Champions League knockout stage draw

[persiafly]

SMFH at Ferguson blaming Rafael's sending off on the "underhanded German tactics" of Bayern. Instead of just admitting that it may have been a mistake to include such a young and relatively inexperienced player in such a crucial tie, he blames Bayern players for doing exactly what any other team would have done by asking for a yellow card where it was clearly deserved. If you hold up an advancing offensive player WITH YOUR ARMS from behind, you get a yellow. There are no two ways about it.

 

[hoosiers4life]

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

SMFH at Ferguson blaming Rafael's sending off on the "underhanded German tactics" of Bayern. Instead of just admitting that it may have been a mistake to include such a young and relatively inexperienced player in such a crucial tie, he blames Bayern players for doing exactly what any other team would have done by asking for a yellow card where it was clearly deserved. If you hold up an advancing offensive player WITH YOUR ARMS from behind, you get a yellow. There are no two ways about it.

Did you really expect anything other than passing the blame onto someone else from SAF?

 

[Sinner]

^ Lol, come on... Wenger's never done that before?

Sir's up to his old tricks again... I think everyone knows how ridiculous his blame sounds, but I guess he just wants to take the pressure/blame off of Rafael. The boy knows he messed up (picking up 2 unnecessary yellows as well as squandering that 3-on-2 break in which he went for goal instead of passing to Rooney), no need to put more media pressure on him. We've all heard Wenger, Sir, Rafa, etc. redirect the blame somewhere else.

 

[hoosiers4life]

Originally Posted by SinnerP

^ Lol, come on... Wenger's never done that before?

Sir's up to his old tricks again... I think everyone knows how ridiculous his blame sounds, but I guess he just wants to take the pressure/blame off of Rafael. The boy knows he messed up (picking up 2 unnecessary yellows as well as squandering that 3-on-2 break in which he went for goal instead of passing to Rooney), no need to put more media pressure on him. We've all heard Wenger, Sir, Rafa, etc. redirect the blame somewhere else.

Oh no, don't get me wrong, Wenger is right there giving him a run for his money, its the one thing I don't respect about the man.

 

[engoi]

Originally Posted by PrurientSole

Originally Posted by SinnerP

I don't watch the Bundesliga, but have Bayern always had so many holes in their backline? Defenders just standing around like statues.

Actually, Bayern's defense has been great in domestic competition, but I'd attribute a lot of that to their offense having complete control of most matches (+30 goal differential).  It's been quite another story in UEFA competition.

Contento and Badstuber are young, so it's unsurprising that he'd get torched against the world's best, while both Van Buyten and Demichelis are getting up there in age.  Lahm is really the only decent back that they've got at the moment.  You'd think that they've given up far too many goals to be this deep in the Champions League, but, well, here they are thanks to their offense (read: Arjen Robben).


Right now, Barca is Mutombo, and Inter, Bayern, and Lyon are all clubs who want to sex Mutombo.  I'm hoping for a Barca/Bayern final due to its potential to be an offensive explosion; I'd put the over/under at 6.

Actually they're not that good.They're only behind us with the least goals in the Bundesliga,
but their defense is nevertheless not the best in their history.
After they sold Lucio to Inter and let Lahm play on the wrong side, they seem to struggle in every game with their defense.

 

[fuser86]

Edited, just saw what I had posted has it's own thread.

 

[wttm]

Is Pele salty or just stating what many (as myself have stated) have stated about Messi regarding his international performance? lololol

http://soccernet.espn.go....e/uk/?cc=5901&ver=us

 

[carlos tevez]

Originally Posted by wttm


Is Pele salty or just stating what many (as myself have stated) have stated about Messi regarding his international performance? lololol

http://soccernet.espn.go....e/uk/?cc=5901&ver=us

Probably both.

It's still way too early to put Messi up there but the idea that he needs 1000 goals to enter the conversation is absolutely ridiculous

Iniesta is out for atleast a month after re-aggravating his hamstring injury. His absence will somewhat limit Barca's creativity in midfield but Keita is a fantastic player so they should be fine without Iniesta.

 

[carlos tevez]

Barca @ Inter tomorrow

Apparently Barca had to travel to Milan via bus...a 600 mile journey, due to the travel restrictions in Europe right now.

Ibrahimovic is healthy again (but Iniesta is out for 1 month) and apparently Inter's entire first choice line-up is fit.

 

[persiafly]

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Barca @ Inter tomorrow

Apparently Barca had to travel to Milan via bus...a 600 mile journey, due to the travel restrictions in Europe right now.

