Champions League thread [Archive] - Page 3

eirebhoy

21/12/2007, 11:08 AM

Milan haven't been able to stop the likes of mighty Empoli, Catania and Torino from taking points off them at home this year, last time I looked they hadn't even won one game at the San Siro yet this year, haven't checked in a couple of weeks but I don't think thats changed. There defence have finally come of old age and the pace of Arsenal will shatter them. Add to that that Arsenal have progressed from a one man attack system, whilst Milan are stuck in their Kaka dominated world and I think I'm safe in saying Arsenal will beat them
Clearly Milan are a different team in Europe.

Also their defence is Oddo, Nesta, Kaladze and Jankulovski. Ages 29-31 and as fit as any defence.

sligo23

22/12/2007, 6:48 PM

Celtic vs Barcelona (w)
Lyon (w) vs Man Utd
Schalke vs Porto (w)
Liverpool (w) vs Inter Milan
Roma vs Real Madrid (w)
Arsenal vs AC Milan (w)
Olympiakos vs Chelsea (w)
Fenerbache vs Seville (w)

Thats the way I see the ties going

superfrank

22/12/2007, 8:21 PM

I'd say:

Barca, Man U, Schalke, Inter, Real, Arsenal, Chelsea, Sevilla.

eirebhoy

22/12/2007, 8:23 PM

I think it'll be all the group winners tbh.

Liverpool
Roma
Lyon

In that order may upset that.

feo123

22/12/2007, 8:27 PM

lyon arn't the side they were, but are still a threat. benzima has to be watched, but vidic and ferdinand should be well able to cope. other than him they have juninho, fred, gouvet. its the worst draw we could have got out of all the posibilities, although i wouldnt have fancied going to fenerbache, but united to go through, at least a draw in lyon, and a one goal win in OT

Closed Account 2

28/12/2007, 12:53 PM

Anyone know of a way to get tickets for Arsenal v Milan ?

superfrank

31/12/2007, 2:50 PM

Pray.

stojkovic

31/12/2007, 6:06 PM

Celtic vs Barcelona
Lyon vs Man Utd
Schalke vs Porto
Liverpool vs Inter Milan
Roma vs Real Madrid
Arsenal vs AC Milan
Olympiakos vs Chelsea
Fenerbache vs Seville

Closed Account 2

11/02/2008, 6:26 PM

Anyone know when tickets for the final in Moscow go on sale ?

Block G Raptor

12/02/2008, 10:54 AM

Anyone know when tickets for the final in Moscow go on sale ?
can't find anything on uefa.com but heres (http://www.worldticketshop.com/tickets/champions_league_final_tickets/7478_champions_league_2008_final) a link to a ticketing site advertising them(Beware I don't know how trustworthy these type of sites are as I've never used them) probably better waiting till Uefa release info

DmanDmythDledge

12/02/2008, 12:46 PM

Celtic vs Barcelona
Lyon vs Man Utd
Schalke vs Porto
Liverpool vs Inter Milan
Roma vs Real Madrid
Arsenalvs AC Milan
Olympiakos vs Chelsea
Fenerbache vs Seville

OwlsFan

18/02/2008, 12:33 PM

Celtic vs Barcelona
Lyon vs Man Utd
Schalke vs Porto
Liverpool vs Inter Milan
Roma vs Real Madrid
Arsenal vs AC Milan
Olympiakos vs Chelsea
Fenerbache vs Seville

bennocelt

19/02/2008, 6:08 PM

Celtic vs Barcelona
Lyon vs Man Utd
Schalke vs Porto
Liverpool vs Inter Milan
Roma vs Real Madrid
Arsenal vs AC Milan
Olympiakos vs Chelsea
Fenerbache vs Seville

OwlsFan

20/02/2008, 9:09 AM

Chelsea game (the bits I saw) was like watching paint dry.

Delighted to see Schalke beat Porto. Have fond memories of them playing Rovers many moons ago in Europe.

