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Europa League 2022/23 Knockout Play-offs - Thursday 23rd February, 2023 (2nd legs)


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Kelsy scores the winning penalty to send Shakhtar through to the next round! 3 great penalty saves by Trubin can't go unnoticed! This is a huge win for Shakhtar Donetsk, especially as tomorrow, February the 24th will be exactly 1 year on since Russia invaded Ukraine.

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It has not been a good day in Europe for the top French clubs. 

3rd in the French League table AS Monaco, were knocked out by Bayer Leverkusen on home soil and now 5th in the French League table Rennes, have also been knocked out on their own home ground by Shakhtar Donetsk!

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1 hour ago, Devil said:

Brilliant team performance in the second half.

Got potential to be a special season this has.

I've had a long week, so I actually fell asleep once it got to 1-1, but that Fred goal was a thing of beauty. That was NOT an easy pass to control, and he don't only did that, but then placed it perfectly.

Congrats on knocking out Barca.

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41 minutes ago, Michael said:

It has not been a good day in Europe for the top French clubs. 

3rd in the French League table AS Monaco, were knocked out by Bayer Leverkusen on home soil and now 5th in the French League table Rennes, have also been knocked out on their own home ground by Shakhtar Donetsk!

Also Nantes went out to Juventus.

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30 minutes ago, Rucksackfranzose said:

Also Nantes went out to Juventus.

Yeah, that's true. But I was mainly referring to the top French sides. Nantes are a mid-table club in France at best, even just avoiding relegation in a play-off the season before last. Rennes and Monaco have always been near the top of the French league table in recent years. But yeah, a bad day all round for all the French clubs.

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23 hours ago, Eco said:

They have changed dramatically, which I think is evident if you watch them.

They are playing MUCH better under Xavi, and whereas earlier in the year, it was basically ter Stegen vs. the world, it's not more of a team effort that has shown massive steps forward.

You mention United, did you watch the game? Did you notice that Xavi rested two of his better defenders in Andreas and Alejandro? Instead he played Alonso who was a liability all night despite scoring one of the goals.

Things change, people and teams adapt. Barcelona might let up a handful of goals, as anything is possible this sports, but you suggesting Barcelona hasn't improved all that much from their Munich tie months ago, just leads me to believe that you don't want Barcelona...like at all.

Your original point was that they had only conceded 7 goals all season, suggesting that they have been good defensively all season. I can agree that they have improved, but they have still been dominant all season, just like you initially suggested. Well Araujo played again today against United and they still lost 2-1. Barcelona conceded 4 goals over 2 games against United, again suggesting that they find good European teams much tougher than most La Liga teams.

23 hours ago, Eco said:

But they back line has changed since then, so really what they did against Munich shouldn't really even be considered.

As I mentioned above, Xavi rested two of their starters in the first tie against United, so I'll be curious as to what the match looks like as I would be SHOCKED if Xavi did play his go to back line that has seen so much success (and shutouts) recently.

Their back line was almost exactly the same as the back line against Bayern in the first match between the sides this season(so yes, how they played against Munich, should be considered). Araujo, Christensen and Kounde all started against Bayern, as they did against Man Utd today. The only difference, is that Alonso started at left-back against Bayern, whereas Balde started as left-back against Man Utd today. Although Alonso did come on as a sub against United in today's game. 

Man Utd deserved to beat Barcelona over these 2 matches I thought, they were definitely the better team today and created more chances. I am also sure that Bayern would still beat Barcelona if they were to play again today, as Bayern are a better side than Man Utd, let alone Barcelona. Barcelona are a very good team, don't get me wrong, I just don't think that they are on Bayern's level.

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On 23/02/2023 at 02:11, Goku de la Boca said:

Barcelona have improved a shit ton since the CL groups. They were kind of struggling at a few points, especially at around that time. Now they are on something like a 6-7 win streak in la Liga? Also Araujo's injury early in the season didn't help them much, which is a sloppy cop out I'm aware, but he really is class.

Barcelona's record in the La Liga this season, is 19 wins, 2 draws and only 1 loss. Their only loss came against, surprise, surprise, wait for it, away to Real Madrid!  So my arse they were struggling this season in the La Liga. They've been incredibly dominant in the La Liga, their record this season speaks for itself. Moreover, their 2 draws in the league, didn't come around the time they were competing in the CL groups either. They drew against Rayo Vallecano 0-0 in early August, way before the CL group stage kicked off. While their 2nd draw was against Espanyol, on the 31st of December, that's way after the CL group stage had been concluded! 

You say they have a 6-7 winning streak in La Liga right now, well they had a 7 game winning streak earlier in the season, from August to October in the La Liga. When they had that 7 game winning streak, they were struggling in their CL matches. So your points are debunked. I am not saying that Barcelona haven't improved, but they have been dominant in La Liga all season. They've been beaten again in Europe, this time by Man Utd and again conceded 4 goals over 2 matches. 

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