Champions League knockout stage draw

Uh, they should've put the wraps on the match in the first half. They were all right in their predictions. They missed easy chances, that's all there is to it. It wasn't their "D" (who says D to describe football?) or Ronaldo's tricks or the boatload of money they spent. Lyon were very stingy for two legs and in the Champions League that kind of effort is enough to get past any side. Other than the Chelsea-Inter draw, Lyon were the most difficult to face. Give them credit, this wasn't Alcorcon. Everyone already knew RM were not a complete football team. As was seen in this match with Higuian's selfish play, they still have a lot of work to do in terms of getting familiar with each other. They were also without Alonso and Marcelo, two fixtures in their starting XI this season. Marcelo in particular has been dynamite at winger this season and been the glue in the attacking third, he has linked up well Ronaldo and Kaka. Granero was non-influential today. Guti faded in the 2nd half after providing the ball for Ronaldo's goal and also igniting the RM attack vs Sevilla. How many games has he started? Despite all of this, RM still sit a top La Liga and I really like their chances of finishing that way with Barca still having to go to the Bernabeu, not to mention tough fixtures in the final month. It's disappointing not progressing further in the CL, but you have to be realistic in this competition. You're not going to just pour in 3-5 goals every match and with RM they play their way or the highway. They can still win the league and that should be a positive going forward.


If we're talking about Madrid's chances and saying they should have scored three or four goals, let's not forget that Cristina's goal came off a huge mistake by Lloris who covered his strong post as well as Pam Anderson covers her cleavage. I'm sure you'll also recall Makoun, Delgado and Lisandro missing goals from point blank range. This isn't boxing where you can win by decision. Both teams executed poorly, the difference being Madrid did not do their homework in the first leg. It's that simple.

Barcelona won the Champions League Final last year playing without their starting wingers and using Yaya Toure about 30 meters behind his accustomed position. Madrid is the most expensive squad ever assembled, lack of depth cannot be used as an excuse for a defeat. Xabi wasn't there, but Guti was. Marcelo wasn't there, but Arbeloa, a better defender and blossoming offensive talent was. And it's not like Xabi and Marcelo were sidelined by injuries, they were suspended. Bookings are a part of the game, it's not bad luck or dumb luck.

As for "Barça still having to go to the Bernabeu", that was the rhetoric last year in Madrid when the League standings tightened up, but most Madrid fans went curiously mute after May 2nd and I don't see why it should be any different this year. Madrid can beat you wih their quickstrikes, which is a lot like flipping a coin against quality teams, while Barça has an established blueprint that keeps the team from relying on individual talent. Look at the results Madrid has come away with against elite competition: a loss and a bogus win against Sevilla (no Sevilla player touched the ball in the play leading to the corner kick that resulted in the 2nd goal, there was an offensive foul that went uncalled in the play that resulted in the 3rd goal), a loss against Barça, a draw and a loss against Milan (and they aren't THAT elite, going by last night's debacle) and a draw and a loss against Lyon. Madrid's style works to beat the crap out of Tenerife and Xerez, but as soon as they face a quality squad they are in trouble. Barça on the other hand plays the same exact way against Getafe as they do against ManU.

From the outside you could think that the chance of winning La Liga as a positive, but it is not. For socio-political reasons, this Madrid roster was built with the sole objective of erasing Barça's 6 titles from last year. Anything other than winning at least the UCL, Spanish Cup and La Liga is to be seen as failure, and the local media are treating it accordingly.

Regarding EZLN1's question, try being eliminated by a THIRD Division team.
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Madrid is a group of bums, spent all of 260 mil this off-season only to get booted by Lyon. I wanted Lyon to kill them, but as long as they got through I was happy. So far all 4 teams I predicted to go through have gone through...

Arsenal
Utd
Lyon
Bayern

4 teams in already and it's looking might nice
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The rest of the teams to go through should be...

Barca
Inter
Sevilla
Bordeaux


Can't wait for the quarters, going to be a good match no matter how you put it.
 
