Home | Score | Away |
---|---|---|
Stade Rennais | 1-1 | FC Lorient |
Terrier 14' | Boisgard 83' | |
FC Metz | 1-1 | Montpellier Hérault SC |
Sarr 47' | Laborde 70' | |
Girondins de Bordeaux | 0-3 | Lille OSC |
Yazıcı 54', Weah 66', David 89' | ||
RC Strasbourg | 2-2 | Stade Brestois |
Thomasson 8', Aholou 70' | Charbonnier 83', Le Douaron 90'+4 | |
Stade de Reims | 0-0 | Angers SCO |
Dijon FCO | 0-1 | Olympique Lyonnais |
Paquetá 22' | ||
Paris Saint-Germain | 3-0 | Nîmes Olympique |
Di María 18', Sarabia 36', Mbappé 68' | ||
AS Monaco | 2-1 | OGC Nice |
Ben Yedder (p) 28', Ben Yedder 51' | Lees Melou 47' | |
RC Lens | 2-2 | Olympique de Marseille |
Sotoca 46', Medina 61' | Thauvin 37', Milik 45'+3 | |
AS Saint-Étienne | 1-1 | FC Nantes |
Camara 57' | Kolo Muani 36' |
# | Team | Pts | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lille OSC | 51 | 23 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 40 | 15 | +25 | |
2 | Olympique Lyonnais | 49 | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 47 | 20 | +27 | |
3 | Paris Saint-Germain | 48 | 23 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 53 | 14 | +39 | |
4 | AS Monaco | 45 | 23 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 46 | 32 | +14 | |
5 | Stade Rennais | 37 | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 31 | 24 | +7 | |
6 | FC Metz | 35 | 23 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 28 | 21 | +7 | |
7 | RC Lens | 35 | 23 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 34 | 33 | +1 | |
8 | Angers SCO | 34 | 23 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 29 | 34 | -5 | |
9 | Olympique de Marseille | 33 | 21 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 29 | 24 | +5 | |
10 | Girondins de Bordeaux | 32 | 23 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 26 | 27 | -1 | |
11 | Montpellier HSC | 29 | 23 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 35 | 42 | -7 | |
12 | Stade de Reims | 28 | 23 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 30 | 31 | -1 | |
13 | Stade Brestois | 27 | 23 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 35 | 43 | -8 | |
14 | OGC Nice | 26 | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 24 | 31 | -7 | |
15 | RC Strasbourg | 25 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 32 | 36 | -4 | |
16 | AS Saint-Étienne | 23 | 23 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 22 | 36 | -14 | |
17 | FC Nantes | 19 | 23 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 22 | 37 | -15 | |
18 | FC Lorient | 19 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 27 | 43 | -16 | |
19 | Dijon FCO | 15 | 23 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 32 | -17 | |
20 | Nîmes Olympique | 15 | 22 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 17 | 47 | -30 |
# | Player | Match |
---|---|---|
1 | Wissam Ben Yedder | AS Monaco vs OGC Nice |
2 | Kylian Mbappé | Paris Saint-Germain vs Nîmes Olympique |
3 | Pape Sarr | FC Metz vs Montpellier Hérault SC |
It is the victory of a group, those who start the match, those who finish, and those who are unfortunately in the stands who are also behind the group. It is a great satisfaction to see a state of mind like that. [...] I exchange, I share and I also impose many things on my players, with a lot of humility, demands and ambition, which is not synonymous with pretentiousness. Do you know why it's a winning coaching ? Because I have good players at my disposal.Franck Haise, Lens coach :
The score was not hyper logical but the players were present until the end. There is a little disappointment not to put the third goal in because the second period is totally in our favour, even if I don't forget that Marseille had a big chance at 2-1. I'm not surprised we're at this level because we've been working on this for months but I'm pretty happy with what the players are producing and have been for a while.Christophe Pelissier, Lorient coach :
It is often said that you don't change a winning team. Against Paris I had changed seven players, I changed six today, because I've been telling the players from the beginning that it's not a team that's going to be successful, it's a group. On Wednesday at half-time against Dijon (down 2-1) we almost had one foot in Ligue 2. One week later, we can hope. [...] We had a lot of headwinds between the results and Covid. The rain will come back, but for the moment we are taking advantage of the good weather.Wissam Ben Yedder, Monaco forward :
Since Toulouse, I don't think I've scored a free kick. I was feeling good about this beautiful play combination. I am very proud because it is also the winning goal. I'm used to scoring more in the box and being on the lookout for the second ball. This goal is important. It allows us to win this 100th derby.ThePr1d3, Rennes supporter :
Rennes is the exact opposite of the beltway. It circulates very well but it's never dangerous.
