The UEFA Champions League and Europa League Thread 2016/17

[Duty281]

First topic message reminder :

Might as well make a poll on this one...

[Jermaine2015]

Stones 4-3

[GSC]

InSane

[Jermaine2015]

5-3 Sane...what do i win

[GSC]

Bayer Atleti is a snoozefest at only the 6 goals

[GSC]

City have some front 3 in prospect.

[GSC]

Getting harder to see Ranieri getting to seasons end.

He's tried everything at this point, the only other card Leicester have left is a change of manager

[Dolphin Ziggler]

They look atrocious. The decision making is appalling, and Wes Morgan seems to think he should be a winger

[GSC]

2-0 and it still flatters Leicester.

[Guest]

2-1 Vardy

Not a bad result, given the performance.

[GSC]

Woeful performance but given themselves hope for the return leg.

[GSC]

Filthy tackle from Alli

[Jermaine2015]

Mourinho must be eyeing up the League Cup/Europa League double now. Spurs the only side that could really live with United.

[Guest]

I'd be surprised if United didn't do a 'double' now, with the League Cup & either the F.A Cup or more likely the Europa League. Only Roma & Lyon look candidates to stop United now, in all honesty.

[Hero]

The draw looks very favourable as well.

Utd v Rostov
Lyon v Roma
Gladbach v Schalke

So 2 of the remaining decent contenders out.

[Jermaine2015]

Mourinho bemoaned United's poor luck earlier in the season, with a draw like that surely he'll be loving his change in fortune...

[Fernando]

BT retain europe rights for 1.2bn no more itv highlights

[Guest]

Don't have BT & I actually don't miss the CL that much nowadays. I kind of feel I got to see Barca/Messi & Ronaldo in their pomp in that competition during the Sky era & was privileged to do so.

Haven't really seen the details of the deal, are Channel 4 bidding for highlights or have BT completely monopolised it? Surely UEFA will have to intervene?

[Crimey]

I appreciate that BT and Sky use football to try and get people to sign up for their other services, but I feel like this is just driving people to piracy and is going to lower national interest in football. How are young kids going to get into football when it's so difficult to actually watch? Piracy is okay for those who are already taken in by football, but it's not going to do a great job at keeping eyes on the product, I can't see it working long term for football or for BT and Sky.

Match of the Day is on very late, which leaves basically just Sunday morning Match of the Day, a couple of FA Cup games and then the big international tournaments. 

I know that I wouldn't likely be a football fan if it wasn't for ITV showing Champions League as growing up without Sky (which is still the case for the majority of the UK population) there was no other way to watch football. But seeing Liverpool play in Champions League and UEFA Cup really got me into football. Other than that it's visiting pubs etc. but at least around here a lot of pubs are unwilling to pay for Sky and BT Sport so don't have football on that often.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

I wouldn't worry, kids fall in love with playing and are also geared to it by friends and family.

It is a shame there's a monopoly though

[Hero]

If you're a Liverpool fan then do you have to worry about who has the CL?
(rich coming from a Utd fan I know...)

[Crimey]

If you're a Liverpool fan then do you have to worry about who has the CL?
(rich coming from a Utd fan I know...)

Well there are so many other means to watch, it's not really a problem for me, but it is a problem I feel in generating interest in the sport for it's long term future. 

I wouldn't worry, kids fall in love with playing and are also geared to it by friends and family.

I half agree, they fall in love with playing, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will also then watch it, especially when it's so hard to get and people watching is what will keep the sport alive in it's current format. Football is never going away, but football as the biggest sport in the UK with lots of national interest certainly could if it's so hard to actually watch it. Not to mention, I am somebody who comes from a family without any interest in football, but it's unlikely those kids will be able to get into football when it's so difficult to watch it. 

BT and Sky are banking on interest in football remaining, at the very least, at it's current interest level. I suspect however that interest levels will gradually drop as football becomes harder to watch. 

It'd be good if a terrestrial channel would pick up lower league football which in theory should be cheaper and do wonders if clubs at that level but I'm just not sure on the level of interest it would get from fans. This year was probably the best year the Championship has had in many years to generate a lot of interest as it has Newcastle, Aston Villa, then clubs like Leeds, Nottingham Forest etc. which have all got really decently sized fan bases.

[Hero]

I've never owned Sky Sports yet my eldest son is obsessed with football, I'd say football nowadays despite subscriptions etc is more accessible than it's ever been with the internet.

[Crimey]

I've never owned Sky Sports yet my eldest son is obsessed with football, I'd say football nowadays despite subscriptions etc is more accessible than it's ever been with the internet.

How does he watch football?

