Dortmund vs Real Madrid

We beat BVB in the semis in 1998 and went on to beat Jve to win La Septima. In 2000 we beat Bayern in the semi (Thanks Anelka) and then beat Valencia in an all Spanish final.

Zealous wrote:We beat BVB in the semis in 1998 and went on to beat Jve to win La Septima. In 2000 we beat Bayern in the semi (Thanks Anelka) and then beat Valencia in an all Spanish final.

You could've just said Spanish final

Babun wrote:Last time, we met Dortmund in CL semi final we won the whole thing against a Spanish team in the final I think it was in 1999

That was in 2000 when we met Bayern in the semi-final. We met Dortmund in 97-98 in the semi-final and we beat Juve in the final.

Real Kandahar wrote:madrid are in finals! yes yes yes

Keep dreaming...

Advantage Dortmund, no way we get past a german team in germany

Apparently Götze found his talent for finishing again, just scored two within the first half, and neat finishes too.

VivaStPauli wrote:Apparently Götze found his talent for finishing again, just scored two within the first half, and neat finishes too.

Could it be he's not actually a bad finisher but rather a young player who bottles it in big games due to lack of experience at that level?

He wouldn't be the first player i have seen who looks ice cool against smaller teams and in big games looks under pressure and won't be the last either.

TBH I didn't even think he bottled it, that Malaga GK was the real deal, and maybe a bit lucky too. Götze has been consistently boss. But sometimes your shots get parried.

I'm not fully sure where Gotze plays for Dortmund, however since I think he does play AM, is it really his job to finish? I'm sure he isn't the only top AM who can't finish like a forward.

Yohan Modric wrote:I'm not fully sure where Gotze plays for Dortmund, however since I think he does play AM, is it really his job to finish? I'm sure he isn't the only top AM who can't finish like a forward.

He's basically a SS. He gets quite a few chances on goal too.

VivaStPauli wrote:TBH I didn't even think he bottled it, that Malaga GK was the real deal, and maybe a bit lucky too. Götze has been consistently boss. But sometimes your shots get parried.

I meant over the two legs tbf.... that last chance where he was put through by Gundogan was just a brilliant save.

Yohan Modric wrote:I'm not fully sure where Gotze plays for Dortmund, however since I think he does play AM, is it really his job to finish? I'm sure he isn't the only top AM who can't finish like a forward.

It's everyone's job to finish.

I know what you're saying, but if you're a player who's in a good position to score, no matter what position you are, it is your job to finish. So yes, it is his job to finish.

What CBarca said

Klopp in today's post match interview: "Mou returns home with information that will be useless in two weeks. Instead of coming all the way to see that Gotze can play on the left, Mou could've called. I don't know if Madrid will be scared about what happened in the group stages. We respect them a lot."

Hilarious as usual

A player can't really be good at everything. I mean yeh, if he's constantly missing 1v1's or basic shots, then yeh, but he shouldn't be totally blamed, as I guess goalscoring isn't his primary job.

I don't watch Dortmund that regularly, but from matches I watched it seems that their forwards pretty much share the same responsibility both to create and finish. Lewandowski for example despite on paper is the striker but many times acted as a feeder to Reus and co. Kagawa back then also scored lots of goals iirc, so I think it's just the way they're playing to use their forwards in a very flexible way that any of them has a fair share goal scoring chances, and either to convert or to miss it.

Varane is not the same player as he was to start the season obviously. He was thrown in there with no games at all early in the season and was very rusty. His level and confidence are at a another level.

Ozil, Di Maria, Benzema, Higuain and Coentrao/Marcelo were all shat too back then.

This is going to be veeeeeeeeeeeeery different. All Klopp is doing with the talk is adding to the fire. He doesn't realize that this is the time of year all the Madrid players have been waiting for... a shame, because it cost us La Liga before the end of 2012.

Yh, Benzema, Higuain, & Di Maria were poor back then. But Ozil was MOTM in 2nd match, even in 1st match despite not at his best still managed to assist Ronaldo.

Neither Marcelo/Coentrao played those matches. Another big difference also we're without Khedira back then.

Of course he realizes this time will be harder. Klopp is poking fun because he knows they can't lose. Either they go out to Real Madrid which nobody will be upset at, they already had a great run. Or they win and call it a miracle. Why would they not approach this lightheartedly?

VivaStPauli wrote:Of course he realizes this time will be harder. Klopp is poking fun because he knows they can't lose. Either they go out to Real Madrid which nobody will be upset at, they already had a great run. Or they win and call it a miracle. Why would they not approach this lightheartedly?

I can see your point..

They have nothing to lose really.. They are having fun.

Keep in mind we effectively didn't have Khedira in either clash against Dortmund. If he plays this time around I have high hopes that he'll have a huge game.

VivaStPauli wrote:Apparently Götze found his talent for finishing again, just scored two within the first half, and neat finishes too.

The German Cristiano

still no takers for username/sig bet?

I'm not betting anything on a tie this close.

Gotze plays Messi role for Dortmund, he's by no way a classic AM like Ozil.
In the group stages we didn't have a LB and Sami, Cristiano was unhappy ... I'm sure we can progress.

likeastar wrote:Gotze plays Messi role for Dortmund, he's by no way a classic AM like Ozil.
In the group stages we didn't have a LB and Sami, Cristiano was unhappy ... I'm sure we can progress.

Not quite though, because mostly he has Lewandowski in front of him, but yeah, it absolutely is his duty to score as well, that part I agree with. But his finishing isn't actually bad, it just was against Malaga. Most of the time he's pretty good in 1v1 and has the odd tap-in too. Just doesn't have Kroos-level shot power for distance shots though, but then again, who has.

VivaStPauli wrote:

likeastar wrote:Gotze plays Messi role for Dortmund, he's by no way a classic AM like Ozil.
In the group stages we didn't have a LB and Sami, Cristiano was unhappy ... I'm sure we can progress.

Not quite though, because mostly he has Lewandowski in front of him, but yeah, it absolutely is his duty to score as well, that part I agree with. But his finishing isn't actually bad, it just was against Malaga. Most of the time he's pretty good in 1v1 and has the odd tap-in too. Just doesn't have Kroos-level shot power for distance shots though, but then again, who has.

exactly, at least i'm not the only one who thought his finishing shouldn't be blown out of proportion. when he actually tries to place it, he does it well. u could see that in two 1on1s he would slot it into the bottom corner. but their keeper figured out that götze likes the far post and always kept his foot out.

that's kinda why it's more of a cleverness problem, he needs to become ice cold. if he gets that sorted out in his mind i believe we could see a rapid increase in goals from him. however, with regard to his technique he prolly needs to shoot harder and get some curve going. watching him shoot reminds me of a "tipp kick" figure.