Sevilla vs. Barca / To Be Manitoed or Not To Be Manitoed?

We deserved that. Hopefully it comes in handy as a lesson if we get a lead on Bayern and decide not to just walk around the last 5 minutes thinking a top team is going to lie down dead at the end. Also Rico can’t catch a normal ball anymore and looks like he could’ve maybe done better on the Messi goal. Vamos Sevilla but I’m thinking of putting money on Bayern for Tuesday.

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That’d be a wise thing to do. I wouldn’t expect anything more than a draw with goals vs. Bayern, but I think they will beat us in both legs only because they’re more clinical in front of the goal.

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Is it possible to be less clinical in front of goal than we are? lol. Hopefully WBY can help but German defenders are going to outmuscle him more than Man U did and no Banega either. Happy and proud to just be in the quarters at the end of the day, but with Banega missing also I’m gonna just enjoy the experience and not hope for too much.

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Just watched a full replay of the game. What a great 86 minutes! We dominated Barca. Should have easily had 2 or 3 more goals, some selfish play some shocking attempts but the midfield was brilliant. Defence supurb and set up very well. Pressured Barca and won the ball back, reminds me of how we came out against United.

Still with all the positives… Navas, Kjaer, Banega, Correa, Nzonzi… even Vazquez controlled the game well and opened up Barca several times… the only negative I find is Muriel. He simply has pace, nothing else to offer. He makes good runs but thats not useful when you cant hit the side of a barn or see anything else other than your own glory. Simply cannot believe WBY was never subbed in.

Overall pretty exciting and brilliant… but Messi does it to us… again. However he should never have been given the opportunity to, we should have been two goals further up.

I think WBY was not subbed in mainly because Montella wanted to stick to the counters (and he did) until the end. However, Montella is not at fault that Muriel, Correa and co. are terrible finishers. WBY is perhaps a better finisher, but definitely not pacey enough for counters or similar styles of play.

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From 2-0 up it was a game we should have won, I thought we did very well in mixing it up a bit, rather than trying to tippy tap our way to goal we actually played to Muriel’s strengths and passed the ball forward quickly a number of times for him to run on to. It’s a shame that he needs around 20 attempts per goal. I can’t help feeling that with someone like Gamero or Bacca in his place we would have had a lead of 3 or 4.

Until Messi came on there was only one team in it, he gave Barca the lift they needed and Luis Suárez changed from being very ineffective to producing a moment of magic for his goal. Then we all knew what was coming next. That’s 30 goals in 32 games for Messi v Sevilla. ( he must really love playing against us)

But to be honest if we had been offered a scoreline of 2-2 before the game most of us would have accepted it.gladly, I was just hoping we wouldn’t be humiliated.

On the positive side Malaga did us a huge favour tonight in beating Villareal, lets hope that Getafe can beat sweaty Betty tomorrow and we are still on track.

Just watched highlights of Bayern’s 6-0 demolition of Dortmund and it was scary, we can only pray that they arrive in an over confident mood on Tuesday. If we can replicate that performance v Barca we have a chance.
Vamos mi Sevilla.

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I think that Bayern should fear us a bit more in that case, because Dortmund are a crappy team this season and although Barca is not the same without Messi, they’re still Barca and it is not easy to outplay them like that. As you said, only if we replicate this kind of performance we might have a chance.

Watched a replay late last night and can’t believe we didn’t come out with the 3 points. How many chances does one need to put away another team for good? Perhaps our defence is so bad during training that our attacking players find it easier to score then? Either way, we look so clueless in front of goal. I feel the 2 we got were pretty fortunate with extremely poor marking on the 1st, and a failed clearance for the 2nd. But we forced the issue, so they were well deserved.

Nzonzi was my MOTM. It was an exemplary display of his skillset, and he was even making forward runs to provide extra options. On the flipside, i constantly get frustrated at Correa & Muriel. For a pair that has history, they waste a lot of chances. Albeit they did provide an assist & a goal, I can’t help but feel that they’re holding us back. I’m being hella pessimistic in the hope to be proven wrong. It’s just that old adage of lots of potential but not having done shit yet.

Overall, not a bad result, especially against an undefeated team. I’m even more amped for that Copa final. But first, the Bayern exam awaits us tomorrow. This was some good practice, but that clinic they put on Saturday vs Dortmund was the real deal. It all just makes me excited that we’re even involved. I’m down for another magical night at the RSP. As always… nunca se rinde.

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Well said Edinho

I am enjoying the Champions League ride knowing that next season we may not even be in Europe at all.

Betis could overtake us in the league table tonight if they beat Getafe!

A season out of Europe is certainly not doing Valencia any harm so it wouldn’t be the end of the world

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Very excited for our tie with Bayern. We have a good chance. We playing so much better than early on in the season.

Nzonzi especially, has been immense!

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