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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2017 18:22:57 GMT
Anyone else think they can pull it off twice? I didn't initially but I'm starting to wonder.
Barcelona 3 - 0 Juventus
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Post by staggerstag on Apr 19, 2017 18:25:58 GMT
Barcelona make two changes from the team that lost 3-0 in Turin. Sergio Busquets returns from injury and Jordi Alba also starts in defence. Jeremy Mathieu drops out and Javier Mascherano is only fit enough for a place on the bench. Juventus are as expected. They’re at full strength.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Umtiti, Pique, Alba; Roberto, Iniesta, Busquets, Rakitic; Messi, Suarez, Neymar.
Subs: Cillesen, Mascherano, Suarez, Alcacer, Digne, Gomes, Alena.
Juventus: Buffon; Alves, Bonucci, Chiellini, Sandro; Khedira, Pjanic; Cuadrado, Dybala, Mandzukic; Higuain.
Subs: Neto, Barzagli, Benatia, Lemina, Asamoah, Lichtsteiner, Rincon.
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands)
(90 mins)
Barcelona 1/2
Juventus 11/2
Draw 4
(To qualify)
Barcelona 5
Juventus 1/8
Preamble by Jacob Steinburg :
"Hello. Let me tell you an interesting story about my interesting life. Settle round the camp fire, toast the marshmallows, it’s a good one. Because last month, when Barcelona hosted Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their last-16 tie, I wasn’t in front of a television, I was at the cinema. The logic was sound enough. Sometimes there’s too much football to watch, PSG arrived at Camp Nou with a seemingly impregnable 4-0 lead and I wanted to see Fences. It was an excellent film, since you ask, tragic, emotional, sensitive, brimming with fine performances. But you don’t want to read my review. You want to hear about what happened when the film finished and I checked Twitter at around 8.55pm.
Social media was going even more insane than usual. Barcelona were 3-0 up and I reckoned that I could make it home in time to see the finale. But as I walked to the tube, the excitement began to die down. PSG had scored and that was that. The dream was over. Barcelona needed three more goals, time was running out and Fences really was a very good film.
I got out of the tube and on to the bus. It was still 3-1 on the night. I checked my phone. Neymar scored. But there were only two minutes left. I put my phone away. Barcelona needed two more goals. They weren’t going to score two more goals. Denzel Washington really is a classy actor.
I got home. There were still a couple of minutes of stoppage time left, but it was done. Move on. Nothing to see here. How about that Viola Davis? That woman can act.
Fifteen minutes later, I had a look on this website. And there it was, leading the top of the football site, taunting me, laughing at me, calling me an idiot.
Barcelona 6-1 Paris Saint-Germain. Final score on aggregate: 6-5. Headline: Barcelona shatter PSG as Sergi Roberto caps incredible 6-1 comeback win. Oh. I see. Still. FENCES WAS A VERY GOOD FILM.
The point of this interesting story from my interesting life is that anything can happen. So while it might seem that Barcelona might have no hope of fighting back from 3-0 down against Juventus, they definitely do have hope. It will always be there if you have Messi, Suarez and Neymar up front.
“All we can do is attack, attack, attack,” Luis Enrique says and there’s no doubt that Barcelona, who put three past Juventus in the 2015 final, have the players to pull off another miracle. The problem with this theory, though, is that Juventus look stronger and more hard-nosed than PSG. The Italian champions and Serie A leaders are yet to concede a goal in this year’s knockout stage, and the dilemma for Barcelona is that they can’t just attack, attack, attack, they also have to defend. They’ve conceded seven in their past three matches and Max Allergri reckons his team can score not once but twice, just as Real Sociedad did at Camp Nou on the weekend, and that would leave Barcelona needing to put six past Gigi Buffon. And to get to Buffon, first they’ll have to get past Giorgio Chiellini.
Has anyone seen any good films lately?"
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Post by MrFurious on Apr 19, 2017 18:39:40 GMT
Let the madness begin. Loadsa goals and cards and hopefully Suarez crying and kicking people later.
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Post by Xcalatë on Apr 19, 2017 19:41:40 GMT
Let the madness begin. Loadsa goals and cards and hopefully Suarez crying and kicking people later. Or biting people. |
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Post by DrKrippen on Apr 19, 2017 20:15:59 GMT
Still 0 - 0 in the 73rd minute.
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Post by mangekyoalleluia on Apr 19, 2017 20:26:05 GMT
Anyone else think they can pull it off twice? I didn't initially but I'm starting to wonder. Barcelona 3 - 0 Juventus No, they can't. Juve will die on their lead. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2017 20:44:12 GMT
Meh. Well, I didn't expect that.
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Post by staggerstag on Apr 19, 2017 20:50:17 GMT
Postamble by Jacob Steinberg :
"The sight of Lionel Messi sporting a black eye, a legacy of that heavy black eye, sums up Barcelona’s evening. Juventus were too tough, too determined, too streetwise, too good. They were no Paris Saint-Germain. There was to be no second miracle. Clinical in the first leg, resolute in the second, Juventus are deservedly through to the last four. For Barcelona, who did miss chances, this has the feel of the end of an era. Luis Enrique will go. Some of these players will probably be replaced in the summer as well. Neymar’s in tears as he walks off, but that makes this tie look more dramatic than it was in reality. Juventus were the better team and there was rarely a prospect of them crumbling. They’ll fancy their chances of going all the way now."
To win outright :
Real Madrid 13/8
Juventus 2
Atl Madrid 7/2
Monaco 13/2
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Post by WullieFort on Apr 20, 2017 9:52:11 GMT
I wonder if Luis Enrique sensed that this might be the end (more of less) of the Tiki-Taki team and decided to get out before its demise was blamed on him.
Replacing Xavi and Alves has proved well nigh impossible and they have taken on a left-leaning slant more and more since Neymar joined. Be interesting to see who the new manager/coach will be and whether he will break-up the team. The defence needs overhauling and Iniesta is 36/7, as is Mascherano. Pique is 30+. Rakitic was great at Seville but has not brought that form to Barca and nobody has emerged from the others in the squad.
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