2015 - 2016 European Football Season

So much for drubbing... the final score doesn't reflect the truth of the match at all.

https://cdn.streamable.com/video/mp4-mobile/eq5g.mp4

i always knew he was good.

Clever. Chelsea is not eliminated just yet.

Oh feck, what a round. I'm not looking forward to the prospect of losing to those knob goblins in europe, but at the same time I'm nervously excited. I guess it's better than being apathetically bored.

Atletico are such a well drilled team. SImeone and Griezmann is the dream.

Relax, elkoldo :P

lolchelsea XD No but really only Bayern really holds a candle to Barça's form right now... Madrid is just downright pathetic and PSG, Man City and others don't intimidate at all as of right now.

C'mon, Bayern is no better than they were last season. If there's any team that can stand up against Barcelona, it's Chelsea and Chelsea alone. As they've shown time and time again in the past, They've always been a handful even for Guardiola and Rijkaard.

@elkoldo: psshh I mean yeah they're annoying in the way they play, but Atletico is way better right now and Chelsea don't know how to play any other type of football, and we did away with Atletico just fine this season.

@ianhh6: Still I believe one these two possibilities will hold at the end of the season: Either Barca have become the first team to double-win the UCL in over twenty years, OR, Barca have been eliminated by Chelsea. I don't see a third option!!!

Oh and, damn that was a magnificent goal from Messi. Goddamn it he's done it far tooo many times this season already, almost more than I can stand! (against Atletico or Depotivo, just off the top of my head). This little annoying son of a gun...

ROFLMAO :DDDDD I had rough day today and you made me forget it all in a flash with your jest...god bless you!!!

Still I don't believe your wrecked-up team can ever afford to buy them. And Chelsea seem to have finally given up and taken Simeone off their sights and zoomed in on Conte (Conte?! lol already).

lol That proposition seems to be valid even for United.

I think its truth is provable for any arbitrary team :P

Typical Arsenal. ArsenalFanTV is so good after an Arsenal loss, especially one that seems to have dashed all of their hopes lol.

Also, https://fat.gfycat.com/SillyIndolentAntelope.webm.

@elkoldo: Messi is better at scoring free-kicks than bloody penalties! I mean wtf...

Arsenal lol. Their boom-bust cycle never gets old, and it almost always coincides with a loss in the CL knockout round. Chelsea, City and United are all having a shit season, and they still bottle it.

@Brutal_Elitegs: True, but I believe Chelsea will eliminate PSG tonight, and will most likely eliminate Barca the way they've done it before, should they cross paths in later stages.

Fine, I'm done foretelling.

So who do you think now has a chance to beat Barça? Ironically, I think Madrid might do a good UCL, having given up hopes on everything else... But we have yet to see them play another big team... Bayern?

Anyways,we have four of the eight quarter-finalists! Madrid, PSG, Benfica and Wolfsburg. My money's on Barça, Man. City, Bayern and Atletico making it through.

This is where the season really starts to get exciting.

Dortmund would walk the EPL.

Chelsea beat Barca? lol.

We're shit; Liverpool are also shit, but not as shit. The only good thing about van Gaal was that we kept on winning against those gobshites, and now there's nothing. Disappointing, but Dortmund or Villareal are going to win this regardless of who wins this tie. Poor showing by the EPL today.

@ianhh6 said:

@elkoldo said:

Fine, I'm done foretelling.

So who do you think now has a chance to beat Barça? Ironically, I think Madrid might do a good UCL, having given up hopes on everything else... But we have yet to see them play another big team... Bayern?

Like I said I will no longer do foretelling :D but I guess I should prepare to congratulate my Barca-fan friends (such as yourself) on their second successive ULC trophy. Barca seem like they've come from another galaxy. No man can stand in their way.

As for other teams, I hope for the beautiful, hard-working Juve to squeeze past Bayern, and for Atleti to make it through as far as possible (I'm afraid PSV might kick their asses at Caldron, pretty much like Celta did in Copa Del Ray)

Hey, don't be so fucking ungrateful, or you'll start losing against Arsenal as well XD

And wtf is a gobshite?!

Yay for Barca!

Juventus and Bayern going to OT.

Bayern-Juve game was one of the best I've seen in the recent times. As a Juve supporter, I'm disappointed with the result but it was a brilliant performance without some important players such as dybala and chiellini. Hopefully with a few more reinforcements, we'll be competing for the UCL next year. Also, congrats to Bayern.

@winston93: Very generous of you.
I'm not a Juve fan but deep inside I feel heartbroken.