Ibrahimovic is healthy again (but Iniesta is out for 1 month) and apparently Inter's entire first choice line-up is fit.

It's gonna be so 

. Messi, Xavi, Eto'o, Sneider, Ibra, Maicon, Alves, Mourinho... So many huge names involved here. 

 

[ezln1]

I'm so HYPED!

Tough tough stretch for Barca, and to top it off, a long bus ride....Barca looked a bit flat Saturday, but espanyol played them hard as expected, and barca played almost as if they were saving a bit for tomorrow's game

No doubt that barca will be ready to take it to Inter

Hope Bojan gets some burn too...Henry looked horrible (what's new?) on sat

 

[oskar kokoshka]

yeahhhhhhhhhhh boy!

So hyped

Forza Inter

Players are healthy and ready to go

$!** you Ibra

 

[jerome in the house]

Originally Posted by Oskar Kokoshka

yeahhhhhhhhhhh boy!

So hyped

Forza Inter

Players are healthy and ready to go

$!** you Ibra

Barca will own Inter. Jose will try to play stubborn ball and just try not to concede. Barca won't let Inter sit comfortable with 9 guys in their own penalty box.

 

[xtapolapacetl]

The only part of the Pele statement that is ridiculous is requiring Messi to score 1.000 goals. Pele played in an era where scores like 5-3 were the most common thing in the world.

But he is completely right about Messi needing to perform at a high level internationally. And the people who are saying that Messi doesn't necessarily need to win the World Cup in order to be GOAT are either wrong or suffering from a "a player from my generation MUST be considered to be the GOAT" complex, which can be seen in all sports in the posts on this forum.

 

[persiafly]

Originally Posted by Xtapolapacetl

The only part of the Pele statement that is ridiculous is requiring Messi to score 1.000 goals. Pele played in an era where scores like 5-3 were the most common thing in the world.

But he is completely right about Messi needing to perform at a high level internationally. And the people who are saying that Messi doesn't necessarily need to win the World Cup in order to be GOAT are either wrong or suffering from a "a player from my generation MUST be considered to be the GOAT" complex, which can be seen in all sports in the posts on this forum.

I'd put it this way: if Messi is the best player of all time, then he will win the World Cup at some point. I can say this because he's on a team filled with talent, and I assume they'll hire a real coach at some point. Because of this, if Messi is truly a better soccer player than Maradona, Pele and Zidane, then his skill should be transcendent enough to carry an already talented team to the trophy the same way the other three players put their teams on their shoulders in the tournament. Look at what Maradona did in 86: 2 goals in quarters against England, 2 goals in semis against Belgium, winning assist against Germany in final despite having two players attached to him at all times. Zidane in 98: 2 goals against Brazil in the final. Pele in 58: 1 goal in quarters, 3 goals in semis, 2 goals in final. All these players took their performance to a new level on the biggest stage in soccer, and were basically too good to let their teams lose. If Messi doesn't do the same, why is it wrong to hold it against him? If a sprinter dominated at the world championships but never won in the olympics, would you call him the greatest ever if others had dominated both events? 

 

[carlos tevez]

I'm thinking that Inter will play the counter-attack...two deep lying CMs to contain Messi and then they'll try to link up with Sneijder/Eto'o/Milito.

Barca will probably dominate possession but they must be careful because they are vulnerable on the counter.

I dont think Messi will be able to run wild since Inter actually know how to defend however I think that Ibra will have some extra room to operate as a result of Inter focusing their attention on Messi.

 

[moiety]

Ibra/Eto'o with a hat trick each.... oh how insane it would be

Cant wait for this game though

 

[zerogravity23]

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler [+]

Spoiler

http://www.atdhe.net/1777...er-milan-vs-fc-barcelona

 

[jus3]

Anyone know the game time temperature?

Did the volcano have any effect near the stadium? Looks kinda foggy.

 

[ezln1]

big sigh of relief on that Milito off side

 

[xblaze23]

Anyone know the game time temperature?

Did the volcano have any effect near the stadium? Looks kinda foggy.
San Siro usually appears that way, fireworks are popular there.

 

[carlos tevez]

SMFH @ Valdes...what a mess he made of that weak shot.

 

[ezln1]

victor

GOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

finally opened up the sides with maxwell...most underrated signing by barca this off season

 

[sirius lee handsome]

Thatr was super easy for Barcelona. Just when Inter had a pretty dominant beginning to the game

 

[carlos tevez]

Where the heck was Maicon?