Champions League thread

[DmanDmythDledge]

Messi ran the game for Barca chasing throw ins near the end. Ronaldo without space to run into offers little.

Messi is a better player but I don't think Ronaldo could have done much more playing as a striker in a team who didn't have the better of the midfield. I would have prefered to see him play deeper where he is more effective.

[Stuttgart88]

That's only the second time I've seen Messi live over 90 mins and I was mesmerised.

Barca play very like Arsenal in that only "perfect" goals seem to count, Arsenal's recent run of goals from set pieces notwithstanding.

Although the shape of Ferguson's team has changed since 1999 the philosphy is still the same: don't be afraid to play the ball in quickly into the danger areas risking loss of possession, but if you do lose it do your damnedest to win it back.

Despite some of United's better players being "foreigners" I think it's the only style of play the English national team could adopt for success, but then again, that style of play is almost impossible in June/July temperatures.

Great defensive performance from the two English CBs and I think that's the best I've seen Evra play.

Hard to say either side deserved it over the other. It was a marginal game won by a misplaced pass and a shot from distance. If Barca had won it the same way it'd have been equally deserved.

I hope United win it despite having little regard for them or their manager. Liverpool are serial wasters domestically and are only at this stage because they've been uncompetitive for a lot of the season and when Chelsea win a European Cup it's the day football's soul has been lost forever.

The only comfort I could take from a Chelsea win is that in a sense it'd be 2 fingers to their own fans who have been on Grant's back all season. Does he really "not know what he's doing"?

[Sheridan]

I hope Chelsea win it from here as it will be less damaging for Irish football. Watching the gimps parading around in Liverpool tops after the 2005 final was unbearable. Sure, Chelsea will attract the usual bandwagoners but they'll drop by flies once Abramovich is offski in a few years.

[shaneker]

Watched that game with 3 mates and all agreed that was a thoroughly ****e match. Two of the supposed best attacking teams in world football and 2 players played well, Messi - astonishingly brilliant as always - and Evra. 180 minutes of Man Utd v Barca and one goal is scored. I'm so sick of the Champions League serving up the same old semi finals every year, literally in the case of Chelsea and Liverpool. This tournament will lose all appeal to anyone not a fan of the English big 4 or Real, Barca, Milan and possibly Bayern (if they come back strong next year, I think they might with the squad they have now) in five or ten years, its just the same old games over and over and I would say that 3 out of 4 games at this level tend to be crap spectacles.

Rant over. On a side note, how unbelievably crap was Eto'o? To think he was one of the best strikers in the world not long ago and he looked like a fish up a tree (thank you Paul Merson). Shocking.

[cheifo]

I was up for Barca but congrats to UTD who I felt deserved it because they put a bit more soul into it.Tevez was outstanding.How he kept that momentum up I just dont know.Barca frustrated me because like Arsenal they just would not shoot and overplayed it and lost opportunities.Messi is amazing.

[mypost]

Barca play very like Arsenal in that only "perfect" goals seem to count, Arsenal's recent run of goals from set pieces notwithstanding.

Hence why their season is over, and Rijkaard's out of a job.

[rambler14]

Great Game and a great goal to win it.

No man more deserving of a winner aswell IMO.
I thought Brown, Park, Scholes and Tevez were outstanding for United and that United fully deserved their win.

As for Nani....go away and join a League 2 club and learn how to shoot.

[pete]

Watched that game with 3 mates and all agreed that was a thoroughly ****e match. Two of the supposed best attacking teams in world football and 2 players played well, Messi - astonishingly brilliant as always - and Evra. 180 minutes of Man Utd v Barca and one goal is scored.

Not sure how long you have been watching football but since when have finals & semi finals been high scoring. I thought both MU-Barca games were fairly good except for the fact that one team owned the game. Chelsea-Liverpool is hoof ball but why would any one expect anything else.

