Holy cow, the ref in Chelsea-Nordsnwdjwdnw gave 3 penalties in 5 minutes!

Giovinco!

The Vucinic pass to Lichsteiner looked way offside. I could be wrong.

I also think it was offside.

Barca look so poor up front. it's amazing what Xavi and Iniesta's absence can do to this team.

Messi tries too hard to score "that" goal and he injures himself! it looks rather serious. stretched out.

Oh man, it'll be such a blow if he can't continue playing in this calendar year again, all that talk of breaking Muller and Pele's records and then this.

Not bad for a bunch of scrubs. Top the group.

Totally deserved.

200% offside. Don't know how the ref missed it.

I know it's awful to admit it, but I'm rather pleased. I like Müller much more then Messi.

I don't know... I'd like to see these old records broken in my time. if Messi doesn't do it, no one else can, until the next Messi and god knows how many years that is.

Anyway, people keep talking about how otherworldly he is (which is true most of the times), but tonight I saw a different Messi; one who breaks under pressure. I'm sure if this wasn't about breaking a record and he had a calm state of mind to do what he does week in week out with no problem, he wouldn't get injured.

Anyway, you're pleased but I'm not. I hope he recovers soon and breaks those records because he deserves it.

It's not just being Messi either, it's the fortune of the situation you find yourself in. There's talented players all over the place, some probably with more potential than Messi but if you don't find yourself in the right system i.e. in a heavily dominated team playing to your strengths and be aided by 2 of the best creative midfielders in recent times you will never be aware of it.

So in a sense I agree with you, A. You need to find someone with the raw talent of Messi B. You need the structure in place around them of a unique level to really turn the talent into something like this. Last time it happened was Zidane, who proved himself in Italy, Spain & the international circuit, but I think we've been extremely fortunate to see these types of players in our lifetimes.

These are the teams we might face for the 1/16 round:

- Borussia
- PSG
- ManU
- Schalke
- Barça
- Bayern

Aside from Schalke, the rest are pretty tough, even PSG.

Schalke isn't a fruitcake, either in my opinion. The price of finishing second, I guess. Point is, all the teams above are either better or at the very least equal than us. Not as prestigious as Milan, meaning we can still trade blows based on our reputation alone - just like the recent Barcelona and Real Madrid matches.

Our history plays in the opponents minds, even if a little, and that means they play extra careful against us. Even if we are a terrible unit, it doesn't always show on the pitch. That will not save us in the next round, though.

But compared to the rest, it's far behind.

Agreed. They did finish first in their group, one way or another, so should be taken seriously by the team, and particularly the coach. I'm not sure we'll be getting them, but nevertheless, I'll happily take them among the choices listed. Them or PSG, they are in a bit of a rut, and who knows may have a new coach come the encounter.

Out of all i would rather face PSG they are having a tough time atm with consistency.

That's true, I was too lazy to point it out but I'd say it's 60% Messi and 40% the system. because they have had talented goalscorers like Eto'o before, but he didn't come anywhere near these numbers. but again, you're totally right about it being a combination of two things that work so well together.

Well, to be quite honest, this years there's no real price for finishing second - if you ask me. Here's the list of good teams we also avoided:

Porto
Real Madrid
Arsenal
Shakhtar
Valencia

Sure, the other collection of teams is far more frightening, but - it all depends on luck. We could have finished with a maximum amount of points and 0 goals, then drawn Real and found ourselves out. Yet again, we could for example draw Schalke and enter the last 8 phase.

PSG and Shalke are the only decent option for us...

Borussia would absolutely tear us apart imo. Same goes for Man U, Bayern and Barca. PSG are still such a disjointed team, thus it will give us a chance, I think I'd prefer them over Shalke tbh

This Man U doesn't scare me thus I wouldn't mind them, but facing PSG would be the most exciting scenario for obvious reasons.

They don't scare you? Maybe they're not vintage Man U and their defenders and defending is as terrible as ours, but they have some amazing players up front and in midfield. We wouldn't stand a chance

Their wide players and strikers can be dangerous on their day. But the centre of midfield and the defense has been awful so far this season. I have no idea how they're top of the league with only 4/5 players even playing at a competent level.

Yes. The lack 2 quality central midfielders, not to mention the defense.

i feel the same way about united. tbh i wouldnt mind any of them besides barca. i dont want to deal with their annoying bs so early in the knock out rounds.

PSG are having a hard time right now, but remember that the CL starts again in February. That's two months away, anything can happen until then.

Plus it would be Ancelotti we're dealing with. Don't you know that playing his teams in the league is one thing, but a CL two-tier a whole other level?

Well you answered your own question right there. Their frontline is great and enough to cover up for their terrible defenders. How many games have they come from behind this season to win?

Plus I think that teams in the EPL still give way too much respect to United, which clubs like Chelsea and City don't receive.


Carlo hasn't been the same in the CL since he was with us. Not too concerned about that. He has inexperienced players at this level, while at Milan the players all knew how to play a 2 legged tie with their legs tied together

But we're even more inexperienced. At least at PSG he implements his typical game plan, whereas at Chelsea this wasn't exactly the case.

I'd prefer to be fouled mouthed and call him Andrea C*nto.

