2019-20 UEFA Champions League- SEE Mod Note in OP 15/08/20

Osmosis Jones

The Slavia reps' reactions to getting drawn with Barca, Dortmund, and Inter

JP Liz V1

D and H look toughest groups to me

Salt Lake Stallion

I'm an Inter fan, we always seem to get paired with Barcelona. Although Messi has never scored against us in 6 meetings, we have only beaten them once in that period, the 3-1 win in the 2010 Semi-Final.

Barca should top the group so it will be between us and Dortmund for 2nd place. One thing that favours Inter is that our Home game against Barcelona is the last game, whilst Dortmund's Home game against them is the 1st game. Barca rested quite a few players in their last group game, against Spurs, last season. So if they have qualified before the last game this season they could do the same. I expect it to be very close and wouldn't be at all surprised if Inter have to win the last game to qualify.

I think this group has to be the so called group of death, it's the only one with 3 previous Champions League winners and has 3 of the top 8 European clubs in terms of average attendance. There is going to be some cracking games in this group. Even if Inter don't qualify for the knockout stage, this is what being in the Champions League is all about, playing against top teams in packed out stadiums.

Mr.Nice Guy

Now that the window has closed, here is PSG's possible line-up for the Champions League:

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Navas

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----Dagba

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Marquinhos

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T. Silva

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Bernat

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Gueye

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Herrera

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Verratti

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Mbappe

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Icardi

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Neymar

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The likes of Meunier, Cavani, Di Maria, Sarabia and Kimpembe as other options to call upon.

Is that good enough to win the Champions League? I think the spine is solid enough and the firepower is obviously there. Navas has won it three times so his mentality should be sound, however he hasn't played a lot of football the last two seasons so it remains to be seen if he's still got it.

I think the FB spots are the obvious weak points. Are they going to handle the likes of Hazard, Salah, Mane, Sancho, Sterling, Dembele etc? Maybe their offence will be the best form of defence.

Not sure Tuchel is the personality required to blend all this together into a winning combo. A Mourinho, Allegri level character might manage it but have my doubts Tuchel can.

I see them getting further than they have traditionally but their weaknesses being exposed by the top coaches' teams.

citytillidie

Match Day 1
Tuesday 17th September
17:55 Kick-offs
Group F
Internazionale Milano (ITA) V Slavia Praha (CZE) - Live on BT Sport 1 / Virgin Media 1

Group G
Lyon (FRA) V Zenit (RUS) - Live on BT Sport ESPN

20:00 Kick-offs
Group E
Napoli (ITA) V Liverpool (ENG) - Live on BT Sport 2 / RTE 2
Salzburg (AUT) V Genk (BEL) - Live on BT Sport Extra 4

Group F
Borussia Dortmund (GER) V Barcelona (ESP) - Live on BT Sport ESPN

Group G
Benfica (POR) V RB Leipzig (GER) - Live on BT Sport Extra 3

Group H
Chelsea (ENG) V Valencia (ESP) - Live on BT Sport 3 / Virgin Media 1
AFC Ajax (NED) V LOSC Lille (FRA) - Live on BT Sport Extra 2

Wednesday 18th September
17:55 Kick-offs
Group A
Club Brugge (BEL) V Galatasaray (TUR) - Live on BT Sport 1

Group B
Olympiacos (GRE) V Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) - Live on BT Sport 2 / Virgin Media 1

20:00 Kick-offs
Group A
Paris (FRA) V Real Madrid (ESP) - Live on BT Sport 2

Group B
Bayern (GER) V Crvena zvezda (SRB) - Live on BT Sport Extra 2

Group C
GNK Dinamo (CRO) V Atalanta (ITA) - Live on BT Sport Extra 3
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) V Manchester City (ENG) - Live on BT Sport 3

Group D
Bayer Leverkusen (GER) V Lokomotiv Moskva (RUS) - Live on BT Sport Extra 4
Atlético Madrid (ESP) V Juventus (ITA) - Live on BT Sport ESPN

Mr.Nice Guy

Teams for the early games:

Lyon XI: Lopes; Dubois, Marcelo, Denayer, Kone; Mendes, Tousart, Reine-Adelaide; Traore, Dembele, Depay.

