Are Pepe's and CR's 2016 the luckiest year of any footballer ever?

by BarrileteCosmico Thu Aug 25, 2016 2:23 am

CL: In spite of having decent opposition in the groups, they were never in any danger of not finishing 1st and literally walked to the final: they faced noted CL flops Roma, 8th placed Woflsburg (and lost one of the games...), & a City in complete implosion mode.

Euros: They had one of the easiest draws in the groups and did not win a single game, yet they got drawn into a bracket side with no WC wins, and then faced Croatia, Poland, & Wales to get to the final.

Now I'm not saying they don't deserve the title, of course they do, they beat the teams that actually had to beat real opposition to get there. These are clutch players, if you put them in a final they have proved time and time again that they will perform. But it's undeniable that the path to both finals was simply a matter of showing up.

So, can anyone think of players with an easier to path to a final, and on top of that for 2 competitions?

by Luca Thu Aug 25, 2016 2:59 am

Harmonica Cosmico

by Kebab Thu Aug 25, 2016 6:44 am

If R.madrid and portugal are not best teams in the world it means luck yes. CR himself is not best player but wins ballon dor. its also means luck (it connects with the luck of his teams).
in last 10 years its always been "Messi is best but player X won a trophy".
In messi's case its been " He is the best and He won a trophy".
If you are not the best then please retire and stop taking all the credit of your lucky team.
And Pepe? nobody cares about him and his trophies.

by Collblanc Thu Aug 25, 2016 3:23 pm

These wins do actually make me think about the game in this present time. You can win the CL with luck, and it doesnt mean anything to me. CL this year was meaningless. It has no bragging rights. They are not the best team in the world. It does make the CL make less important imho. I liked the season where we play against the very best. The last time Barca won the CL, they came up against M. City, PSG, Bayern Munchen, and Juventus. We did beat the very best. We were the very best that year. Who cares about a CL winner who only beat scrubs? I do feel they are lucky, and they probably dont care who they played: in the end they won the prize. For me personally - the road to the prize has to be perfect to make it a good season.

The game these days is better technically and tactically, then it was 10 years ago. I dont really know if I like that. Luck matters most now.

by Art Morte Thu Aug 25, 2016 4:35 pm

When Real Madrid and Portugal win trophies and people have to explain it with "luck", it tells how elitist the fans have become. Having someone win something great outside the 2-3 absolute favorites can surely only be put down to "luck" nowadays.

by BarrileteCosmico Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:24 pm

Well it was luck. Also Real are contenders every season, even if I did not believe in Zidane and ended up eating crow.

by farfan Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:47 pm

Kebab wrote:
And Pepe? nobody cares about him and his trophies.

Collblanc wrote: Who cares about a CL winner who only beat scrubs?

Barça fans thinking the world revolves around their biases and what they deem relevant / good ? shocking . hmm

by jibers Thu Aug 25, 2016 10:05 pm

Luck is part of the draw. Can't remember any winner not facing a single CL winner. Easiest draw I can remember. I thought our 10/11 draw was pretty easy but Madrids was a joke.

The truth is, you can only beat what is in front of you. Cup competitions all involve luck. Barcelona got lucky in 09 & 11, then were unlucky in 12, Chelsea were unlucky with Terry etc.

I always hold league wins higher than CLs because with leagues you play the same 38 teams so the best team in the competition usually wins. Cup comps have too many variables. All that matters at the end of the day is Madrid have 11 European cups. History doesn't remember the draw.

Madrid now have the most Champions leagues and European cups. It's telling that even in Barcelonas best era, Madrid still have more CLs.

by Doc Thu Aug 25, 2016 10:43 pm

I don't know if this thread is just being shady for no particular reason or just BC's regular undermining of teams he doesn't particularly support or like.

Either way, to win a cup competition, you need some element of luck which Portugal and Real Madrid had. Portugal was really fortunate that 3rd place grants you qualification into the KO stages and Madrid just so happen to escape some real heavy weights in the UCL up until the final.

So yeah, fortune favoured both players' teams to a degree but they still had to face Atletico and France respectfully. Or you wanna say they were lucky to beat them too?!

by VivaStPauli Thu Aug 25, 2016 10:51 pm

I can't remember players having rivalling double-luck internationally and with their club, no.

