UEFA Champions League/Europa League 15/16/17 Feb *** Spoilers ***

CliffyG said:
Stats wise it was pretty even to be fair.
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jakeke said:
I dunno, thought the chances were very even, I'm pretty sure Arsenal had more shots on and off target too. Barcelona were better in the first half, but they totally dropped off in the second. Whether that was bad substitutions or they can't live with the pace for a full game, I'm not sure.

Also, it's not like Arsenal fluked two goals, in the last 20 minutes they were pushing Barcelona hard and both goals were excellently worked
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Stats might not lie but that doesn't mean they necessarily approach the truth on their own either.

Quality of possession and chances speaks a lot more in this case. I'm not going to go as far as to say Arsenal were 'dominated' or anything as absurd as that; it was an open game and both sides were capable of winning it, which is partly why it was such a good game for the neutrals.

But Barcelona did have the better of the game overall and while maybe they would've been slightly fortunate to win, I think Arsenal would have been a bit more fortunate to have even forced a draw. Barca's chances were of better quality throughout, for instance a sizable proportion of theirs were one-on-ones while a 'typical' Arsenal chance in that game would have been passing around the box, getting frustrated, and Nasri/Van Persie trying a very speculative shot outside the box that either misses harmlessly or is blocked down.

If you think about it, statistically Messi's one-on-one miss in the initial phase of the game would have been statistically worse' than, say, Robin Van Persie's limp volley that Valdes easily picked up as one was on target and one was not, yet we all know how much, much more dangerous the former was.

Arsenal didn't fluke a win by any means, they took their chances and Barcelona did not. But that doesn't stop Arsenal still being fortunate to win on the overall balance of the game, stats or not.

As a perfect example here, someone going on the BBC stats alone would have assumed Arsenal had the slightly better game against Barcelona, while say someone watching just the highlights on ITV, with the sheer amount of penetration Barcelona enjoyed particularly in the first half and in parts of the second, probably would assume Barcelona were really hemming L'Arse in for most of the game. Neither really tell the whole story.
 
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I do not get why Barca have such fugly strips. Their away and third kits are just hideous, I'd even argue their home kit isn't as nice as some of their older ones.
 
Barcelona are favourites to go through. Read something in the paper today that said out of 16 CL ties where a team has won the first leg at home 2-1, only 7 have progressed to the next round.

Also it seems under Pep they are truly absymal statistically away from home (never won a knockout tie away from home innit?) and yet Arsenal still weren't able to dominate.

Clearly Arsenal still have chances to proceed but with 4 games to play between now and the second leg there are plenty of chances for players to get injured or worn out (especially considering two of those games are cup matches that could theoretically go to 120mins plus penalties). It's also unclear whether Vermaelen will be fit for the second leg; coming back after such a long time out it would be a big ask to throw him in the deep end at the Nou Camp.
 
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Wow.
 
What's even scarier is this

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When Barcelona were winning 1-0 you can see that their odds nearly dropped to even odds at the QF stage. Even with the 2-1 deficit they are clear favourites to win the tournament.
 
Barca will dominate at home. Got Puyol back who has a very big influence on the team. Massive spirit and works his socks off day in day out. The only games they have lost this season have been wihtout him; they just look so much shakier at the back without him leading the line.
 
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Hxc said:
Barca will dominate at home. Got Puyol back who has a very big influence on the team. Massive spirit and works his socks off day in day out. The only games they have lost this season have been wihtout him; they just look so much shakier at the back without him leading the line.
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If that is true then it's bad news, I assumed he was still out injured.
 
like i say, they should have played mascherano away from home and busquets when at the nou camp.

mascherano would have broke arsenal's legs a la what song did to barcelona and at home they would have played a lot better so they wouldnt need mascherano but busquets who has breen brought through the barcelona ranks.

this is what i dont understand, why did he buy mascherano? £22 million for a bench warmer. he needs him away from home and he should get a lot more games than what he does.
 
Masch has only made 6 less appearances this Messi this season? :confused:

Jeeez it's sad that you need to have someone in your side to kick players, why do they need him to do that? Barca seem to do just fine without resorting to barbaric horrible football.
 
Bilbao gave Barca a decent test at home tonight, particularly in the 2nd half although they were still reluctant to get men forward at the crucial moments and in particular didn't pass the ball forward accurately enough meaning a lot of their counters fizzled out. They only lost 2-1 and that same result would take us to extra time. Perhaps a focused Arsenal side can improve on that.
 