I'm surprised no one has posted upon the events of the past two weeks.

First off, rest in peace Kruyff. It was too early and shocking. Stop dying nice guys.

In case you haven't noticed, UCL is coming up this week, with Bacra facing Atletico once again (or twice again, to be precise! ). If Atleti are to stand any chance, they must avoid physically challenging Barca players. This has been Atletico's approach in the past two years, and they've lost all six encounters, finishing the last match with nine men!

Also classico is coming up tomorrow. Even though its final score will take no toll on determining the season's champions, it will be interesting to watch, as it always has been.

@elkoldo: Yeah, though news was sparse, but now look at everything there is to talk about :P

Is anybody surprised at the Madrid-Wolfsburg matchup? I know I'm not XD Still, I think RM is greatly inferior to us, Bayern, Atletico and PSG so it literally does not matter in the grand scheme of things.

As for Johan Cruyff, may he rest in peace... we're all very much aware of how Barça, nor indeed football would not be what it is today without him and his philosophy... He basically created who we are today, and that goes for everything the Spanish national team achieved from 2008 to 2012. All thanks to his genius.

And of course, you know the rest: EL CLASICOOOOOOOOO

Kek. Oh well... I'm not sure what to say about the match... I feel the first 8 men for Barça were insanely dominant for a huge portion of the game, while strangely enough Messi, Neymar and Suarez simply weren't up to the task. Barça seemed superior in skill and plan when they had a cool head, but could easily lose control for a few minutes at a time, which is exactly what RM wants.

I'm not too worried where quality is concerned, and I feel even the players themselves know they weren't moving past second gear for this match. I just hope this pays off in the future with a better performance in champions and a quick securing of the Liga.

All in all? Madrid played the better game by far, but Barça still play the better football.

@ianhh6: Hopefully last night's match will give Atletico the angle to smash Barca: Psychologically speaking, It's already a difficult task to recover from any defeat, it becomes twice as difficult if you have to do so in only a couple of days' time, after you've lost at home to arch rivals.

eh... go on, get your hopes up :P

@ianhh6: lol...ianh you funnny little son of a gun :D

@elkoldo: I want you ready to give your thoughts on tomorrow's match XD hopefully we win and it isn't with any polemic refereeing...

Conte has been appointed as Chelsea's manager. As a juve fan, it will be interesting to see how he fares at Chelsea. He did quit juve apparently for the lack of funds and not getting the player he wanted who ironically was Cuadrado. But will always be grateful for what he has done for the club both as a player and manager.

@ianhh6: My understanding is that Atletico's rather physical approach in the past six matches all but backfired, so they have to reorganize their plans.

And with any luck, Saturday's Classico will take its toll :D

That said, I never EXPECT Atletico to beat Barca.

As usual, Atletico giving us trouble... Thank god Torres is an idiot and committed two very stupid fouls. We were having trouble with Koke, Griezmann and Torres up front, but with one man less we were able to put the pressure closer to Atletico's goal.

They were both very clear yellow cards, I don't kow why they're complaining so much over in Madrid. Now they're whining about refs always favouring us because we're the team that most has their rivals finishing with 10 men or less... which is kinda normal if you're the team with the most ball possession , since it means the opposing team is going to have to tackle more and, consequently, commit more fouls XD

Still, Atletico only need 1 goal in the Calderon, which is something they can achieve. I don't feel at all like we're in semis yet...

@winston93: I'm sure at Chelsea funds won't be his biggest problem :P Though now he might find nobody wants to go to Chelsea, given their poor form XD

@ianhh6: I think the lack of CL is what that would drive top players away from Chelsea more than their form, but then again with the money they've got and the allurement of the PL most players wouldn't have a problem. Even china was able to acquire some top talent for their league.

Also, Conte has been getting a lot of negative press for not focussing on upcoming Euro 2016 with Italy. He's apparently visited chelsea's HQ to have a chat with the players, which he vehemently denied only for hiddink to confirm that he was present. To make matters worse, he's also been accused of match-fixing for which the result is yet to come. If it does not go his way, he is looking at a six months jail time.

Aaaaaand that marks the end of Barcelona's UCL run... honestly the sudden drop in form has been quite astounding. Let's see if they can hold on to the Liga and Copa del Rey...

@elkoldo go on... gloat :P Atletico have, once again, a solid chance... While Barça has dropped drastically in form, and Madrid is still somewhat unpredictable, Atletico have been revving their engines for the past month and are looking like beasts.