Liverpool game: the buffoon predicted an Inter win so I knew a Liverpool win was on the cards. The ref got a lot of stick but no one said what a dumbass Materazzi was, already on a yellow, pulling the player back by the jersey. Every dog in the street knows that if you pull someone back from behind, you usually get a yellow. Innocuous challenges but UEFA has brought in those rules to try and make the games flow and cut out the shirt tugging. Liverpool were on top even before the sending off. The bufoon then attacked Italian football (the same man who had predicted an Inter win) and Bill, well he just laughed. Roma beat Real Madrid.

EAFC_rdfl

20/02/2008, 1:54 PM

had been wrecking my head the last 24 hrs as my sky box is broke and only ave the 8 basic channels so thanks to rte always showing Man U I didnt know how i'd see the celtic match (without goin drinking!)
Thankfully the replacement box is there today, home now get it all rigged up and hopefully enjoy what should be a cracker from a rocking Parkhead! Roll on Barca, I can't wait! A win would be fantastic but just to give them a game will be great! :ball: :D

eirebhoy

20/02/2008, 2:06 PM

I think I'll head to that new place Trivia Bar on Westmoreland st. Apparantly it was packed for the Hearts game. Can only imagine what it'll be like tonight. That's the thing with Celtic being in the SPL. This game is absolutely huge for Celtic fans while a last 16 game is just another game for the fans of Man Utd and Liverpool.

OwlsFan

20/02/2008, 3:35 PM

Big game for McGeady. Hope he can do the business.

kingdom hoop

20/02/2008, 3:52 PM

Yeah lots of hype around him in the build-up. Hope he performs like he has been doing. But even if he does people will still bemoan his supposed lack of consistency.

Are most people going to watch the Celtic match? Tough enough choice between the Arse and it, but McGeady's participation and a raucous Parkhead probably just swinging it Celtic's way I suppose.

jebus

20/02/2008, 3:54 PM

Are the Gunners even on TV?

OwlsFan

20/02/2008, 3:54 PM

EAFC_rdfl

20/02/2008, 3:57 PM

arsenal on SS2, I'll be watching Celtic 100%, am a United fan too but it doesn't begin to compare to a CL game at ParkHead, especially considering United are away, and I think RTE should be showing the Celtic game. This time last year I was enjoying a few pre-match pints in Glasgow before the Milan home leg :cool:

kingdom hoop

20/02/2008, 4:00 PM

I'll channel surf.

That temptation is there alright, but I hate flitting between matches. I'd much prefer to watch one properly than half watch two. My friend had the remote last night and was flicking between the Real and Liverpool games as he had bets on, and we ended up missing Kuyt's goal. :( Just not good enough!

Morbo

20/02/2008, 4:11 PM

Hate the way RTE virtually always shows MU even if there are much better games on, Arse and Celtic games are defo more exciting than MU vs Lyon

Marked Man

20/02/2008, 5:56 PM

I'm puzzled about why Van Nistleroy's goal against Roma was given offside last night. He was in an offside position when the initial shot came in, but wasn't involved in the play or blocking the keeper (so no offence there), the ball rebounded to him from the keeper (so no offence, as the ball wasn't played to him from his teammate) and he stuck it in. So what was the offside decision given for?

NeilMcD

20/02/2008, 6:07 PM

Hate watching games in pubs hopefully Mc Geady does the business tonight and John O Shea comes off the bench and scores a hat-trick.

jebus

20/02/2008, 8:04 PM

Good game this Celtic and Barcelona one, Barca are out of this world at times. What I'd give for a Barca - Arsenal at full strength final too

eirebhoy

21/02/2008, 8:02 AM

Probably the best I've ever seen Barca play. To play such inventive quick passing and still have a pass success rate of about a million percent, unreal. Celtic playing 5 attackers helped and you could have predicted a good game when the teams were announced.

shakermaker1982

21/02/2008, 8:13 AM

I'm off to see Barca Sunday so fingers crossed they carry this form with them into the La Liga game!

