GWT: Champions League Round of 16

[Bures Elbow]

Bayern?

we're royally ****ed!

 

[Hadoop]

Worst. Draw. Possible. For Atletico (by far).

Must be punishment from the footballing gods for their 0-0 draws against PSV.

 

[cgf]

Does CR7 score a hattrick in each leg? Or will Real rest him for the second match?

 

[hatterson]

Has a team ever had a luckier draw than Real?

Somehow it wouldn't surprise me if Benfica advanced and that's who Real drew in the semis

 

[cgf]

Has a team ever had a luckier draw than Real?

Somehow it wouldn't surprise me if Benfica advanced and that's who Real drew in the semis

Pretty sure this would shock everyone if it somehow came to pass.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Uefalona right guys?

 

[Power Man]

Oh and let's not forget RM will be facing this guy :

 

[les Habs]

Since McSorely didn't say anything about keeping our bet in wraps, I thought I'd go public. I PMed him after I saw the draw and his comments about Madrid's chances and he agreed to the deal. Here it is:

-If Wolfsburg goes though I have to buy him a new VW Beetle in white and get a custom airbrushed portrait of Ronaldo on the hood. He agreed to whatever gas mileage the Beetle actually gets not being an issue.

-If Madrid goes through he has to buy me a new Audi RS 7. I didn't request any airbrushing.

Now he just needs to confirm.

 

[cgf]

McSorley don't do it! I'll take that bet and will accept a much cheaper new vehicle...

I actually like a lot of things VFL has going for it, especially since they've gotten the front three of Schurrle-Kruse-Draxler to start clicking. But they lack some creative drive from the midfield trio (where Maxi alone just isn't enough); and their CB+GK combo is suicide at this level, even with excellent FBs and a very tough midfield. A big part of why Caliguri and Vierinha were able to keep Schurrle & Draxler from taking over the wings for so long, was the work they did against the ball. Letting VFL lock down the wide areas and pray that their midfield could shield the back line sufficiently for them not to get shredded on the counter.

 

[Power Man]

Since McSorely didn't say anything about keeping our bet in wraps, I thought I'd go public. I PMed him after I saw the draw and his comments about Madrid's chances and he agreed to the deal. Here it is:

-If Wolfsburg goes though I have to buy him a new VW Beetle in white and get a custom airbrushed portrait of Ronaldo on the hood. He agreed to whatever gas mileage the Beetle actually gets not being an issue.

-If Madrid goes through he has to buy me a new Audi RS 7. I didn't request any airbrushing.

Now he just needs to confirm.

 

[YNWA14]

Since McSorely didn't say anything about keeping our bet in wraps, I thought I'd go public. I PMed him after I saw the draw and his comments about Madrid's chances and he agreed to the deal. Here it is:

-If Wolfsburg goes though I have to buy him a new VW Beetle in white and get a custom airbrushed portrait of Ronaldo on the hood. He agreed to whatever gas mileage the Beetle actually gets not being an issue.

-If Madrid goes through he has to buy me a new Audi RS 7. I didn't request any airbrushing.

Now he just needs to confirm.

This might be the worst agreement I've ever seen. Of course the gas mileage matters.

 

[Halladay]

Has a team ever had a luckier draw than Real?

Somehow it wouldn't surprise me if Benfica advanced and that's who Real drew in the semis

Madrid the previous two years had to play BVB ( previous year runner up) and Bayern (reigning winner) before beating Atletico in the final. Last year they had to face Atletico in the quarterfinals. Nothing lucky at all about those matchups, yet the notion is it is rigger for them. Everybody likes a good conspiracy theory though.

 

[cgf]

The CL is obviously rigged for Real.

Unfortunately it is also rigged for Barcelona, Bayern, Juventus, Milan, United, and any other famous club that doesn't draw tough opponents in every round.

 

[Bures Elbow]

We pretty much have no chance vs Bayern, only if big money from TV didnt come into footy, and we maintained our status as one of the biggest teams in Europe.

We still are historically, but losing our top players year after year relegates us to a tier 2 team on paper.

Need to pray everyone is fit, and Luisao + Salvio are back for this one.

 

[Balance]

I like the corruption of UEFA to do a re-drawing at every round.

Soccer, the most corrupt sport ever.

 

[Panteras]

I've got to find another team to root for, until Perez is gone

Maybe some mid table team

lol dude you're sounding like Edonator. But yeah, the way RM llayed that 2nd leg vs Roma one has to wonder a team with some good finishers would have scored like 4 on them.

 

[les Habs]

Madrid the previous two years had to play BVB ( previous year runner up) and Bayern (reigning winner) before beating Atletico in the final. Last year they had to face Atletico in the quarterfinals. Nothing lucky at all about those matchups, yet the notion is it is rigger for them. Everybody likes a good conspiracy theory though.

