Uefa Champions League Thread 08/09

[ezee ryder]

Like I said you will find it hard to admit (true) that we actually played well. I could say the Chelsea tie last week was extremely boring and only one team was trying to win but still can admit that Chelsea played well. They didn't pose an attacking threat at all but they stuck to their gameplan and fought out a 0-0 draw.

C'mon Barca!

[glazza]

Like I said you will find it hard admit (true) that we actually played well. I could say the Chelsea tie last week was extremely boring and only one team was trying to win but still can admit that Chelsea played well. They didn't pose an attacking threat at all but they as they stuck to their gameplan and fought out a 0-0 draw.

C'mon Barca!

GO Ezee,Go Ezee..

[ezee ryder]

Just find it funny when certain opposition fans can't admit United played well. Yes I know most football fans hate United (due to their success ) but surely as a football fan sometimes you have to say "yeah they played well".

Yes, Arsenal were not brilliant over the two legs but is none of that down to United actually playing well?! It is not like Arsenal just laid down and died infront of us, we had to work for both wins. Yeah, you might say "oh the goals came from defensive mistakes" or "one goal was a free-kick" but our players had to do something for those mistakes to happen.

If Ronaldo didn't put that cross in then Gibbs wouldn't have slipped and Park wouldn't have scored. If a corner wasn't forced then O'Shea would have never scored that goal. As for the free kick, well Ronaldo still had a lot of work to do and boy did he do it in style.

Once again, C'MON BARCA!

[Adrock]

I dont think you could ever say Chelsea played well last week. They did exactly what abigsmurf and myself have been bemoaning all season. They turned up to a team that was quite clearly better footballing technicians and set out to stop them from playing.

I've lost count the number of times we've both complained about teams getting plaudits for that. So lets stop being polite and tell the truth. What Chelsea did last week was poor. Lets hope tomorrow night is something better.

As for tonights game, I missed it. Looks like another United vs Chelsea final.

[ezee ryder]

I'm not being polite or anything, just telling it like I saw it. I can certainly (unfortunately) say Chelsea played well last week and I will.

You're right about one thing though, Barcelona are the better footballing side and Chelsea played well to stop them playing their free flowing attacking football that everybody loves. What they did last week wasn't poor it was spot on tactics from Hiddink and he deserves praise for that. You only needed to watch the Barca vs Madrid match on the weekend to see what could have happened if Chelsea played openly.

You can complain about it all you want but no inferior footballing side (unless they wanna get hammered) is going to come out and play openly against a superior footballing team, it usually means defeat. You might get the odd occasion where the inferior team will come out to attack which could surprise the oppostion resulting in a shock win but that is very very rare. If one team is so much better than the other then their class should eventually shine through, if they are good enough that is

It's only sour grapes when people come out and say "why give <insert inferior team name here> credit when they clearly just wanted to stifle <insert superior team name here>?!" It also take a certain amount of skill and team discipline to stop the someone like Barca playing to their strengths, which is something Chelsea and Man Utd did perfectly hence they got the credit for it.

Yes it is great to watch end to end attacking football but there is also a certain amount of entertainment watching another team tactically outsmarting another, there are many facets to football and not just one.

[abigsmurf]

I dont think you could ever say Chelsea played well last week. They did exactly what abigsmurf and myself have been bemoaning all season. They turned up to a team that was quite clearly better footballing technicians and set out to stop them from playing.

I've lost count the number of times we've both complained about teams getting plaudits for that. So lets stop being polite and tell the truth. What Chelsea did last week was poor. Lets hope tomorrow night is something better.

As for tonights game, I missed it. Looks like another United vs Chelsea final.

There's a difference between the way we played against Barcelona and the woeful performances we put in the first half of the season. We were actively playing for that result. Barcelona were on a roll, they have the most intimidating stadium and crowd in Europe (which also helps then when they dive left right and center). Stopping them from scoring was our intent and we did it well, outside of a couple of chances, they didn't look like scoring.

I'm not a huge fan of playing that style but in that atmosphere, if you let in a goal, it's next to impossible to get their spirits up.

