Topic: Champions League Quarter Finals 2nd Leg - Tuesday & Wednesday

[Popcorn]

Don't know whether I'd like a last minute goal from Bayern to send the Mancs out or for Bayern to take the piss and finish it early on.

[hoonin]

Alright, I know there's a Messi wankfest about, but who's up for tomorrow's matches?

Will probably be at the library tomorrow night, researching plate tectonics.

[OohCampione]

They haven't got the money.

Don't be silly. They could quite easily afford £100m in the next transfer market, especially if the rumour of their first ever commercial sponsorship is to be believed. There is also talk of them offloading Ibrahimovic.

And talking of signings, did anyone else get the feeling Clichy played as if he was putting himself in the shop window?

[Ray K]

Will probably be at the library tomorrow night, researching plate tectonics.

In that case, I hope the earth moves for you.

[Phil M]

Don't know whether I'd like a last minute goal from Bayern to send the Mancs out or for Bayern to take the piss and finish it early on.

It's almost a certainty the mancs will score at home and Bayern are from inpenetrable at the back but you would hope
with the likes of Schweinsteiger and hopefully Robben they have the counter attacking speed and skill to give the mancs
a lot of headaches and hopefully Gomes or Olic can stick one away and make life very difficult for them.

Will be interesting to see what line up Ferguson goes with. Can't see him starting the same XI (obviously with Berbabotov for Rooney)
as he did in Munich.

[hoonin]

In that case, I hope the earth moves for you.

[Aljon]

So Rooney has no chance of playing?

[Phil M]

So Rooney has no chance of playing?

Not sure about the source as reliable but anyway....

http://www.bettingpress.com/category/Football/Rooney-looks-set-to-miss-Champions-League-quarter-final-clash-201004060038/

[USC19Babel]

As for United - Bayern, I expect United to score at least one, so I'm hoping it's kept to that and Bayern can nick one. I think with Ribery, Olic, Gomez, Robben, and Schweinsteiger they have enough quality to score at least one, it'll just be a matter of whether or not they score enough to advance.

Don't be silly. They could quite easily afford £100m in the next transfer market, especially if the rumour of their first ever commercial sponsorship is to be believed. There is also talk of them offloading Ibrahimovic.

And talking of signings, did anyone else get the feeling Clichy played as if he was putting himself in the shop window?

If both of those things happen; if they don't, I can't see them spending big on one player.

Don't forget they also spent over €40m on Chygrynsky, Maxwell, and Keirrison last summer in addition to the money spent on Ibra, as well as nothing really coming in through player sales.

[exiledintheUSA]

So Rooney has no chance of playing?

The only playing he will be doing is with a 67 year old tart.

[OohCampione]

As for United - Bayern, I expect United to score at least one, so I'm hoping it's kept to that and Bayern can nick one. I think with Ribery, Olic, Gomez, Robben, and Schweinsteiger they have enough quality to score at least one, it'll just be a matter of whether or not they score enough to advance.

If both of those things happen; if they don't, I can't see them spending big on one player.

Don't forget they also spent over €40m on Chygrynsky, Maxwell, and Keirrison last summer in addition to the money spent on Ibra, as well as nothing really coming in through player sales.

Granted, but they also increased revenue to over 365m euros to become the second richest club in the world. The £100m I referred to would be within their reach I feel without selling Iba or relying on outside sponsorship.

[Phil M]

Whatever about all this talk about Leo, apart from Xabi Alonso there are few central midfield players in the world
today who make it look as easy going box to box as Xavi Hernandez. I could watch him play all day, simple touches,
even when surrounded or seemingly covered he's happy to get the ball to feet with his back to goal and you can bet
within one or two touches the ball has been moved forward and he's off to make himself available again,brilliant vision, huge range of
passing with of course that eye for a killer pass behind the defence for Messi etc. I'm convinced he is as good as you will ever see in that
position.

[gazzathered]

Great stuff, another dig at Rafa. I tell you what, if we had the money to compete and Rafa could buy players of the calibre that were on show for Barca tonight, we would be flying too.

So in a thread about Arsenal v Barca, you still manage to get a dig in at Rafa? Impressive.

Just what we need, another thread to debate Rafa and his tactics

Sorry for stating what i was thinking at the time, if you read carefully im saying that i think Rafa would of got the tactics right and we would have got a different result than Arsenal. I do end it by having a slight dig but thats what im thinking.
Whats wrong with criticising Rafa or is he beyond criticism.

[MidwestWool]

Whats wrong with criticising Rafa or is he beyond criticism.

How is criticising Rafa related to the CL Quarter Finals 2nd legs? Aren't there enough topic discussing Rafa's tactics and what not in the main thread?

