no irony there--- he's won more champions leagues than most-- than all actually i think?

Yes, four finals, three titles. I meant that Guardiola was supposed to be the megamaster who would lead Bayern Munich to win more UEFACLs after Heynckes' success, but if Bayern wins the Champions League this year it's gonna be The Pep's veteran replacement who will achieve the feat, while Guardiola himself tries to make sense of the Premiership.

Speaking of, has the predicted quantum quality leap in Manchester City from Pellegrini to Guardiola really happened? I'm not trying to be a dick; I'm posing the question honestly. Me, I preferred it when Touré and Silva were in clear charge of the attacking midfield instead of this intermitent mess.

oh yeah i get your meaning now. and--fuck pep! ha ha ha ha

i used to miss heynckes. now not so much.

I'd say they're worse under Pep. They've lost focus in attack and they're definitely weaker in defence. They're less than the sum of their parts, which is the opposite of what I'd expect from one of his teams.

I ultimately think he's baffled by the sheer relentless intensity of the Prem. The way teams he probably assumed he could stroll past show him no respect. I also think he's a bit rattled by the quite confrontational nature of the British press.

I'm not getting into the whole 'Prem is the best league' argument but I always thought it would be his biggest challenge, not for its quality, necessarily, but for its utter competitiveness. And right now I don't think he's coping with it very well at all.

But we can only really start to judge him next season, when he has the players he wants in place, better suited to his ideas. I'm having my doubts though.

I don't get that. Messi had some injury issues the past couple of seasons but if anything, I'd say it's Ronaldo who's had the greater dip (by his standards)

All I can say in comparison is I've watched both about equally and I'd say they're about even in terms of effectiveness. The difference for me is that while I'm regularly astounded by what Ronaldo achieves, his focus, his strength, his power, I'm never mesmorized by him the way I am with Messi. Ronaldo plays football with a conviction I'm not sure I've ever seen before, whereas Messi plays it with an ability that goes beyond anyone I think I've ever seen before. Maybe Maradona, but Messi has done it more consistently.


Pretty much singlendedly dragged a very unimpressive Argentina to the final? Admittedly he wasn't that great but then nor was Ronaldo when Portugal won the Euros.

Well that Arsenal match was just daft. I'm as far an arsenal fan as you can get, but that was just sad to watch.

Suspect the rot is too far gone now in that team. Even if Wenger left tomorrow it'd be a couple of years before they'd have any level of success again.

Oh and Ramos *kisses forehead* love the guy.

Also! If Everton went and got Oxlade-Chamberlain I'd be a happy man indeed.

I've learned to love Ramos. I'm not sure what my problem was with him before but whatever it was it's over. Love him.

@demonyo-for me mascherano was really the force that drove them

@h8kurdt-i felt sorry as well as i said earlier but the first half they did look good. koscielny really did them in.

and fucking ramos, i hate him about the same as cronaldo, but the fucker is so good ha ha ha. congrats on your team making it to the quarterfinal.

I don't hate Arsenal as a team but their fans are the worst, so I kind of want Wenger to stay just for the spectacle of seeing them descend even deeper into despair.

I agree on that. The outrage and the attitude of "we deserve to be champions" is what galls the most for me. So yeah, take that extension on your contract, Wenger, this is just a blip!

Who's watching watching tonight? I'm gonna be Captain Obvious and watch the Barca/PSG game. They can't fail like Arsenal did last night, can they?

im torn beetween the games. in theory i could watch them on a split screen but to me that's just some gimmick for gamblers--i can't really follow 2 games at once. hard enough to follow the 2 teams in one game (i tend to focus more on one side always)

really want dortmund to do well today but i might just go with the tide and watch barca psg also. could be another historic drubbing...

if i'm reading this correctly, arsenal's mediocrity is not really due to arsène himself but to corporate policies that emphasize stock valuation over football success

https://www.theguardian.com/football...wenger-time-up

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and this... this speaks of better fans in a different era

https://www.theguardian.com/football...spartak-moscow

at this hour im thinking there's bound to be more drama in the dortmund game. they didn't score abroad and lost by a goal. if benfica scores dortmund will have to overcome that plus add two goals.

anyway let's see if this works. lineups:


subs: Weidenfeller, Guerreiro, Schürrle, Kagawa, Merino, Ginter, Passlack
no reus! OUCH. no götze? damn! <-- just found out he has an apparently serious medical problem. damn! poor guy.

elsewhere on the planet:



hilarious that someone made a graphic & posted it on twitter right away

yes!!!!! auba starts early

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then little pulisic & auba again!

hurrah

maybe i can switch channels now... hm...

holy shit 3-0 there too? i probably should...

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just tuned in to a 5-1 with 4 min to go barca psg ha ha ha

No Fuckin Way No Fuckin Way Watttttt

HOOOOLEEEEE SHIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTT

DAAAAMN

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this is fucking bananas. wat da fuc! i need to rewatch this uauauauuuu

how the fuck did they do it?????

amazing!

Incredible...just...just incredible. I'll be thinking about that one all day tomorrow!
Two things-Neymar is just so good. Suarez, on the other hand, is a diving TWAT

It' was a match that makes me feel a bit sorry for people who don't like football.