Champions League Round of 16 (14th Feb - 15th Mar)

Zoo

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You said they 'don't have a chance' when clearly, the way they play is custom-made to unsettle a good amount of the sides remaining in the competition. Quality is only one component; the amount of running they do and the way they harass and the way they break; the pace of Vardy on the counter can cause a lot of problems for the sides who go all-in on attack. Pragmatic sides can nullify a lot of what Leicester do and put the onus on Leicester to try and play in a 50-50 game, at which point their quality, or lack of, can be properly exposed.
In a one off game maybe, over 2 legs I don't see it at all against the current teams left. We'll see.
 

Oga on top.

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Didn't they get a bunch of questionable penalty decisions their way? Anyways, Sevilla are built for Europa League.
It's overused on the Caf but Sevilla really did bottle it tonight. If they can't get past Leicester, well. Built for Europa indeed.
 

Keeps It tidy

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I'm surprised the vast majority of people on here thought Leicester would get hammered before these two games.

This is a team who won the bleedin' Premier League last season in one of the biggest sporting achievements in human history, and despite their league form this season, have performed similar to last season's levels in this competition thus far.
Because at the time of the predictions Sevilla was in great form and it looked like Leicester were going to get relegated. It was a reasonable thought.
 

Infordin

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15th place in England is better than 3rd place in Spain. La Liga is a two team league, with Atletico chiming in every so often.
Let's completely ignore Sevilla beating Liverpool in the EL final 9 months ago. :rolleyes:
 

Theonas

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Wow, that bad? Wonder how many "galacticos" they'll buy to "fix the problem"? :)

What's happened to Ronaldo - is he declining due to age? Or does he have some sort of injury and not being able to play fully fit?
Well they never really had that structure and tactical discipline that Barcelona had which elevated them. This is one of the reasons they have consistently come up short in the league. They always relied on their best players that bit more than the other top teams, difference being their top players were usually the best bar Barcelona's. What happened the past few months is those top players are not performing to the same level or injured which means those moments of brilliance are less than before. Lucky for them though is Barcelona are having their least consistent season in recent years though.

For Ronaldo, I think age is definitely a part of it. Moreover, he changed his game for a few years now to focus more on finishing and less build up. He was getting less and less involved in their game for a couple of years now and therefore was even more reliant on the service from Özil and Di Maria and later on Bale, James and Modric. This service is getting less so his influence is also waning. Having said all of that, we are still talking about some of the best players in the world so if they always have it in them to turn it on on a one off game.
 

Infordin

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As well as any PL side is capable of beating any La Liga side on their day
And any La Liga team being able to beat any PL team on their day.

But the fact still remains, it's been proven season after season that Real Madrid and Barcelona are a tier above the best PL teams, while you have absolutely no evidence that the bottom PL teams are better than the bottom La Liga teams.
 

RedMaestro

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Well they never really had that structure and tactical discipline that Barcelona had which elevated them. This is one of the reasons they have consistently come up short in the league. They always relied on their best players that bit more than the other top teams, difference being their top players were usually the best bar Barcelona's. What happened the past few months is those top players are not performing to the same level or injured which means those moments of brilliance are less than before. Lucky for them though is Barcelona are having their least consistent season in recent years though.

For Ronaldo, I think age is definitely a part of it. Moreover, he changed his game for a few years now to focus more on finishing and less build up. He was getting less and less involved in their game for a couple of years now and therefore was even more reliant on the service from Özil and Di Maria and later on Bale, James and Modric. This service is getting less so his influence is also waning. Having said all of that, we are still talking about some of the best players in the world so if they always have it in them to turn it on on a one off game.
Thank you for the detailed reply. I think I'll start watching a couple of Real Madrid games - I'm a bit intrigued now.
 

prtk0811

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Atletico and Sevilla are capable of beating any team in the premier league on their day.
And any La Liga team being able to beat any PL team on their day.

But the fact still remains, it's been proven season after season that Real Madrid and Barcelona are a tier above the best PL teams, while you have absolutely no evidence that the bottom PL teams are better than the bottom La Liga teams.
A team who were fighting relegation 2 seasons ago just won the epl last season and went through to last 8 this season in ucl. Your La liga Overblown Propoganda is hilarious.

Spain is lucky to have sun shining on their sky.
 

Trizy

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Well that's that then, they're going to win the fecking thing :lol:.

Would loved to have seen last year's in form Leicester playing against Real.
 

FlawlessThaw

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The dream of us winning Europa, Leicester winning the Champions League and Liverpool winning the 4th placed Trophy is still on.

Hope we do the business on Thursday.
 

Rhyme Animal

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Nonchalantly scoring the winner...
How funny would it be if they got through to the final to face Barca...

Meanwhile, Barca's manager leaves early for some reason and Ranieri takes over Barca as a caretaker and they face Messi, Neymar, Suarez with Claudio grinning from the side...

