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What's your take ?

I was wondering how ppl call barca ucl contenders but their defense is extremely lacking

With best lb and lcb being a 32 year old cancelo amd injury prone Christensen

Is it possible for them to win?

I am not talking abt how barca themselves won a final in 2009 with literally only 4 players fully fit and not in a makeshift position

I am talking abt throughout the ucl

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Welcome to this week’s Champions League discussion thread.

Use this thread to talk about everything happening in the UEFA Champions League, from team performances and tactics to match predictions and the race for qualification.

A few topics to get things started:

• Which team has impressed you the most so far?
• Which club has been underperforming?
• What upcoming fixture are you most excited about?
• Who do you think has the best chance of winning the competition this season?

Feel free to share your opinions, predictions, and match analysis. Keep the discussion respectful, stay on topic, and provide reliable sources when sharing news.

Who is your current favourite to lift the trophy?

Technical Genius:

- Lamine

- Pedri

Physical Beast:

- Haaland

- Fede Valverde

Just examples.

An attacking spectacle. Expecting both teams to go all out next week. Can't wait for this game.

Imo it's Barcelona they won more Trophy and i Will Say that they are more conseisent they are very close tò Real Madrid much more than Milan Is close tò Juventus but still both are big clubs

It’s incredible how many posts and comments there are about a specific topic. Not long ago, PSG was criticized for failing to win the Champions League because of the low level of competition in its domestic league, but now that it has found the most efficient way to dominate the world’s biggest club tournament, it’s being criticized for that again.

I think it’s pretty hypocritical to see that many of these comments come from fans of clubs in La Liga, the Bundesliga, and even Serie A—all leagues where there are only one or at most three truly competitive teams. For example, do you think Barcelona couldn’t beat teams like Levante, Málaga, or Mallorca even with their reserves? Of course they could, but they’d rather crush them by a five-goal margin with their starting lineup—only for their fans to then claim that the “wear and tear” on their stars cost them their Champions League elimination.

That whole narrative about PSG’s “B team” falls apart when we look at the fact that in every French league match this season, they’ve always fielded at least eight starters—and yet they’re still in sixth place in a league that, according to many here, they could win with their U-15 team.

Finally, I really didn't like it when PSG had a couple of games rescheduled to better align their schedule with the UCL, and I really wouldn't want them to do that again, but this discussion about the level of Ligue 1 strikes me as a ridiculous excuse to downplay what Luis Enrique has managed to build with the Parisian team.

How many CL titles would PSG have if the rest of Europe’s elite could win their league with their B team?

Out of their star players, Vitinha is the only person who played 20 league 90 equivalents.

Name | Club | Games Played | Minutes Played | Full 90 Equivalent

DEFENDERS
Gabriel | Arsenal | 32 | 2,751 | 30.6
Cubarsí | Barcelona | 31 | 2,703 | 30.0
Rúben Dias | Man City | 26 | 2,141 | 23.8
Huijsen | Real Madrid | 28 | 2,034 | 22.6
Upamecano | Bayern | 24 | 1,794 | 19.9
Calafiori | Arsenal | 26 | 1,699 | 18.9
Rüdiger | Real Madrid | 18 | 1,490 | 16.6
Hakimi | PSG | 18 | 1,375 | 15.3
Gvardiol | Man City | 18 | 1,372 | 15.2
Nuno Mendes | PSG | 20 | 1,256 | 14.0
Marquinhos | PSG | 14 | 1,052 | 11.7

MIDFIELDERS
Rice | Arsenal | 36 | 3,094 | 34.4
Zubimendi | Arsenal | 38 | 2,992 | 33.2
Bernardo Silva | Man City | 38 | 2,872 | 31.9
Valverde | Real Madrid | 33 | 2,740 | 30.4
Nico O’Reilly | Man City | 34 | 2,646 | 29.4
Tchouaméni | Real Madrid | 33 | 2,615 | 29.1
Kimmich | Bayern | 29 | 2,280 | 25.3
Vitinha | PSG | 29 | 2,119 | 23.5
Pedri | Barcelona | 29 | 2,104 | 23.4
Bellingham | Real Madrid | 28 | 1,916 | 21.3
Rodri | Man City | 21 | 1,511 | 16.8
Ødegaard | Arsenal | 24 | 1,369 | 15.2
João Neves | PSG | 21 | 1,287 | 14.3

