UCL QF 1st leg PSG - Barcelona

This tie is going to be tough as shit.

If City can beat Bayern we can beat Bayern.
I can’t see 10 man Bayern beating Chelsea at the Bridge.
Players and systems are all good on paper but at the end what’s the last dominant display of Bayern against a major side?
Based on recent display’s PSG scares me more at the moment.
That’s me though.

billy_gr wrote:
If City can beat Bayern we can beat Bayern.
I can’t see 10 man Bayern beating Chelsea at the Bridge.
Players and systems are all good on paper but at the end what’s the last dominant display of Bayern against a major side?
Based on recent display’s PSG scares me more at the moment.
That’s me though.

Stupid comparison. If you saw the game, Bayern dominated City till the last 10 minutes where Alonso and Boateng made stupid individual errors. Bayern controlled the game from start to about the 82nd minute. They had won the group as well.

I think PSG can beat Barcelona, especially if you play with this weird Central mf FB system Enrique uses. PSG will create chances for sure.

City game is only an example.
Take a look at Wolfsburg for example.
And again my question still stands: what's the last dominant performance from them against a major side that should make me scared?

PSG can definitely hurt us. Plus they look to me more "hungry" if you get what I mean

billy_gr wrote:City game is only an example.
Take a look at Wolfsburg for example.
And again my question still stands: what's the last dominant performance from them against a major side that should make me scared?

PSG can definitely hurt us. Plus they look to me more "hungry" if you get what I mean

Fair enough. TBH I think all the remaining teams have glaring weaknesses. Madrid will struggle against Atletico but they would relish playing Bayern. If PSG beat Barca I reckon they have a very good chance of winning it.

we dont have much luxury in the mid though. its not like lucho have a great mid but making a poor choice. the problem is plain and simple. we have not found xavi replacement and xavi cant play vs fast paced team for 90 mins. our mid has to be a disaster. we need to deal with it.

neuro11 wrote:we dont have much luxury in the mid though. its not like lucho have a great mid but making a poor choice. the problem is plain and simple. we have not found xavi replacement and xavi cant play vs fast paced team for 90 mins. our mid has to be a disaster. we need to deal with it.

Again, people keep repeating the same thing. Stop being obssessed with Xavi, he is a freak. The mf i snot the problem, most of the fault lies with Enrique, look at where Rakitic was yesterday, he was a winger, a fb but was never in the middle when Madrid were passing through the middle. Same with Iniesta. With the right tactical set up the midfield will be fine. Some really needs to ask Rosel what he was smoking when he didn't renew Thiagos contract.

I hope Laporta wins and boots Enrique out.

Iniesta is almost done. does not matter where he plays. he is playing on a rotation for whole season yet cant put a decent performance. plz dont come up with the logic (like some others in barca forum) that his problem is he is playing near line to support alba. the guy who was better than Messi in dribbling in tight spaces now is dispossessed so easily. what that have to do with him playing near alba. look at his mispasses vs madrid. So he is not a solution just like xavi is not. Rakitic most people agree that has limited potential. he has some very important skills but he lacks many others necessary to play for Barca. one can even say he is an improved version of Cesc. what can Lucho do with that.

I am not supporting Lucho....i want him out even if we win treble but i dont think he has much to do with that mid, sorry

neuro11 wrote:Iniesta is almost done. does not matter where he plays. he is playing on a rotation for whole season yet cant put a decent performance. plz dont come up with the logic (like some others in barca forum) that his problem is he is playing near line to support alba. the guy who was better than Messi in dribbling in tight spaces now is dispossessed so easily. what that have to do with him playing near alba. look at his mispasses vs madrid. So he is not a solution just like xavi is not. Rakitic most people agree that has limited potential. he has some very important skills but he lacks many others necessary to play for Barca. one can even say he is an improved version of Cesc. what can Lucho do with that.

I am not supporting Lucho....i want him out even if we win treble but i dont think he has much to do with that mid, sorry

You can't have a player like Iniesta and use counter attacking, it's counter intuitive. Except you have an very good runner in mf or you have a low block it is useles. The set up is bad except for the attackers. Enrique shoulders at least 80% of the blame for me.

Lucho is not a master tactician, so i dont know what others would have done in this case, with these resources. what lucho is doing is keeping his job by getting it done. with his brain he is doing counter and that is getting us results. results might not be important for you but for most of the fans it is. is he playing a barca style will be asked aand decided at the end of the season but in the middle everyone wants results. so why would he accommodate iniesta - a player who is past of his best. thats not the objective. he got a front three to use counter and a player in the mid who cant adjust to that. what should he do...
this is the first time i have heard any of our opponent coach is praising us for our counter attacks and failing to deal with it. thats not a lovely to hear as a barca fan, to be honest. a team famous for counter attacking is saying they could not handle our counters...lolz. all i say i dont know what others would have done, but lucho is doing what he had to...

Iniesta, Busquets and Xavi are all shells of their former selves and Rakitic is NOT a CM... he was beasting as a 10 last season with the goals and assists. He can play CM... but it's not his best spot.

So when you match up Motta/Verratti/Matuidi against Busquets/Iniesta/Rakitic... well to me, the PSG midfield is better because they're all playing in their proper positions AND they're now in good form. So no advantage for Barca there.

The key to the tie for me: PSG has the better defense by far and Barca the better forwards... which group will be decisive? Will Silva/Luis carry PSG or Messi/Neymar/Suarez carry Barca? Ibra will play the second leg but he's usually not a big factor in CL. The most dangerous attacking threat to me for PSG in this tie is Pastore believe it or not...

Well PSG has no hope then.

Besides Busquets is not a shell, not even close lol. Plus Iniesta is completely tactical it's all on Enrique's tactics you have to be pretty blind not to see it.

But if you are pinning all your hopes on Pastore then you might as well forget it lol.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CA3cNtSWUAAzGX_.jpg

LE/Coachessi

Awful.

Heat map probably looked similar when he was playing "left-winger" to accommodate Keita for Pep and everyone hated it.

Are heat maps with the ball, or both with and without the ball btw? It doesnt change my opinion in this situation but it would be interesting to know.

I think it's normally with the ball.

Nah it doesn't matter if a player has the ball or not. heatmap shows where he has been in general regardless.