Koeman needs to gather everyone tomorrow and shout: "fucking shoot the ball"Author: svefnpurka | Score: 356 pts | Source
We really need to shoot more instead of trying to get another pass and another pass and another pass. Worst offender was Dembele and Fati today who both had clear lines on goal and went for a pass instead.Author: Sekerski | Score: 274 pts | Source
But overall a good game and a deserved win since Juve had 0 shots on target (besides 3 offside goals).
Great refereeing again too. CL refs do spoil us every time and then we go back to La Liga...
Pjanic is a nailed on starter. He has to be. His passes were so progressive today it was a sight to see.Author: walterwhiteofbrownie | Score: 207 pts | Source
If only we could finish our damn chances.
The people who say that there hasn’t been a positive improvement on this team are either blind or being purposefully negative.Author: ScrantonScrangler | Score: 193 pts | Source
I really like what Koeman has brought to the team.
Coutinho has been much better individually this season, but I like Griezmann in the middle alongside Messi much more. Unlike Coutinho, he actually knows how to run behind the defense and this unleashes Messi as a CAM. He needs to work on his finishing but he was great today overall. Hope we see this pairing more in the upcoming matches.Author: Last_Lorien | Score: 92 pts | Source
Pedri hype train confirmed. He’s a monster, wow.Author: kaiko1 | Score: 83 pts | Source
Everyone looked good tonight though.
Funny, I listened to the Italian commentators (a duo I actually like, they’re very knowledgeable and elegant) and they praised Messi left and right all match, on his passing ability, his touches, his game play, his orchertrating our attack, his defending even, not to mention his assist, just noting among all these things that he “ate”, as we say, two goals - missing those easy chances he wouls normally score. I come to the sub and the running theme in the match thread is that he was having an awful game. No, he wasn’t, his shooting was off, and yeah for Messi that’s huge and it’s been the case for a while, but there is more to his games than that, thank god. It was odd to be reminded what it must look like to someone who doesn’t watch every single one of our matches.
Seriously though, when even Fati doesn’t just SHOOT when he’s alone in front of goal I hope it’s a fluke more than a symptom of Messidependencia recrudescence.
Also, poor Morata. Juve was unlucky but they were also poor, the whole second half they were invisible - bar the few close/offside chances that looked more and more desparate. Kudos to our defence, they did so well in what could easily turn in very ugly scenarios, with so many people and so many touches in the box.
Juve were really dire today. We could’ve scored a lot more. Great performance from Pedri especially in 2nd half, absolutely toyed with Cuadrado. Also props to Frenkie, not an easy job but managed well.Author: 2_Ashish | Score: 48 pts | Source
Greizmann only needs to work on his finishing now, his pressing was top class today, he and Pedri never let Juve build up from the back. Araujo, Pjanic and Pedri are sure starter. Dembele gaining his form and confidence back. Frenkie now joins Roberto in the SWISS KNIFE CLUB. and JUST SHOOT when in box ffs !!!!!Author: mm3n | Score: 34 pts | Source
Such a weird game. We were in control for the large part of it, but there were 3 (!) called off offside goals we were honestly really lucky not to concede. We created plenty of chances, but were so non-clinical and unlucky shooting that it looked like only a ricochet would send the ball in the net. It is amazing we finally create good proper open chances away in the CL, but we really need more shooting practice. Messi also seems to be training penalties these past months, he really needs to remember how to shoot from open play during his chances. Griez almost scored twice, good game from him compared to all his recent ones.
Overall: we won against Juve away! We could have scored many more goals, but could have also conceded a lot. The positives outweigh the negatives though, we just need to be more clinical and things might just work out.
