The Neutral View....

[levets]

Beating Real Madrid would still make us outsiders to progress in the champions league, beating Chelsea is a much more significant result IMO.

Having said that I expect we'll do our utmost to win tonight and Sunday. And given that it isn't a straight choice of win tonight or win Sunday (or vice versa) I'd very much prefer if we win both.

But for me, Chelsea is the more important match.

I just don't get how you can give the Chelsea match an much bigger sense of importance than the Madrid game whilst you still have a chance of qualifying for the KO rounds, and, at worse, a defeat to Chelsea leaves you, at worse, 2pts behind United and still ahead of Chelsea and still only in November.

I can't speak for everyone else but I'm just not as arsed about the champions league as the premier league. It doesn't even come close.

Me neither. (though I'm sure the owner would disagree).

 

[John Wayne]

You'd soon see how important the Champions League was to the fans if we ever did make the final.

For me personally, the Champions League ranks on a par with your domestic league. Fans of Liverpool will take that crazy night in Istanbul to their graves, we keep hearing about the Lisbon Lions of 1967 and that bloody night in Barcelona in 1999. The Premier League and the Champions League are evidently two very different competitions but it is European pedigree that makes you one of the top clubs across the continent. For example, Rangers have won more domestic titles in Europe than any other club but this does not make them Europe's most prestigious outfit.

A Champions League win is unlikely but would have been a tremendous way to round off a fairytale few years. Cup, league, Champions League in back-to-back-to-back years. And you never know what is round the corner. A stroke of bad luck and this could all be over.

 

[The Flash]

Look if you are going to come here and post rational, sensible thoughts then we dont want you. You are only welcome if you rant at Mancini three days after saying he is the greatest manager to walk this planet. It is people like you who give this forum a good name and I for one don't want it. It is not big and it is certainly not clever.

Also please notice how I have not called you a Rag ? BUT I do think the Mods should ban you, sensible posts indeed.



Just sayin'

Fixed.

If you're going to have a catchphrase, you'll bloody well use it!

Just sayin'

 

[M24-CRC]

since when would we give a shit about your opinion yonner ???







p.s. top post, absolutely agree.......but as bilboblue said dont tar us all with the regular moaners/numpties on here who wouldn't know a football if it hit them in their face

 

[andy h]

Like what the OP said....lotta sense in there.
I am a City fan, I want the team to win every game and for the players to go out with that attitude.
Tonight is about pride, showing the pundits etc that we are better than they make us out = Crisis, what crisis? Smash the fuq outta Real Madrid or even squeaking a result would be great.
Sunday is another day, another game and an expectation that the team will produce a result. Lose tonight and there is another game to look forward to at the weekend to see the spirits lifted.

FWIW if we still have a mathematical cgance of qualifying tonight - then lets go for it. If we finish third in the group and end up in the Europa, I will still have the same expectations for the team, results as any other competition. I appreciate that some fans have a CBA attitude to the Europa League but it is still a pot that City could win and would satisfy our lust for silverware. And it does help with our co-efficient (albeit not as good as those points we could accumulate from the Champions League)..........

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

I'd take that as having seen how close the title was last season every 3 points matters, plus a win v Chelsea would give us revenge for Clattenburg screwing us out of one last season.

As far as the CL goes, the only way realistically of us going through is for us to beat Dortmund and Real by 2 clear goals, and for Ajax to beat Dortmund and draw with Real, that would leave everyone on 8 points and send us through on the head to head against Dortmund and Real I think, though the head to head's would make it very confusing.

 

[Chi-town blues]

I’ve been on this forum for a while now, as many of you will know. I’ve seen how pissed off you get after (rare) defeats and I understand that sometimes, in the heat of the moment, people can say things that, the next day, they wont mean. In contrast, I see the reactions to some of your big wins and how many people’s opinions of players/staff and the like are immediately inflated, sometimes rightly and sometimes wrongly.

I put that down however, to the fickle nature of football fans in general, and not just with City.

However, I’ll be honest here though, in that I am amazed at some of your thoughts on tonight’s game, your potential CL campaign outcome, the upcoming game against Chelsea and the Europa League.

