Football thread v.2

[4eClausewitz]

Chelsea's schedule at that time will be absolute murder, so I doubt they'll make it through. Unless Conte comes up with some defensive genius to hold Barca off over the course of two legs, they'll probably struggle immensely. Shakhtar / Roma should be interesting considering Roma is notorious for bottling in major European tournaments - and with Shakhtar always being incredibly unpredictable, it'll be one of the most intense ties. Tottenham can't seem to catch a break, considering they made it out of possibly the biggest group of death and now have to face yet another European giant. Should be a cracker against Juve. The rest seems pretty bog standard, not really much to look forward to in terms of entertainment (with the exception being Real / PSG - which speaks for itself really).

[Skipper]

Chelsea would have to pull off a miracle to beat Barcelona. Not only are Barcelona better on-paper anyway, but this season they have *really* performed. They are absolutely dominating in Europe and both the club and Messi have had their best start to a season ever.

Unless Real finally pick up, PSG should win this match too.

Juve will easily beat Spurs. Spurs are the most overrated club this season - their group was no-way-near as bad as everyone made out. The only real threat was Real, who have been absolutely horrendous this season (even losing to Levante at home), with Cristiano only bagging 4 league goals so far this season (2 of which were penalties). Juentus haven't been great - they got demolished by Barcelona in the group stage (then again, Messi this season is absolutely incredible) and in the league Napoli and Inter have been doing pretty good - but, compared to Spurs, it should be a solid win.

Sevilla should be beating United, but have underperformed both domestically and in Europe this season and so likely won't.

Porto and Liverpool is difficult to call.

Asides from that, the others are pretty straight forward.

[Keita]

Chelsea will beat Barca.

[Skipper]

Chelsea will beat Barca.

Realistically, you're the only person I've spoken to who's suggested that.

Asides from "Chelsea won in 2012", what makes you think they'll beat this current Barca side?

[Keita]

Chelsea will beat Barca.

Realistically, you're the only person I've spoken to who's suggested that.

Asides from "Chelsea won in 2012", what makes you think they'll beat this current Barca side?

I just have that feeling, nothing special about it.

And i do think Chelsea will be hard to beat over 2 legs, especially when you have Conte in charge.

[Oatmeal]

Don't see Chelsea getting the job done in camp nou

[Skipper]

If I recall, the last time Barcelona lost any UCL match in Camp Nou (inc. group stage + knockout rounds) was against Bayern in 2013, pretty impressive.

Plus, Barcelona have yet to lose a match this season in any competition.

Valencia too. I would have loved to see Valencia in UCL this season given how good they are playing.

[4eClausewitz]

Chelsea would have to pull off a miracle to beat Barcelona. Not only are Barcelona better on-paper anyway, but this season they have *really* performed. They are absolutely dominating in Europe and both the club and Messi have had their best start to a season ever.

Unless Real finally pick up, PSG should win this match too.

Juve will easily beat Spurs. Spurs are the most overrated club this season - their group was no-way-near as bad as everyone made out. The only real threat was Real, who have been absolutely horrendous this season (even losing to Levante at home), with Cristiano only bagging 4 league goals so far this season (2 of which were penalties). Juentus haven't been great - they got demolished by Barcelona in the group stage (then again, Messi this season is absolutely incredible) and in the league Napoli and Inter have been doing pretty good - but, compared to Spurs, it should be a solid win.

Sevilla should be beating United, but have underperformed both domestically and in Europe this season and so likely won't.

Porto and Liverpool is difficult to call.

Asides from that, the others are pretty straight forward.

Think that's a bit harsh on Tottenham to be honest; they have been in the spotlight but you have to remember that Dortmund has not been in shambles all throughout the season - they were on a hot streak at the time when they faced Tottenham and are still a top side on paper. Beating Real Madrid is no small feat either. They were definitely considered underdogs at the time of the draw, so them making it through definitely deserves some recognition. They've got a surprisingly talented squad that plays attractive/entertaining football which is more than you get from the likes of United. I don't think anyone expected the likes of Winks / Llorente / Sissoko to step up to the plate against a side like Real's. I don't think it's all that certain that Juve will win from Tottenham over the course of two legs, considering they have been in arguably worse form than Tottenham. It'll be close but it's definitely not an absolute certainty that Tottenham will get smashed by Juventus.

[Skipper]

I'm harsh on Spurs as a rule of thumb, haha, given that my family are Arsenal supporters (not myself though, to clarify).

Yeah, I guess going to the Bernabeau and getting a result like that is good, no matter Real's form, and Dortmund are no push over.

[Toffee]

Basel - Man city = Man city
Juventus - Tottenham = Juventus
Real Madrid - PSG = PSG
Porto - Liverpool = Liverpool
Bayern - Besiktas = Bayern
Chelsea - Barcelona = Barcelona
Shaktar - Roma = Roma
Sevilla - Man United = Man United

Those are my predictions.
Moving on, my club, Everton have been decent since Allardyce took over. Nothing pretty, but getting the job done which is what we needed. We needed someone who would come in and sort us out defensively, reiterate the basics and get the job done. Sam seems to be doing that thus far. With the youngsters, especially, confidence is a big factor and we lacked that cohesion under Koeman, hopefully now getting back to the place where we want to be having dragged ourselves back up to being level on points with 9th placed Watford.

[Dekkers]

Basel - Man city = Man city
Juventus - Tottenham = Juventus
Real Madrid - PSG = PSG
Porto - Liverpool = Liverpool
Bayern - Besiktas = Bayern
Chelsea - Barcelona = Barcelona
Shaktar - Roma = Roma
Sevilla - Man United = Man United

Those are my predictions.
Moving on, my club, Everton have been decent since Allardyce took over. Nothing pretty, but getting the job done which is what we needed. We needed someone who would come in and sort us out defensively, reiterate the basics and get the job done. Sam seems to be doing that thus far. With the youngsters, especially, confidence is a big factor and we lacked that cohesion under Koeman, hopefully now getting back to the place where we want to be having dragged ourselves back up to being level on points with 9th placed Watford.

PSG won't beat Real Madrid fam

[Toffee]

Yes they will. Madrid have been shite this season.

[Dekkers]

Yes but unlike PSG they don't play in a mickey mouse league

[Wursti]

[Toffee]

Yes but unlike PSG they don't play in a mickey mouse league

And? The reason PSG win Ligue 1 so much is because they are heads and tails above every else. They are one of the best teams in the world. Real have been playing really poorly recently, even in the Spanish league against some really poor sides.