"Celtic Can Join Us In CL 16"- Lionel Messi

No Lionel

"Braca can join Celtic in last 16"

:icon_mrgreen:

 

He didn't miss the birth of his child

Important to have perspective as well, imagine what it's like for Barcelona players to play match after match of everyone parking the proverbial bus...Just like anybody who goes out to play some footy on the weekend, you want to play some end to end football - enjoying the game...For the players, watching 11 behind the ball over & over again isn't that much fun for the players and they're not just trying to win - they play to entertain & enjoy the games

Perspective too

Important to also take into context comments like that from Leo, IMHO...It's not intended to come off as bravado...They've been playing at this level for going on 5 seasons now, they believe in themselves because of what they've accomplished over that time...They believe that when they play to their level, no one beats them...He was also paying respect to Celtic FC, it's fans and the team's chances in the competition...But he was honest about how he sees the match turning out and, to a man, I am certain the entire squad believe & expect they will win as well

I expect them to win as well but I can't recall a time in 5 years where I didn't expect them to win...Doesn't mean it will happen but I have yet to see anyone consistently beat this team

This team thrives on challenges, playing in big matches and winning in hostile environments...Celtic Park ticks all those boxes so I expect Barça to put on a show...Hopefully it'll be a win but they will not suffer from over confidence

 

We genuinely set out to play as attacking as possible but as it turned out, that was impossible. Barcelona are amazing. They are super-human. We did not try to 'park the bus' you forced us to :smiley-laughing002:

 

For everyone who said anti football etc what were we meant to do lol the only side I've really saw attack barca is Real Madrid. Even when English sides draw them they tend to defend. Try attack them and they will rip you apart unless you have a ronaldo or something

 

Or Sammy. They knew that and injured him, the dirty *.

 

The Babies not yours!
The Babies not yours!
Lionel Messi! ...
Its Fraser Forster's!!

 

Oh dear.

 

Please never sing this. Anywhere. Ever.

 

Did you dream that song up whilst sticking your head in a roasting hot chip pan?

 

HAHA! I never sign on and post on this board and I've been lurking daily for years, but this is the best thing I have read in this place... ever.

 

Messi is the best player in the world simply because more people are of that opinion, and willing to share and defend it, than any other player.

As I explained to a friend, if you look at Left-handedness in sports, you can see a pattern of advantage as Wikipedia (i know) explains;
"The advantage to players in one-on-one sports such as tennis, boxing, fencing or judo is that in a population containing perhaps 10% left-handers and 90% right-handers, the left-hander plays 90% of his or her games against right-handed opponents and is well-practised at dealing with this asymmetry. Right-handers play 90% of their games against other right-handers. Thus, when confronted with left-handers, they are less practised (see Rafael Nadal). When two left-handers compete against each other, they are both likely to be at the same level of practice as when right-handers play other right-handers. This explains why a disproportionately high number of left-handers are found in sports in which direct one-on-one action predominates."

Think about a one on one situation in football when the opponent is in possession. If You stand facing the goal with a left footed player, where is the ball. If you stand facing the goal with a right footed player, where is the ball. It is closer to you when against a right footed player. Think about dummying on a right and left sided player against hoe you plant your weight as a right footed and left footed defender. All other one on one situations, receiving a pass and the position of a defender for example, show that Messi has and advantage as a left sided player.

For me, having done research into Barcelona, the bubble is burst.

Listen to what long term coaches, who have worked at the club for decades. They openly admit that they only take on one very specific type of player and teach them keep and not give away that ball as if it were a nun and her virginity.

As I said in the la liga mega thread, when Barcelona start to lose or look like they are not gonna win the true colours come out.
"Barcelona act like petulant children, Fabregas has went down every single time the wind has changed direction and Alexis? pushing the defender into the the keeper was just dangerous.
They may be champion but they don't seem to act like champions.
Hope Granada get their point!"

The theme seems to be constant for me, thoughts like this every Barcelona game.

I even think a few more Celtic fans had exactly these thoughts after our game with them at the nuo camp just recently.

I hope we do them and finish top of the group. The very least I expect is for us to again give the world a small glimpse of the group of players who think they represent Barcelona.

Hail Hail

 

Shut it Lionel, we'll be finishing top!! :icon_mrgreen:

 

Barcelona and people associated with them are slowly but surely managing to get on my nerves more and more as the days go by. Their self righteousness is beginning to irritate me severely.

They should be reminded of the amount of money they have spent and the amounts of money they pay out in wages every single week. If they had our resources would they play the way they do against far superior sides? I highly doubt it.

People forget they have spent ridiculous amounts of money in the last 3-4 years building their team. Alves, Ibrahimovic, Chygrynskiy, Alba, Fabregas, Villa, Song, Sanchez, Mascherano. All bought for huge transfer fees. That's about £220million before any * gets paid a wage or a signing on bonus.

 

What the guy above me said.

I'm one of the minority who actually prefers Real Madrid....who only became Franco's team when they were good, before that it was Athletico.

Apparently the "Barca way" is the "right way to play football"....regardless of whether the other team has also spent hundreds of millions assembling a squad.

I refuse to like any club that has Dani Alves playing for them....Pedro and Busquets are extremely dislikable players.

Also when me and my family used to go to Spain when we were younger, I liked Madrid and he liked Barca, and Real usually have cooler players.

* Barca, I would love to play them off the park, or defend for 90 mins and scab a win, whatever annoys those pompous arseholes the most.

 

Yet from the traveling squad, 70% are from the cantera...They have spent big (Not the most) but they also develop from within their academy more than any other big club on the planet

Says the Dallas Cowboys fan :bbpd:

 

Barca are very arrogant, Iniesta and Xavi are the only ones I really like as people, obviously I love Messi as a player.

But you can't really blame them, their arrogance is based on fact and they have become the best through a * of a lot of hard work.

I still don't think their way is the "right" way to play though, it's far too slow and actually boring most of the time. They really lost something when Villa got injured because from like 2008-2010 they were scinitillating, they were fast and exciting to watch as well as having all the technical proficiency we see from them now and great passing and control.

But they have declined and will never get back to that peak in my opinion. Just shows you how hard football is because they are, in many peoples' view, the greatest team EVER and even then they only dominated world football for about 18 months.

They have underachieved if you ask me.

 

I wonder how many club champions in any sport over 4-5 seasons were ever described as modest...Arrogance isn't merely implied presumption of superiority but done so in an insulting manner

The players on this team consistently show respect to their opponents and never play dirty, if that's arrogant then a club like Real Madrid must be the devil incarnate