2018-19 UEFA Champions League

inforfun

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Would this have happened if it was another team?

It didnt happen when PSV asked for it a couple of years ago when they played Atletico.
Some new people at the Dutch FA since then.
In those days it was a matter of PSV asking, FA goign to the opponent of that particular match and asking of they were willing to postpone.
Now it is the FA just doing it.
So i like to think it would have bene done for others too.

European results have been quite bad for The Netherlands in recent years, the new guys in the FA had that high on the agenda to see if they could help the teams involved.

I am very curious about the scheduling of next season. If there will will be league rounds around EL\CL qualifiers for example. Because getting the Dutch teams into the group stages is very important.
Also the ridiculous scheduling of the top matches (PSV,Ajax,Feyenoord) in weekends after euro football should stop.
It isnt fair if PSV - Feyenoord is played on Sunday after psv played cl on tuesday and feyenoord away from home in Ukraine on thursday.

Give both teams cannon fodder in those weekends

citytillidie wrote: »

Or the Dutch FA could have moved the Ajax game to the Saturday, the ties were played as they were drawn with Spurs V Ajax being drawn as Semi-Final 1 so played on the Tuesday 1st

Ajax wasnt wlecome on the 27th at De Graafschap.

Ever heard of Koningsdag in Amsterdam? It is countrywide like that and on the 27th.
Also, rule is that the last 2 gameweeks in The Netherlands all matches are played at the same time.
With PSV and Ajax both having the same amount of points, that is now more important as well.

UEFA should look at who is available when instead of just drawing and have the national leagues sort out the **** show resulting from it.

ArmaniJeanss

inforfun wrote: »

UEFA should look at who is available when instead of just drawing and have the national leagues sort out the **** show resulting from it.

Have to completely disagree here.
UEFA should continue to schedule the ties as they see fit, and the other associations should fit their domestic games around them.

I think UEFA have shown some flexibility over the years (a Celtic Linfield tie was allowed take place on a date other than the scheduled 12th July) but just because something is an inconvenience for the Dutch FA shouldn't be a factor.

inforfun

Because a 34 gameweek long league schedule is easier to design and plan than 2 semi finals?

Uefa being flexible for july 12th but not for a national holiday in The Netherlands is ridiculous.

bucketybuck

inforfun wrote: »

Because a 34 gameweek long league schedule is easier to design and plan than 2 semi finals?

Uefa being flexible for july 12th but not for a national holiday in The Netherlands is ridiculous.

Celtic v Linfield on the 12th of July is basically a health and safety problem, not just an inconvenience. It is very much a different context than moving a game because of a national holiday.

And this conversation just proves why Uefa should set their schedule and leave it to the national federations to sort their own stuff out. They would never be able to please everybody no matter what to do, far better not to open that can of worms unless for very exceptional circumstances.

Fitz*

Reports that Iker Casillas suffered a heart attack today while training.

Hopefully he will be ok.

xtal191

FitzShane wrote: »

Reports that Iker Casillas suffered a heart attack today while training.

Hopefully he will be ok.

****ing hell, thats terrible. Hope he's alright

5star02707

Sad about Casillas hope he recovers fully and quickly

GavRedKing

More than likely the end of his career but thats small fry in hte grand scheme of things, hopefully he recovers fully.

citytillidie

inforfun wrote: »

It didnt happen when PSV asked for it a couple of years ago when they played Atletico.
Some new people at the Dutch FA since then.
In those days it was a matter of PSV asking, FA goign to the opponent of that particular match and asking of they were willing to postpone.
Now it is the FA just doing it.
So i like to think it would have bene done for others too.

European results have been quite bad for The Netherlands in recent years, the new guys in the FA had that high on the agenda to see if they could help the teams involved.

I am very curious about the scheduling of next season. If there will will be league rounds around EL\CL qualifiers for example. Because getting the Dutch teams into the group stages is very important.
Also the ridiculous scheduling of the top matches (PSV,Ajax,Feyenoord) in weekends after euro football should stop.
It isnt fair if PSV - Feyenoord is played on Sunday after psv played cl on tuesday and feyenoord away from home in Ukraine on thursday.

Give both teams cannon fodder in those weekends




Ajax wasnt wlecome on the 27th at De Graafschap.

Ever heard of Koningsdag in Amsterdam? It is countrywide like that and on the 27th.
Also, rule is that the last 2 gameweeks in The Netherlands all matches are played at the same time.
With PSV and Ajax both having the same amount of points, that is now more important as well.

