2018/19 UEFA Champions League Semi Final: FC Barcelona vs Liverpool FC

Liverpool didn't create a lot, just lots of huffing and puffing. First shot on target they had was in the 46th minute.

Mane had a half chance. Getting that cross under control at full speed is not a great chance, only few can score from positions like that. Budget MSN doesn't belong in that category. Milner beating ter Stegen is another waste of try. Only Salah had a great chance and that was because our team was still celebrating the 3th goal and was disorganized in that moment. Meanwhile we scored 3, Dembélé should have scored 2 more and there was a handball in the box as well from Liverpool. Fair scoreline would have been 5-1.

4 goals past Spurs, 4 goals past United, already 3 goals past Liverpool halfway through. Mule League at its finest. Was never in doubt.

lol @ expected goals. The whole point of football is to have the best possible players and the best possible players score with higher probability than xG which is based on the statistical "average" player. Suarez and Messi scoring with higher probability than Milner and Mané is not rocket science.

You have to wonder why this great Barca team let madrid win 3 in a row. I think the Barca players took a 3 year sabbatical

Unique wrote:You have to wonder why this great Barca team let madrid win 3 in a row. I think the Barca players took a 3 year sabbatical

this is why I think we can comeback. Barca are notoriously vulnerable in champions league away games. They are garbage and have gotten their asses whooped in previous years.

I can definitely see a comeback at Anfield

Unique wrote:You have to wonder why this great Barca team let madrid win 3 in a row. I think the Barca players took a 3 year sabbatical

Don Valverde (best manager in the world) wasn't the coach in 2 out of Madrid's 3 CL wins. And he needed 1 full season to get his team to play how he wants.

From here on it's Barca CL victory every single season. Deal with it.

futbol wrote:lol @ expected goals. The whole point of football is to have the best possible players and the best possible players score with higher probability than xG which is based on the statistical "average" player. Suarez and Messi scoring with higher probability than Milner and Mané is not rocket science.

yeah but thats because you are a barca fan with elitist mentality.

XG and XA can make a difference for mid table clubs trying to decide what midlevel player to sign to best fit their needs. It's not always that obvious when you are not dealing with Suarez or Messi

Mr Nick09 wrote:

futbol wrote:lol @ expected goals. The whole point of football is to have the best possible players and the best possible players score with higher probability than xG which is based on the statistical "average" player. Suarez and Messi scoring with higher probability than Milner and Mané is not rocket science.

yeah but thats because you are a barca fan with elitist mentality.

XG and XA can make a difference for mid table clubs trying to decide what midlevel player to sign to best fit their needs. It's not always that obvious when you are not dealing with Suarez or Messi

I agree, Mr. Scouse09. It's a good stat for lesser teams like yours.

Unique wrote:You have to wonder why this great Barca team let madrid win 3 in a row.

You don't have to wonder, really. I've answered it before.

futbol wrote:

Unique wrote:You have to wonder why this great Barca team let madrid win 3 in a row. I think the Barca players took a 3 year sabbatical

Don Valverde (best manager in the world) wasn't the coach in 2 out of Madrid's 3 CL wins. And he needed 1 full season to get his team to play how he wants.

From here on it's Barca CL victory every single season. Deal with it.

you got out played on your own pitch by James Milner last night and I rate this Barca team that highly that I think klopp should be sacked for losing the game.

They never played Madrid in the CL, not hard to figure out lol.

Hapless_Hans wrote:

Unique wrote:You have to wonder why this great Barca team let madrid win 3 in a row.

You don't have to wonder, really. I've answered it before.

yeah I suppose Barca getting raped by Roma had nothing to do with Madrid.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:They never played Madrid in the CL, not hard to figure out lol.

you don’t have to play Madrid to win the champions league do you.

Unique wrote:

rincon wrote:

Unique wrote:
no they are not. Also if Barca has the best team from front to back why don’t they win it every season. Barca have been beat by scrub teams in the lge Liverpool have more than enough quality to beat them they just don’t have the bottle to do it. Liverpool are built around full backs and firmino yet in the biggest game of the season klopp drops firmino and taa. So not only did that ruin our attack it also ruined the right side of our defence.

Of course they do. Your former star man was Barca's worst midfielder or attacker. Rakitic, Vidal and Busquets are all better than every midfielder you have, and there are 3 of them. I'm sure we don't need to even begin talking about Suarez and Messi.

alisson vvd Robertson mane and salah would all get games for Barca.

Don't think Alison has much on stegen tbh.

Unique wrote:

futbol wrote:

Unique wrote:You have to wonder why this great Barca team let madrid win 3 in a row. I think the Barca players took a 3 year sabbatical

Don Valverde (best manager in the world) wasn't the coach in 2 out of Madrid's 3 CL wins. And he needed 1 full season to get his team to play how he wants.

From here on it's Barca CL victory every single season. Deal with it.

you got out played on your own pitch by James Milner last night and I rate this Barca team that highly that I think klopp should be sacked for losing the game.

Well done. Print a shirt and publish a DVD about it and put it in your trophy cabinet.

