Chelsea v Barcelona

[renovater]

Anyone see the Chelsea match in the Champo League to night What do think of the sending off
Was the referee harsh in his decission:mad:

Did it in the end give the upper hand to barrca and will Chelsea find the two goals in the away leg

:) Most of all what do you think of Jossie did ya se him shake hands with Frank good jester on his part
What did Josie say to Frank during the second half when he went to his dug out ?:cool:

[declan hide]

sending off harsh? no! first off del horno tried to cut messi down (ray h missed this, thankfully giles and brady didnt), messi played on, then robben tried his lunge at messi, messi side stepped him with ease and del horno clattered messi - all within the same passage of play! it was probaby del hornos 5th foul on messi at that stage.

delighted it happened almost in the spot robben got reina sent off.

what about terry on messi inside the box? ran thru him. surefire peno.

thought larsson looked very lively for barca when he came on and ronaldhinho was outstanding last 15.

what about fat frankies form? hes gone to the dogs.

[onenilgameover]

What did Mourinho say about the match should be replayed? I missed Bill O'H comments.... the girlfriend interrupted my football viewing...Great football from Barca....so so glad to see Chelski lose...

[Bosco]

Anyone hear houghtons comment after del horno senidng off,something like "The refs from norway,i dont think refs from small footballing nations should be in charge of such a big game"....he then went on to complain about the stanard of the norwegian league...utterly stupid is all i can say.I wouldnt call ireland(never mind scotland) a huge footballing nation,thank god duff didnt come on,i dont think a player from such a small footballing nation could handle it........:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :mad:

[Risteard]

Watched the match.
Came to life very well in the end.
I believe it was much closer to a booking myself but Chelsea have had that coming for the following reasons.
1. If anything was to come of Mourinhos warning to the referee of diving this should have been it, the cheeky fecker.

2. At least Messi had a half-excuse to roll around on the floor unlike Del Horno who

3.should have been booked earlier anyway. Could see something happening soon as he was being humiliated by Messi.

4 1/2.Add in one possibly two penalties not given to Barca and the (unproven) suspicion that

5. they tried to sabotage the match with a terrible pitch (Imagine how much Rico and Fenlon would moan if the Carlisle Grounds or St.Colmans looked like that pitch).

And you see that the decision just about levelled things out at worst.

Reckon Terrys foul was a concrete penalty. + a 50/50 handball decision aswell earlier.

Thank God for RTE. We don't know how lucky we are that we can turn off from that Sky ****e. From the red-card they based the entire broadcast around claims that it wasn't even a foul and that the referee was giving everything to Barca.
Couldn't believe my ears when they never changed the tune.

Messi hitting the bar---"How harsh would it have been if that went in?"

Chelsea player handling the ball in the area--
"It was going over anyway"

Robben on a run to nothing---
"That run deserved a free-kick"

And then they pretty much came close to backing Chelsea to win it in the Nou Camp.

I wouldn't put my house on it.

[Emmet]

Watched the match.
Came to life very well in the end.
I believe it was much closer to a booking myself but Chelsea have had that coming for the following reasons.
1. If anything was to come of Mourinhos warning to the referee of diving this should have been it, the cheeky fecker.

2. At least Messi had a half-excuse to roll around on the floor unlike Del Horno who

3.should have been booked earlier anyway. Could see something happening soon as he was being humiliated by Messi.

4 1/2.Add in one possibly two penalties not given to Barca and the (unproven) suspicion that

5. they tried to sabotage the match with a terrible pitch (Imagine how much Rico and Fenlon would moan if the Carlisle Grounds or St.Colmans looked like that pitch).

And you see that the decision just about levelled things out at worst.

Reckon Terrys foul was a concrete penalty. + a 50/50 handball decision aswell earlier.

Thank God for RTE. We don't know how lucky we are that we can turn off from that Sky ****e. From the red-card they based the entire broadcast around claims that it wasn't even a foul and that the referee was giving everything to Barca.
Couldn't believe my ears when they never changed the tune.

Messi hitting the bar---"How harsh would it have been if that went in?"