FORWARDS / WINGERS
Haaland | Man City | 35 | 2,953 | 32.8
Vinícius Jr. | Real Madrid | 36 | 2,815 | 31.3
Mbappé | Real Madrid | 31 | 2,599 | 28.9
Luis Díaz | Bayern | 32 | 2,447 | 27.2
Kane | Bayern | 31 | 2,377 | 26.4
Olise | Bayern | 32 | 2,316 | 25.7
Lamine Yamal | Barcelona | 28 | 2,262 | 25.1
Gyökeres | Arsenal | 36 | 2,224 | 24.7
Saka | Arsenal | 31 | 2,222 | 24.7
Foden | Man City | 33 | 2,086 | 23.2
Doku | Man City | 30 | 1,784 | 19.8
Lewandowski | Barcelona | 31 | 1,664 | 18.5
Kvaratskhelia | PSG | 28 | 1,479 | 16.4
Raphinha | Barcelona | 22 | 1,380 | 15.3
Désiré Doué | PSG | 23 | 1,348 | 15.0
Dembélé | PSG | 22 | 1,063 | 11.8

All 9 teams from the toughest and highest level football league in the world won their opening European game of the season following Brighton’s 4-0 crushing of FK Kauno Zalgiris. Could you see this coming?

The premier league clubs have an average of 2.47 points per game, while the Bundesliga is the second closest of the top 5 leagues with 1.92, the Premier League clubs have also collected a total of 42 points so far in European competitions this season. No other league have totaled even 30 points.

Both teams played extremely well and scored great goals and there has not been a group game that well for many many years

sorry for bad grammar* In CL week 2, all four Italian teams lost which is the first time in history that this happened. To be fair, Roma shoulda beat RM but it is RM, what can I say?

While La Liga has its won disparity problems, five laliga teams won all their respective games. The Prem is head and shoulders above the rest because of money and investments but Serie A can at least catch up to historically inferior leagues like La Liga and Ligue 1.

These are five things that I would do:

(1) For more TV money and less fatigue, Serie A should reduce its teams to 18 teams just like Bundesliga and Ligue 1.

(2) Improving production quality - PL, La Liga, Bundesliga. All three leagues production quality is miles better than Serie A right now. Serie A makes the league games unpleasing to watch because of video quality.

(3) Stadiums renovation - This is the weakest sector in Italian football. Most stadiums are run-down and owned by municipalities so revenue growth is slow. Infrastructural and policy changes need to happen.

(4) Developing and putting their faith in youth local talent - Instead of buying Prem rejects who aren't good enough for Prem, they should just play young Italian youth talents. Money should be used properly to buy unknown talents from lower leagues instead of just buying veterans from other leagues on high wages just for the name. (I doubt Lamine Yamal or Pablo Barrios would become first team players if they were born in Italy)

(5) Stop the cycle of managers merry-go-round - Coaches get recycled for fun every season and it gets tiring. Just be like Como, More Fabregas-es, Less Allegri

Obviously, the game is on the 20th of October, and I’m curious to hear what fans of both teams think about this match.

Are PSG going to dominate the game the same way they did against City, or are they going to get humiliated by Barça?
Will it be a tough match for both teams, where a single goal separates them and decides the outcome? Or are we in for something completely different?

Will Raphinha once again prove to the world why he’s a top, top player, or will Dembélé score against Barça and celebrate once again?
Will Flick get the better of Enrique, or is Enrique going to teach Flick another lesson?

Lots of questions, and I’d love to hear the thoughts of fans from both sides!

Like why does everyone dislike them or sum, they're genuinely playing fluid football

At the moment, Lamine Yamal ranks first according to Transfermarkt.

Do you really believe he is worth more than Mbappe and Haaland though?

https://strawpoll.com/mpnb1eBMLy5

24 out of 36 clubs advance with the top 8 directly to R16 and the next 16 in knockout playoffs (66.7% advancing)

22 out of 36 advance with the top 10 directly to R16 and the next 12 clubs in knockout playoffs (61.1% advancing)

20 out of 36 advance with the top 12 directly to R16 and the next 8 clubs in knockout playoffs (55.6% advancing)

18 out of 36 advance with the top 14 directly to R16 and the next 4 clubs in knockout playoff ( 50% advancing)

16 out of 36 advancing to R16 (no knockout playoff)

12 out of 36 advancing with the top 4 directly to R8 and the next 8 clubs in knockout playoffs. Next phase for the final 8 clubs will be either 2 legs quarterfinals or 4 clubs group stage

I love the new League Phase format of the Champions League, but one of the things that makes it hard to follow is that it hard to follow is knowing the stakes of each game. Teams can have drastically different remaining strength of schedules, and a match might be more must-win for one club then another even if they are currently tied on points.

I created this visual schedule alongside the standings to quantify the difficulty of each team's remaining fixtures based on current opponent rank (1-36). While the standings only reflect 2 matchdays so far, it still provides a clear heatmap of each clubs remaining path, helping you decide which games to tune in for to each matchday.

