Champions League Round of 16 (16th Feb - 17th Mar)

Bepi

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Juve are gash. There's clearly some money/ego issue with having Messi and Ronaldo, these past few years can't be coincidental.
We are convincingly winning the Instagram league, though! ;)
 

do.ob

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He does have a ridiculous voice, apart from that I hold Farke in very high regard. Would pick him before Marsch and some Swiss guy.

Obviously Gladbach may be contractually obligated to fulfill their Swiss quota of 25% and Embolo will be sold, I don't know.
Not that I know anything about Swiss football, but I'd rate winning three landslide title wins in Switzerland higher than doing well in the Championship and dying in beauty in the PL.
To get to the next level Gladbach need to improve their possession play against weaker teams, one would assume Seoane encountered and mastered that problem plenty at YB.

Marsch would probably be the most logical continuation of Rose.
 

Deery

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Unlucky that Juve goal.
It can go to either side I think.

I think that was a penalty in the end, thankfully for us the ref didn't give that and we end up with a "deserved" win.
By far the better team well played..
 

do.ob

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Absolutely horrible watching that 2nd half from Dortmund. Sevilla doing in those last minutes what they should have done from the beginning and Dortmund were predictably just not able to connect passes in midfield to release some pressure.

3-2 is by no means an unassailable lead for Dortmund with their defensive fragility, Lazio pushed them to the limit in the group stage in Dortmund and Sevilla can do the same. Both sides don't look great though.

I just get more and more sad when I see Reus play, he's dropped off a lot this season and it seems the seasons of injuries have finally taken their toil. He's lost that speed, edge and touch he had in the final third, lots of moves going down because of him tonight.
Dortmund invested a lot of energy in the first half, ran out of steam in the second half and didn't have the logical options for such a game state (Witsel, Delaney, Hazard, Zagadou) available today.
Acting like it was a unilateral decision of Sevilla to change the dynamic of the game is naive.

Dortmund aren't a stable, confident, team, so it's entirely possible that they will drop this in the return leg - especially without fans present. But a 2-3 away win is a terrific result, light years better than one could have expected given both team's recent form and even in their current state what is effectively a two goal lead should most likely suffice.

Reus is not the player he was a couple of years ago, but if Dortmund find some balance again he can still be very valuable, because unlike a lot of the young attackers who are playing around him his decision making is usually spot on. I think his pressing contribution is also underrated. Him being at the right spot at the right time, standing on the feet of Sevilla's pass receiver, got the 1-3 rolling and that's a typical situation for him.
 

Hansi Fick

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Not that I know anything about Swiss football, but I'd rate winning three landslide title wins in Switzerland higher than doing well in the Championship and dying in beauty in the PL.
To get to the next level Gladbach need to improve their possession play against weaker teams, one would assume Seoane encountered and mastered that problem plenty at YB.

Marsch would probably be the most logical continuation of Rose.
Meh. Hütter was the one who brought YB to the top.
I know nothing whatsoever about Seoane, might as well be the next Pep
 

Morty_

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Dont know why Juve persist with Pirlo, well, except for him being a legend and all.
 

Cheech Wizard

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Saw a bit of the Porto-Juve game, Porto should have won that 3-0 at least. Think they'll rue conceding that late away goal, expect Juventus to turn it around at home like they have done in the past against Atletico, Spartak..
 

Peyroteo

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I mean, he's already falling....

But yeah :lol:

Check the last angle of this at 20 seconds to see how early the contact is made, it's as clear of a penalty as you'll ever see. He's not falling, he's still on balance as he's changing direction and would have been able to get to the ball if he didn't get blocked.

They didn't deserve the penalty at all for how they played but that's definitely an awful call. Especially because he made the VAR check sign and 3 seconds later blew the final whistle.
 
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Zen

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Last angle contact ....



If he's turning and getting a shot on from that.... miraculous by his standards.
 

GifLord

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Look at the angle his body was before the defender touched him - he was going for the pen
 

mu4c_20le

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He doesn't even have to turn and get a shot, he can simply drop his left hand to the ground and prop himself up. No reason to believe he was going down before the defender took him out.
 

rojo81

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Awfull from Juve, but that Chiesa goal gives a good chance of going through. And what the hell is happening to Bentancur, what a horrible season from him.
 

croadyman

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Tell you what, Martial would never do what Haaland just did there. Bust a gut to destroy a Sevilla lightweight player and got a yellow but helped his team.
Yeah hasn't got that hunger and drive but also not the size to overpower someone either
 

giorno

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@Peyroteo no i agree, colossal penalty, there's nothing to discuss really. Which makes it more :lol: :lol: :lol:
 

Daysleeper

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Dont know why Juve persist with Pirlo, well, except for him being a legend and all.
It's the same reason I am hesitant about Xavi joining Barca as a manager. If Messi leaves sure, then it means we are fully comitted to a full blown rebuild and he could be a manager for that. But if Juve are serious about CL hiring Pirlo with zero experience made no sense.
 

RashyForPM

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I just watched the highlights of Porto vs Juventus, and that Ronaldo non-penalty is genuinely disgraceful. There’s no possible way to impede the opposition striker further, save for holding him back with two hands. That ref needs to be dropped for the rest of the tournament, and the VAR people too.
 

Hansi Fick

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I don't get it. Is the blatant penalty supposed to be in the clip posted above? Becuse it's not. Ronaldo falls down on his own as he's out of balance :confused:
 

Annihilate Now!

