It could very well be if we’re not 100% concentrated and leave spaces like the Adama Traore accidental run where we ended up conceding a penalty. Can’t play so leisurely at the back against VARchester United or we’d be in big trouble. They’re not Wolves, they will attack (even if sporadically) throughout the match and try to catch us in counters as well. I hope Kounde and DC will be at their best tonight, or at least that they don’t fall asleep like Kounde did in the first half vs. Wolves
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The usual, thinking they are the biggest, from the strongest league etc. Too good for Europa League or whatever bla bla. They had some good weeks but they are very beatable and as long as we speak on the pitch they can speak whatever they want before hand. They need it. That’s why they are Mancunians.
Let’s show them how it’s done. They have some quality strikers and creators but our defense is way better then theirs but we still need to play accordingly and I have faith we will.
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As long as we don’t have physical contact with their attackers in our penalty box, it’s all good!
I’m more afraid of VAR and them being awarded soft penalties than anything else.
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Also one of the things is that both teams tonight are quite good in possession but also in counter attacking. That is the most open and dangerous game. They are weaker tho. Making it physical in the midfield and forcing some duels and aerial fights should be our advantage, controlled tho, no stupidity and not inside our own box of course.
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As can be seen here and as I saw their fans in their forums mention: Impressive Blues Power Past United | Manchester United 1-3 Chelsea | Emirates FA Cup 19/20 - YouTube
Man Utd’s defense is quite fragile, especially their full backs. Only if we had someone like Giroud in the above example to tuck the ball into the net. Even though I can’t see them doing it, I hope YEN or De Jong will actually do it tonight. Their defensive flanks should be exposed by us, but we have to be concrete with our chances or it will cost us the match.
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Agree 200% on this, they have 3-4 outlets who can blast off as soon as they have possession. Bruno is the danger man, the team was totally out of touch with one another before he came, now he’s the driving force of the team a la Kevin De Bryune. I’d take a page out of Jupp Heynckes tactics and start YEN just to be Bruno’s bodyguard in case he gets into any danger.
Man Utd will be full of themselves as usual, we should let that slide. A low profile will give a psychological edge 
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Well done. You fell straight into their penalty trap but still came through in the end. Now go on and win the trophy 
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Single leg tournament is just so much more entertaining than 2 leg. Pity that it probably won’t happen again.
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Yup probably coz money rules, big clubs need to win and to make sure to maximize profit, and that there wont be many surprises. Playing over two games more or less secures that. I do´t think its just to equalize home and away chances.
Also there is no calculations with away goals and just getting a draw tactics or whatever. But it´s impossible to do without neutral ground stadiums, if you need to organize something like that yearly it would make it harder for the fans to go, there is more travelling in an already packed league schedule and all in all It would be way more tiring. This format just delivers excitement. Which is sometimes just what football needs and if you have a bad day its over.
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Away Goals is the stupidest and worst rule in football, and should be scrapped anyway. I’ve always hated it, a team can score a flukey own goal away, in a 2-1 defeat, then defend for 85 minutes at Home and score another flukey own goal and go through.
It promotes all the wrong kind of connotations in football for me.
And yes it still irks me that Inter lost the 2005 Champions League Semi Final to AC Milan on Away Goals with 1-1 and 0-0 results, IN THE SAME FUCKING STADIUM!!!
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I feel like Inter is gonna suffer from some exhaustion and Shaktar is gonna take this one. At this stage fitness is key and they didn´t have a schedule as packed as the italian league for their final stages of the season. They didn´t have the thoughest road up to the semis so we will see their real strength tonight but I think they will surprise Inter here.
We have an extra day to prepare so thats good and everybody wants this to be a 120 minute battle to affect the freshness of the legs of the winner.
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In a final all the little things count, Inter have a deeper bench than us so an extra day of rest could mean the difference between victory or defeat in a single match.
Shaktar are not the powerhouse of seasons gone by but they still have a decent squad; I would’ve thought talents like alan patrick would have been snapped up by some other clubs by now. Can’t watch the game due to early shift tomorrow but will be eagerly anticipating our upcoming opponents.
Edit: Just found out former Sevillista Yevhen Konoplyanka is playing for Shaktar, might give us a helping hand.
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Shakhtar playing much better than Inter and controlling the match. A shame that they conceded from that lucky cross. I can see Shakhtar scoring at least one goal (hopefully) and taking this to ET to tire Inter out a beat, but Inter will probably go to the final anyway.
I have watched Inter against Getafe, Leverkusen and tonight, they are almost exactly like Wolves. Man Utd is much much better than them and we beat them, so we are technically better than Inter. However, as could be seen with the Wolves match, we struggle with opponents who defend heavily and try to score through counters. Wolves chickened out after like 10 mins or so and stayed back for the remainder of the match, but Inter have 2-3 chances in them throughout a match and can be dangerous on counters, so we need to stay very very alert.
They are not an attacking threat like Man Utd though, so if we score first and keep the match in control like vs. Wolves, we have a great chance of winning the final. This is always if Inter reaches the final in the first place. Shakhtar on the other hand circulate the ball well and are capable of scoring (even from distance), but they lack the talent and the difference makers that we have (e.g. Navas, Ocampos, Banega), so they are also very beatable.
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Inter seem more effective tho with what they get, they convert decently.
Also why didn’t Shaktar get a penalty when inter just shoots against their own hand.
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They are effective, but so far they’ve had weak opposition compared to us, plus sitting back for most of the game conserves a lot of energy compared to keeping the ball and moving all around the pitch - so they have an advantage on that.
They don’t like to keep the ball and only try to counter… I hate those teams. If we win, football wins, if we don’t, football loses that’s it.
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Lukaku and Martinez are world class players who complement eachother very nicely. Another big challenge for Diego and Koundé
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No way Lukaku & Lautaro get this much space against us. Their partnership has been great at times this season, but these goals today were given away so cheaply.
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Friday is going to be interesting. 
I kind of hoped this eventuality wouldn’t happen. 
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Shakhtar totally succumbed in the second half, mainly because they feared Inter too much without any reason, as they controlled the match in the first - they flopped badly.
Of course we’re all fearing fatigue, but we should be able to beat this Inter. They are not better than us at all, and if we are a bit lucky we will do it once again!
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I like the confidence but that’s brave after all that we gave man utd yesterday We’d better not do that again, or even half of it. They are killers we can’t rely on Bono to save our asses this hard again.
But your right it will be a different type of game.
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