They're not though, if they're on a par with AZ we'll beat them with ease with a stronger side. I've follow English players in the Erdivise in recent seasons and the level is arguable worse than The Championship broadly, except for 1 or 2 sides. The Belgium league doesn't even an Ajax or PSV.
CL/EL Knockout Draw | United draw Brugge | City vs Real & Liverpool vs Atletico
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
Have to put a strong team for the away tie.
Man Utd didn't finish top of Europa League group.
Drew with Rostov in 1st leg, and got through the next round by a solitary goal, and a late one at that.
The game against Anderlecht had to go to extra time.
And the last second chance for Celta Vigo which would have eliminated Man Utd from the competition. Far from comfortable
Are you guys talking about our europa League winning campaign? We struggled vs Celta, we struggled vs Anderlecht and the Ajax final was pretty much dreadful just like any other game in Europe that season. How winning a trophy eventually changes perception of that particular season is mind boggling.
This is true, especially the Ajax final when I was worried we were up against some sensational team. Pundits were telling us how dangerous they were.
And then we played them and it was the easiest cup final I think we've ever had.
Yea but that was against a poor Tottenham side. Bayern have looked good in the UCL but then the league form completely shifts the discussion then.
And I think this type of fixture will suit Chelsea, who have had trouble breaking down deep defenses but look better when they have to counter, which they will be doing plenty of against Bayern. For Bayern, it's the opposite where they seem to struggle against quick attacks.
Hernandez will likely be back before the tie though so it will greatly help that defense.
It’s a pretty nice draw, some tough teams definitely going out.
Leverkusen/Porto (Sorry
)Frankfurt/Salzburg
Shakhtar/Benfica
I don’t see Arsenal going through on current form either.
Looks that way. Wonder how many here claiming Spurs will 'batter' them have actually seen Leipzig play. Bookies have made Spurs marginal favourites and I'm not even sure I'd agree with that.
Our own shiteness made the journey to the Europa League final more difficult that it should have been.
That Anderlecht one had some of the worst finishing I've ever seen from Utd, we should have won about 12-1. The Celta won we should have killed by winning the first leg about 4 -0. They were shite.
The Final was a shit game of football because we rendered Ajax completely impotent. They didn't pose a threat all game and it was as comfortable a cup final win as you can get. By far the easiest European competition cup final we've been in.
I think you're being way too negative on Utd's chances.
wonder what they'll do with the winter break and teams in EL and CL, if I was a Liverpool fan I'd not want a 8/9 day break before playing someone like Atletico, would rather play 20:00 on Friday or at worst 12:30 Saturday.
Exactly, I don't get people keeping mentioning this Anderlecht game. The only reason this reached extra time was thanks to our crap finishing. Zlatan, Rashford and Mata had a horror show this day, especially Zlatan.
Celta game at Old Trafford was the only game we actually did struggled in.
And the Ajax final was a great job from us.
The final yes, every other game in the build up was heart in mouth. Remember Guidetti’s almost moment against Vigo.
But I think we are better defensively than the 2016 winning team, so if we put a strong team out I’m expecting less danger.
The ‘we’ that ‘only’ beat AZ 4-0 isn’t even the ‘we’ they will face I suspect. Matic, Mata, Greenwood, Young and Garner best that lot.
But I respect caution. It’s the right thing to do.
I'm quite jealous of our English counterparts playing the likes of Real Madrid, A.Madrid, and Bayern Munich. I'd very much like to see United play one of those. Hopefully, next season
Naturally it was our easiest final, our other finals were vs Barcelona or Bayern.
That Ajax side was awfully young, just like Utd is right now. So it's not that surprising that they bottled it a bit in a big final.
Bad finishing is part of the game. Watford could have beaten Liverpool at the weekend but because they are poor they miss easy chances. It all depends in what mindset Utd will be come February. Right now I'm confident but who knows in what state we are in 2 months time. As for Brugge they are cruising the league so they will pretty much be confident either way.
Serious question, do you think we have improved offensively from that team with Rashford, Zlatan and Mata? For me it’s pretty even.
Brugge is a better team than AZ imo. They are much more mature and are a lot more difficult to play against. They are defintely better than PSV this season. Brugge played against Real with 3 lighting quick forwards, causing them a lot of problems. They have 12 full internationals. Ajax is better, of course. With our best players, we should beat them without too much trouble. Play like we did against Newcastle, Crystal Palace... and I can easily see us struggling a fair bit.
