The Uefa Champions League is down to its last four teams.
1 from Spain: Barcelona
1 from Netherlands: Ajax
2 from England: Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool
The semifinals begin tomorrow but before we get to that, let's discuss what happened in the previous round.
Porto 1 x 4 Liverpool
Porto 1 x 6 Liverpool on aggregate.
After the first leg in England everyone more or less felt like this was a done deal and that comes with no disrespect towards the Portuguese side, considering the roster talent on each side, the level they are currently playing in and the result of the first leg this was the Reds' trip to the semifinal to lose and in a somewhat more pragmatic style of play than the one they employed last year they managed to keep Porto at bay throughout the 180 minutes.
Virgil Van Dijk continues his extraordinary run of form that has turned him into undoubtedly the best defender in the world and at least to me a lock to be amongst the top 3 for the Ballon D'or award, Messi is also a lock that goes without saying, he maybe should be even a lock to win it regardless of what happens from now until the end of the season.
Getting back to both teams this seemed like Porto's ceiling and it would take something truly extraordinary for them to go through as for Liverpool accounting for every factor in play I really see them as the favourites to win the competition and also obviously favourites to beat Barcelona in the semifinals, this doesn't mean that there is too much between the two sides and beyond Messi pulling something out of nowhere, there's not that much more to rely on for Barcelona fans, I just see Liverpool at a higher level collectively, individually it's a coinflip but for anyone that's seen both of them this year it's clear there's a gap there.
Barcelona 3 x 0 Manchester United
Barcelona 4 x 0 Manchester United on aggregate
Before we address anything I have a small rant to go on.
For anybody that follows football closely and even more for all of the Manchester United fans aren't you just sick and tired of hearing about Paul Pogba transfer rumors I mean enough, either stay or ask for a transfer. This is a guy that's been there for three years and every other week we get the same stuff whether is Real Madrid, Juventus or even Barcelona is just exhausting.
When Solskjaer came in and they improved their level of performance while still maintaining a counterattacking style of play that's for those of you who said United should never hire a manager like Mourinho and also praised the good job Solskjaer has done since taking over mid-season because they can't be a counterattacking team, did you see the win at Wembley against Tottenham if that game happened with Mourinho at the helm I can already imagine the headlines and none of this is a knock on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but merely acknowledging that in the end of Mourinho's run as United manager they were a bad counterattacking team that didn't defend well andalso weren't effective while counterattacking and with Solskjaer especially against good to great opponents they became a good or at least a better counterattacking side.
Now getting back to Pogba for all of his time at United the one big game against a world class opponent where he actually has shown up is the game against City at Etihad last season when United came back from behind 2 x 0 and won the game 3 x 2 delaying Manchester City's celebration of the Premier League title and that ganey didn't have much meaning beyond pride really, he got sent off in the first leg against PSG which means he didn't even play in the match at Paris and he was a complete no show for both legs against Barcelona as well as the match against City in the Premier League and
1 from Spain: Barcelona
1 from Netherlands: Ajax
2 from England: Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool
The semifinals begin tomorrow but before we get to that, let's discuss what happened in the previous round.
Porto 1 x 4 Liverpool
Porto 1 x 6 Liverpool on aggregate.
After the first leg in England everyone more or less felt like this was a done deal and that comes with no disrespect towards the Portuguese side, considering the roster talent on each side, the level they are currently playing in and the result of the first leg this was the Reds' trip to the semifinal to lose and in a somewhat more pragmatic style of play than the one they employed last year they managed to keep Porto at bay throughout the 180 minutes.
Virgil Van Dijk continues his extraordinary run of form that has turned him into undoubtedly the best defender in the world and at least to me a lock to be amongst the top 3 for the Ballon D'or award, Messi is also a lock that goes without saying, he maybe should be even a lock to win it regardless of what happens from now until the end of the season.
Getting back to both teams this seemed like Porto's ceiling and it would take something truly extraordinary for them to go through as for Liverpool accounting for every factor in play I really see them as the favourites to win the competition and also obviously favourites to beat Barcelona in the semifinals, this doesn't mean that there is too much between the two sides and beyond Messi pulling something out of nowhere, there's not that much more to rely on for Barcelona fans, I just see Liverpool at a higher level collectively, individually it's a coinflip but for anyone that's seen both of them this year it's clear there's a gap there.
Barcelona 3 x 0 Manchester United
Barcelona 4 x 0 Manchester United on aggregate
Before we address anything I have a small rant to go on.
For anybody that follows football closely and even more for all of the Manchester United fans aren't you just sick and tired of hearing about Paul Pogba transfer rumors I mean enough, either stay or ask for a transfer. This is a guy that's been there for three years and every other week we get the same stuff whether is Real Madrid, Juventus or even Barcelona is just exhausting.
When Solskjaer came in and they improved their level of performance while still maintaining a counterattacking style of play that's for those of you who said United should never hire a manager like Mourinho and also praised the good job Solskjaer has done since taking over mid-season because they can't be a counterattacking team, did you see the win at Wembley against Tottenham if that game happened with Mourinho at the helm I can already imagine the headlines and none of this is a knock on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but merely acknowledging that in the end of Mourinho's run as United manager they were a bad counterattacking team that didn't defend well andalso weren't effective while counterattacking and with Solskjaer especially against good to great opponents they became a good or at least a better counterattacking side.
Now getting back to Pogba for all of his time at United the one big game against a world class opponent where he actually has shown up is the game against City at Etihad last season when United came back from behind 2 x 0 and won the game 3 x 2 delaying Manchester City's celebration of the Premier League title and that ganey didn't have much meaning beyond pride really, he got sent off in the first leg against PSG which means he didn't even play in the match at Paris and he was a complete no show for both legs against Barcelona as well as the match against City in the Premier League and
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