UCL QF : Barcelona Vs AS Roma

Why are you guys being such dicks lol.

I didn't mean to be rude, I'm just saying Roma didn't really do much. I expected them to pressure us more because of our shit midfield but I've seen none of that

And it's not right saying that the game would have looked different if not for the own goals, because own goals also happen for a reason.

Collblanc wrote:

Myesyats wrote:Decent performance but we can never fully take control which pisses me off. I love me some good midfield control, something we have barely seen this season...

Its part of Valverde's tactic really. He likes to give the opponent a bit more of the ball, creating more space in between the lines for Busi, Alba, Iniesta and Messi to find eachother and run into spaces. Problem this season really is the lack of width, wich Coutinoh and Dembele make up for in La Liga games, but unable to do so in CL ofcourse.

It is Valverde's tactic but I feel like it's not entirely his choice since he's kinda forced to have the team play this way because the players aren't good enough. Iniesta is finished and cannot dictate the tempo of a game like he used to, Rakitic is not the type of player to control anything and Busi can only do so much. Paulinho and Gomes only make this even worse which is quite something.

It's painful to watch but kind of a necessary evil. Not much will change next season unless Arthur is Xavi reborn, which he isn't...

Busquets passing to Messi... thats what I'm talking about, only Busi is so calm on the ball and can quickly spot a great pass inbetween the lines. Aging Iniesta and Rakitic can't provide even 1/4 of what Busi brings to the table

Busquets to Messipic.twitter.com/I1BV9A4jcU

— paleszhurts (@paleszhurts) 3 kwietnia 2018

breva wrote:The ref's bad decision on the obvious penalty on Dzeko

"obvious penalty"

That was a pure dive, tribbing into his own foot. On the other hand Messi probably should've got a penalty.

Harmonica wrote:That was a pure dive, tribbing into his own foot. On the other hand Messi probably  should've got a penalty.

Besides the slo-mo evidence that confirmed it was a penalty, this still image was used to show how the defender struck Dzeko's thigh causing Dzeko to fall. Notice how the knee deforms the rear part of the attacker's thigh/upper leg.  It's not even open for debate.

The knee is pretty evident on Dzeko, Not enough for a penalty imo

I also doubt anyone had a chance to even see the knee going into Dzeko, This could be the future of fouling players in the box.

Myesyats wrote:Busquets passing to Messi... thats what I'm talking about, only Busi is so calm on the ball and can quickly spot a great pass inbetween the lines. Aging Iniesta and Rakitic can't provide even 1/4 of what Busi brings to the table

Busquets to Messipic.twitter.com/I1BV9A4jcU

— paleszhurts (@paleszhurts) 3 kwietnia 2018

Very impressive.

That's what you require from a midfielder someone who looks forward every time he passes. Lucas was the only guy who did it at Liverpool everyone else just wants dat pass % stat.

Barca fans (and fans of other elite-level clubs) can say what they want to say. I respect all of the elite level clubs for what they've accomplished and admire the players, just like most fans of non-elite clubs. I don't expect them to show the same decorum to my club. Maybe I should, but I don't. That's just where I am on it.

I must reiterate this though: Roma have absolutely nothing to lose in this tie. We weren't even expected to make it out of our group, I should remind everyone. I personally didn't expect us to make it past Shakhtar as well. Just being at this stage of the comp, regardless of the result, is a good feeling honestly so there's not much that can be said about this team that will bother me. I give this team way too much shit myself to be rustled by what others say about it. I'm staying in my lane.

With that said, I still think we showed a lot more courage in this game than the last time we faced Barca. No one can convince me otherwise. Our boys didn't look overawed by them and that's always key when facing elite teams. We stepped on the pitch intending to meet them toe-to-toe and we did that, by and large. We didn't cower. We didn't run from them. We faced them down. I'm proud of our boys for that.

As far as the Dzeko penalty shout goes, I truly don't care about it. I'm more annoyed about the chances we didn't take, given that Barca gifting so many of them to us was in itself, strange. Missed penalty calls only matter when we're not taking our chances. They are less important when we do. We needed to be perfect in front of goal and we weren't. It's as simple as that.

