In before Arsenal feel confident after drawing at home followed by a 5-0 rape at the Camp Nou.
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
2015/16 Football/Soccer thread
- Thread starter tml
- Start date
- Status
I got to admit I laughed, not because I hate Arsenal but to have qualified barely and then face Barca, that is just cruel man. Still, if Wenger has any magic left, I think he can pull a 3-1 in the Emirates and then do a North Korea in Nou camp...oh who am I kidding he's going to attack in Barca too :(
I don't think there will be a lot of surprises. Most of these matches the chances are around 75/25 or more. My predictions:
KAA Gent vs VFL Wolfsburg - It's possible for Gent to win, but Wolfsburg just has better quality players. Would be nice to see Gent win though and it's definitely not impossible.
AS Roma vs Real Madrid - Even with the form Real is in I don't see Roma winning this, they always perform kinda poorly in Europe.
Paris Saint-Germain vs Chelsea - Chelsea is in too poor form to win this I'd say. Even if they were in better form I'd say PSG. They have a really solid squad.
Arsenal vs Barcelona - Arsenal is so overrated, they're not that great. Only slim chance of winning is Ozil and Cech being amazing, their defense seems too average and their midfield/offense will likely be too injury crippled and have to field players like Campbell/Walcott vs Barca which imo isn't enough unless you're lucky.
Juventus vs Bayern Munchen - Bayern is so good. Too bad for Juve, they could get semifinals without bad luck in matchups. If they play well they can definitely win though. By far the best games in the series.
PSV Eindhoven vs Atletico Madrid - RIP PSV. Really too bad but something amazing needs to happen for PSV to win.
Benfica vs Zenit - Only match without a clear favourite imo. Zenit just performed really well this season from what I've seen but Benfica is still solid. Should be fun.
Dynamo Kyiv vs Manchester City - Manchester City has a better team and if they don't fuck up (which very well might happen) they should win. Solid performance getting 1st in a group with Juventus, Sevilla and Gladbach.
KAA Gent vs VFL Wolfsburg - It's possible for Gent to win, but Wolfsburg just has better quality players. Would be nice to see Gent win though and it's definitely not impossible.
AS Roma vs Real Madrid - Even with the form Real is in I don't see Roma winning this, they always perform kinda poorly in Europe.
Paris Saint-Germain vs Chelsea - Chelsea is in too poor form to win this I'd say. Even if they were in better form I'd say PSG. They have a really solid squad.
Arsenal vs Barcelona - Arsenal is so overrated, they're not that great. Only slim chance of winning is Ozil and Cech being amazing, their defense seems too average and their midfield/offense will likely be too injury crippled and have to field players like Campbell/Walcott vs Barca which imo isn't enough unless you're lucky.
Juventus vs Bayern Munchen - Bayern is so good. Too bad for Juve, they could get semifinals without bad luck in matchups. If they play well they can definitely win though. By far the best games in the series.
PSV Eindhoven vs Atletico Madrid - RIP PSV. Really too bad but something amazing needs to happen for PSV to win.
Benfica vs Zenit - Only match without a clear favourite imo. Zenit just performed really well this season from what I've seen but Benfica is still solid. Should be fun.
Dynamo Kyiv vs Manchester City - Manchester City has a better team and if they don't fuck up (which very well might happen) they should win. Solid performance getting 1st in a group with Juventus, Sevilla and Gladbach.
HBK
Subtlety is my middle name
Hey, Chelsea fans are people too, we've got funny bones just like everyone else.
everyone says arsenal are crap until they pull off an upset, so overrated wasn't the word you were looking for in that instance. Manchester city better get past this first round, because no one else from england will tbh. Barca's front 3 will outscore anyone in champions league and Psg are going up while Chelsea need some insane turn around to their season which would involve sacking mourinho which would have happened already so not good.
