2025-26 UEFA Champions League - See Mod Note Post 1

Tippman24 · 29-04-2026 12:06AM

Kenny Cunningham reminds me of Eamonn Dunphy. in the 1982 world Cup, everybody was raving about Brazil. Eamonn had to remind people that defending was also part of the game. Brazil were brillant going forward, but defence was slapdash. Gave presents of goals in all their matches and gave italy three in the quarter final. tonights match was brillant to watch however.

NIMAN · 29-04-2026 07:08AM

...

KaiserGunner · 29-04-2026 08:05AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124428641#Comment_124428641

The game hasn't even been played yet, its tonight. Also if ya using goals as the metric for entertainment, then tonight's game no matter what in comparison will be boring. 9 goals is the most goals in any semi final leg in champions league history.

So wouldnt matter who's playing tonight, its not gonna live up to the entertaining goal fest it was last night.

8-10 · 29-04-2026 08:19AM

I don't see the game tonight being as turgid as everyone expects. Last night's game shouldn't be the bar for anything, you can't compare.

I only really saw Atletico against Liverpool this season and they were wide open, completely different to Simeone teams of the past, shipped 4 goals and managed to score 3 due to the help of some pretty biased officiating that I still can't believe (the offside in front of the keeper)

Since the start of March (last 13 games in all competitions) they've kept only 2 clean sheets and conceded at least 2 goals in each of the other 11 games including their last 5:

Barcelona (conceded 3)

Real Sociedad (2)

Spurs (2)

Spurs (3)

Real Madrid (3)

Barcelona (2)

Sevilla (2)

Barcelona (2)

Real Sociedad (2)

Elche (3)

Athletic Bilbao (2)

This isn't an elite defensive team like they've had in the past. Shipping 5 goals to Tottenham over 2 legs shows that.

There's plenty of goals in this for Arsenal

McFly85 · 29-04-2026 08:25AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124428905#Comment_124428905

Problem is Arsenal don’t score many goals - think the Spurs game was the last time they scored more than 2, and that’s the worst spurs team we’ve ever seen.

Could easily see both legs being very low scoring.

8-10 · 29-04-2026 08:46AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124428911#Comment_124428911

Spurs have scored significantly less than Arsenal this season and put 5 past them was my point

Fitz* · 29-04-2026 08:48AM

Arsenal fans can get pissy in some threads because of the constant style of play type of posts.

But the above stat is another reason behind it. It's clear from that stat that Atletico concede goals. A lot of managers, both past and present, would see this and go for the jugular and set up to score a few goals tonight. History has shown us that Arteta will not set up to do that though. He will set it up to keep it tight, ensure that Arsenal don't concede and then try score one via a counter attack or set piece. He will set up to win the marginal gains, as opposed to just being the best team.

It's very 2010 era European football. And to be honest, it's boring. This is 2026 and it's the CL semi final and the neutrals want to see the best players flourish, the best attacks run riot etc. There isn't really an expectation of that tonight, like there was last night.

breezy1985 · 29-04-2026 08:57AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124428955#Comment_124428955

I'm not an Arsenal fan but I find it tedious that no one seems to be able to comment on the great game we had last night without using it as a sad way to bash some opposition team.

Tonight might be a great game, a sht one or probably something in between. How about we wait and see or at least talk about the build up like any other match.

KaiserGunner · 29-04-2026 09:21AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124428969#Comment_124428969

Wait until tonight, to see how even more tedious this thread will get. Amazing how various posters find ways to repeatedly say how boring Arsenal are and how great last night's game was. All the while saying they wont watch Arsenal games. But will somehow know how tonight's game is going.

Dogsdodogsstuff · 29-04-2026 09:36AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124428884#Comment_124428884

It wasn’t just the goals scored, it was the ridiculous fast , quality attacking play. That could have been 0-0 and it would still of been a Joy.

United 2-1 Brentford game could have been 5-5 but both teams were shite at taking their chances, made for a comical and entertaining game in a different way.

Would you say Arsenal games are generally entertaining for neutrals regardless of goals scored ?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124428905#Comment_124428905

Fair point on Athleti, but 24 goals in last 13 Arsenal games since start of March would suggest we’d be lucky to get more then 2 goals tonight (odds on one being set piece ?). And Arsenal games aren’t renowned for being free flowing. Best thing that could happen is Athletico score first or they equalise shortly after Arsenal score or it could be a slog.