For the next leg, I can only remain optimistic at this point. It's not be about progressing for Roma. That's not on the cards. We're not PSG and we're not going to put 4 goals past this Barca team unless they absolute implode. I have a better chance of winning the lottery (that I never play) than that happening. It's about salvaging pride and going out on a high for these guys. I want them fight for every 50/50, remain calm and focused when defending against Barca's attackers and stay composed, but ambitious when running at their defense, which showed a fair amount of cracks. If the 1st leg was any indication, we're going to get more chances to score. We just have to take them................and hope Ter Stegen has a day similar to the one Alisson had.

Nishankly wrote:The knee is pretty evident on Dzeko, Not enough for a penalty imo

I also doubt anyone had a chance to even see the knee going into Dzeko, This could be the future of fouling players in the box.

Of course it was a penalty. Don't be silly.

Well it wasn't given and it's pretty easy to see why.

McLewis wrote:Barca fans (and fans of other elite-level clubs) can say what they want to say. I respect all of the elite level clubs for what they've accomplished and admire the players, just like most fans of non-elite clubs. I don't expect them to show the same decorum to my club. Maybe I should, but I don't. That's just where I am on it.

I must reiterate this though: Roma have absolutely nothing to lose in this tie. We weren't even expected to make it out of our group, I should remind everyone. I personally didn't expect us to make it past Shakhtar as well. Just being at this stage of the comp, regardless of the result, is a good feeling honestly so there's not much that can be said about this team that will bother me. I give this team way too much shit myself to be rustled by what others say about it. I'm staying in my lane.

With that said, I still think we showed a lot more courage in this game than the last time we faced Barca. No one can convince me otherwise. Our boys didn't look overawed by them and that's always key when facing elite teams. We stepped on the pitch intending to meet them toe-to-toe and we did that, by and large. We didn't cower. We didn't run from them. We faced them down. I'm proud of our boys for that.

As far as the Dzeko penalty shout goes, I truly don't care about it. I'm more annoyed about the chances we didn't take, given that Barca gifting so many of them to us was in itself, strange. Missed penalty calls only matter when we're not taking our chances. They are less important when we do. We needed to be perfect in front of goal and we weren't. It's as simple as that.

For the next leg, I can only remain optimistic at this point. It's not be about progressing for Roma. That's not on the cards. We're not PSG and we're not going to put 4 goals past this Barca team unless they absolute implode. I have a better chance of winning the lottery (that I never play) than that happening. It's about salvaging pride and going out on a high for these guys. I want them fight for every 50/50, remain calm and focused when defending against Barca's attackers and stay composed, but ambitious when running at their defense, which showed a fair amount of cracks. If the 1st leg was any indication, we're going to get more chances to score. We just have to take them................and hope Ter Stegen has a day similar to the one Alisson had.

When you start your post by saying you should be proud of shutting Messi when he was at the heart of first three goals, and lost 4-1, you got exactly the answers you should've. And next you take the high horse attitude and not even have a courtesy of answering these posts, you kind of deserve all you get from playing that victim mentality.

Now that was rude. McLewis is great poster and he doesn’t deserve this. I agree that Roma did indeed show courage in all stages of the tournament and they’re not a bad team at all, just not semi final good team. I apologize for us Barca fans being dicks and please keep posting McLewis because it’s a pleasure to read what you have to say.

Harmonica wrote:

McLewis wrote:Barca fans (and fans of other elite-level clubs) can say what they want to say. I respect all of the elite level clubs for what they've accomplished and admire the players, just like most fans of non-elite clubs. I don't expect them to show the same decorum to my club. Maybe I should, but I don't. That's just where I am on it.

I must reiterate this though: Roma have absolutely nothing to lose in this tie. We weren't even expected to make it out of our group, I should remind everyone. I personally didn't expect us to make it past Shakhtar as well. Just being at this stage of the comp, regardless of the result, is a good feeling honestly so there's not much that can be said about this team that will bother me. I give this team way too much shit myself to be rustled by what others say about it. I'm staying in my lane.

With that said, I still think we showed a lot more courage in this game than the last time we faced Barca. No one can convince me otherwise. Our boys didn't look overawed by them and that's always key when facing elite teams. We stepped on the pitch intending to meet them toe-to-toe and we did that, by and large. We didn't cower. We didn't run from them. We faced them down. I'm proud of our boys for that.