Chelsea player handling the ball in the area--
"It was going over anyway"

Robben on a run to nothing---
"That run deserved a free-kick"

And then they pretty much came close to backing Chelsea to win it in the Nou Camp.

I wouldn't put my house on it.

Thank Christ it wasn't just me ... what were those guys on Sky watching ??? Some of Barca's football was breathtaking - Messi showed why he is regarded by some as being the new Maradona; Ronaldinho was quiet until the last 20 minutes when he started to find a lot more space and control play. Chelsea were lucky they only lost 2-1 because they really could have been hammered on another night.

[Risteard]

Messi hitting the bar---"How harsh would it have been if that went in?"
Was genuinely more shocking than amusing to hear, given Barca had well over 60% of possession and Chelsea barely left their half.
Not fecking harsh at all like.

That sort of thing would turn ya into a conspiracy theorist.
I felt it went beyond mere bias / unbalanced / nationalist coverage of the match.
Don't know what i'm suggesting really but it was very strange in my book.

[onenilgameover]

What did Mourinho say about the match should be replayed? I missed Bill O'H comments.... the girlfriend interrupted my football viewing...Great football from Barca....so so glad to see Chelski lose...

Bill was talking bout messi play attackin and how sky sports should replay that and not the game...sorry mis-heard

Story by sporting life...
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/live/quotes/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/06/02/22/SOCCER_Chelsea_Quotes.html

[Dodge]

I switched over from the sky coverage. thought it was shockingly biased. no mention of 2 definite penalties for Barca or del Horno's rolling around, of his previous efforts on Messi. Best team won, great game. Looking forward to two weeks time

[HarpoJoyce]

Didier Drogba and Samuel Et'o were pretty close in the final voting for
African Player of the Year 2005
http://www.cafonline.com/news.php?id=415
African Player of the Year
Drogba Didier ( Cote d’Ivoire)- Chelsea (106 points)
Essien Michael (Ghana) -Chelsea (50 points)
Eto’O Samuel (Cameroon)- Barcelona (108 points)


But at the moment the African hacks look to have made the right choice
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/FixturesResults/Round=2202/Match=1102843/index.html
"Eto'o winner
When the midfielder was next involved, in the 59th minute, it had drastic consequences for his team as he flicked in Lampard's free-kick after colliding with his goalkeeper. Substitute Henrik Larsson and Chelsea's Drogba both went close before Terry got a crucial touch to Ronaldinho's free-kick to send the ball high beyond Čech. The Chelsea custodian could do little about the deciding goal either, as Eto'o climbed above Ferreira to head in Rafael Márquez's cross at the far post and seal a huge win for the Spanish champions."
©uefa.com 1998-2006. All rights reserved.

[cheifo]

In fairness toBBC 5live they all agreed definate sending off and Barca played great football.

[finlma]

Murinho's double standards are priceless. All he's going on about after the game is Messi's play acting. I never heard him condemn Robben's play-acting a few weeks ago. :rolleyes:

Barce are the best team in Europe by a mile - delighted to see them win. I hope they go on to win the competition. Its been a long time since the best team in Europe won the Champions League.

[stickyjoe]

Great second half to watch, missed most of the first half. Some of Barcas football was fantastic to watch, while there is little doubt that they have a shaky defence they are super going forward.

Not convinced at all by Valdes....Given would slot nicely in there :)

As for Mourinho, he sounded like he was suffering from "Premiership Manager" syndrome, complaining about messi diving :rolleyes: Del Horno rolled around as much as he did, not to mention Robben a couple of weeks ago against Liverpool and this is before I even mention his Porto team which despite playing fantastic football was one of the most cynical teams I`ve ever seen in football in terms of diving in their CL winning campaign and the UEFA cup final against Celtic.....what goes around comes around Jose ;)

[beautifulrock]

Barca are great going forward but their defending leaves a lot to be desired at times, almost certain they will win through to the next round so interesting to see the match up for the quarters. Personally dont feel Barca will win it.

Chelsea when,as already mentioned, Lampard is out of form struggle for innovation in the midfield.

