Silva is quality but that PSG defence has not been great this year however you carve it up. And as for Azpi, best full back in the P.L at the moment even on his weak side.
Cavani will drift in which suits Azpi to a tee. PSGs best bet is dropping Cavani and playing two out and out wingers in Lucas and Lavezzi. Alex and Maxwell don't get picked for Brazil which says it all whilst Van Der Weil has gone downhill since joining a PSG, hence why Jallet may play. We have the better defence by far, we get tested against players like Van Persie, Rooney and Suarez whilst the best PSG play outside Monaco are who , Salomon Kalou???? I rest my case
Why dont we just wait and see who wins the tie. Shergar's post is full of hope more than expectation, which is easily detectable. PSG have dome nothing of note in a long time. Yes they have some good players now and are top of the french league, but so do we and so are we. People have a habit of putting these foreign teams on pedestals. Judging on a player by player basis is pointless, player for player, Bayern and Barca were much better than Chelsea in 2012, look what happened, and that was with a novice manager. We now have a better squad and an awesome manager. Not saying we will win, but PSG seemed to have been given this tag of a good team, when they have done nothing. We will see...
Happy with that draw. PSG or Chelsea will fancy their chances v Barca. Hopefully that's the QF winner we get. Bayern would overrun us over two legs.
I always prefer it the other way round. When teams play at home 1st leg they know they more or less need a positive result or they're out. This usually makes away teams drop off and sit back rather than playing as they would under normal circumstance. The other advantage of playing away 2nd is having more time to score an away goal. Conceivably Arsenal could have knocked Bayern out last year and this year in the Europa Tottenham could have knocked Benfica out, not particularly because they were any good but because both teams took their foot off the gas thinking the tie was won as they had home advantage and away goals secured. Man Utd v Porto, Man Utd vs Bayern (09/10), Chelsea v Barca (08/09) etc. In this case I think playing away first is an advantage simply because the lack of experience at this level in PSG's side. If we can score the first goal in Paris, I think we'll progress regardless.
The problem with PSG is they're similar to us in the sense they are an excellent counter attacking side. They are more potent than us up front but their defence isn't as good. It's also the only team out of the possible 7 that Mourinho hasn't faced in the last 12 months. First leg away is probably an advantage against the less experienced sides in this competition.
. Cahill and Terry have conceded just 24 goals in a league containing three other teams that have scored 50+ goals this season in comparison to PSG's zero others. On top of that Chelsea have conceded a mere 4 goals in the competition with Basel & Galatasaray being the only teams to score past us to date. Better teams than PSG have come to the Bridge this season and lost. It's still one of the hardest places in Europe to go and win.
Disagree, think we can get at their full backs: that's their weak point. Ibra is now the ultimate big game player and we will have problems keeping him quiet. Not worried about Lavezzi or Cavani. Thiago is awesome, will pocket Torres. Will need Eto'o to poach one of his flukey deflected goals
I think your doing Atletico Madrid a dis service by just assuming that Barca will come through that tie. Atletico have played Barca 3 times this season, and have drawn with them on all 3 occasions. The last game they played which was a 0-0 in Madrid, Atletico really bossed the game and Barca were fortunate to get away with a 0-0. Barca would not have wanted to draw them, as Atletico know how to play against them. In La Liga Atletico are a point ahead of Barca , and 3 behind Real, who they have a game in hand over. They even beat Real in the Beranabeau earlier in the season, so they are not to be underestimated
Agree but this match is in CL. Barca have the knock out experience and know how. Hope Madrid win though
My mistake, the Spanish table lists the games played differently to the Prem. I was reading games won
