The second leg of this year's Uefa Champions League Quarterfinals are fast approaching and I'm here to breakdown and discuss all four matches that occurred last week for the first leg.
Liverpool 2 x 0 Porto
The result that all home teams seek, a 2-0 win at home is a realistic objective for any side that's remotely competitive in comparison to their opponent and it's practically irreversible mainly because of the away goal rule, not to say that Liverpool was by any means desperate to get a good result at home fearing Porto's strength at home after all they won there 5-0 last year, but the reason why a comfortable win was so important was the encounter Liverpool had against Chelsea yesterday.
The Reds are in a title race for the history books, two teams with outstanding campaigns fighting toe to toe for the right to call themselves Premier League Champions and to call the match against Chelsea this weekend a crucial one is an understatement, given what happened a few years back in a very similar situation against this same Chelsea side well they needed all of their strength and knowing the Champions League duel is pretty much done well it definitely helps.
Now talking especifically about the game itself as far as the result it was pretty much what we expected, a comfortable Liverpool win but there were some shaky moments after that second goal when Porto could've easily and probably should've scored, Moussa Marega had three very real goal scoring chances and on most days he puts at least one of them in the back of the net. To be fair Mo Salah missed a goal that you just can't and Liverpool created chances to score a third, maybe a fourth goal.
In the end the big takeaway from the game was that the back five that Sergio Conceiçāo prepared for the game didn't really achieve what it set out to, denying space for Liverpool's fast paced line of attack, Corona and Telles didn't produce much offensively and overall you get the feeling that this is quite certainly Porto's ceiling and it would take something way, way out of the ordinary for them to go through unlike any of the other three matchups, at least in my opinion.
Tottenham 1 x 0 Manchester City
The first Uefa Champions League match at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was a very big one, an encounter that put together the only two teams left in the competition that have yet to win it.
On one side Pochettino's Spurs that despite all the compliments it has received there's always the no titles dig by some pundits.
On the other side Guardiola's side the best team in the world since the beggining of his second year in charge, breaking all sorts of records but there's always the no Champions League success dig from the same pundits and some also point out that he only won the top club competition in the world with Barcelona and Lionel Messi.
No matter what, one of this morronic narratives will manage to go on for another year and that's a shame but at the same time those who agree with such notion will manage to find another absurd theory support.
The match itself was a very intense one with both teams taking turns at pressing the opponent and trying to force a mistake, both teams did a good job especially Tottenham taking into account City's ability to create opportunities at limiting the opposition's chances, there weren't many clear ones.
City controlled time of possession like it was expected but Gundogan and David Silva didn't really perform like they can which handcuffed the Citzens in terms of getting inside the box, especially with David Silva who has mastered that skill, the German midfielder actually plays more in a creative role and doesn't get inside the box as much as he once did. Aguero obviously missed the penalty and really was a non factor in the game, Mahrez had a bad game and Sterling was the only one who actually produced something which is really not a surprise, he elevated his game to another level this year.
Also don't be quick to dismiss or underestimate the fact that Bernardo Silva was out and De Bruyne hasn't really been on the field this entire seadon, subbing him in alongside Sane with 88 minutes already played was a bad move by Guardiola but overall this wasn't your classical "fiasco" by a rich team with no traditions a la PSG against United or Barcelona, this looked more like a team more pragmatic than usual conceding a goal on a defensive blunder and being really self aware as to what they can do at Etihad.
Obviously they wanted to win and Tottenham did a great job at keeping City in check but without Kane at Manchester, the Citzens are still favorites to go through and what that means is that it will take something surprising in the second leg for them to be eliminated, granted the away goal gives Tottenham the ability to lose 2x1 or 3x2 which keeps things even more interesting but like I said City are still the favorites just not by much.
Looking ahead to the second leg something to look out for is how will Guardiola handle the fact that in some way not conceding a goal is even more important than scoring one, 0x0 keeps City closer to advancing than 1x1 or 2x2. A wide open game with lots of chances is definitely not what City wants, 1 goal by Tottenham forces City to score 3 which needless to say it is a tough task.
Manchester United 0x1 Barcelona
A surprising game with an unsurprising result, anyone would agree that this result is a normal one but on the pitch in the 90 somewhat minutes of game time the one goal Barcelona scored an own goal was pretty much all that they produced offensively, at one point in the second half attempts were 8 to 2 in favour of United, don't get me wrong Manchester United didn't exactly overwhelmed anyone but the way they contained Messi and the whole attack was quite remarkable.
For all the talk about Pogba he has to show up more often in these big games he really was the low point for me when it comes to expectations being met, even Messi that wasn't at his best was the know responsible for the cross to Suarez that resulted in the game's only goal.