Now that would be Shakespearean!
 

Eire Red United

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A team who were fighting relegation 2 seasons ago just won the epl last season and went through to last 8 this season in ucl. Your La liga Overblown Propoganda is hilarious.

Spain is lucky to have sun shining on their sky.
We all know that Leicesters achievements are fantastic, but are an absolute phenomenon, a freak, anomaly occurrence. I agree that overall, 1-20 the pl is a better league than La Liga but at the top La Liga simply has much more quality as shown by their utter dominance in Europe the past number of years.
 

prtk0811

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We all know that Leicesters achievements are fantastic, but are an absolute phenomenon, a freak, anomaly occurrence. I agree that overall, 1-20 the pl is a better league than La Liga but at the top La Liga simply has much more quality as shown by their utter dominance in Europe the past number of years.
Since Fergie retired.
 

Ishdalar

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A team who were fighting relegation 2 seasons ago just won the epl last season and went through to last 8 this season in ucl. Your La liga Overblown Propoganda is hilarious.

Spain is lucky to have sun shining on their sky.
The mental gymnastics to convey the idea that a relegation EPL team > 3rd in La Liga

Well, good luck placing your bets in Leicester or City, you'd probably like the better odds of Tottenham but it was a shame that the 2nd team in the EPL got out in the group phase against the 10th in the Bundesliga, apply your own logic there :lol:
 

Infordin

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A team who were fighting relegation 2 seasons ago just won the epl last season and went through to last 8 this season in ucl. Your La liga Overblown Propoganda is hilarious.
La Liga have won the last 3 Champions League trophies, 2 of those 3 finals were all-Spanish. La Liga have also won the last 3 Europa League trophies, with Sevilla beating Liverpool in the final last year.

La Liga has nothing left to prove. It's the Premier League that has to win trophies if they want to prove that they are the best league in Europe.

Spain is lucky to have sun shining on their sky.
What is this suppose to mean? That the top players would all be playing in Premier League if it was sunnier in England?

Your entire league is already foreign anyway.
 

Infordin

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you'd probably like the better odds of Tottenham but it was a shame that the 2nd team in the EPL got out in the group phase against the 10th in the Bundesliga, apply your own logic there
And then got knocked out of the EL by an 8th place Belgian team
 

cyberman

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Spain are slipping a bit this year, their EL campaign has drastically slipped this season.
It's only thanks to a Barca miracle that they even have 3 sides in the quarters (Atletico will get through)
 

Ishdalar

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Yes, but remember English teams don't care about competitions they get knocked out in.
It's just a normal thing around the world

Team from a country kicks ass: Yeah we <Insert country here> are the best, obviusly
Team from the same country fails: Well, the guys from <Insert town/city here> are just that bad
 

Smudge

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Would love to see Leicester vs Atletico in the next round.

Would be a battle everywhere on the pitch.
 

sallycinnamin

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Would love to see Leicester vs Atletico in the next round.

Would be a battle everywhere on the pitch.
Was thinking the same and what either approach towards possession as in both are so known in not dominating games but deadly on the break/ counter.
 

prtk0811

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Your entire league is already foreign anyway.
Neymar- brazil Pique- spain
Messi- Argentina
Suarez- Uruguay Busquests- spain
Rakitic- Croatia
Andre gomes -Portugal Iniesta- Spain
Rafinha -Brazil
Mascherano -Argentina
Umtiti -France
Ter stegan -Germany

Ronaldo Portugal Ramos-Spain
Bale - Wales
Benzema- France Carvajal- Spain
Modric-Croatia
Kroos-Germany
Casemiro Brazil
Marcelo-Brazil
Varane-France
Pepe- Portugal
Navas-Costarica

Yours is South American anyway.
 

prarek

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Was thinking the same and what either approach towards possession as in both are so known in not dominating games but deadly on the break/ counter.
Leicester: Go ahead, you take the ball.
Atleti: No you take it.
Leicester: No you.
Atleti: Ni hablar!
 

prtk0811

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I know Fergie has a sentimental following but I don't really remember Fergie dominating the Real Madrid and the Barcelona in CL the way they've done his teams.
They have Rarely met and Fergie never signed galatico's . Was always short of quality. 84 cup winners cup vs barcelona 91 98 pretty even Also 2008 2013 vs Real madrid Dominated most of the time Real madrid vs Aberdeen Beat them . He had his Moments
 

carvajal

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Sevilla were very disappointing.They were walking all the game.
Leicester more intense,played well and defended better.
A 29 year old player who is the best paid player in the team (Nasri) has to be more intelligent.
A pity the 2 penalties,today and in Sevilla.
 

Afganitia

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Seville meltdown confirmed:
0 victories in the last 3 matches. A well as scrapy victories before that.