Champions League Night, at Home. Beautiful.
We are playing Real Madrid at home in about 30 min in Champions League quarter finals. This is THE biggest game of the season, considering PL trophy is out of sight. Madrid is probably the toughest opponent you can get in Champions League over two legs. They will be 3-0 down on aggregate with 10 minutes on clock, and go on to win 4-3. With the likes of Mbappe, Rodrygo and Vinicious up front, and a midfield of Modric, Camavinga and Bellingham, they are one of the best attacking sides in the world and they have got a very good defence as well.
We, on the other hand, are going into the game with Merino as a CF. Jakub Kiwior in defence is another problem for me, as Gabriel M has picked up an injury and will be out for the rest of the season. We have a 17 year old at LB and a new CB partnership. That’s a bit concerning but you know, going into a game as under-dogs has it’s own benefits. The good thing is, Madrid will play an attacking game and we have been relatively good against the likes of Liverpool and City who tries to play their way. It’s the low blocks we suffer against.
And we are at home, so the crowd will be behind us. Boys have dreamt of this, to play against the best teams in the world, at the grandest stage, and I’m sure they are going to prove today that they deserve to be here. I don’t care about the second leg, we win today with 2 goal margin and we can play with 6 defenders in the away game.
Talking about the strategy Mikel would have put up …. well I don’t care. Lets go, play our game with freedom, give our 100% and see where it ends.
A very short one today, but I will be alive during the game today.
#COYG
Interesting best Beyern Munich 2:1
Madrid were 2nd best all night and deserve to have lost by a couple more goals.
Great night for ur club just need to keep our heads in Madrid
Inter beat*
too bad regarding Camavinga’s red, as we actually want him on the pitch in the return leg
Ancelotti is done and dusted even if they overturn this and go on to win the CL…the last time I watched Real, mutliple player went after Junior, on the pitch, about his lack of defensive help, but he seems untouchable under the present managerial situation…now you can see that his unchecked disinterest has bled into the rest of the squad
players
Right, this should be enough. 2nd leg will still be nervy but we have got a 3 goal lead and that’s a huge plus.
Declan Rice won it for us on his own. Saka, MLS standouts. Partey kept the midfield running. Odegaard – still needs to step up. All in all, a very good performance and some more of that please in the next leg.
TRVL
Oh,I wish betting was legal here..
Rather a pleasant evening…
At the very least, we’ve had tonight and the 5-1 against City this season.
let’s just hope this didn’t send the higher ups the wrong message about where we are as a squad…I’m likewise fucking elated that Rice didn’t waste by far his greatest shooting effort ever on some bottom-feeder PL side in a 6-0 thrashing…now let’s put this tie to bed in Real in style and not by sitting 11 behind the ball for 90+ minutes…obviously I don’t mean we should be reckless, but I think if we can stretch our lead by even one goal, that will put things out of their reach…Cheers to one and all
Ambarish—that never stopped me!!
What a night to be at the Emirates. A night to tell the great kids about because we didn’t just beat RM we handed them their arses on a platter.
Question is does RM have the stomach or cajonas for the return leg? Does Ancelotti have anything left in the tank as a manager to motivate a group of stars who can’t gell as a team.
On tonight’s showing Southampton could have beaten them.
Everyone who’s ever played any sport dreams of a night like Rice just experienced…the fact that it happened in a game of considerable consequence simply makes it all the sweeter…so as someone who’s had a taste or two of what that feels like, albeit on a much lesser level, I would never want to besmirch his stunning efforts or deny him his just due, but I think it’s important to remember that if anything even remotely similar had ever been on offer prior to this, you would have never heard a peep from me regarding his largely nonsensical positional demands…it’s likewise imperative that we remember that neither of his efforts came from open play, so he could very easily play in his best position and still be our primary set piece taker…in fact ,he could even occasionally take up more advanced positions, much as he had with his former club…I guess what I’m driving at is that we simply must not base any future decisions on a one-off, or should I say two-off, situation
now maybe just maybe this will provide him with the requisite confidence/juice to repeat such feats on a somewhat regular basis and if that were to be the case I would definitely change my tune, but we can’t once again become prisoners of the moment and make personnel-related decisons based solely on last evening…shit there were those within the fanbase who felt Giroud was the second coming after his spectacular scorpion tally, but the much more sensible among us understood that even though it was an all-time effort he wasn’t the kind of Striker who could put us on his back…not to mention, our former middle finger-wagging captain Xhaka had a bevy of similar-type long distance efforts on his resume, but even he was deemed to be inadequate for almost the exact same role and he scored more goals in his last season than Rice has since he arrived
now if we were the kind of “big” club who highly-valued those with the ability to clinically finish, I wouldn’t be nearly so concerned, as there would inevitably exist a “been there done that” attitude so the events of last evening would be taken in stride…unfortunately we’ve been so starved for such moments during Arteta’s reign that I seriously worry about the long-term effects of Rice’s highlight reel worthy outing…it’s really quite sad, as I should be able to simply celebrate this seminal win, that’s been a long time fucking coming, and not be even pondering such shitty notions, but that simply speaks to how the actions/inactions of this club have broken me over the better part of last two decades…anyways, I’ll never forget Rice’s stellar efforts, but only for the right reasons…take care and keep your stick on the ice
TVRL- Rices free kick was spectacular and to get two in the same game was excellent. If Iam not wrong this is the first goal of a free kick this season. What a time to get two. Just to unpick both of those goals
1. Did you see the gesture that Jover to rice to go around the wall. I personally felt that the wall was wrongly place, it was slightly inside the left side bar. Typically you have the wall lined up to prevent this sort of a kick and always force it over the wall and dipping it which is much harder. But to spot it and execute it to inch perfect was sensational.