I expect more offensively from both teams at the Camp Nou and Barcelona must be careful and unafraid to be pragmatic. The only way if not the likely way that Manchester United manages to pull off another upset is by catching Barcelona off guard running behind their defenders with Rashford and Lukaku maybe Martial, it's hard to see them patiently creating chances, Valverde side must be clinical in their finishing unlike PSG and the best thing they can do for periods of the match is to give Man United the ball and say hurt me with ball possession, Solskjaer's side is one likes counterattacking and cab struggle against teams that give them the ball. I don't expect given the talent level of both teams the culture of Barcelona and all that comes with it that they will just sit back and defend but that might not be the worst thing in certain periods of the game.
Any win is enough for United to go through. Ox1 takes us to Extra Time so this is far from over, but clearly Barcelona are still the odds on favorites to go through.
Ajax 1x1 Juventus
The match that I personally looked forward the most to, not only is Ajax the most fun team to watch right now in the world but they are going up against Juventus, a team that with Allegri in charge can behave differently depending upon what the match calls for and obviously they have Cristiano Ronaldo which proved once again to be critical to their result, beyond his goal all that Juventus created was a Bernardeschi shot that was close enough to be dangerous and Douglas Costa showing his skill in a 1 v 1 situation leaving the Ajax defender and finishing with the ball on the post, beyond that there wasn't much. This was a Dutch side that dominated the game, in possession, in attempts, attempts on target, quite literally anything had it not been for the heroic performance of Szczesny this could have been far worse
This Ajax side can play with anybody, they have proven that time and time again, Tadic's skill in short spaces seems out of this world, Ziyech and Neres are both playing extremely well, Van De Been seems to be everywhere all the time and De Jong what is there to say about this class act of a midfielder, we all know it won't happen but to imagine this team sticking together for like the next 5 years, wouldn't that be something.
Juventus need to contain this Ajax attack more efficiently and like City they must and probably will try to keep this from being a back and forth shootout because that's just not good for them, I don't see this being a 0-0 affair so I think in order to go through Juventus must win the match, which is certainly doable given their quality but I really don't see a favorite here. It's as close as they come and although I will be all but surprised with a 2x1 win from Juve, a couple of goals from Ronaldo but if I had to bet I'd say Ajax go through.
This is all I have for right now, the review of the four games alongside a preview of what's to come in the semifinals will come soon so stay tuned, help spread the word and let me know what you think in the comment section, I'd really like to discuss my thoughts with you guys especially if you disagree with me.
Till the next time.
Liverpool 2 x 0 Porto
The result that all home teams seek, a 2-0 win at home is a realistic objective for any side that's remotely competitive in comparison to their opponent and it's practically irreversible mainly because of the away goal rule, not to say that Liverpool was by any means desperate to get a good result at home fearing Porto's strength at home after all they won there 5-0 last year, but the reason why a comfortable win was so important was the encounter Liverpool had against Chelsea yesterday.
The Reds are in a title race for the history books, two teams with outstanding campaigns fighting toe to toe for the right to call themselves Premier League Champions and to call the match against Chelsea this weekend a crucial one is an understatement, given what happened a few years back in a very similar situation against this same Chelsea side well they needed all of their strength and knowing the Champions League duel is pretty much done well it definitely helps.
Now talking especifically about the game itself as far as the result it was pretty much what we expected, a comfortable Liverpool win but there were some shaky moments after that second goal when Porto could've easily and probably should've scored, Moussa Marega had three very real goal scoring chances and on most days he puts at least one of them in the back of the net. To be fair Mo Salah missed a goal that you just can't and Liverpool created chances to score a third, maybe a fourth goal.
In the end the big takeaway from the game was that the back five that Sergio Conceiçāo prepared for the game didn't really achieve what it set out to, denying space for Liverpool's fast paced line of attack, Corona and Telles didn't produce much offensively and overall you get the feeling that this is quite certainly Porto's ceiling and it would take something way, way out of the ordinary for them to go through unlike any of the other three matchups, at least in my opinion.
Tottenham 1 x 0 Manchester City
The first Uefa Champions League match at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was a very big one, an encounter that put together the only two teams left in the competition that have yet to win it.
On one side Pochettino's Spurs that despite all the compliments it has received there's always the no titles dig by some pundits.
On the other side Guardiola's side the best team in the world since the beggining of his second year in charge, breaking all sorts of records but there's always the no Champions League success dig from the same pundits and some also point out that he only won the top club competition in the world with Barcelona and Lionel Messi.
No matter what, one of this morronic narratives will manage to go on for another year and that's a shame but at the same time those who agree with such notion will manage to find another absurd theory support.
The match itself was a very intense one with both teams taking turns at pressing the opponent and trying to force a mistake, both teams did a good job especially Tottenham taking into account City's ability to create opportunities at limiting the opposition's chances, there weren't many clear ones.
