There now appears to be some weird North London "quantum entanglement" where Spurs 6 consecutive Europa Leagues is directly linked to the Goons 6 consecutive CL exits at the last 16 stage. So please try harder to beat Munich this time, ok.
The problem is that in the CL KO stage, UEFA have achieved their aim. Which is ensuring those ties that extract maximum revenue are near certain to occur from the QFs onwards. So the draw for the last 16 becomes a form of inbreeding (certain teams are drawn against each other with depressing frequency) .
If you read the responses in this thread, we have no problem with playing top teams however it's the same TWO teams almost every season now. It's ridiculous.
Well at least we play away first so that's a change. Also it's the best we've been against Bayern so it'll be a lot more competitive.
Will any PL teams survive until the QFs? I have a soft spot for Sevilla, so Vamos Sevilla. I'd like you guys to beat Bayern for once. Much of Germany would as well. As for City, Monaco are seriously under-rated. But as you say, it is beyond tedious getting Bayern every season.
I'm not even surprised anymore when we get Bayern or Barca, it's the same thing every season. I would have loved for us to play a different team regardless of who it was! But it is what it is. Bayern aren't as formidable as they have been in recent seasons, we get the away game first and our team is a lot more solid than in previous years so I'm more confident about this fixture than I have been before. We've put in some decent performances against Bayern too so we shall just have to see how it goes.
Bayern have an extremely dangerous squad but soo far this Season they haven't looked that impressive. They do top the Bundesliga (on GD) but have looked more vulnerable and are certainly not playing the total football they did under Guardiola. At first I was upset about this draw but the more I think about it the more I think we will qualify.
We obviously have the toughest team but it isn't impossible with our best 11. I quite favour City and Leicester to go through. Both have had good runs in the CL. Probably our best chance to see one or two PL teams in the Semis.
I agree I think City will have too much for Monacco and Leicester have a good chance against Sevilla as they are a passing team who may struggle against a direct counter attacking style of football. We have the harder game but I think we actually have a decent chance of getting to the QF. We could well see an English team make it to the semi final this year.
A handful of years ago we went out to Barca a couple of years in a row but despite how good the Barca team was I felt we had a chance to progress. We had some quality attacking players and on our day we could put in a great performance. There were some years in between when even though we only just went out of the competition I never had any real confidence we could beat a top team. This year I finally have hope we are capable of competing with the best in Europe. That isn't to say I think we will win the competition. I think there are a handful of teams who would be considered favourites against us but I finally believe we have a real chance of progressing again. This squad gives me more hope, than any for a number of years, that we are capable of challenging at the top level in the league and CL.
Sevilla are a tremendous team and equally as good as Leicester. Look at the way they demolished Liverpool in last season's EL final. You make a fair point though, that Leicester have chance but Sevilla have the pedigree and the class. As for Manchester City who knows. Monaco have a habit of surprising many people and with a fit Falcao might turn City over.
Sevilla are comfortably a better team than Leicester, they are a very good team who play an attractive brand of football and have the ability to keep the ball better than most. They have consistently performed in the Europa league and if the top Spanish teams weren't so dominant we would see a lot more of them in the CL. But despite Leicesters problems in the league this season they have shown they are capable of playing solid, direct, counter attacking football and getting results against most teams. This season they have at times moved away from that but against city they went back to what they know and showed they can still turn over even the best teams. Let's not forget it was only Arsenal who did there job against Leicester last season, all the other big teams had difficulty and even our wins were hard fought. They've got through there group easily and the CL will be the main focus for there players who will see this as possibly there only chance to play in this competition. I make Sevilla favourites to progress but wouldn't put it past Leicester to qualify. When they are on form, defending well and countering with such pace and directness most teams struggle. They will need to be on top form or they risk being embarrassed but I think that will be one of the most interesting set of games.
Monacco are a better team than they are given credit for, they have some very good young players and are capable of playing fast attacking football but City should really have too much for them. Guardiola has a very good squad and he knows how European competition works. Let's not forget City turned over Barcelona in the group. City seem very unpredictable and while they could mess it up, if they turn up and play the way they are capable of they will comfortably qualify for the last 8.
Sevilla are the better team but Leicester are focusing and performing well in the CL. It will be interesting to see how Sevilla handle a full throttle fast counter attacking team that is clinical. We've had the opportunity to size them up and out play them, Sevilla will only have one chance and if they fail to adjust, they will lose. I'm hoping for the latter.
This is it for me. I can see Leicester surprising a few teams in Europe as they did to the vast majority of the EPL last season. I'll expect them to go out at every stage but should they progress I'll no longer be as surprised as I once would have been!
The big teams were caught with their pants down. Their overpaid players are too comfortable to put a shift in sometimes, look at the way the Chelsea players under performed last season, it was shameful. But i am really happy that Leicester won, hopefully it put a rocket up some to perform harder.