I think it's pretty safe to say our adventure in the CL ends here. I think we did well to defy our awful domestic form to qualify, but with only 2 victories (none at home) our CL form isn't good enough to tackle any of the sides we'll face. Schalke is our best bet but even they'll be too strong.

You never know what might happen in two months time. We might pick ManU, for example, but they may be struggling in February whilst we may be in a very good shape. It's too early to talk about it.

With our luck we'll be matched against the most difficuilt of the lot


With Allegri continually taking us 2 steps back after a good showing? Not likely. We've been talking about improvement since September. And aside from becoming a bit more stable in terms of defending we're still pretty cr@p and relying on a kid to score the goals for us.

Who do you consider that to be?

I think 2 months is too short to imagine a rise in our fortunes and deterioration in theirs to such an extent we could overcome Man Utd - or any of the other heavy outfits.

I think your optimism is admirable but unlikely to materialise.

Our fortunes depends on what the transfer market presents.

Barça?

Too one-dimensional. If you work very very hard to defend in packs and get good aerial possession near their box they're easy to pick off.

They might pass the ball incessantly and decimate opposition, but they have only one way of playing.

Good, sturdy organised defending plus clinical counter attack beats them every time. Especially given they effectively have no defence.

If Celtic can do it, if Rangers, Inter, Kazan, ourselves, and Chelsea can either win or stop them scoring... It's just about knowing how to take them. Figure that out and they're utterly, utterly beatable.

Problem is too many teams play them with so much respect and run scared. That's what they want.

Personally I'd say the best 2 overall teams in Europe right now are Real and Bayern. Dortmund have been magnificent in the CL though and would be incredibly tough as well.

All 3 of these have different tactics which makes them very strong teams.

1. Yep, that's us last season. We didn't do anything other than park the bus and wait for them. Those other teams you mentioned put great pressure on their midfielders and never stopped running for the whole 90 minutes. That's the only way you can stop them. They crumble under pressure.

2. Madrid have been rather poor compared to last season, in both results and displays. I still think Barça and Bayern are the most difficult teams to face, and hopefully we'll avoid both of them.

Well out of that lot your eyes immediately lock onto the obvious 2; Bayern and Barca. You put in some good points about Barca, but I don't feel our team have it in them on any level, not physical or mental, to compete with them. Last season we played them 4 times and aside from the game in the Nou Camp where we crumbled without Silva, we put in some great performances against them. This season we just don't have it in us. We could barely do it to Juve which, great as they are, have nothing on Barca.

Man U and Dortmund would have to come at a close second. W're just not good enough this season I'm afraid and cannot compete with certain teams, especially ones which play in a certain way

Hence why we'll pick Schalke.

And it would be even more humiliating if we're trashed by them rather than Barca or Bayern...

Yes they do. The tactic is sound. You do have to work very hard to get it right though. And we managed it once last year with the 2-2.



Real have not been themselves this year but they still qualified comfortably from a very, very tough CL group. They might not have won every match but City and Ajax were no match. Ditto Dortmund - won only one more than Madrid - but both were a league ahead of the other 2 in that group.

What concerns me with Bayern and Real is both have variable tactics. They don't just go through the middle like Barca - Real can go high, they can use the flanks, they can do whatever they need to. And they have added bonus of the brilliant C Ron. Bayern have a similar repertoire.

If you get Barca, assuming your players have the ethic, you can beat them. If Celtic can do it, so can anyone else. It just needs concentration and stout defending. And a bit of luck.

Whereas other sides have more dimensions to their game and can use different tactics to get around stodgy defences.

It's NOT about competing, that is exactly the point. If you try to compete you'll be destroyed. It's about contain and counter. Pressuring their defence every so often and reaping the reward.

If you try to actually beat them you will lose.
If you try to stop them and try your luck at picking them off with a counter, as long as your players have the work ethic you'll manage it.

Look at how incredibly hard we worked against Juve. That level of industry will do it V Barca too.



Not sure I agree. In a stronger group Juve won only one less point than Barca.

The Barca superiority has been a myth since Messi called Rangers' tactics 'anti-football'. Other teams took the cue and results were gained. Barca are only as good as their opponents let them be. Too much respect and they will destroy you. Hold the lines and counter and you can emerge with 3 points.



Put it this way, as awful as we currently are do you truly believe, man for man, we are poorer than Celtic? They got 4 points from 6 V Barca. Tactics and hard work. Any decent European team can stop Barca if they are prepared to shed blood for the cause and stick to the gameplan.

We will draw PSG. There's no way UEFA doesn't force that to happen somehow with all the storylines that would surround such a matchup.

Yeah we'll draw PSG. Carlo, thiago, ibra? Oh yea forsure.

Messi surrounded by 10 players of Benfica. Only the goalie is missing.

I remember that moment, to say he is surrounded by 10 is a bit misleading, though it isn't far from that either.

Benfica doing the right thing - defending deep and in packs. With the rest of the Barca side not catching up with Messi there. And guess what - while they went out, it was yet ANOTHER team who shut Barca out.

It can be done.

I think most are just caught ball watching surrounded no...

And when Ibra was faced with a similar situation..he scored.