PSG vs Barcelona

I agree, however he is antonym to "Extended Possession"

Btw Dani (franchise), did you see Bayern's first goal? I guess it's also a Buffon mistake because the shot was slightly deflected and he didn't even touch the ball.

Terrible goalkeeping from buffon today in the second goal too.

I'm more gutted about the injuries than the result. 2 away goals is a good record, even if we should be up 2-0.

Alves was great, he danced around Maxwell like he was a cone, and let me add that he had no help in his defensive duties either. Great performance by him. Easily motm.

Valdes was also good, and although my first reaction was that he was at fault for the goal, after watching some of the replays I can see how it turned out that way.

Messi was meh but he scored. Very worried about his injury, considering he scores something like 56% of our goals and assists a good amount of the rest. If Sport's report is to be believed would you guys rather see Cesc or Alexis play at his role? I feel like this is a unique opportunity to see Alexis thrive in his more natural position and finally see the real him but Cesc is higher in the pecking order. Not to mention that with our shortage of forwards I can see the argument for playing Alexis wide.

Also let's throw Masche some love. For a guy many of you equate with an automatic goal against us he didn't put a step wrong today and placed some great tackles, I personally felt it was one of his best performances this season.

Quick question: has Alexis won us more penalties this season than scored goals?

free_cat wrote:Btw Dani (franchise), did you see Bayern's first goal? I guess it's also a Buffon mistake because the shot was slightly deflected and he didn't even touch the ball.

Terrible goalkeeping from buffon today in the second goal too.

I didnt, but I am downloading it as I write this so I will give you my opinion tommorow.

I am hearing its his fault for the goal though, both of them.

The Franchise wrote:Ok........3 things.

1. Sell Dani Alves

2. I am so sad Valdes is leaving.

3. We aint winning the CL in my opinion. Too much constant calamaity, injuries and fodder error.

i know your first two points are sarcasm, but could you elaborate on your third point?

gondov wrote:Official: Mascherano has a knee injury and is expected to be out for 6 weeks!!

you guys have puyol i don't think you have to worry too much?

BarrileteCosmico wrote:I'm more gutted about the injuries than the result. 2 away goals is a good record, even if we should be up 2-0.

Alves was great, he danced around Maxwell like he was a cone, and let me add that he had no help in his defensive duties either. Great performance by him. Easily motm.

Valdes was also good, and although my first reaction was that he was at fault for the goal, after watching some of the replays I can see how it turned out that way.

Messi was meh but he scored. Very worried about his injury, considering he scores something like 56% of our goals and assists a good amount of the rest. If Sport's report is to be believed would you guys rather see Cesc or Alexis play at his role? I feel like this is a unique opportunity to see Alexis thrive in his more natural position and finally see the real him but Cesc is higher in the pecking order. Not to mention that with our shortage of forwards I can see the argument for playing Alexis wide.

Also let's throw Masche some love. For a guy many of you equate with an automatic goal against us he didn't put a step wrong today and placed some great tackles, I personally felt it was one of his best performances this season.

Quick question: has Alexis won us more penalties this season than scored goals?

Smart move from Sanchez .

i really liked Dani display . I don't see PSg scoring goals like that at Cam nou but the semis are going to be very though i believe. I hope Messi is ok

danyjr wrote: The players who make the difference are still the same ones as 4-5 years ago. Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, Busquets, Alves.

I agree with that. Just this morning I had a thought that we are a five (or a 5.5 - Valdes can be counted as a half) man team. Which means that we are now at half our strength of 2010-11 when we were kind of brilliant in every position on the pitch. That we are still managing to stand tall is testimony to just how special these key players are.

Interesting nobody points it out again... Difference in our performances for me has been Xavi.

Sure Messi was immense vs Milan, but Xavi was the player who upped our tempo. Obviously it was a collective effort, but I felt the maestro was the best on the pitch with Messi and just dominated in that game. When he's 100% and plays in the big games, we are just that much better.

Today it was so obvious he wasn't ready. He looked lethargic and completely off the pace. Still did his job better than most would but our transition was so horribly slow. He's been managed horribly. He's rushed into almost every game and thus never fit. I don't think he's been fit for about 4 months now, and that corresponds to a dip in form. Start of the season he was immense, and what? Wow, we were also at our best.

I'm not going to pretend that its the only problem, but when one of your key players, the heartbeat of your system is never fit, you can't hope to play at your best.

Thus, key for second leg is having Xavi fit. Messi or no Messi, Cesc or Villa, if Xavi has us operating fast and fluid we will beat them. Problem is, is a week enough time. I don't think so. He needs a couple to off weeks off. This stop, start BS has done him no good.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:If Sport's report is to be believed would you guys rather see Cesc or Alexis play at his role? I feel like this is a unique opportunity to see Alexis thrive in his more natural position and finally see the real him but Cesc is higher in the pecking order. Not to mention that with our shortage of forwards I can see the argument for playing Alexis wide.

