Obviously the champions league is the only challenge we have this season.

madrid5:
we still get champions league

#wetoo

Debroslink:


When I posted this since last year September that #PasstoMessi tactics is all about Messi creating and scoring @ the expense of other players in the team, some mofos here tagged me a Ronaldo fan.

I noticed this way back in 2012/13 when Messi scored 91 goals and no other forward scored up till 25 goals. MSN changed that tactics, Neymar scored like 40 goals that season and we won treble. Since Neymar left, we went back to #PasstoMessi tactics which can NEVER delivered UCL.

That's why Argentina will NEVER win a title as long as the tactics is #PasstoMessi tactics. Messi will score all the goals and assists, but Aguero, Higuain will put on Suarez's current form and play rubbish.

To some extent you may be right. Neymar left 2 years after Barcelona won the UCL in 2014/2015 season. Passtomessi is something very old, not new, it has nothing to do with Neymar. even Neymar passed a lot to Messi especially in the treble winning season! Our coach is weak, always trying be too cautious and clever spits!!!

Dortmund are the ultimate bottlers of europe

tesppidd:
If you're looking for a world class player who became shiit so quick,


Look no further than Marcelo Vieira Da Silva.

Marcelo was always shit at defending...it's just more obvious now that his attacking output is low.

Excallibur:
Dortmund are the ultimate bottlers of europe

Tottenham says hi!

tesppidd:
Obviously the champions league is the only challenge we have this season.

E go be like film, but Lyon will eliminate you guys.

tesppidd:
Obviously the champions league is the only challenge we have this season.

We still have copa semis

The league is in the bag already

weedtaker:
E go be like film, but Lyon will eliminate you guys.

Did you skip your English classes.

I said "Champions league will be our challenge"

Not;

"We will win the champions league"

weedtaker:
E go be like film, but Lyon will eliminate you guys.

we win eliminate lyon.

if possible beat them home and away.

IKON can you see how your dummy striker aka NEPA Striker killed almost all our attacking moves and even lost 4 sitters. I hope you come up with a reasonable excuse.
As me oh, I no put hope again for winning UCL. I love my heart and cannot afford another heartbreak not with Valverde as coach and NEPA striker as our preferred 9.
To all you cules bashing Vidal, just know he brings a balance to the midfield. A little brawl in the middle couple with creativity of Busquet won't hurt.
As for Messi not passing to KDB, Messi should know better not to allow his off field romance with Luiz scatter the team..

calculator123:
IKON can you see how your dummy striker aka NEPA Striker killed almost all our attacking moves and even lost 4 sitters. I hope you come up with a reasonable excuse.
As me oh, I no put hope again for winning UCL. I love my heart and cannot afford another heartbreak not with Valverde as coach and NEPA striker as our preferred 9.
To all you cules bashing Vidal, just know he brings a balance to the midfield. A little brawl in the middle couple with creativity of Busquet won't hurt.
As for Messi not passing to KDB, Messi should know better not to allow his off field romance with Luiz scatter the team..

please don't forget to add the 360, its IKON360 so I can see your mention.
I only watched 1st half and to be honest, as much as I like Suarez last weekend, the whole 4 forwards we had just dey mumu, EVEN SUAREZ, 1st half Dembele dey mumu, by 2nd half all the forwards joined in. Its like I'll just focus on my books and leave football alone. Imagine our defense are more reliable than our forwards. Barca board are stupid o, sign better striker they signed Boateng, did you see that shot he wanted to use 2 wound fans? If I was Valverde na 2 just resign because he can't do more, he brings in players with fluidity, and creativity but the same players rather choose to miss Chances let Pique of all people be winning us penalties. Abeg lemme rest, Debroslink you can sacrifice me

And the painful part is that Malcolm can't play Messi's wing like Messi, neither can Dembele. So playing anyone else playing that wing deprives us of Messi's creativity whenever Messi were to play as a false 9. Its really a tough spot Valverde is in. Suarez can create space but he is the NEPA, Messi can play that wing, but who will play Messi's wing?

calculator123:
IKON can you see how your dummy striker aka NEPA Striker killed almost all our attacking moves and even lost 4 sitters. I hope you come up with a reasonable excuse.
As me oh, I no put hope again for winning UCL. I love my heart and cannot afford another heartbreak not with Valverde as coach and NEPA striker as our preferred 9.
To all you cules bashing Vidal, just know he brings a balance to the midfield. A little brawl in the middle couple with creativity of Busquet won't hurt.
As for Messi not passing to KDB, Messi should know better not to allow his off field romance with Luiz scatter the team..