A couple of years ago, when Spurs nicked the CL spot from you after ‘that’ Crouch goal, this place was not happy, and understandably so. After such a rapid & prominent rise since Sheikh Mansour took over, CL qualification was the immediate aim, long before a potential League Title.

Fast forward a year and you got exactly what you wanted, by finishing 3rd.

Manchester City in the Champions League – who’d have thought it? Fuck me, 10 years ago you were playing the likes of Wycombe, Mansfield and even my Oldham!

Draws haven’t been kind as we all know, and to be honest, the performances haven’t been there either. BUT, whilst you still have a chance to qualify for the KO rounds this season, and since it’s only fucking November and the PL title race hasn’t even got going yet, I cannot fathom some of the reactions on here this last few days, in particular to the question posed the other day, “Would you accept a defeat against Real, for a win at Chelsea”?

Now surely it’s not just me here, but whilst you can still qualify for the CL, why the fuck wouldn’t you want to go all guns blazing tonight, against the most successful team in European Cup history, on your home patch, knowing a win could keep you in the hunt for the KO rounds. There’s plenty of things to consider here...

1. Ajax definitely have a chance of beating Dortmund
2. Equally, City have the squad to beat Madrid
3. It’s November, you lose to Chelsea and, at worst, you’re 2pts behind United. Fuck me, they bottled an 8pt lead last year in April, what the fuck is a 2pt advantage in November, especially when they have to visit The Etihad in a few weeks.

I guess what I am saying, is that I can’t believe the majority of people on here would happily abandon any CL hopes now, if a guaranteed win against Chelsea was available on Sunday. Fair enough, if we were in February and you were 3pts behind in the PL, then I could perhaps understand it a little.

But this is the Champions League, something 10 years ago you would have laughed at the possibility of participating in, and you’re playing Real Madrid, at home, whilst qualification is STILL possible. Even if Dortmund did pick something up in Amsterdam tonight, think of the extra confidence your team would get by turning Real Madrid over. A defeat to Chelsea on Sunday is as far away from the end of the world as possible. Imagine losing to Madrid tonight, only to see that Ajax had beaten Dortmund?

Lastly, whilst I agree that the PL is the big focus again this season, surely a Europa League stint would be useful in it’s own ways. Just look how much Co-efficiency points Atletico Madrid earned last season when they won the competition. They’re on the brink of Pot 1 as it stands.

You have two very good players for every position and I see no reason why you cannot challenge on both fronts, even by keeping the PL as the priority.

Lastly, from a personal point of view, I’ve always thought of City fans as a good bunch. Especially when you factor in just how arrogant those ***** across the road have been all these years. I guess I just thought I’d never see you turn your noses up at competitions like the Europa League now you’ve got some success behind you.

There’s a lot of positives to take out of a win against Madrid tonight, even if Dortmund beat Ajax.

It’s not the end of the world if you lose to Chelsea on Sunday.


*Cue potential Rag comments.

Please don't hurt the moaners

 

[M18CTID]

You'd soon see how important the Champions League was to the fans if we ever did make the final.

For me personally, the Champions League ranks on a par with your domestic league. Fans of Liverpool will take that crazy night in Istanbul to their graves, we keep hearing about the Lisbon Lions of 1967 and that bloody night in Barcelona in 1999. The Premier League and the Champions League are evidently two very different competitions but it is European pedigree that makes you one of the top clubs across the continent. For example, Rangers have won more domestic titles in Europe than any other club but this does not make them Europe's most prestigious outfit.

A Champions League win is unlikely but would have been a tremendous way to round off a fairytale few years. Cup, league, Champions League in back-to-back-to-back years. And you never know what is round the corner. A stroke of bad luck and this could all be over.

Of course the Champions League is very important - no-one can deny that despite some trying to claim otherwise. The trouble is, we're now in a situation where we need to win our last 2 games against top quality opposition AND rely on other results going our way. That's an incredibly tough ask so I, like many others, are being realistic and thinking that we probably won't qualify this time around so we're looking at the Premier League as being our most realistic chance of winning a trophy this season.

That doesn't mean to say I've given up hope - I'm really looking forward to tonight's game and will be in Dortmund for our last group match. Although hypothetical questions about which game out of tonight and Sunday we'd prefer to win are a bit silly, people need to remember that that's all it is - hypothetical - and I'm not sure why anyone is taking it to heart. Every City fan worth their salt wants us to win every game we play but that's never going to happen no matter how good we are. What winds me up more is the over the top moaning on here whenever we don't get a good result.