Also let's throw Masche some love. For a guy many of you equate with an automatic goal against us he didn't put a step wrong today and placed some great tackles, I personally felt it was one of his best performances this season.

Two things I will say alfred.

1. Cesc/Alexis is a choice between the devil and the deep sea. Alexis may be a more natural forward but Cesc can give us that final pass and he is perhaps as likely to score a goal as Alexis if not more. With Alexis I don't know how badly he will control the ball and how much time he will take to make up his mind when in a good position. On the pitch and especially the final third most of the times everything needs to be done in split seconds and neither of these players appear capable of doing that. I will sit on the fence on this one.

2. You can give kudos to Mascherano for his performance but his tendency to come out charging at everything is still quite worrying. Anyway now that he will not be there let's see how much better or worse we become.

A little worried about Bartra and Messi situation, as our forwards were hopeless, but again. Press high, run hard, win early ball and transition quickly and we will run them down.

Give Bartra a tester this weekend, I really don't want to see Busi dropped there and Song come in as Busi is pivotal to recycling quick ball.

Edit: Where was Villa today? Absolutely invisible. He was hopeless... Tello should have come on way earlier/ actually started.

BarcaKizz wrote:Interesting nobody points it out again... Difference in our performances for me has been Xavi.

Sure Messi was immense vs Milan, but Xavi was the player who upped our tempo. Obviously it was a collective effort, but I felt the maestro was the best on the pitch with Messi and just dominated in that game. When he's 100% and plays in the big games, we are just that much better.

Today it was so obvious he wasn't ready. He looked lethargic and completely off the pace. Still did his job better than most would but our transition was so horribly slow. He's been managed horribly. He's rushed into almost every game and thus never fit. I don't think he's been fit for about 4 months now, and that corresponds to a dip in form. Start of the season he was immense, and what? Wow, we were also at our best.

I'm not going to pretend that its the only problem, but when one of your key players, the heartbeat of your system is never fit, you can't hope to play at your best.

Thus, key for second leg is having Xavi fit. Messi or no Messi, Cesc or Villa, if Xavi has us operating fast and fluid we will beat them. Problem is, is a week enough time. I don't think so. He needs a couple to off weeks off. This stop, start BS has done him no good.

Very well said kizz.

You would have noticed as much as anyone that for months now we have not been able to maintain a vice like grip on a game as we did in the Xavi heydays. That our defense is now weaker is true but they are also that much more exposed. Even in the last few minutes of a game we are not able to see it off by keeping the ball. The two reasons for this is Xavi not controlling things as much as he used to and some of the players not being good movers and/or passers.

Tonight highlighted one more point on the Xavi-Pirlo comparison. Xavi has hardly ever been played off the park in the last several years but Pirlo has and that too in some key matches.

Also, more hate for Maxwell lol. I just feel like I'm watching a different player... He played well today. Alves wasn't running round him at all. Most of Alves' successful dribbles were coming inside and against Pastore (who actually showed the best defensive effort on his part I've ever seen).

Maxwell generally tucked in and defended well. He was their 2nd best defender, much better than Jallet. Dunno how much you can attribute Villa's horrible game to him but that is something.

Should have played Tello out there... He would have actually run at Jallet/Maxwell...

Messi's injury didn't seem very problematic, he was able to jog, and stay on the bench instead of like Mascherano who wasn't able to stay at the stadium.
Bartra will pull a better performance then Mascherano could so honestly don't mind him starting, that CB role is a lost cause, maybe Abidal will get playing time this weekend for a possible start...
or maybe Adriano will be fit enough to play CB again.
anyways, once Messi got subbed out Barcelona was a different team, we were unprepared that was the last thing we could expect so I expect us to be more prepared on the return leg.
Alexis Sanchez is useless like always luckily he redeemed himself just a little bit by earning us a penalty but still eh..
and horrible reffing, truly disgusted.
I predicted a 3-2 loss, a 2-2 seems alright, considering we rarely lose at home and we have two goals away.

That’s two games now the ref and his team have managed to “help” us. *rme*

I thought we were UEFAlona? How is it that we can blatantly have calls against us and people will still think we get help to win things. Ridiculous.

The player that shouldnt even have played today, scored an offside goal by miles. I thought Stark was apart of our Uefacef conspiracy? He consistently allowed PSG players to foul and hack in the second half with not even a yellow, much less a call..yet as soon as a Barca player breathed on a PSG player, the whistle was louder than the crowd in the stadium. Its frustrating to try to concentrate on the game when there are so many “mistakes” by the officials. And I’m really not in the mood for anyone to tell me not to blame result on officials. I’m not but these things have to be pointed out.