As far as the Dzeko penalty shout goes, I truly don't care about it. I'm more annoyed about the chances we didn't take, given that Barca gifting so many of them to us was in itself, strange. Missed penalty calls only matter when we're not taking our chances. They are less important when we do. We needed to be perfect in front of goal and we weren't. It's as simple as that.

For the next leg, I can only remain optimistic at this point. It's not be about progressing for Roma. That's not on the cards. We're not PSG and we're not going to put 4 goals past this Barca team unless they absolute implode. I have a better chance of winning the lottery (that I never play) than that happening. It's about salvaging pride and going out on a high for these guys. I want them fight for every 50/50, remain calm and focused when defending against Barca's attackers and stay composed, but ambitious when running at their defense, which showed a fair amount of cracks. If the 1st leg was any indication, we're going to get more chances to score. We just have to take them................and hope Ter Stegen has a day similar to the one Alisson had.

When you start your post by saying you should be proud of shutting Messi when he was at the heart of first three goals, and lost 4-1, you got exactly the answers you should've. And next you take the high horse attitude and not even have a courtesy of answering these posts, you kind of deserve all you get from playing that victim mentality.

That's interesting take on my post, but ok I'll clarify: In order for me to play the victim, that would require me to actually believe I'm a victim. I don't believe I am and I don't believe your team victimized mine. The scoreline reads blowout, the actual play on the pitch did not. That's my opinion. Take it as you will. Not trying to take anything away from Barca. I'm merely pointing out that the scoreline is not reflective of how my team played. That's all.

I just don't think this was the expected, typical dominant Barca win that everyone expected. As someone who has seen my team get thoroughly manhandled by the likes of Barca, Bayern and United at this end of the comp in the past, I know exactly what those performances look like. Couldn't forget them if I wanted to. This wasn't one of them.

As for Messi, the fact of the matter is he didn't score on us. Given how porous we are against elite players of his calibre, that is a mini-miracle in itself. He wasn't injured, he wasn't fatigued, and he had quite a few clear cut chances. I am merely surprised he wasn't able to take one or 2 of them, is all. I wouldn't dare go as far as saying we shut him down. Those are your words, not mine. All I'm commenting on is the fact that I expected him to get a hat trick against us and do one better than Ronaldo, but he didn't. That's more out of surprise than mockery, but if you took it as the latter then I apologize. It appears I struck a nerve without meaning to.

Myesyats wrote:Now that was rude. McLewis is great poster and he doesn’t deserve this. I agree that Roma did indeed show courage in all stages of the tournament and they’re not a bad team at all, just not semi final good team. I apologize for us Barca fans being dicks and please keep posting McLewis because it’s a pleasure to read what you have to say.

It's fine, man. It's all good. It was a good game in general and the Barca fans I've encountered have been totally fine us towards Romanisti. One even came into the comments section of Chiesa Di Totti and was warmly received. I also liked what I read from the Barca players as well.

McLewis wrote:That's interesting take on my post, but ok I'll clarify: In order for me to play the victim, that would require me to actually believe I'm a victim. I don't believe I am and I don't believe your team victimized mine. The scoreline reads blowout, the actual play on the pitch did not. That's my opinion. Take it as you will. Not trying to take anything away from Barca. I'm merely pointing out that the scoreline is not reflective of how my team played. That's all.

I just don't think this was the expected, typical dominant Barca win that everyone expected. As someone who has seen my team get thoroughly manhandled by the likes of Barca, Bayern and United at this end of the comp in the past, I know exactly what those performances look like. Couldn't forget them if I wanted to. This wasn't one of them.

As for Messi, the fact of the matter is he didn't score on us. Given how porous we are against elite players of his calibre, that is a mini-miracle in itself. He wasn't injured, he wasn't fatigued, and he had quite a few clear cut chances. I am merely surprised he wasn't able to take one or 2 of them, is all. I wouldn't dare go as far as saying we shut him down. Those are your words, not mine. All I'm commenting on is the fact that I expected him to get a hat trick against us and do one better than Ronaldo, but he didn't. That's more out of surprise than mockery, but if you took it as the latter then I apologize. It appears I struck a nerve without meaning to.