 

[the kippax kid]

I’ve been on this forum for a while now, as many of you will know. I’ve seen how pissed off you get after (rare) defeats and I understand that sometimes, in the heat of the moment, people can say things that, the next day, they wont mean. In contrast, I see the reactions to some of your big wins and how many people’s opinions of players/staff and the like are immediately inflated, sometimes rightly and sometimes wrongly.

I put that down however, to the fickle nature of football fans in general, and not just with City.

However, I’ll be honest here though, in that I am amazed at some of your thoughts on tonight’s game, your potential CL campaign outcome, the upcoming game against Chelsea and the Europa League.

A couple of years ago, when Spurs nicked the CL spot from you after ‘that’ Crouch goal, this place was not happy, and understandably so. After such a rapid & prominent rise since Sheikh Mansour took over, CL qualification was the immediate aim, long before a potential League Title.

Fast forward a year and you got exactly what you wanted, by finishing 3rd.

Manchester City in the Champions League – who’d have thought it? Fuck me, 10 years ago you were playing the likes of Wycombe, Mansfield and even my Oldham!

Draws haven’t been kind as we all know, and to be honest, the performances haven’t been there either. BUT, whilst you still have a chance to qualify for the KO rounds this season, and since it’s only fucking November and the PL title race hasn’t even got going yet, I cannot fathom some of the reactions on here this last few days, in particular to the question posed the other day, “Would you accept a defeat against Real, for a win at Chelsea”?

Now surely it’s not just me here, but whilst you can still qualify for the CL, why the fuck wouldn’t you want to go all guns blazing tonight, against the most successful team in European Cup history, on your home patch, knowing a win could keep you in the hunt for the KO rounds. There’s plenty of things to consider here...

1. Ajax definitely have a chance of beating Dortmund
2. Equally, City have the squad to beat Madrid
3. It’s November, you lose to Chelsea and, at worst, you’re 2pts behind United. Fuck me, they bottled an 8pt lead last year in April, what the fuck is a 2pt advantage in November, especially when they have to visit The Etihad in a few weeks.

I guess what I am saying, is that I can’t believe the majority of people on here would happily abandon any CL hopes now, if a guaranteed win against Chelsea was available on Sunday. Fair enough, if we were in February and you were 3pts behind in the PL, then I could perhaps understand it a little.

But this is the Champions League, something 10 years ago you would have laughed at the possibility of participating in, and you’re playing Real Madrid, at home, whilst qualification is STILL possible. Even if Dortmund did pick something up in Amsterdam tonight, think of the extra confidence your team would get by turning Real Madrid over. A defeat to Chelsea on Sunday is as far away from the end of the world as possible. Imagine losing to Madrid tonight, only to see that Ajax had beaten Dortmund?

Lastly, whilst I agree that the PL is the big focus again this season, surely a Europa League stint would be useful in it’s own ways. Just look how much Co-efficiency points Atletico Madrid earned last season when they won the competition. They’re on the brink of Pot 1 as it stands.

You have two very good players for every position and I see no reason why you cannot challenge on both fronts, even by keeping the PL as the priority.

Lastly, from a personal point of view, I’ve always thought of City fans as a good bunch. Especially when you factor in just how arrogant those ***** across the road have been all these years. I guess I just thought I’d never see you turn your noses up at competitions like the Europa League now you’ve got some success behind you.

There’s a lot of positives to take out of a win against Madrid tonight, even if Dortmund beat Ajax.

It’s not the end of the world if you lose to Chelsea on Sunday.


*Cue potential Rag comments.

I don't really understand all that it makes too much sense

 

[Latics Fan SJK]

As far as the CL goes, the only way realistically of us going through is for us to beat Dortmund and Real by 2 clear goals, and for Ajax to beat Dortmund and draw with Real, that would leave everyone on 8 points and send us through on the head to head against Dortmund and Real I think, though the head to head's would make it very confusing.

Forget all the 'by 2 goals" nonsence, JMW.

If Ajax beat Dortmund, then it doesn't matter what goal difference you have. 6pts off Madrid & Dortmund will see you through in 2nd.