Who will win the 18/19 ChL?

Who will win the 18/19 ChL?


  • Total voters
    25

Trickykid

New member
Just a couple of weeks to go before we hear the iconic ChL intro music again. My pessimism says Los Merengues yet again, but in my opinion it's pretty open this year. The obvious favorites in no real order:



Real Madrid - well, duh. Sure, Cronaldo is gone, but their starting XI, if they avoid injuries in attack mainly, is more than good enough to take a fourth consecutive title.

Man City - if Pep finally learns how to play away ties in the ChL, they should stand a fair chance to make it to the final.

Barça - Messi needs to step it up and roll back the years, and Suarez will need to learn the basics of ball control again. Add Coutinho to the equation, and I think we stand a chance for something great. Also, EV will have to have learned his lesson from last year's fiasco.

P$G - if they avoid injuries to their key players, I fear them going far. It doesn't take much to fuck it up, though, as their squad seems somewhat thin. Their attack scares me something fierce.

Atletico - their already tight unit has been improved slightly during the summer, and with Greaseman staying put, who knows what they'll do this season? I wouldn't bank on them, but also not quite write them off.

Juventus - if Cronaldo turns up during the playoffs and manages to score a handful of the gazillion chances he's likely to get, they will probably be dangerous for everyone.

Liverpool - their squad is better than last year, and Klopp will have had even more time to do what he does with it. They're going to put a hurt on many teams again.

Bayern - still a super strong unit with a boatload of continuity. This could be the year for them.



Just to fill out the poll (and acknowledge any outlandish and divergent opinions out there), I've added a handful of teams, but I can't possibly imagine the title going anywhere but the aforementioned eight teams.
 

ThwiX

Best midfielder around
My pessimism is telling me Juve. Ronaldo won’t stop being a pain in the ass until the day he retires, it seems. He got some kind of weird thing going on in the CL where he just can’t be stopped.
 

serghei

Senior Member
Doubt Madrid will win again. Barca don't think so, too onedimensional and with a manager who doesn't see like CL winner material. City have a bit of naivity about them that always bites them in the ass somehow despite them playing the best football overall. Liverpool might get close again but most Klopp's teams don't finish the job, they just go very close and fail at the last steps. I smell a QF or semi exit for them this year.

Bayern has been unlucky in the recent years. Should have knocked out Madrid both times but fell down to many referee errors. Atletico will be very strong in the cups this year. These two will be in the last 4 and one of them could win.

I think Bayern and Atletico are my two picks.

PSG are obviously a joke.
 

DonAK

President of FC Barcelona
Either Atletico or one of Liverpool and Man City.

Bayern have a thin squad full of crocks. Don't trust their key players to remain healthy.
 

te amo barca

Blaugrana al vent
Yet they outplayed Madrid last season on Bernabeu.

Bayern's core squad is very old. To rely on Robbery at cumulative age of 71 is not a receipt for success in the CL. Coman has looked promising last season until his injury though.
 

Trickykid

New member
Out of curiosity, what makes you guys out so much faith in Atletico? Their squad has been strengthened, but I'm not sure their starting XI has, and for a team who didn't even make it out of the groups last season, them going for the title seems somewhat steep.
 

DonAK

President of FC Barcelona
Yet they outplayed Madrid last season on Bernabeu.

Their squad this year is older and as injury prone as before. Juventus outplayed Real Madrid too in the return leg. It doesn't matter when Lewandowski and Muller cannot put the ball in the net. Their only reliable goalscorer in Lewandowski and he's not been underwhelming the last couple of years in those important CL ties at crucial moments. This season he doesn't even want to be there.
 

serghei

Senior Member
Bayern's squad is very old. To rely on Robbery at cumulative age of 71 is not a receipt for success in the CL. Coman has looked promising last season until his injury though.

Coman, Alaba, James, even Goretzka, Thiago... plenty of reasonably young players who form a pretty elite side.

Out of curiosity, what makes you guys out so much faith in Atletico? Their squad has been strengthened, but I'm not sure their starting XI has, and for a team who didn't even make it out of the groups last season, them going for the title seems somewhat steep.

Like Madrid, they have an approach which historically has worked the best in CL. Sitting deep and compact and hitting teams on the counter is pretty much the easiest way to win the Champions League.

Now they seem to have a better offense, they can do more damage up front, and if they keep it tight in defense which they will probably, they are pretty much custom built for cup competitions.
 
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te amo barca

Blaugrana al vent
Out of curiosity, what makes you guys out so much faith in Atletico? Their squad has been strengthened, but I'm not sure their starting XI has, and for a team who didn't even make it out of the groups last season, them going for the title seems somewhat steep.

Didn't make it out of the groups last season, but with the exception of that they've been making it at least to the quarters since 13/14. Simeone's victory grinding style is very suitable for CL knock-outs I think, and they could not showcase that last season because they got eliminated way too early.

Coman, Alaba, James, even Goretzka, Thiago... plenty of reasonably young players who form a pretty elite side.



Like Madrid, they have an approach who naturally and historically has worked the best in CL. Sitting deep and compact and hitting teams on the counter is pretty much the easiest way to win the Champions League.

They do have the players, but there is a chance that Robbery will play anyways if they are fit. This depends on Kovac.
 
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DonAK

President of FC Barcelona
Out of curiosity, what makes you guys out so much faith in Atletico? Their squad has been strengthened, but I'm not sure their starting XI has, and for a team who didn't even make it out of the groups last season, them going for the title seems somewhat steep.

I think they have improved their Starting XI with Lemar and Rodri if he starts, and Gimenez if Simeone drops his Savic obsession. They have also added depth to multiple positions.

It's just their style of play which is suited to KO rounds, grinding the opponent for 180 minutes and sneaking the win which for them works against almost every opponent regardless of style of play.
 

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