City v Real Madrid - 26/04/16 - Pre Match Thread

[Marvin]

Not like Marv that....

Bitchy at 8am. Get a life!

 

[Harvster]

Odd that Yaya picked up his 'injury' just after Fernando was subbed at the weekend.

You can almost hear his brain working....Fenandinho playing no part because of Tuesday, Fern off after 60 mins to protect him

Nailed on to my mind that Yaya couldn't face the perceived 'shame' of being on the bench

Unless it is a proper injury of course, in which case a thousand apologies to Mr T

 

[FantasyIreland]

Not like Marv that....

How have I done that?

I have just given you the facts. He went off when Real madrid were 2-1 down in the 1st half in a must win game, so clearly he thought he was injured.

And despite training, I am saying I don't think he will play. That is not covering all bases. That's knowledge and making an educated assessment.

Well done.

 

[Rammy Blue]

I was just thinking the same thing.
If we play Nico we may play a savvy conservative game. In which case Sterling's pace on the counter will be invaluable.
So excited for this.
A quick shower then on my way to God's own country. A few sherbets in town, then roar City on to glory....

Wish I could get on it early, not too busy a day at work though so sure time will drift reasonably well.

 

[bluemoon98]

Nervous as f*ck for a competition I didn't care about two seasons ago? ;)

 

[Marvin]

We've exceeded expectations for once and tonight we play a disciplined game, make no mistakes, give it our best shot and see where it takes us

 

[football pundit]

Interesting ucl stats (but IMO just a coincidence). Number 1: but looking at the last couple (10) of semi finals: 2015: Real and Bayern played second leg at home; got eliminated
2014: Bayern and Chelsea played second leg athome; got eliminated
2013: Barca and Real played second leg at home; got eliminated
2012: Barca and Real played second leg at home; got eliminated
2011: Man U and Barca played second leg at home; went through
2010: Barcelona and Lyon played second leg at home; got eliminated
2009: Arsenal and Chelsea played second leg at home; got eliminated
2008: Man U and Chelsea played second leg at home; went through
2007: Liverpool and Milan played second leg at home; went through
2006: Villareal and Barca played second leg at home; Barca went through Villareal got
eliminated In 6 of the last 10 semi finals, both teams playing the second leg at home lost the tie. I
didnt go further back than 10 years but it sure seems like a trend, especially in the last 4 straight years.
Interesting stat number 2( though the trend was stopped by juve's defeat in the final): beat the defending champions in the semi finals and win the cup e.g Madrid beat bayern, bayern beat barca, chelsea beat barca, inter beat barca etc. Since barca was beaten in the quarters, the stat won't apply.

interesting stat 3: a team that has been in the champions league final usually comes back to win it two or three years later, e.g bayern, chelsea, ac milan etc. The stat might apply in athletico's case.
Interesting stat 4: every time cristiano scores against city they always end up losing.
After analysing all the stats, it seems we might have an athletico vs realmadrid final with athletico madrid getting their revenge just like liverpool did in 2006-2007 vs milan. The stats are more on athleticos side. Think city can also go through but they lack experience that madrid have at this level. History is also another factor

 

[Marvin]

Well done.

A blunder, followed by sarcasm.

 

[MCFCFanTX]

So hyped for this game.

 

[Steve68]

A win of any sort will do me. It's a semi and anything could happen, especially if the team is set up right and the players come out fighting.