[han2503]

Would love to see Juve in the final (if nothing else, it would help with our rankings). However, I think RM will prevail.

It all depends with how Juve defend, there were moments yesterday when Real got in behind them too easily and they were a bit lucky especially when Real hit the post. Thought for sure that was going in

[X-Offender]

It all depends with how Juve defend, there were moments yesterday when Real got in behind them too easily and they were a bit lucky especially when Real hit the post. Thought for sure that was going in

It's Real, han, not Cesena. It's only natural they would suffer their attacks. Even if Juve defend well, Madrid can still hurt them. They have too much potential up front.

[han2503]

It's Real, han, not Cesena. It's only natural they would suffer their attacks. Even if Juve defend well, Madrid can still hurt them. They have too much potential up front.

Sure, but I think Juve are the only team left in the semis who can play an all out defensive game. It's a dangerous strategy but I can't see them keeping a clean sheet in Madrid if they don't

[Fillipo Simone]

Well, this is a big chance for them. Allegri is know for squandering his opportunities in the second leg, now is the time to see if he learned.

[X-Offender]

Sure, but I think Juve are the only team left in the semis who can play an all out defensive game. It's a dangerous strategy but I can't see them keeping a clean sheet in Madrid if they don't

Of course they should play it safe. They don't have the capacity to play an attacking game at Bernabeu when they're already going there with a lead. It's dangerous, but it's the best approach. Obviously that doesn't imply parking the bus and let Madrid do whatever they want.

I hear Pogba could be available for the second leg. That would be a huge boost for Juve.

This post has been edited by X-Offender: May 7 2015, 09:37 AM

[X-Offender]

Wrong thread.

This post has been edited by X-Offender: May 7 2015, 10:01 PM

[X-Offender]

Congrats to Juve. Totally deserved.

[han2503]

Kudos tio Juve, and yes, also to Allegri. Although there were some serious nail biting moments, they did what they needed to do to advance

To kurt and Danny, yes, Allegri surpassed my personal expectation of what he would achieve at Juve. But personally for me, it still does not change that he was a sh!tty coach throughout his time at Milan. His work at Juve won't change my reflection on those years

Maybe he did learn from his mistakes, and I already said that he was very smart to build on Conte's work rather than tear it down to build Juve on his own image (whatever that is). But maybe it also has to do with chemistry. For me it was never there with us. Not even when we won the title. With Juve he seems to have found a more ideal place.

[han2503]

Also, I have to say, that even though I was rooting for Juve on the surface, as I am a fan of Serie A as well and this is good for the league, on the inside I was totally green with envy and nostalgic.

The CL was once our natural stomping ground. Now, we can't even get back into it, let alone play a final or semi final. It's just so sad how far we've fallen

[Danny]

I reluctantly congratulate Juve, they fully deserved it.

But Real are the epitome of capitalism in football failing miserably. They were absolutely awful.

Carlo has been terrible there, underachieving as he did with us.

You cannot spend what he has (around a billion I believe) and not win basically everything. And it now seems they'll win nothing.

Rotten.

As for Juve, defensively they're just so strong, they're modern catenaccio, and as a unit they're willing to die for each other and Allegri. Wouldn't be at all shocked if they win this now - while Messi, Neymar and Suarez are far better than Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo, Barca struggle against defensive teams.

[Danny]

PS while Bayern gave Messi every chance to excel, nevertheless in the battle of the world's best two, Messi trounced Ronaldo.

I have to concede, right now, it's no contest. Messi's the best.

[Fillipo Simone]

Carlo terrible? Be serious.

[han2503]

I reluctantly congratulate Juve, they fully deserved it.

But Real are the epitome of capitalism in football failing miserably. They were absolutely awful.

Carlo has been terrible there, underachieving as he did with us.

You cannot spend what he has (around a billion I believe) and not win basically everything. And it now seems they'll win nothing.

Rotten.

As for Juve, defensively they're just so strong, they're modern catenaccio, and as a unit they're willing to die for each other and Allegri. Wouldn't be at all shocked if they win this now - while Messi, Neymar and Suarez are far better than Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo, Barca struggle against defensive teams.

Really? You blame Carlo?

I personally blame Perez. His signings simply unbalanced the team, last season Real were much better and this was before they bought Kroos and James needlessly

Alienating and selling Di Maria was the worst mistake they've made in quite some time.

