Champions League thread

[Stevo Da Gull]

Ronaldo and Drogba were disgusting over the last 2 days TBH

[Marked Man]

Why was Messi brought off? Barcelona were never the same after he came off.

[gilberto_eire]

In fairness i think someone should get onto Dunphy about Ronaldo now, his bias against him is beyond ridicioules, it wrecks my head listening to him like tonight!. He goes beyond offering his views and always goes on a rant!!.

[micls]

In fairness i think someone should get onto Dunphy about Ronaldo now, his bias against him is beyond ridicioules, it wrecks my head listening to him like tonight!. He goes beyond offering his views and always goes on a rant!!.

Was he wrong?

[Stevo Da Gull]

Messi still not 100% fit

I don't like all the talk about how honest a player Messi is though. As someone who watches plenty of la liga I've seen Messi deliver Oscar worthy performances! He's more honest than Ronaldo but that's not saying a great deal!

[jebus]

In fairness i think someone should get onto Dunphy about Ronaldo now, his bias against him is beyond ridicioules, it wrecks my head listening to him like tonight!. He goes beyond offering his views and always goes on a rant!!.

So you don't think Ronaldo is an utter **** then? First person I've heard of who doesn't to be honest, even United fans normally admit the guy is an absolute clown. Still as long as he scores his two goals a game against the likes of Wigan and Birmingham I suppose we can't call him a complete flop of a 'World Class' footballer :D:D

[gustavo]

Was shocked at the poor level of first touch and passing by Manchester United tonight. The nerves must have got to them

[gilberto_eire]

So you don't think Ronaldo is an utter **** then? First person I've heard of who doesn't to be honest, even United fans normally admit the guy is an absolute clown. Still as long as he scores his two goals a game against the likes of Wigan and Birmingham I suppose we can't call him a complete flop of a 'World Class' footballer :D:D

I don't disagree on him been a muppet and as i watched the game i was actually saying to myself ''his main problem is he moans about everything, spends 30secs every few mins moaning instead of staying tuned into the game''. Did'nt have a great game either, but then again he was left up front by himself and was chasing useless long balls!

What i was saying is Dunphy is a **** and his obsession with putting down Ronaldo has gone to irritating proportions. ''He's a disgrace to football'' but you'll never see Mr.Dunphy laying into the other 1,000 continental players in the same boat as him!.

Like ffs>>> ''...he could score a 1000 goals in the premiership for all i care...'' it could'nt be more plain to see his rants are 100% personal, that's what i was getting at. I remember a game (maybe this year?) Ronaldo scored a free-kick and he said something to the lines off ''Let's see him do that to a better team'' it was a champions league team he did it too aswell, i'm just saying it will always be something with him and he should be told to stop having personal rants on national televison, i like the RTE pundits honesty but his rants just make the viewing a laughing stock IMO!!

BTW i'm not a United fan either!!, just GUFC for me so i'm calling this as a neutral!!

[jebus]

Fair enough, sometimes I do think Dunphy is his own worst enemy in getting his points across. He normally has a decent insight into a game, but goes over the top in trying to grab the headlines, still I find him entertaining, to be honest he reminds me of myself after a few pints :)

[FarBeag]

Liverpool fan eh?



No mate,Dont support any English team. Sorry to disappoint ya.

[dfx-]

For all the "Utd will win both legs", it was a pretty inept performance from Utd. Everything broke down through Deco though.

Barcelona's defence uses possession as their best weapon and as the much fabled Utd attack can only threaten if they keep the ball for long enough and often enough...I can't see that happening and neither can I see Utd being able to defend their 18-yard line as readily as they did tonight.

As a Barcelona follower, I thought Utd's performance as champions elect was no better than Getafe or Espanyol, not a performance from one of the best sides in Europe, unafraid of Barcelona.

[old git]

For all the "Utd will win both legs", it was a pretty inept performance from Utd. Everything broke down through Deco though.

Barcelona's defence uses possession as their best weapon and as the much fabled Utd attack can only threaten if they keep the ball for long enough and often enough...I can't see that happening and neither can I see Utd being able to defend their 18-yard line as readily as they did tonight.

