[mo_rizwan]

Oh Dear, Bayern.......what happened?

I thought of all the managers, Pep Guardiola would know how to break the Barca Masterclass......

I'm predicting an El Clasico Final in Berlin

[RS8MB0R8]

Originally Posted by mo_rizwan

I'm predicting an El Clasico Final in Berlin

That would be a match I'd quite happily miss. El Clasicos are 10secs of scrappy football followed by 2mins of writhing around feigning injury played out on loop over 90mins.

I hope Juve make it through but can't see them overcoming Barca, even if they do.

[DevilsSon]

Originally Posted by mo_rizwan

Oh Dear, Bayern.......what happened?

I thought of all the managers, Pep Guardiola would know how to break the Barca Masterclass......

I'm predicting an El Clasico Final in Berlin

Ahh well. Nearly did it for 77 min and certainly the last goal could have been avoided. But yeah, still a great season. Won the league and semi-finals of both cup competitions after the world cup (that had 7 Bayern players in the final). Not to mention that we played without our two best field players so all those crazy critical voices that claim Pep should go are a bit mad. Messi is a genius. That's what it boils down too. Just hoping for a decent game on Tuesday. I predict a 2-1 victory for Bayern....

[KSantaFe]

Originally Posted by DevilsSon

Ahh well. Nearly did it for 77 min and certainly the last goal could have been avoided. But yeah, still a great season. Won the league and semi-finals of both cup competitions after the world cup (that had 7 Bayern players in the final). Not to mention that we played without our two best field players so all those crazy critical voices that claim Pep should go are a bit mad. Messi is a genius. That's what it boils down too. Just hoping for a decent game on Tuesday. I predict a 2-1 victory for Bayern....

Of course that's an excellent season. However I still think Heynckes was much better for you than the overrated Guardiola.

[DevilsSon]

Originally Posted by KSantaFe

Of course that's an excellent season. However I still think Heynckes was much better for you than the overrated Guardiola.

Heynckes was great but he had a team with a lot of players at the peak of their career. Robben, Ribery played the entire season and Ribery was at the same level as Cristiano that season, probably better than Messi. Lahm was unbelievable, Javi Martinez and Schweinsteiger were the best defensive midfielders in the world that year. So yes, Heynckes had huge merits but also, the age structure was perfect and the team was very hungry. Now they are older, have won it all, and it seems there is at least some friction between Guardiola and some of the players. I don't think Guardiola is overrated at all and I follow Bayern every season. That is only the second time in their entire glorious history that they win the league after a world cup which is huge. It's just that expectations have shifted to an insane level. Expecting the treble every season is not realistic. Let's not forget - Heynckes has 2 seasons, won one treble and the 3 second places. Guardiola in 2 seasons won 2 titles and one cup and went out in the semis each time. While Heynckes is more successful slightly, Guardiola is so far more consistent.

[mo_rizwan]

It's like I've said before, the temporary German dominance in the competition 2 years ago was just that.....Temporary.

It will never match the Spanish dominance. And some people can argue that it's currently behind the English dominance

[KSantaFe]

Originally Posted by mo_rizwan

It's like I've said before, the temporary German dominance in the competition 2 years ago was just that.....Temporary.

It will never match the Spanish dominance. And some people can argue that it's currently behind the English dominance

I agree with everything except that last statement. I love the EPL, I love Arsenal etc. etc., but we can't deny that the giants of Germany play much better football than the giants of the Premier League.

[DevilsSon]

Originally Posted by KSantaFe

I agree with everything except that last statement. I love the EPL, I love Arsenal etc. etc., but we can't deny that the giants of Germany play much better football than the giants of the Premier League.

Bayern does. Everyone else, well, not so much. The only time that German football dominated Europe at club level was the 70s with the rivalry between Bayern Munich and Borussia Moenchengladbach being probably comparable to Real - Barca today (I think in the 70s Gladbach won the league 5 times and Bayern 4). Every other time say the 80s with Hamburg being very strong, the 90s with Dortmund being very strong, the early 2000s with Leverkusen being very strong and now again with Dortmund having a few great years were NOT 'dominance' but spells of very successful football.

Even so, the last 5-6 years were not dominated by a certain league at all but by 3 teams and that is undeniably Barca, Real and Bayern.

Having said that - great match last night. We lost the tie in Barcelona but am happy that we went out with a win. Playing without Robben and Ribery would weaken any team in the world. You could see Barca's fire power go down when Suarez was taken off. Imagine Neymar or Messi would be off too...Barca would have had no chance. That simple. No questioning Pep. Nothing else. Those two players are key to our system. We can replace one, but when both are out, it's a different story.

[mo_rizwan]

Damn! I wanted an El Clasico Final

[ticos_stick]

Originally Posted by RS8MB0R8

That would be a match I'd quite happily miss. El Clasicos are 10secs of scrappy football followed by 2mins of writhing around feigning injury played out on loop over 90mins.

I hope Juve make it through but can't see them overcoming Barca, even if they do.

Yep. My thoughts exactly.

People seem to forget how petty and niggly these games are. I'm glad Juventus are through and I hope they beat Barcelona.