2023-24 UEFA Champions League

y0ssar1an22

PSG just cant hit the back of the net

sligeach

Just 4 minutes of added time. PSG are as good as out.

~Rebel~

Christ… I think that's a pen… the contact on Mbappe's calf is what stops him being able to strike the ball.

sligeach

Blatant foul on the Dortmund player in the corner, pushed in the back. The ref says play on. SMH.

Vicxas

Always love to see PSG go out

ShamoBuc

I simply cannot wait to see and hear the Yellow Wall in Wembley !!!

Really hope they win it.

klose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122109645#Comment_122109645

Very similar to the blatant challenge on Sancho earlier on, clearly a free but the fee waves it on, strange.

sligeach

Dortmund defended well, but let's face it, they rode their luck at times.

AidoEirE

Hummels was superb!

y0ssar1an22

dortmund through to the final. very exciting 2nd half, PSG did everything but score

NIMAN

Brilliant from Dortmund

Xander10

If there is one club that needs a super league more than others, it's PSG.

Delighted Dortmund won.

sligeach

The only person I feel sorry for from PSG is Enrique.

~Rebel~

Incredible result from Dortmund… I only gave them a small chance of getting through even coming in with a lead - definitely didn't see them actually winning on the night as well!

I think Madrid would beat them handy enough in a final - but they'd have a great shout against Bayern (beat them 2-0 in Munich only 2 months ago sure).

klose

Guaranteed that an English player playing for a foreign club will lift the champions league this season, who was the last person to do so?

Garzorico

Shame, would love to have seen Mbappe in the final. Always better when the best players are on show. No chance of a decent final now in my opinion. It’ll probably be a very one sided game because Dortmund are not a good side. Also there’s a chance of a final with teams from the same country, that’s doenst exactly fire the imagination the same as two teams from different countries.

Having said that I’d like to see Harry Kane win something.

Garzorico

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122109721#Comment_122109721

Hargreaves?

CalamariFritti

no Dortmund are not a good side lol

the team that wasnt given a prayer after the group draw. group of death. which they then topped. to proceed into the final. but not a good side.

they must be doing something right. hummels man of the match three times over

Deeper Blue

Delighted PSG are out. Important to have proper teams winning this I think, especially after last year. Great stuff.

theoneeyedman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122109740#Comment_122109740

Macmanamin?

DubDani

The last time BVB played a CL finale in London it was one of the best finals I can remember. So in thar sense I am looking forward to it

fyfe79

Last time Dortmund won the CL in 1997 they won both semi-finals 1-0. Omen?

Last time a club finished 5th in their domestic league and won it was Liverpool in 2005.

CalamariFritti

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122109795#Comment_122109795

And they lost that final to Bayern.

I really like Bayern. They are great. Flying the Bundesliga flag in Europe for ever. But somehow I hope that bit of history wont repeat itself. Would be so cruel on Dortmund.

Edit: If Bayern were to make the final it would be a repeat of the 2013 final in Wembley. In which case each side would have two players who also played 11 years ago. Hummels and Reus for Dortmund, Neuer and Müller for Bayern.

Fitz*

Dortmund playing a CL final in Wembley, with a big club star playing his lad game for the club in that game. Unfortunately I've seen this one before. Be great for Reus if it ends differently this time around.

eagle eye

Delighted for Dortmund, they put up a great effort to get it done.

Its hard to believe how many times PSG hit the woodwork over the two legs. It's not unfortunate though, all those efforts were off target no matter how close they were.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122109771#Comment_122109771

Think that's it alright - and McManaman's two wins sandwiched Hargreaves' one, so there were 3 years in a row of England players winning with Foreign teams.

And the year before was Utd, so there were English winners 4 years in a row.

Damien360

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122110064#Comment_122110064

I know Gareth Bale is Welsh but we shouldn't forget he has 5 champions league medals. That is an incredible record for a much maligned man by the media. Not English but UK. Probably a decent golfer also.

The Golden Miller

Absolutely delighted for BVB. Was devasted for them when they lost the league title last year on the final day, and the 2013 Champions League final. They're one of those clubs you just can't help but love. Wasn't shocked they beat PSG, because PSG are absolute dirt.

But this BVB team is poor since Klopp left, and in his final season could take them no further. But what's held them back, is since he took over, they decided his attacking philosophy is now the only style the club can play. So since then, we've had an array of BVB managers trying to get them to play an attacking way, at a poor and inconsistent level. They are similar to Spurs in many respects.

Fortunately the draw opened up for them, and you get the feeling they're going gung ho in Europe to give Reus the medal and send off he deserves. If ever a player deserved a major medal domestically or in Europe, it's Reus. A career destroyed by injuries, but when fit, a generational player. Behind Messi, if this guy didn't have the injuries he did, he'd be right up there as the greatest of his generation, literally had everthing. Vision, speed, passing, leadership, goals, could dictate the tempo of a game and pull the strings, dribbling, had it all. An all round mercurial genius. We talk about KDB, couldnt hold a candle to this guy! He was that good and better.

