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Messi's hat-trick last night was incredible. It's hard to believe that he could manage to surpass what he did against Valencia the week before but it was probably even better, although the opposition were far worse I suppose. Argentina look in good shape for the World Cup with Messi, Higuain and Tevez all in top form. They've given up on comparing Messi to Ronaldo now, it's all Maradona at this stage.
The man is a magician. Gets better and better every week. Argentina would have a great shot at the world cup imo if they didn't have that clown as their manager, he's liable to do anything. Messi for top scorer is 20/1 I think. Him and Higuain up front together will be lethal.
The bits I saw of the man city game showed Tevez ripping Fulham apart pretty much single handedly. Maradonna is the only thing standing between this team and a World Cup IMO.Quote:
Originally Posted by De Town
This Barca team is as good a team as there ever has been, I reckon.
Not something you'd ever expect to hear!Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevo Da Gull
I would agree if they had some really top class defenders, well of the teams I've had the privilege of seeing. I'm not saying that they have a poor defence but there is a significant gulf in class between their top players and their lesser players. The AC Milan team over the late 80's early 90's were much more balanced in that regard so I'd give them the nod. The Juventus team of the mid 90's and Real Madrid team of the early 2000's are also worth a mention. Highlights videos is all I'd be going on to suggest the earlier Real Madrid team as well as the Ajax's and Bayern's of the past. Come to think of it though that was a serious Ajax team in the mid 90's.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevo Da Gull
I'd say Bayern of the mid/late 1990s was a better all round unit. Scholl, Effenberg, Basler, Matthaus, Strunz, Jeremies, Elber, Lizarazu, Sagnol and probably the best keeper of the modern era, Kahn.
Totally agree but I have a feeling the players themselves could roll up their socks and do it their way, a la France in 2006.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevo Da Gull
Despite losing 4-0 in the final, I think the Barca team of 1994 was one of the best I've ever seen.
FC BARCELONA
GK 1 Andoni Zubizarreta
RB 2 Albert Ferrer
CM 3 Josep Guardiola
CD 4 Ronald Koeman
CD 5 Miguel Ángel Nadal
CM 6 José Mari Bakero (c)
LB 7 Sergi Barjuán
CF 8 Hristo Stoichkov
RM 9 Guillermo Amor
CF 10 Romário
LM 11 Txiki Begiristain
Apart from Barjuan (who still had 265 games for Barca, and 56 for Spain), they are world-class players in every position.
Some team alright, I thought Sergi was a quality player as well. Surely a team has to win something significant to be in the running though? that was some hammering they took in the Final as well, it wasn't just a flattering 4-0 scoreline, Milan were worth every bit of it if I remember correctly. This is some line up as well:
AJAX 1995:
GK 1 Edwin van der Sar
RB 2 Michael Reiziger
CB 3 Danny Blind (c)
LB 5 Frank de Boer
DM 4 Frank Rijkaard
CM 6 Clarence Seedorf
CM 8 Edgar Davids
AM 10 Jari Litmanen
RW 7 Finidi George
CF 9 Ronald de Boer
LW 11 Marc Overmars
Quote:
Originally Posted by osarusan
What the hell - sure he was one of their world class players;)
Could things get any worse for Juve losing 3-1 away to Napoli this evening. But interestingly enough Napoli and 4 other clubs are battling for the 4th spot in Serie A
Roma beat Inter this weekend 2-1. 2 goals from Luca Toni.
Roma now 1 point behind Inter.
Milan a further2 points behind
Bayern lost their second game in a row.
Schalke now 2 points ahead with 6 games to go.
Milan drew with Lazio so are now level on 62 pts with Roma, with Inter the one point ahead. I'd probably back Roma at this stage as they seem to have a bit more form to them.
I saw some of Real v Atletico last night, Raul is a massive drain on that club, why on earth he's anywhere near the first team I've no idea. He missed a complete sitter.
Milan are actually 2 points adrift of Roma, a win would have put them level. It's interesting to see Palermo occupying the 4th Champions League spot. Was watching some of the Madrid derby also, didn't think Raul's miss was that bad really, just couldn't reach it. He wasn't on long either so possibly would have been a bit sharper normally alright. I presume it's the one from Ronaldo's assist from the left you're referring to?
I was surprised that Bayern slipped to second, I was under the impression they were walking the league for some reason and hadn't seen the table in a while.
Indeed, they are 2 points behind Roma - I was looking at the live table before the Lichsteiner equaliser for Lazio.
INTER
Bologna (H)
Fiorentina (A)
Juventus (H)
Atalanta (H)
Lazio (A)
Chievo (H)
Siena (A)
I would expect Juve, Lazio and Fiorentina to be the hard games here.
ROMA
Bari (A)
Atalanta (H)
Lazio (A)
Samp (H)
Parma (A)
Cagliari (H)
Chievo (A)
Only really Lazio is the hard game here, maybe Samp is tricky, but at home they should be ok.
MILAN
Cagliari (A)
Catania (H)
Samp (A)
Palermo (A)
Fiorentina (H)
Genoa (A)
Juventus (H)
Fiorentina, Genoa, Juve and Palermo are all going for a CL place, also Samp away could be difficult.
Overall I think Roma will just edge out Inter, maybe on head to head, Milan's squad is old and as the season goes on this will become more and mor of a factor. Ranieri to pip Mourinho for Serie A.
I think things are done head to head in Italy if the teams are level
Inter have a better head to head vs Milan (1 win 1 draw)
Roma have a better head to head vs Inter (1 win 1 draw)
Milan have a better head to head vs Roma (1 win 1 draw)
Yeah on Raul it was the cross in from the near side (as the camera was positioned) towards the very end of the game, Ronaldo beat Pererea (Colombian defender at Atletico) and the cross was maybe 3-4 yards out, about knee height.
Roma are in a fantastic position alright looking at the fixtures. It's quite similar to the EPL actually. I'd put Inter in a similar position to Man Utd, slender lead but with a difficult run-in. The experience of being there before will help them though. Roma are similar to Arsenal in that their run-in is the easiest on paper but haven't been in this position in recent years. Chelsea are like Milan because they have players who have done it in the past but it's been a while and they are getting on in years.
Yeah that's true, the only thing about is none of the top three are playing each other. For instance the Man Utd Chelsea match has the look of a winner-takes-it all. I certainly think if Man Utd win it they will win the whole thing. If it's a draw (and say Chelsea dont beat Liverpool and Man Utd drop points at Man City) then Arsenal might be able to sneak it. Although each of the teams in Italy has a least one big game (e.g Inter v Juve, Roma v Lazio, Milan v Juve) none of them are 6 pointers, so none of the Italian teams have the ability to bury each other.