UEFA should look at who is available when instead of just drawing and have the national leagues sort out the **** show resulting from it.

That is important to the Netherlands league not UEFA. Did Ajax make a request with UEFA to change the game? I know Liverpool have done in the past as they were scheduled one time to play on April 15th and UEFA were happy enough to change the game out of respect.

citytillidie

Semi-final 1st leg Results
Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) 0 V 1 Ajax (NED)
Barcelona (ESP) 3 V 0 Liverpool (ENG)

ShamoBuc

Great game, no idea how pool did not score, they really should have.

Tigerandahalf

Wonderful game, one of the best I have seen in the Champions League.

Fine margins. Liverpool had 4 great chances, took none. Barcelona rode their luck. They looked in trouble before that 2nd goal.

I thought Matip was excellent as were the entire back 4.

Enjoyed Steve McManamon on BT.

Hopefully an equally good 2nd leg on the way.

ShamoBuc

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Wonderful game, one of the best I have seen in the Champions League.

Fine margins. Liverpool had 4 great chances, took none. Barcelona rode their luck. They looked in trouble before that 2nd goal.

I thought Matip was excellent as were the entire back 4.

Enjoyed Steve McManamon on BT.

Hopefully an equally good 2nd leg on the way.

Matip had a great game, better than VVD, but Gomez was lost in space at times and overall was very poor.

AidoEirE

Mane misses some sitters to be fair

Tigerandahalf

ShamoBuc wrote: »

Matip had a great game, better than VVD, but Gomez was lost in space at times and overall was very poor.

I thought he did well considering how long he has been out injured. He is a good footballer and much better defender than Alexander Arnold, who gives the ball away a lot.

Not sure on the Liverpool goalie. Doesn't look convincing at times. Perhaps the language is an issue for him and will develop more next season.

Liverpool are building a nice squad. Hopefully they can hold onto their big players and add another few for depth. Perhaps another physical 9 needed too?

Berserker

Shocked by the scoreline in this one. Did not think that Liverpool would draw a blank in the away leg and didn't think that Barcelona would get three against them. Massively tricky fixture for Liverpool next week.

ShamoBuc wrote: »

Great game, no idea how pool did not score, they really should have.

That Salah miss near the end was potentially massive. He should have scored. However, if Dembele had scored at the very end, you'd have to think that the tie would have been over. Liverpool still have a chance but they'll need to keep a clean sheet.

AidoEirE wrote: »

Mane misses some sitters to be fair

He did but Salah's chance was the best of the lot. Milner had some wonderful chances also.

Berserker

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Not sure on the Liverpool goalie. Doesn't look convincing at times. Perhaps the language is an issue for him and will develop more next season.

Liverpool are building a nice squad. Hopefully they can hold onto their big players and add another few for depth. Perhaps another physical 9 needed too?

Strange post. Their keeper has had a wonderful season. Liverpool are not building a nice squad, they a top notch XI but they don't have enough quality on the bench. Those lads are going to have to play at Newcastle and on Tuesday, given Liverpool's position in both tournaments.

dr.kenneth noisewater

Tigerandahalf wrote:

Enjoyed Steve McManamon on BT.

Id say you were in the minority there

inforfun

The first 15 minutes of the 2nd half barca were there for the taking and i was thinking, even if it stays 1-0, next week we will see a repeat of last years Roma - barca result.
But then Messi stepped up.
And a great free kick it was was but we all know by now that Messi is member of a football club. Vidal's tackle on Mane near the end was my moment of the match.

ThunbergsAreGo

inforfun wrote: »

The first 15 minutes of the 2nd half barca were there for the taking and i was thinking, even if it stays 1-0, next week we will see a repeat of last years Roma - barca result.
But them Messi stepped up.
And a great free kick it was was but we all know by now that Messi is member of a football club. Vidal's tackle on Mane near the end was my moment of the match.

It was a ridiculous challenge to make but what a tackle!!

Hector Savage

Quote:
Originally Posted by tipp_Gunner View Post
The Dutch teams taught Barcelona everything they know. Any fear of you providing actual evidence to back up your hypothesis?

Hector Savage wrote: »

I'll post back when Barca walk this whole competition without conceeding one more goal.

Bookmark it.

