Champions League 2016/17

[Stevencc]

Another mistake from City gifts Messi a goal.

Good stuff.

 

[JimJams]

The fuck happened there?

 

[JimJams]

Sterling has been a positive again.

 

[Benji]

This match has been weird to say the least.

 

[JimJams]

For a team with such attacking talent they are fucking shite at penalties.
Probably worth hacking them down every time they're in the box.

 

[JimJams]

See. Better off dribbling his way through a few than getting one from the spot.

 

[Libertadores FC]

Besiktas beat us at home 3-2, and our group chances look slim now. We always struggle in Portugal and Besiktas away is never easy. Kyiv at home should be 3 points though but I said at the beginning of the group that these teams have the firepower to beat us and now with a home game lost it looks very difficult to progress.

 

[Blitzballer]

 

[Super_horns]

Joe Hart might be having a little smirk somewhere in Turin...

Hard enough going to Barca playing well and without making any mistakes.

No famous Celtic night in Glasgow...

 

[mistermagic]

Could have City getting knocked out in this group.

 

[JimJams]

Doubt it.

 

[smat]

arsenal won 6-0 btw

 

[Stevencc]

arsenal won 6-0 btw

You should have seen how angry Dave got in the shoutbox when I mentioned the Arsenal score.

 

[thespus]

I've only seen the highlights, but John Stones looked lost.

 

[JimJams]

arsenal won 6-0 btw

Standard.

 

[Liam_SWFC]

Barcelona are still streets ahead of City as we all expected, they were probably only playing at about 75% but Bravo's moment of madness didn't help the City cause. Barcelona will comfortable finish top of the group but would still expect City to come through in 2nd. However Celtic's defeat at home to Gladbach tonight really opens up the group, if Gladbach beat City and Celtic at home they will take that 2nd spot. Think it's probably all over for Celtic already, 3rd spot is the best they can hope for. Fantastic win for Arsenal tonight albeit against pot 4 opposition, can only beat what's in front of you and they've done that with ease, 7 points from 9 it'll be a battle between themselves and PSG for top spot.

Arsenal 6-0 Ludogorets
PSG 3-0 FC Basel
Dynamo Kiev 0-2 Benfica
Napoli 2-3 Besiktas
Barcelona 4-0 Manchester City
Celtic 0-2 Borrussia Moncengladbach
Bayern Munich 4-1 PSV Eindhoven
FC Rostov 0-1 Atletico Madrid

 

[JimJams]

I've only seen the highlights, but John Stones looked lost.

Only really once City were down to 10 men. Agent Bravo killed the game for City. At 1 down they looked well capable. Went to pot at the back then.

 

[JimJams]

Don't know what Barca Hartson has been watching, while they do all the flair and tricks they rarely play with a smile on their faces. Usually too busy grimacing and moaning to be smiling.

 

[JimJams]

Kolo almost has me in tears!

 

[mistermagic]

Not really confident of topping the group at this minute. We won 3-0 but Basel hit the woodwork 3 times, our goals were more or less goalmouth scrambles and Cavani still can't finish when he's one-on-one vs a keeper. Not sure if we'll be taking maximum points from Switzerland in a fortnight.
Then again I doubt Arsenal will either. For all the positives a 6-0 win gives you, Mustafi and Kos had their moments of madness at the back which Ospina did well to salvage. It remains a contest between two sides with no natural finisher and a lazy defensive attitude.

 

[TractorBoys]

Arsenal sublime tonight, the quality in the final third was just unstoppable. Credit where credit is due.

 

[G-Dragon]

We all know Arsenal will choke against big teams.

 

[Dirk]

Champions League resumes today.

