Champions League/Europa League Knockout Stages 2018/19

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Champions League Last 16

Schalke v Manchester City
Atletico Madrid v Juventus
Manchester United v Paris St-Germain
Tottenham v Borussia Dortmund
Lyon v Barcelona
Roma v Porto
Ajax v Real Madrid
Liverpool v Bayern Munich

Europa League Last 32

Viktoria Plzen v Dinamo Zagreb
Club Brugge v Red Bull Salzburg
Rapid Vienna v Inter Milan
Slavia Prague v Genk
Krasnodar v Bayer Leverkusen
FC Zurich v Napoli
Malmo v Chelsea
Shakhtar Donetsk v Eintracht Frankfurt
Celtic v Valencia
Rennes v Real Betis
Olympiakos v Dinamo Kiev
Lazio v Sevilla
Fenerbache v Zenit St Petersburg
Sporting Lisbon v Villarreal
Bate Borisov v Arsenal
Galatasaray v Benfica

I think before anything else Sarri deserves a ton of credit for this season. I expect hes off to Juve, and I dont blame him, but 3rd, a cup final and a EL win is impressive given hes been constantly undermined by executives, the players and the media.

Equally Emery emerges with credit for what hes done with an Arsenal team that was going nowhere. A point off the CL and a cup final. They have a clearer path forward than United or Chelsea, sort out the defense mainly.

GSC wrote:I think before anything else Sarri deserves a ton of credit for this season. I expect hes off to Juve, and I dont blame him, but 3rd, a cup final and a EL win is impressive given hes been constantly undermined by executives, the players and the media.

Equally Emery emerges with credit for what hes done with an Arsenal team that was going nowhere. A point off the CL and a cup final. They have a clearer path forward than United or Chelsea, sort out the defense mainly.

Hasn't "sorting out the defence" been Arsenal's problem for the past decade?

Probably, but someone who isnt Wenger is having a crack this time

Big Sarri fan

GSC wrote:I think before anything else Sarri deserves a ton of credit for this season. I expect hes off to Juve, and I dont blame him, but 3rd, a cup final and a EL win is impressive given hes been constantly undermined by executives, the players and the media.

Equally Emery emerges with credit for what hes done with an Arsenal team that was going nowhere. A point off the CL and a cup final. They have a clearer path forward than United or Chelsea, sort out the defense mainly.

Problem they seem to have though is that they don't seem to have much money to fix their problems. United and Chelsea do.

Sure but United havent exactly turned that into quality lately, and Chelsea have a transfer ban waiting

GSC wrote:Sure but United havent exactly turned that into quality lately, and Chelsea have a transfer ban waiting

United don’t seem to phased despite wasting large amounts on mediocre players. If Arsenal had £300m I’d hope we never wasted in on players like Lukaku, Fred and Matic

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:Arsenal absolutely pathetic. So wasteful in front of goal. Chelsea typically pick apart Arsenal. Arsenal are arguably facing a more difficult recovery than Manchester United.

Also Europa League isn't 'a major honour'. It's a secondary trophy

Arsenal's main issue is Kroenke is not interested one iota in putting in money to revamp the squad, and is probably quite content finishing 5-6th with the occasional top 4 venture on a good year. Certainly whilst he's footing the bill to build a huge stadium in Los Angeles, that comes first...and for Arsenal I see another summer of little activity in terms of money spent

Yep and until his NFL venture is complete or he sells Arsenal, we will continue to be irrelevant

GSC wrote:I think before anything else Sarri deserves a ton of credit for this season. I expect hes off to Juve, and I dont blame him, but 3rd, a cup final and a EL win is impressive given hes been constantly undermined by executives, the players and the media.

Equally Emery emerges with credit for what hes done with an Arsenal team that was going nowhere. A point off the CL and a cup final. They have a clearer path forward than United or Chelsea, sort out the defense mainly.

Not sure he’s had that rough a time of it! He got his two pet projects in Jorginho (who has been decent) and Higuain (who has not been decent), and Chelsea have only finished 2pts better off than last year - a season where Conte gave up for 4 months.

He’s finished in the top three, won a European trophy and only lost the league cup on penalties. Chelsea fans have since thrown a fit. And that’s one year in as a manager who is looking to bring in a style and shift them from short-termism.

Jorginho is a genuinely good player too.

Some of the football has been pretty tragic at times, it’s not like we’ve been losing classics 4-3, it’s been very turgid. Plus they finished third stumbling over the line and getting two points more than last year. Other teams bottling it more than us is what got us there. I’m not too bothered either way on him, would like him to get another year I suppose (mainly as it will be Lampard otherwise and I am not sold on him) - but his look whilst staring at his medal from last night was genuinely heart warming.