I think you understood it wrong, I didn't mean you were victim because of how the game went, but played victim because of the way you constructed your original post, and then they way you used the word "decorum" after it, as in your post had a better decorum

I agree with you that the result itself doesn't reflect how the performances went, it was closer than that, although Barca clearly stopped playing at 3-0. However you didn't stop Messi and you obviously tried to imply it. And now you even go on to use Cronaldo as somekind of analogy for that. Either you don't make much sense, or you think that scoring is all that matters, which then again is strange as you go on how good your teams performance was, despite of the scoreline.

He wouldn’t have mentioned C. Ronaldo and «shut down» in the same sentence. Read again, Monica

Nishankly wrote:Well it wasn't given and it's pretty easy to see why.

It wasn't given because the referee was incompetent.

Roma really played well tbh. They defended narrow and we're very dangerous on counters. What amazes me is their game plan or lack of thereof. They should have taken 2-0 and waited for second leg, with this pretty ordinary Barcelona you never know what would have happened in Rome.

Harmonica wrote:

McLewis wrote:That's interesting take on my post, but ok I'll clarify: In order for me to play the victim, that would require me to actually believe I'm a victim. I don't believe I am and I don't believe your team victimized mine. The scoreline reads blowout, the actual play on the pitch did not. That's my opinion. Take it as you will. Not trying to take anything away from Barca. I'm merely pointing out that the scoreline is not reflective of how my team played. That's all.

I just don't think this was the expected, typical dominant Barca win that everyone expected. As someone who has seen my team get thoroughly manhandled by the likes of Barca, Bayern and United at this end of the comp in the past, I know exactly what those performances look like. Couldn't forget them if I wanted to. This wasn't one of them.

As for Messi, the fact of the matter is he didn't score on us. Given how porous we are against elite players of his calibre, that is a mini-miracle in itself. He wasn't injured, he wasn't fatigued, and he had quite a few clear cut chances. I am merely surprised he wasn't able to take one or 2 of them, is all. I wouldn't dare go as far as saying we shut him down. Those are your words, not mine. All I'm commenting on is the fact that I expected him to get a hat trick against us and do one better than Ronaldo, but he didn't. That's more out of surprise than mockery, but if you took it as the latter then I apologize. It appears I struck a nerve without meaning to.

I think you understood it wrong, I didn't mean you were victim because of how the game went, but played victim because of the way you constructed your original post, and then they way you used the word "decorum" after it, as in your post had a better decorum

I agree with you that the result itself doesn't reflect how the performances went, it was closer than that, although Barca clearly stopped playing at 3-0. However you didn't stop Messi and you obviously tried to imply it. And now you even go on to use Cronaldo as somekind of analogy for that. Either you don't make much sense, or you think that scoring is all that matters, which then again is strange as you go on how good your teams performance was, despite of the scoreline.

Again, to play the role of a victim, I must believe I am a victim. I did not write my OP in the guise of a victim. That's how you're interpreting it. I can't control how you interpret my posts and I have no interest of doing such.

Regarding Messi, I remarked during Madrid's match with Juve (in chat) that Ronaldo's performance will probably just make Messi even more determined to dismantle us in order to one-up him. It was banter of course. I personally don't think Messi cares about one-upping Ronaldo anymore than Ronaldo cares about one-upping Messi. That's a narrative we fans created. So imagine my surprise when Messi managed to not score against us. That wasn't because we specifically focused on him. I'm not naive enough to believe our defense was that good. One does not focus on Messi and limit his influence, it been proven to be virtually impossible. He has his say one way or another always and in this game, it was through drawing defenders to him and creating space in the box to force those own goals and other mistakes.

Who knows? I've probably jinxed us and he'll end up getting that hat trick in the 2nd leg. I sincerely hope that doesn't happen, but this is Messi we're talking about here.

Barça XI v Roma: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Umtiti, Alba; Iniesta, Busquets, Rakitic, Roberto; Messi, Suarez

Dembele's ass benched again and righfully so

Roma: Alisson; Manolas, Fazio, Juan Jesus; Florenzi, Strootman, De Rossi, Kolarov; Nainggolan; Schick, Dzeko

3 at the back, 2 strikers, EDF just trying anything.

Messi Iniesta 100th time, a record in CL.

Lmao Barca defense scrubbing away.

Umtiti stopping defending.