World Cup and European leagues

[1970s NESCAC Player]

England advances on PKs 0-0 (5-3).  I would expect goals in the England - U.S.A. match.

[Ron Boerger]

At least the U17 team is having fun, 5-0 over Paraguay in the Round of 16 at the FIFA U17 WC ...

Saw that. I was nervous after they choked their last group match. Today went better though a very nervy beginning. They are looking very strong defensively except the one game when it looked like a mess. Unfortunately the very good defensive mid will miss the next match for yellow card accumulation.  That will complicate things. Kind of hope they get England not Japan. England will play very direct, Japan is more a tricky skills team. I think we will match up better against England.

Wish granted, England advances 5-3 on PKs after a scoreless match.

[jknezek]

Now we need to come to play.

[blooter442]

In watching Barcelona-Olympiacos -- Barca is up 1-0 through an own goal -- it is interesting to see how FCB has changed certain aspects of its play.

During the Guardiola era they had absolutely no Plan B for when teams would sit deep and park the bus -- they would still try to tiki-taka it in to the opponent's goal. It worked most of the time, but there were a number of notable occasions where it didn't (see: Chelsea 2012). Dani Alves said "we don't need a Plan B, we just need Plan A to work better." (Personally, I firmly disagree -- I think you always need a Plan B. Then again, he is a professional and I am me, so there's that.)

Since Enrique started, and now into Valverde's tenure, they are still very much a possession-based side and like to keep the ball on the ground, but aren't afraid of playing an occasional diagonal or penetrative high ball. This wasn't well-received by the Camp Nou faithful at first, but they were more receptive after winning the Treble for the second time (the only club in Europe to do so twice) in 2015. Today, they're keeping the ball on the ground for the most part, but look very dangerous when they play a diagonal or penetrative pass to the runners in behind. The Blaugrana haven't won the UCL since, but, even without Neymar, appear to be the early favorite for this year's title, and a big part of that is their expansion in tactics.

[blooter442]

Man Paulinho has gone from strength to strength since joining Barca. How he was so bad at Spurs yet so good here confounds me (although I might imagine playing in a world-class side provides a lift for anyone, which Spurs were not in 2013, although they probably are now). Still, pretty crazy that he went to the Chinese league, looked pretty much finished, and came to Barca and has been reborn.

[blooter442]

Plot twist: Pique bundles the ball home for 2-0, but the flag goes up, he gets a second yellow for handball, and is sent off. Marca would've been proud of that one.

[blooter442]

2-0 Barcelona, Messi with a free kick that the GK got a hand to but couldn't keep out. Messi's 100th goal in European club competition.

[blooter442]

3-0 right after, Digne.

[Mr.Right]

I cannot find any of these Champions league matches on TV..Usually FS1 carries 1 game..You are correct about Paulinho he has come back to life bigtime

[Mr.Right]

I cannot find any of these Champions league matches on TV..Usually FS1 carries 1 game..You are correct about Paulinho he has come back to life bigtime at Barca

[blooter442]

I cannot find any of these Champions league matches on TV..Usually FS1 carries 1 game..You are correct about Paulinho he has come back to life bigtime at Barca

Not going to reveal my exact streaming location or methods to avoid self-incrimination, but "one might look at reddit" (/r/soccerstreams) to find free streams. Even so, I figure the Feds would've found me by now if it was that bad -- I've been watching games in similar fashion since 2009.

[blooter442]

Whoa...Chelsea-Roma is 3-3. Chelsea were up 2-0, Roma scored three straight, Chelsea back level through Hazard. Those will be fun highlights to watch.

[Mr.Right]

I cannot find any of these Champions league matches on TV..Usually FS1 carries 1 game..You are correct about Paulinho he has come back to life bigtime at Barca

Not going to reveal my exact streaming location or methods to avoid self-incrimination, but "one might look at reddit" (/r/soccerstreams) to find free streams. Even so, I figure the Feds would've found me by now if it was that bad -- I've been watching games in similar fashion since 2009.

Excellent...+k

[blooter442]

Olympiacos gets one back off the corner with a minute left in normal time. Really nice header by the same guy who scored an own goal in the first half. Ter Stegen couldn't get anywhere near it -- no goalkeeper would've been able to IMHO.

Final score: Barcelona 3-1 Olympiacos

[NJrexSoccer03]

I cannot find any of these Champions league matches on TV..Usually FS1 carries 1 game..You are correct about Paulinho he has come back to life bigtime at Barca

Mr. Right - There is usually a game on Fox Sports 2 (The Yankees game was the reason there wasn't one on FS1). The other games you can find on ESPN 3 (The WatchEspn App - sometimes these are in Spanish) and now they are doing one match Facebook Live style. I believe its on the FoxSports Champions League Facebook page. Usually one game gets snubbed but I think yesterday every game was on. This is how I try to watch at least 3 games at the same time. This same thing might hold true for Europa League as well but I don't get as involved with Europa League till the knockout rounds.