Barkley of all people
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Villa 3-2. Barkley, deflected.
Glad I switched from Xabis mob to East Germany. Thanks Git.
RBL should have taken the chancesâŚâŚand then a deflection goal to Villa
I missed most of our game because of home chores. I am not going to then watch Real Fucking Madrid.
I did just turn on the Villa game seconds before Barkley have Villa the lead with the flukiest goal Iâve seen in a long long time
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And then the Argie cockhead pulls off a decent save.
Leverkusen 1-0 some fortunate bounces leading up to it
Brugge look like theyâve knocked Sporting out of the equation.
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Has to be Dortmund v Barcelona tomorrow. Winner goes second in the table.
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Retegui with one of the worst misses of the season keeps Madridâs hopes alive.
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Yeah with them and Arse playing Monaco basically it leaves 3 teams. 13 teams able to get 18pts, but as you say those two play each other so thatâs only 11.
However all have pretty dismal GDs
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I think this has been brought up before, there is incentive to finish higher in the league table. I donât think we just qualify and all of a sudden Slot starts playing the kids. The path is theoretically easier for 1 than 8
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Not surprising that someone with KY in their forum name picks that up. Basically the same seeding advantage as you see in the NCAA Basketball tournament.
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Slot just doesnât seem like a âplay the kidsâ kind of guy.
He may change if we end up with an exhausted squad, but so far heâs always played the strongest possible team.
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But given the way some big teams are performing, we could end up playing a team like RM or AC Milan in the last 16 so winning the group wouldnât have been advantageous.
This is the point that Slot has made and if it works out that way then it may make him rethink how he approaches next seasonâs CL.
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Sure, you could get unlucky. But on the balance of probability the lower seeded teams are more likely to be weaker teams, and there is no way to optimize to manage around that. However, the difference between finishing 8th versus 9th is likely greater than the difference between finishing 1st and 8th. The 8th place finisher avoids a full round to play in the same pathway as the 9/10, whereas 1st faces ~15th - a 6 rank difference, but right now that is only a 2 points difference.
So if Slot doesnât take the last round seriously so he can have a stronger side available for league games, so be it.
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Real Madrid are the ones who concern me. Not doing great, but will do plenty to qualify, but in a position way lower than their true level. A high ranking team who has been crushing all before them might just have a final worthy opponent in the last 16. I donât fear them, and I know we beat them once already, but I suspect they will be a different proposition in a knockout contest.
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City and Atletico are the two other potentially nasty surprises for somebody near the top of the table.
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I suppose we canât get a Madrid vs City situation going onâŚ
I think in his previous clubs he did play more youth, but i dont know how much of that was forced or just better youth options available as they wouldnt have been away on loan.
Part of this seasons decisions on loans may have been taken to allow him more time with an already big squad. So, we may see a different approach next season to this one.
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