Watching the short abridged version on the net this culer is also very happy. Lamine Yamal is something special!
I keep thinking that since he’s so one-footed defenders will figure him out. Very happy to be wrong so far.
Seems like I missed some game today. Benfica - Barça 4:5
This means Barça is the the round of the last 16 with one game still to go. And so is Liverpool, who have not lost a single point so far.
That game was nuts.
I did appreciate all the Hansi Flick camera shots. Flashbacks to him glowering even when he had a lead.
The feed I was watching didn’t show any replays, but in real time I was sure that Benfica was going to get a PK and the Raphinha winner called back.
Lots of things can still happen but after PSG’s 4-2 defeat of City yesterday, City appears to be on track to run into Liverpool or Barcelona in the quarterfinals (if I’m reading things correctly).
Of course, they still have to beat Club Brugge Wednesday and then survive first round games against the likes of Aston Villa or Monaco and then second round games against possibly Atalanta or Leverkusen just to reach the quarters. All of these potential matchups are subject to change after Wednesday’s games.
City may be struggling but Real manager Carlos Ancelotti said yesterday that it would be a “good thing” if the Citizens were bounced because he still sees them as a serious threat.
It may be complicated but I like the new UCL format.
On to the knockouts. First round matchups are drawn tomorrow morning at 6 ET.
Celtic and City will be paired in combination with PSG and Bayern.
Man City has been something to see, really just struggling. As a Bayern fan I don’t really care which of those they draw, I figure either way we’ll get a couple of interesting matches.
Yeah, pretty wild to see a team that’s probably been consistently the best in Europe (despite lackluster UCL performance) over the past 5+ years, that added the most prolific striker in a decade, struggle.
I haven’t been watching them much so I can’t judge by myself. Is it mostly missing Rodri?
Rodri’s injury is indeed a massive loss and would be to any club… A piece in The Ringer a couple of months ago also pointed out the aging of several other midfield stars who are difficult to replace, like DeBruyne whose game I have always loved.
Older legs not so good pressing defensively.
Of course Rodri is a big loss, but a world class team like City shouldn’t be dependent on one single player so that when he’s missing, the whole system collapses. They are quite a mystery to me this season.
Didn’t their whole back line go down injured this year?
Also, yeah, ,de Bruyne no longer looks to be the agent of chaos he used to be.
Yeah, in the pretty recent past I think their second team would have challenged for a CL spot (perhaps a slight exaggeration).
Liverpool really crumbled, but Bayern looking good in UCL play.
They have to get a second chance on the “Finale dahoam”.
Indeed!
But now they’re playing Inter. Like almost always, Bayern will be the favorite team, but it will be a hard game and a strong opponent.
Speaking about Germany, this may have been one of the weirdest goals conceded by Italy in my memory. Here is an article analyzing it, I hope it is not paywalled, as I cannot find the gift link:
And here is a not very good video of the deed. Would have liked a better one, but YouTube is not what it once was, with all the crappy AI images and comment. Still, better than nothing
We were watching live, and because FS1 (reasonably) cut away to a replay of Donnarumma’s touch that led to the corner, we got a sudden jarring cut to a celebration. Such a very strange moment, but delightful.
I’ll look at the article, hopefully it mentions that Kimmich later signed a ball for the kid who got him the ball quickly for the corner.
Damnit, that kind of trick is supposed to be reserved for us, do you see us being all disciplined and machine-like? no, so don’t go stealing our signature moves!