I'd echo the sentiment that you can only beat who's in front of you, and it's in no way intended to shit over Portugals or Reals achievements, but sure, yeah:

Those were the luckiest draws in recent memory. Then again, England had a super-easy group and barely made it out of that, then went out to Iceland.
So you still have to take advantage of your easy draw. Bayern had pretty easy draws in the CL recently, yet they went out to the first tough team they met 3 times in a row.

Sure, a favorable draw makes things A LOT easier, but if you end up bottling it in the real test, nobody will remember your easy draw.

by zigra Thu Aug 25, 2016 11:28 pm

Barca 11-12 + Spain 2012 hmm

by Lord Awesome Fri Aug 26, 2016 1:18 am

Barca's last CL win pit them against teams whose most influential players were either suspended or injured. What's luckier than that?

by BarrileteCosmico Fri Aug 26, 2016 1:25 am

Doc wrote:
So yeah, fortune favoured both players' teams to a degree but they still had to face Atletico and France respectfully. Or you wanna say they were lucky to beat them too?!

Did you somehow miss the 3rd paragraph of the op?

by titosantill Fri Aug 26, 2016 1:42 am

damned if you do, damned if you don't. its that simple. had madrid lost to any of roma or wolfsburg it'll be "they're so garbage they couldn't beat ordinary wolfsburg"; had we lost to atleti, it'll be "they beat all the easy sides, but face a reasonable side they lose, let's all laugh at them"...to be honest i'd probably had said that myself, i was extremely critical about the game we won immediately after the 4 nil clasico, and how the players celebrated beating some lousy side.

to be critical about the above, and then when the side wins act like we went to uefa and told them we only want to play roma wolfsburg and city (some people on here actually believe that), is just bitterness. pure and simple; and its difficult to hide the bitterness.

as far as cristiano and pepe; cristiano was fortunate at the euros. imo he wasn't brilliant, and in another edition might have been out in the first round, with 2 teams qualifying. can't say pepe was lucky, was solid in the knockout stages. can't say cron was lucky in ucl either. his footy was visible in the ucl unlike euros.

but once again, its damned if you do damned if you don't. we got past bayern (who many deemed as favorites over us) in the la decima year, but that game for some has been a case of convenient amnesia. even that was downplayed to "they were only lucky cos ramos (God bless him) scored that lucky late goal, atletico deserved it". like late goals aren't part of the game.

by titosantill Fri Aug 26, 2016 1:45 am

there's nothing wrong in being bitter, i don't expect fans of a rival side to be happy about another, that's just ridiculous. rival fans should want to see the other flop. But, at least revel in the bitterness, accept it, embrace it, rather than attempting to espouse some higher moral cause....take some weight off and just say "i'm so damn upset that madrid somehow played all those sides and won the ucl and it pisses me off, cos i didn't want them to win shit".

by Doc Fri Aug 26, 2016 1:51 am

BarrileteCosmico wrote:
Doc wrote:
So yeah, fortune favoured both players' teams to a degree but they still had to face Atletico and France respectfully. Or you wanna say they were lucky to beat them too?!
Did you somehow miss the 3rd paragraph of the op?

I read it but the cynic in me believes it is just patronizing.

by Freeza Fri Aug 26, 2016 1:53 am

Can't believe we have such an awful mod, disgraceful really.

Stealing Harmonica's posts and ideas. No one deserves that.

It's also hard to get a hard road to the trophy when PSG, City and Atletico aren't top teams. Don't don't who Real have to draw for it to be a hard draw at this point.

Football is so incredibly top heavy. There's basically 6 teams, and they're all hard to draw.

Also Croatia and Poland are bad teams now (:

by titosantill Fri Aug 26, 2016 2:04 am

to be fair, croatia and poland are nothing special. poland especially; i thought they were quite dull

by BarrileteCosmico Fri Aug 26, 2016 3:11 am

Doc wrote:
BarrileteCosmico wrote:
Doc wrote:
So yeah, fortune favoured both players' teams to a degree but they still had to face Atletico and France respectfully. Or you wanna say they were lucky to beat them too?!
Did you somehow miss the 3rd paragraph of the op?

I read it but the cynic in me believes it is just patronizing.