[Stuttgart88]

Had to work late so caught from 25mins-45 mins on the radio. R5Live were in no doubt whatsoever about the justice of the sending off. I only actually saw it after the game and initially I thought it was harsh, just a block, but second view showed no attempt to play the ball, he just went straight over it with his foot higher than Messi's knee. It wouldn't have been a red card in P'ship probably but to say it was a blatantly wrong decision is a totally biased view (in my own biased view :)).

Saw second half on SKY. Andy Gray made me squirm. What a totally prejudiced / biased pile of nonsense. Saying Messi's shot would have been an injustice. Why? Gray's commentary reminded me of a similar pile of nonsense durring Liverpool's 3-1 win over Olympiakos last year when he totally ignored 2straight red card offences by Gerrard (one a 2 footed Arsenal vs Bolton style lunge and the other a pre-meditated kick on the shins of an opponent right under the ref's nose. Only Gerrard's reputation & the home crowd kept him on the pitch. He then scored a beauty from 25 yards & Gray heralded the performance as that of a fantastic leader. If the ref had any balls I'd like to hear what Gray swould have had to say).

Barca & Ronaldinho in particular were superb for last 20 mins or so. Could have been 4 or 5. Yet again, Chelsea showed the value of their set-piece ability. You don't need 11 men to be dangerous from corners & frees, and if Crespo had had Drogba's chance it would have been 2-1 Chelsea.

[OwlsFan]

Thank God for RTE. We don't know how lucky we are that we can turn off from that Sky ****e. From the red-card they based the entire broadcast around claims that it wasn't even a foul and that the referee was giving everything to Barca. Couldn't believe my ears when they never changed the tune.

"Thank God for RTE :rolleyes: " And you don't think the RTE panelists weren't biased either ? "I agree with Eamon" - "I agree with John" stuff all over again. All three panelists have had it in for Chelsea all season and never miss an opportunity to knock them. We even had Brady, whom I admire, belittling Chelsea's great 4-2 win over Barca last season. All 3 RTE panelists said it was a sending off. All 3 on SKY said it wasn't - the truth is somewhere in between. Borderline decision which could go either way. No matter how Chelsea play Messrs Giles, Dumpy and Brady have it in for them. Barca were the better team on the night but the fact was it was still 0-0 when there was the sending off. Then Dumpy, who tipped Chelsea to win by the way, said the result showed "the bogus of the Premiership". Correct Dumpy. Liverpool current CL winners (from the Premiership). Arsenal who lost in cup competitions to Bolton to Wigan and beat Real Madrid on their own patch. Chelsea beat Barca well last year. Thank God for RTE.

And of course there was a nice tribute to Brady reflecting his 50th birthday and Laughing Bill had to bring up Charlton's substitution of him in the game against Germany and how that was "a disgrace". He, Dumpy and Giles have had the knive out for Jack for 16 years now and still pedal the poison. Thank God for RTE.

Stuttgart, Andy Gray gets more annoying by the day - I cannot bear him and his constant attacks on refereeing decisions.

[NeilMcD]

Have to agree with all of the posts above. I thought Houghtons and Hamiltons commentary was shocking. Did not watch Sky as I feel Andy Gray is a different commentator in Europe and he becomes so biased its unreal. The RTE Panel were great in my view but they do have an agenda against Chelsea and Mourinhio but they were dead right last night.

Giles was full of praise for Barca and right too. Its interesting to see how Chelsea would have reacted to going 1-0 down against ten men, It would have been long balls to Drogba whereas Barca continued to play football and pick Chelsea off and make the ten men work. Messi was great as was Larsson when he came on.

I am delighted that Barca won last night as football was the winner and I think every neutral would like Barca to win the European Cup.