OwlsFan

21/02/2008, 9:06 AM

Men against bhoys. One of the most one sided games I have seen in a long time. Kamikazi defending mind you gifted 2 of the goals to Barca but some of the one touch football by Barca was of the highest quality. However, Celtic looked like a pub side and McGeady had to wait 20 minutes almost for his first touch. This from a Celtic acquaintance of mine:

--------------------------------------------------
Bloody awful performance by Celtic tonight. Have to go back a long way to find a showing as poor as that in Europe. Made Barca look much better than they really are, as evidenced by scoring twice with virtually our only two strikes on goal in the whole game.

In reality, it should have been 5 or 6-2 to Barca, not because they were especially brilliant but because we were truly awful. Credit to Barca - they're a fine team, but we made them look even better...

Most of our lads went missing for the 90, with honourable mentions only for Skippy and young Caddis in the first half. Naka, McGeady, Hartley... poor, poor, poor. Robson was totally out of his depth too, despite his goal.

As for our defending, don't get me started... chickens and headless are the only two words to describe it.

Tonight proves, yet again, just how detrimental it is for Celtic to be stuck in a league as poor as the SPL. We will never progress in Europe as long as we have to play in that tiny, shallow pond that is the SPL.

The sooner we get into the EPL, the better.

If Swansea, Cardiff and Wrexham are allowed to join, why can't we?
---------------------------------------------------

eirebhoy

21/02/2008, 9:13 AM

I don't think he's doing Barca any justice there. As I said, Celtic playing 5 attacking players helped Barca but they were absolutely amazing.

I think probably Man Utd and Barca have been the 2 teams to have more possession than Celtic at Celtic park in about 4 years. They completely dominated possession last night though.

/edit - and McGeady? What was wrong with him? :confused:

EAFC_rdfl

21/02/2008, 9:34 AM

Fair play to Barca with all the possession passing etc, but I can't help feeling we were our own worst enemy last night. being overly critical all 3 goals were preventable. for the 1st, Messis one-two with Deco was too easy, Hartley was in the team to protect the back line yet Deco found himself in acres 20 yards out to put Messi in for a great finish in fairness.

the 2nd was put on a plate for henry by Caldwells hopeless pass, why he didn't go long (and it was more than just that time) I don't know, JVOH was doing well in the air.

the 3rd was a bit unlucky but McManus should be getting more on his clearence.

Felt the full backs did ok though Naylor drifted off messi too much, Robson was out of his depth big time, Hartley was surprisingly poor same for Naka, McGeady had a good 1st half but disappeared in the 2nd (due to the 80-20 possession stats). the 2 front men battled well.
ah well, theres always the return leg :)
EB did you think the support wasn't great in the 2nd half? I thought it was very dead which is disappointing

OwlsFan

21/02/2008, 9:36 AM

EB did you think the support wasn't great in the 2nd half? I thought it was very dead which is disappointing

When the opposition have the ball 75% of the time, it's hard for the crowd to have anything to get excited about.

eirebhoy

21/02/2008, 9:41 AM

I thought the crowd were still excellent though. Singing when Barca were dominating.

OwlsFan

21/02/2008, 9:56 AM

I thought the crowd were still excellent though. Singing when Barca were dominating.

I liked the tri-colour behind the goal at the start made by fans holding cards.