If I were being patronizing it would be against a person in particular not a blanket statement against everyone. Think you're reading too much into it.

by zizzle Fri Aug 26, 2016 4:06 am

Luck is being ready when an opportunity presents itself, and Madrid/Portugal capitalized on their favorable draws and won the titles. Barca were lucky to win some of their CL titles and unlucky to lose some, and same goes for Madrid really. It all evens out eventually. Yes this year lady luck was in bed with Ronaldo, but she aint no wifey, and she'll be find a new lover soon. History only remembers winners, and in 10, 15, or 20 years this CL title will be just one of the many titles that Madrid won.

by halamadrid2 Fri Aug 26, 2016 7:18 am

I bet if we drew City, PSG and Arsenal people would still call it an easy path to the final despite 2 of those teams spending fortunes to get the best players this summer. Barca continually get City, PSG, Arsenal on their way to their finals but thats conveniently swept under the carpet. As someone else said I don't know who we have to beat for it to be "acceptable" these days

And Portugal meh they are mediocre and played above average teams on their way to the trophy. Pepe wasn't lucky, he was an experienced leader and defender leading his team to cleansheets. Ronnie was unlucky not lucky. He got injured at the most crucial time and played injured all tournament. He's finally had his rest now

by Glory Fri Aug 26, 2016 7:46 am

halamadrid2 wrote:I bet if we drew City, PSG and Arsenal people would still call it an easy path to the final despite 2 of those teams spending fortunes to get the best players this summer. Barca continually get City, PSG, Arsenal on their way to their finals but thats conveniently swept under the carpet. As someone else said I don't know who we have to beat for it to be "acceptable" these days

And Portugal meh they are mediocre and played above average teams on their way to the trophy. Pepe wasn't lucky, he was an experienced leader and defender leading his team to cleansheets. Ronnie was unlucky not lucky. He got injured at the most crucial time and played injured all tournament. He's finally had his rest now

You have to beat one of Bayern, Juve, Atleti or Barca before reaching the final. If you reach the final then its anybody's game.

Answering the question yes and yes. Thats why you only see Real fans and Portuguese fans being ecstatic and loud of their respective successes. No one apart from them were even talking about these wins after a little while. To be remembered you need to win by beating the best/better teams. It is luck. But then again its not Real and Portugal's fault. They can play only teams that are in front of them right. At the end of the day both Real and Barca have 1 trophies each if you take the last 2 years, But Barca's win is more remembered and not farfetched to even say kinda more deserved(if you take the 2 that is).

by halamadrid2 Fri Aug 26, 2016 8:00 am

I love how you say "apart from the final" the end people go to downplay our win rofl

The reason why we talk about it is because we won our 11th CL. This will probably be forgotten when we win our next CL in the near future (probably even this year if Baleinho has his say), you don't see RM fans talking about LaDecima still do you despite that win being more acceptable to the casual fan Laughing

and no lol nobody cares about Barca's win, I can't even remember who they played ffs

Glad to see madriditis is alive and well

by Glory Fri Aug 26, 2016 8:14 am

Lol I merely stated the truth. Feel free to disagree ofcourse.

I said apart from the final because the final is a one of match with no chance to come back if you have a bad day. Of course there will be the big match big pressure and everything point. But at the end of the day the logical reasoning is that its just 1 match in a neutral venue. If the opposition has a bad day somehow you can score an early goal and capitalize.

But then again, I know I wont get anything out of this pointless debate as you or any Madrid fan for that matter wont admit any of these even if you guys know its the truth. So yea peace out.

by halamadrid2 Fri Aug 26, 2016 8:27 am

So what would your comments have been had we lost the final? Let me hazard a guess, something along the lines of "They had an easy to top group, an easy path to the final and the moment they met a tough team they lost" but since we did win it's "well a final is a lottery, anyone can win even IFK Gothenburg" amirite?? I just find everybody's excuses so funny. I have already admitted that we had an easy path to the final but lucky to "win" we were not since we played the team that beat our direct rivals along their way in the final something we have been doing for the past 3 years for these teams. If anyone should be angry it's Atleti fans but we have none here unfortunately

As i said no matter who we beat somebody will always find excuses, if we beat Juve this year, people will say that we had an easy path because we didn't beat any of the other 3 and if we beat them it's going to be but in a 2 legged tie anyone can win using away goals bla bla bla

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Are Pepe's and CR's 2016 the luckiest year of any footballer ever?

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Re: Are Pepe's and CR's 2016 the luckiest year of any footballer ever?

Re: Are Pepe's and CR's 2016 the luckiest year of any footballer ever?

Re: Are Pepe's and CR's 2016 the luckiest year of any footballer ever?