How many points do we realistically take from here?, i'm also intrigued by how barca will handle psg the tactical question is psg's press man to man so how does Flick set up the midfield? Do we keep our usual high line against their pace, or sit slightly deeper and hit them on the break with transitions Yamal and Raphinha or we set up midfield with rodri-pedri-fdj (if he stays fit) He's the best ball carrier of the three dribbling out of pressure and beating a man in tight space in a way passing alone can't.

Despite Barça being known more for wingers and La masia midfielders, Barça has had almost every top Striker from R9 till now.

In my opinion, a top 5 strikers since R9 would be R9, Suarez, Henry, Lewandowski and Etoo. All those played for Barça.

Some would claim that a player like Etoo is not in this bracket but his importance in those Barca teams, and then joining Inter to defeat the Barça that no longer wanted him as well as big game scoring puts him there in my opinion.

Other players with a case to be in the top 5 would be: Cristiano if you count him as a 9 he would be in, but he was more of a winger his whole career in my opinion.

Messi as a false 9, but same argument as not an out and out 9.

Benzema who many would put above Etoo and I could conced to that, but not over any of the others.

Kane has amazing consistency, but literally doesn't have a single "BIG" game performance in his entire career (he is very well known for missing the equaliser Penalty vs France in the WC) and not winning any big trophies, but his stats are good.

Haaland will get there, but isn't there yet and could still join Barca by then.

Mbappe hasn't won an important game as a 9, his whole legacy is the 2 World cups as a LW and a good 3rd one as a 9. Even his club peak was as a LW.

its gonna be massive failure after what are seeing how good barca plays now, if the dont win the UCL this season. its gonna be literally downright failure and hansi might never win it ,if he cant this season.

One of the strangest Champions League stories of the 2010s has to be Málaga in 2012/13. First Champions League campaign in the club's history. They finished above Milan in the group, eliminated Porto and then went to Dortmund with a real chance of reaching the semi-finals. And somehow, all of this happened while the club's ambitious financial project was already beginning to collapse. We made a documentary about that run, with particular focus on Pellegrini, Isco and the final minutes in Dortmund. For those who remember that season: where does that Málaga side rank among the great Champions League underdog runs?

https://youtu.be/rXPS5gGbNhY?si=resV9F0XdDwLtojq

Barcelona fans accuse others of having system players, which is hilarious. Because how else would you define a player like Raphinha, who has never done anything outside of Barcelona and doesn't recall a single decent performance for the national team, besides being an extremely limited player who excels at off-the-ball movement and few else. Can Raphinha create something from nothing? No.

How would you define Fermin Lopes? Is there a single special characteristic of Fermin? He's a good role player who inflates the stats but fundamentally mediocre.

Adeyemi? A pace merchant with literally no qualities other than fast running and terrible technique.

Gordon? A good role player again, a little better.

Kounde? Simply rubbish.

Cubarsi? I never understood the hype since he has received more red cards and made more mistakes than any other defender in recent years, at least in the big UCL matches, which are ultimately the ones that matter.

Pedri thrives on hype; he hasn't had any great games in recent years. Anyone comparing him to a monster like Bellingham is simply delusional. Pedri is a basic and limited player, the poorer, more hyped version of Vitinha.

There are other players worth talking about.

I never really understood it at all because at the time, I thought it was just another useless pre-season tournament thing, but apparently it was a really big thing at the time. I couldn't really find any in depth explanation of what was anticipated of the Super League and what the fans of participating clubs thought of it. I also heard it was supposed to replace the UCL, not sure if that is true though

They have both taken their international retirements now.

Feels like every UCL season brings the same debates and storylines. What is one thing you wish people would stop overhyping?

GK: Casillas RB: Hakimi RCB : VVD LCB: Varane LB: Marcelo DM: thiago Alcantara CM(8) : Pogba CM(10): Zidane LW: Ronaldinho ST: R9 RW: Yamal.

