**oy this ATM v Lei match is very physical. Very fun to watch.
Tyler Adams become the first American to score in the UCL quarterfinals or later and sends Leipzig to the semis. PSG is good, but probably weaker than 3 out of the 4 in the other half of the bracket. Decent chance Adams becomes the first American to play in a Champions League final.
Good chance, but PSG was very flat, as they were by far the less active side. With Werner gone and Mbappe back, I’d back PSG on that one.
Apparently assembling a midfield full of 33 year olds and spending $300M on people that are one the bench/on the other team isn’t a great way to build a team. At 1-1 I thought Barca’s only chance was snagging a goal (as Suarez and Pique should have done) and then get incredibly lucky defending against a better team for 70 minutes. Bayern immediately scored 3 right after that thought.
The Bundesliga is representing itself very well. The football without the fans and the emotional rush is still very entertaining.
Did some alien power substitute Hansa Rostock for Barca? 
I was expecting Bayern to smash Barca, but not like that. The nature of chasing a goal the entire game meant they’d be open to quick attacks (more than they already are). Just shambolic. De Jong is the only player on the team that had even a mediocre game and he along with Ter Stegen are probably the only current starters that should be on the team in 2 years.
Going to be a very difficult rebuild for them given the age of the roster, the disaster board, and being broke. Wouldn’t be surprised if they finished 3rd in La Liga next year.
Bayern is on a hell of a run though. 19 straight wins? The expected semi-final against Man City will be a hell of a game. Will be interesting to see if Lewandowski can get the single season goal record (in 3 less games). I believe it’s 2 more to tie and 3 to take it outright.
Raheem Sterling, you are worthless. Now Lyon scores a 3rd. I was really looking forward to Man City v Bayern.
While I think Sterling is probably the #3 left winger in the world, that’s inexcusable. Bayern have to be thrilled. They’ll be heavy favorites the rest of their games.
Bayern v PSG is looking to be an incredible final. I know Im counting my chickens but what a match it will be.
Im also kinda liking the single match elimination format. Each minute of the match is important. Thank you world for not effing up the Covid pandemic so we Americans can enjoy some sports.
I would be surprised, but not shocked if Leipzig takes down PSG. I certainly hope they do since I’m an American homer rooting for Tyler Adams.
The stakes are certainly much higher for the single elimination. Every game in super intense from the opening whistle while with two legs the favored team often seemed disinterested in the first leg. Definitely would create more upsets though. I guess whether you think that’s a good thing is a matter of preference.
20 straight, and only one draw in their last 28. It’s pretty crazy.
It works for the NFL playoffs and the FA Cup. Clubs are also always complaining about too many fixtures. But there is too much money on the table so it will never happen.
I personally don’t like the NFL playoffs because I think it’s more susceptible for giving a false impression on who the best team is. I don’t know why, but it annoys me that people think the Giants were a great team under Eli Manning vs a mediocre team that got lucky. For American football, there’s no real alternative though.
For any of the domestic cups I think it’s totally fine, and probably preferred since nobody thinks of that as a proxy for the best team. Now, there are definitely upsets with 2 legged playoffs as well, but it’s less likely. I’m not against shifting slightly away from a better judge of quality towards a slightly higher excitement, but it is something.
Interestingly I think the WC has probably picked the actual best team since I started watching it. Probably due more to luck and small sample size than anything though.
Interesting, I’ve never thought about that, but the streak of the winner being at least arguably the best team in the tournament has maybe gone all the way back to 1994?
If you factor in Semedo and Umtiti I’d tweak that to four years.
Umtiti hasn’t been the same since his knee injury in 2018 and has, rightfully I think, lost his starting spot to Lenglet. Semedo… I guess. He was shambolic against Bayern though. I think that’s still a position Barca want to improve. Agreed that it’s probably not the most pressing position though.
Given the number of holes and the probable timeline for rebuilding they probably should let Messi go. And thinking about it a bit, depending on what they can get for Ter Stegen, maybe they should let him go too. Onana + Upamecano > Ter Stegen for a rebuild. Maybe in a couple years they could line up as:
-----------------Onana
Dest—Eric Garcia/Upamecano–Lenglet–?
-----------------de Jong
------------Puig-------Pjanic/?
----Dembele----Martinez—Coutinho/Fati
If they sell Umtiti, Messi, Ter Stegen, Vidal, and Rakitic that’s probably doable. Pretty huge questions of landing all those targets and also all of the young players working out. More likely they’re entering a wilderness similar to the post Cruijff and pre-Ronaldinho era.
Depending on your definition of “arguably”, I think you could go back to 1982 or 1978 (I think in '78 the Netherlands were clear favourites) before you have a real ‘upset’ winner.
Wow, Mukiele takes a dive in the deep in the defense, no foul is given, and PSG scores on the turnover. One of the weirder goals I’ve seen. PSG really dominating this game although I still think Bayern will be pretty big favorites (if they make it).
Welp, going to see a treble this year for the first time since 14-15. Lewandowski also has a chance to get to the CL goal mark. Unlikely, but I’m pretty sure he would have gotten there with another game against both Barca and Lyon. Really deserves the Ballon d’Or this year (unless Mbappe scores like 3 in the final?). Too bad about the cancellation.