[guest]

Sorry for stating what i was thinking at the time, if you read carefully im saying that i think Rafa would of got the tactics right and we would have got a different result than Arsenal. I do end it by having a slight dig but thats what im thinking.
Whats wrong with criticising Rafa or is he beyond criticism.

He's not above criticism, but not when it's a discussion about Arsenal and Barcelona. You're as boring as Jane Eyre, Mr Rochester.

[rafathegaffa83]

An otherworldly performance from Messi tonight. Given the fact that the English media seem to only be clued into the British game, hopefully tonight's match will dispel any myths that Wayne Rooney is anywhere near as good as Leo Messi and Arsenal are anywhere near as good as Barcelona. As much as Wenger would like people to believe his "kids" and philosophy are great, they are not even two or three levels below what Barca has produced in two seasons under Guardiola.

[slickman]

How great would that be having the semis with no english teams can just sit back relax and not be bothered as to who ends up winning the cup, after going out in the group stages was fully expecting 3 english sides in the semis hopefully bayern finish the job tommorow and the semis will be fun to watch, Would be refreshing to have a non english side in the final probaly the first time since 2004? Although mancs are jammy so  you cant rule anything out yet.

["Nookie".]

You need to factor in the "Sir Ryan of Giggs Particle" to figure this equation out. We will have to wait till the findings of the CERN experiments are reported.

You mean the "Giggs-Boson Particle"?

[RigBon1892]

How great would that be having the semis with no english teams can just sit back relax and not be bothered as to who ends up winning the cup, after going out in the group stages was fully expecting 3 english sides in the semis hopefully bayern finish the job tommorow and the semis will be fun to watch, Would be refreshing to have a non english side in the final probaly the first time since 2004? Although mancs are jammy so  you cant rule anything out yet.

It would be the first time since 2004 if it happened.

It's actually something I'd like to see too. It was another thing I considered when we knew who the 2007 finalists were going to be, SKy were so disappointed at losing out on their dream final but if I'd been a neutral living on the continent, who would I have wanted to watch: Liverpool/Milan or Man U/Chelsea?

[OsirisMVZ]

Depending on how results go over the next two days, we could be the only English team left in Europe by the end of the week! How the tables will have turned 

[mildale]

Depending on how results go over the next two days, we could be the only English team left in Europe by the end of the week! How the tables will have turned 

I'd take that, although I wouldn't mind if Fulham joined us. As long as we go through and hopefully the Mancs go out it'll be a decent week.

[OsirisMVZ]

Yeah so long as Man Utd get knocked out tomorrow night I really won't care who wins what Uefa competition, although I of course would appreciate the Europa League come May to put a nice dress on this ugly bitch of a season.

[Finn Solomon]

I'm worried. I keep getting this mental image of Bendtner peeling away from the Backa goal, arms aloft, celebrating.

 

So they lose 4-1 instead of 4-0....

Chakan you must be psychic. Winning lottery numbers mate?

[Xxavi]

I was a bit disappointed... that we decided to take foot off the pedal yet again. This time, its because we have a comfortable lead 3-1 and this weekend we have all-important league clash with Real Madrid. We even gave territory and ball to Arsenal to try to do it. I think we should have never betrayed our philosophy and kept the ball and kept attacking because... my prediction was 8-3 on aggregate It ended being "only" 6-3, kinda disappointed

Joking aside though, this is not the best performance from Messi let alone Barca team. For some reason, unlike last week, some players weren't their usual self and played a poor match IMO. Last week, despite the scoreline, everybody played brilliant except for Messi who was anonymous. Its good that we have so many players we can depend on and if one is having bad day, another can do the job.

Was disappointed and worried not to see Toure in the starting line up. Yes, his passing is very wasteful at times because of lack of playing practice or some other reasons, but he is pacy and that is about the only advantage Arsenal have. Also, disappointed with Alves performance. Didn't supply quality crosses and cut the team with very bad passes sometimes. Keita didn't do anything of note, neither in defense nor in attack. But Xavi and Messi were on another planet. Credit to Messi for scoring, and credit to Xavi bossing the midfield almost entirely on his own.

This win is going to be a nice addition to a sequence of big teams thrashed at Camp Nou. Hopefully, more is following.

[doikc]

I agree... Barca didn't play nearly as well as last week. this was the Messi show and the boy can play. The Barca team look well on course to retain the trophy which will be amazing.

Next up they come up against the old foe in Mourinho it should be very interesting. Eto has a chance to prove something against his old team. I still don't get why Pep wanted Ibra

[Solomon Grundy]

I wanted Barca to win, but I'm very disappointed with Arsenal's performance. FFS, they wasted every chance they had. And they are one of few teams who have a fairly good chance of beating Barca. You've got to play the ball quickly past their midfield. No fucking about, just get the ball forward. They had a fair few opportunities similar to the one where they scored and they missed them all.

