Champions League Quarter Finals 2020/21 - Apr 6/7 & 13/14

VP89

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You need some luck in the Champions League, Poch did well and PSG deserve credit for the result. Bayern's blunt-ness in front of goal is on them, but I back them to turn it around in the second leg. Especially if Lewa returns.
 

Sayros

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PSG benefitting from Verratti’s absence is a laughable take. Those opportunities were going to be there regardless, but the transition between defense and attack was atrocious without Verratti.
 

Mikal

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Navas is the best PSG recruit from the last decade.

I think PSG did fine, considering Verratti is missing, Marquinhos injured himself and our sidebacks are pretty weak.
Draxler, who isn't playing often was a good surprise. I think he played quite good during the counter attacks phases. He wasn't running much without the ball though, but I guess it's normal when you play 1 match ever 3 games.
Kean is a point of concern as he seems to still not have recovered from Covid. He seemed exhausted after playing 5-10 minutes.

Bayern had many occasions but could only score on freekicks. We are quite lucky Lewandowski and Gnabry are missing.
Great show.
 
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RashyForPM

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PSG benefitting from Verratti’s absence is a laughable take. Those opportunities were going to be there regardless, but the transition between defense and attack was atrocious without Verratti.
Yeah that’s ridiculous, and so is the fact that they implied that Verratti is a sideways passing merchant. What a joke.
 

BayernFan87

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...
People are praising Bayern in attack while criticising the ultra high line, well, the high line enables them to press so well and win the ball back to continually begin/resume attacks. I love that style of play. You might ask them to compromise, but they’ll just point you to the sextuple.
...
Thank you.

Of course the high line is risky but our attack wouldn't be as good as it is if we defended deeper.
 

giorno

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Whenever I watch Atletico games in particular (distant second team), he seems to love the limelight, but the decisions are not bad, like they weren’t tonight.
He's one of the most inconsistent refs around, and a bit of a visionary. In the sense that he calls stuf nobody else sees

He's good when he gets lucky and the game doesn't give him the chance to screw up
 

Lyricist

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Time to cash in. You can always count on Bayern to play the brain-dead high line with sub-par defenders against lethal attackers.

Is it really about the quality of the defenders though?
This high line leaves them exposed of course. How difficult is it to play as a defender in this Bayern system? I'd say very difficult.
The games that everybody is watching you're going to be 1v1 against the Mbappes, Haalands, Ronaldos, Messis of this world.

Had their strikers done their job and finished some of the countless chances, the result could've been 6-3 easily.
 

giorno

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PSG benefitting from Verratti’s absence is a laughable take. Those opportunities were going to be there regardless, but the transition between defense and attack was atrocious without Verratti.
Yeah, genuinely laughable take. Only makes sense from the perspective that this was the best PSG could do against bayern :houllier:
 

VP89

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PSG benefitting from Verratti’s absence is a laughable take. Those opportunities were going to be there regardless, but the transition between defense and attack was atrocious without Verratti.
So easy to post tactical shit like this after the final whistle, isn't it :lol:
 

Raees

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PSG benefitting from Verratti’s absence is a laughable take. Those opportunities were going to be there regardless, but the transition between defense and attack was atrocious without Verratti.
Agreed but it forced PSG to go straight into Neymar rather than play it through the midfield thus bypassing the Bayern press - although admittedly, also meant they're more prone to change over in possession. So whilst it is a possibility that Verratti also would have assisted in them winning (I absolutely adore Verratti and he is no sideways passer), the build up is more likely to go through him before going to Neymar which slightly takes away from the verticality of their possession. So it did work for them and the proof is in the potency of their counter.
 

RashyForPM

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He's one of the most inconsistent refs around, and a bit of a visionary. In the sense that he calls stuf nobody else sees

He's good when he gets lucky and the game doesn't give him the chance to screw up
At least he’s clearly not a bottlejob :lol: I could name you more than 5 refs in the PL who would have bottled that pen call just because Bayern shouted for it.

Actually, he seems very Mike Dean, but still better of course.
 