I have always supported suarez but i agree with all what you said

Vidal is always best option to start, people should stop ranting, arthur melo is injured, Alena cant start a serious champions league game over vidal.

andrew444:


I have always supported suarez but i agree with all what you said

Vidal is always best option to start, people should stop ranting, arthur melo is injured, Alena cant start a serious champions league game over vidal.

What of coutinho in the middle

What do you guys think of a 4-2-3-1 formation with the resources we have on ground?

The 4: Semedo(Roberto); Pique; Lenglet(Umtiti); Alba

The 2: Busquets and Rakitic (Until Arthur comes back)

The 3: Dembele; Coutinho; Messi (all playing as creating 10's)

The 1: NEPA

cumz:



What of coutinho in the middle

Thank you for reminding me bro

Coutinho is another good option in the middle I will consider .

IKON360:

please don't forget to add the 360, its IKON360 so I can see your mention.
I only watched 1st half and to be honest, as much as I like Suarez last weekend, the whole 4 forwards we had just dey mumu, EVEN SUAREZ, 1st half Dembele dey mumu, by 2nd half all the forwards joined in. Its like I'll just focus on my books and leave football alone. Imagine our defense are more reliable than our forwards. Barca board are stupid o, sign better striker they signed Boateng, did you see that shot he wanted to use 2 wound fans? If I was Valverde na 2 just resign because he can't do more, he brings in players with fluidity, and creativity but the same players rather choose to miss Chances let Pique of all people be winning us penalties. Abeg lemme rest, Debroslink you can sacrifice me

lol glad you have seen the light. No top 9 should be Happy doing dummy runs, no be why we dey pay you wages. Dembele is excusable, dude just came back from injury and even showed flashes of brilliance. Boateng hasn't got enough playing time , I still believe he would come good as for E.V if I hear say e retire

IKON360:
And the painful part is that Malcolm can't play Messi's wing like Messi, neither can Dembele. So playing anyone else playing that wing deprives us of Messi's creativity whenever Messi were to play as a false 9. Its really a tough spot Valverde is in. Suarez can create space but he is the NEPA, Messi can play that wing, but who will play Messi's wing?

Dembele and Malcolm might not be as good as Messi in that wing but I still prefer an MMD Frontline

Isomerizm:
What do you guys think of a 4-2-3-1 formation with the resources we have on ground?

The 4: Semedo(Roberto); Pique; Lenglet(Umtiti); Alba

The 2: Busquets and Rakitic (Until Arthur comes back)

The 3: Dembele; Coutinho; Messi (all playing as creating 10's)

The 1: NEPA

replace NEPA with KDB, he looks better. Just give KDB some few games, I believe he would come good. I can see the hunger in his eyes to succeed and succeed he would

calculator123:

Dembele and Malcolm might not be as good as Messi in that wing but I still prefer an MMD Frontline

even if Valverde does it, will uncle Perez and co agree? Paying Suarez and Coutinho how much they are being paid? Hmm, I doubt it but that trio go make sense over

calculator123:

lol glad you have seen the light. No top 9 should be Happy doing dummy runs, no be why we dey pay you wages. Dembele is excusable, dude just came back from injury and even showed flashes of brilliance. Boateng hasn't got enough playing time , I still believe he would come good as for E.V if I hear say e retire

I heard we have signed Jovic, let's see if next season he can have some of the things Suarez has to offer, excluding his disgusting penchant for missing glaring opportunities

IKON360:

I heard we have signed Jovic, let's see if next season he can have some of the things Suarez has to offer, excluding his disgusting penchant for missing glaring opportunities

Jovic will come good and he uses both feet to strike which is an advantage.

