UCL semi-finals 2022/2023

El Gunner wrote:damn what a game, big time players all round

I have no clue how suddenly Rodrygo and Vinicius are unreal in every big game. The only answer I can come up with is doping

by a millimeter

Man C as always in the away game too cautious n nervous... although thats also meant nullified or reduced Reals attacking game, hence Real only scored 1 goal... dunno, im with most ppl though, wish Pep would just let his player play as usual for these big CL games, more enjoyment n entertaining n history shows prolly more successful than being so damn restrictive?

Very poor from city. There was not enough incisiveness in their attack. One big thing that Madrid would do is stop the pass from the winger-8 and stop the early cross from coming in. This is one of cities main weapons to score goals, or sometimes as seen, the 8 will shoot outside the box. Three of cities last goals came from that sequence. Two, by the way, were assisted by mahrez. The third way is a long or through ball to Haaland, mainly by KDB. If you defend against these sequences, City look toothless. The solution was for city to sit back more and look to send Haaland on the counter. I disagree with the notion Rudiger alone was immense against Haaland, we just didn’t let city play their game. He did well in the physical battle though so I will give him that.


Bernardo is a complete waste as a winger. He’s praised for his work rate and dribbling ability but has zero goal or final pass threat. His dribbling was poor today as well. Cama pocketed him easily and again, I’m proven right when I say Cama is better at LB then as a 8. Anyhow, Silva needs to be at 8/CM.

I’m still critical of Mahrez but he will pull you a goal or assist out of nowhere. Teams triple up on Mahrez (also, foden for that matter as well) because he’s a huge goal threat and 1v1 will rinse a player on his day. Same exact thing with Foden. Both should be playing in the second leg. Yes, both grealish and Bernardo are better defensively, but then why are you even pressing Madrid in the first place? That doesn’t work. Every team that beats us parks the bus. And with Akanji, and an overall more solid defense (no more Laporte), you can soak up pressure well.

Overall, Ancelotti just outclassed pep today. I’d say no player truly stood out today, all of our players besides Benz played well today.

BarcaLearning wrote:Man C as always in the away game too cautious n nervous... although thats also meant nullified or reduced Reals attacking game, hence Real only scored 1 goal... dunno, im with most ppl though, wish Pep would just let his player play as usual for these big CL games, more enjoyment n entertaining n history shows prolly more successful than being so damn restrictive?

He didn’t over think this game. He just got outclassed. It happens. Ancelotti is a master tactician himself in big games

yea i didn't see anything that led me to think Pep changed anything in particular for this game. Mind you they were not bad, they were the better team until Madrid scored. They just couldn't break Madrid's defense and aura down.

it took two worldie goals for it not to be a deadlock and it might just be more of the same in the 2nd leg.

still anyone's game. if the away goal still existed this would have been a bad result. I think we should sit back for a bit and not play to open. let city do that and we can try and capitalize on mistakes. Hopefully we don't give up anything on defense. I would like to think the team that wins this game, wins the competition (that's what i would like to think, doesn't mean it'll happen).

halamadrid2 wrote:

El Gunner wrote:by a millimeter

still out

We're paying for the entire pitch so we're gonna use all of it

Very good game, apart from Carvajal acting like a POS at times.
Pep still always looks for perfection and tried to make it boring but luckily Vini saved all of us. Pep didn't use Haaland properly in this game, what a shame. Second game can be easily 1-0 to Madrid if Pep doesn't use the potential of his players.

El Gunner wrote:by a millimeter

Doesn't matter the distance, once the entire ball goes out, it's out. Besides, VAR has been calling offsides by the nth degree, this should have at least been reviewed.

Outside of that, this was such a good game and I dare say, a fair result. So thankful there are no away goals rule and both teams still have to go for the tie.

Can't wait for the 2nd leg tbh.

Myesyats wrote:

El Gunner wrote:damn what a game, big time players all round

I have no clue how suddenly Rodrygo and Vinicius are unreal in every big game. The only answer I can come up with is doping

You can just admit they are both good/very good players lol. You won't be less of a Barca fan.

Semi feels like Real could sneak a win at the Etihad or City could destroy them. Great place for neutrals.

BarcaLearning wrote:Man C as always in the away game too cautious n nervous... although thats also meant nullified or reduced Reals attacking game, hence Real only scored 1 goal... dunno, im with most ppl though, wish Pep would just let his player play as usual for these big CL games, more enjoyment n entertaining n history shows prolly more successful than being so damn restrictive?

I imagine they would have benefited from having played more direct football against us. They dominated possession, but they hardly take any risks, so it wasn’t much different from how they performed against us last season. It’s boring to watch from a neutral’s perspective, but i’ll take the draw. I don’t think they’ll score in the second leg, if they play like that again

Tbh last time around City lost 3-1 at the Bernabeu so this counts as a win tbh. They won in Manchester so if they manage to do that again, they're through

Doc wrote:

Myesyats wrote:

El Gunner wrote:damn what a game, big time players all round

I have no clue how suddenly Rodrygo and Vinicius are unreal in every big game. The only answer I can come up with is doping

You can just admit they are both good/very good players lol. You won't be less of a Barca fan.

It's just insane how their progression curve suddenly skyrocketed, Rodrygo doesnt even play that much in general yet he's clutch in every big game and Vinicius couldnt even hit a barn door not long ago. It's unbelievable how they hit the jackpot with both of them

I think Vinicius still needs to work on his finishing, in general. I’ll take clutch screamers whenever we get those, but consistency is obviously much more reliable.

Doc wrote:

El Gunner wrote:by a millimeter

Doesn't matter the distance, once the entire ball goes out, it's out. Besides, VAR has been calling offsides by the nth degree, this should have at least been reviewed.

Outside of that, this was such a good game and I dare say, a fair result. So thankful there are no away goals rule and both teams still have to go for the tie.

Can't wait for the 2nd leg tbh.

I'm just saying, if it was more egregious you guys could have felt hard done by... that kind of call is very easy to miss by the naked eye.

As far as i know, only offsides and potential red cards gets checked by VAR, right? Otherwise we only have goal line technology, not touchline out of bounds technology. So there's no use of Ancelotti and Madrid fans crying

The angles from above make it look like it might as well be touching the line by a hair's breadth, it's nearly impossible to tell with such minimal margins

You would need a look from above to tell

Reminder: Carvajal ended the game without a yellow

pic.twitter.com/Im1WNbIWf9

— Out Of Context Football (@nocontextfooty) May 9, 2023

halamadrid2 wrote:
It's already been confirmed by technology that the ball was out. No human involvement other than processing information.

What technology? Because the BeIN sports renders you posted aren't what they saw in the VAR room, are they?