1 Lyon (FRA)
Sevilla (ESP) 1 V 3 Juventus (ITA)

Last 16
Arsenal (ENG)
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
FC Barcelona (ESP)
Manchester City (ENG)
Atlético Madrid (ESP)
FC Bayern München (GER)
Borussia Dortmund (GER)
Real Madrid (ESP)
Monaco (FRA)
Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
Leicester City (ENG)
Juventus (ITA)

Mr.Nice Guy

Skylinehead wrote: »

Not really, this might as well be a loss. PSG will handily beat Ludogorets at home to top the group now.

Yeah I think you're right. Ludogorets will likely park the bus but I can't see them holding out for 90 minutes.

rwbug

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Yeah I think you're right. Ludogorets will likely park the bus but I can't see them holding out for 90 minutes.

Doesn't really matter this season if you finish first or second compared to other years.

theoneeyedman

Re:Leicester.
The big achievement still was winning the epl last year, much more than topping the champions league group IMHO. The seeding meant they had a handy group that any decent team would have qualified from,.... we'll apart from Spurs obviously

That said, I wouldn't rule them out of going deep into the competition. With their defensive, counterattacking style, they will be well suited to the knock out stages, and may ruffle a few feathers yet.

Pighead

What on earth were Borussia Monchengladbach playing at against Man City earlier? They had to win to stand any chance of qualifying and they just sat deep for the final five minutes and allowed Man City to leisurely pass the ball around without putting in a tackle. And then when it finished the manager seemed to do a wee fist bump as if he was happy with the draw. Am I missing something here?

The Talking Bread

Pighead wrote: »

What on earth were Borussia Monchengladbach playing at against Man City earlier? They had to win to stand any chance of qualifying and they just sat deep for the final five minutes and allowed Man City to leisurely pass the ball around without putting in a tackle. And then when it finished the manager seemed to do a wee fist bump as if he was happy with the draw. Am I missing something here?

The clear mentality of the manager going into the game was Europa League. It's obvious fro this that a point was the aim.

Strange mentality I guess given how the game panned out

http://theukbulletin.com/2016/11/22/monchengladbach-aiming-for-europa-league-spot-admits-manager-andre-schubert/

NIMAN

He was celebrating at the final whistle like he had won the game too.

rwbug

NIMAN wrote: »

He was celebrating at the final whistle like he had won the game too.

https://twitter.com/City_Watch/status/801550517788872704

inforfun

castletownman wrote: »

Just to put Leicester's qualification into perspective....

Of the last 16 teams, seven of them have won the Champions League (or European Cup) before. Of the remaining others, Sevilla hold the record for most Europa League titles, Atletico have won that particular trophy twice (and have finished runners-up in the Champions League twice in the last two years), while Leverkusen and Napoli have won the UEFA Cup once. Furthermore, Arsenal, Manchester City and PSG have one Cup Winners Cup each.

Of the "rest", while Monaco have never won a European trophy, they were runners-up in both the Cup Winners Cup and the 2004 Champions League final, and have seven domestic titles to their name. Should Besiktas' fighting spirit be rewarded with a deserved last 16 berth, they have also never won a European trophy, but have never been relegated from the Turkish top flight, and have won fourteen league titles in all.

But not alone is Leicester's superb form in the Champions League this year a remarkable achievement in terms of their historic standing on the European stage, but they may well be a modern-day anomaly to the competition as a whole.

In fact, since the turn of the millennium, seven teams in the top five of the Roll of Honour have shared fourteen titles between them (15 if you include joint-sixth placed Porto). Barcelona have won 80% of their Champions League/European Cup titles in this time-frame, Bayern Munich 40%, Real Madrid 36%, Man United and Inter one-third of their tally, AC Milan 28% and Liverpool 20%.

Not suggesting for one minute they will go the distance (they won't), but it's madness all the same.

They did well for sure.
But lets be honest, they were in a bit of a mickey mouse group.
I ld give Feyenoord more chance to get out of the CL group of Leicester than the EL group they are actually in (Fener, Utd, Zorya)

CalamariFritti

Pighead wrote: »

What on earth were Borussia Monchengladbach playing at against Man City earlier? They had to win to stand any chance of qualifying and they just sat deep for the final five minutes and allowed Man City to leisurely pass the ball around without putting in a tackle. And then when it finished the manager seemed to do a wee fist bump as if he was happy with the draw. Am I missing something here?

Yes, I think you are.

Qualifying for the champions league knock outs was a very long shot even before this match.

They had to beat City obviously to draw level on points. But since they lost 4:0 at the Etihad it would still leave them behind City if it came to a tie afaik. So lets assume for one moment they beat City. It still means they'd have to travel to the Camp Nous on the last day while City play Celtic at home with the task of getting more points than City from that last match. I'd say the odds would have been very loooong on that one.