Na wa, person name na NEPA

LYON: BUILT TO DO DAMAGE TO BARÇA


It has been a very long time since Barcelona traveled to Lyon to do anything except inquire about or sign a French talent.

The last Champions League outing was a 1-1 draw, Thierry Henry netting to answer a lustrous Juninho Olimpico. Back then, Lyon was a monster, the PSG of that era, when the only question was how much they were going to win Ligue 1 by. Then came petrodollars.

Lyon sits third in the table at present, within shouting distance of a surprising Lille, with PSG of course the runaway leaders. Lyon is also a confounding club (a lot like Barça), who can beat PSG then struggle to hold on to a draw against last-place — though far better than its record — Guingamp.

A great many culers are pretty smug about this tie. It’s worth reminding that a lot of people were smug about Manchester United’s chances against Paris St.-Germain, without Neymar and Cavani. Until a ball is kicked, predictions are only worth the paper they are printed on. Lyon is a dangerous, dangerous side.

This season in particular, Barça has been most susceptible to pace. Lyon has pace at every position. Even their CBs close fast. Jason Denayer is capable of running laps around Suarez. Marcelo Guedes will also be a handful. Both are also a real danger on set pieces also, as strong headers of the ball with springs in their boots.

Culers should breathe a sigh of relief that Nabil Fekir is suspended for the first leg. His combination with Tanguy N’Dombele is fearsome. Make no mistake, Lyon is punching below its weight, as defined by its league position. Like Barça, they play off the front foot, often with CBs and fullbacks pressed up. This is the luxury of pace.

Up front, Bertrand Traore is — yes — strong and pacy. He’s capable of playing off the shoulder of a defense, but also just flat-out leaving a centerback in the dust. He is capable of shotmaking skill and versatility, even if he is also capable of some Suarez-like clunkers. On his game, he’s a force that can dominate a match.

And then there is Ferland Mendy. Jordi Alba is, on form, if not the best left back in football, your mind strains to think of who might be as good. Mendy is near the bottom of that short list. This is a fullback that, because of astonishing pace, can play like a winger. He runs, dribbles, passes, lays in cross after cross for the likes of Traore and Memphis. He’s another player capable of turning a match on his own. We can only presume that Semedo didn’t play against Valladolid because he was watching Mendy video all weekend. This is going to be a fascinating matchup. The Barça right back, whoever that is, potentially holds the tie in his hands.

And we haven’t even gotten to N’Dombele. Though his participation is somewhat doubtful, the midfielder is one of the players smart money had Barça going for if the De Jong transfer hadn’t worked out. Some would have even preferred him to De Jong, though that decision would have marked a seismic philosophical change for the Catalan club.

For people who don’t follow L1, N’Dombele’s coming out party was against Manchester City. It was a performance that showed off all of his strengths: pace, balance, passing facility, ability to break lines, strength and technical facility. There is a reason that Jean-Michel Aulas, head of Lyon, has said that the much-buzzed-about midfielder will not even be discussed for less than Pogba money.

And then there’s Memphis, aka Mister 98 Percent. He’s another quick, fast, skillful attacker on the Lyon front line who, like Alexis Sanchez when he was at Barcelona, will do 98 percent of the stuff right to score a goal, then screw up at the end. But when he gets it right, he is a torment, and is fantastic moving in confined spaces as well.

In goal, Anthony Lopes is a strong, reflex keeper of the sort that can have a blinder of a match against the logical football that an idealized Barcelona plays.

Like Real Madrid in many ways, Lyon don’t have a defined tactical structure as much as they look to press advantages and create running space for their attackers. A favorite is the diagonal ball on the groud to a streaking Traore, or Mendy running up the wing to be Alba. But Lyon have strong headers of the ball, so those crosses might come high or low. One thing will work in favor of Barcelona is that the match will be open. That’s how Lyon plays, and needs to play, because a tight match negates every one of their tactical and physical strengths.