Yes, it's still not a good excuse for Carlo to be coming out of a season empty handed with that team, but the CL was a far fetched dream imo, no one will ever be able to retain that trophy. I personally just think that this is simply not his fault, I'm sure if it were up to him, he'd have much rather had kept last seasons team with only a couple of additions that were mostly peripheral. It all comes down to Real and their way of doing things. Always wanting the newest big name on the market to add to the collection of the Gollacticos. And this is not the first time that Perez ruined a perfectly well rounded side in order to add bigger and flashier names.

As for the final and Juve, I personally cannot see past Barca, I actually predicted that Juve would go through tonight based on the first leg, when I said I saw a Juve-Barca final with Barca steam rolling Juve in that one. That's what I predicted last week and what I still predict today.

PS while Bayern gave Messi every chance to excel, nevertheless in the battle of the world's best two, Messi trounced Ronaldo.

I have to concede, right now, it's no contest. Messi's the best.

For me this is another one of your moments where you immediately jump to a certain conclusion off of very little.

Ronaldo was simply amazing last year, having an off game here and there does not change that. Messi has been better this year, but one can arguably say that Ronaldo was better last year. This is not something that is set in stone, it depends on a lot of things. For me they're both the best two players of this generation, can't it be as simple as that?

[X-Offender]

Really? You blame Carlo?

I personally blame Perez. His signings simply unbalanced the team, last season Real were much better and this was before they bought Kroos and James needlessly

Alienating and selling Di Maria was the worst mistake they've made in quite some time.

Yes, it's still not a good excuse for Carlo to be coming out of a season empty handed with that team, but the CL was a far fetched dream imo, no one will ever be able to retain that trophy. I personally just think that this is simply not his fault, I'm sure if it were up to him, he'd have much rather had kept last seasons team with only a couple of additions that were mostly peripheral. It all comes down to Real and their way of doing things. Always wanting the newest big name on the market to add to the collection of the Gollacticos. And this is not the first time that Perez ruined a perfectly well rounded side in order to add bigger and flashier names.

Agreed, totally. Selling Di Maria was an asinine thing to do. Last year they found a perfect balance with Alonso, Modric and Di Maria, but Perez had to ruin everything with his egotistical decision-making. Kroos is nowhere near as good as Alonso in front of the defense, and James' signing was completely pointless. It was simply a response to Barça getting Suarez, like Bale was for Neymar last season.

As for the final and Juve, I personally cannot see past Barca, I actually predicted that Juve would go through tonight based on the first leg, when I said I saw a Juve-Barca final with Barca steam rolling Juve in that one. That's what I predicted last week and what I still predict today.

Let's not jump to conclusions. It's a one-leg tie, anything can happen. In fact, if there's one team that can beat Barcelona, that's Juventus, due to their defensive solidity. A catenaccio-style approach is the best weapon to use against this Barça side, and Juve are really good at it.

[han2503]

Agreed, totally. Selling Di Maria was an asinine thing to do. Last year they found a perfect balance with Alonso, Modric and Di Maria, but Perez had to ruin everything with his egotistical decision-making. Kroos is nowhere near as good as Alonso in front of the defense, and James' signing was completely pointless. It was simply a response to Barça getting Suarez, like Bale was for Neymar last season.



Let's not jump to conclusions. It's a one-leg tie, anything can happen. In fact, if there's one team that can beat Barcelona, that's Juventus, due to their defensive solidity. A catenaccio-style approach is the best weapon to use against this Barça side, and Juve are really good at it.

Agreed. Their transfer strategy is completely ridiculous. I whine about us not spending money, but even if we had bucket loads to throw around, Madrid's style is definitely not one I'd want us following

It's not about jumping to conclusions, it's simply a prediction. Of course I could be totally wrong, and I totally agree that Juve do have the capability of locking down the defence and sitting back. I personally can't see Allegri doing anything OTHER than that. That's the way he always played it with us against Barca, sometimes it worked, other times it didn't. It's all about how strong willed and focused the players are. For example, the 2-0 in the San Siro, they barely had any shots there.

Still going by these 4 games, I still say Barca will win. Unlike Real, I can see them getting in behind Juve's defence a lot more, Real looked a bit lost for ideas today, all they were doing is throwing in crosses, I get that this was mostly down to Juve sitting so deep, still Barca have a lot more players who can play intricate passes, and that's not something that I think Juve will be comfortable defending against, unlike Real's, gung ho crossing game, which was simply too easy to defend against and aside for maybe 2 or 3 times, when Real had big chances, Juve were mostly comfortable defending. Although they needed to use the ball better to get the pressure off them. They were losing it too quickly when they got it.

Also, thought Pirlo was awful