Olympiacos (A) - CL | Post-Match Thread

[MarsLlama]

Yes, god knows where we will be if we keep...comfortably winning 1-0. That would be a fucking disaster!

Seems like an incredible arrogance, presumably born through ignorance to assume we should put 4 goals minimum past a side that's conceded 7 goals all season (4 to City).

They clearly have an excellent defence. They put Arsenal out of the Europa in July, they only just missed out on beating Wolves in the next round. They drew with Spurs last season and almost upset Bayern but lost 3-2. They've played 35 games in 2020 and kept about 25 clean sheets, they know how to defend and they know how to defend against Champions League quality opposition.

So why you'd expect 4-0 to be the minimum score against them is completely beyond me.

In general we're not scoring enough this season. All our PL wins have been either by a single goal or a two-goal margin with an extremely late 3rd goal. That's a problem, and nothing to do with arrogance. In all three of those situations we're only a defensive mistake (which let's face it, happens often) away from turning three points into one. Today they could have easily snatched a draw at the end, whereas we should have been several goals up at that point.

 

[Saddleworth2]

I'm becoming increasingly convinced a lot of people on this forum look for reasons to be unhappy and finding those reasons and bitterly complaining about them is the only reason they follow the sport at all.


Tonight we played well, it was a noticeable change from not creating anything to creating but not quite finishing some really fine chances produced by some really fine football.

Mendy had an absolutely excellent game, it was really noticeable how often he won the ball high up when Olympiakos thought they'd finally got the ball back and Pep was clapping and happily encouraging him on all game. It's amazing how whenever he plays, he is a massive part of the game, all our attacks went down that side and involved him in the first half.

It was as comfortable a 1-0 win as you will ever see, I don't think Olympiakos registered a touch in our box until stoppage time. Stones looked really solid, Fernandinho, Zinchenko and Aguero made their returns and got some minutes, Tommy Doyle got his Champions League debut, we got a nice clean sheet, KDB and Walker got a well deserved rest and we didn't get any injuries.

Now we can look forward to a couple of games against fairly prestigious opposition in Marseilles and Porto with nothing riding on them, some kids getting minutes and more rest for the first team.

8/10, could barely have been planned better, just needed a couple of those great chances to drop in the net.

Nice summary mate. Thought Mendy was very good considering his first game back. Some of the crosses he put in were just asking for it. Nice performance from John Stones too.

 

[Nelinho]

Very good performance. Right finishing and its 5-0.

+1

5 is a rather moderate estimation though. Total domination, comfortable circulation of the ball, City never lost control throughout the 90 minutes, unlocked their parked bus numerous times. Still, we lack the easy goal which makes the team suffer while providing hope to the opponents. Indecisiveness, wrong decisions in the final third / box, poor finishing etc, have become typical characteristics of our identity. Which becomes even more complicated given recent unfortunate results and their impact to the team's psychology...

That aside, the team's response was almost as good and sharp as it can be. Fluid and unpredictable movement from our 4 upfront, fullbacks providing width (especially Benjamin), Ilkay with vertical advances beside his playmaking responsibilities. Opposition, highly motivated to get something from the match, had no way to cope with our game, even with 5 at the back (a special plan of theirs for tonight's match). With the ball, it would be an achievement if they could manage a string of like 6 or 7 passes together. Sa their best player by a mile...

21 final attempts against their 2 (on 88th and 91th minute respectively). Fantastic combination leading to Phil's goal. But 0-1 hardly reflects the reality of the match. It would be a travesty if lady luck decided otherwise in the end, but if she did, there would be nobody to blame other from ourselves. Like it's happened a million times...

Ruben, Gabby, Ilkay candidates for MOM. Good performances by Joao and Bernardo, Phil active yet not as effective as he can. Benjamin and John back after a long absence...

Congratulations to everyone, get back safe.

PS. Their owner, who should be in jail, already complaining about a foul in the process leading to City's goal. Olympiakos deserved to get something positive from the match, he says, the refs and VAR did not let it happen...
As I said, a disgrace of a club...

PS 2. What we're facing is deterministic, we cannot perform at our full potential. I won't get tired repeating myself on this. Having said that, if it was up to me, I would do everything in my powers to remove the pressure from the boys. Completely. I trust in their professionalism 100% anyway, I have no doubts they will give their very best in the process, no reason for reminding them objectives and goals. They know who they play for, they are aware of the expectations and their responsibilities, take my word for it. Under current circumstances though, it becomes a burden (if it's not already)...
Which means : Show them the respect they deserve, help them stay calm and express themselves as freely as possible on the pitch. We go step by step, focus on the next match. Burnley...

 

[Phil1]

This thread so far mirrors the game we saw tonight. Much to look at and nod in agreement with the odd ‘what the fucks that all about’ thrown in.

We have to take this season a game at a time, it’s true that in general that’s the way forward every season but this one is different for so many reasons.
Topping the group at this stage, regardless of performance, gives us a massive advantage when it starts catching up with everyone else.
I know there’s a lot of negativity on here, it’s understandable after what we’ve achieved recently, but we just have to be patient. Good things will happen to this team again, we might have to see a bit more turgid shite before that, but we will come good this season when it matters.

 

[GoatersLeftShin]

A comfortable win in the end, not a classic by any means but CL games very rarely are. I'm constantly amazed how sponsors want to pay so much money to sponsor this competition as most of the games are a terrible spectacle.

Olympiakos set their stall out and were hard to beat. Let's be honest if your opponent are happy to sit back and try to counter then you're not in for a classic.bi don't know what many posters expected from us to be honest.

We kept another clean sheet and won away from home. Were through to the next round and in line to too the group. I'm happy with that overall.

It's clear we are not playing as well as we can and I'm not overjoyed with it either.

I do wish Doyle had got more than 5 minutes or so and it was good to see Fernandinho back.

Honestly this was a game to take the result and forget about it.

 

[domalino]

In general we're not scoring enough this season. All our PL wins have been either by a single goal or a two-goal margin with an extremely late 3rd goal. That's a problem, and nothing to do with arrogance. In all three of those situations we're only a defensive mistake (which let's face it, happens often) away from turning three points into one. Today they could have easily snatched a draw at the end, whereas we should have been several goals up at that point.

Why have you responded to me calling someone arrogant for assuming we'd score 4 against a very good defence into another whine about us not scoring and attempted to conflate the two?

We created chances today, against a very good defence, while operating in second gear and whilst being in 100% control of the game. We aren't going to lose a match when the opposition doesn't have a shot on target.

 

[CelesteItis]

One nil to the Citeh! One nil to the Citeh!
Bet that fewer than 30 pages the thread will be.
Job done.

 

[bluwes]

Rafinha is a ****.

What was with the shorts pulled up around his crotch. WTF was that about ?

 

[eyalluvitt]

The PL ones are even worse.

 

[Barcon]

What was with the shorts pulled up around his crotch. WTF was that about ?