PSG vs Barcelona

Draw has been made. Thoughts?


We play the 2nd leg home again. I think it's gonna be an easy one tbh.

Ibra is suspended for the first leg

Ibra msising the first leg is nice, they are horrible without him.

But they are not to be toyed with, Lavezzi is a huge danger, Matiuti is very good midfielder and Thiago Silva is unbelievable at times.

I think we will progress if we don't play Iniesta-Cesc-Xavi and are focused and motivated in both legs, not just in our home game.

Sucks that Madrid got the easiest team. Hope Galatasaray can pull off a surprise although I don't think so.

The Franchise wrote:Ibra msising the first leg is nice, they are horrible without him.

But they are not to be toyed with, Lavezzi is a huge danger, Matiuti is very good midfielder and Thiago Silva is unbelievable at times.

They have good players, but they are quite unbalanced.

Lavezzi kinda sucks to be honest, he will try to drible from midfield to our box and he will lose the ball every time.

This Madrid f**kers are so lucky that they will draw Malaga or Dortmund in the semis. I'm crushed.

Only we can stop them.

free_cat wrote:This Madrid f**kers are so lucky that they will draw Malaga or Dortmund in the semis. I'm crushed.

Only we can stop them.

This year there will be separate Semi Final draw.

Isn't it already determined who we could potentially play in the semis as well? Or is there no such bracket yet and a new draw will be made after this round?

Also, the first leg is at Paris, correct?

Beautiful Football wrote:

free_cat wrote:This Madrid f**kers are so lucky that they will draw Malaga or Dortmund in the semis. I'm crushed.

Only we can stop them.

This year there will be separate Semi Final draw.

I know, that's why I say that they are lucky b*stards cause I'm sure they'll get Malaga or Dortmund next, after Galatasaray.

windkick wrote:Isn't it already determined who we could potentially play in the semis as well? Or is there no such bracket yet and a new draw will be made after this round?

There's another draw for the semis this year.

free_cat wrote:

Beautiful Football wrote:

free_cat wrote:This Madrid f**kers are so lucky that they will draw Malaga or Dortmund in the semis. I'm crushed.

Only we can stop them.

This year there will be separate Semi Final draw.

I know, that's why I say that they are lucky b*stards cause I'm sure they'll get Malaga or Dortmund next, after Galatasaray.

Hopefully they will get juv/BM.

Nah UEFA want to make money from TV ratings. That's why you guys will get Juve/Bayern

It is a myth that PSG are awful without Ibra. Milan had to deal without Ibra due to his injuries & constant suspensions and as a whole, they looked more fluid and dynamic without him along with plays valuing pace and unpredictability.

No, this does not mean teams are better without Ibra as with him, Milan were and PSG are far far more decisive along with more chances created. Why? In his #10 role (did the same at Milan) the side is essentially built around him while he playmakes, dominates even midfields and scores countless decisive goals. PSG have Ancelotti and he is too good of a manager to have their side reliant on one player.

Lavezzi is their second best player in attack and turns it up in games like these. He can literally do anything as aside from Messi there is no Argentine better than him. His problem is his finishing which is atrocious.

PSG also have a dangerous Lucas Moura who destroyed Valencia, Javier Pastore (IF in form, which is improbable), Jeremy Menez who is unpredictable and when at his best, unplayable. Blaise Matudi who is one of Europe's finest DMs.

Marco Verrati who is the best U-21 playmaker in the world. He is the closest thing out there to Xavi you can find. Their jewel along with Lucas.

Thiago Motta who is tactically very astute and then of course, Thiago Silva. Lastly there is Momo Sakho who is a beast in the air and very similar to Carles Puyol.

Their goalkeeper, Salvatore Sirigu, is without a doubt World class

Weaknesses are their fullbacks who Barca surely will take advantage of.

They are better than Milan on paper.

Sirigu, Maxwell, Thiago Silva, Alex / Sakho. Fast, tall, strong, good on the ball, experienced. Without a doubt better than Milan's backline.