I know its never over 'til its over and all that. But the draw at least meant they have the EL secured (afaik) whereas had they conceded one more coming bottom in the group had become a real possibility again.

So it wasn't so dumb after all.

It was a very unlucky draw for Gladbach to end up with City, Barca & Celtic in a group. But it's all good. They got a good sniff at the CL played some of the biggest teams there are and didn't disgrace themselves. In fact they gave it a good shot and will draw from those experiences. If I was a Gladbach fan I wouldn't be unhappy at all. And they will be a tough team play against in the EL, too.

citytillidie

Playing Tuesday
Group A
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) V Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL)
Basel (SUI) V Arsenal (ENG)

Group B
Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) V Beşiktaş (TUR)
SL Benfica (POR) V Napoli (ITA)

Group C
FC Barcelona (ESP) V Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER)
Manchester City (ENG) V Celtic (SCO)

Group D
FC Bayern München (GER) V Atlético Madrid (ESP)
PSV Eindhoven (NED) V Rostov (RUS)

Playing Wednesday
Group E
Bayer Leverkusen (GER) V Monaco (FRA)
Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) V CSKA Moskva (RUS)

Group F
Real Madrid (ESP) V Borussia Dortmund (GER)
Legia Warszawa (POL) V Sporting CP (POR)

Group G
Club Brugge (BEL) V FC København (DEN)
Porto (POR) V Leicester City (ENG)

Group H
Lyon (FRA) V Sevilla (ESP)
Juventus (ITA) V GNK Dinamo (CRO)

Vincent Vega

What's the match to watch?

LuckyGent88

Gordon should have done better

Burial.

Iheanacho>Rashford

LuckyGent88

Have to finish that dembele. What a run from Forrest.

Jelle1880

Besiktas just got completely ****ed by Craig Thompson, what a joke of a call.

Never a penalty, never a red card and now they are 3-0 down.

Flint Fredstone

Arsenal look like topping their group, Bayern are finishing second. Just saying...

Turtwig

That was shocking.
Clear pullback on Celtic player.

LuckyGent88

Scandalous not to give Celtic a pen for the drag back on Roberts. Right in front of the official behind the goal too.

Flint Fredstone

Burial. wrote: »

Iheanacho>Rashford

Such a small time comment :pac:

Burial.

Jelle1880 wrote: »

Besiktas just got completely ****ed by Craig Thompson, what a joke of a call.

Never a penalty, never a red card and now they are 3-0 down.

Free to the defender if anything. Disgraceful.

LuckyGent88

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Scandalous not to give Celtic a pen for the drag back on Roberts. Right in front of the official behind the goal too.

The '5th wheel' is often a term used for surplus to requirements, useless etc. Same with these 5th officials. Video replays can't come soon enough.

Mr.Nice Guy

Just saw the PSG scoreline. Emery's going to get slaughtered if that scoreline stays the same. He was brought in to improve them in Europe.

irelandrover

Jelle1880 wrote: »

Besiktas just got completely ****ed by Craig Thompson, what a joke of a call.

Never a penalty, never a red card and now they are 3-0 down.

Worst decision I've seen in a long time

jamescd

Flint Fredstone wrote: »

Arsenal look like topping their group, Bayern are finishing second. Just saying...

Lol are you trying to jinx them? If PSG come back to win, they'd still top the group no matter how many Arsenal score against Basel because of the head to head rule. 1 - 0 isn't a big lead by any means and there's still plenty of time left.

Edit: Aaand they've already equalised.

Mr.Nice Guy

Cavani with a great overhead kick! 1-1.

irelandrover

Another red for besiktas. second yellow for kicking the ball away.

Mr.Nice Guy

PSG denied a stonewall peno for handball.

https://twitter.com/GuillaumL_/status/806244171489148928

mansize

Robben diving apu

Mr.Nice Guy

Ludogorets lead 2-1! :eek:

(This match is on BT Sport ESPN and is really worth a look now)

Finishing 1st not great this time around.

Probably Madrid, Munich and PSG await

Francie Barrett

Man City look absolutely awful, amazing to think this is a Pepe Guardiola team.

Flint Fredstone

Haven't seen much of City this season. Is it fair to say Sané has been a bit disappointing so far? He has been pretty ineffective any time I have managed to see him play.

Mr.Nice Guy

"They're doing this for Arsenal because they're already through to the Europa League" says the BT commentator speaking about Ludogorets.

Pretty sure winning away to PSG would be the greatest result in Ludogorets' history, so I'd say they're doing it for themselves.