I would love to see Sevilla make a run. They are my team for the final 8. Followed by Lyon. Then Barca. As long as we don't have any English matchups.
 
English matchups are so lame, I see English matchups every week, that's why I hope no English teams will play eachother for the rest of the campaign.
 
We still dont know who'll round out the final 8 but I hope Arsenal avoid Barcelona, Chelsea/Inter, Man Utd in the Quarter-Finals. I like our chances against the other remaining teams.
 
I like us against anyone, but like you said, if I could choose, I would avoid Barca, Chelsea or Utd. I think we could handle Inter fine, would be nice seeing Arshavin going against Maicon though
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.

Would really like to see us get Sevilla if they go through or Bayern. Regardless, in the quarters, you're going to play a good team and you have to be ready to face any of them.
 
Inter are a team that no Arsenal fan should want to face. Mourinho has an amazing record against Arsenal and that team is stacked at the back and upfront. Mourinho's results oriented approach would give Arsenal nightmares. I could imagine it being sort of like when Arsenal lost to Chelsea a few weeks ago. Arsenal maintained possession for most of the match but couldn't puncture Chelsea's defence. Chelsea then won the game with the counter-attack and clinical finishing. After the match, Ballack said that Arsenal played their same old predictable style. The man was speaking the truth
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Anyways, I'm glad though that either Chelsea or Inter will be out so early in the competition. Both teams could've made it all the way to the finals if they hadn't met so early. My money is on either team making the semis as long as they dont run into Barca in the quarters.
 
Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Chelsea vs. Inter on Tuesday.
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I hope Mourinho's comeback creates more suspense and drama than Beckham's comeback to OT. More likely Inter will try to take the air out of the ball and put 10 men behind the ball the whole game. I have faith in Drogba though. 
 
Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Chelsea vs. Inter on Tuesday.
Click to expand...
I hope Mourinho's comeback creates more suspense and drama than Beckham's comeback to OT. More likely Inter will try to take the air out of the ball and put 10 men behind the ball the whole game. I have faith in Drogba though. 
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I'm worried that Mourinho will do that but they need to score atleast 1 goal as well. You expect Chelsea to score atleast 1 goal at Stamford Bridge (which would be enough if they dont concede). I just hope that Eto'o is involved in an Inter goal and shuts up the haters who think he's declining.
 
I don't think anyone believes Eto'o is declining, rather he has been unable to adjust to Inters & Mourinhos style, even though other less-talented players have.

Either way, it should fireworks tomorrow, can't wait!!!!
 
I wonder how much of Eto'o's perceived decline might be a result of the fact that he went from Spain to Italy, and the quality of his midfield decreased at the same time. It's almost the reverse of the Rooney situation in a way. Ronaldo leaves ManU and the offense opens up for Rooney to get constant service from all over the midfield, whereas Eto'o leaves a situation like that and goes to a team that is perhaps less focused on getting him the ball. 
Who else plays tomorrow? 
 
Inter are a bit of a mess. Dropped more points/lost over the weekend, Balotelli soap opera/being left off the squad, but perhaps this is the perfect time for a match of this proportion. All they need is the away goal and the pressure is on Chelsea. JT hasn't been in his best form, Carvalho is just returning from injury, and if Alex starts he is prone to clumsy mistakes and generally slow tracking back. Not a good quality against Eto'o/Milito. Turnbull in goal is a big question mark. Malouda playing on the wing this time is a big boost in the attack.

Prediction: Chelsea 3-1
Too many weapons in attack.



 
 
Does anyone know the schedule for today?

My guide says the first game is Sevilla-CSKA (
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) and it starts at 3:30? That can't be right.
 
Chelsea-Inter 3:30 on FSN and CSKA-Sevilla 3:30 on FSC.  The change in time is because the time changed over here and it has not changed over there yet.  I like the 2:30 starts better.
 
Chelsea vs. Inter should be
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The Special One returns to the Bridge with a lead and possibly 90 minutes away from the quarter-finals.

Can't wait.
 
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