Koeman: "Messi and Cristiano are different and both are the best of this era, hopefully we can enjoy both tomorrow night." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Cristiano is still among the top in world football. We will have to defend well." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "De Ligt? It's a shame that he's playing for Juventus and not here, but this happened before I arrived." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: “Pjanić's role here cannot be compared to the one he had at Juve, it's very different. He arrived late here, and that has had an influence, but I have no doubts with Pjanić." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Messi is very important in our attack. Many plays come from Leo's foot. Sometimes the easiest culprit is him for being the best player in the world, but he doesn't make mistakes in defense." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Different in the Champions League? The teams in La Liga know us better and lock us up better. Had we scored earlier, the result would have been different. But we have to win those games." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "I don't like to scream throughout the game, as a player I didn't like it if the coach spent the game running and screaming on the wing. Having said that, we must all take more responsibility on the pitch." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Coutinho has total freedom to move on the pitch, you have to find a balance." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "With the injuries and how La Liga is going, we need a strong team tomorrow, but also with freshness." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Tomorrow we will line up a strong team because we want to win the group." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Pedri has participated in all the matches except against Ferencvaros, for a 17-year-old lad it's great, because he's deserved it. He can play in several positions, he's a smart player." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "My communication with Leo is about the games, personal issues I put aside." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "We created a lot of chances but we are not effective and we have made mistakes that aren't allowed. We have to analyse that." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "If I lose I'm pissed off and I've let the players know in training yesterday, we can't concede goals like the ones we have conceded." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Dembélé's injury is a step back because he was fine, physically he has improved a lot and we know that he has a past with the issue of injuries." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Dembélé's injury is one more reason why I complain about the schedule, we will lose more players because of that. I don't know who makes the schedules..." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Our goal is to win every game. We want to top our group. We have a three-point advantage and we have a lot of chances to do it." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "In the physical part I started to work in a very different way, and I think it was necessary to play with more strength. I feel also stronger mentally. I learned from my first stage at Barça." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "Internally we talk a lot with the coach and with each other to talk about things to improve and solve them, but we do it internally." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "I try to do my best in every position I play in. We want to improve." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "I see the team doing well mentally, eager to change the dynamic." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "Messi and Neymar together? I don't know what will happen, I can only talk about myself. But of course we all like to play with the best." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "We are in a changing process, you have to be patient. And we do everything to make things work as soon as possible." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "Tomorrow we have a big game, we have to win to top the group and show that we are worth it." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "I'm the first one to reproach my performance, I know it has not been what was expected. I have worked hard mentally to be well and today I consider myself stronger in this regard." - src @barcacentre
Home | Score | Away |
---|---|---|
FC Nantes | 0-0 | Stade Rennais |
FC Metz | 0-0 | Girondins de Bordeaux |
FC Lorient | 2-5 | AS Monaco |
Moffi 31', Gravillon 67' | Disasi 9', Golovin 64', Volland 68', Diop 78', Maripan 88' | |
Stade Brestois | 2-0 | OGC Nice |
Mounié 23', Honorat 28' | ||
RC Strasbourg | 5-0 | Nîmes Olympique |