Morning!

yourdeadwright

Liverpool played very well but the difference was they didn't take there chance and Barca did , Liverpool had probably better chance to score but fluffed them

Messi is the best that ever done it, but he gets away with Murder his 5 rolls when Milner shouldered him , he made two bad tackles one on Gomez and one on Robbo and not a hint of a yellow ,
Sound's like sour grapes but he took his free 5 yards further forward than the foul but to be fair he probably would have still scored it,

We will never see player like him again he is just unreal , absolute magic

tayto lover

Could have ended 6 - 2 to Barca. Good game. Barca are a wise old team and have God scaring the crap out of the opposition.

yourdeadwright

oh as a Liverpool fan I truly admire Luis Suarez for never changing ,

He is such a p*ick its just delightful

Hector Savage

This should focus Liverpool on the league, I just have a feeling city will draw one of those last 2 games.

BullBlackNova

yourdeadwright wrote: »

oh as a Liverpool fan I truly admire Luis Suarez for never changing ,

He is such a p*ick its just delightful

Yep - agree with you here. There was some criticism of him in the Liverpool thread and on twitter last night after he celebrated his goal - I think he's dead right. I like to see my players celebrate, no matter the opposition, and I think it's fair across the board.

The fact that he played like a man possessed is what made him a hero to Liverpool fans - I'm glad it's going well for him there. I just wish it hadn't gone so well yesterday...

I'd like him and Coutinho to get a cheer when they return to Anfield next week. This modern development of every single opposition player being booed by fans of former clubs is nonsense.

LuckyLloyd

He also left nearly a half decade ago. He's now been at Barcelona for longer than he was at Liverpool. The club also pissed him off severely in 2013 by not letting him go to Arsenal and he was hated in England generally when he left. It's complex.

Coutinho had a young family that were probably itching to be in latin climbs. And ultimately it's Barcelona. Anfield is special with a huge amount of tradition and history, but the Nou Camp is a pinnacle of the sport. When Barca or Real come calling it's completely understandable why players are desperate to join.

citytillidie

BullBlackNova wrote: »

Yep - agree with you here. There was some criticism of him in the Liverpool thread and on twitter last night after he celebrated his goal - I think he's dead right. I like to see my players celebrate, no matter the opposition, and I think it's fair across the board.

The fact that he played like a man possessed is what made him a hero to Liverpool fans - I'm glad it's going well for him there. I just wish it hadn't gone so well yesterday...

I'd like him and Coutinho to get a cheer when they return to Anfield next week. This modern development of every single opposition player being booed by fans of former clubs is nonsense.

Coutinhos actions to get away were worse than Sterlings so i say he may get a hostile reception Saurez may have burned any bridges he had last night in some peoples eyes in the fan base

The White Wolf

BullBlackNova wrote: »

Yep - agree with you here. There was some criticism of him in the Liverpool thread and on twitter last night after he celebrated his goal - I think he's dead right. I like to see my players celebrate, no matter the opposition, and I think it's fair across the board.

The fact that he played like a man possessed is what made him a hero to Liverpool fans - I'm glad it's going well for him there. I just wish it hadn't gone so well yesterday...

I'd like him and Coutinho to get a cheer when they return to Anfield next week. This modern development of every single opposition player being booed by fans of former clubs is nonsense.

Anfield needs to get on their backs - every single one of them including ex players. They put aside sentimentality as they were right to do and we need to do the same.

yourdeadwright

BullBlackNova wrote: »

Yep - agree with you here. There was some criticism of him in the Liverpool thread and on twitter last night after he celebrated his goal - I think he's dead right. I like to see my players celebrate, no matter the opposition, and I think it's fair across the board.

The fact that he played like a man possessed is what made him a hero to Liverpool fans - I'm glad it's going well for him there. I just wish it hadn't gone so well yesterday...

I'd like him and Coutinho to get a cheer when they return to Anfield next week. This modern development of every single opposition player being booed by fans of former clubs is nonsense.

I hate players who don't celebrate against former clubs,

Suarez played his heart out for Liverpool and moved on so let him do the same for his new club, I love his passion for the game,

Its not like he is from Liverpool or anything so fair play to him ,
Couthino was very poor last night .,

Berserker

BullBlackNova wrote: »

Yep - agree with you here. There was some criticism of him in the Liverpool thread and on twitter last night after he celebrated his goal - I think he's dead right. I like to see my players celebrate, no matter the opposition, and I think it's fair across the board.

I agree. Have no time for this not celebrating tosh.

The White Wolf wrote: »

Anfield needs to get on their backs - every single one of them including ex players. They put aside sentimentality as they were right to do and we need to do the same.

