Champions League R16: Discussion and Draw

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:I wouldn't rule Arsenal out tbh, as funny as Pep's performance at City is Bayern have been worse under Ancelotti than they were under him as their results in both league and CL prove.

Maybe but we're still miles above Arsenal

Lmao, Barca with the hardest opponent and Uefadrid the easiest, easiest money in the world in these draws. I mean who didn't see or bet on that?

They have club representatives from all over Europe who came specifically for the draw. They can't just wrap up everything in 2 min and send everybody their way. Plus, they have to take care of their sponsors and make sure to get the highest viewership possible.

People are brushing Monaco and Benfica aside too easily imo.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:Napoli is a tough draw. Definitely an opponent to be wary of.

Madrid are obviously better but it will be 2 fun games. I can imagine a draw or slim Napoli win at the San Paolo (1-1 or 2-1) and comfortable Madrid win in the Bernabeu.

Yay - Happy to get Arsenal!

If we can't beat them then we have no business even thinking about a CHL win. Arsenal are never CHL contenders IMO but a tough opposition compared to others which should keep us to our toes.

If we go through, I want PSG, Juve type team - Basically I want tough teams not named Barca & Madrid before the semis!

^PSG isn't making it past Barca

Mole, you can't say that while we're still in December. A lot of the top teams have been playing below their level up until this point.

... as a Juve fan i hope we face you guys (Bayern) in quarter finals !! Assuming both teams go through this face-off would be FIRE

Wanted Arsenal but Napoli will be a good match

The Bayern Munich vs Arsenal will be a total bomb!

And Barca need to really work. PSG might not be doing well domestically but who knows what they can do at UCL?

rincon, since I have no doubt you've watched enough of Napoli this season to make a fair assessment: how tough are they?

S wrote:Mole, you can't say that while we're still in December. A lot of the top teams have been playing below their level up until this point.

I can say what i want IMO.

Also i don't believe that really, just that most teams in Europe are not very good

Yet again Arsenal v Bayern and Barca v PSG, so boring

Napoli is a tougher opponent for Madrid than most non-Serie A followers might think.

They have an excellent midfield and a decent defense. Only question mark is the striker position, if Milik is back Napoli might be a lowkey trap for Real.

Yes, that's what I thought. Definitely a tough draw for us.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:rincon, since I have no doubt you've watched enough of Napoli this season to make a fair assessment: how tough are they?

Excellent midfield, competent defense, bad attack. They started the season on fire as they had finished the last one but then Milik (Higuain's replacement) got injured and their attack was lost without a true CF.

After that they've struggled to score. Most games go the same way, they dominate and create 100 chances but fail to score and get frustrated. Then they concede and climb back to get that draw/slim win. When they score soon and get confident then they smash (0-5 win this weekend).

With Hamsik, Insigne, Mertens, Jorginho and Diawara they play a million through balls and create tons of chances. Its the reason why Higuain scored so much and why Milik started so well. They'll need to sign a CF in january or get Milik back (a big doubt) in time.

Napoli will score on Madrid, but you guys should be too strong for them to get through.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:Yes, that's what I thought. Definitely a tough draw for us.

Still, there's no way in hell you'll go out against a team like Napoli.

Napoli will be the kind of team that looks great in both games, actually plays better than you, looks more intense and organized, deserving of a goal, while you look strangely uninvolved etc pp., then Ronaldo and/or Benzema score a few and you win both legs.
It's always the same.

Thanks for filling me in. Now, I'm all pumped up for this tie....and scared.

I hope we go through.

Hapless_Hans wrote:

The Demon of Carthage wrote:Yes, that's what I thought. Definitely a tough draw for us.

Still, there's no way in hell you'll go out against a team like Napoli.

Napoli will be the kind of team that looks great in both games, actually plays better than you, looks more intense and organized, deserving of a goal, while you look strangely uninvolved etc pp., then Ronaldo and/or Benzema score a few and you win both legs.
It's always the same.

Yeah. The script will be similar to the Roma game last yr. An unconvincing Madrid yet eased past them with Roma missing a ton of chances. Napoli are a good side but I don't think that highly of them to suggest that they'll run them close. Most of their players haven't even been at this stage and competed with the best so it's a massive ask for them.

I'm thinking that Diawara and Zielinski will attract a lot of interest after this tie since most didn't see them play in Bologna and Empoli respectively.

I don't know mate. After last year's Wolfsburg upset, I believe anything is possible.

To suggest that "there's no way in hell" we'll go out against them is completely unsound.

I wouldn't have that certainty even if we were to play Leicester or Porto, let alone a strong team like Napoli.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:I don't know mate. After last year's Wolfsburg upset, I believe anything is possible.

To suggest that "there's no way in hell" we'll go out against them is completely unsound.

I wouldn't have that certainty even if we were to play Leicester or Porto, let alone a strong team like Napoli.

It's clear that you think like that but as a bystander we've seen it many times.
No matter how weak and disorganised Real may look, and they've looked pretty weak and disorganised at times over the years, they end up progressing over aspiring teams that are not elite.

That's not even meant as a put-down of Real's football. It's more to point out the fact that, as Real Madrid, you're team has a sense of entitlement and identity to progress in such a situation that has shown itself to overrule things like actual football form, as paradoxical as that sounds.
And as @Sugar points out, teams like Napoli don't have that kind of swagger. No matter how shit we think you play, there's a class inside your players which they know can rely on.
I mean you *bleep* won the whole thing last year with even you Real fans themselves thinking "well we aren't actually that great"
And you won it a couple of years before already. That's twice in three years now without ever being a team that wows observers in any way lol.

As rival observers, it would be foolish to expect you could be actually kicked out by a team like Napoli no matter how well they play. Won't happen. That you yourself as Real fans are anxious and respectful is another matter.

Have to side with Hans, Madrid knows how to win against these teams. Since Mourinho came along Madrid hasn't lost a tie they shouldn't. Unless Zidane brings that scrub mentality back (it seems very unlikely) Madrid should get through. It happened vs Roma and Wolfsburg last year, will probably happen this time too.

So, Madrid will get Sevilla or Leicester in the quarterfinals, and then the worst of the lot in the semis.