Ajorque 36', Diallo 38', Lala (p) 45'+1, Ajorque 51', Waris (p) 90' | ||
Olympique Lyonnais | 3-2 | RC Lens |
Depay 39', Fortes (og) 46', Depay (p) 52' | Sotoca 56', Doucouré 89' | |
Olympique de Marseille | 3-1 | Montpellier Hérault SC |
Radonjic 41', Payet 80', Germain 84' | Mollet 52' | |
AS Saint-Étienne | 1-1 | Paris Saint-Germain |
Hamouma 19' | Kean 22' | |
Stade de Reims | 0-0 | Dijon FCO |
Lille OSC | 1-2 | Angers SCO |
Yılmaz 42' | Thomas 6', Thomas 11' |
# | Team | Pts | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Olympique Lyonnais | 39 | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 37 | 16 | +21 | |
2 | Paris Saint-Germain | 36 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 40 | 11 | +29 | |
3 | Lille OSC | 36 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 32 | 14 | +18 | |
4 | Stade Rennais | 32 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 26 | 19 | +7 | |
5 | Olympique de Marseille | 31 | 16 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 16 | +9 | |
6 | AS Monaco | 30 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 33 | 27 | +6 | |
7 | Angers SCO | 30 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 25 | 27 | -2 | |
8 | RC Lens | 27 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 28 | 27 | +1 | |
9 | Montpellier HSC | 27 | 18 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 30 | 31 | -1 | |
10 | Stade Brestois | 26 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 30 | 31 | -1 | |
11 | FC Metz | 24 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 19 | 17 | +2 | |
12 | Girondins de Bordeaux | 23 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 20 | -2 | |
13 | OGC Nice | 22 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 21 | 24 | -3 | |
14 | AS Saint-Étienne | 19 | 18 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 19 | 26 | -7 | |
15 | Stade de Reims | 18 | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 24 | 28 | -4 | |
16 | RC Strasbourg | 17 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 27 | 32 | -5 | |
17 | FC Nantes | 16 | 18 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 18 | 30 | -12 | |
18 | Dijon FCO | 13 | 18 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 26 | -14 | |
19 | FC Lorient | 12 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 19 | 36 | -17 | |
20 | Nîmes Olympique | 12 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 14 | 39 | -25 |
# | Player | Match |
---|---|---|
1 | Cheick Doucouré | Olympique Lyonnais vs RC Lens |
2 | Florian Sotoca | Olympique Lyonnais vs RC Lens |
3 | Romain Thomas | Lille OSC vs Angers SCO |
I had told the players before the match that you rarely win 5-0 on a restart match and that it is often in difficulty. I would have done well to keep my mouth shut.Jérôme Arpinon, Nîmes coach :
I can't find the values of the club, and that bothers me a lot. If you want to be maintained, you have to show something else. Strasbourg has stepped on us in all the duels. Some have to rediscover values, you can't play with 8 or 9 players on the pitch, some pretend to run. [...] We don't feel that we're fighting to stay up. From now on, we're going to put on guys who may have less technique, but more values, more heart, who have a love of the jersey.Stéphane Moulin, Angers coach :
Is it the most beautiful victory since the comeback in L1 in 2015? Yes, because we played against the tied leader, who was undefeated at home this season. We have achieved a great feat, it is a very, very big performance, I am very, very proud of the team and the group. If there was a good moment, it was this one: Lille played a lot of matches and there was a break. I had said there would be surprises, because the big teams are not necessarily ready.Claude Puel, Saint-Étienne coach :
There is satisfaction for our general behaviour and a bit of frustration because we have the feeling that we could get a better result. But we mustn't be too greedy. This feeling was stronger in the previous matches that we deserved to win. But we are on a good phase, even if we are not rewarded. We saw a structure, playing intentions, presence on set-pieces, we took the ball out cleanly. We have to continue like that.Christophe Galtier, Lille coach :
Angers deserves its victory but we were absent. Absent without the ball, absent in the marking, absent in the duels and with too much technical waste. Maybe this defeat will remind us what we have to put into a match from the first minute to be performant. Losing matches can happen, but by being so absent, there are questions. This defeat doesn't worry me, I don't want to ring the alarm bell. But it does make you think. We have to ask ourselves the right questions. We had to do much better.av1997f, statistician :
28% of possession for Nantes. Whatever the way we calculate the possession, we can say they don't play like Barcelona.