****'s sake

we're miles away from having those sort of nights with Van Ghoul in charge. For the sake of my health, Liverpool and City need to get knocked out next round,

With Barca gone I hope Man City wins it all just for the lulz and because I hate the other 3 teams.

@ianhh6: First of all, sorry for being too late. My telephone line has been down for quite a while, so I haven't had access to the internet. Just for the record, it's still down, and I won't be bothered to get it fixed; We're moving into a new apartment :D

That brings us to Barca. Condolences for the early elimination. The home defeat to Real Madrid came at the worst time. At this level, a boosted mental condition is a must-have for anyone climbing the mountain to trophy, and the Classico knocked them off the path, psyched them out pretty bad, so much so that they thew away a 13 point lead in a blink of an eye, as well as the UCL. Now, I can't stop going back to 2011. At roughly the same stage of the season, Barca lost the Copa Del Rey final against Madrid, but somehow they weren't knocked off. I will always remember David Villa's line after the match: "The most important part of the season is yet to come". I think that was Gurdiola's effect: coming back only stronger after a defeat. The very following week, they hammered Real Madrid at Bernabeu, with Messi scoring one the most amazing goals I've ever seen. I know it's easier said than done, but you should not allow a setback get under your skin, you should fight it back.

In all fairness though, I think Barcelona were entitled to a rightful late penalty, which was reduced to only a free kick. The penalty would've taken the game to extra time, and who knows what would've happened there. Barca, along with Juventus (especially the latter) were this season's biggest victims of wrong referring decisions. But hell, there's no point dwelling on that. Referees are humans after all, like everyone else they're entitled make to mistakes.

And on a side note, the Liverpool - Dortmund match was an astonishing life lesson: Fight to the end.

@elkoldo: Given the planning and the performance, I'd say Barça doesn't deserve a treble anyways (though the national double would be just). The drop in performance is understandable, and besides Atletico are simply astounding right now. 1-0 against Bayern, with a great advantage going to Munich, playing defensively but not completely unsportsmanlike... it's great. I said the same thing of 2014 but... This is their year. They have to win it, though it's probable that they'll find Madrid at the final again, and a single match is dangerous...

So yeah I want Barça to win the Copa and Liga, but all eyes are on Europe right now. Hell even the Europa League is looking very interesting, with Villarreal's last minute goal against Liverpool and Sevilla's 2-2 draw away. So in short:

ATLEEEEEEEEEETI!

Leicester is on the verge of winning the EPL. Incredible achievement so far. I don't think such feats would happen soon. Also, I'm a little surprised bayern haven't wrapped up the title yet.

And they've clinched it. I'm not sure that there could ever be an equivalent to what Leicester has done this season in American sports, the only thing I think I could put similar odds on for this upcoming season would be the Browns not just winning the Super Bowl (500-to-1 odds), but also going 19-0 in the process. I only wish I hadn't missed the excitement, as I started doing HW at halftime presuming it was over and didn't turn back around till right after it was made 2-2.

@Boston_Boyy: I'm not sure that we could compare anyways... The USA isn't divided into divisions where teams are categorized, and they way they draft players is made in such a way that it favours the least advantaged team.

I can't think of anything quite like what Leicester have done, unless we go all the way back to Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest. Here in Spain Atletico de Madrid has earned a lot of respect for the level of competition at which the play against Barça and Madrid, but Atletico certainly is not Leicester, they certainly weren't in second division two seasons ago, and they count with a squad of internationals, even if they don't have a Messi or a CR7...

No, Leicester is something else, and it's something I didn't even think would be possible in this day and age anymore, with clubs, sponsors and players being grander than ever. Let's see if they don't get torn apart over the transfer window and how well they do in the UCL!

Oh and this one team called Bayern Munich is playing another team called Atletico, or something like that? Anyways, nothing to see here. Likely 90 minutes of time-wasting, complaining, and watching Bayern do the equivalent of kicking the ball against a concrete wall.

Tomorrow is gonna be even worse in terms of quality football. My bet is RM - ATM in the final.

Welp, my prediction was right, and of course there was better football in the Bayern - Atlético match than the other pseudo-Europa League match. I don't think I've ever seen a team reach the UCL final with a road as easy as Madrid's. Atlético, on the other hand, defeated Barcelona AND Bayern Munich... They deserve this!!

ATLEEEEEEEEETIIIII!!!!

Aaand it's happeniiiiiiiiing @elkoldo you better be supporting Atlético like a fanboy right now!

I'll be back in two hours either celebrating or crying :p

Ramos was offside :(