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It's a definite penalty... and I don't even get this "already going down" thing... he's obviously stopping so he can cut back, and then just gets taken out.
 

giorno

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He's *probably* going to fall on his own. But it doesn't matter because the defender TRUCKS him before he does :lol:
 

do.ob

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I've watched the replay a dozen times. From one angle it looks like a foul, from another it looks like he's already off-balance, before the contact is made. The ref seemed to have a pretty good view, too, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was correct not to VAR this.
 

Sean_RedDevil

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Sevilla vs Dortmund
Really "Well done" to Dortmund that they have won and have scored 3 goals at the at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan.

Porto vs Juventus
This said everything about the performance of Juventus :lol:

 
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Bepi

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I've watched the replay a dozen times. From one angle it looks like a foul, from another it looks like he's already off-balance, before the contact is made. The ref seemed to have a pretty good view, too, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was correct not to VAR this.
The ref really wanted to close a difficult match without making a last-second, disruptive decision against the flow of the game. You only need sociopaths like Oliver or God’s sons like Collina to do otherwise. Fair decision from him.
 

broccoli

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Ronaldo fans will claim it's a pen, Porto fans will say it isn't. Neutral fans will obviously see he was already falling when Zaidu lightly caressed Ronaldo's chest with his hand.
 

C'mon FC

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About the Ronaldo pen you can argue imo. For me it's rather not a pen simply because he lost his balance and the contact of the Porto defender is not strong enough.

But how can't that be a pen for Sevilla (Meunier against de Jong) at the end of the game?
Also how that can't be a penalty for Dortmund (Papu Gomez) where his arm clearly goes to the ball? Really no idea how hand works nowadays.

And last VAR doesn't have a clear line. IMO it doesn't work in football!
 

do.ob

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About the Ronaldo pen you can argue imo. For me it's rather not a pen simply because he lost his balance and the contact of the Porto defender is not strong enough.

But how can't that be a pen for Sevilla (Meunier against de Jong) at the end of the game?
Also how that can't be a penalty for Dortmund (Papu Gomez) where his arm clearly goes to the ball? Really no idea how hand works nowadays.

And last VAR doesn't have a clear line. IMO it doesn't work in football!
According to that German referee blog you might be aware of both calls were reasonable. The possible hand ball, because it can be seen as the player making an honest attempt at heading the ball and his arm therefore being in a natural state and the other wasn't a clear mistake or something.
 

Lay

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Awfull from Juve, but that Chiesa goal gives a good chance of going through. And what the hell is happening to Bentancur, what a horrible season from him.
I’ve never seen Bentancur play well, ever. He seems so loose with the ball. Is he actually a good player?
 

Bepi

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I’ve never seen Bentancur play well, ever. He seems so loose with the ball. Is he actually a good player?
He is an effective, old school DM with the occasional smart pass in him. He cannot operate box-to-box without losing steam after an hour and, above all, he cannot act the deep ball handler because of his big body.

The hipsterisation of top football now asks for GKs a la Beckenbauer, CBs keeping the defensive line near the midfield line, and total CMs playing the destroyer, the playmaker and the goleador without any hassle.

Half the goals we are seeing these days come from calamitous mistakes from top footballers being asked anything but their primary task.
 

giorno

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I’ve never seen Bentancur play well, ever. He seems so loose with the ball. Is he actually a good player?
He looked like a really good player before juventus went around selling all of their midfield generals(pjanic, matuidi, khedira, etc) and left him to do a job he clearly isn't ready or suited for. He's also much better as roaming box-to-box in a 3 man midfield, with cover behind and not having to drop and receive the ball in situations like that one
 

C'mon FC

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According to that German referee blog you might be aware of both calls were reasonable. The possible hand ball, because it can be seen as the player making an honest attempt at heading the ball and his arm therefore being in a natural state and the other wasn't a clear mistake or something.
Actually I don't know that one. But regarding the honest attempt I can follow, not with the natural position though. Also for example at the Barca game, Kurzawa accidentially clipped DeJong's heals and it's still a foul. Overall quite hard to judge and for me it's really annoying to not know when it's handball and when not.
 

Sylar

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Whether he's going over or not, he was taken out before he went over himself. The contact from the Porto player means it has to be a penalty
 

Hansi Fick

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I agree, it wasn't the clearest of penalties for me, but still a case to be made.
Yeah, I mean I guess if this was Ramos on Lewandowski I'd be surely up in arms

It's just, I saw all these posts describing it as 'blatant', and then taking a look at the clip I just didn't see it. But now it feels like depending on which part of the clip I concentrate on, it can become glaringly this or that: you are right, the elbow is a thing. But Ronaldo falling after touching the ball against the direction of both players' running is also a thing.
 

B. Munich

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Yeah, I mean I guess if this was Ramos on Lewandowski I'd be surely up in arms

It's just, I saw all these posts describing it as 'blatant', and then taking a look at the clip I just didn't see it. But now it feels like depending on which part of the clip I concentrate on, it can become glaringly this or that: you are right, the elbow is a thing. But Ronaldo falling after touching the ball against the direction of both players' running is also a thing.
This incident as well as the handball in Dortmund match just prove that, even with VAR, there still will be 50:50 decisions as long as there will be only 2 dimensional videos available.
Different viewing angles lead to different decisions.
What definitely still can improve is the consistency of the calls or the officials. Especially when it comes to handballs and penalties.
If it's 50:50 it should just ALWAYS be no handball and no penalty.

Still VAR is an huge improvement. At least blatant wrong decisions will be called correctly. Madrid would have a couple of CL titles less if VAR was in place a few years earlier.