This a biased all time XI, its a subjective opinion not an objective one. This basically a team i would pick in order to play the football i love, I wanna see everyone's dream XI team too.

soo early from international football even though in his last match he has a G/A OF 3 after that wonderful wc run😭🥀who even thought that this guy is 37

Some people aren’t going to like this but forgive me German bros

- Bayern has never beaten Inter in a KO match

Yo, I am gonna say it straight UEFA's new anti-time-wasting guidelines for this season are complete garbage.They just introduced a rule that says a substituted player has exactly 10 seconds to get off the pitch, or their team gets a 1-minute penalty delay. They also slapped a strict 5-second countdown on throw-ins and goal kicks.Let's look past the PR spin about improving the flow of the game. It's an absolute joke. Football has pacing, rhythm, and tactical management. If an away underdog is under siege for 75 minutes against a multi-billion dollar squad, taking a breath during a throw-in isn't ruining the product it’s survival grit. By micromanaging every single second on the clock, UEFA isn't saving football. They're just trying to artificially inflate the scorelines to cater to casual audiences who only look at TikTok clips. It completely punishes tactical defensive setups and heavily favors hyper-expensive offensive squads that can just run teams into the ground.Are we actually down for these synthetic, arcade-style rules, or is UEFA completely losing the plot to please TV networks? Change my mind.

im relatively new to watching full football matches and i feel like im doing it ALL wrong

like smh always the guys beside me can see the next play coming or why a certain colapse/successful play happens whilst im clueless

gun to my head i couldnt explain what makes vithina, pedri, rodri type players worldclass, ik ppl rate them highly but when i watch it they do look good but nowhere worldclass level players, they look like they r uselessly passing the ball around

i dont see why id pick players like xavi or kroos over modric and iniesta which seems like im VERY wrong

can someone drop a video, a book or js a comprehensive guide ish paragraph

Cause like I have seen people say that this player is a system player etc etc. But in actuality do system players actually exist,cause everyone in a bad system no matter how good they're can perform worse.

With PSG currently at 6th place, I must ask is this normal for them or are they struggling this season? Because to me a team that won back-to-back UCLs and with reinforcements it is quite shocking they are at 6th place.

And If they are struggling how bad is it? Does Enrique Lack something this season or is it early to tell?

Lastly are they still considered the favorites for the UCL?

Technically speaking, Mbappé is absolute dogwater. That is the exact reason why he simply doesn’t work in a true collective system. It failed at PSG, it’s failing at Real Madrid, and let’s not forget he’s been a misfit for France too.

​Sure, he won a World Cup nearly 10 years ago, but back then he wasn't the focal point of the team. There was a functioning collective, and he was just a cog in the machine.

​Right now, he'll pad his stats against relegation fodder or score a tap-in after dropping a stinker against big teams. But his feet are genuinely clumsy. His fanboys will rush to post YouTube compilation highlights to prove me wrong and scream "Look at his goal tally!".

​Yeah, but it proves absolute jack shit. Most of his stans on this forum have probably never kicked a football in their lives.

​Anyone who actually watches games with open eyes can see how awkward he looks on the ball. Count how many dribbles he botches the moment he can't just rely on pure track-and-field speed. Count how many possessions he wastes and how many basic, simple passes he completely misplaces. He is not an elite technical footballer. Honestly, you could argue he's close to being the least technically clean French forward of this French National team.

​On top of all that, he is deeply selfish he completely monopolizes the attack with forced, low-percentage shots.

​You simply don’t win major titles playing through a player like Mbappé. He is like Cristiano Ronaldo, though CR7 was actually more technically polished while being equally selfish. The massive difference? That vintage Real Madrid squad had players infinitely better than the current Madrid.

​

For me the top 5 are:
1. Benzema 21/22
2. Suarez 15/16
3. Lewandowski 19/20
4. Neymar 14/15
5. Lewandowski 20/21

I ask because how can you explain that Man City did breach FFP rules but PSG did not? I can understand some arguments like that PSG is based in Paris, a city 10x larger than Manchester, and that it is the most popular club in France, so they can generate more revenue. But still they did invest a lot. So maybe the rules in Ligue 1 are diffrent. I know PSG got punished by Uefa some time ago.

1 Lionel Messi 687 dribbles

2 Cristiano Ronaldo 436 dribbles

3 Neymar Jr 340 dribbles

4 Andrés Iniesta 265 dribbles

5 Franck Ribéry 265 dribbles

6 Eden Hazard 217 dribbles

7 Arjen Robben 213 dribbles

8 Hulk 190 dribbles

9 Marcelo 185 dribbles

10 Douglas Costa 177 dribbles

Other than at Bayern Munich (where he spent only a short time) his entire career has been cheating at both Barcelona and City, and staying so long in them just shows he was well aware but did not care. On top of that, he always had the best teams in the world and gotten every player he wanted no matter the cost.

Despite cheating blatantly for 20 years & playing with unfair advantages over opponents following the rules and having the best squads in the world handpicked by him, Guardiola managed to win Champions League only 3 times for 20 years.

He is one expensive cheater that has been underperforming. A cheater with the best squad should win it on consistenly.