[DmanDmythDledge]

Hence why their season is over, and Rijkaard's out of a job.

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.

As for Nani....go away and join a League 2 club and learn how to shoot.

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.

[shaneker]

Not sure how long you have been watching football but since when have finals & semi finals been high scoring. I thought both MU-Barca games were fairly good except for the fact that one team owned the game. Chelsea-Liverpool is hoof ball but why would any one expect anything else.

Not sure how long you've been patronising people but a lack of goals does not have to mean a game cannot be watchable; a goal is a split second, its the rest of the game that you are looking to see some entertainment. I thought the first leg was better as Barca actually looked as though they were capable of causing some damage, whereas tonight they could have been there for weeks and not scored. Which is fine, except that Man U didn't play particularly well! Don't get me wrong, I picked them for the CL at the start of the season and I do think they are the best team in Europe and deserve to be in the final, but for a supposed showpiece event in European football there was a massive lack of ambition, spirit and quality on show (obvious exception of Messi) from both sides. Not that this will bother any Man U fans (and why should it, they did their job) but from a neutral perspective it is difficult to get excited about the CL when the same teams are involved almost every year (thank you Sky and UEFA) and they are serving up spectacles like that. A few tense hectic bounces in the box with 1 minute to go doesn't make up for what was a completely toothless 90 minute game lit up by 2 seconds of Scholes. The thing that stood out for me was how out of place Messi looked on that pitch, and thats the problem; one player should not be THAT much better than everyone else in the European Cup semi-final.

[Pike B]

Didn't see the game but if a team can't score over two legs they just don't deserve to progress. And I hate United.

[jebus]

and in Ferdinand have the best defender in Europe at the moment.

This coupled wih your Carrick and Evra comments make me think that your Foot.ie's version of Rainman

[Pike B]

I hope Chelsea win it from here as it will be less damaging for Irish football. Watching the gimps parading around in Liverpool tops after the 2005 final was unbearable. Sure, Chelsea will attract the usual bandwagoners but they'll drop by flies once Abramovich is offski in a few years.

Gimps in Liverpool tops??? So it's wrong to be proud when the team you've supported since 1986 wins it's first European Cup in your life time as a fan??? What a stupid remark.

[NeilMcD]

No fan of Ferdinand as a character but he is probably on form the best centre back in Europe along with Carvahlio and Jason Mc Guinness.

Himself and Wes Brown were immense and Brown earned his contract this season and no more so than last night.

Evra and Park were very good too and Tevez put in a performance that should be watched for pure hard graft alone.

Scholes is a class act and I think England's failure at international level can be seen in their treatment of their best player of the last 20 years.

I hope Man Utd win for the same reasons as Stuttgart to be honest and also because Man Utd try to play football but unlike Arsenal and Barca they can win ugly when they are not at their best.

[OwlsFan]

Scholes is a class act and I think England's failure at international level can be seen in their treatment of their best player of the last 20 years.

The goal apart, Scholes was left chasing Messi's shadow for most of that game. The number of times he left Scholes trailing behind him, selling dummies to him and almost causing him to give away a peno was comical. He wasn't "outstanding" as Dunphy said. An objective appraisal of his performance is that he was the one who gave away 2 out of the 3 free kicks outside the box, didn't dominate from midfield and was made a monkey of by Messi on numerous occasions. The Scholes of 2/3 years ago is gone but that said, fantastic goal and worthy of wiining a semi-final.

The panel. Enjoyed Souness pointing out that Dunphy was the only one who hasn't managed and interrupting him much to Dunphy's annoyance. Brady going on ad nauseum before the game about Park not being a chaser and harrier That is Park's game and he was far more influential than Scholes and Dunphy, unlike Giles who had the good grace to admit he was wrong about him, still maintained he was anonymous.

I had predicted a Barca win but fair dues to the Man U backline and the defensive work of the whole team. Sometimes the will to win overcome the better skill of an opponent.

