Özil was good but I think describing him as "a couple of heads and shoulders above anybody else on the pitch" is a little over the top. For once I felt today's Sun's marks out of 10 to players was reasonably fair. The highest scores were the 8s received by all of Xhaka (who they made man of the match despite him getting the same points as two others), Lichtsteiner and Mustafi. Other scores I recall were the 7 for Guendouzi and Özil's 6. Accepting that getting the same points does not necessarily mean players were exactly at the same level, I reckon they got the order of those five right. Having said that, personalIy I'd have given Özil 7, not 6, even though I felt Guendouzi was a bit better.

We've drawn Rennes in the next round. Nice short travel distance which is always welcome, Rennes are 12th in the French league so we really should beat them comfortably.

I thought whilst his performance was unspectacular he improved the structure of the team a lot. When we broke we had a player as an outlet to receive a ball from Iwobi and Henrik and before we didn’t.

I think And hope Emery might have seen a lightbulb last night. 4-2-3-1 or failure

If anyone is bored, tune into the Proteas-Sri Lanka test. Sri Lanka need 120 more to win with 8 wicket in hand: a tough ask with swing on offer and Rabada bowling at 150 km/h, and Steyn and the giant Olivier just as ferocious.

Come on Burnley, win it!

More strong links today that Monchi will become our director of football in the summer. He’s at Roma but previously worked wonders in the transfer market at Seville with Emery.

Roma are currently 5th.

We are not Sevilla.

KSE OUT.

Why would anyone from the Directors down to the players want to join us when they know there is no money to buy players?

What's the point of them trying to change anything. We have to hope that Emery can do something with the youngsters and we could have a good finish............

Oh yeah! Spurs lose!

Messi scored his 50th hatrick today. A belter of a volley at 1-0 down, a curler with his weaker foot at 2-1 down and a lovely dinked finish to win the game. He is carrying Barca to a ridiculous degree this season. They will have to invest hugely to fill the void when he retires.

He is carrying Barca to a ridiculous degree this season. They will have to invest hugely to fill the void when he retires.

Funny how Poch confronting Mike Dean is being reported. I’ve seen quite a few reports almost given Poch mitigation because Mike Dean might have said something that angered him.

If football is ever going to deliver respect for referees at all levels of the game acts like Poch’s have to result in a sever ban

Messi is 32 this summer. The sooner he retires, the better as far as I'm concerned.

Why?

I don't like him. Thought I made that obvious during the World Cup. He's a wonderful player but as I don't like the club he plays for and as you imply, his retirement is likely to have a very negative effect on them, that's fine by me. So roll on his retirement.

That’s Barca, what about Messi? Do you not like the man, his personality? I find it hard to imagine anyone disliking Messi the man in the same way as players like Ronaldo and Suarez and Neymar. I CAN imagine plenty of fans disliking those 3 for their antics

Linked with Wan-Bissaka this morning. Really like him but I can’t see us getting him, price for a young English player will be very high and all of England’s top clubs will want him - plus some abroad as England’s youth team players now have credibility

Why would anyone from the Directors down to the players want to join us when they know there is no money to buy players?

What's the point of them trying to change anything. We have to hope that Emery can do something with the youngsters and we could have a good finish............

Great player and far more likeable than Ronaldo and Neymar but personally I fine him a bit weird and freakish. I mean he’s scored over 400 goals for Barcelona and is an incredible player but his technique never lets him down to the point it seems inhuman. He never gets a bobble, bad touch nothing. It wouldn’t surprise me if in a decades time it’s revealed he was some kind of test tube baby, robot or was using some kind of new performance enhancing drugs that nobody else was aware of.

Why?

Great player and far more likeable than Ronaldo and Neymar but personally I fine him a bit weird and freakish. I mean he’s scored over 400 goals for Barcelona and is an incredible player but his technique never lets him down to the point it seems inhuman. He never gets a bobble, bad touch nothing. It wouldn’t surprise me if in a decades time it’s revealed he was some kind of test tube baby, robot or was using some kind of new performance enhancing drugs that nobody else was aware of.