[NeilMcD]

"Thank God for RTE :rolleyes: " And you don't think the RTE panelists weren't biased either ? "I agree with Eamon" - "I agree with John" stuff all over again. All three panelists have had it in for Chelsea all season and never miss an opportunity to knock them. We even had Brady, whom I admire, belittling Chelsea's great 4-2 win over Barca last season. All 3 RTE panelists said it was a sending off. All 3 on SKY said it wasn't - the truth is somewhere in between. Borderline decision which could go either way. No matter how Chelsea play Messrs Giles, Dumpy and Brady have it in for them. Barca were the better team on the night but the fact was it was still 0-0 when there was the sending off. Then Dumpy, who tipped Chelsea to win by the way, said the result showed "the bogus of the Premiership". Correct Dumpy. Liverpool current CL winners (from the Premiership). Arsenal who lost in cup competitions to Bolton to Wigan and beat Real Madrid on their own patch. Chelsea beat Barca well last year. Thank God for RTE.

And of course there was a nice tribute to Brady reflecting his 50th birthday and Laughing Bill had to bring up Charlton's substitution of him in the game against Germany and how that was "a disgrace". He, Dumpy and Giles have had the knive out for Jack for 16 years now and still pedal the poison. Thank God for RTE.

Stuttgart, Andy Gray gets more annoying by the day - I cannot bear him and his constant attacks on refereeing decisions.


Just to say you are biased against the RTE Panel though. Look the truth we are all biased in some way.

[Clifford]

To be a bit Devils advocate, has no one found it "strange" that in both first legs v Barca, Chels were reduced to ten before half time, despite having a really good disciplinary record?? Has there been a fix and uefa want the "Beautiful" team to go through, despite the fact that they could only barely beat a team with ten despite being "amazing" last night?.

Never a red card, not in a million years. But, got to agree that what goes around comes around. Couldn't happen a nicer Pr***.

[OwlsFan]

Biased against Dumpy. I like Brady. Giles can be good but find it hard to forgive him for the attacks on Charlton during his era. Laughing Bill is a clown who knows nothing about football.

[Roadend]

Never a red card, not in a million years. But, got to agree that what goes around comes around. Couldn't happen a nicer Pr***.

Debatable, the intention was there, it was not a clumsy tackle as sly sports alluded to. He went to do Messi and rightfully got sent off. Anyway to blow you theory out of the water, Barca had 2 stonewall penalties not given. Explain that.

[NeilMcD]

To be a bit Devils advocate, has no one found it "strange" that in both first legs v Barca, Chels were reduced to ten before half time, despite having a really good disciplinary record?? Has there been a fix and uefa want the "Beautiful" team to go through, despite the fact that they could only barely beat a team with ten despite being "amazing" last night?.

Never a red card, not in a million years. But, got to agree that what goes around comes around. Couldn't happen a nicer Pr***.

Or strange that Chelsea have purposely let their pitch go to ****e for this game.

Also the Uefa fix does not stand up as Liverpool and Porto and Greece have all won the last 3 Champions League and European Championships and watching them is like watching paint dry.

Fact is that Drogba was rightly sent off and so was Del Horno, he kicked Messi then robben just missed Mess and then Del Horno clattered mess with a high tackle. Both Messi and Del Horno over acted but at least Messi was the one that was fouled.

Football was the winner last night.

[marktis]

Thank Christ it wasn't just me ... what were those guys on Sky watching ??? Some of Barca's football was breathtaking - Messi showed why he is regarded by some as being the new Maradona; Ronaldinho was quiet until the last 20 minutes when he started to find a lot more space and control play. Chelsea were lucky they only lost 2-1 because they really could have been hammered on another night.

Here here - I could not believe what I was hearing on Sky Sports. Andy Gray is a real xenophob when it comes to european matches. Some of the things he was coming out with was just shocking.

IMO what got Del Horno sent off was:
1. He raised his foot when he clattered into Messi when if he just ran into him he probably would have been booked.
2. He did as much rolling around as Messi
3. He had already tried to take Messi out of the game several times and the ref had warned him.

Was absolutely delighted to see Barca win the match and to see Larsoon play his part.

[stickyjoe]

Also the Uefa fix does not stand up as Liverpool and Porto and Greece have all won the last 3 Champions League and European Championships and watching them is like watching paint dry.

.