Would hate to see a re-occurrence of the Man City bus incident that happened last season though.

citytillidie

Berserker wrote: »

I agree. Have no time for this not celebrating tosh.



Would hate to see a re-occurrence of the Man City bus incident that happened last season though.

Think he was talking about in the stadium during the game.

yourdeadwright

The White Wolf wrote: »

Anfield needs to get on their backs - every single one of them including ex players. They put aside sentimentality as they were right to do and we need to do the same.

It'll work on Couthino but Suarez loves being the villain he actually thrives on it,

I'd just leave him alone and be nice to him ,

Defender's need to be calm to hold lines , push up together and make the right decisions at the correct times , Forwards don't
Forwards love when its chaotic, Suarez lives an breaths to cause mayhem its part of his game to make everyone around him lose there heads,


His like the football equivalent of Bane, "You merely adopted the chaos . I was born in it, molded by it " :D

Father Hernandez

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I hate players who don't celebrate against former clubs,

Suarez played his heart out for Liverpool and moved on so let him do the same for his new club, I love his passion for the game,

Its not like he is from Liverpool or anything so fair play to him ,
Couthino was very poor last night .,

Completely depends on the player and the situation to be honest.

Understandable when Suarez celebrated last night, appreciated it to a degree when Ronaldo didn't celebrate v United when he was at Real couple years ago.

Andros Townsend tweet earlier in the year summed it up for me

https://twitter.com/andros_townsend/status/1089616335083110400

fyfe79

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I hate players who don't celebrate against former clubs,

Suarez played his heart out for Liverpool and moved on so let him do the same for his new club, I love his passion for the game,

Its not like he is from Liverpool or anything so fair play to him ,
Couthino was very poor last night .,

Yeah, I've no problem with Suarez celebrating last night - his first goal in the CL this season (his assist vs Utd not withstanding), and in the semi-final against a tough opponent. As you also said, he's been with Barca for longer than Liverpool so fair play to him.

Salah's non-celebration after scoring against Chelsea last season really irked me, tbh. He was there a wet week, after they only signed him to keep him away from us, then farmed him out at the earliest opportunity. If I were him I would've done a victory lap after that goal!

ERG89

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I hate players who don't celebrate against former clubs

I hate the whole hold your hands up in the air like its a stick up reaction.
As long as its not an Adebayor style going well out of your way to piss off the fans I don't mind a player celebrating.

yourdeadwright

fyfe79 wrote: »

Yeah, I've no problem with Suarez celebrating last night - his first goal in the CL this season (his assist vs Utd not withstanding), and in the semi-final against a tough opponent. As you also said, he's been with Barca for longer than Liverpool so fair play to him.

Salah's non-celebration after scoring against Chelsea last season really irked me, tbh. He was there a wet week, after they only signed him to keep him away from us, then farmed him out at the earliest opportunity. If I were him I would've done a victory lap after that goal!

Salah plays the nice guy image
In fact that is his thing , he is the nice humble Muslim guy , Suarez is the villain and love's it like Diego Costa ,

I love passion of the football mad lunatics who have a win at all cost mentality ,

BullBlackNova

fyfe79 wrote: »

Yeah, I've no problem with Suarez celebrating last night - his first goal in the CL this season (his assist vs Utd not withstanding), and in the semi-final against a tough opponent. As you also said, he's been with Barca for longer than Liverpool so fair play to him.

Salah's non-celebration after scoring against Chelsea last season really irked me, tbh. He was there a wet week, after they only signed him to keep him away from us, then farmed him out at the earliest opportunity. If I were him I would've done a victory lap after that goal!

Salah's goal against Chelsea last season was two days after 305 Egyptian Muslims were killed in a terror attack. It was clarified at the time, he didn't celebrate out of respect for them.

I mean, he celebrated after he scored against them this season so clearly loyalty wasn't a factor.

Shanotheslayer

BullBlackNova wrote: »

Salah's goal against Chelsea last season was two days after 305 Egyptian Muslims were killed in a terror attack. It was clarified at the time, he didn't celebrate out of respect for them.

Did Salah come out and say that or was it just everyones speculation?

Don't understand why you wouldn't celebrate your goal because of that personally.

BullBlackNova

Shanotheslayer wrote: »

Did Salah come out and say that or was it just everyones speculation?

Don't understand why you wouldn't celebrate your goal because of that personally.