2. On the second one again I think Tross moves and takes one of his marker also with him leaving the space to go for the far post. Typically the position where the free kick is taken from most kicks go into the near post up and above, but Rice spotted the far corner and again the pace and accuracy was unbelievable.
Hard not to think that we have got 100 M worth. Just yesterday I was telling my Liverpool mate at office that Rice contribution is not enough for 100 M. Glad iam eating the humble pie.
There is no way RM is going to come back from this. We are in Semis. For me the redeeming feature was the relentless attacking that we did even after getting first and second goal which led to the third. Take a bow Arteta and Jover.
I thought Partey was terrific last night. I think he thrives on playing Spanish teams who seem to always allow a little bit more time to opposing players when operating at the base of their own midfield. His passing was spot on and he was gliding through their lines.
Knowing how much Spanish football channels pore over RM and Barca games, they’ll all be in black armband mode today. I don’t think they played that badly, evidenced by the 0-0 at half time. They just had no answer to those free kicks. Merino’s goal was a fucking peach 🍑 too.
KP
Apparently Panolada sales have gone through the roof in Madrid today in readiness for the 2nd leg.
NORG
Muy bien. Los Madrileños lo merecen. Ojalá qué ganemos tres a cero de nuevo.
If we win, and I promise I’m hubris-free when it comes to Arsenal, I think I’d rather face PSG than ‘Shit on the Villa’. Another euro semi final? Unai Emery? Can you imagine the horror as he schools el Bastardo again?
KP 3-0 again and King Carlo will be on his bike to Brazil. Emery pay back time against PSG – Martinez will be winding up the Frenchie’s no doubt.
Kroenke
You’d rather face PSG?
They tore Liverpool a new one in the first leg (fuck knows how Liverpool won that) and look very sharp against Villa.
Of course that’s all assuming Arteta doesn’t fuck up against Madrid in the 2nd leg!
PSG for me is the team to beat to win the CL far too much for Villa either 2 wonder goals from open play with Emi with no chance.
Could be a rout for PSG.
Barca look good but PSG are on a different level.
I think so Marc. We beat PSG In the qualifying round iirc, and given our recent form I against Emery-managed teams, I think he’s tactically got the run on Arteta. That said, last night we could’ve beaten anyone.
And looking at it from the glass half empty perspective, if we are to go out, I’d rather it were PSG.
simply from a form perspective, PSG and Barca should be the betting favourites, but no one’s unbeatable…so barring some sort of miraculous comeback by Real, which isn’t out of the realm, as their history in this competition would attest, we truly have a legit shot
I do worry about Kiwior’s rather shaky performance, as he gifted them a couple chances that typically don’t go unpunished, but let’s face it he hasn’t been involved in a match of that magnitude in quite some time, so rustiness was undoubtedly a factor…with this in mind, there’s very few defenders in the footballing world I would rather have by his side, should he have a repeat performance, than Saliba, considering his defend-first mentality and superior angling abilities, so that does ease my concerns a bit
as for the squad moving forward I would still like to see Ethan get a shot, considering the amount of space and time teams outside the PL tend to give and his cutting edge, but to their credit both Rice and Merino provided the latter when their moments arose…now logic would suggest that relying on them too much going forward might be foolhardy, as Rice has never scored from a free kick in his previous 338 matches and Merino hasn’t shown that sort of deft touch since donning our kit, but, on a more positive note, these sorts of moments have been known to inspire great things(fingers-crossed)
I do find it quite ironic that some, like Wilshere, were quick to suggest that Rice has now justified his 100+M fee, in that by even saying such an obviously hyperbolic comment it actually acknowledges the fact this was up for debate…I like Jack, but he was never the sharpest tool in the shed…anyways, there’s no doubting that Rice was in his bag all evening, in fact, he could have easily scored at least a treble, as his blistering strike that hit Asencio’s arm at point blank range, which rightfully wasn’t called a penalty, was unlikely to have been stopped otherwise..ultimately, great on him for rising to the occasion and being the first ever to score 2 free kick in a CL match, especially considering the manner in which he accomplished this feat
KP—i totally get why you would rather we face PSG, as Emery has had MA’s number more often than not, but I think it’s important to remember the PSG we faced early on barely resembles that one that now exists, which anyone who watched their two-legged tie against Pool would attest to…they could have easily won by 5 or 6 and that was when Pool was on a roll…fuck, they outplayed them by such a margin that Pool hasn’t been the same since…even so, I can understand why you would rather fall to the presumptive French champs than Emery’s Villa, as losing to the latter would be absolutely crushing, especially if we eliminated someone of Real’s ilk…I’m not overly superstitious, but this feels like a cart before the horse moment so I’m going to end things here…Cheers