As a Barcelona follower, I thought Utd's performance as champions elect was no better than Getafe or Espanyol, not a performance from one of the best sides in Europe, unafraid of Barcelona.


utd performance was terrible rooney wasted out on wing & ronaldo terrible also . fergie bottled it with team & tactics to negative... no pride or passion shown by to many utd players also , and yet barcelona did not score with all their possession & lovely play van der sar made only a few routine saves most also be a worry to barcelona they seem to be missing a cutting edge up front and look very average at the back also when put under any pressure , still all to play for as i would not class 0-0 as a good result would still fancy barcelona to sneak a goal at old trafford but then again utd should be up for a proper game at old trafford :ball:

[Marked Man]

I think Utd got what they set out for tonight. Very defensive approach for them; hoping to score on the break. They'd fancy themselves for the home leg.

[gufcfan]

Another whopper from RTE...

[jmurphyc]

Another whopper from RTE...

Real Madrid, Barcelona; what's the difference really? :rolleyes:

[Cymro]

Barcelona totally dominated but looked like they wouldn't score in 900 minutes of play never mind 90.

Man Utd will be happy with that considering that they missed a penalty and didn't really threaten otherwise, and I think I'd now make them slight favourites to win the tie. Still hard to call though.

[Marked Man]

The only thing in Barcelona's favor is that you would expect utd to come out and play more at OT. Given that, more openings would probably be available for Barcelona than today, with everyone in the final third of the pitch.

[TonyD]

Just on Dunphys rant against Ronaldo tonight, and his worship of Paul Scholes, who I agree has been and is a terrific player. However, if we're talking about cheating, I distinctly remember Scholes playing for England in the 98 world cup against Romania and TV replays clearly showed him flinging himself to the ground in the penalty area, with not a defender within an arms length of him. A cheat, and a disgrace to the game, eh Eamonn ?

[cartman]

Just on Dunphys rant against Ronaldo tonight, and his worship of Paul Scholes, who I agree has been and is a terrific player. However, if we're talking about cheating, I distinctly remember Scholes playing for England in the 98 world cup against Romania and TV replays clearly showed him flinging himself to the ground in the penalty area, with not a defender within an arms length of him. A cheat, and a disgrace to the game, eh Eamonn ?

as eamo would say thats a 'shambles' of a comment.. scholes dived in 1998?? is that right - you've picked out 1 dive in ten years?? go back to bed...
ronaldo has hit the ground so many times this year i've started to wonder is old trafford full of snipers taking shots at the puny little *****...

[shakermaker1982]

Poor performance but a decent result. I think Fergie has learnt lesson after leaking goals in other CL Semi Finals but I think he went too negative last night. They only pressed and harried once Barca got into their half.

Barcelona had a lot of the ball but didn't do much with it. Next week will be a bit more interesting.....

[OwlsFan]

His defensive duties aside last night, I thought Scholes had a shocker. RTE showed a cameo of his tackling and defending but they could equally have shown a montage of him giving the ball away on numerous occasions and that was one of the reasons Man U never retained possession for very long, which incidentally is normally the stong part of his game (his passing). Giles loves him because he was in a similar mode as a player himself and because Giles loves him, the other buffoon does as well. "I agree with John" "I agree with Eamon" for the past 20 years.

Interesting to see Souness had made it to Barcelona for Sky, having been on RTE the night before. Talking a lot of sense about Ronaldo and how he needs to mature, cut out all the gesticulations and people will appreciate him more - not the usual ott stuff of Mutt and Jeff to court the viewers.

United pretty much got what they came for and defended really well despite only having 35% possession. No credit to Ferdinand from Mutt and Jeff of course, whom they both despise and but for a missed peno United would have won the game. It's a results, not a performance, driven game and the 0-0 tips the balance 60-40 in Man U's favour.

[paudie]

Thought United were very poor. Terrible passing and ball retention. Fergie seemed to send them out with a negetive mindset. Saying that Barca has few enough chances.

Advantage to United but if Barca score first it will be very interesting.

[shakermaker1982]

Scholes has been in a bit of a rut the last few weeks, I've not seen him give the ball away in all my years watching Man Utd as much as I have the past couple of months. I reckon he'd normally have a 95% pass completion rate at worst on his good days. Carrick was as guilty last night, he's really come into his own since Xmas but I thought he had a shocker last night.