The third entry in the Phil Jones Cinematic Universe submitted by Hurball to footballmanagergames [link] [comments] Part III of II | Links to Part I, Part II We need to go deeper. Even with Phil Jones as their lone striker, PSG still won (nearly) everything in sight. Could they literally play anybody up top and still romp home with the Ligue 1 title? I scour the Earth for somebody suitable. Joelinton? Even I’m not crazy enough to try that. And then it hits me. Kepa Arrizabalaga. He needs to get his confidence back, and to spend time away from the Chelsea goal. We can do both. A confidence-boosting season with a near-guaranteed title and goals aplenty. Kepa ✕ Paris-Saint Germain has begun. A Continuation Surprisingly, Kepa has had a decent season in goal for Chelsea, so they demand a hefty £55m fee for him. It barely makes a dent in PSG’s transfer budget. Deal. Sadly I can’t offer him any goal bonuses, but I throw in a load of clean sheet bonuses anyway, seeing as he’s never going to earn them. Our new striker has arrived. https://preview.redd.it/zfb13wnayrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57853353215f7901e8ceaac25182267aff25e457 Naturally this leaves me no choice but to transfer list Phil Jones – his opportunities will be extremely limited now, and I want to see him play regular football. Despite my best attempts there are no takers for Europe’s top goalscorer, even if we offer to pay 90% of his wages. Things look bleak, until I hit upon the idea of offering him out on loan, with a requirement for him to be played up front. Just one team are mad enough to make an offer – Dijon (insert mustard-related joke here) – and Phil dutifully accepts the challenge. I tell sporting director Leonardo that his sole purpose in life now is to report on everything Phil Jones does. https://preview.redd.it/tyogs2kcyrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bdde48397469e3758f9cc168a838a540d81dc4da We’re not done yet. After offloading Draxler we need another winger – Mohammed Salah seems a decent enough choice. With shedloads of cash still remaining, I bring in Bruno Fernandes as a rotation option, Corentin Tolisso for extra midfield depth, and João Cancelo as backup at right back. £369,000,000 well spent. We need to ensure Kepa has all the support he needs to become the next Phil Jones. Tactics-wise, it’s the same as last year. The default 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress, with no adjustments whatsoever. Kepa is handed penalty and free kick duties, and is set as the target for all our corners. He’s actually not too bad at free kicks, so I attempt to train him on “attempting long range free kicks” – sadly he never manages to acquire this trait, nor does he gain any kind of familiarity with the centre forward role, but one can't have everything. Obviously no second tactic is trained – the Gegenpress is all we need. Kepa Kepa Number 9 After a promising pre-season, scoring against Hannover and Eindhoven, I don’t hesitate in naming our new number 9 in the starting line-up for the Trophée des Champions. And, following in the footsteps of Phil Jones the year before, Kepa can’t get his hands on a medal either. We lose on penalties after a goalless draw. I don’t blame Kepa at all – he scored his penalty in the shootout, only for Fernandes and Thiago Silva to let the side down… https://preview.redd.it/typg2y4hyrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f87d3f1065146a419282b00a3de1e903d7fbef8b The bad start is immediately brushed aside as we beat Marseille in the Ligue 1 opener, before our false 1 opens his PSG account in a 1-1 draw against Strasbourg, heading in from an Alex Telles corner. This will turn out to be a familiar sight throughout the season… https://preview.redd.it/f9hxk0viyrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66c651d590685371f175f39329b2dc515f17948b After narrow wins over a Phil Jones-spearheaded Dijon and Monaco, he returns to the scoresheet with a brace in a 4-0 win over Toulouse – heading in from a Neymar free kick before getting ahead of the defenders to tuck home a Fernandes cross. He also notches his first assist, en route to a Man of the Match performance, and is named up front in the Ligue 1 team of the week! https://preview.redd.it/ii505eckyrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=23fc94b575447589dc21f7b9fd0f75ab66d19e64 Any thoughts that this early form would fizzle out are quashed in October. He scores five goals in our four games. Never mind the fact that three of them are penalties and the other two are headers from corners, his performances are enough to land him the Player of the Month award. And he doesn’t stop there – a four-game goalscoring run into mid-December lands him the Ligue 1 Foreign Player of the Year award – Phil Jones eat your heart out! https://preview.redd.it/d54x0ngmyrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cd449c69c3ba5a09878800eeb0908435c302c540 Strangely, despite his award-winning successes as a striker he’s not entirely convinced, complaining that I’m playing him out of position. Thankfully he sees sense – the last thing we need is our top scorer to throw a tantrum. https://preview.redd.it/ccz6tzunyrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=56394a4666cabbf2c5a507eafe5b71b60ed1b0f9 The Champions League Obviously we’re top of the league, with Kepa joint top goalscorer, at the halfway point. In fact, we’re yet to lose a single domestic game since I took charge of the club, in either the cups or the league. With Phil Jones or Kepa up front. How much more of a handicap do we need to have to make this fair? Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the Champions League. Last season had been a slog, scraping through a tough group and edging past Real Madrid only to lose in the quarter finals. This year we need to do better. We’re handed an easier group, the toughest fixture seeing Kepa return to face his old club Chelsea. I big hm up in the build-up, hoping he can bite the hand that used to feed him. It’s not to be. We’re soundly beaten 2-0 in both games, Kepa barely getting a look in. Whereas Jones had taken time to adapt to the level of the Champions League, however, Kepa is quick to prove his worth. He scores in every other group fixture – a brace against Salzburg, one in each Trabzonspor fixture, and another in the return to Salzburg. The critics say that he doesn’t get involved in open play; that he looks lost leading the line on his own; that he can barely pass or dribble; and that he only scores penalties and headers from corners. I stick my head in the sand and ignore them – we qualify from the group in second place, what more could anyone ask? https://preview.redd.it/g2796bgsyrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4ef228156a616551c4f7633eab12d231b7910fa4 Enough is Enough After the winter break we start the new year as we left off – two comfortable wins in the Coupe de France and victory over Strasbourg in the league, Kepa missing two penalties but scoring in each fixture regardless. This is getting out of hand. And then, disaster strikes. He twists his knee in training, ruling him out for five days! With an away trip to Dijon on the cards, I do the only logical thing – I replace him with reserve goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. The two line-ups speak for themselves – what have I turned League 1 into?? https://preview.redd.it/fh8k5hluyrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=580fd4c045ef9c993d08b0bfab3ef8569c56cd11 And the unthinkable happens. I’ve gone too far this time, and I’m rightly punished for it. We sink to a 2-0 defeat, my first domestic loss, and our 58-game unbeaten run in the league is brought to an abrupt end. https://preview.redd.it/kh2uqq2wyrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ae24ad8c9fe42c67ab40166048733b70d2b10ed And just like London buses, after waiting 58 games for the first one, two come along at once… Despite the return of our Spanish talisman to the front line, we lose again, this time to an injury time goal against Monaco. I don’t expect things to continue like this. I change nothing, and naturally our vast superiority to everyone around us begins to click again. I’m a tactical genius. Kepa falls away a little bit from his earlier goalscoring prowess, but continues to chip in with the odd goal here and there, as we rack up the wins again and extend our Ligue 1 lead, thanks to emphatic performances from the likes of Fernandes, Mbappé, Silva, and Tolisso. Phil Jones Update As instructed, Leonardo has been keeping me updated on club favourite Phil Jones. Despite a promising pre-season, scoring three in five, his contribution has been mixed at best – the odd goal, but nothing approaching his 40-goal haul last year. Nevertheless, I’m glad Dijon are sticking to their promise of playing him up front, and his presence is obviously helping in some way, as they sit safely in mid-table. One thing Dijon cannot provide, however, is the world-leading physiotherapy centre I’ve established at PSG, and, rather inevitably, the inevitable happens. https://preview.redd.it/otcvz1b0zrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c04c86f0b9c65dfa8c73deefd6277fcca824ce17 Defying the Odds Our reward for qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages is… Real Madrid. Again! Somehow we’d knocked them out on away goals last year. Can we do the same again? We do even better. A Kepa masterclass in the first leg – two headed goals from corners, before assisting Fernandes for our third (who said Kepa couldn’t pass?!), give us a 3-1 advantage for the return leg. https://preview.redd.it/sswoqf04zrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=70147bec8e17cfaca346802e669a08ac333e07c7 With injuries slowly mounting up – Neymar, Marquinhos, Bernardo Silva, and Verratti all ruled out – I’m forced to only pick five substitutes and to play not-fully-fit players. And we get battered. But try as they might Real Madrid cannot score past our two goalkeeper strategy. And not only do we weather the storm, we steal two goals from our only two shots on target for a 5-1 aggregate win! https://preview.redd.it/3ii3eiz5zrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d5526870f99085c248bfe166ef68874d94a5d512 It doesn’t get any easier. We continue our Spanish odyssey with a tie against Barcelona, who must have learned