I wouldnt put that porto team into the same category as greece, some of their football in their winning UEFA and CL campaign was great to watch.

Another strange thing about last nights game was the fact that it was a Norwegian referee reffing the game. Lets be honest how many games in Norway are going to produce anyhting like the atmosphere/pressure/football that last nights produced. Surely its better to have experienced referees who are experiencing these type of games on a regular basis.

There was similar problems in the last world cup when refs from some very small footballing nations were getting the big WC games, I think there was a Costa Rica team of officials that messed up the S Korea/Italy game with some desperate decisions

[Clifford]

Debatable, the intention was there, it was not a clumsy tackle as sly sports alluded to. He went to do Messi and rightfully got sent off. Anyway to blow you theory out of the water, Barca had 2 stonewall penalties not given. Explain that.


Totally fair response, not looking to be blown away at all, just putting it out there for debate. I still find it interesting if that's ok with you (i.e. after sending a guy off so early the pens are not necessary as the job has been done sufficiently)

[marktis]

Another strange thing about last nights game was the fact that it was a Norwegian referee reffing the game. Lets be honest how many games in Norway are going to produce anyhting like the atmosphere/pressure/football that last nights produced. Surely its better to have experienced referees who are experiencing these type of games on a regular basis.

Anders Frisk was the referee for last seasons encounter between the two teams and he was forced into retirement because of death threats from chelsea fans. Mr Frisk was one of the best and most experienced european referees.

I just hope that Chelsea and in large part the english media blame the referee resulting in threats from so called football fans against him and his family.

[Clifford]

Also the Uefa fix does not stand up as Liverpool and Porto and Greece have all won the last 3 Champions League and European Championships and watching them is like watching paint dry.


Football was the winner last night.

Like watching paint dry which is why they are trying so hard to have the "Beautiful winner"!!

I totally agree about the result, I hate everything the new Chels stand for.

[pete]

Sky Sports are British so its obvious they will be biased towards their own clubs. Says a lot though that people turned off Sky for George Hamilton.

Must say sending off was unlucky but as mentioned Del Horno had got away with a few yellow cards already.

Brilliant 2nd half. Barca played great football & at the end had Eto, Larsson, Ronaldinho, Messi & Deco on the pitch togethe which is some attacking options. Must say i've never heard of Messi before but he was outstanding. The styles of play from both teams even before the sending really showed up the standards between England & Spain.

3 english teams in the Champions League this week & i think only 6 english players started or came off the bench.

[NeilMcD]

From the Irish Times I think a fair piece.

Chelsea on verge of exit



Uefa Champions League round of 16 first leg: Chelsea 1 - Barcelona 2

Chelsea are on the verge of extinction in the competition, having not only been beaten but also conceding two away goals, with Samuel Eto'o winning the game by heading home Rafael Marquez's cross in the 79th minute, writes Kevin McCarra at Stamford Bridge

It was a result Barcelona fully deserved and they could easily have netted a few more only for the heroics of John Terry, who was lucky not to concede a late penalty after a rugby-like tackle on Lionel Messi.

However, the greatest damage of all had been done by Asier del Horno, who was sent off for a crass challenge on Messi in the first half. A bold Chelsea went on to take the lead through a Thiago Motta own goal before Terry inadvertently sent the ball into his own net, but it was the sins of a Spanish left-back that changed the match and, probably, his club's season.

The first-half had smacked of patience more than vengeance before the red card for Del Horno. Barcelona were smart enough to resort to using Edmilson and Motta, two tall holding players, to establish a secure base in midfield. A year ago at Stamford Bridge there had been a 3-0 lead for Chelsea by the 18th minute, but that was a return leg while this was merely the initial set of negotiations over the future of the tie.

There was some hard bargaining. Hernan Crespo, writhing on the ground after a tackle from behind that earned Barcelona's captain Carles Puyol a booking after 20 minutes, confirmed it. For all that, the game was hotly contested rather than brutal and the La Liga leaders had not actually abandoned their principles.