K1LLSW1TCH said:
If that is true then it's bad news, I assumed he was still out injured.
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They are not reporting whether he will be back or not. They still can't confirm how bad the tendinitis is. However, one website says they will use him like El Cid: String his dead body to a horse and charge him into battle. If he is barely fit I would quite like him to be there, never the quickest, lacking match fitness and with Eric Abidal as a centre back partner not paired with his preferred partner.
 
Tummy said:
Masch has only made 6 less appearances this Messi this season? :confused:

Jeeez it's sad that you need to have someone in your side to kick players, why do they need him to do that? Barca seem to do just fine without resorting to barbaric horrible football.
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This season at Barca Mascherano has:

8 starts, 7 sub (23 league games)

4 starts, 1 sub (7 Champs League games)

so 12 starts out of possbile 30 overall

most teams have holding midfielders that break up play, some of them do it fairly, other's dont. mascherano and sond are just some of the few that dont, one of the best i seen was that 4 foot bald guy in the uruguay team at the world cup, i was wondering how he even managed to get into the national team being so small, until i saw him play, if tevez and mascherano had gotten married and had a kid, it would have been this guy.

this guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAGZNWTMLW4

would love to see him play in the epl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egidio_Arévalo
 
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That's all very well but why do Barca need Him to start more (When the current system they employ and players are doing exceptionally well) and "break legs"
 
Tummy said:
That's all very well but why do Barca need Him to start more (When the current system they employ and players are doing exceptionally well) and "break legs"
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they need him against teams away from home in champions league and some games in the domestic league away from home.

in la liga, bad tackling is a no no, the referees are very strict therefore he doesnt fit in well to the domestic campaign when they play at home, unless they were playing a physical side like real madrid.

just look at how barcelona played against arsenal, they were constantly hacked down and their players dont like it. they have no real depth apart from their starting 11 and no physical presence either, its all technical, who did they have on their bench? they took off villa for keita, one of the best strikers in the world for a midfielder who scores a goal every 10 games.

lets break down barca's squad,

strikers

villa - world class
ibrahimovic - world class (just look at his scoring record) but he's out on loan
bojan - promising talent but still not the finished article (should be on loan)
pedro - should be a sub at best

so basically they have 1 world class striker and play pedro alongside him, leaving them nothing for a plan B.

attacking midfielders

iniesta - world class
xavi - world class
messi - best player in the world

so they have 3 of the best attacking midfielders in the world, who do they have on their bench for this position should they fail to get the job done? adriano who has scored 20 goals in 240 games thats who and he also covers rb and lb.

holding midfielders

busquets - very good
mascherano - very good
keita - good

so now they have 3 people for the same position meaning they have 2 backup plans should busquets get injured or go out of form. this is the only position they have good enough cover for.

central defenders

puyol - world class (starting to age)
pique - very good
milito - used to be good before acl injury
abidal - is actually their first choice left back

no proper cover what so ever for their central defence

lb

abidal - very good
maxwell - very good
adriano - okay as a 3rd choice

decent enough cover so long as abidal doesnt need to play cb

rb

dani alves - very good
adriano - should be 3rd choice

no proper cover




they have been doing exceptionally well with their 22 man squad of which a lot of them are not good enough for the first team, this is mainly due to the starting 11 being so good. but when things go wrong which can happen, they have absolutely zero plan b. thats why, the best way to play against barca is to hack them because their players hate it and they have nothing on the bench to bring on.

to counter this hacking, they should play mascherano.
 
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I don't think I'll ever be able to agree with someone who wants a team to go out and "break legs" sorry.

For all this "needing" Masch in away games and in the Champions league, as I said, it's not done them much harm so far.

As for the players in the squad not being good enough for the starting eleven, that tends to be what squad players are for, not good enough to make the first team, but very good back up when you're first choice players aren't there.

Yet again I urge you to read what Sid Lowe wrote about Pedro, he's a very good player and brings a lot to the team. Same with the zonal marking article about Alves.

If "hacking players" worked so well, Stoke would be Champions of Europe. Sorry can't ever agree to players "breaking legs", not needed in the modern game and not at Barca, to be honest it's part of whats wrong with the English game imho, you don't need to kick your opposition to beat them. Barca prove this. You can also tackle and break up attacks (which is something Masch does well) without "hacking" and "breaking legs".
 
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