Can Barca be the first team to defend the CL crown?

[JamDav1982]

How come Barca only one it once from 1956 to 1992 then?

How come Liverpool have only won one CL?

 

[AnfieldEd]

Maybe we were't that good.
Or... Because Di Stefano (guy who won Real half the CL trophies) was stolen from Barca.

I don't buy the argument it was easier to win back to back pre 1992 and arguing the case that it was just belittles you all in all honesty. Instead of just acknowledging your magnificent achievements in this competition, there is no need to try to justify it somehow by saying anything before this format was beneath contempt!

I'm not saying either format is/was harder but Barca won't be the first team to win back to back CL titles (P.s. its the same damned trophy pre 92).

When Real won it in 2014 should they have said yes we won CL 4 times now!! (98,00,02,14). When Inter won it in 2010 should they have said they won the CL for the first time!! When Man Utd won it in 2008 should they have said they won it for the 2nd time! When Milan won it in 2007 should they have said we won it for the 3rd time! When we won it in 2005 should we have said we won it for the first time!!

The question should be Can Barca be the first team to defend the CL since Milan in 89/90. - I will answer in my next post as I don't want it to get lost in this post

 

[JamDav1982]

I don't buy the argument it was easier to win back to back pre 1992 and arguing the case that it was just belittles you all in all honesty. Instead of just acknowledging your magnificent achievements in this competition, there is no need to try to justify it somehow by saying anything before this format was beneath contempt!

I'm not saying either format is/was harder but Barca won't be the first team to win back to back CL titles (P.s. its the same damned trophy pre 92).

When Real won it in 2014 should they have said yes we won CL 4 times now!! (98,00,02,14). When Inter won it in 2010 should they have said they won the CL for the first time!! When Man Utd won it in 2008 should they have said they won it for the 2nd time! When Milan won it in 2007 should they have said we won it for the 3rd time! When we won it in 2005 should we have said we won it for the first time!!

The question should be Can Barca be the first team to defend the CL since Milan in 89/90. - I will answer in my next post as I don't want it to get lost in this post

Why have no team in 22 years defended it but eight did in previous 35 odd years?

It is much harder to win back to back now for a variety of reasons - higher overall standard of teams in europe, more depth to competition, more analysis which makes teams easier to figure our, more games and harder schedule to maintain top level across two season etc.

Do you think it is just coinidence teams went from defending it regularly almost more often than not to teams failing to do so?

 

[AnfieldEd]

Can Barca be the first team successfully defend the CL since Milan did it in 89 and 90?

I seriously think you guys can defend it successfully and be the first team to defend it in this format. The only team I think has a very good chance to beat you - be it over two legs or in the final - is Bayern. They have the tools to beat any team in the world and that includes Barca, however they'll need to be at their best to beat you and have some luck too.

Apart from Bayern no other team has a very good chance to beat you. Some teams over two legs have decent chances. PSG with their team can on their day cause any team problems but I wouldn't bet on them. If and its a big if at the moment Rafa is still at Real then you can never discount him over a two leg tie. I know you handed their asses yesterday but it would be folly to discard them.

However I'd love to see a Barca-Bayern final. I think every neutral wants to see that final, including me.

 

[i_bleed_blaugrana]

One team, when talking about best club team of all time with which this current team must be compared to now, that should get more mentions is Bayern Munich's 70s team with Gerd Muller and Franz Beckenbauer. They were a great team, won the European Cup three times in a row, despite being weak in their domestic campaigns.

I do think though that this demonstrates that it is a lot harder to win and defend a CL title now than it was back then. A club nowadays would simply have to sweep everything domestically to have the competitive edge to be able to beat teams in Europe. Yeah, Ancelloti's Milan (and Madrid) won their titles without domestic success but they never defended them.

 

[barcafan161]

Bayern are the only major threat to me

 

[FC B]

Voted yes but in order to hope for that Barca's game need to get much better than this in critical knock-out phases that lay ahead. With the current game since the start of the season imo it is nearly impossible to achieve that except some huge dose of luck involved which is also quite unlikely to happen.

Should Barca up its game to match the level it had in the end of the last season, it's definitely a good possibility Barca will be capable of retainomg the CL trophy, it would be magical

 

[pacp_96]

Can we do it - yes

Will we do it - way to early to say along with so many other factors playing a huge role

 

[khaled_a_d]

CL at the later stages is decided by details man .even if we are the best team we could easily lose
Look at 2010 ,everything was against us .the whole Volcano fiasco .unlucky ,bad referee IIRC . and we almost won with Bojan goal had the ball hit Keita belly rather than his hand in front of it the goal would have counted
Last year ,had the referee decided to give Juve penalty with that Pogba play .we could have lost despite being the best team
Injuries ,Suspensions ,Luck ,mistakes all play huge role with such high level close games
I would love to see us winning it ,I won't put my money on it though

 

[ManusXavi]

We've got too much talent to hit poor form in crucial times. Way too much.
It's us or Bayern man !

Yeah I'm with you. Bayern are my faves to win it. Us 2nd

 

[MaxY]

Bayern are the only major threat to me

Underestimating RM is never good,especially in the CL. We're probably the most consistent team in CL, how many years in a row did we make at least the semi-final? Not to mention that last 4 (or 5) coaches lost the first Clasico when they took over.

 

[serghei]

Anyway, we're bound to have the toughest draw, like last year.

 

[i_bleed_blaugrana]

Underestimating RM is never good,especially in the CL. We're probably the most consistent team in CL, how many years in a row did we make at least the semi-final? Not to mention that last 4 (or 5) coaches lost the first Clasico when they took over.

Real are ordinary under Benitez. Chelsea would have their way with Madrid right now. UTD would scare the shit out of them, especially over 2 legs. Hell, I'd fancy even City over them and they are god awful in Europe.

It's fire sale time for them so they can give Zidane a warchest to build his own team. I'm sure the players know this and the mercenary mentality they take towards squad building is exploding in their face.

It's either Barça or Diet Barça this year guys.

 

[serghei]

Who's Diet Barca? Is it Bayern?

 

[blaugrana1987]

Yes, with a bit of luck and lots of hard work, why not? We just need to look at it like we have for last year, one game at a time. Be it Bayern, Real or Levante. Game by game...