Lavezzi, Menez, Lucas, Pastore = lots of pace and trickery. With Verratti's long balls that's a deadly combination on the break. Their counterattacks destroyed Valencia in the first leg.

And they have Carlo as coach. Very compact team IMO. Ibra or no Ibra.

Van Der Wiel is going to own Iniesta

sportsczy wrote:Van Der Wiel is going to own Iniesta

I suppose you mean this will happen if Iniesta is on the wing. Possible because van der Weil will have the entire flank to himself most of the time because Iniesta will mostly be somewhere else and Alba will also be far away at times. Not just that but Fabregas in midfield will likely ruin our game almost completely. If we really play like that we could lose the tie without too much difficulty.

Fuuuuu*k another italian team

Their style does not suit us at all. They'll be happy to sit back and wait for their chance. I would've rather drawn anyone else but juve. Not that I think they'll be a huge threat or anything.

PSG have very good players in most positions. Bench strength wise they are right up there with anyone. In Ancelotti they have a coach of the highest pedigree. Yet they can't seem to make all that work particularly well which is quite baffling. I have to give them credit that they have done much better in Europe than the other moneybags ManCity but the latter have been much better in league football.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Fuuuuu*k another italian team

Their style does not suit us at all. They'll be happy to sit back and wait for their chance. I would've rather drawn anyone else but juve. Not that I think they'll be a huge threat or anything.

Yes, but I doubt they can park the bus effectively with pastore, moura, lavezzi, gameiro/ibra van Der wiel and Maxwell. All of them meh defensively or with low Workrate.

I think Maxwell may be the most underrated player in Europe. Most people probably aren't aware he's been probably one of their best players outside Ibra. Really served PSG well.

Overall tie... would be disappointed if we didn't destroy them.

That's all PSG do... sit deep and counter. Extremely direct team. Play exactly like Madrid, which is why PSG gets bad results against teams that PTB against them. The tactics are geared towards attacking the wings with speed before the defense can set itself.

Against Barca, you will see Chantome (a defensive-minded mid) in there instead of Ibra for the 1st leg and Pastore moved forward. Matuidi and Chantome split the pitch in front of the defense and Verrati launched the counter-attacks.

Reason that Carlo has employed these tactics is that Pastore was too inconsistent to rely upon. So he adjusted to rely on defense and speed.

And no... Maxwell is not that great. Very much criticized at PSG and is going to be replaced in the summer. If it weren't for Matuidi, he'd get killed. What really bothers people is that he's not doing well in the attack, which is the only reason they got him. But he's better than van Der wiel lol.

As far as the best players... it goes Ibra, Matuidi, Silva, Sirigu, Lavezzi, Verrati, Sakho, Lucas, Menez, Pastore, Chantome, Jallet and then Maxwell. He's better than Alex and Van Der Wiel... and probably on par with Motta. That's about it.

I dont believe we will flog them.

The one way I see that situation if is the big occassion gets to too many of their players and they show too much respect.

But if they play us honestly and with bravery, I think they are too good for that.

We need to score an away goal this time.. I do not wanna see Milan 2.0 (get it.. because it's PSG :troll:) and have to make an epic comeback.

free_cat wrote:Yes, but I doubt they can park the bus effectively with pastore, moura, lavezzi, gameiro/ibra van Der wiel and Maxwell. All of them meh defensively or with low Workrate.

Yeah they can do it well, they do it every week. They're one of the teams that allows the least amount of goals in any top European league (counting UCL games). And you don't need a huge work rate to park the bus, you need a huge work rate to press and track back. If there's no pressing in the forward line and no tracking back since they're parked they can be problematic. In any case they have the best CB in the world, a great keeper, DMs that can be a pain for us and Lavezzi can poke holes into our FB's gaps. True their FBs are not great, but if we start Pedro/Alexis/Cesc it kinda evens out.