[Roadend]

Interesting to see Souness had made it to Barcelona for Sky, having been on RTE the night before.
He always does the Wednesdays on Sky after the Tuesday on RTE.
Post match RTE analysis, or lack thereof, was a joke. Bleating on and on with the same old criticims of Ronaldo. We know Eamon, we heard it all before! I was rather hoping they'd highlight Utd's 90 minute plan of ten men behind the ball. Showed absolutely no ambition last night. You'd have to wonder now next week if Utd. do come out of their shell what Barca could do to them.

[eirebhoy]

Define brilliant for me then?
I think Denis Bergkamp was brilliant, Zola, Hagi, Stoichkov, Van Basten, Zidane, Maradona.
Or currently Messi, Kaka or Ronaldo.
To me brilliance is creative flair and being capable of incredible feats with a football.
Don't remember ever seeing Drogba do anything brilliant.
Very good, sometimes excellent, but never quiet brilliant for me..
Just my opinion..
I would have thought being a top 3 striker in the world made you brilliant.

[Junior]

No, it's him out of Chelsea's first game next season ;)

Fair do's - The ITV commentator said he was out for the final if Chelsea got there, at the time he received the booking. I didnt check it out for myself - silly me!!!

Cheers,

[Junior]

His defensive duties aside last night, I thought Scholes had a shocker. RTE showed a cameo of his tackling and defending but they could equally have shown a montage of him giving the ball away on numerous occasions and that was one of the reasons Man U never retained possession for very long, which incidentally is normally the stong part of his game (his passing).


Very different to Fergies summay of the game (Im not saying who is right by the way) Saw his post match comments where he said words along the line of "Scholes was about our only player who managed to keep posession, which was a concern....."

[OwlsFan]

Very different to Fergies summay of the game (Im not saying who is right by the way) Saw his post match comments where he said words along the line of "Scholes was about our only player who managed to keep posession, which was a concern....."

I didn't watch the game through red tinted glasses like Ferguson :p There are probably stats someplace for each player's passing but I do recall some really poor passes by Scholes which was a surprise because that's usually his strong point.

Interesting that there were so few bookings in both games. I reckon the refs were given orders to keep down the bookings so the teams can field their strongest sides in the finals.

[Morbo]

United pretty much got what they came for and defended really well despite only having 35% possession. No credit to Ferdinand from Mutt and Jeff of course, whom they both despise and but for a missed peno United would have won the game. It's a results, not a performance, driven game and the 0-0 tips the balance 60-40 in Man U's favour.
I'd definitely put a wager on Barc if the bookies were giving me 6/4, 0-0 away sounds like a good result but has proven over the years to be a cursed result, I'm not sure of the stats but I'd be surprised if Utd haven't lost more than they have won when they've drawn the 1st away leg 0-0.
I'd say its a 52-48 Barc advantage, Utd have the advantage of being at home but Barc should be able to play Messi for a full 90 mins and only need a non-scoreless draw

[Pike B]

I would have thought being a top 3 striker in the world made you brilliant.
Nope... Just good as whats there at the time... I tend to judge players on past aswell as present standards.. We're not going to agree over this are we??

[eirebhoy]

We're not going to agree over this are we??
2 replies and you give up. ;) Anyway, yeah you've high standards.

[Pike B]

2 replies and you give up. ;) Anyway, yeah you've high standards.
Not giving up, never..
I've just recognised you are set in your opinion, and I in mine and thought ah feck, this is gonna go on forever..
Actually, ya I gave up!!! :D

[lionelhutz]

So with both games delicately poised for the return legs next week, who do ye think will qualify now? The consensus is that both Chelsea and United are in the driving seat - whilst I'd agree with Chelsea, United are in a very vulnerable position.

I'm sticking to a Liverpool Barcelona final. I believe Liverpool will score at Stamford Bridge considering the chances created at Anfield and John Terry looks half the player he was under Mourinho

[razor]

The ref seemed to move the ball back and Ronaldo never placed it to where he wanted it. It would have been the best thing to do as he looked very nervous and the one thing you don't do when your nervous is try and place a penalty.So it was the refs fault that Codaldo missed the penalty? :confused:

[jmurphyc]

So it was the refs fault that Codaldo missed the penalty? :confused:

So you think it was Ronaldo's fault for missing the penalty?!