They've had some very favorable draws the past five years or so. Rigged or not, they get some good draws. On top of that, if you make the Semis and surely the Final you're going to get at least one tough draw. So citing a couple of them doesn't really say much.

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Godin is supposed to miss the 1st leg at the Camp Nou, wonder if Atleti brings him back a bit sooner.

 

[Halladay]

They've had some very favorable draws the past five years or so. Rigged or not, they get some good draws. On top of that, if you make the Semis and surely the Final you're going to get at least one tough draw. So citing a couple of them doesn't really say much.

Sure they have had easy draws such as APOEL, Galatasaray, and CSKA. But it is not like they always get an easy draw. BTW, I cant stand Madrid.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

lol dude you're sounding like Edonator. But yeah, the way RM llayed that 2nd leg vs Roma one has to wonder a team with some good finishers would have scored like 4 on them.

Just realized, where's he been lately?

Edonator? You around?

 

[Kramerica Industries]

lol dude you're sounding like Edonator. But yeah, the way RM llayed that 2nd leg vs Roma one has to wonder a team with some good finishers would have scored like 4 on them.

I can't say I get much exposure to Serie A, thus, not much exposure to Roma. Surely, Salah cannot be their #1 striker, because holy crap was he wasteful, across both legs. It was actually mesmerizing after a while.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

They've had some very favorable draws the past five years or so. Rigged or not, they get some good draws. On top of that, if you make the Semis and surely the Final you're going to get at least one tough draw. So citing a couple of them doesn't really say much.

They have, but I think every big team has. I mean, Barca has had Leverkusen (10-1 aggregate?), Shakhtar, Milan (in the year Milan began to hemorrhage). You can list easy draws for any team. Juve drew Celtic a few years back. I mean, considering that most weaker sides squeak into the knockout stages in 2nd place and most of the giants win their groups, it kinda makes sense.

 

[Cassano]

They have, but I think every big team has. I mean, Barca has had Leverkusen (10-1 aggregate?), Shakhtar, Milan (in the year Milan began to hemorrhage). You can list easy draws for any team. Juve drew Celtic a few years back. I mean, considering that most weaker sides squeak into the knockout stages in 2nd place and most of the giants win their groups, it kinda makes sense.

Plus Barca have had Arsenal all those years. Easy draw in the round of 16 for any team.

 

[les Habs]

They have, but I think every big team has. I mean, Barca has had Leverkusen (10-1 aggregate?), Shakhtar, Milan (in the year Milan began to hemorrhage). You can list easy draws for any team. Juve drew Celtic a few years back. I mean, considering that most weaker sides squeak into the knockout stages in 2nd place and most of the giants win their groups, it kinda makes sense.

Well if you want to compare, which I wasn't doing, and go back the five years I was mentioning, here you go:

10-11:

-Madrid drew Lyon and Spurs, neither of which were difficult draws.
-Barça drew Arsenal and Shakhtar, neither of whom were easy draws and Shakhtar who you for some reason listed had plenty of quality and were only two years removed from winning the Uefa Cup.

11-12:

-Madrid drew CSKA and Apoel.
-Barça drew Bayer and Milan. Still tougher than Madrid and that was the Milan of Zlatan which finished second to Juve that season only 4 points back. They weren't "hemorrhaging" and played us well and thus knew us from the group stage. They were without Thiago Silva in those knockout matches though.

12-13:

-Madrid drew United and Galatasaray.
-Barça drew Milan and PSG. Milan were "hemorrhaging" then, but PSG were excellent and again it's a notably tougher draw.

13-14:

-Madrid drew Schalke and Dortmund. So here you have Madrid's first really tough draw in Dortmund.
-Barça still will again a notably tougher draw with City and Atleti.

14-15:

-Madrid drew Schalke again and Atleti. So Atleti are again a tough draw.
-Barça drew City and PSG. Again, notably tougher draw.

15-16:

-Madrid drew Roma and Wolfsburg.
-Barça drew Arsenal and Atleti. Again, notably tougher draw.

There's no comparison really if you look at the teams and their respective levels at the times. Madrid got far easier draws than we ever did. They got easier draws than a lot of teams. That said it doesn't mean it's rigged or that Butragueno is warming the balls (Zambrotta said the ball didn't feel warm ). I'll also add that despite the draw Madrid had a tough CL run in 2014-15 when they won it (though not as tough as ours last year). Still as I said they've had some easy draws as you can see above.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Wasn't meaning to directly compare, was just saying that all top teams get a share of easy draws. I was only referring to 2012-13 Milan as hemorrhaging (which they were), I forgot Barca drew them in 2011-12 as well.