[Jermaine2015]

Arsenal 1-3 FC Bayern

Walcott open the scoring. Koscielny then sent off for fouling Lewandowski in box. Lewa scored PK, followed by goals from Robben and Douglas.

Men vs boys

[Jermaine2015]

1-4 King Arturo

[GSC]

Bayern got lucky, this tie is 2-1 Arsenal with Koscielny on the pitch


#silverlinings

[Jermaine2015]

Total humiliation 1-5 second for Vidal.

[GSC]

Must be the end for Arsene.

Beyond parody by now.

[Jermaine2015]

Real Madrid through as well after sealing 3-1 win in Naples.

[Guest]

With Chelsea players setting a precedent in downing tools and getting Mourinho fired, and Leicester players more or less doing the same to Ranieri - players know if there is a critical mass of them, they can get their manager fired, if for some reason they lose faith in him. Some are saying that Alexis Sanchez's ambition to compete at the very top level is not being matched by Arsene's ambition. Maybe if Sanchez and others group together they too can get their manager fired. Arsenal still have some work to get a top four place in the Premiership. With Chelsea the runaway leaders, Spurs and Man City look very likely to make it, leaving one of Liverpool, Arsenal and Man Utd to take the remaining spot.

Well done to Real Madrid there record in Europe is "unreal".

[nadeem2099]

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Nore is back

[Crimey]

Barcelona have pulled it back to 4-3 on aggregate with 40 minutes to go. If they get through now it'd be one the most incredible Champions League results of all time.

[Steffan]

PSG just scored. Gutting

[GSC]

Holy ****

[Fernando]

Barcelona 6-1 PSG - Barca through 6-5 on Agg   just wtf PSG stop trying to one up Arsenal

[Guest]

Unbelievable

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Football!!!!!

[Jermaine2015]

Great teams can achieve great feats. Congrats Barcelona

[Hammersmith harrier]

Something smells.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Something smells.

Probably me, apologies

[Ent]

Fair play to Barcelona, even just for the simple fact they never gave up.

As for psg, they are perennial losers in Europe and it shows, have you ever seen a more gutless performance - they were embarrassingly bad. They need a new goal keeper he gave away 3 goals last night due to poor basic positioning.

No conspiracy theories but the referee was extremely poor, pique could have been sent off, Neymar should have been and neither penalty was one for me. He also let free kick be taken from wrong place that led to winner, he should have also stopped play to send veratti off for that foul. He got caught up in the comeback and forgot to do his job.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

A more gutless performance? Arsenal or Arsenal

[Ent]

They out arsenaled arsenal.

Psg just needed to turn up, the couldn't even manage that.

[Crimey]

Crazy, crazy game. I could see people crying conspiracy if the referee wasn't also bad for the decisions that could have benefited Barcelona like Veratti being sent off. 

I very nearly turned off at 3-1 as it seemed like it was game over, to score three in those final moments is incredible and this will go down in history as the second best comeback in Champions League history.

PSG just couldn't cope, why Emery decided to change their tactics so drastically from what worked in the first leg is baffling. Instead of getting in Barcelona's face and attacking them with pace and strength, they dared them to come forward and score goals. I think if PSG don't concede that early goal, it's a completely different game. That clearly raised Barca's confidence that they could do it, because they now had so much more time to do it in (although they didn't use this time) and PSG got scared. 

Similar to Arsenal, PSG lacked any leaders on the pitch. Ibrahimovic is a big loss in that regard. Thiago Silva is not captain material, this has been shown time and time again, a great player but too week mentally to be a top captain. There was nobody else in that team capable of motivating the rest of the team to push Barca out. Then you look at the Barcelona side which packed with leaders - Mascherano, Pique, Iniesta, Messi, Neymar and Suarez are all tremendous personalities who could easily have claim to being captain.

[Ent]

Funny thing is if psg were even vaguely competent allowing barca to come onto them would have worked - barca scored from 4 set pieces (1 recycled into box) a long ball into the box and an own goal.

It's not even like barca actually played well, psg were just so incredibly incompetent and cowardly. They just crapped themselves.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Totally agree ent - I have no idea why after scoring 4 (and should've scored 6/7) in the first leg they just decided to not attack at all

[Ent]

I suppose that is what over a decade of excellence does to teams - puts the fear up them.

You just don't expect it at this level.

[Ent]

A stat from Eurosport, I have some doubts about it.

Psg completed 4 passes for, the 85th minute. 3 of them were kick offs.

[Afro]

I very nearly turned off at 3-1 as it seemed like it was game over, to score three in those final moments is incredible and this will go down in history as the second best comeback in Champions League history.

It will take something to surpass that United comeback in the 1999 CL final

[Sponsored content]