The Franchise wrote:I dont think its evolution no.

But I do think it was slightly different to that final. Villa was a little more middle, Dani Alves a little higher and Alba more withdrawn than usual, but yes more like Abidal's role in the final.

So I agree, its not evolution and its basically, getting back to whats proven to work. But we havent been doing that and even when we played Villa together with Pedro and Messi this season, it has been Pedro very wide on the right and Villa on the left. This was a nice, all subtle change.

Yeah, slightly different mainly because in a CL final starting 0-0 you don't instruct Alves to bomb the flank constantly, but the backgroun idea was the same: Get Villa getting the CB's busy and stretching.
When on defence, Villa came to the right just as he did in the CL final 2011.
It could have been done with Villa on the left too, and we've done it several times.

IMO, it would have been good to alternate and give Alba the chance to bomb forward too. Alves had a tremendous game in terms of energy, but Alba could have delivered more in the final third with his better crosses and dribling.

True, the scoreline changed that aggression in which Dani Alves advanced. He was much more cautious in that final for surre.

The problem with Alba bombing on though Free was I think we would of been a little lobsided.

Pedro's starting position is wide, then he comes in which allows Alba forward. Thats fine.

But when the ball is on that side, on the other flank, if Dani Alves is being conservative and Villa is playing down the middle (rather than going wide on the right where he looks uncomfortable for me) like he was then that right side will be empty. We wouldnt be able to switch play in a natural way.

The Franchise wrote:True, the scoreline changed that aggression in which Dani Alves advanced. He was much more cautious in that final for surre.

The problem with Alba bombing on though Free was I think we would of been a little lobsided.

Pedro's starting position is wide, then he comes in which allows Alba forward. Thats fine.

But when the ball is on that side, on the other flank, if Dani Alves is being conservative and Villa is playing down the middle (rather than going wide on the right where he looks uncomfortable for me) like he was then that right side will be empty. We wouldnt be able to switch play in a natural way.

True, but I was thinking that Pedro and Villa could switch so we keep the form.
It could have been done in the second halve so Alves could take a rest and exploit Alba, who from his last goalscoring run was obviously fresher.

windkick wrote:Respect to both of you guys and your team. Good luck on your quest in the league going forward

Thanks, massive respect to you guys too. That football made me apply RG's KY jelly, QFs should be more interesting now. Rooting for you to go all the way through now

Good point Free, I agree.

Milan fans so much classier than I would have been. Respect.

I never even congratulated Milan fans on their first performance against us

tbf, I still think that with our defense and recent ups and downs...that it would take a miracle for us to win it this year.

I think our players showed up when it matterd and used this as a wake up call.
Tito should be back by the quarter finals hopefully he can improve us better.
The Champions league is very random anyone now can win it, even Malaga, Galas. or PSG.

windkick wrote:tbf, I still think that with our defense and recent ups and downs...that it would take a miracle for us to win it this year.

Ups and downs? We had a bad run in February, just like every other year.
If Tito comes back and the physical preparation is as usual, we should be hitting full throttle soon.

We can win it if we have the point of luck needed to win the CL.

I'm afraid that during the second half I ended up nervously wandering around my house, barely taking in the visuals on the screen, however your first half was enough to appreciate from a purely footballing perspective, even as it tore me apart. No excuses need be made, you were the better side and it showed. An excellent lesson for some of the youngsters in this side. They shouldn't be ashamed of being second best against a side like this, as long as they learn from this then it's not a pointless loss. Zapata and Flamini though can go to hell.

Anyway, thanks for the classy way in which you've celebrated your victory, I always worry that tempers will flare at the resolution of any tie between major clubs, however there have been no issues at all. Proud of the way both sections have handled this with mutual respect, so thank you.

I genuinely think the Madrid fans are taking this loss harder than we are.

Flamini head bandaged the fuk out .

Barca are so good its really annoying. When they play 100% its inhuman what they do, and Madrid this year has not even met 50% of Barca. This is the real deal, and Madrid fans can fuk off with their Milan bashing

dostoevsky wrote:I'm afraid that during the second half I ended up nervously wandering around my house, barely taking in the visuals on the screen, however your first half was enough to appreciate from a purely footballing perspective, even as it tore me apart. No excuses need be made, you were the better side and it showed. An excellent lesson for some of the youngsters in this side. They shouldn't be ashamed of being second best against a side like this, as long as they learn from this then it's not a pointless loss. Zapata and Flamini though can go to hell.