If none of this still has you worried, you haven’t been paying any attention. All of this said. Lyon could show up without its heads screwed on, and lay a 0-4 plonker against Barça. They’re that kind of a club. But they could also quite easily beat Barça. They are faster at every position except where Dembele will be playing, so possession will be crucial for Barcelona. Of all the matches for Arthur to be absent …

The roster I would choose against Lyon is the one we’re least likely to see: Ter Stegen, Semedo, Pique, Umtiti, Alba, Busquets, Raktic, Alenya, Malcom, Messi, Dembele. This is, essentially, a group of the fastest and most skillful players that Barcelona have on the team. There’s a reason.

Umtiti hasn’t played a competitive match in months, so Lenglet will probably start. Putting a reactive defender against Traore and Memphis will be interesting to watch. Pique will have a lot of work to do. Malcom would start over Suarez for me because Lyon’s CBs are susceptible to a fast break off the shoulder. That isn’t going to happen with Suarez.

Most likely, Valverde will start what has become his gala XI: Ter Stegen, Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba, Busquets, Rakitic, Vidal, Messi, Suarez, Dembele. And we will worry every time Lyon have the ball as they explode up the wings. This will be a tiring match for Barcelona, with league implications as Sevilla away will be next on the docket. That significant lead over Atleti and Real Madrid could come in handy.

Prediction? A scoring draw, either 1-1 or 2-2, then Barça will do the trick at home. But it won’t be easy. If N’Dombele doesn’t play that first leg, it will be a lot less fraught in midfield, but the wings will still be a constant danger. Neutrals will have the most fun with this one.

- BarcelonaFootballBlog

Abimloaded:
LYON: BUILT TO DO DAMAGE TO BARÇA


It has been a very long time since Barcelona traveled to Lyon to do anything except inquire about or sign a French talent.

The last Champions League outing was a 1-1 draw, Thierry Henry netting to answer a lustrous Juninho Olimpico. Back then, Lyon was a monster, the PSG of that era, when the only question was how much they were going to win Ligue 1 by. Then came petrodollars.

Lyon sits third in the table at present, within shouting distance of a surprising Lille, with PSG of course the runaway leaders. Lyon is also a confounding club (a lot like Barça), who can beat PSG then struggle to hold on to a draw against last-place — though far better than its record — Guingamp.

A great many culers are pretty smug about this tie. It’s worth reminding that a lot of people were smug about Manchester United’s chances against Paris St.-Germain, without Neymar and Cavani. Until a ball is kicked, predictions are only worth the paper they are printed on. Lyon is a dangerous, dangerous side.

This season in particular, Barça has been most susceptible to pace. Lyon has pace at every position. Even their CBs close fast. Jason Denayer is capable of running laps around Suarez. Marcelo Guedes will also be a handful. Both are also a real danger on set pieces also, as strong headers of the ball with springs in their boots.

Culers should breathe a sigh of relief that Nabil Fekir is suspended for the first leg. His combination with Tanguy N’Dombele is fearsome. Make no mistake, Lyon is punching below its weight, as defined by its league position. Like Barça, they play off the front foot, often with CBs and fullbacks pressed up. This is the luxury of pace.

Up front, Bertrand Traore is — yes — strong and pacy. He’s capable of playing off the shoulder of a defense, but also just flat-out leaving a centerback in the dust. He is capable of shotmaking skill and versatility, even if he is also capable of some Suarez-like clunkers. On his game, he’s a force that can dominate a match.

And then there is Ferland Mendy. Jordi Alba is, on form, if not the best left back in football, your mind strains to think of who might be as good. Mendy is near the bottom of that short list. This is a fullback that, because of astonishing pace, can play like a winger. He runs, dribbles, passes, lays in cross after cross for the likes of Traore and Memphis. He’s another player capable of turning a match on his own. We can only presume that Semedo didn’t play against Valladolid because he was watching Mendy video all weekend. This is going to be a fascinating matchup. The Barça right back, whoever that is, potentially holds the tie in his hands.

And we haven’t even gotten to N’Dombele. Though his participation is somewhat doubtful, the midfielder is one of the players smart money had Barça going for if the De Jong transfer hadn’t worked out. Some would have even preferred him to De Jong, though that decision would have marked a seismic philosophical change for the Catalan club.