from the mistakes of Real Madrid, as they nullify Kepa completely in both legs. In doing so, however, they leave space for Neymar, Mbappé, and even Salah to get us through to the semi-finals 4-3 on aggregate… Is this PSG’s year at long last? Kepa Giveth, Kepa Taketh Away Despite his goal haul fast approaching 30 for the year, there are occasions when playing a goalkeeper up front appears to cause issues for the team. The first major upset occurs in the semi-final of the Coupe de France. Goals from Neymar and Mbappé aren’t enough, as we concede twice, and cannot turn our attacking domination into a winning goal, Kepa going missing for long periods of play. The game goes all the way to penalties. And our top scorer blazes wide of the post with the first kick. Fernandes misses again, and Di María adds to the woe. We’re dumped out of the cup, and though Kepa will go on to be the competition’s top scorer, it’s another missed chance at silverware. https://preview.redd.it/6xxv27o9zrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=808634f4c87abc0c8905994c59e3237d04d9304e It’s at this point that I realise that there’s no Coupe de la Ligue this year. I’d simply assumed we must’ve won our earlier rounds without noticing, but on actually checking the fixture list discover it’s missing completely… My PA informs me the competition was stopped after last year. I’m gutted, for Kepa more than anything – it could’ve been another chance to increase his goal tally, and silverware too. Our last chance at a double is in the Champions League. Man City stand between us and a European final. With the squad back at near full fitness, I pick our strongest lineup for the home leg – naturally skippered by Kepa. It’s a terrible game, and looks to be headed for a goalless draw until we win a penalty in the 86th minute. A pivotal moment. Kepa has been poor from the spot in recent weeks, but I refuse to take penalty duty off him. He steps up, and hits it straight at Ederson… It’s a huge opportunity missed. I’m forced to defend his selection in the press conference. But I have faith in him. He keeps his place for the return leg. And he repays my faith by scything down Laporte in the 9th minute, picking up the first red card of his PSG career… In the Champions League semi-final. All clouds have a silver lining – at least this gives us a chance to see if we actually need to have anybody up front at all in order to win. Phil Jones → Kepa → Nobody. It’s a natural progression. I change nothing, and stick with our 4-2-3-0 formation. It's a disaster. https://preview.redd.it/hlwkimtczrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05471033ed6766f7d448f553433ea56da9883e4a The Road Home In fact, the Man City games look to be part of a wider issue – including those fixtures we don’t score a single goal for five games, losing 1-0 to Lyon and Nice, and drawing to Troyes. Kepa plays every minute, but I blame the lack of goals on his lack of service. Telles’ corners seem to have gone off the boil, and our wingers all lose form at the same time. Even the penalties have dried up. One player in particular who’s been an utter disappointment this year has been Salah. Signed for £106m, he finishes the season with three goals and three assists. Playing in his favoured role on the right-hand side. I’d fully expected him to be one of our star players alongside Kepa and Mbappé. But it just isn’t to be. It takes him until after Christmas to score his first goal, and despite playing in the majority of our games his contributions seem limited to amazing dribbles past multiple players only to pass the ball slowly to the opposition goalkeeper. Time and time again. With our defeat to Nice I decide enough is enough, and drop him from the squad altogether. Kepa deserves better. We do eventually get back to winning ways, obviously retaining the Ligue 1 title – finishing only two points worse off than last year despite our four defeats – and there’s time for Kepa to score one final penalty to bring him to a respectable 34 goals for the season. Despite this, he’s still unhappy about being played out of position… Season Review – Awards and Stats And with that, the season draws to a close. Whilst we retain the Ligue 1 title, we’re unable to go a second season unbeaten, with disappointing shootout defeats in both the Trophée des Champions and the Coupe de France. But it’s not all bad – we did manage to go one step further in the Champions League, and even then only lost after being reduced to ten men early on. In another timeline Kepa scores the penalty, doesn’t get sent off, and carries us to European glory. Oh what could have been… https://preview.redd.it/wbl0ox920sx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=10c56ad2af5feb3756296dcc2c467cff9ad55a9d https://preview.redd.it/j6iw5r740sx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ef4cdfdd2e27df3326cd325277c112b3e803b002 The PSG fans pick Alex Telles as their Player of the Season, having racked up a record number of assists, mostly through corners onto Kepa’s head. They do add Kepa to the PSG Best Eleven, but – channelling their inner Garth Crooks’ Team of the Week – put our top goalscorer in