I tend to think the only way you'll stop Barcelona is my stiffling them and stopping the from playing their one touch football like Chelsea did in the semi-final last year. If you try to out pass them 9 times out of 10 you'll get beat and the only reason Arsenal had as many chances as they did last night is because Barca didn't have their first choce CB pairing.

[Solomon Grundy]

imagine if barca get fabregas and/or villa over the summer

Were the hell would fabregas fit into that midfield though? Is he better then Xavi and Iniesta? I dont think so.

[Ron]

So in a thread about Arsenal v Barca, you still manage to get a dig in at Rafa? Impressive.

Good thing the Benitez brigade is always alert though, even in threads about Arsenal versus Barcelona ...

[Xxavi]

I agree... Barca didn't play nearly as well as last week. this was the Messi show and the boy can play. The Barca team look well on course to retain the trophy which will be amazing.

Next up they come up against the old foe in Mourinho it should be very interesting. Eto has a chance to prove something against his old team. I still don't get why Pep wanted Ibra

I have never seen Mourinho give up on a match, but I certainly had a feeling that he knows Inter is inferior to Barca during our group stage matches. 0-0 at San Siro, and he looked happy with that defending for their life whole match. Then 2-0 losing to Barca and second half, satisfied enough to keep players guarding the goal. And after match comments were something like admitting that indeed Barca is better and he acknowledges, everybody knows.

No matter what he will say in interviews, I don't think his opinion changed in 6 months. He is probably bricking it. And his players, too. Wouldn't be surprised to see very nervous and afraid Inter team. Bring them on!

[Finn Solomon]

Just don't let the Mancs win. Amen.

[Una cerveza, por favor]

Andy Gray said yesterday that the only way to stop Barca is to shackle and handcuff Messi. I am confident Mourinho will devise a plan for that.

[MidwestWool]

Andy Gray said yesterday that the only way to stop Barca is to shackle and handcuff Messi. I am confident Mourinho will devise a plan for that.

[img]http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2010/02/Mourinhoarms415.jpg[img]

Yea, but Gray is fucking stupid and that shackling Messi would mean leaving space for other Barcelona players to exploit. And by that time, Iniesta would be fully fit from injury, Ibra would be back as well. It'll be tough for Inter to stop Barcelona.

Also, don't forget that Guardiola is a shrewd manager too. He will have something up his sleeve too.

[freedom]

Just don't let the Mancs win. Amen.

amen

[doikc]

I wonder how it feels for Wenger to have believed even for one moment that he could match Barca then be proved so wrong. Will it be the final nail in the coffin of his illusions of grandeur? for all their beautiful football at every opportunity when he and his team have been tested they have crumbled. I still would prefer that they win the league no doubt

Inter will be a sterner test, I can't see Barca coasting as they did in this tie. The coach has a responsibility to prepare his team and to leave Messi to roam free was criminal. It is quite clear that Barca are the better team but these years have shown Mourinho is skilled in the "dark" arts he will instruct his players to kick them off the pitch.

That whole tie will need refs with balls of steel. I think both Inter and Barca are quite capable of beating the mancs i'd rather Bayern go through tonight.

[Alan_X]

Were the hell would fabregas fit into that midfield though? Is he better then Xavi and Iniesta? I dont think so.

My thoughts entirely. I suppose he'd be a good squad player for Barca - let them rest Xavi and Iniesta against the smaller teams.

[Mr Mojo Risin']

My thoughts entirely. I suppose he'd be a good squad player for Barca - let them rest Xavi and Iniesta against the smaller teams.

When people talk about Fabrigas being a bit part player, it just indicates how good this
Barca side is. Would Torres fit in to this side?

[Alan_X]

When people talk about Fabrigas being a bit part player, it just indicates how good this
Barca side is. Would Torres fit in to this side?

Yes. Easy answer. Torres instead of Ibra and the tie would have been over in the first leg.

[Chivasino]

When people talk about Fabrigas being a bit part player, it just indicates how good this
Barca side is. Would Torres fit in to this side?

Perfectly, mate, in Ibra's position up top in the middle of a three. He would break all sorts of records...not that he isn't already.

[Chivasino]

Yes. Easy answer. Torres instead of Ibra and the tie would have been over in the first 20 minutes of the first leg.

Corrected for you.

[gazzalfc]

All 5 goals from last night
http://www.totalsportsmadness.com/2010/04/05/barcelona-vs-arsenal-highlights/

Witness something special