Zenit XI: Lunyov; Karavayev, Ivanovic, Rakitskiy, Santos; Driussi, Barrios, Osorio, Zhirkov; Dzyuba, Azmoun.

Inter XI: Handanovic; D'Ambrosio, de Vrij, Skriniar; Candreva, Gagliardini, Brozovic, Sensi, Asamoah; Lukaku, Martinez.

Slavia Praha XI: Kolar; Coufal, Kudela, Hovorka, Boril; Soucek, Traore; Masopust, Husbauer, Stanciu; Olayinka.

Going to watch Lyon vs Zenit. Dembele is in great form so hope to see him score again. Also keen to see how Azmoun and Driussi fare for Zenit as they seem to have quality.

BullBlackNova

That Inter side is quite top heavy - graphic I saw seemed to suggest it was a 3-3-4 formation. Interested to see how they do this season. They've a good side.

I won't be home until the 8pm games so will be watching Liverpool v Napoli; but Dortmund v Barca is the obvious pick of the round to those not supporting a specific side.

Loafing Oaf

BullBlackNova wrote: »

T
I won't be home until the 8pm games so will be watching Liverpool v Napoli; but Dortmund v Barca is the obvious pick of the round to those not supporting a specific side.

Yeah who'd be bothered with non-events like Atletico Madrid v Juventus or PSG v
Real Madrid?

Mr.Nice Guy

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Yeah who'd be bothered with non-events like Atletico Madrid v Juventus or PSG v
Real Madrid?

They're not on tonight. Dortmund vs Barca looks the one to watch this evening for neutrals.

Mushy

What a lovely goal by Zenit

Mr.Nice Guy

1-0 Zenit. They score against the run of play through a lovely one-two from Azmoun. Funny thing is he was seconds away from coming off just minutes beforehand due to injury but he carried on.

TitianGerm

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Yeah who'd be bothered with non-events like Atletico Madrid v Juventus or PSG v
Real Madrid?

Crap like this is mentioned every single season. Broadcasters will put on what ever match will get the most views.

If Liverpool or United are playing then they'll be shown. Next up will be City, Spurs and Chelsea. If none of them are playing then the Irish broadcaster will show another match.

I would imagine RTE monitor the viewer ratings and know what teams bring in the most viewers and cater to that.

Mr.Nice Guy

Half-Time and Zenit lead by a goal. Lyon are showing a real lack of urgency and Ivanovic has dealt with everything thrown at him. Traore has been disappointing. Perhaps bringing on Cornet for him will be the move Sylvinho makes at some stage. Been impressed with Azmoun.

Goalless in the other game between Inter and Slavia Prague. With Barca and Dortmund in that group Inter really need the three points.

Teams for Dortmund vs Barca are in:

Borussia Dortmund XI: Burki; Hakimi, Akanji, Hummels, Guerreiro; Witsel, Delaney; Sancho, Reus, Hazard; Alcacer.

Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba; De Jong, Busquets, Arthur; Fati, Suarez, Griezmann.

Fati getting a Champions League start at 16!

The Good Ole Boys

The Inter - Praha game is muck. Inter playing like tiny female dogs. 0-0 HT

Mr.Nice Guy

Pen to Lyon. Depay fouled on the edge of the box.

Depay takes it and scores. 1-1.

This is it

Decent peno, looked like a short run up, I was nervous for him!

Loafing Oaf

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

They're not on tonight. Dortmund vs Barca looks the one to watch this evening for neutrals.

Well the other poster said 'round'; that usually means all the games in a given week.

BullBlackNova

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

They're not on tonight. Dortmund vs Barca looks the one to watch this evening for neutrals.

Well the other poster said 'round'; that usually means all the games in a given week.

I did say round. I meant night, but tbf, I said round.

Also, does it matter? I still think Barca v Dortmund looks like the tie of the round as it screams goals to me. Those other games will be good too, no doubt.

SlPrague take the lead they have been the better team footballing wise pretty much the whole game

The Good Ole Boys

Inter will be in the **** if they don't get anything out of tonight's game, you'd reckon.