Jorginho can’t really move, which is a fairly major issue. Although the frenzy that was whipped up about him replacing Kante, who has never been a pure DM was bizarre.

I think the difference for me is Conte went looking for fights his 2nd year when he felt he wasnt backed

Sarri tried to get on with the job and got resistance from all quarters.

Fundamentally, it's just a poor fit. Sarri wants to implement his style whereas Chelsea expect the manager to work with what hes given and give him little input. Also have a history of backing players over managers.

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:

GSC wrote:Sure but United havent exactly turned that into quality lately, and Chelsea have a transfer ban waiting

United don’t seem to phased despite wasting large amounts on mediocre players. If Arsenal had £300m I’d hope we never wasted in on players like Lukaku, Fred and Matic

Some of the money United have spent, they'll get back. I've read that United made back the amount of money they spent on Pogba due to his shirt sales? If that's true, and they get £90 million + when they sell him, they'll have made a decent profit overall on him. Sanchez though will be a loss. Lukaku...they might break even on.

Atila wrote:

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:

GSC wrote:Sure but United havent exactly turned that into quality lately, and Chelsea have a transfer ban waiting

United don’t seem to phased despite wasting large amounts on mediocre players. If Arsenal had £300m I’d hope we never wasted in on players like Lukaku, Fred and Matic

Some of the money United have spent, they'll get back. I've read that United made back the amount of money they spent on Pogba due to his shirt sales? If that's true, and they get £90 million + when they sell him, they'll have made a decent profit overall on him. Sanchez though will be a loss. Lukaku...they might break even on.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3920890/The-great-shirt-selling-myth-Paul-Pogba-NOT-pay-enormous-transfer-fee.html

The shirt sales thing has always been a red herring. Don't think any club ever gets close to recouping their spend on shirt sales.

Although you would imagine the shirt sales took a nice bump (see that article) then when you factor in his resale value will be at least what they paid, they are still looking good for at least making their money back. (Ignoring wages etc)

Harry Kane starts. Thirty degree heat in Madrid, so I don't imagine we'll be seeing a fast-paced, end-to-end encounter!

Duty281 wrote:Harry Kane starts. Thirty degree heat in Madrid, so I don't imagine we'll be seeing a fast-paced, end-to-end encounter!

30 degree heat? In that case, we'll probably see a a much slower game play. It might just go the pace of the Italian game.

Penalty inside thirty seconds. This Champions League loves to surprise. 1-0 Liverpool.

Never a penalty. Mane standing about a yard away and smashed it into Sissoko.

Yeah that one looked a bit generous

Pony game, of no real quality. Spurs are marginally the better side, but Kane looks like the Kane of the WC, post group stage. Not fit, and no movement. Shame if the CL is decided on that joke handball.

Was a very soft pen, but Sissoko was inviting danger by leaving an outstretched arm in the box.

Both teams have been poor. Perhaps struggling with a combination of nerves and the heat. Surprised at how negative Liverpool have been. Not only time wasting at most opportunities, but allowing Tottenham to dominate possession and dictate proceedings. Fatigue could well be a factor later on. If Tottenham can play some decent passes when they get into the final third, they might be in business.

Spurs are winning in midfield but cant find the final ball on a few occasions

Liverpool need another body in midfield to change the dynamic. Beyond Mane there's not much

This is just genuinely bad

Klopp’s loser trait is ensuring that Liverpool play in the same manner. Spurs have been the better side but been screwed over by a dodgy penalty

2-0 Origi

Game over, but highly forgetful final.

What a sad day in footballing history a shelf stacker like Henderson will lift the European cup.

This one will hurt for a while for Spurs. Liverpool have been awful and they havent been clinical enough to take advantage

Awful final, terrible advert for the Premier League. Tottenham will rue this for evermore, because Liverpool were dismal and there for the taking.

Steve McMannan biggest nob ever. ‘Liverpool have been the benchmark’. Bore off you clown

If Ronaldo had stayed at Madrid, and kept them playing for him, I’d imagine he’d be picking up another medal right now. Liverpool are overhyped, if the front three go missing, they’re a difficult watch, and workmanlike.

As for Poch, I’d probably jump to Juve. Don’t envisage it getting any better than this for Spurs.

Overall, I think this was the worst CL final since 2003, and the worst performance by a winning team in a CL final since Chelsea somehow beat Bayern in 2012. I absolutely detest the new handball interpretation. Teams on the attack might just as well fire shots at the defenders' arms in the box, rather than aiming at the goal.

Literally some of the worst players ever to touch the CL trophy - Henderson, Milner, Lovren, Matip, Origi

A very dull game. Spurs will probably say they were the better side, but they were allowed the ball and did nothing with it.

A joy to watch a load of Spurs fans walk out of a venue at 7am with misery on their faces