Disappointed with Ronaldo's performance but at least there were slightly less histrionics and he worked harder than normal.

[shanman2]

The goal apart, Scholes was left chasing Messi's shadow for most of that game. The number of times he left Scholes trailing behind him, selling dummies to him and almost causing him to give away a peno was comical. He wasn't "outstanding" as Dunphy said. An objective appraisal of his performance is that he was the one who gave away 2 out of the 3 free kicks outside the box, didn't dominate from midfield and was made a monkey of by Messi on numerous occasions. The Scholes of 2/3 years ago is gone but that said, fantastic goal and worthy of wiining a semi-final.

The panel. Enjoyed Souness pointing out that Dunphy was the only one who hasn't managed and interrupting him much to Dunphy's annoyance. Brady going on ad nauseum before the game about Park not being a chaser and harrier That is Park's game and he was far more influential than Scholes and Dunphy, unlike Giles who had the good grace to admit he was wrong about him, still maintained he was anonymous.

I had predicted a Barca win but fair dues to the Man U backline and the defensive work of the whole team. Sometimes the will to win overcome the better skill of an opponent.

Disappointed with Ronaldo's performance but at least there were slightly less histrionics and he worked harder than normal.

Since when was Scholes a full back that could defend against the faster players never for as long as I've watched him anyway. That first foul on Messi was a "great foul" to give away if he hadn't Messi was in with Xavi coming onto the penalty spot.

Man. Utd defended very well, we just couldn't break them down. For all our play in front of them we never really got behind them. I have to commend United they dug deepest when they really needed in a game that could have gone either way.

At least they came out and played this time......

[reder]

UEFA are around 12 hours away from one of the biggest nightmares in their history. I have a horrible fear that the trouble that will ensue and trust me there will be massive trouble irrespective of who gets through, could set back english club football years.

I know many here arent fans of english club supporters but the view of fans throughout Europe has improved massively over the past 10 years or so. Man United only received 17,000 applications for final tickets and Liverpool havent received many more. Unsure about Chelsea but their travelling support is generally far less anyway.

Most I know arent travelling because they know whats in store.

Note: Applications for tickets had to be submitted before the semi-final due to visa restrictions.

[sorbothegreek]

Just have to say my favourite part of the whole match/after match analysis last night was when it showed Tevez doing his whole Tasmanian devil work chasing down 4 Barca players and Jonny Giles goes, ‘that’s what you want your players to be doing in a European cup semi-final, and there’s the other fella, Ronaldo, standing there looking at him’. Summed a lot up I thought..

[beautifulrock]

[QUOTE=OwlsFan;932238]The goal apart, Scholes was left chasing Messi's shadow for most of that game. The number of times he left Scholes trailing behind him, selling dummies to him and almost causing him to give away a peno was comical. He wasn't "outstanding" as Dunphy said. An objective appraisal of his performance is that he was the one who gave away 2 out of the 3 free kicks outside the box, didn't dominate from midfield and was made a monkey of by Messi on numerous occasions. The Scholes of 2/3 years ago is gone but that said, fantastic goal and worthy of wiining a semi-final.[QUOTE]

Spot on Owls, Scholes has also lost much of his pace and Utd need to be careful that their desire to ensure he gets to play in the champions league final dose not come back to haunt them.

The defence was outstanding and Messi was amazing, bear in mind he is not even fully fit. Just how much is that man worth?

[shakermaker1982]

Much better game than the first leg but it was a bloody tense last twenty minutes. I thought every Man Utd player were at least 7 out of 10 last night purely on effort alone. Wes Brown had an excellent game and I was impressed as always with Tevez' work rate. Barca lacked an end product, some beautiful interplay but you can't pass your way into the net if there is a big bloody wall standing on the edge of the 18 yard box.

Messi - what a player. I'd love to see how he got round Scholes near the corner flag, too bloody quick for his own good and no replay!