Anyway let’s just hope Milner snaps Messi in half within the first 5 minutes in the 2nd leg. If klopp tells him to do that it will go some way to redemption

This is some usual overreaction by some Liverpool fans obviously, must be not thinking straight still...

Speaking about how we so called let Real won 3, Real were lucky they didnt meet us in any of the past few years CL, we would have beaten them as we consistently have in the league. Last season was the biggest example, if we didnt fk up vs Roma, we really should have won it.

Anyway, not gonna argue too much since a lot of this stuff going on now seems like angry and jealous fans talking nonsense

BarcaLearning wrote: This is some usual overreaction by some Liverpool fans obviously, must be not thinking straight still...

Speaking about how we so called let Real won 3, Real were lucky they didnt meet us in any of the past few years CL, we would have beaten them as we consistently have in the league. Last season was the biggest example, if we didnt fk up vs Roma, we really should have won it.

Anyway, not gonna argue too much since a lot of this stuff going on now seems like angry and jealous fans talking nonsense

I’m not angry because Liverpool lost to Barca. Although I don’t see why a lot of the Barca fans are showing themselves as a bit cuntish but that’s not all of them. I’m angry at klopp and Liverpool because we never show up in the big games. Liverpool on top form are good enough to ruin Barca but yet again we don’t play to our full potential. Liverpool are better than they showed last night. Real ruined us in the final last season yet look at the 2 teams this season. Liverpool are a far better team than Madrid yet in the final Liverpool never looked like winning it. I don’t give a fuck about losing I just don’t like when I think we could have done better. But if you look at klopps record over the years he does seem to lose the big games and cup finals so I don’t know what his problem is.

One thing I’ve never understood about teams playing Barca is why they don’t just ruin Messi. If I was the Liverpool manager I would pull someone like Milner to the side and tell him to go over the top on him and break him but no one ever does.

futbol wrote:

Unique wrote:You have to wonder why this great Barca team let madrid win 3 in a row. I think the Barca players took a 3 year sabbatical

Don Valverde (best manager in the world) wasn't the coach in 2 out of Madrid's 3 CL wins. And he needed 1 full season to get his team to play how he wants.

From here on it's Barca CL victory every single season. Deal with it.

The best coach in the world is back. In his sabbatical his team got embarrassed by every big team. With him back, order will be restored. This is the best chance Barca have of winning the CL for the next 4 seasons before he decides on another sabbatical

halamadrid2 wrote:

futbol wrote:

Unique wrote:You have to wonder why this great Barca team let madrid win 3 in a row. I think the Barca players took a 3 year sabbatical

Don Valverde (best manager in the world) wasn't the coach in 2 out of Madrid's 3 CL wins. And he needed 1 full season to get his team to play how he wants.

From here on it's Barca CL victory every single season. Deal with it.

The best coach in the world is back. In his sabbatical his team got embarrassed by every big team. With him back, order will be restored. This is the best chance Barca have of winning the CL for the next 4 seasons before he decides on another sabbatical

I did not know Euro Cup 2016 winning Ronaldiola was back in Madrid.

Who knows, maybe he will when he sees Messi winning the Balon d'or

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:They never played Madrid in the CL, not hard to figure out lol.

Yes as that is due to never reaching far enough to play Real Madrid. Lost to Atletico, Jjuve and Roma in the QFs.

Also, respect to Don Ernesto. Great man, great manager. Can't fucking wait till Barca fans chase him, Rakitic and Suarez away. Can't fucking wait...

Valverde is doing well, but let's not deny that his 442 give possession to the other team tactics are boring af. He "wins ugly" as opposed to a win playing great guy like Pep, which is what separates him from the great barca coaches, even if he wins the sextuple.

Doc wrote:

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:They never played Madrid in the CL, not hard to figure out lol.

Yes as that is due to never reaching far enough to play Real Madrid. Lost to Atletico, Jjuve and Roma in the QFs.

Also, respect to Don Ernesto. Great man, great manager. Can't fucking wait till Barca fans chase him, Rakitic and Suarez away. Can't fucking wait...

I also think it's worth pointing out that Real Madrid have looked like a different side in the CL. The intensity and that "never say die"- attitude was never quite the same in the domestic league. We were experts at churning out wins during the season when we last won the league, but we've actually fought until the end quite consistently in the Champions League - a level of consistency that we don't seem to have domestically.

The great Barca coaches, who exactly are the great Barca coaches? Old man Johan and Pep spring to mind. The OG himself Joan Samper would be another. Lucho? Rexach? Brother Rijkaard?

I mean, what does he need to do, other than play "great" football, to be considered a great Barca coach?

Doc wrote:

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:They never played Madrid in the CL, not hard to figure out lol.

Yes as that is due to never reaching far enough to play Real Madrid. Lost to Atletico, Jjuve and Roma in the QFs.

Also, respect to Don Ernesto. Great man, great manager. Can't fucking wait till Barca fans chase him, Rakitic and Suarez away. Can't fucking wait...

Yeah but he said how did they not stop Madrid? when they never played them lol?

Nobody thinks this version of Barca is particularly fantastic, it's just nobody this year matches up with them well enough to beat them.