Champions League last 16 draw Monday 7th Nov 11am

[CCTV]

Had a feeling we'd get Madrid or Porto.

If we beat real, it's ours

[Crimson Dynasty]

Had a feeling we'd get Madrid or Porto.

If we beat real, it's ours

"If" is doing a lot of work there.

A lot of it depends on how the World Cup goes and what effect it has on players who go and come back from it.

As luck would deem it, they have more players headed to the World Cup, not surprisingly (and thanks in large part to the godawful form of most of our regular starters and injuries to others).

I'm no putting any money on us getting past them.
Since we last met - when they beat us - they have only strengthened in the summer window, while we've regressed (by doing almost nothing), and are currently unbeaten and top of their league (assuming they win their game in hand).
So on current form, anyone would be foolish to put money on Liverpool crafting an upset here.

But plenty could happen between now and mid-February.

[CCTV]

"If" is doing a lot of work there.

A lot of it depends on how the World Cup goes and what effect it has on players who go and come back from it.

As luck would deem it, they have more players headed to the World Cup, not surprisingly (and thanks in large part to the godawful form of most of our regular starters and injuries to others).

I'm no putting any money on us getting past them.
Since we last met - when they beat us - they have only strengthened in the summer window, while we've regressed (by doing almost nothing), and are currently unbeaten and top of their league (assuming they win their game in hand).
So on current form, anyone would be foolish to put money on Liverpool crafting an upset here.

But plenty could happen between now and mid-February.

Agree. They'll be favourites, but if we manage to get past them, then there are few teams who we might have baggage with left.

Any of the other teams could knock us out of course, but not facing Madrid in another final would suit me.
It's bad for the coffers, but if we go out early we can just focus on the league and FA Cup.

[Crimson Dynasty]

Agree. They'll be favourites, but if we manage to get past them, then there are few teams who we might have baggage with left.

Any of the other teams could knock us out of course, but not facing Madrid in another final would suit me.
It's bad for the coffers, but if we go out early we can just focus on the league and FA Cup.

It depends on what our respective forms are when we do eventually play each other.

I believe we have what it takes to knock them out if our players find their rhythm and form.
We've shown we're capable of that even in this current dip in form (both games against City in the Charity shield and in the league).

We dominated the CL final against them but just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net, and they did in the first and only chance (on target) they got.

Which kind of mirrors their form over the course of the last Champions' League campaign where they'd get dominated in games against better opposition (on paper) but would still find a way to win.

The beauty (And indeed, nightmare) of a cup tourney like the Champions' League is that you can catch a team at the wrong time for them when their hottest player or players just don't have their shooting boots on, and knock them out regardless of the run of form they have at the time.

In fact, that's largely how our 2005 campaign and eventual win in Istanbul played out.
Consistently punching above our weight.

Which is why I go back to,.... it all depends on how the World Cup goes and what effect it has on returning players, and what form teams pick in the aftermath.

But if we do pull it off, like you say, then the belief alone from that could propel us all the way to the cup itself.

[Insidious]

So unlike City to get an easy draw

It's the fact that (arguably) the best 4 remaining sides are Liverpool, Real Madrid, PSG and Bayern - and by the time Man City reach the quarters, 2 of those 4 will already be out.

[miller0863]

And no doubt the two remaining in the competition will play each other, while City get a bye to the final.

[Crimson Dynasty]

And no doubt the two remaining in the competition will play each other, while City get a bye to the final.

They'll be drawn to play the winner of the Benfica vs. Club Brugge tie (.....Benfica).

You heard it here first.

So basically the same thing.

[Insidious]

currently unbeaten and top of their league

You jinxed them mate! Rayo Vallecano beat them 3-2 there.

Highlight was Valverde missing badly enough that the ball ended up in the balcony of a nearby flat.

https://v.redd.it/7s192b1gsly91

[HLOGI]

They rode their luck for sure... but they finished top of their CL group - then beat this little lot - each over 2 legs. That's 6 games against PSG - CITY & CHELSEA before beating us in a final where the ball only hit the net twice - both times. from a man in a white shirt.


I get the vitriol but we need to stop making excuses.

Not making any excuses. They are the 2022/2022 CL winners. But we're inches from elimination in both QF and Semi. Goalkeeper was motm in the final. They showed pedigree and moments of class in all those games but rode their luck massively.

My comment was not to suggest we should have been champions.but they were the luckiest winners I have seen in recent years.

[Steveo]

Not making any excuses. They are the 2022/2022 CL winners. But we're inches from elimination in both QF and Semi. Goalkeeper was motm in the final. They showed pedigree and moments of class in all those games but rode their luck massively.

My comment was not to suggest we should have been champions.but they were the luckiest winners I have seen in recent years.

More so than us in 2019?

Escaping the group? How?

Barcelona 4:0 - how?

Penalty after seconds in the final - how?

You can always look at these things that way. We won a title by winning many games we scarcely deserved or games that looked gone until a last gasp goal.

That’s football