For people who don’t follow L1, N’Dombele’s coming out party was against Manchester City. It was a performance that showed off all of his strengths: pace, balance, passing facility, ability to break lines, strength and technical facility. There is a reason that Jean-Michel Aulas, head of Lyon, has said that the much-buzzed-about midfielder will not even be discussed for less than Pogba money.

And then there’s Memphis, aka Mister 98 Percent. He’s another quick, fast, skillful attacker on the Lyon front line who, like Alexis Sanchez when he was at Barcelona, will do 98 percent of the stuff right to score a goal, then screw up at the end. But when he gets it right, he is a torment, and is fantastic moving in confined spaces as well.

In goal, Anthony Lopes is a strong, reflex keeper of the sort that can have a blinder of a match against the logical football that an idealized Barcelona plays.

Like Real Madrid in many ways, Lyon don’t have a defined tactical structure as much as they look to press advantages and create running space for their attackers. A favorite is the diagonal ball on the groud to a streaking Traore, or Mendy running up the wing to be Alba. But Lyon have strong headers of the ball, so those crosses might come high or low. One thing will work in favor of Barcelona is that the match will be open. That’s how Lyon plays, and needs to play, because a tight match negates every one of their tactical and physical strengths.

If none of this still has you worried, you haven’t been paying any attention. All of this said. Lyon could show up without its heads screwed on, and lay a 0-4 plonker against Barça. They’re that kind of a club. But they could also quite easily beat Barça. They are faster at every position except where Dembele will be playing, so possession will be crucial for Barcelona. Of all the matches for Arthur to be absent …

The roster I would choose against Lyon is the one we’re least likely to see: Ter Stegen, Semedo, Pique, Umtiti, Alba, Busquets, Raktic, Alenya, Malcom, Messi, Dembele. This is, essentially, a group of the fastest and most skillful players that Barcelona have on the team. There’s a reason.

Umtiti hasn’t played a competitive match in months, so Lenglet will probably start. Putting a reactive defender against Traore and Memphis will be interesting to watch. Pique will have a lot of work to do. Malcom would start over Suarez for me because Lyon’s CBs are susceptible to a fast break off the shoulder. That isn’t going to happen with Suarez.

Most likely, Valverde will start what has become his gala XI: Ter Stegen, Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba, Busquets, Rakitic, Vidal, Messi, Suarez, Dembele. And we will worry every time Lyon have the ball as they explode up the wings. This will be a tiring match for Barcelona, with league implications as Sevilla away will be next on the docket. That significant lead over Atleti and Real Madrid could come in handy.

Prediction? A scoring draw, either 1-1 or 2-2, then Barça will do the trick at home. But it won’t be easy. If N’Dombele doesn’t play that first leg, it will be a lot less fraught in midfield, but the wings will still be a constant danger. Neutrals will have the most fun with this one.

- BarcelonaFootballBlog

all these ontop Lyon matter?

cumz:



What of coutinho in the middle

Our midfield would be torn apart, we need vidal marking and harying skill set, busquets and rakitic are getting old and become a bit slow, vidal Natural instincts and never say die attitude is needed in away games in the UCL knockout rounds

If i hear say Barça no beat Lyon in a resounding manner over both legs!!!

IKON360:

I heard we have signed Jovic, let's see if next season he can have some of the things Suarez has to offer, excluding his disgusting penchant for missing glaring opportunities

so you think Suarez issue is just his disastrous covertion rate? Dude rarely tracks back and plays like he is being forced. As for Jovic, dude has potential hopefully he clicks

IKON360:

even if Valverde does it, will uncle Perez and co agree? Paying Suarez and Coutinho how much they are being paid? Hmm, I doubt it but that trio go make sense over

That was how we thought We disliked Dembele without knowing the real reason behind such action. if he decides not to play MMD, he must have seen something.

philfearon:
If i hear say Barça no beat Lyon in a resounding manner over both legs!!!

I doubt the beating would be resounding. Take a good look at the team, fatigue is setting in slowly

ClintonNzedimma:
Na wa, person name na NEPA

. calling him NEPA is an insult to NEPA because NEPA steady pass the guy