Raees

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Yeah, genuinely laughable take. Only makes sense from the perspective that this was the best PSG could do against bayern :houllier:
Not sure how it is laughable. Verratti missing is a big loss of course, but tactically PSG were still able to put together a very coherent game plan which made sense. Bayern's gameplan was more diminished by losing their star striker in Lewa - as they absolutely dominated possession, and he would have been more likely to convert from the amount of crosses going in. So Lewa was the bigger loss in the context of this encounter.
 

Giggsyking

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Bayern have it in them to go out despite playing well.

Went out against Inter like this in 2011,
lost the CL final against Chelsea like this in 2012,
went out against Atletico like this in 2016,
went out against Real somewhat like this in 2018,
lets see what happens against PSG in the return leg. :lol:
But they knocked us out despite being worse than us in 2010.
 

giorno

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Agreed but it forced PSG to go straight into Neymar rather than play it through the midfield thus bypassing the Bayern press - although admittedly, also meant they're more prone to change over in possession. So whilst it is a possibility that Verratti also would have assisted in them winning (I absolutely adore Verratti and he is no sideways passer), the build up is more likely to go through him before going to Neymar which slightly takes away from the verticality of their possession. So it did work for them and the proof is in the potency of their counter.
They had 4 counters. Literally. Over 90 minutes, they had 4 attacks. Playing through Neymar would have worked even better if they could manage more than 4 attacks....

Bayern battered them for 90 minutes.
 

Lyricist

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But they knocked us out despite being worse than us in 2010.
Debatable after their performance in the first leg and their second half in the second leg, but I understand that this is not a good place to write that. :nervous: Best half performance in that tie was obviously United's first half in the second leg.
 

Harry190

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30 attempts to 6. 15 corners to 1.
1 save to 10.

You rarely see stats like that go against the better team.
 

Topgun1

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Is it really about the quality of the defenders though?
This high line leaves them exposed of course. How difficult is it to play as a defender in this Bayern system? I'd say very difficult.
The games that everybody is watching you're going to be 1v1 against the Mbappes, Haalands, Ronaldos, Messis of this world.

Had their strikers done their job and finished some of the countless chances, the result could've been 6-3 easily.
Had PSG taken their chances, they would have been out of sight at half-time in the CL final last year. All that matters is the end result, so Bayern lifted the trophy. That's basically how it works.

And yes, Bayern got away with it that time, but I bet that they wouldn't get away with it today and PSG came through with a victory. With better incisiveness (in my opinion with the addition of Verrati too), PSG can get any number of goals really- Bayern are incapable of defending and they're not interested in defending. That's how they always got eliminated every season.

The thing is, they don't have to think about defending in the Bundesliga, the German teams have a red carpet waiting for them. But it doesn't work like that in the CL. And if they think they can go to Paris and not defend - they have another thing coming.
 

Raees

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They had 4 counters. Literally. Over 90 minutes, they had 4 attacks. Playing through Neymar would have worked even better if they could manage more than 4 attacks....

Bayern battered them for 90 minutes.
It does not matter how many attacks you have but the quality of them and PSG looked dangerous as feck on those counters - they did not look like lucky sucker punches, it was genuinely effective counter play. Verratti may have enabled them to have more attacks, but no guarantee that they would have executed those attacks any better with him in the side as the likelihood is that he would have got on the ball, before passing it to Neymar - adding an extra step to the process and giving Bayern an extra phase of possession in which to get back thus slightly slowing the game. It is all hypothetical - they may have won with him there, but the fact is, despite Bayern's dominance, PSG's ability to get on the attack very quickly stunned that Bayern defence on enough occasions to secure the win.
 

Drygon

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This is why it's surprising. Very few would hold him in the same regard
CR7 is a tier on his own, but Benzema is definitely on their level. He is just maasively underrated.
 

UnofficialDevil

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I'm not anti Scottish, I just wanted Moyes out.
Won't be the last time either.

