Undoubtedly, there will be long discussions about whether the favorites from the Barcelona, Real Madrid or Manchester City circuit did not fall out because some of their rivals in the Lisbon tournament, especially the French, had a significantly longer break during the spring and summer than the Spanish, Italian and English clubs.
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In my opinion, it definitely played a role. Be probably not the key. But I have the impression that in this case it was not so much a question of how the footballers are physically prepared. I would see a big difference in how the psyche of individual teams was set up.
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When I watched the performances of the Barcelona or Manchester City teams, it seemed to me that they were overeaten compared to their football counterparts. The big stars have come to fulfill their duty. Nothing more. It wasn’t enough.
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Number of days between the last duel in the league and re-jumping into the Champions League:
PSG 161
Bergamo 11
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Atl Madrid 25
Leipzig 47
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Bayern 42
Barca 20
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Lyon 152
ManCity 12* Bayern from the finals of Germany. Cup 35
* PSG played in late July Cup finals with St. Etienne and the League Cup with Lyon– Ludek Madl (@LudekMadl) August 16, 2020
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All the more so when coaching kicks and the inability or reluctance to react to the negative development of the match are added to this essence. Much has been written about Pepa Guardiola’s erroneous tactics in the match against Lyon, there is no need to discuss everything in detail again. But it is astonishing how bad a team as ambitious as the Citizens can be on the defensive.
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Guardiola used an untested variant for such a difficult and important match, and even though it was clear that it was not working, he did not change anything about it. The result is another explosion in the Champions League, which is very bad news for the club owners.
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“The statistics show we were good…”
Pep Guardiola admits errors let Man City down against Lyon – despite a good performance ????
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) August 16, 2020
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For Sheikh Mansúr, who is the club’s representative, winning the Champions League is undoubtedly a priority. And nothing again. Thus, Guardiola’s mission is unsuccessful.
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I’m not sure that the Spanish coach will get a chance to make amends. I don’t want to join the chase on this very successful coach. His past successes speak for themselves. At the same time, however, I would venture to the thesis that his relationship with Manchester City was exhausted, as was his basic game scheme.
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For much of the game against Lyon, I had the impression that instead of Citizens, I saw Barcelona when it missed Messi. Long possession of the ball without much danger for the opponent’s goal, waiting for de Bruyne to come up with something, otherwise rather helplessness. You really can’t win with this.
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I have to say, I really wish Lyon. And I’m glad that Guardiola has reached his line-up “genius” again. So that he would no longer miss a call from Sheikh Mansour in the locker room. Sterling clog of the year. De Bruyne great again. The situation before Lyon’s 2nd goal was strange. Elastic Olympique great in defense https://t.co/O1kPEz8jPt
– Jiří Hošek (@hosekj) August 15, 2020
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Just because the other coaches are not sleeping and have already learned how to succeed against such tactics. In addition, someone could see the elimination of Manchester City in the elimination of football providence after the “sports courts” were too merciful for the club and let it play the Champions League in subsequent seasons, even though Manchester City was originally due to be violated by the Financial Fair rules. Play two years out of the game.
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Spanish or English domination is not taking place this year. This time, the winning German coaches in the semifinals are three, although Thomas Tuchel with PSG with a lot of luck. To stand against a French champion a slightly more seasoned opponent than Atalanta, God knows…
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The recipe for success seems simple. Technical skills, fast work with the ball, moving around the field by sprinting, aggression, excellent condition, work for the team, substitutability of players in individual positions.
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But that’s easy to say. This cannot be played with the already mentioned Messi. You then work backwards at nine. And this is something that Hans Flick or Julian Nagelsmann, the coaches of Bayern and Leipzig, would have a hard time breathing. That’s why I sincerely doubt that they would like Neymara to join the team. Both Bayern and Leipzig simply produce different football.
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The Bundesliga is to be somewhat underestimated compared to the Premier League. It turns out that’s wrong. In Germany, very attractive football is often played, so-called for people, goals are scored, stadiums are full. Although Bayern’s long-standing dominance is probably not entirely ideal either, German football has taken a significant step forward.
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From the point of view of the audience, it seems good to me that he is getting new names. Although for me as a commentator, this means a few days longer preparation for the finals, because a lot of new information needs to be studied carefully. But it’s a better option than seeing the same faces over and over again.
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Tottenham was a refreshment in the final last year, now it can be Leipzig or Lyon. At the same time, they got a big slap, so maybe they will stop being looked into themselves and look at how football is done elsewhere.
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And it doesn’t matter if it’s Barca, Atlético Madrid or Manchester City. All of these clubs need a change in the philosophy of the gaming process when the established possibilities are exhausted. I wonder how long it will take.
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