Anyway, thanks for the classy way in which you've celebrated your victory, I always worry that tempers will flare at the resolution of any tie between major clubs, however there have been no issues at all. Proud of the way both sections have handled this with mutual respect, so thank you.

I genuinely think the Madrid fans are taking this loss harder than we are.

I was somewhat worry about violence erupting, because the moron that is Rosell has lifted the ban of Boixos Nois(Barça's ultra), and they are very violent. Just last week they threw a flare at the Madrid supporters in Camp Nou . But I am glad that I worried for nothing.

CBarca wrote:Milan fans so much classier than I would have been. Respect.

I never even congratulated Milan fans on their first performance against us

Don't worry mate. I congratulated them for both of us

El Shaarawy wrote:Thanks, massive respect to you guys too. That football made me apply RG's KY jelly, QFs should be more interesting now. Rooting for you to go all the way through now

Thanks a lot man for your wonderful comments and support.

windkick wrote:tbf, I still think that with our defense and recent ups and downs...that it would take a miracle for us to win it this year.

Perhaps but turning the corner can give a team immense confidence which can be used to overcome some limitations

dostoevsky wrote:I'm afraid that during the second half I ended up nervously wandering around my house, barely taking in the visuals on the screen, however your first half was enough to appreciate from a purely footballing perspective, even as it tore me apart. No excuses need be made, you were the better side and it showed. An excellent lesson for some of the youngsters in this side. They shouldn't be ashamed of being second best against a side like this, as long as they learn from this then it's not a pointless loss. Zapata and Flamini though can go to hell.

Anyway, thanks for the classy way in which you've celebrated your victory, I always worry that tempers will flare at the resolution of any tie between major clubs, however there have been no issues at all. Proud of the way both sections have handled this with mutual respect, so thank you.

I genuinely think the Madrid fans are taking this loss harder than we are.

As always you are a class act and one of the best posters at these forums. Thanks for your wonderful comments.

Eivindo wrote:Flamini head bandaged the fuk out .

Barca are so good its really annoying. When they play 100% its inhuman what they do, and Madrid this year has not even met 50% of Barca. This is the real deal, and Madrid fans can fuk off with their Milan bashing

Thanks for your wonderful comments

Free even with Tito our defense wasn't convincing.

This one has not much to do with Tito. If we can get our pressing game to the level it was against Milan consistently though...damn brah. I could see us doing it.

Otherwise, it will be tough. Defense wins championships and ours is...not that great. Or hasn't been this season at least.

Our defense problem is personnel.

Masch is not cut to be a CB, and Puyol doesn't have the legs anymore for it. Pique needs a solid back to be at his side and without that at the moment he is not getting it done by himself. More than anything this summer we need to buy a CB....something we all have been saying for years now.

Knowing Barca, they try and buy Arteta from Arsenal and convert him to a CB

Pique Arteta partnership?

That passing out of the back

That calmness at the back

Those good looks at the back

The defensive ability at the back...

Then again, the fourth one was never a priority for Barca, was it?

Not in recent times at least! *cough* Alba *cough*

Barta just got cleared yesterday for match fitness, I really hope we start using him now for more possibilities.

CBarca wrote:Free even with Tito our defense wasn't convincing.

This one has not much to do with Tito. If we can get our pressing game to the level it was against Milan consistently though...damn brah. I could see us doing it.

Otherwise, it will be tough. Defense wins championships and ours is...not that great. Or hasn't been this season at least.

You don't need to have clean sheets every match when you are scoring 3 goals per game.

you are not going to score 3 goals in every game though.
Doing this week in week out in la liga makes you complacent and that's evident in or CBs. they are always relaxed that the fws will score one more goal if they screw it and no harm is done. That won't be the case when playing with top sides in the UCL though. we need to up our game defensively

You are not going to concede 1 or 2 every game either.

Agreed. Only problem is Bartra and Pique lack the essential communication between CBs as seen in previous matches. Therefore, I would love to see Barta in our starting lineup in the next few weeks with Pique so they could get along tactically before we face more top teams. We need more options at the back. Barta has great potential, though, i'd like him to improve physically; He's too weak to outmuscle opponents and win aerial plays.

free_cat wrote:You are not going to concede 1 or 2 every game either.

Against top sides and given our track this year?
It’s definitely more probable than scoring 3

billy_gr wrote:

free_cat wrote:You are not going to concede 1 or 2 every game either.

Against top sides and given our track this year?
It’s definitely more probable than scoring 3

Not after Tito is back and we get past our usual dip in performance in February.