[Morbo]

I went with a Barca-Chelsea final before the 1st legs and i'll stick with it.
Chelsea were very lucky but you gotta fancy them to finish pool of at the bridge given pools record there, as fot MU I can see them blowing it again, won't be surprised if Ronaldo goes missing again

[Block G Raptor]

Aurelio out for the Second Leg with a groin strain and Lampard may miss it too following the sad news of his mothers death from pneumonia
(http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=687731.html?cid=rssfeed&att=index)

[Pike B]

Aurelio out for the Second Leg with a groin strain and Lampard may miss it too following the sad news of his mothers death from pneumonia
(http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=687731.html?cid=rssfeed&att=index)
Nuts.
Aurelio is just starting to come good for us too.


Sad about Lampards mother though.
Terrible way to go.

[OwlsFan]

1-2 for Barcelona ??

[Block G Raptor]

Sad about Lampards mother though.
Terrible way to go.

Agreed it is sad, having said that everyone's gotta go sometime so on that note she timed it well from a Liverpool perspective. although the converse could be true and her loss could inspire Lampard and indeed the rest of the team to go on and win "for" her

[lionelhutz]

Aurelio out for the Second Leg with a groin strain and Lampard may miss it too following the sad news of his mothers death from pneumonia
(http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=687731.html?cid=rssfeed&att=index)

I couldn't be happier Aurelio is out. He's a poor defender and his supposed brilliance with set peices never materialised. Can't believe Benitez has persisted with him while he leaves finnan sitting on the bench. Hopefully he'll play Finnan right back against chelsea and switch Arbeloa to left back.

Barcelona to win 2-1 tonight for me - United won't play San Marino style tonight like they did in the Nou Camp and Barcelona will create many more openings

[shakermaker1982]

Fingers crossed for tonight. I wanna see Tevez starting -assuming Rooney plays. I reckon he'll go Scholes, Carrick (needs to deliver after a few poor weeks) and Hargreaves in the MF.

Tomorrow is a tough one to call. You'd make Chelsea slight favourites but you can't count out Liverpool in a knock out competition. Will be interesting to see if Benitez goes for the goal early on or keeps it till tight till the 2nd half.

[boovidge]

i think if united attack tonight they'll win comfortably. If they play the same tactics they have done in the last two games then barca will sneak it 1-0.

[superfrank]

Lampard back in training but after Saturday's performance, I don't want him near the team.

[Block G Raptor]

Fingers crossed for tonight. I wanna see Tevez starting -assuming Rooney plays. I reckon he'll go Scholes, Carrick (needs to deliver after a few poor weeks) and Hargreaves in the MF.

Tomorrow is a tough one to call. You'd make Chelsea slight favourites but you can't count out Liverpool in a knock out competition. Will be interesting to see if Benitez goes for the goal early on or keeps it till tight till the 2nd half.

Liverpool have nothing to lose by going for it from the off. if they get caught on the break they're still in the same position needing to score 1 to stay in it

[shakermaker1982]

Can I ask all the Irish scouse fans why Finnan isn't playing much? He's one of the most reliable full backs in the PL and he only seems to feature in Rafa's B team?

[jmurphyc]

Tonight it a tough one to call. I think I'll stick my neck out and make the bold prediction that Barca will get an away goal. Other than that I really can't say but I give Barca more of a chance than I did at the start of the two legs.

[shakermaker1982]

Liverpool have nothing to lose by going for it from the off. if they get caught on the break they're still in the same position needing to score 1 to stay in it

well that's what I'd expect but this is Benitez :D he probably wouldn't want Chelsea getting their tails up if they did score first . Whereas if you score first you guys are back in the driving seat and can invite the pressure on and look to counter.

[Block G Raptor]

Can I ask all the Irish scouse fans why Finnan isn't playing much? He's one of the most reliable full backs in the PL and he only seems to feature in Rafa's B team?

No Idea, I think the only person who can answer that is Benitez. I disagree with the post above about Aurelio I think he's really settled in at the back recently and has been excellent in the games I've seen, wouldn't say he's necessarily "better" than Finnan at the moment but he is on a good run of form

[razor]

Liam Mackey was asked about tonights game on radio this morning and said he said there'd definitely be goals and could see it going to extra time and penalties.
Imagine someone pays him to write about football.