What do you expect tonight , what surprises (for those of us who think it’s gonna be boring) do you think we are in for other then the Spanish being poor defensively?

ronjo · 29-04-2026 09:54AM

Hopefully we will see Saka, Eze and Odegaard all start tonight but Trossard will probably start on the left.

Shame Havertz picked up another knock as him Saka and Odegaard havent started together since 2024 I believe.

Arsenal got to be cagey at the start.

8-10 · 29-04-2026 10:08AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124429062#Comment_124429062

I think the issue is that last night's game is kind of like confimation bias. Since the knockout draw everybody's been talking about the hard v 'easy' side of the draw. Then when it got to the semi final stage the narrative is that PSG v Bayern should have been the final (or variations of that narrative).

I think it's clear that they are the 2 best teams in Europe right now, not sure there's much debate on that.

I think it's also clear that the prevailing opinion of Arsenal is that they are playing boring defensive set-piece football, as well as everybody having a casual opinion on how Diego Simeone's Atletico usually play due to having seen them for a decade play with the dark arts to eek out results where maybe they shouldn't, but with an appreciation that they are technically elite not just a Pulis Stoke-type team

So I think the fact that last night played out how everyone thought it would (not necessarily 9 goals but the elite attacking displays, speed of the game, both teams scoring etc) means that those same people now expect tonight to be low scoring even more than they already did. They're nearly willing it to happen and started that conversation before the game last night even finished.

And it's an easy prediction because you can have any 2 teams on the planet playing each other tonight and they would look boring if last night's game is the bar. So we already know it's not going to come close to matching it.

So I don't think the 'surprise' will be that it's 4-3 at the end or anything, I can fully imagine it beign a cagey 1-0 in either direction - very valid outcome and not remotely unlikely.

But I don't think it's the automatic or inevitable outcome. 2-2 wouldn't surprise me for instance. Both teams scoring wouldn't surprise me. Arsenal scoring from open play, a couple of times, wouldn't surprise me.

Since you're asking what I expect tonight, I'd be saying both teams would score, that would be a prediction, and I'd say 2-1 in either direction would set up the tie nicely. But if any team is to get more than a 2 goal lead from the first leg I'd be betting Arsenal.

If last night is your bar, it being a boring game is guaranteed regardless

Dogsdodogsstuff · 29-04-2026 10:20AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124429159#Comment_124429159

I think Last nights game merely reinforced what many probably expect tonight , rather then it be the bar.

Fair play for a proper response though. I think historically people (rivals/neutrals) don’t appreciate teams who are like Arsenal. I am old enough to remember the boring boring Arsenal chants from George Graham days.

The best thing for tonight is that it goes completely off script. Doesn’t need to be 4-4, just not cagey borefest.

SlickRic · 29-04-2026 11:08AM

i do laugh at pundits proclaiming 'but the defending was terrible'.

i swear people are absolutely clueless.

Bayern and PSG make a concerted choice to play with risk, and leave their defence in one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-threes, and even worse situations, because they believe the risk of playing with speed, physicality and in large numbers is worth it. it's not that the defending is particularly bad at all - it's that they're leaving those matchups on purpose, because they'd prefer to score than not concede.

Very few defences, if any at all, could contain those attacks while also maintaining the attacking threat that both did. and those teams are fine with it.

more of this please.

breezy1985 · 29-04-2026 11:26AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124429334#Comment_124429334

Cunningham did point out a few times when the problem was a lack of players putting in effort to cover which is nothing to do with style of play.

Both headers could have been dealt with much better. They were not even contested in any serious way.

Also the Olise goal should never be allowed to happen defenders all around him so nothing to do with tactics. Both goalkeepers were pretty useless too and that isn't style of play.

KaiserGunner · 29-04-2026 11:33AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124429334#Comment_124429334

Yeah this is true. However I do think if you go up 5-2. The smart thing to do would tighten up a bit and maybe less risky. PSG didn't and got clawed back to 5-4.

