Champions League thread

[Ash]

Ya agreed but then you could argue that the home team has an advantage with a further 30 mins at home so it probably balances itself out. It would interesting to see when knock out games have gone to extra time, how many times the away team has won. Struggling to think of any at the moment.

Bayern Munich away to Getaffe in this years UEFA Cup

[shakermaker1982]

I just hope Grant keeps Essien at RB for the final.

[elroy]

Bayern Munich away to Getaffe in this years UEFA Cup

True, but was thinking more along the lines of CL games.

[Roadend]

I just hope Grant keeps Essien at RB for the final.

He looks to accommodating Ballack and Lampard by playing Essien at right back. Stupid.

[Morbo]

Classics ...
Georgie : Time is us, time is up
Ray : The clock in the stadium still shows a minute of play left

Havent got exact quote but something to the effect of Ryan Babbel will never score ... queue a goal from 40 yards!!!!!

In fairness Ray didn't say Babbel will never score, he just implied that Crouch was more likely to score and I agree with him, just because Babbel scored form 40 yards (due to a Cech mistake) doesn't prove him wrong

[Block G Raptor]

That was Babel's 5th CL goal this season, how many has crouch

[geysir]

It was a good game.
I am usually glad when a team equalizes and the game goes into extra time.
A feeling of getting a good bargain, value for money.
Then the extra helping of pudding is if it goes to a penalty shoot out.
The drama is then complete. Felt a bit robbed that it didn't go that far.
It was a fluke that Chelsea went 2 goals clear, it wasn't in the script.

Does that mean the whining stops about that over inflated Mourinho?
If Chelsea play well and win, it's the players playing for Mourinho/ legacy/themselves.
If they play poorly, then it's Grant is a soulless grim wánker.
Farcical stuff.

[jebus]

I stand corrected. but surely that gives an advantage to the team playing away in the second leg as potentially they get 120 mins to score an away goal where as the other team only gets 90

True, one of Sepp Blatters ideas for discounting that is for the first leg to last 120 minutes, (90+30 ET) just incase the 2nd leg goes to extra time Honestly this was touted around, I remember someone on here, or Football365 maybe, asking 'so if Chelsea were 4-0 up on Fenerbahce at the end of 90 mins in the first leg, they would still have to play the extra 30 mins in case Fenerbahce won the 2nd leg 4-0 and took it to extra time?', the asnwer was yes they would have to.

I mean it's not rocket science to just change the ruling to say that away goals only count in the standard 90 minutes, once extra time kicks in it's discounted as a deciding factor

[DaveyCakes]

It was a good game.

THe extra time was good, the second half was horrible. I didn't se the first half.

Does that mean the whining stops about that over inflated Mourinho?
If Chelsea play well and win, it's the players playing for Mourinho/ legacy/themselves.
If they play poorly, then it's Grant is a soulless grim wánker.
Farcical stuff.

Unlikely, if he doesn't play up for the media, they'll never give him any credit.

[NeilMcD]

True, one of Sepp Blatters ideas for discounting that is for the first leg to last 120 minutes, (90+30 ET) just incase the 2nd leg goes to extra time Honestly this was touted around, I remember someone on here, or Football365 maybe, asking 'so if Chelsea were 4-0 up on Fenerbahce at the end of 90 mins in the first leg, they would still have to play the extra 30 mins in case Fenerbahce won the 2nd leg 4-0 and took it to extra time?', the asnwer was yes they would have to.

I mean it's not rocket science to just change the ruling to say that away goals only count in the standard 90 minutes, once extra time kicks in it's discounted as a deciding factor

Its just simply a trade off for the fact that the home team in the 2nd leg are getting an extra 30 mins at home. So UEFA feel that counting the away goal balances this out.

[Morbo]

That was Babel's 5th CL goal this season, how many has crouch

How many has Crouch played?
A bit hard to score from the bench.
5 goals fom Babbel doesn't convince me he is better than Crouch, 2 of those were in the 8-0 hammering of Besiktas when they were already 5-0 up and Besiktas had given up long ago so those 2 goals aren't very significant a game in which Crouch got the most significant 1st goal, another goal was against Arse where Arse had to throw everyone forward in a desperate attempt to get a last minute equalizer leaving Babbel one on one with Fabregas(hardly a great defender) and the goal last night was a bit poxy to me honest, Cech def should have saved it.
You can use stats to prove anything, 60% of all people know that

[geysir]

When the away team evens things up in the 2nd leg then they have a big advantage.
Liverpool had Chelsea on the psychological rack after they equalized.

[lionelhutz]

I expect Barca will be criticised for not creating many clearcut chances over the two games but was there really anymore they could have done? United defended brilliantly and in Ferdinand have the best defender in Europe at the moment.

The only way United were going to get into the final was by soaking up Barca's pressure and hassle them as they are a superior passing side. Playing an open game would be exactly what Barca wanted and would have resulted in a different team being in the final.


Had a poor second half but was better in the second. Should have done better with his effort but typical of the begrudger you are you nitpick about that rather than praise his brilliant run in the build up. He is only 21, he is still raw, plenty of potential. He is just like Ronaldo three years ago. He clearly has the talent to be an excellent player.

Whens Ronaldo going to fulfil his supposed potential??

[lionelhutz]

Sums up what I was trying to say perfectly. Whether its Mancs V Liverpool or Chelsea its irrelevant. There will be killings. One guy said to me that he has a horrible feeling that we could be talking about deaths on the morning after the game instead of the game itself.

I love the positive vibe. Sounds like a Rambo tagline

[lionelhutz]

Disagree. There was no daylight between the two. I'd say just about level and in such circumstances the attacker gets the advantage.



Hyypia's reaction wasn't that of a man who had been fouled and didn't get the penalty. He smiled and got up. The ref was definitely thinking about giving it until Hyypia put in the exaggerated dive. No sympathy for divers. If he hadn't dived he might have got it.



To me Essien got the ball - see the angle it went off at. I know Mr. Monotone Brady said it was a peno but I saw it differently.
.

There's no way Essien got the ball - they showed it again and again in the analysis - plain to see he missed the ball and got the man

[old git]

There's no way Essien got the ball - they showed it again and again in the analysis - plain to see he missed the ball and got the man

ref did not give it end of story ... they even out over the season
probally this was for the penalty never given for arsenal against liverpool not so long ago in quarter finals

[OwlsFan]

Chelsea to win 1-0 with a scuffed shot by Essien which goes in off the ar*e of Ferdinand

[OwlsFan]

Anyone else prepared to offer a prediction?

[shakermaker1982]

Man Utd 1 Chelsea 0. Tevez

Fingers crossed anyway. I hope Fergie goes for the throat from the off and puts Chelsea on the back foot. Man Utd need to score first to make the game interesting.

[lionelhutz]

Man Utd 1 Chelsea 0. Tevez

Fingers crossed anyway. I hope Fergie goes for the throat from the off and puts Chelsea on the back foot. Man Utd need to score first to make the game interesting.

There's absolutely no chance he'll go for it. He never does against this Chelsea team or in the Champs League for that matter - and he certainly won't in the final.

I actually think Man Utd would def win if they did go for it but Fergie's too cautious in Europe. This cagey approach will play right into Chelsea's hands - they thrive in tight games. Chelsea to win an awful game 1-0 AET