City controlled time of possession like it was expected but Gundogan and David Silva didn't really perform like they can which handcuffed the Citzens in terms of getting inside the box, especially with David Silva who has mastered that skill, the German midfielder actually plays more in a creative role and doesn't get inside the box as much as he once did. Aguero obviously missed the penalty and really was a non factor in the game, Mahrez had a bad game and Sterling was the only one who actually produced something which is really not a surprise, he elevated his game to another level this year.
Also don't be quick to dismiss or underestimate the fact that Bernardo Silva was out and De Bruyne hasn't really been on the field this entire seadon, subbing him in alongside Sane with 88 minutes already played was a bad move by Guardiola but overall this wasn't your classical "fiasco" by a rich team with no traditions a la PSG against United or Barcelona, this looked more like a team more pragmatic than usual conceding a goal on a defensive blunder and being really self aware as to what they can do at Etihad.
Obviously they wanted to win and Tottenham did a great job at keeping City in check but without Kane at Manchester, the Citzens are still favorites to go through and what that means is that it will take something surprising in the second leg for them to be eliminated, granted the away goal gives Tottenham the ability to lose 2x1 or 3x2 which keeps things even more interesting but like I said City are still the favorites just not by much.
Looking ahead to the second leg something to look out for is how will Guardiola handle the fact that in some way not conceding a goal is even more important than scoring one, 0x0 keeps City closer to advancing than 1x1 or 2x2. A wide open game with lots of chances is definitely not what City wants, 1 goal by Tottenham forces City to score 3 which needless to say it is a tough task.
Manchester United 0x1 Barcelona
A surprising game with an unsurprising result, anyone would agree that this result is a normal one but on the pitch in the 90 somewhat minutes of game time the one goal Barcelona scored an own goal was pretty much all that they produced offensively, at one point in the second half attempts were 8 to 2 in favour of United, don't get me wrong Manchester United didn't exactly overwhelmed anyone but the way they contained Messi and the whole attack was quite remarkable.
For all the talk about Pogba he has to show up more often in these big games he really was the low point for me when it comes to expectations being met, even Messi that wasn't at his best was the know responsible for the cross to Suarez that resulted in the game's only goal.
I expect more offensively from both teams at the Camp Nou and Barcelona must be careful and unafraid to be pragmatic. The only way if not the likely way that Manchester United manages to pull off another upset is by catching Barcelona off guard running behind their defenders with Rashford and Lukaku maybe Martial, it's hard to see them patiently creating chances, Valverde side must be clinical in their finishing unlike PSG and the best thing they can do for periods of the match is to give Man United the ball and say hurt me with ball possession, Solskjaer's side is one likes counterattacking and cab struggle against teams that give them the ball. I don't expect given the talent level of both teams the culture of Barcelona and all that comes with it that they will just sit back and defend but that might not be the worst thing in certain periods of the game.
Any win is enough for United to go through. Ox1 takes us to Extra Time so this is far from over, but clearly Barcelona are still the odds on favorites to go through.
Ajax 1x1 Juventus
The match that I personally looked forward the most to, not only is Ajax the most fun team to watch right now in the world but they are going up against Juventus, a team that with Allegri in charge can behave differently depending upon what the match calls for and obviously they have Cristiano Ronaldo which proved once again to be critical to their result, beyond his goal all that Juventus created was a Bernardeschi shot that was close enough to be dangerous and Douglas Costa showing his skill in a 1 v 1 situation leaving the Ajax defender and finishing with the ball on the post, beyond that there wasn't much. This was a Dutch side that dominated the game, in possession, in attempts, attempts on target, quite literally anything had it not been for the heroic performance of Szczesny this could have been far worse
This Ajax side can play with anybody, they have proven that time and time again, Tadic's skill in short spaces seems out of this world, Ziyech and Neres are both playing extremely well, Van De Been seems to be everywhere all the time and De Jong what is there to say about this class act of a midfielder, we all know it won't happen but to imagine this team sticking together for like the next 5 years, wouldn't that be something.
Juventus need to contain this Ajax attack more efficiently and like City they must and probably will try to keep this from being a back and forth shootout because that's just not good for them, I don't see this being a 0-0 affair so I think in order to go through Juventus must win the match, which is certainly doable given their quality but I really don't see a favorite here. It's as close as they come and although I will be all but surprised with a 2x1 win from Juve, a couple of goals from Ronaldo but if I had to bet I'd say Ajax go through.
This is all I have for right now, the review of the four games alongside a preview of what's to come in the semifinals will come soon so stay tuned, help spread the word and let me know what you think in the comment section, I'd really like to discuss my thoughts with you guys especially if you disagree with me.
Till the next time.
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