Here are my ratings for the 4 German Teams (2 Duells with british teams this time)

Sporting Lisbon vs Borussia Dortmund : DRAW

Difficult match for Borussia without many regulars. Actually they've lost a bit of their pace from 3 weeks ago, couldn't even win at home against Berlin. But they should be strong enough to get a draw which would be valuable in the end

Bayer Leverkusen vs Tottenham: DRAW

Bayer is a team you can't predict. They are playing world class one day and the next they are "Kreisklasse" (Non League Niveau). They were great against Borussia Dortmund lately and the next matchday they made the same mistakes that cost them a win against Moscow and Monaco in the Europa League. They should have 2 Wins already but they got only 2 Draws so far. Because Tottenham is way better than Moscow I only expect a draw for Bayer at home.

Celtic vs Borussia Mönchengladbach: DRAW

Another difficult match for a German team in the CL. Gladbach momentarily a bit out of form. In the CL they lost deservedly 0-4 against ManCity (and they could've lost higher). Against Barca at home they couldn't hold the 1-0 lead and lost in the end with 1-2.
In the Bundesliga they lost their 10 Game consecutive Home win record when the mighty HSV came for a visit last weekend ( They missed 2 penalties in that game).
So, with a full packed Celtic Park and this electrifiying atmosphere it will be interesting to see how this young team reacts. They must deliver now, no excuses this time. I am hoping for a draw but wouldn't be surprised if they lose again. They are still inexperienced in Europe.

Bayern München vs PSV Eindhoven: WIN

This should be the easiest one to predict. Bayern has to win and Bayern will win. They have lost at Atletico and if they want the #1 spot they can't lose any points now. And actually they haven't won in 3 competitive matches ( 2 draws in the Bundesliga) so they are even more motivated. If they can't win this match.....Holla die Waldfee (no translation available )

Fantastic matchday for the 4 German Teams (and for Mesut Özil who scored 3 Goals for Arsenal).
In my preview above I predicted 1Win-3Draw-0Loss for the Teams. We got 3Win-1Draw-0Loss.

Not that I am complaining . I am extremely happy about the Gladbach win at Celtic, a fully deserved 2-0 away win (special thanks to Kolo Toure, nonetheless). Now they are in the better position for #3 and the Europa League Spot (yeah, I know they even have an outside chance to get #2 after ManCity 0-4 blow at Barca but I don't think that's possible). Celtic must win the return leg now at Gladbach in 2 weeks because I don't see it that they get anything against Barca and in Manchester. Some may say that Barca couldn't be motivated when they play at Celtic Park because they are already qualified. Maybe but Celtic needs to play way better than today to even get a draw against an (possibly) unmotivated Barca Team.

 

[epic73]

hahaha rip city

 

[Dirk]

How old are you? 12? ah, wait...I forgot

 

[epic73]

Almost 13*

 

[mistermagic]

We all know Arsenal will choke against big teams.

So we'll win at the Emirates? I'll take that.

 

[St. Juste]

Joe Hart might be having a little smirk somewhere in Turin...

Hard enough going to Barca playing well and without making any mistakes.

Haven't City played Barcelona before? And didn't Joe Hart make a standard, game changing error in that game too? He can smirk all he wants, he's an inferior keeper to both Bravo and Caballero and Guardiola knows it - as do all the top sides around Europe.

Anyway, all the mocking of Celtic after their Barca result looks fairly cringeworthy now - only a saved penalty saved it from being a 5-0 hammering. The gulf between La Liga and the Premiership has been evident for some time now but Wednesday night showed how big the chasm was.

 

[JimJams]

No you're remembering wrong and letting your insanely boring anti-English stance rewrite history. Hart was immense against Barcelona at Camp Nou and was hailed by Messi and co for keeping them out for so long even though City still lost.

In the reverse fixture they lost 2-1 but neither goal was Harts fault.



Unless you're a bitter Scotch twat of course.

 

[St. Juste]

Haven't they played 4 times? Maybe it was another one of the fixtures. It's really hard to keep track of all his mistakes given he make so many.

Even Pellegrini was threatening to drop him for his repeated clangers back in 2013 - http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/joe-hart-only-one-mistake-2239243

Even David James wasn't as 'consistent'.

No idea whey you're turning this into some bizarre criticism of Scottish people - I'll blame McGuardiola....