There had far too much purity of intention for Chelsea's liking in the 19th minute. A spate of passes between Deco, Messi and Eto'o set up Ronaldinho and it took sheer weight of numbers to repel him on the edge of the six-yard box. The Brazilian was also to draw a fine save from Petr Cech following an Oleguer cut-back after half-an-hour.

At this point Chelsea, who must have anticipated their opponents hogging possession, may have believed patience and organisation on their part would still be rewarded. There had been hints of laxness from Barcelona, as when they stood off so that Frank Lampard could take a free-kick near the halfway line, gather a return ball from Joe Cole and try a shot.

All assumptions were altered, of course, by the dismissal of Del Horno. The Spaniard, who has not made a noteworthy contribution in his first season at Chelsea, at last hit the deadlines. Those who wondered how he would deal with the mercurial Messi received the unpleasant answer in the 36th minute. The 19-year-old skipped away from Arjen Robben near the corner flag and Del Horno, who had already been guilty of one poor challenge in the match, dealt with the situation by jumping into the Argentinian and knocking him to the ground.

Chelsea may have been expected a caution, but it was assuredly a piece of violent conduct and the Norwegian referee Terje Hauge was within his rights to expel the left-back. The decision provoked memories of Didier Drogba's red card when these sides met at Camp Nou last season, but the rashness of Del Horno's actions cannot be disputed.

Jose Mourinho reacted by bringing on Geremi for Joe Cole so that his remaining players had more conservative characteristics, and that policy also saw the tough Didier Drogba introduced for Crespo after the interval. Barcelona might still have been ahead in first-half stoppage time. Cech turned a Deco drive behind and Marquez's shot following the corner was blocked by the arm of Geremi as he turned his back, but Hauge discerned no intent in the parry.

Chelsea had much to consider at the interval. With William Gallas out injured, even the assured Mourinho could have been doubting his decision to send the England left-back Wayne Bridge on loan to Fulham last month. The moderate Del Horno, for as long as he lasted, was the sole specialist who remained yesterday.

Mourinho's immediate reflections were about reorganisation. With Geremi now on at right-back and Paulo Ferreira switched to the other flank, Mourinho utilised a 4-3-2 with his diminished manpower. Barcelona must have seen a chance to win the tie here and Chelsea sought to discourage them by retaining some threat.

Robben had even shot wide from an angle before, extraordinarily, Chelsea went ahead in the 59th minute. Lampard swept in a free-kick from the left that was diverted past the goalkeeper Victor Valdes by the knee of Motta.

An equaliser, however, was conceded through another own-goal in the 71st minute when Marquez got in front of Terry as Ronaldinho whipped in a free-kick that brushed the head of the Chelsea captain to beat Cech. After 74 minutes, Terry then had to clear from the line to stop the Barcelona substitute Henrik Larsson from scoring and later performed the same feat to thwart Ronaldinho. But in the end it was total football that decided this pulsating tie.

[Hulsey]

Thought the sending off was harsh, a booking would have sufficed imo, Geremi hand ball was not a peno as he was to close and it wasn't hand to ball, Terry's mad lunge on top of Messi was a peno, and if not the hand ball straight after he landed on him should have been:rolleyes: . Best team won on the night and it now means Chelsea must attack in the Second leg which should lead to a great game cos Barca are fcuked if they try and defend. Can't wait:cool: !

[Roo69]

I thought Barca fully deserved there win, actually Chelsea were quite lucky that it was'nt a bigger winning margin. How the ref did'nt give a peno for Terry's fould on Messi in the 2nd half is just beyond me ! he absolutey cut through the back of him and then virtually caught the ball.......... shocking stuff

[Dodge]

And then had a go at Messi :D

[razor]

Another strange thing about last nights game was the fact that it was a Norwegian referee reffing the game. Lets be honest how many games in Norway are going to produce anyhting like the atmosphere/pressure/football that last nights produced. Surely its better to have experienced referees who are experiencing these type of games on a regular basis. Is that you Ray?
Terje Hauge has reffed over 50 European games and over 20 Internationals as well as in the 2002 World Cup and in Euro2004. I'd say thats more than enough experience for last nights game. Not that Ray would know.