You don't understand why a devout Muslim might feel it is inappropriate to celebrate wildly two days after 300 of his countrymen were killed in a terror attack? ...

Liverpool Echo piece at the time cites "a source close to the player" as saying that was the reason why. https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/heres-mohamed-salah-didnt-celebrate-13954640

Salah only played 19 times for Chelsea, has never held back from speaking out against them and celebrated his goal against them this season. I don't think it is too much of a stretch to say that he was affected by that incident and opted to not celebrate as a result TBH.

yourdeadwright

I just seem the Messi free kick from behind Messi ., Alisson made a big error,

His wall was inline with the post , it should always been one man over and the fact the ball nicked Gomez on the shoulder makes you wonder if he had of set them up properly it could have been avoided , its these fine margin's that people like Messi can take advantage off ,

Shanotheslayer

BullBlackNova wrote: »

You don't understand why a devout Muslim might feel it is inappropriate to celebrate wildly two days after 300 of his countrymen were killed in a terror attack? ...

I'm not sure where you're pulling this wildly word from as that's not what I said.But generally there is some form of celebration for want of a better word. Example being if somebody passes away they lift up jersey and have a t shirt on etc etc. It's rare to see absolutely nothing is more my point.

BullBlackNova

Shanotheslayer wrote: »

I'm not sure where you're pulling this wildly word from as that's not what I said.But generally there is some form of celebration for want of a better word. Example being if somebody passes away they lift up jersey and have a t shirt on etc etc. It's rare to see absolutely nothing is more my point.

Fair enough - you didn't say wildly - but I still don't think its unreasonable to suggest that Salah didn't think it was appropriate to celebrate at all. You don't agree - fair enough.

Loafing Oaf

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I just seem the Messi free kick from behind Messi ., Alisson made a big error,

His wall was inline with the post , it should always been one man over and the fact the ball nicked Gomez on the shoulder makes you wonder if he had of set them up properly it could have been avoided,

Or if Kevin Moran or Colin Hendry had been on the end of the wall instead..

fyfe79

BullBlackNova wrote: »

Salah's goal against Chelsea last season was two days after 305 Egyptian Muslims were killed in a terror attack. It was clarified at the time, he didn't celebrate out of respect for them.

I mean, he celebrated after he scored against them this season so clearly loyalty wasn't a factor.

Fair enough - I had forgotten that it was around the same time as that attack.

yourdeadwright

Look at this you can clearly see Milner screaming at Alisson asking should he go into the emd of the wall and he is waved away , The ball goes right where he would have been , Its a great shot to show how poor the wall was positioned

https://twitter.com/GeorgieStuart23/status/1123691876702404619?s=19

.G.

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Look at this you can clearly see Milner screaming at Alisson asking should he go into the emd of the wall and he is waved away , The ball goes right where he would have been , Its a great shot to show how poor the wall was positioned

https://twitter.com/GeorgieStuart23/status/1123691876702404619?s=19

And here's the opinion of an ex goalkeeper who would know better than most. He reckons the wall is fine. I'll go with his expertise. His timeline is an interesting read on it. The two goals before this were preventable, not a lot can be done about Messi being Messi except don't foul him or let him move it 5 yards further forward.

https://twitter.com/davidpreece12/status/1123712119600447490

Fromvert

A few posts down in that thread he says a player should be outside the post when lining up your wall but says this is fine, it's a contradiction. The wall may be 'fine' but it's not perfect and closer to perfection is required at that level.

An ex-keeper he may be but like all pundits, they're not always right.

yourdeadwright

Fromvert wrote: »

A few posts down in that thread he says a player should be outside the post when lining up your wall but says this is fine, it's a contradiction. The wall may be 'fine' but it's not perfect and closer to perfection is required at that level.

An ex-keeper he may be but like all pundits, they're not always right.

U learn as a child to set a wall up one player outside the post , Gomez was the last player in the wall at very best inline with the insode of the post , Milner a midfilder obviously thought it looked wrong otherwise he wouldnt have been shouting at the keeper

.G.

No one knows what Milner was shouting about and honestly who gives a sh1t. Seems a weird thing to be picking apart. It was right in the top corner. He mentions If there's less men in the wall the keeper is more central and also stands a better chance of saving it, different scenarios that may well still have ended up with the goal happening cos it was so good.

We can find fault in the first goal too and Vvd sleeping but what's the point, the players have a chance to rectify it next week, the biggest problem in that game was their lack of finishing.