Was sickened for him when they lost the league on the final day of the season last year, but they've a huge chance to put it right for him. For me, he's one of the most gifted players I've seen when fit, he really does deserve this

JP Liz V1

Marco Reus and Mats Hummels in CL final again for Borussia Dortmund, delighted for Borussia Dortmund

The Golden Miller

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122110439#Comment_122110439

Hummels fcuked off and Reus told his as much publicly. Should never have been accepted back, like Gotze. Life was made difficult for Gotze when he did come back apparently. Dressing room never really accepted him back

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122109721#Comment_122109721

Steve McManaman would be my guess.

Necro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122109902#Comment_122109902

Funnily enough I happened to be in London that weekend in 2013, the two sets of fans had Trafalgar square packed out when we were there and not an ounce of trouble between them.

jonnreeks

UEFA Europa Conference League Semi-finals

Club Brugge v Fiorentina kick off 17:45, May 8th

Aggregate score (Agg 2-3)

Fiorentina takes to the field in Belgium at Bruges against Club Brugge tomorrow for the Conference League semi-final second leg. An unusual day for a European match that is not the Champions League. Usually, indeed, only this competition is played between Tuesday and Wednesday, while the Viola will play on May 8th at 18:45, just before Real Madrid-Bayern Munich. But why was the match between Fiorentina and Brugge moved forward? The reason involves a religious procession and UNESCO. Brugge-Fiorentina: where to watch it free and in streaming, time, and probable line-ups. The question was asked by all Fiorentina fans and football enthusiasts, who noticed with surprise the decision to play a Conference League game two hours before the Champions League. The anticipation was caused by the city of Bruges itself, supported by UNESCO, which wants to protect an event on May 9th. Next Thursday, in fact, in the Belgian city, the Procession of the Holy Blood will take place, a religious event linked to the Feast of the Assumption. This has even been included by UNESCO in the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and for this reason, the authorities preferred to preserve the event at the expense of the Conference League match which was moved forward.

randd1

Delighted to see German clubs do well. Hope Bayern get to the final now.

Ordinarily you'd be wary of German intentions of conquering Europe (you know, those two World Wars and all that), but in this instance it would be a good thing; any league in which the clubs are owned by the fans, and not by a billionaire/oil state, it is very much preferable to see them winning.

An all-German final would be a great message to other leagues as well, you can be a fans club and have success. If it is Dortmund v Bayern I'm hoping Dortmund do it, at the very least you'd have a savage Bundesliga next year if they do.

I'm also hoping Leverkusen do the business in the Europa as well for the same reason.

eagle eye

I wouldn't have the slightest interest in watching an all German Champions league final.

I want Atalanta or Marseille to win the Europa league. Leverkusen are runaway Bundesliga champions and already in next year's Champions league. I can't see anyone stopping Leverkusen though.

HalloweenJack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122111130#Comment_122111130

The German model certainly sounds great and yet Bayern have dominated for years (11 titles in a row until this year) by signing their rivals' best players and being able to splurge money that other teams can only dream of. Then there's the cases of Red Bull Leipzig and Hoffenheim who quickly rose through the ranks with the help of a financial benefactor. There's also Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg who, afaik, still have links with the companies that founded them as they were established exceptions when those ownership rules came in. Meanwhile, big clubs have struggled (Schalke and Hamburg) so I don't see it as perfect. In theory, its fairer but in practice it still comes up short.

It's great when the likes of Heidenheim and St. Pauli are flying high but the reality is its rare that Bayern don't win it or, at least, qualify for the CL. They aren't at their best right now but they'll always be there or thereabouts.

jacool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122111236#Comment_122111236

I couldn't put Marseille ahead of Leverkusen. They have the 1993 Champions League (asterisked, most likely!!)

klose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122111408#Comment_122111408

Why is that now?

jacool

Bayer Leverkusen have 0 European titles and Marseille "managed" to win one, so I would prefer to see the "cleaner" team prevail, if they met in the final. I know that Tapie is long gone. Marseille was stripped of its French league championship and later were relegated, but they did get to hang onto the Champions League title, the first actual CL title.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122111408#Comment_122111408

What about Atalanta?

jacool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122111695#Comment_122111695

I could watch an Atalanta-Leverkusen final and not mind who won.

klose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122111680#Comment_122111680

Huh never knew they were stripped of their league title, looking at the wiki page both teams for the final had a lot of big name players that day

Damien360

Much more open game already compared to last night's.

y0ssar1an22

gnabry should have used his right foot there and had a pop

ShamoBuc

Could be 1-1 already. Bayern are springing the breakaway very well.

pjohnson

Dafuq the TV glitched?

y0ssar1an22

should be 1-0 to real. off the post and then rebound straight at keeper.

Damien360

Someone explain how 2 balls were on the pitch and the ref just let it continue

ShamoBuc

Ref allowed the gamne to go on, 2 balls on the pitch but a Bayern player was tracking the ball at the other end. Would have been utter confusion had Real scored.

hawaii501

I'm sure it would have been allowed as it's Real Madrid.

Some start to this game, 20 mins has flown by. Real the better side ao far.