As for the thursday games (lol) if united lose to midtylland I will laugh pretty hard but that club is the soccer version of moneyball (baseball movie reference, look it up its a good movie). Tottenham can do england a huge solid by advancing and knocking out an italian club in the process. Augsburg are struggling so hopefully Klopp can take advantage of that. Thursday games that will be worth watching however are the Dortmund Porto match up, Napoli vs Villareal, Galatasaray vs Lazio, Shaktar vs Shalke, Marseille vs Bilbao, and Sporting vs Bayer leverkusen
As for the thursday games (lol) if united lose to midtylland I will laugh pretty hard but that club is the soccer version of moneyball (baseball movie reference, look it up its a good movie). Tottenham can do england a huge solid by advancing and knocking out an italian club in the process. Augsburg are struggling so hopefully Klopp can take advantage of that. Thursday games that will be worth watching however are the Dortmund Porto match up, Napoli vs Villareal, Galatasaray vs Lazio, Shaktar vs Shalke, Marseille vs Bilbao, and Sporting vs Bayer leverkusen
It's been so long but is this finally the year of the wilshere coquelin indestructible midfield??? In the eyes of this arsenal fan, yes, yes it is, and I can't wait! It would be amazing to see messi, Suarez and neymar at the emirates regardless so bring it on!
Just turned on the TV.... lol.... God Save Chelsea
edit: how the fuck does Chelsea have 2/3 of the possession, but a whopping *1* shot on target compared to Leicester's 5.....
edit2: FT, proper disaster this. Chelsea officially on life support and probs one loss away from "Mourinho OUT" chants....
edit: how the fuck does Chelsea have 2/3 of the possession, but a whopping *1* shot on target compared to Leicester's 5.....
edit2: FT, proper disaster this. Chelsea officially on life support and probs one loss away from "Mourinho OUT" chants....
Last edited:
Vardy has 15 goals in 16 games. And I am not sure if he or Mahrez is the better attacking player on leicester
Ok seems I have to defend saying Arsenal is overrated. I mean overrated in the eyes of people I see discussing it on internet (mainly reddit and also sometimes here I guess) and players like Giroud, Koscielny, etc are overrated so much. No, Giroud isn't better than Mandzukic, Koscielny wouldn't start for every team, Gabriel isn't that great, etc. And they're not favourites for the league, City are.
overrated wasn't the word you were looking for
Overrated still isn't the word you're looking for
Not a single fucking person says Giroud is overrated.
Recently. The only thing I've seen is Giroud isn't as bad as we all believed and slated him day in day out to be. (Even tho he really is mediocre). And I say this because he has 50 goals faster than any other Arsenal player, game wise. iirc. But that just goes to show fans in any aspect for any team are extremists.
And no one talks about Gabriel lmao.
Also..Koscielny really is a fucking badass, so he's not overrated, he's just a solid piece of man putting in work on the daily, while still covering Merte's sloppy ass.
Not a single fucking person says Giroud is overrated.
Recently. The only thing I've seen is Giroud isn't as bad as we all believed and slated him day in day out to be. (Even tho he really is mediocre). And I say this because he has 50 goals faster than any other Arsenal player, game wise. iirc. But that just goes to show fans in any aspect for any team are extremists.
And no one talks about Gabriel lmao.
Also..Koscielny really is a fucking badass, so he's not overrated, he's just a solid piece of man putting in work on the daily, while still covering Merte's sloppy ass.
Is it just me or does rival fans rate Giroud much higher than Arsenal fans does? He's a solid 15-20 goals per season striker but most Arsenal fans moan about him every time. Koscielny, Sakho, Varane, Zouma and Mathiu have to battle it out for the 2 spots in the French national team (probably Varane + one of those)
We actually watch Giroud though, maybe that's the reason. And others just see his international form or his post game stats.
Just seems like he's a sloppy mess all the time and misses amazing opportunities on the daily. I swear Ozil would have double the assists if Giroud wasn't such a donkey.
It's simply annoyance more than anything, and since he's the end of all the passing etc, he gets the blame. Since we are still waiting for some elite scorer to finish all the "chances" we create and make it look easy like Suarez and co.
Just seems like he's a sloppy mess all the time and misses amazing opportunities on the daily. I swear Ozil would have double the assists if Giroud wasn't such a donkey.
It's simply annoyance more than anything, and since he's the end of all the passing etc, he gets the blame. Since we are still waiting for some elite scorer to finish all the "chances" we create and make it look easy like Suarez and co.
waiting on that elite striker since 2008 lol
destinyunknown
Banned deucer.
That's debatable. Most predictions already have Arsenal on top, and the betting market has City still ahead but so marginally that it could change in a matter of one game.
United in the Champions league round of 16?
no... just no.
Banter: Also, adults who believe in Mourinho (when players not named Willian no longer do)
- Status