i think you REALLY underestimate Porto, and PSG vs Shakhtar is easy for PSG at least from games i have seen in CL, you too underestimate Valencia and Schalke IMO
Shakhtar will defeat PSG imo. PSG have defeated easy sides like Zagreb and Kiev and their sole good performance was the latest one against Porto. But not to forget, Porto gifted them the 2nd goal in this match and that in the first leg, Porto win with quite a dominating showing. Last but not last, PSG has been going through a terrible downward spiral in Ligue 1.
haha, how arrogant can you manutd fans get. with your pathetic defence you shouldnt be confident about facing any team, especially not one that has trashed you throughout history. ac milan is the dark horse in this competition, never count us out.
I'm not being arrogant but frankly, Milan v/s United in CL has become somehow like United v/s Liverpool. A prestigious fixture with lots of history but it remain United against an opponent who's a ghost of the powerful past.
And we all saw how the declining Milan (who got much worse this year) got English woes in the last years. They nearly threw a 4-0 lead against Arsenal last season and barely scrapped a lil' further. They got surprise-knocked by Spurs the season before and United trashed them 7-2 on aggregate in 2009/10 season.
they forget about The EL Dude
Yeah, he's exceptional and he's carrying Milan. Respect for him.
But still, Milan is no more what it is.
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On the thread, I'd repeat 2 thing I've said in Debates thread.
No.1
I'd say Barcelona, Dortmund and Bayern are equal favorites to lift the trophy. Bayern have a terrifying squad and are squashing the Bundesliga. Same for Barcelona with a rampant Messi. And Dortmund has been the most impressive team on the field with their teamplay right now in whole CL (yes, better than Barcelona for now due to much solid defence).
I'd bracket Madrid, United & Juventus as first-rate challengers to the above trio and to possibly clinch it. Madrid are still have the quest for La Decima as booster in this CL and as in this last 3 years, they do still possess the necessary squad to grab it. They do need to hit the right form physically and mentally (perhaps). United have weak spots; especially defensively but their never-say-die attitude and their will for revenge after last year's setback will delete their complacency in them and turn them (hopefully) into strong challengers. Juventus have been highly impressive to end up first after Norsjaelland shock result. They have shown interesting attitude and play for their return and I think, they'll be dangerous as the campaign will progress.
Milan, Arsenal & Porto have enormous CL culture and experience. Not sure if that can result in grabbing the trophy in May but it do state that we should always count on these teams.
Shakhtar, Valencia and Malaga are tricky opponents; with a definite style & squad; and can prove to be surprise packages.
Shalke and Paris have their chances due to finishing first in their groups but both need some polishing yet for CL stages.
I don't want to offend Celtic or Galatasaray fans but they look like the fillers right now. Both have fiery stadium support though, so any Pot 1 team can have a tricky hellish trip for the 1st Leg.
No.2
I'll be live-covering the draw for Knockout phases, so, all NB members and football fans can post their live-views with me (hopefully) on 20th December. And we'll decode the full 'true' (and not speculated) draw then.
And on my predicted matches, well, I'd like to see one big match atleast. So, it'll be interesting if one of the 'Winners' biggie (United, Bayern, Juventus) draw Real Madrid.
I'm getting a feeling we'll get an Arsenal v/s Barcelona...again.
PSG v/s Milan will be interesting - Return of Ibra and Silva
Shakhtar, Valencia & Porto remain highly tricky as I said above and any team who faces them, will need to be extremely careful.