net. https://preview.redd.it/gvqq550wzrx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=109078f5bc8d205508dcb23620445d5eed7325dc In fact, Kepa’s positioning seems to cause a great headache for the awards bodies, nobody quite sure what to make of the 34-goal goalkeeper. He’s voted as the best goalkeeper in the Champions League, despite finishing only one behind top-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, and tops Ligue 1 for fewest goals conceded – with zero. Sadly his form fading towards the end of the year costs him any chance of the Ligue 1 top scorer award, finishing eight behind Ben Yedder, and five off the target Phil Jones set last year. https://preview.redd.it/cqnnzp411sx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=95c043b52a459a091fb396eb2f5bc7b1cffb9638 And what of Phil Jones? Dijon, pleasingly, stuck to their promise to play him as a striker – and were rewarded with five goals and one assist, with a 15th-placed finish in the league. Some might say that’s a disappointment, but from my reckoning it’s his second best ever season as a footballer. The conversion to a striker has done the lad good. And what lessons do we take from all this nonsense and disrespect to French football? Well, that PSG could play a goalkeeper up front and still coast to the league, only lose in the cup on penalties, and reach the Champions League semi-finals. Compared to Phil Jones, however, there’s no competition. Despite reaching a similar number of goals, Kepa’s contribution in open play was near-non-existent, and were it not for his godlike prowess at corners we’d have struggled much more. Phil actually linked up with his teammates, put pressure on the opposition back line, and scored from outside the six-yard box. Kepa… not so much. Even his direct free kicks were a disappointment – despite being rated as vastly superior to Jones in that department, he scored a grand total of zero. All that being said, you can't fault Kepa too much, moving to a new country and playing way out of position, he still managed to put in a phenomenal shift - after all, how often do goalkeepers get 9.5/10 match ratings multiple times a season?! https://preview.redd.it/8god2pbs0sx51.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=29a8fe9de43e4dbf04cf8ca1dfddf310b59279e9 |
Bayern Munich, the reigning champions, are listed with +275 odds to lift the trophy again, while Premier League heavyweights Man City and Liverpool aren't far behind. Odds to win 2021 Champions League We have experts who will do their best to lead you to big profits when bettting on the Champions League. This site will give you comprehensive coverage of the 2020/21 Champions League competition. If you want to know where to get the best odds and read previews of the top games, then this site is the place to come for all the information. A massive tilt between Barcelona and PSG has seen each team’s odds worsen from +1567 to +1800 and +933 to +1233 respectively. Meanwhile, no team saw their odds sink more than Lazio, who drew champions Bayern Munich and saw their odds lengthen from +6833 to +10333 [12/10/20] Juventus has seen their odds shorten after Matchday 6 from +1767 to +1500. It’s Bayern Munich and Man City who are still top favorites after the conclusion of the Group Stage The best bet here is to go with how the odds are currently stacked up, with Barcelona winning Group G of the Champions League. Juventus will come in second, with Kyiv and Ferencvaros trailing. My Pick: Barcelona to win (-155) Champions League betting on the European football club championship. Get outright and match odds, plus tips, free bets, offers and money-back specials This Champions League outright winner odds comparison allows OddsJet to display the best odds for every team to win the Champions League outright so Canadian bettors may maximize their potential returns. For individual UCL matches, OddsJet also provides a Champions League odds comparison. 4. Barcelona. Win/Loss/Draw: 5 / 0 / 3 Goals Scored: 13 Conceded: 6 SBK percentile odds (to win Champions League outright): 11.11% Barcelona are an old, beat-up team in desperate need of young Odds as of January 27 at Bovada. See Odds Shark’s Best Soccer Sites. Favorites Drawn Against Lesser Opponents . While there is no such thing as an easy path through the UEFA Champions League, winning the group that qualifies each winner for a fixture against a side that came second is a clear advantage and one that this year seems starker than ever. More precisely, if you want to bet on the victory of Barcelona against Schalke, you will be betting on the odds 'Barcelona to Win' (e.g. 6/5) - the basic vocabulary for sports betting. Then what you must understand is that the proposed odds on a Champions League fixture will always be directly proportional to the probability of the bet to be Champions League Moneyline odds. You can bet on either team to win or you can bet on a draw, which means that after 90 minutes (full time) the scores will be level. If you wish to bet Barcelona to win in 90 minutes against Liverpool in the first leg at home the line would be -115 or 1.88. Champions League Over/Under Odds
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