Barcelona cannot deal with Drogba (he was aggressively marked last game) at all and he'll be fired up for this game.

We've put up good performances against Barcelona in the past when they've had supposedly the best side in the world, it annoys me we've not gotten credit for this and instead it's a Barcelona love fest (yet when other teams play against them it's "even the neutrals will be cheering on the English side".

[SharkSkin-Man]

they have the most intimidating stadium and crowd in Europe

Not really sure that is true.

[Matt]

Other than for footballing reasons, I hope Chelsea don't go through. 2 English teams in the finals again will upset the Powers That Be. Then the final is at a rather notorious stadium where there are usually instances, anything happens they'll come down hard on English clubs regardless of it being caused by fans or locals. I'm amazed the stadium wasn't changed after the recent troubles. Had that been in England, the final would have been moved. But it's ok, because it's in Italy

[abigsmurf]

I'm not especially happy with another all english final (I'd much rather the final and this tie get swapped) but those are the cards you get dealt. Chelsea do seem to get very similar cards a lot of the time though.

I think this is strike 2 though, a third all English final and they'll reduce the number of places English teams get. It's not good for the competition and European football in general.

[Flabio]

Tough titties, if other countries aren't good enough then so be it.

Our allocation of places for next seasons tournament is different though. Instead of 2 into the groups and 2 into the prelims it's now 3 into the groups and 1 into the prelims.

[C']

I like how abigsmurf is talking as though the fact that we're having a second all-English final is already decided.

Seems to be forgetting his team still have to beat a very good Barcelona side this evening.

Barcelona don't even have to win to go through. A score draw is enough for them.

[ezee ryder]

We've put up good performances against Barcelona in the past when they've had supposedly the best side in the world, it annoys me we've not gotten credit for this and instead it's a Barcelona love fest (yet when other teams play against them it's "even the neutrals will be cheering on the English side".

Am I missing something here?!

Pretty much all footballing pundits gave Chelsea credit for going to the Nou Camp and stopping Barca scoring. Infact even many people on here (unlike some people ) said Chelsea did a great job so I you're just seeing something that is not there.

Saying that though.....C'MON BARCA!

I'm not especially happy with another all english final (I'd much rather the final and this tie get swapped) but those are the cards you get dealt. Chelsea do seem to get very similar cards a lot of the time though.

I think this is strike 2 though, a third all English final and they'll reduce the number of places English teams get. It's not good for the competition and European football in general.

Oh and I don't get all this negativity towards English clubs doing well in the Champions League?! I said it before and I will say it again, did the Italian or Spanish fans complain when their teams were dominating the competition a while back?! I don't think so, it's only the English fans who complain when their top four start dominating the Champions League. "Destroying my love for Champions League football" or "Oh no them again", I just don't get it. It's like people are looking for something to complain about which is ridiculous. It is up to the other sides to up their game to stop the English clubs dominating, not the other way around.

[arcnas]

I just cant see chelsea stopping barcelona scoring , but so will chelsea, but chelsea lack of trying to score last week could come back to haunt them, i would prefer utd to play barca mind you as they are so poor at the back. i would fancy us to beat them and what are the odds of rooney stopping messi on the wing if it is barcelona

[Nu-Eclipse]

what are the odds of rooney stopping messi on the wing if it is barcelona

Considering that Messi danced past Utd players at will last season at Old Trafford in the 2nd leg of a semi-final tie that Utd were pretty fortunate to get through on their way to the trophy, I would imagine that the odds wouldn't be good at all.

[ezee ryder]

Considering that Messi danced past Utd players at will last season at Old Trafford in the 2nd leg of a semi-final tie that Utd were pretty fortunate to get through on their way to the trophy, I would imagine that the odds wouldn't be good at all.

At will?! Nah not really, he had a couple of good runs (remember he twisted Scholes inside out) but he had no end product at all hence Barca didn't score. Infact I don't really remember Barca having many clear cut chances over the two legs, we dealt with them pretty well.

Obviously he is quality player and you can only restrain him so much but I would back our midfield/defense to do that pretty well.