I will be posting updates to this as the Champions League campaign progresses. Any feedback or suggestions are appreciated!

Following on from the power rankings I made after the first round of league phase play, let's see who improved or regressed:

1. PSG. The way they completely outclassed Manchester City in the first half of the match yesterday should make everyone else in the competition worry because PSG don't typically take the league phase so seriously. I almost though City might beat them because of that but then I saw PSG score twice in 15 minutes. Fact is, if anyone wants to take the cup with big ears this season, they are still the gold standard. Their attack and midfield are both ridiculous, and for large parts of the second half last night their defense also held firm because Haaland and City could've scored several more themselves but for excellent work from the likes of Pacho and Mendes.

2. Barcelona. They fall down a position on the rankings more so because PSG were so dazzling against better opposition but also because for large parts of the first half in Istanbul they looked vulnerable against Galatasaray. If that second Gala goal stands (rightly it didn't obviously) I wonder if they win that game at all. Nonetheless, their attack is absolutely insane. Full of pace and skill, and ruthless enough that they can outscore most teams on the planet even when their defense doesn't hold up. The game at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday could really be an early indicator of which of the two top teams in the rankings have a genuine shout to win it all in Madrid next year.

3. Arsenal. They go up a position by virtue of the team who were above them slipping down mostly. Their defense is still as formidable as ever, and that's now 12 consecutive victories in the league phase of the competition for what it's worth. And even though the attack leaves a bit to be desired, they still haven't scored a single set piece goal this season for all of the set piece FC talk, and Saka, who has certainly not been at his best for two seasons now, has now got 25 goal contributions in 31 Champions League appearances. Not bad for a guy who started as a full back?

4. Bayern Munich. Slip down to fourth because this has been a very rough week for them. Drawing 2-2 with Augsburg in the Bundesliga was bad enough, but then drawing 3-3 with Viking Sturange was even more alarming. They seem to be lacking in control of several matches recently which is not ideal when you're going into a matchweek where you're hosting last season's finalists and will be without your best playmaker due to one of the stupidest double yellows I've seen from any footballer. Still, they've got Harry Kane up top who will certainly fancy his chances against the team he was brought up to hate (as a senior player anyway, if you know you know).

Feel free to add your own opinions down below.

A more effective and much more versatile player. The only reason Yamal seems better is the competition Doue faces both in the NT and at club level. Where he's often sacrificed in other positions.

How could a juiced City win just once, yet Real Madrid won 6 in the same timeframe?

Lots of redditors cry about PSG supposedly benefiting from more rest days, which would give them a supposedly unfair advantage against other teams, and would be the “unfair” reason why they win.

Let’s look at their first champions league, rest days were distributed as follows:

- Brest game 1: equal number of rest days
- Brest game 2: Brest +1 day

- Liverpool game 1: Liverpool +3 days
- Liverpool game 2: equal

- Aston Villa game 1: equal
- Aston Villa game 2: PSG +3 days

- Arsenal game 1: Arsenal +2 days
- Arsenal game 2: equal

Inter Milan final: Inter +1 day

So PSG suffered from having LESS rest days than its opponents on 4 matches (Brest, Liverpool, Arsenal, Inter), but benefitted from more rest days only once, on the away game against Villa. On average, PSG has 3.4 rest days before matches, whereas opponents have 3.9. Cumulatively and across the whole knockout phase, PSG had 3 days of additional rest against opponents, whereas opponents had 7 days of additional rest.

Why do redditors keep spreading this lie? PSG winning with less rest days than their opponents should make their success even more impressive right?

Premier League has an unfair financial advantage over every other league (or even illegal advantage as we just saw with Manchester City), AND has an unfair advantage of having had more rest days than PSG. What other lies will they spread to look down on the success of other clubs?

Do we take them seriously yet? Asking this because some few years ago they were totally unkown. They were amongst the likes of KuPS, Lincoln Red Imps, KÍ or Tre Fiori (naming random clubs). Well, just suddenly, they beat Roma 6-1 at their stadium, making that is the moment (at least for me) of the first time the club had its bit of international attention, and I thought "It was something super improbable, but okay, it happened".

Turns out that Bodø keeps doing these surprises. They did it to Atético, to City, to Sporting, to Dortmund and to Inter. Yet, I think we just can't believe that this is an "extreme small" and random norwegian club from a random 50.000 habitants town actually scratching this status by pure football - and out of nowhere! This is WTF.

But the question remains: do we treat and is Bodø already a medium/big club or just a "FC Riga" with luck and disguise?