CL knock out stage

[lionelhutz]

Porto would be considered the weakest team left in the CL by the majority of people. On that basis, I called them fairly average.

I don't think they have any chance of winning the CL, but then again I didn't think they'd any chance when they won it under Mourinho so what do I know?!

[irishultra]

credit to porto they were fantastic but i wouldn't ever right off a top european side like manchester united even though they were very lucky to even get a result. i still predict a 2-0 win in oporto

tbh porto by and large are average by champions league standards at least on paper, lucho gonzalez is quality and liedson is a very good striker but i would agree compared to other teams in tournament average. its all relative though, hertha berlin or aston villa might be good domestically but on european level they are mediocre teams

[shakermaker1982]

Porto were a breath of fresh air last night.

Two holding midfielders, sit back and pump long balls? No thanks. Go one nil up at OT and still attack like a rabid dog. Cissokho, Lucho and Ferando stood out for me. Man Utd have a very difficult task on their hands next Wednesday but you can never write them off.

I'll be watching Barca/Munich tonight. Chelsea-Liverpool does not interest me at all (it will probably be 3-3 and the greatest CL game of all time but sod it).

[DeLorean]

Liverpool presumably are favourites for this tie (couldn't be bothered checkin odds). This will be new for them as the previous 3 knock out meetings with Chelsea it was the opposite. Not sure that it will be a deciding factor but Liverpool do seem to be better when they're not expected to do anything. Think Chelsea will be delighted to get Anfield out of the way in the 1st Leg as long as there's not too much damage done. I'm glad this tie will be decided before United play their return with Porto, if Liverpool are out it will put my mind at rest a bit, petty I know!!

[Armando]

tbh porto by and large are average by champions league standards at least on paper, lucho gonzalez is quality and liedson is a very good striker

Are you thinking of Lisandro? Liedsons a Sporting player.

[irishultra]

Are you thinking of Lisandro? Liedsons a Sporting player.

oh **** ye lol i thought thats who lisandro was last night. my bad

[FahyForever]

Good to hear ye giving Porto their due anyway, those gang of dimwits on the RTE panel restricted themselves to saying United's performance was due to either 'nerves' (Whelan) or 'complacency' (the other two dicks). They all dismissed the possibility of it having anything to do with fatigue after playing two games in three days ('I don't go in for all that' said a clearly well-rested Giles) or Porto playing well. They mention 1 Porto player (Hulk) and even then Giles called him The Hulk. They never managed to give any tactical analysis whatsoever, and showed their total ignorance when Bill asked why Ronaldo was not scoring as many goals as last year (partial answer: he´s playing wide right since Berbs came, as opposed to more off the striker like he often was last year) by blaming Real Madrid interest and a tonne of other nonsense. When Ronnie Whelan is the most accurate analyst in the room, something needs to change! Utterly sick of these guys now, they contradicted themselves so many times I started to think it was Apres Match.

[old git]

[QUOTE=shakermaker1982;1139875]Porto were a breath of fresh air last night.

Two holding midfielders, sit back and pump long balls? No thanks. Go one nil up at OT and still attack like a rabid dog. Cissokho, Lucho and Ferando stood out for me. Man Utd have a very difficult task on their hands next Wednesday but you can never write them off.


really impressed by porto last night thought they should have scored another and deserverd to get more than a draw.. on utd looked very shaky all over pitch defence woefull / midfield non existant even scholes looked very poor ronaldo a disgrace never bothered once to chase back after losing ball yet again but it seems ferguson lets him away with it so maybee other players trying it on also.. only rooney played with up to scratch utd have been struggling for 4-5 games now and no english club have ever beaten porto at home if porto play same game at home ( hope they dont try & defend) utd will have to improve there game 110 % can see them getting a draw but think they will struggle to win game

[reder]

Dont know what to say about that tonight, Barca made Bayern look like a pub team from the highlights but the 3-1 Chelsea win was a massive turn up for the books.

Essien, who is one hell of a player, man marked Gerrard and he couldnt get into the game. Chelsea bossed midfield as a result and could easily have won by more. They had twice as many shots on goal as Liverpool and looked very dangerous every time they pushed forward.

Its gonna take on hell of a performance from Liverpool to get through now. They have to win by 3. Terry out is a plus.

On a side note, Hiddink got it 100% spot on tonight. I hope he leaves Chelsea at the end of the season because I dont fancy anyones chances against them over a complete season if he stays. Abramovich will give him money to spend also, as he seems to like him.

[pete]

Watched the first half of Barca-Bayern Munich & was men against boys. 65% possession for Barca spent almost entirely in opposition half. Hopefully they can beat Chelsea in the semi final.

[Angus]

Dont know what to say about that tonight, Barca made Bayern look like a pub team from the highlights but the 3-1 Chelsea win was a massive turn up for the books.

Essien, who is one hell of a player, man marked Gerrard and he couldnt get into the game. Chelsea bossed midfield as a result and could easily have won by more. They had twice as many shots on goal as Liverpool and looked very dangerous every time they pushed forward.

Its gonna take on hell of a performance from Liverpool to get through now. They have to win by 3. Terry out is a plus.

On a side note, Hiddink got it 100% spot on tonight. I hope he leaves Chelsea at the end of the season because I dont fancy anyones chances against them over a complete season if he stays. Abramovich will give him money to spend also, as he seems to like him.

