At least we now have a great high profile example of getting scored on because of lazy defending for film sessions.

Ederson was up to his usual craziness on the goal as well.

Bout fin time

Bayern going to abuse Kyle Walker something fierce.

This is bananas.







I love it.

Wow. What a whiff. I think I could have made that.

jeffk said:

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Bayern going to abuse Kyle Walker something fierce.

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Nevermind.

You absolutely LOVE to see it

We going to use this thread for the rest of the tourney? Semis start today.

Leipzig - PSG today

Lyon gets tossed into the wood chipper tomorrow

I have to think PSG comes away with the win, but I'm hoping for an all Bundesliga Final.

While I do miss having had the drama of home and away legs, this intense run of CL games is pretty awesome.

Not looking good for RBL. Down 2-0 at half.

Let's see what they can do in the closing 45 minutes.

Yeah, they gift wrapped goal #2 there.

Tyler Adams on now. Let's see if he can play super/savior sub.

jeffk said:

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Yeah, they gift wrapped goal #2 there.

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playing out of the back continues to pay dividends for the other team.

Watching what i see today I'll honestly be surprised if PSG can stay within 4 goals of Bayern.

I don't know.

Part of me wonders if part of what we're seeing this year is due to what happened this summer. Teams played a condensed schedule in the heat of summer...

But who didn't? The French teams. Who had a nice long break after their condensed season? The German teams.

Could fatigue have played a factor, with the freshest legs having more of an advantage?

To be clear, PSG would've had more pace than Leipzig if it had all been equal in terms of rest/fatigue, but I've never seen them look so beat down and slow like they were in the second half today. Leipzig played a full 90 against Bayern twice this year and drew both times, never looking like there was such a disparity in fitness as they looked today.

On the flip side of the coin, Leipzig looked way fresher at the end of their game with Atletico. They came in with more rest.

More than the season differences, this format is not only condensed but gives extra days of rest to certain teams due to them not playing on the same day. So PSG had an extra day on top of already being fresh from not playing all summer.

For the Finals, PSG will once again have an extra day of rest.

It may well be their year. The deck is certainly stacked in their favor.

(And to reiterate, I'm by no means suggesting that Leipzig would've won today if the rest had been equal, but it is interesting that the 4 teams in the Semis were the 4 teams with the most rest).

TLDR: Lyon needs to upset Bayern tomorrow so the asterisk gets firmly planted on PSG's title.

There are not many positions I'd switch PSG over Leipzig

Leipzig got a pretty damn nice draw. A really weak injured Spurs squad that couldn't score. Nice win over Atletico and today they saw how far off they are from the big boys

How much did RBL miss Timo Werner in that one?

I've never really paid any attention to Ligue 1 but found it interesting today to read that psg are a relatively new club (founded in 1970) that historically wasn't dominant until this current run.

Kind of just assumed that they'd always been the 900# gorilla like RM/Barca or Munich or Ajax.

Being owned by the Qatar Sports group helps make them a 900# gorilla. Nothing like a little oil money here and there to make a team competitive.

Although it's interesting where big foreign money isn't the cure all and sure fire investment. I've been working on a project looking at a ton of English clubs both big, middling and not so big and it's interesting where some rich ass foreigner swoops in and buys a club and then can't get them out of League 1 despite their riches.

Obviously the counter to that is City. Would have been interesting to see what the Saudis could have down with Newcastle.

I guess I didn't explain myself well. I certainly wasn't trying to make an excuse for Leipzig losing.

I'll absolutely concede that PSG is better across the board and beats Leipzig 9 times out of 10 (and that may be generous). I wasn't expecting a win or even a close game, especially without Timo Werner. But I've also never seen them look so relatively out of shape. Maybe PSG are just on a whole different level of athleticism than Bayern or Dormund, I don't know.

But on the flip side, a Leipzig without Timo Werner probably loses to Atletico 8 of 10 times, and yet they looked decisively better throughout most of that game.

Reflecting on both of those outcomes made me realize the rest issue I brought up earlier. Maybe it's just a heck of a coincidence, but I find it interesting that the two leagues with the most rest are the two leagues that made the semifinals.

I'll certainly concede that long-term rest may have not been an issue for PSG v. Leipzig. Leipzig had 6.5 weeks off, which was enough time to go on vacation and then come back for a training camp.

But in the short term, I do wonder if playing after 4 days off vs. PSG's 5 days off played a role in the heavy legs I saw from Leipzig. If so, PSG will benefit from an extra day of rest before the Finals. And either team they play in the Finals will have played an extra game in this condensed tourney (PSG were already straight to the quarters).

I guess my overall point is that it may be premature to go ahead and crown Bayern the champs; if anything, I'm wondering if the cards might be stacked in PSG's favor. They certainly have zero excuses if they lose.

Also, if I'm right about this summer session taking a toll on teams (and I've read open complaints about the relatively early EPL restart) then it'll be interesting to see what happens in the group stages of CL and EL this fall when even more leagues that took off are added to the mix.

Mathguy64 said:

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The difference between City, and to a slightly lesser degree PSG is that they are owned not really by a rich foreign individual but by a foreign sovereign. That sovereign doesn't need to show a profit and has pockets that are effectively unlimited in depth. PSG isn't exactly that but it's pretty close. City is exactly that with Abu Dhabi/UAE and Newcastle would have been with the Saudis. That's a big difference between someone like the Glazer's or Kroenke. City can buy anyone they want. It's up to the manager and coaches to get it to work on the field but in the end an unlimited budget gives them a much bigger margin of error.

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I agree there's a difference, but I wouldn't say it's "unlimited."

This is basically a foreign relations ploy, so it's kinda up to how much these countries want to spend to ingratiate themselves to fans around the world.

http://www.josimar.no/artikler/the-men-behind-manchester-city-the-dark-side/5040/

DeangeloVickers said:

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http://www.josimar.no/artikler/the-men-behind-manchester-city-the-dark-side/5040/

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I didn't realize things were that nuts.

I say this as someone who is basically on board with BLM (and don't want the conversation to turn to that)... it's such a sham media stunt that EPL, EUFA, and FIFA make BLM a big deal but then jump in bed with guys like this and these issues are kept quiet.

Sportswashing.