EAFC_rdfl

21/02/2008, 10:13 AM

I liked the tri-colour behind the goal at the start made by fans holding cards.
thats done at every home CL game

Maybe I didn't hear/wasnt listening right but thought there was a marked difference in the singing in the 2 halfs. Its when the teams under that sort of pressure that the crowd needs to lift it, more so than when they are in the lead/on top. the more annoying thing though was plenty people heading out with 5mins to go, they were only a goal behind at the end of the day and anything can happen in football.
Suppose its easy for me to say all this watching the game in the comfort of my own sitting room though

cheifo

21/02/2008, 10:52 AM

Major blow for Arsenal-Toure out for 3 weels at least-in both CL and PL.I have gotta feeling it could be Chelsea for the CL.

eirebhoy

21/02/2008, 10:58 AM

My prediction of Milan stopping Arsenal from scoring was good anyway. ;)

Ceirtlis

21/02/2008, 12:24 PM

A stat came up towards the end of the celtic game which said that barcelona had made 500 passes while celtic had made something like 170 with about 80% completion for barca and 60% for celtic. barcelona absolutely murdered celtic in general play. i had a bet on celtic not to lose and i knew after seeing the first half that there was no way it was going to win.

geysir

21/02/2008, 5:29 PM

No matter how superb Barca were last night it was no excuse for a horrendous 2nd half display, the worst I have seen from Celtic at home in the CL. The 2nd half was one long tissue of errors, they were reduced to bumbling embarrassing standards. Even had the sight of Ronaldinho closing down and forcing the ball to be hoofed out.

The effective intelligent defensive work of Messi, Henry and Ronaldinho prevented any Celtic passing game wheres McDonald and JVOH just do a lot of running with no effect on closing down.
How much of the game did Barca play with just 2 defenders holding a high line? Puyol looked like he was holding a RM position for most of the game

Time for Celtic to get a good Italian coach :)

OwlsFan

04/03/2008, 11:41 AM

Celtic vs Barcelona
Lyon vs Man Utd
Schalke vs Porto
Liverpool vs Inter Milan
Roma vs Real Madrid
Arsenal vs AC Milan
Olympiakos vs Chelsea
Fenerbache vs Seville

All the predictions looking good so far but Schalke and Inter (if they score early) could be the turn arounds.

jebus

04/03/2008, 8:36 PM

Great result and performance by Arsenal tonight, completely outplayed Milan in the San Siro with a special mention for Hleb who has ran the match tonight. Could have beaten them by 5 if they had a few better finishers in the team

gustavo

04/03/2008, 9:44 PM

Great goal by Barca , they were woeful on Saturday though , I still wouldnt rule them out like a certain E. Dunphy

Barcelona won't be winning no Champions League this season Bill , you can lay them on your life

NeilMcD

04/03/2008, 9:48 PM

I think their defence is dodgy but yeah I would not rule them out. I think every team has a weakness in this and I think Chelsea are probably the best bet but maybe their weakness is their manager who may lack it on the big occassion

DmanDmythDledge

04/03/2008, 10:26 PM

I agree fully with what Dunphy said!;)

I think their defence is dodgy but yeah I would not rule them out. I think every team has a weakness in this and I think Chelsea are probably the best bet but maybe their weakness is their manager who may lack it on the big occassion
I don't think their defence is dodgy at all. They've only conceded 21 goals in 26 games in the league playing an attacking style of football. I'd be very surprised if Barca don't win it- maybe Arsenal or Man Utd could sneak it but I think Barca's attacking threat will be too good.

NeilMcD

04/03/2008, 10:38 PM

ramsfan

04/03/2008, 10:45 PM

great result for arsenal tonight, what is the story with the next round is it an open draw?

DmanDmythDledge

04/03/2008, 10:49 PM

Well Celtic scored two goals with two attacks at Parkhead and I know the stats this season don't back it up but I think in the Champions League I don't think their defence will be good enough if they get someone like Chelsea, but I think they would beat Man Utd as their midfield would rule the football.

I think Arsenals weakness is their defence,

Man Utds, is their central midfield

Chelsea's is their manager.
Barca have conceded 5 goals in 8 games, 1 at home 4 away (2 against Lyon and Celtic).

I think it would be interesting to see how the English teams would cope with Barca's wingers. Most of them wouldn't be used to players cutting inside and opening up the game as most wingers in the Premiership just head for the corner.