Justice done on Del Horno, the ball yards away he cynically took Messi out of it and then feigned injury himself so as to possibly reduce his chances of dismissal. Even saw him having a sneaky look to see where the ref was while writhing. Get Off !!
Great game and Barca were worthy winners, Terry was immense but so was Messi. Baby Ron was quiet til the last 15/20. Deliberately watched on RTE last night, would have put 5Live commentary on if I could cos Houghton sir is an idiot. quite shocked to hear of Sky Sports carry on. :eek:

[NeilMcD]

Thought the sending off was harsh, a booking would have sufficed imo, Geremi hand ball was not a peno as he was to close and it wasn't hand to ball, Terry's mad lunge on top of Messi was a peno, and if not the hand ball straight after he landed on him should have been:rolleyes: . Best team won on the night and it now means Chelsea must attack in the Second leg which should lead to a great game cos Barca are fcuked if they try and defend. Can't wait:cool: !


There is no such rule as hand to ball.

[Hulsey]

Is that you Ray?
Even saw him having a sneaky look to see where the ref was while writhing. Get Off !!

Messi did the exact same though, he had a sneaky look before writhing to try and make sure that Del Horno did get the red card. I honestly believe that it's because it's Chelsea is the main reason for the outcry towards the tackle. It was poorly timed but was defo not a red.

[NeilMcD]

Yeah Houghton is going further down in my estimations. It just goes to show you should never meet your heroes and you should not have to put up with them being pundits either.

[Dodge]

I honestly believe that it's because it's Chelsea is the main reason for the outcry towards the tackle. It was poorly timed but was defo not a red.

There's no real outcry about the tackle, it was a standard yellow/red card tackle. The outcry is at the British media and their total bias in reporting the issue (excpet BBC 5 live apparently) It may have been a harsh red (I think he should have gone) but its not the worst decision ever. Sky made out that it was and that the ref was totally biased which is patently untrue. For Mourinho to then criticise MEssi for over reacting whikle failing to mentio Del Horno to od the same (leaving aside Robben of 2 weeks ago) just further adds to the hypocrisy

[NeilMcD]

Messi did the exact same though, he had a sneaky look before writhing to try and make sure that Del Horno did get the red card. I honestly believe that it's because it's Chelsea is the main reason for the outcry towards the tackle. It was poorly timed but was defo not a red.


But Messi was the guy who was fouled not Del Horno. Why did Del Horno go down he was the guy fouling Messi not the other way round. It was a reckless tackle and he took messi out of the game, he already had a terrible tackle in on Messi and he was trying to kick him out of the game. I am glad those tactics did not work and the footballing team one despite the failed attempts by Chelsea to make the game the battle of the Somme. The pitch was a disgrace and I would not be suprised if you see a new pitch layed this week or the next once Barcelona are out of town.

[razor]

Messi did the exact same though, he had a sneaky look before writhing to try and make sure that Del Horno did get the red card.And that was also wrong but I think the tackle itself was worthy of a red card. It was pre meditated with no attempt to play the ball and the reason Messi wasn't badly hurt was because he saw it coming and did his best to avoid it. Del Horno was obviously peeved with Messi for having made him look like a l@nger and probably would have went sooner or later anyway.

[Clifford]

And that was also wrong but I think the tackle itself was worthy of a red card. It was pre meditated with no attempt to play the ball and the reason Messi wasn't badly hurt was because he saw it coming and did his best to avoid it. Del Horno was obviously peeved with Messi for having made him look like a l@nger and probably would have went sooner or later anyway.

Pre-meditated? Stop it now.

It was clumsy at best and as tv3 showed later on, both players bottled an impending tackle by jumping into the like girls (or gaa players in Oz), both players rolled around like girls. Both players should have been booked and sent on their merry way - end of. There will be 20 or more tackles of the same ilk this weekend and 10 might recieve yellow's the rest will be unpunished.

[magic moments]

It's more than likely we( chelsea) are going out now but if it can stay eleven versus eleven who knows?