ERG89

Other than Handanovic every Inter player has been sh!t quite frankly. It's a remarkably bad performance & still all Slavia despite them leading they aren't sitting back.

ShamoBuc

My God but Inter are rudderless, bang average team.

Have to give SLP credit they have pressed and passed it very well, could see them getting destroyed versus thr othrr two mind if the press this aggressively

Loafing Oaf

BullBlackNova wrote: »

I did say round. I meant night, but tbf, I said round.

Also, does it matter? I still think Barca v Dortmund looks like the tie of the round as it screams goals to me. Those other games will be good too, no doubt.

It doesn't really, but you had me thinking you were one of those supremely irritating soccer forum posters who insist that a highly debatable assertion is beyond dispute. But it's all fine...

Loafing Oaf

ShamoBuc wrote: »

My God but Inter are rudderless, bang average team.

Conte no doubt wondering why he didn't go back to Juve...

ERG89

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Conte no doubt wondering why he didn't go back to Juve...

They signed who he asked for & he ran players he didn't want out of the door so he's not exactly blameless to this performance.

AdamD

16 year old Fati starts for Barcelona vs Dortmund, crazy.

ShamoBuc

AdamD wrote: »

16 year old Fati starts for Barcelona vs Dortmund, crazy.

He's very good though.


6 minutes to win it.

Headshot

Slavia have been robbed

Inter didnt deserve to get away with this shambolic performance

Mushy

Equaliser now for Inter

Loafing Oaf

ERG89 wrote: »

They signed who he asked for & he ran players he didn't want out of the door so he's not exactly blameless to this performance.

but Juve are already where Inter want to get to. Why not just go back there and keep things ticking over, if they wanted him?

Mr.Nice Guy

1-1 it ends in Lyon. Zenit didn't offer much in the second half due to Azmoun going off injured but Lyon's quality in the final third wasn't there. Reine-Adelaide played well but wasted a great chance when through on goal.

Strumms

Great start from Napoli, committing plenty of bodies forward and looking to swarm Liverpool when they are in possession. Got into a couple of very good positions and but for some good goalkeeping and a last ditch challenge it’s Napoli one or two up.

This is it

Crazy high tempo, both teams pushing forward. I can see someone getting caught on the counter. Both have had chances of it already

Strumms

Shoulder to shoulder there

This is it

Napoli upping the pressure now

ShamoBuc

Great pace to this.

The goals will surely come.

LuckyGent88

Two lovely finishes by young Haaland for Salzburg.

Mushy

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Two lovely finishes by young Haaland for Salzburg.

And now a third for Salzburg

Strumms

Napoli are seriously impressive, Liverpool closing down their goal kick with three attackers yet they still don’t lump it long, playing it out from their own box even under pressure. If they had more then one up front they’d have a more imposing threat in the final third.

Tigerandahalf

Napoli's attendance doesn't seem to be great. Going by google the stadium holds 55,000 but large tracts are empty. A wider problem in Italy?

TitianGerm

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Two lovely finishes by young Haaland for Salzburg.

That's 15 goals in 10 games this season already. I posted about him in the Liverpool thread a little while ago looking forward to seeing how he got on against us.

Mushy

And that's a hatrick

magma69

Another for Haaland. This is ridiculous.

LuckyGent88

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Two lovely finishes by young Haaland for Salzburg.

And now has his hat trick. Maybe he can go and get nine again at this rate!!!

Mushy

5-1 In that game now

LuckyGent88

Mushy wrote: »

5-1 In that game now

Nice way to reintroduce yourselves to champions league football after 25 years away.

theoneeyedman

In spite of commentating on TV for the last 30+ years, fvcking George 'danger here' still hasn't learned that he's commenting half a second ahead of the pictures, or RTE have never learned to fvcking adjust the commentary to match the pictures. It's fvcking very bad tonight, and very annoying!

ERG89

Got help Genk if they play like that against Napoli & Liverpool.

Mr.Nice Guy

Dortmund vs Barca has been disappointing. Sancho had a good chance to open the scoring but missed the target. Messi is on the bench so I wonder will he see any time in the second half. Game needs a goal.