2014-2015 UEFA Champions League Thread

[Brahvocado]

Roma are the original Napoli, they are masterclass bottlers. Both clubs just have an almost comical lack of a winning mentality, any important match is almost guaranteed shenanigans.

As for new challengers, it's looking like it will probably be Inter. Even now, the two Milan clubs are the only ones with a history and general culture/mentality of the kind of ruthless consistency you need to win titles. Inter seems closer to turning around their clown college than Milan is.

[dubcity]

Quote: Originally Posted by Brahvocado

Roma are the original Napoli, they are masterclass bottlers. Both clubs just have an almost comical lack of a winning mentality, any important match is almost guaranteed shenanigans.

But they will continue to get tons of media attention and hype, particularly here in North America, because their prez is American. It was a pretty embarrassing year for them, though. Huge step back.

[KG]

Quote: Originally Posted by dubcity

But they will continue to get tons of media attention and hype, particularly here in North America, because their prez is American. It was a pretty embarrassing year for them, though. Huge step back.

Far from embarrassing Dub. They finished 2nd with a very small squad that was hit by a lot of key injuries. Just off the top of my head:

Strootman
Maicon
Torosidis
De Rossi
Keita
Totti
Iturbe

all of them missed significant time and when you consider how starved they were for goals finishing 2nd wasn't bad at all IMO. You gotta factor in too that their best CB was snatched away right before the start of the season. It's disappointing compared to Rudi's 1st year there but when you break it down the results aren't that bad.

[dubcity]

True, but most of those guys played in about as many games as they've averaged for the last few years. Bad player acquisitions, age and poor form are mostly to blame, in my eyes. Then again, that could describe most teams in the Serie A this season.

[bad_philanthropy]

Wait, Messi has a tattoo sleeve now?

[KG]

Quote: Originally Posted by bad_philanthropy

Wait, Messi has a tattoo sleeve now?

Yeah...slowly got it worked on in the middle to late parts of the season. Took me a while to get used to it.

[Money99]

My youngest son (8YO) has fallen in love with soccer so I'm finding myself trying to learn the game.

I've been reading a lot and stumbled onto this Champions League tournament.
I see that tomorrow is the championship and I'm really excited to watch it.

I just finished watching Messi's top 10 goals on Youtube and this guy is amazing.
I honestly had no idea that soccer players could handle the ball like that. It was poetry in motion.
I'm a giant slappy so naturally I'm cheering for Barcelona only because Messi's on the team and in my 10 minutes of googling, I've determined he's the best player in the world, so Barcelona is now my fav team, haha.

Looking forward to the game tomorrow.

Stanley Cup game 2, Champions League Finals and hopefully I'll be able to fit in a ball game at some point.
Now if only I could convince my 3 kids not to bother me from 2PM on, that'd be great.

[ImTellinTim]

Cool, if you have any questions, just ask - there are a lot of people here who will help you out.

You are correct about Messi, btw.