PSG played well but I do not think they deserved to be level at the end of the game. At all. The draw leaves a bad taste in my mouth. With so many injuries, I wanted some kind of tangible advantage to take back to the Camp Nou. Our defense will allow goals..and with no Messi (possibly) in the second leg we can’t count on outscoring the opposition. Still, I guess 2 away goals is great. Much better than not getting any away goal AND conceding 2 :S

Sometimes I really dislike this sport.

Also I'm glad Mascherano is out because Barta gets more minutes. No Song please in the defense maybe Busi but NO Song...

Don't understand the hate towards Mascherano I think he had a very neat display and dare I say with him on the pitch PSG wouldn't have scored a second.

Also having the coach back on the touchline and the dressing room shows how important they are to a team. I think tactically speaking it was a very good performance against a very good team in a difficult ground.

I also think Sánchez had a good performance despite not being great. I can see improvements in his play and he looked more comfortable.

Last but not least Ibra was the focal point of most PSG's attacks and he's a few steps above his team mates.

PS: Not too impressed wity Busquets in the last few months. He makes too many mistakes for the error-free player we were used to see.

I just want to add I was disappointed with Villa as well. I know he didn’t receive the ball all that much, but I was expecting much more of him

danyjr wrote:PS: Not too impressed wity Busquets in the last few months. He makes too many mistakes for the error-free player we were used to see.

Is he developing a sort of a Jekyll and Hyde personality - brilliant in one game and then not so great in another? I think he has had a somewhat mixed season this time although there have been a few stand out performances. It's not in the same class as his season of 2010-11.

billy_gr wrote:I just want to add I was disappointed with Villa as well. I know he didn’t receive the ball all that much, but I was expecting much more of him

Agree completely but in spite of that would it make sense to start him in the return leg as center forward with Sanchez and Tello on either side of him?

No don’t get me wrong. Everybody can have a bad game. I’d take Villa over Shancez or Pedro everyday

Villa?

It wasnt too different from the Milan performance, the only difference is he didnt receive any chances and therefore didnt score. His movement and work rate was more or less the same, just couldnt find him. It doesnt help that Thiago Silva plays on the left of the defence and he is freaking everywhere.

Villa is a real striker, he doesnt have to do much for long spells but he can come alive at any moment to do something. Just have to set the conditions for that to happen. It didnt happen but thats just one game, no doubt he should remain in the team.

Real Kandahar wrote:

The Franchise wrote:Ok........3 things.

1. Sell Dani Alves

2. I am so sad Valdes is leaving.

3. We aint winning the CL in my opinion. Too much constant calamaity, injuries and fodder error.

i know your first two points are sarcasm, but could you elaborate on your third point?

Well first of all the number of injuries is becoming silly now, at crucial times. Xavi being rushed back, no Puyol, no Adriano, Pedro got some trouble, Alba isnt fully fit and now Messi. Its only a matter of time before Xavi gets injured to the point he cant play, or Iniesta goes down or something like that.

The errors and calamity I speak of our just our games. Valdes error here, poor set peice defending there, Mascherano horrific position here...just too many collective and individual errors happening and in big games too.

Then you add Milan scored a handball goal which probably shouldnt of been allowed, Adriano could or should of had a pen vs Madrid away, Ibra scores today a clear offside goal which came from a freekick which shouldnt of been allowed, which came from a corner which for sure shouldnt of been allowed. You can debate the decisions you like, but thats not the point. The point is when you add all these things, it tells me its a team with no luck. And everyone knows you dont win the Champions League without luck being with you.

So, to win it, we need a huge turnaround in luck, our players not to get injured and to cut out the school boy errors. We aint in control of any of those things.

The Franchise wrote:

free_cat wrote:Btw Dani (franchise), did you see Bayern's first goal? I guess it's also a Buffon mistake because the shot was slightly deflected and he didn't even touch the ball.

Terrible goalkeeping from buffon today in the second goal too.

I didnt, but I am downloading it as I write this so I will give you my opinion tommorow.

I am hearing its his fault for the goal though, both of them.

Now seen it, its a Bufffon error. Minor deflection, but the reason it went in was because the ball curved so dramatically. Add in his second error, a terrible performance from Buffon.

On could say at 35 (?) perhaps he isnt what he used to be, but to be fair, I dont remember errors like this from him even these recent years. As opposed to our goalie who has had errors in big games many times the last 2 seasons.

Dani , you got a point about the '' luck '' part . In a final , little details make the différence and it's hard to imagine what the starting 11 would be . Either it's Xavi, Alba, Adriano etc .. someone is always missing
The way the defenders are injuried every then and now is really worrying.

What defenders, CB , do you expect to be signed this summer ?


PS: Yesterday a RM fan told me '' Barca is nothing without Messi, Messi makes Barca '' . this same guy was among the ones who used to say '' Messi is nothing without Xavi and Iniesta '' ....

looking at our recent signings we probs end up buying a dm and converting him into a CB

in all seriousness i hope we sign a CB with immense leadership quality, some1 who can actually command the back.

Still pissed off that we couldnt hold possession for the last minute