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Posted (edited)
24 minutes ago, James said:

If there was var they could possibly have dissalowed city's first goal as a foul sterling on Virgil. I know it wasn't much in it but you never know. 

It's all its and buts and that's what makes football so exciting. 

For sure, I agree. Remember seeing VAR's effects on the last few minutes of a very tense Serie A game a couple of months back, and it was a buzzkill.

I do think that VAR - as it is - is used overwhelmingly in the wrong places: reviews of fouls (which could still go either way most of the time) are completely different to offside calls, because fouls are (in most cases) subjective to the referee, whereas offside calls should ideally be objective.

I definitely don't want to take anything away from Liverpool, because they were superb over the two legs, and wanted it just that much more - that much was clear at the opening of the first leg. However, I do think that this tie could have played out very differently for City had the right calls been made in those offside call situations, which definitely seem a better way to implement aspects of VAR into football, and wouldn't kill the joy of the game, but actually make it a bit more intense and fair (a bit like challenges in tennis).

Definitely nervous for its use come this summer at the World Cup, and I'm interested to see if UEFA at least review their stance on the matter. 

EDIT: Man, the noise. This is what the game's all about.

 

Edited by Julius Caesar
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Posted
6 minutes ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

Question: If Liverpool win the Champions League...does Coutinho get a winner's medal?

I believe that he's allowed one, should Liverpool want to give him one.

He's cup-tied in the Champions League, meaning that he is technically tied only to Liverpool for the duration of the entire season in the Champions League. It's worth noting that said rule will be abolished at the end of this season, likely as a result of his transfer to Barca and Aubameyang's transfer to Arsenal in January.

The official UEFA handbook states that the winning team will receive 40 gold medals, with the onus seeming to be on the winning team to accredit a squad member (which Coutinho would technically still be) with a gold medal. So it would seem like it depends on Klopp's/Liverpool's relationship with Coutinho after his move.

Posted

I woke up and seen the score. Chuffed to bits. Man City were robbed with that offside goal though. Not a great week for them in terms of decisions as they should have had a blatant pen when playing against Man Utd the other day. Pep really needed to keep his composure. He needed to be there for his team and so an example. the disallowed goal and him falling apart seem to have been the turning point in the game.

To be honest, I was more happy for Roma kicking Barca out of the cup. Barca were only still in it due to the ref giving them all the decisions in that game where they won 6-1 against PSG. Very happy they got the boot. :D 

Posted

On a side note, I do feel a bit sorry for Pep (not too much, he is City's manager after all). But, clearly there were numerous decisions in both legs that went against his side. One of Liverpool's goals in the first leg was offside, one of City's goals in the first leg was ruled out (which would have been a crucial away goal...we saw how important away goals are in the Roma-Barcelona tie) and one of City's goals was incorrectly ruled out for offside last night. There has to be some responsibility taken by the officials after these decisions have been made. Do they review them after the game? How come managers and players have to come out after the game and justify their reasoning and decision making, but referees and assistant refs don't? Why do we never have representatives coming out afterwards and saying "oh yeah, that penalty decision was wrong" or "yeah, that goal should have stood". There's absolutely zero accountability. These weren't just small mistakes, but big ones with ripple effects. If Liverpool's goal is disallowed in the first leg and City's goal is given...that's 2-1 on aggregate. 2-1 going back to the Etihad is a vastly different proposition than 3-0 down. Maybe Pep's tactics wouldn't have been quite so insane last night. 

Decisions change games and I'm all for football being exciting. But, football should be exciting because the football is exciting. It should be exciting because the attacking play is good, or the defending is excellent, or the keeper makes extraordinary games. Football shouldn't be exciting because the referees fuck up and get things wrong. It's sorta like going to the theatre and hoping that one of the actors forgets his lines or somebody trips up on stage. You don't really go to the theatre expecting cock-ups, so why is it ok or acceptable in football? I have a big problem with how the sport is officiated. I'd say VAR is the answer, but the people in charge can't even get that right! 

Posted

Proper nervous about tonight.

It will be a dirty match again. Really hope Sevilla doesn't play as unfairly as last week (diving and brutal tackles), though...but I doubt this will happen. Let's just hope Vidal, Lewy and Ribery stay calm as they have a tendency to retaliate with equal measures. :nono:

Posted

I despise Sevilla. There's nothing wrong with an aggressive way of playing but the constant tackles whose only purpose is to injure a player are fucked up. This is gonna be a long second half...especially if we score a goal.

Juve 2-0 up...holy hell :D

Posted
5 minutes ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

Come onnn, Juve. :D

I don't think they'll do it. Real will come out in the second half and score 2. 2-2 overall on the night.

Yeah, I’ll be shocked if Real don’t respond. They’ve already come close.

Kudos to Juve and Roma, though, regardless of if the former actually manages to make it through. This is the best Serie A representation we’ve had in the CL for nearly a decade. 

Posted

This is nuts.

The ball’s completely in Juve’s park now. One more goal could effectively kill off this tie. They need to try to finish the tie before the end of normal time, though, because Real are probably the fittest squad on the planet and have already shown time and time again that they have the legs to make the difference in extra time if they need.

Man, I love football.

Posted

I see Kane has been awarded that goal. What a crybaby. I really hope he doesn't get the award now. 

Anyone else see Wolves second goal? Absolutely amazing ball control and outstanding strike. Easily one of the best goals I've seen this season.

 

Posted
Just now, Hero-of-Time said:

I see Kane has been awarded that goal. What a crybaby. I really hope he doesn't get the award now. 

Anyone else see Wolves second goal? Absolutely amazing ball control and outstanding strike. Easily one of the best goals I've seen this season.

 

I would be pissed if I was Eriksen. The ball clearly didn't touch Kane and if it did it was the smallest of touches that didn't alter the trajectory of the ball and didn't really affect anything whatsoever. I don't like that kind of behaviour and would be furious if one of my team-mates had done that to me!

Also...Juve...fucking hell! Come on! I really want them to win it. I want Juve to win the whole thing now. :)

Posted

A heartbreaking finish!

I feel bad for Buffon missing out on a last World Cup and ending his Champions League career with a red card without ever quite managing to win the trophy.

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