Champions League Semi Final: Liverpool - FC Barcelona 4-3 agg.

Total-Football

Senior Member
Just watched Dembele's two chances again and my god. If he had passed the first one we'd have scored. If he had taken a second touch in the 2nd we'd have scored. Alba got a lot of shit for his two errors in the 2nd leg, but Dembele has seemingly escaped a lot of criticism.

next year is his year.. (they will keep saying this until he is 44)
 

Givenchy

Senior Member
Just watched Dembele's two chances again and my god. If he had passed the first one we'd have scored. If he had taken a second touch in the 2nd we'd have scored. Alba got a lot of shit for his two errors in the 2nd leg, but Dembele has seemingly escaped a lot of criticism.

even if Dembele scored 1 of those 2 chances and we won that first leg 4-0 we'd still end up conceding 5 at Anfield. the problem is this bottler mentality more so than Dembele being shit
 

te amo barca

Blaugrana al vent
Just watched Dembele's two chances again and my god. If he had passed the first one we'd have scored. If he had taken a second touch in the 2nd we'd have scored. Alba got a lot of shit for his two errors in the 2nd leg, but Dembele has seemingly escaped a lot of criticism.

A team that concedes four goals away without scoring one does not deserve to go through.
 

Centauri B

New member
even if Dembele scored 1 of those 2 chances and we won that first leg 4-0 we'd still end up conceding 5 at Anfield. the problem is this bottler mentality more so than Dembele being shit

Let Dembele score his sitters, and then worry about conceding 5 at Anfield. He should have scored. Why are we even arguing this?
 

Alik

Moderator
Still, Dembele fucked it up. If we won 4-0, our chances would have been better in the 2nd leg. It is stupid to argue otherwise.

So did many other players. So did the manager. Blaming a player who played 5 minutes out of the 180, for collapsing after leading 3-0 is nonsense.
 

jairzinho

Senior Member
Dembele missing that chance doesn't change the fact that we are now serial bottlers.

If we scored 4 they would easily score five or maybe even 6.

Any team can pull off an impossible comeback against this coward coach. That's facts.
 

Andrew M

New member
I can't believe people are still picking over the Dembele miss. I think we would have lost that 2nd leg 5-0 easily in extra time if not before then had Liverpool needed the goals.

Some say that losing the first leg 4-0 would have broken their spirits which is absolute garbage. Liverpool at Anfield in a 2nd leg CL semi would have given everything even at 5-0 down. All it takes is an early goal for our players' PTSD to resurface. Honestly our team needs a psychiatrist.

We all knew it was over after that Alba header, even that Sergi Roberto back pass fail just before that we escaped from.
 

i_bleed_blaugrana

Senior Member
We all knew it was over after that Alba header, even that Sergi Roberto back pass fail just before that we escaped from.

[youtube]0_NAcM3y334[/youtube]

The difference: Neymar.

Mainly his father was toxic then, him and his father are both toxic now. But he was just as pivotal as Messi was in this run. What amazed me when I was watching this is that I forgot then even in this game we conceded in the first ten minutes. But we had a fiery, demanding coach who at least motivated the players, despite not being a phenomenal tactician and we simply had more fight, more fire in our bellies, more pride.

Let me clear, I’m like super on the fence about Neymar because some of his antics are way beneath us, ethically. But on the pitch, call him arrogant all you like, that arrogance gives him the confidence to finish chances and create magic. I’m not saying I necessarily want this but recently, I can see why the players vetoed Greiz and asked for him.

My point is, yeah I still want Alba’s head on a lance too for that fuck up in Anfield (and Roma tbh), but the blame should be almost solely on Valverde. Dembele played his part with his sitters, sure, but who knows what happens if he’s fit for the 2nd leg. Valverde’s fuck up.

Wasting a sub in the 2nd half on Roberto for Semedo, who clearly should have started after the first leg? Valverde.

Also, why blame Dembele more than fucking Coutinho?! The chance that he fucked up at Anfield made me question if the kid has even hit fucking puberty yet. He deserves 1000x more blame than Dembele.
 

Centauri B

New member
So did many other players. So did the manager. Blaming a player who played 5 minutes out of the 180, for collapsing after leading 3-0 is nonsense.

Dembele was part of that failure. Not the only reason, not the main reason. But one of the reasons for sure.
 

jairzinho

Senior Member
After getting dumped out like this for two years straight, our issues go waaay deeper than just one player missing etc. Dembele, Cou, whoever.
We were actually outplayed in the first leg and it could have easily been a high scoring draw.

My biggest concern is the collective psychological meltdown. This group cracks so easily under pressure in these big games, it's becoming a chronic issue.
And what's worse, the same ageing core that failed to show any fight or character will still be here next season, along with the spineless and tactically inept manager.

This team has some serious mental issues, especially the core group that's supposed to show leadership and inspire the rest when the going gets tough.
Either break up that group, get rid of the coach or both. Get some players in and a coach with some fight and guile.
 
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