2021 Champions League Draw

[Doc_Piptorious]

Decent draw, we usually fair well vs sides who as open as Leipzig.

Fully fit us does well against those teams. As seen against Atalanta this season, patched up us are hit and miss against those teams.

[Irishnev]

Tough enough game for us as things stand right now.

They are probably a better team than Atalanta, and have a very settled back line that is not lacking in pace and physicality. In the center they do not have players that would be of the same quality of some of our midifelders, but they are mobile, and quick to press in the centre.

Up front they have some pace and players that, whilst nowhere close to our front three, are more than capable of troubling the back lines of better teams as seen by how they went at Bayern Munich recently and they do have a habit of raising their game against the better attacking teams.

Their home form is really good too. Think they have won every home game in all competitions this season.

And unlike us, and this is what makes them a tough match up for us imo, they are pretty lucky when it comes to injuries and the like. Our best XI against their best XI and you have to favour us every time, home or away. Our patched up XIs though against their rarely badly hit by injuries XIs makes the two games against them a lot closer imo.

I agree with most of that but to Dan’s point - they will play their game and that will suit us

When it comes to high transition games we are arguably the best around even patched up

[SB]

Yeah so what your saying is it’ll be tough

[Doc_Piptorious]

I agree with most of that but to Dan’s point - they will play their game and that will suit us

When it comes to high transition games we are arguably the best around even patched up

Oh I would not dispute that a team that comes at us would be better than meeting a team in the style of Atletico or Sevilla. However Atalanta would be a come at you type team too, albeit one a level below RB imo, and we saw against them that with a patched up team we are either going to kill you to death inside three rounds (Yes there was an ad for Rocky 3 on TCM as I typed this ) or we come unstuck and get pushed back a lot during the game.

I watched them play Bayern Munich a short while ago and Bayern at times are very similar to us in how they take on another attacking team in high tranistion games. RB took it right to Bayern and playing another attacking team in a high transition team suited RB as much as it suited Bayern and I imagine against us it would be something similar as both teams thrive when playing an attacking team

I am as well basing my take on who we have available right now with maybe Milner back in the mix as well and not taking into account if we get a new player or players in January or if quality returns like Thiago occur.

We have Thiago back fully fit for RB and have say Henderson and Fab with him in the centre and Matip and a new CB at the back inbetween our flyng fullbacks, then I would be expecting a match result in our favour over both games that would play out like the second fight in Rocky 3.

[BobTheCharmer]

That's a brilliant draw for us surely. They are **** in defence. Utd beat them 5 0.

[Irishnev]

Oh I would not dispute that a team that comes at us would be better than meeting a team in the style of Atletico or Sevilla. However Atalanta would be a come at you type team too, albeit one a level below RB imo, and we saw against them that with a patched up team we are either going to kill you to death inside three rounds (Yes there was an ad for Rocky 3 on TCM as I typed this ) or we come unstuck and get pushed back a lot during the game.

I watched them play Bayern Munich a short while ago and Bayern at times are very similar to us in how they take on another attacking team in high tranistion games. RB took it right to Bayern and playing another attacking team in a high transition team suited RB as much as it suited Bayern and I imagine against us it would be something similar as both teams thrive when playing an attacking team

I am as well basing my take on who we have available right now with maybe Milner back in the mix as well and not taking into account if we get a new player or players in January or if quality returns like Thiago occur.

We have Thiago back fully fit for RB and have say Henderson and Fab with him in the centre and Matip and a new CB at the back inbetween our flyng fullbacks, then I would be expecting a match result in our favour over both games that would play out like the second fight in Rocky 3.

I watched the Bayern games as well and it was wide open....my assumption is that we have everyone bar VVD and Joe fit and even a shiny new CB in the squad. That would be enough the beat them but as you said they are powerful and quick at the back and should match our lads up top. Laimer gives them a lot of legs in midfield so we need to match them there also

[Doc_Piptorious]

That's a brilliant draw for us surely. They are **** in defence. Utd beat them 5 0.

Villa put 7 past us with us having TAA, Gomez, VVD and Robertson in our back line that day. That make our defence **** or was it just a very bad day at the office.


As for them having a **** defence, they have conceded the least amount of goals in the bundesliga this season and every big team that has gone to their ground in the bundesliga or CL this season has lost. Hardly a **** defence and certainly not a weak team.

We SHOULD be better than them, especially over two legs, if we have more of our first team back, but they are stronger than any of the teams we met in the groups stage, and a lot better than a lot of the teams that troubled us in our own league this season like Fulham, Brighton and Villa to name but three.

Would have much preferred to have gotten Porto, Lazio or even BMG in the draw, but then again there were some far tougher teams we could have drawn as well.

[Doc_Piptorious]

I watched the Bayern games as well and it was wide open....my assumption is that we have everyone bar VVD and Joe fit and even a shiny new CB in the squad. That would be enough the beat them but as you said they are powerful and quick at the back and should match our lads up top. Laimer gives them a lot of legs in midfield so we need to match them there also

Yeah get some numbers back into our team and on paper we should beat them over two legs. Be nice if our shiney new CB was one from their three french lads a the back too

[danperkins]

I'm not worried about Leipzig, decent side no doubts but we have nearly 3 months and there is no way we'll be as unlucky with injuries as we are at the moment. Also I do think we'll strengthen again and we already have a much better starting 11 than Leipzig and a much better squad.

[Doc_Piptorious]

I'm not worried about Leipzig, decent side no doubts but we have nearly 3 months and there is no way we'll be as unlucky with injuries as we are at the moment. Also I do think we'll strengthen again and we already have a much better starting 11 than Leipzig and a much better squad.

We get a chunk of our players back and fit, then I totally agree we are a better team. My arguement is not that they are a better team than us, just that they are a good team and that they are a lot better than many of the teams that have drawn with us or that have beaten us this season and as such they have the potential to be a tough match up for us, especially at their ground.

[danperkins]

We get a chunk of our players back and fit, then I totally agree we are a better team. My arguement is not that they are a better team than us, just that they are a good team and that they are a lot better than many of the teams that have drawn with us or that have beaten us this season and as such they have the potential to be a tough match up for us, especially at their ground.

your point is very valid alright. I would like to think we'll be in much better shape come March, some fans back in Anfield on a European night would be amazing too.

[Doc_Piptorious]

your point is very valid alright. I would like to think we'll be in much better shape come March, some fans back in Anfield on a European night would be amazing too.

My own gut feeling is that we might be more active in the January window than many might expect of us. I do not expect lots of big name signing but as said in the transfer forum, I have a sneaky feeling we might bring in two or three players, most likey younger players.

One at CB that can come straight into the team for the here and now and then compete with Gomez next uyear for a starting berth, and then one or two others that get brought in early as squad back up for this season/next seasons first team spot competiton. Basically the sort of players we might have been bringing in next summer to replace any outgoing players that have been injury prone and instead we try for them this January so that we have them as available bodies for the second half of the season whilst still having the soon to be outgoing players on the books too. Lets the new players settle in while we still have the cover provided by the outgoing players.

[Assassin]

Who did Man U get?

No ****er, as they ****ed up

[Doc_Piptorious]

No ****er, as they ****ed up

Think that was the joke

[Assassin]

Think that was the joke

That completely did a fly by on me