Dynamo Oligarch, Qatar FC, UAE Rovers & Real Madrid who are funded illegally by the Spanish Government. Money, sadly, talks.
Yes it is sad, whats more sad is we are the wealthiest club on the planet but instead of competing with the big boys we are playing Granada in the Europa league.
 

Suedesi

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Glaston was on the right track when he compared bayern to spurs. Really got that "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory" stuff down like nobody's business
Easy there tiger. Bayern missed Gnabry and the world's best player, of course that'd have an impact on the result.
 

Zaphod2319

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Tuchel against his old team in the final. The teeth gnashing will be epic by the has been teams of the PL.
 

giorno

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Not sure how it is laughable. Verratti missing is a big loss of course, but tactically PSG were still able to put together a very coherent game plan which made sense. Bayern's gameplan was more diminished by losing their star striker in Lewa. So Lewa was the bigger loss in the context of this encounter.
On the balance of the result, yes. On the balance of play, no. Verratti might have allowed PSG to not get battered this badly, have more of the ball, more attacks, less defending to do, and less relying on Keylor to save everything that could be saved and then pray for what couldn't to go out anyways

An tactical analysis has to take the balance of play into account, first and foremost, imo. PSG did not execute their gameplan well. The lack of any sort of midfield play meant they spent 90 minutes against the ropes. They were good on the counter, sure, but then they only managed to that 4 times in 90 minutes. They were outplayed, outcoached, outplanned, and won the game because the episodes miraculously(given the sheer amount of chances) went their way
 

tomaldinho1

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Yes it is sad, whats more sad is we are the wealthiest club on the planet but instead of competing with the big boys we are playing Granada in the Europa league.
Yep, it genuinely sucks. We should be there or close to being there but we're so far off.
Bayern and PSH just duked it out in a classic CL game and we're going up against Roberto Soldado's Granada...

On the balance of the result, yes. On the balance of play, no. Verratti might have allowed PSG to not get battered this badly, have more of the ball, more attacks, less defending to do, and less relying on Keylor to save everything that could be saved and then pray for what couldn't to go out anyways

An tactical analysis has to take the balance of play into account, first and foremost, imo. PSG did not execute their gameplan well. The lack of any sort of midfield play meant they spent 90 minutes against the ropes. They were good on the counter, sure, but then they only managed to that 4 times in 90 minutes. They were outplayed, outcoached, outplanned, and won the game because the episodes miraculously(given the sheer amount of chances) went their way
Or they decided their best best away from home was to sit in and go direct because of how stupidly high Bayern's line is....they now have three away goals
 

Raees

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On the balance of the result, yes. On the balance of play, no. Verratti might have allowed PSG to not get battered this badly, have more of the ball, more attacks, less defending to do, and less relying on Keylor to save everything that could be saved and then pray for what couldn't to go out anyways

An tactical analysis has to take the balance of play into account, first and foremost, imo. PSG did not execute their gameplan well. The lack of any sort of midfield play meant they spent 90 minutes against the ropes. They were good on the counter, sure, but then they only managed to that 4 times in 90 minutes. They were outplayed, outcoached, outplanned, and won the game because the episodes miraculously(given the sheer amount of chances) went their way
Completely disagree.

Lets take the previous years final into account. They had more control than tonight, a more even game from a possession perspective but they did not look as dangerous. They looked less vulnerable, but on the balance of things, tonight was a better night not just because of the result but because Bayern looked scared of PSG on the counter.

You would much rather risk the run of a bloody nose, knowing you may be able to knock the opponent out by virtue of superior knockout power than fight cagily knowing when it comes to the end of it, you are much more likely to lose on points.

It wasn't pretty, it was not dominating, but this was a classic counter attack and smash and grab performance which was the gameplan from the off. They knew they would be outplayed but trusted that they would do enough damage on the counter to make it worthwhile. So tactically it worked.

It would be different if they went into it all guns blazing and then found themselves pinned back - which clearly was not the case. For example, PSG refused to press Bayern in their build up (completely going against Poch usual methods - clear indication of a gameplan) and they also adopted a low block 4-4-2 out of possession, again a clear sign, it was a plan to absorb pressure and snatch it on the counter.
 