Excellent post and spot on. Zonal marking exploited ruthlessly again and MoTM, our old friend essien - what a player. Having said that, hats off to Torres in the first half, when he was immense, and to the 2 centre halves in the second for keeping him quiet.

[old git]

Excellent post and spot on. Zonal marking exploited ruthlessly again and MoTM, our old friend essien - what a player. Having said that, hats off to Torres in the first half, when he was immense, and to the 2 centre halves in the second for keeping him quiet.

torres was excellent first half and work rate was unreal... funny though when things not going so well second half his work rate also disapeared,,, disapointed with his reaction after match when he would not shake hands with ivanovich ... chelsea as a team were brilliant and should have won by more ,, and as already pointed out the so called zonal marking exploited big time ..

[jumping jac]

I am a Liverpool supporter but honestly was a bit surprised by my own reaction last night. Saturday against Fulham I was so tense and nervous I almost walked away from my TV as I wanted us to win so bad I was getting sick. But last night even at 3-1 down I was cool as could be and thought ah well. I knew all along I wanted us to win the league more than the Champions league, I just didn't realise how much until now.
Rafa needs to go all out on Saturday and even rest players next Tuesday.
The league is all that matters.

[OwlsFan]

Didn't see the Liverpool vs Chelsea game but certainly a turn up for the books. No time for Liverpool (or more accurately their manager after the Robbie Keane affair) so not too disappointed by the result. Was it that the menace of Gerrard was snuffed out by Essien?

Came in during a discussion on "zonal marking" and the Laughing Buffoon that is O'Herliny says "Everyone must be a bit confused out there. We'll take a break the experts will explain afterwards". Sigh. Patronising stuff at its best.

[old git]

I am a Liverpool supporter but honestly was a bit surprised by my own reaction last night. Saturday against Fulham I was so tense and nervous I almost walked away from my TV as I wanted us to win so bad I was getting sick. But last night even at 3-1 down I was cool as could be and thought ah well. I knew all along I wanted us to win the league more than the Champions league, I just didn't realise how much until now.
Rafa needs to go all out on Saturday and even rest players next Tuesday.
The league is all that matters.

amazing now after probally getting knocked out of champions league the preimiership league is now the one to win i think it is a bigger achievement for a team to win the league over a season but a champions league is also special to.. as a club you try and win as much trophys as possible and dont try and let on as the season unfolds and your team gets knocked out of various micky mouse cup competitions !!! .. suppose f.a. cup / etc dont really count also ... that the league is the one you really wanted ...

[jumping jac]

amazing now after probally getting knocked out of champions league the preimiership league is now the one to win i think it is a bigger achievement for a team to win the league over a season but a champions league is also special to.. as a club you try and win as much trophys as possible and dont try and let on as the season unfolds and your team gets knocked out of various micky mouse cup competitions !!! .. suppose f.a. cup / etc dont really count also ... that the league is the one you really wanted ...

Not at all. I would love us to win the Champs league. My point is that I realised last night that the league is really the one I want. Based upon my own feelings and reaction to what happened in the game. That's all.

[DeLorean]

amazing now after probally getting knocked out of champions league the preimiership league is now the one to win i think it is a bigger achievement for a team to win the league over a season but a champions league is also special to.. as a club you try and win as much trophys as possible and dont try and let on as the season unfolds and your team gets knocked out of various micky mouse cup competitions !!! .. suppose f.a. cup / etc dont really count also ... that the league is the one you really wanted ...

You might be on to something there!! I'd say something if Liverpool were in a commanding position in the Prem, then maybe they would be better off putting all their efforts into it. The fact is though that they could win all their remaining PL matches and still not win the lge, so I think they should take what they can get. Plus I think getting knocked out (and especially hammered) by Chelsea could do them serious psychological damage for the run in, Fergie was right I think despite Rafa's paranoia.

[irishultra]

bayern feckin munich. klinsmann needs to go vack to america cause the chap is clueless. bayern had no fight or passion. i turned on the other game and i at least seen the liverpool players busting a gut to get back in to the tie. bayern did nothing even to grab one goal to keep a glimmer of hope alive(remember getafe vs barcelona in the copa del ray)

so yeah very poor but in many ways predictable.

[hunt4the]

torres was excellent first half and work rate was unreal... funny though when things not going so well second half his work rate also disapeared,,, disapointed with his reaction after match when he would not shake hands with ivanovich ... chelsea as a team were brilliant and should have won by more ,, and as already pointed out the so called zonal marking exploited big time ..

There was nothing wrong with zonal marking the last three games was there?!? Man U are leaking goals and they're man marking!!...
Stop repeating everything giles and dunphy tell you, they are idiots, nation of sheep is right

Chelsea were brilliant last night, they should have scored six and fair play to them, we'll just do it all again next year in the CL semi (yawn)

[DeLorean]

There was nothing wrong with zonal marking the last three games was there?!? Man U are leaking goals and they're man marking!!...
Stop repeating everything giles and dunphy tell you, they are idiots, nation of sheep is right

Chelsea were brilliant last night, they should have scored six and fair play to them, we'll just do it all again next year in the CL semi (yawn)

I've time for Giles. He repeats himself over and over but at least he's consistent. Football doesn't change too much so there's bound to be repetition. Dunphy isn't there for his football expertise in reality. I don't think it's jumping on the bandwagon to reiterate that Chelsea's goals were a result of zonal marking, when it so obviously was in the case of Ivanovic's. I agree though, they should have scored 6.