Nope. The downfall of the attack in this season was missing chances, but we were creating shite ton of chances and sitters per game it was crazy. I don't know how we were fecking up these chances this year. Made us look far worse than what we actually were. Next season with Lukaku around instead of Zlatan we did scored more but we were creating less.
All these games are fantastic I don’t want to miss any. Can’t have Atletico vs Liverpool and Real vs City at the same time.
That could have been a lot worse... saying that, we do feck up against "lower" sides so who knows whtether anyone wil bother turning up...
I don't actually think we'll win the EL, on our day we've beaten teams much better than are in this seasons competition, but I just think we'll have a bad day at some point and get knocked out.
I just think it's a waste of time to be worrying about Club Bruges. If we play anywhere near our best it'll be comfortable.
Haven't seen us play them since 2010 so should be interesting. City getting Real looks like a good tie.
CL Dates are out:
18 February & 11 March
Borussia Dortmund (GER) v Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Atlético Madrid (ESP) v Liverpool (ENG)
19 February & 10 March
Atalanta (ITA) v Valencia (ESP)
Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) v RB Leipzig (GER)
25 February & 18 March
Chelsea (ENG) v Bayern München (GER)
Napoli (ITA) v Barcelona (ESP)
26 February & 17 March
Real Madrid (ESP) v Manchester City (ENG)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) v Juventus (ITA)
[source]
18 February & 11 March
Borussia Dortmund (GER) v Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Atlético Madrid (ESP) v Liverpool (ENG)
19 February & 10 March
Atalanta (ITA) v Valencia (ESP)
Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) v RB Leipzig (GER)
25 February & 18 March
Chelsea (ENG) v Bayern München (GER)
Napoli (ITA) v Barcelona (ESP)
26 February & 17 March
Real Madrid (ESP) v Manchester City (ENG)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) v Juventus (ITA)
[source]
Yes, but Simeone and Atlético can do it on the next level. English clubs when they are just playing physical, defensive football have a certain...sense of fair play to them I would call it. Simeone has no qualms in going to the very limits of what the rule book permits when Atlético is the underdog . Mané, Firminho and Salah are going to end up very sore the evenings they play that lot
Brugge...mmh...beer...
Of course you have respect the opposition but if they come to play football then we should beat them.
Is Keiron Trippier gonna 'sawt aht' Mane and Salah?
Tough CL draws all round. Can't even call who's going to win the Atalanta v Valencia tie. The only dead certs are Bayern, Barça and Juventus.
The last time we played that lot in the CL qualifier a few years back I took my wife and kids and the Brugge fans were disgraceful.
The escorted away fans kicked off outside the stadium and Neville's hotel and the security guards to the hotel had to pass my kids over the barrier to get away from the trouble. Then they were chucking bottles of piss and spitting at our fans leaving the stadium early, just below the away section at women and kids. They were getting covered.
Horrible lot!
The escorted away fans kicked off outside the stadium and Neville's hotel and the security guards to the hotel had to pass my kids over the barrier to get away from the trouble. Then they were chucking bottles of piss and spitting at our fans leaving the stadium early, just below the away section at women and kids. They were getting covered.
Horrible lot!
Yeah think it was 2-2 and they beat us on away goals. We lost 1-0 in Madrid and won 2-1 at Anfield. One of Benitez's final games as manager.
Toughest draw available for Liverpool. Atletico's defensive numbers are incredible this season even by their standards. Going to be very interesting.
Who do AM have up front?
Morata
Joao Felix, Morata, Vitolo and Correa. None of which are prolific.
Statsbomb took a closer look at Atletico's season last week:
Atlético Madrid and the crisis that wasn't
Atlético Madrid and the crisis that wasn't
They can sit back, wait, and watch AM trying, though.
Would have been a much worse tie for Liverpool, if they had to play at home first.
Looks like they're drawing a lot in La Liga though. Down in 5th at the moment.
Edit: 18 goals in 17 league games.
Atletico will be a really tough tie but we're just about to sign Minamino who could help to unlock the defensive line that Simeone employs.
Atletico are the one team I would have liked to avoid but it is what it is and if we are beaten, it'll be the first European knockout tie that Klopp has lost aa Liverpool manager
Atletico are the one team I would have liked to avoid but it is what it is and if we are beaten, it'll be the first European knockout tie that Klopp has lost aa Liverpool manager
Their offensive ones are quite poor though - 18 in 17 La Liga games and 8 goals in 6 CL games. Liverpool has 42 goals in 17 PL games.
Minamino.....
Who the feck is that?