Champions & Europa Leagues knockout stage begins!!

[SAMCRO]

I think Juve is that good. They are a complete team. And yes, Barca is not at top form.
Real goes thru on some pretty awful officiating. Not sure the outcome would have been different, but really would have liked to have seen that extra 30 minutes played with both teams at full strength.
Monaco is a fun team to watch.

 

[ZooCougar]

So I am really starting to wonder about Dortmund's manager Thomas Tuchel. Going into the second leg they need goals but he leaves Pulisic and Dembele on the bench. Granted he started Reus, and of course Aub is probably the first name on every team sheet but the lineup was too conservative. He actually starts Durm ahead Dembele and Pulisic!

So I think Durm came off first in the 27th minute for Dembele. Pulisic got subbed in last.

I guess there are rumblings that Tuchel is prickly and is clashing with the board. But I am now wondering if Dortmund is the right place for our young American. Same goes for Dembele.

Dortmund should be in second place in the Bundesliga without breaking a sweat and they are in 3rd or 4th. I'm kind of starting to hope Tuchel gets moved on, or they sell Pulisic to club that has a manager with more sense.

 

[SAMCRO]

3 of the 4 Europa matches have had to go to the 30 minutes of AET.
United v. Anderlecht are 2-2 aggregate, now in the 105th minute. United just had a goal disallowed in the 101st minute
Besiktas v Lyon are 3-3 agg. in the 105th minute
Schalke justwent up 3-2 agg. over Ajax in the 101st minute. Ajax down to 10 men

Only result so far is Celta Vigo over Genk 4-3 agg. (so La Liga will have 3 of the 8 teams in European semi-finals).

 

[SAMCRO]

Rashford with a goal in the 107th minute puts United up 3-2 agg.

 

[SAMCRO]

United are through to the semi's

Ajax with an important away goal in the 11th minute, to make it 3-3 agg, but they have the away goal advantage. Schalke needs to score. I hate the away goal rule in general. i especially hate it in AET.

 

[SAMCRO]

Ajax scores agin in the 119th minute to lock it up. They will join United and Celta Vigo in the semi's.

Besiktas v Lyon going to PK's. Some really good games today.

 

[LIuconn]

Same thoughts regarding Tuchel. CP must have or something. No reason for him not to start after the impact he had in the first leg second half.

 

[SAMCRO]

Lyon goes thru over Besiktas after 8 rounds of PK's. There are some angry Turks right now.

 

[UConnDan97]

Is Juve that good or Barca slowly declining? Iniesta isn't as Iniesta as he used to be, it seems, but Juve has the pieces in place

Monaco can win the whole thing, which would be fun.

The entire Atleti starting XI and coach are linked to other teams - could be their final chance in a while. I hope they exorcise the Real demon and beat them in the semis. Would love to see them send off their stadium and stars with a win over Real to advance to Wales.

Real keeps Realing. Those refs at the Santiago Bernabeu sure helped the cause.

ATLETI
REAL
MONACO
JUVENTUS

Should be good!

Juventus is that good AND Barcelona is on a slow decline.

Barcelona is still a top tier team in Europe, make no mistake. If you had to choose 5 teams to go to battle with, you'd be hard pressed not to have them on the list. There's a reason that they are 7 points clear of Atletico in La Liga and have a goal differential that is 26 points better than Atletico. That's right; 26 better. It's 12 better than Real. This is a team that has scored at least 3 goals in 7 of its last 10 games!

But they just happened to run into arguably the best defense in Europe right now; Juventus. And Juventus really is that good. Defensively, they are a monster. They have posted shutouts in 6 of their last 8 games. And they have enough quality to make good on the counter or just beat you with possession if Allegri chooses to go that route. They certainly look every bit capable of winning it all this year. All the pieces are there, and if they stay healthy, I would place them as the favorite (although I'm slightly biased)...

 

[ZooCougar]

Same thoughts regarding Tuchel. CP must have or something. No reason for him not to start after the impact he had in the first leg second half.

And oh by the way... Tuchel brought back Mario Gotze and Andre Schurrle. Those guys have been invisible, partially because the youth has outperformed them, but his transfers have been very questionable.

 

[ZooCougar]

Ajax scores agin in the 119th minute to lock it up. They will join United and Celta Vigo in the semi's.

Besiktas v Lyon going to PK's. Some really good games today.

Listened to that on the radio on the way home. That game was nuts.

 

[Waquoit]

I've been watching Juve for a few months. They are that good defending and now that others are scoring beside Higuain they will be a tough out.

And I think the away goal rule is better than the alternative. It wasn't instituted gratuitously.

 

[DeargGerilo]

Semifinal Draws

Tuesday, May 2nd
02:45PM Real Madrid v Atlético Madrid

Wednesday, May 3rd
12:45PM Ajax v Lyon
02:45PM Juventus v Monaco

Thursday, May 4th
03:05PM Celta de Vigo v Manchester United

Tuesday, May 9th
02:45PM Atlético Madrid v Real Madrid

Wednesday, May 10th
02:45PM Monaco v Juventus

Wednesday, May 11th
03:05PM Manchester United v Celta de Vigo
03:05PM Lyon v Ajax

 

[LIuconn]

And Real will likely move on. Better at nearly every position today and they made Griezmann invisible. Godin had a chance to equalize off the nifty set piece in the first half but his close-range shot sailed a bit high. It could have been much worse than 3-0. Here's hoping to two goals before the half next Wednesday for Atleti.

Would love to see Mbappe lead Monaco through. Should be a good one tomorrow

 

[Waquoit]

Higuian started game like a choking weasal and had me cursing the screen. Then he flicked the switch and won the game for Juve. More please!

 

[SAMCRO]

UCL final - Juve v Real on Saturday, June 3rd in Wales

Europa final - Ajax v Man U on Wednesday, May 24th in Sweden

 

[SAMCRO]

Ajax v United in the Europa finals tomorrow!! This is a huge match for many reasons. I've been pulling for United in order to see more EPL teams in the UCL, but I just read an article stating that United winning would definitely put Spurs in Pot 3 of the UCL draw, and Ajax winning would keep Spurs chances of ending up in Pot 2 alive. United has a higher club "coefficient" (which is what is used to determine the seeding/pots teams are placed in) and would bump Spurs down a spot guaranteeing they would not be drawn in to Pot 2. The difference in the groups they could get drawn in to is huge.

Pot 3 could see them drawn in to a group with one of Bayern/Juve and Barca; or grouped with one of Real/Bayern/Juve and PSG. If they get in Pot 2 they would avoid being grouped with 2 "giants".

Come on Ajax!

 

[Waquoit]

Pot 3 could see them drawn in to a group with one of Bayern/Juve and Barca; or grouped with one of Real/Bayern/Juve and PSG. If they get in Pot 2 they would avoid being grouped with 2 "giants".

Come on Ajax!

United pretty much toyed with Ajax. I understand you want the easiest route for your team but the way they finished I would think you would have an "anyone, anytime, anyplace" attitude. I mean even Arsenal beat PSG.