Now if they go out next week by the odd goal in 18, then maybe the smart thing was to be a bit less risky and play it safer. Scoring 5 goals at home,should be enough to put the tie to bed, but they let Bayern back into the tie. Its not clueless punditry, just because you dont agree with it.

Fionn1952 · 29-04-2026 11:34AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124429334#Comment_124429334

When you're 5-2 up, surely it is pretty reasonable to question the tactical decision to continue playing high risk when you're in a two legged tie and it finishes 5-4?

Undoubtedly entertaining, definitely could see the argument for the tactical decision to start the game that way, but it absolutely isn't clueless to criticise the defending.

pjohnson · 29-04-2026 12:31PM

Trying to shut up shop against Bayern just invites pressure. No surprise to see whos favouring defence first anyway.

breezy1985 · 29-04-2026 12:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124429534#Comment_124429534

And how did not shutting up shop go ?

There is also a big place in-between shutting up shop and leaving yourself totally open. Getting caught on the counter 3 goals up is totally unnecessary.

~Rebel~ · 29-04-2026 12:41PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124429534#Comment_124429534

With PSG's pace, and how great they are on the counter, it seemed a pretty decent bet to sit back a bit on the 5-2 lead with a few more bodies in defence - allow Bayern to attack, and continue to pick them off on the break. Leaving space for their brilliant fast wide attackers to do what they do best seemed a pretty unnecessary move.

Infoseeker1975 · 29-04-2026 12:45PM

With the exception of the penalty and to be honest I have no clue what constitutes a peno in the CL, the referee last night was excellent, did not give soft frees for dramatic falls where amazingly the player after a few seconds was back on his feet, as a result the game was free flowing the players read into it that there was little point in cheating.

The level of entertainment tonight will largely depend on the referee in my opinion, both teams do the dark arts very well so hopefully the ref will ignore that and let the game flow.

ronjo · 29-04-2026 12:46PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124429534#Comment_124429534

just wondering what you meant with the second sentence?

KaiserGunner · 29-04-2026 12:50PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124429569#Comment_124429569

The usual pointless dig by that lad.

Manc-Red_ · 29-04-2026 12:53PM

Tonight’s game on tv

8-10 · 29-04-2026 01:02PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124429584#Comment_124429584

Having it on 2 different Irish stations seems unnecessary

Dogsdodogsstuff · 29-04-2026 01:04PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124429411#Comment_124429411

For me, pundits focusing or even mentioning defence are doing so purely to stand out or to sound edgy. It’s objectively correct, but also irrelevant in the scheme of what that match was about. Imagine watching that game with a friend and the thing he brings up during and after the game is “Jaesus the defending was muck”.

1999 will probably be the best season any man United fan will have not just because of the treble but the manner in which it was won. There was no go ahead and sit back, quite the opposite of edge of your seat squeaky bum , borderline kamikaze at times.

This sort of football should be celebrated because there’s enough defensive and putrid over tactical crap we have to weigh through in football to find the the sort of nuggets PSG and Bayern gave us last night.

When I’m watching my own team I do like them to be tactically clever but I think in general for entertainment, pundits should not be critical of teams or matches that are entertaining. Punditry in general is hollow social media soundbites stuff so it’s silly when they try to sound insightful.

ronjo · 29-04-2026 01:08PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124429605#Comment_124429605

I guess its like the World Cup Final being on ITV and BBC 😁

pjohnson · 29-04-2026 01:21PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124429569#Comment_124429569

Its the same people that prefer defence first football over offence first all the time.

breezy1985 · 29-04-2026 01:21PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124429610#Comment_124429610

What you ask for in the final paragraph is way way more hollow than analysing every aspect of the game.

Its not Barney the Dinosaur we are adults and should be able to understand you can think it's both a great game and had its flaws and bad performances at the same time.

Close to 50% of the pitch is defenders and goalkeepers so should they be celebrating going out and shipping 4/5 a game so some neutral can feel all warm and happy ?

ronjo · 29-04-2026 01:25PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124429657#Comment_124429657

Who? I saw a couple of Liverpool fans saying the should have defended better and I saw an Arsenal fan also doing it. I really dont get your point at all.

2025-26 UEFA Champions League - See Mod Note Post 1

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