Remember they can only beat us with ten men!!:(

[razor]

Pre-meditated? Stop it now.

It was clumsy at best and as tv3 showed later on, both players bottled an impending tackle by jumping into the like girls (or gaa players in Oz), both players rolled around like girls. Both players should have been booked and sent on their merry way - end of. Call me cynical but Del Horno could have made contact with the ball decided instead to go right through Messi something he had failed to do 10 seconds previous. Book Messi for what ?

see here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge1r_Pqj0Aw)

[magic moments]

Silly challenge by del horno but to me a yellow card was what it was worth.

[Hulsey]

There's no real outcry about the tackle, it was a standard yellow/red card tackle. The outcry is at the British media and their total bias in reporting the issue (excpet BBC 5 live apparently) It may have been a harsh red (I think he should have gone) but its not the worst decision ever. Sky made out that it was and that the ref was totally biased which is patently untrue. For Mourinho to then criticise MEssi for over reacting whikle failing to mentio Del Horno to od the same (leaving aside Robben of 2 weeks ago) just further adds to the hypocrisy
Outcry may have been to strong a word:o , but you get what I mean though. Sky did make prats of themselves though.

[Hulsey]

But Messi was the guy who was fouled not Del Horno. Why did Del Horno go down he was the guy fouling Messi not the other way round. It was a reckless tackle and he took messi out of the game, he already had a terrible tackle in on Messi and he was trying to kick him out of the game. I am glad those tactics did not work and the footballing team one despite the failed attempts by Chelsea to make the game the battle of the Somme. The pitch was a disgrace and I would not be suprised if you see a new pitch layed this week or the next once Barcelona are out of town.
Sure he was the guy fouled, but either way there is no need for play acting. Ungentlemanly conduct such as diving is a punishable offence so why not play acting too? Know it might be a bit difficult to tell sometimes, but it defo wasn't last night.

[Clifford]

Call me cynical but Del Horno could have made contact with the ball decided instead to go right through Messi something he had failed to do 10 seconds previous. Book Messi for what ?

see here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge1r_Pqj0Aw)

I saw it enough last night, Cynical, to know it was miscued plain and simple. In other words I think Del Horny is too fairy soft to commit something malicious as your making it out to be.

Have a look at Messi look at the ref first, then he goes over like a swiss roll. Robben should have been booked for it recently as should Messi or anyone else who does it. It's the worst thing in the game right now.

[Hulsey]

I saw it enough last night, Cynical, to know it was miscued plain and simple. In other words I think Del Horny is too fairy soft to commit something malicious as your making it out to be.

Have a look at Messi look at the ref first, then he goes over like a swiss roll. Robben should have been booked for it recently as should Messi or anyone else who does it. It's the worst thing in the game right now.
Exactly!!!!!!!

[Risteard]

Well seen as we're debating this match, Messi and Del Horno both deserve blame for their theatrics.
Think everyone is agreed on that, but it doesn't mean we subscribe to Skys notion of the vendetta against Chelsea seen as they got away with two very strong penalty claims which have received no great hullabaloo.
IT was definately a foul of some sort.
In my opinion, it was between yellow and red, closer to a booking.

[lofty9]

I honestly thought the chelsea left back went for the ball and took his eyes off it when Messi jumped up. Thought it was a harsh red. But you can't blame a ref for giving these decisions without the evidence of a replay.

On Ray Houghton, that guy's ego is massive. Lost total respect for him when I heard him on Talk Sport (another Sky Sports load of spoof) one night when a caller cut an argument of his to pieces for Houghton to reply

"how would you know mate, sure you never even played the game, I've seen, I've done it, your talking rubbish, you need to have played the game to comment on it"

[razor]

I saw it enough last night, Cynical, to know it was miscued plain and simple. In other words I think Del Horny is too fairy soft to commit something malicious as your making it out to be. Maybe he was trying to do a man & ball tackle and missed the ball ? I think the way the game has gone in recent times, one can only be cynical.
So thats a yellow for Del Horno for the "tackle" , and one each for him & Messi for play acting.
So all we were short was a yellow for Messi then ?