TheMagicFoolBus

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Completely disagree.

Lets take the previous years final into account. They had more control than tonight, a more even game from a possession perspective but they did not look as dangerous. They looked less vulnerable, but on the balance of things, tonight was a better night not just because of the result but because Bayern looked scared of PSG on the counter.

You would much rather risk the run of a bloody nose, knowing you may be able to knock the opponent out by virtue of superior knockout power than fight cagily knowing when it comes to the end of it, you are much more likely to lose on points.

It wasn't pretty, it was not dominating, but this was a classic counter attack and smash and grab performance which was the gameplan from the off. They knew they would be outplayed but trusted that they would do enough damage on the counter to make it worthwhile. So tactically it worked.
They were playing away in a first leg quarterfinal. The calculus changes completely for that scenario versus a one off at a neutral ground. Very silly to argue one approach is more meritorious without considering the context of the match.
 

Suedesi

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PSG got lucky @Raees You can't legislate for Choupa Mouting hittng the bar in the first minute and Neuer letting the ball slide in the third. I think PSG got extremely lucky, and allowed Bayern a ton of chances which on another night they would have been punished. Lewandowski missing had a huge effect, Gnabry also.

Feel the second match will play out the same way, Bayern will dominate and create more, PSG will somehow scrape through
 

Raees

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They were playing away in a first leg quarterfinal. The calculus changes completely for that scenario versus a one off at a neutral ground. Very silly to argue one approach is more meritorious without considering the context of the match.
I agree. Also when you are playing counter, more often than not - you're accepting that the other side will outplay you in many respects, especially against a side like Bayern. Very unlikely the counter side in a game vs them, is going to not concede any chances or make them look utterly shit in possession.
 

RedDevil@84

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Yes it is sad, whats more sad is we are the wealthiest club on the planet but instead of competing with the big boys we are playing Granada in the Europa league.
Which is why the rich clubs are calling for the breakaway super league. To stop this stupidity of being so rich, but being forced to play not so rich teams. Also to stop this nonsense of getting knocked out by lesser teams. How dare they!!
 

GatoLoco

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Lets take the previous years final into account. They had more control than tonight, a more even game from a possession perspective but they did not look as dangerous. They looked less vulnerable, but on the balance of things, tonight was a better night not just because of the result but because Bayern looked scared of PSG on the counter.
I must have watched a different game because to me Bayern didn't look scared at all when attacking. In fact, I don't think I remember any other game in the latter knockouts of CL where one of the teams was so incredibly berserk.
 

Withnail

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Yeah in knockout football anything can happen, look at how bad Chelsea are this season they just lost 5-2 and probably won’t make top 4 yet are in a CL semi final.

PSG are wide open city will rip them to pieces, Bayern are a top team but until Lewa comes back they‘ll struggle.
Chelsea lost a man before halftime.

I don't see City ripping anyone apart in the CL. They are so conservative this season.
 

Raees

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PSG got lucky @Raees You can't legislate for Choupa Mouting hittng the bar in the first minute and Neuer letting the ball slide in the third. I think PSG got extremely lucky, and allowed Bayern a ton of chances which on another night they would have been punished. Lewandowski missing had a huge effect, Gnabry also.

Feel the second match will play out the same way, Bayern will dominate and create more, PSG will somehow scrape through
Luck is a big factor you need in your favour in these type of set ups. Who can remember United v Barca in 2008? Messi played us off the park and we were on the edge all night apart from that Scholes goal, but it was a gameplan by us, it did rely on some luck but we did the job in the end and no one talks about how we got outplayed because we set up to ride that storm and eventually nick it.

Neymar missed a 1 v 1 tonight, and there were other half chances for PSG in the box. I don't see how anyone can watch that and think PSG did not look a threat. Of course they could have lost it, but I think they were more likely to win it using this game plan rather than going toe to toe with Bayern and wrestling them for possession.