2010/11 Official Champions League Thread

THAT is how you beat Barcelona. 2-1 to the ARSENAL

great stuff from Arsenal right there! now for the tough game at the Nou Camp, hope they can knock them out!

Warney said:

oh i can't wait to watch Arse get smashed by Barca!! Milan v Spurs should be a cracker and so should Bayern Inter. Man United should get through easy you would think but you never know..

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bl Anthony.

ahaha still the Nou Camp buddy

True true will be another cracker i look forward to it

Now, I dislike Arsenal as much as most clear-thinking, right-minded football fans ............

But what I watched this morning was as pulsating and exciting as football gets, I reckon. The Van Persie angled goal, the Arshavan goal to put Arsenal in front....just unreal.

Arsenal are always criticised for being front-runners, but I think they have momentarily silenced the critics.

What do you mean by frontrunners? They've been criticised the last few seasons for maybe being a bit 'soft' when teams like Stoke, Blackburn and 'Big Sam' managed teams want to kick the crap out of them and not play football if thats what you mean. Not the case anymore as they give it back, whilst playing football how its supposed to be played ala Barca. They're still a young team and are only going to get better still.
Job only half done though and Barcelona would be favourites still to go through I would imagine.

RVP in squad for Barca. From a possible 3-6 week injury to being back already, brings quality and confidence to the team. Still concentrating on premier league and looking at this match as a bonus, but cant wait all the same...

Lucky.. i thought the Gunners started Almunia because i just switched on the TV.. which would of been the biggest kicks in the face for Szczesny. Happens that Szczesny has been subbed off with injury

---------- Post added 09-03-2011 at 05:09 AM ----------

Messi 45+3' 1-0

Sergio Busquets Own Goal 52' 1-1

Van Persie Yellow/Red 55'

---------- Post added 09-03-2011 at 06:31 AM ----------

Lionel Messi ensures Barcelona and place in the next round with a Brace as Barca defeat the Gunners 4-3 on Aggregate.

First Leg: Emirates
Arsenal 2 (R Van Persie 78'), (A Arshavin 83')
Barcelona 1 (D Villa 26')

Second Leg: Nou Camp
Arsenal 1 (S Busquets OG 53')
Barcelona 3 (L Messi, 45+2', 71' PG), Xavi (69')

Summary: You would have to say that Barca dominated the second leg, and that the damage could of been much worse if it wasn't for Almunia's great keeping (i thought anyway- and i hate the bloke). Messi was good and he made that 1st goal look easy. The Arsenal defenders looked to slow and too tactically unaware.. best example was the first goal. All of the defenders in frame of the 1st goal, had their eyes on Iniesta, while Messi was onside looking for a through ball that would 9/10 would find the net. Thought Van Persie was a little unlucky with the second yellow as well. Well done Barca and well done Almunia.

Barca dominant throughout. Was hard 11 v 11, 11 v 10 no chance. Defence looked good with 11 men, not many players who would chip the keeper like Messi did. At 1-1 had a great chance to go through, until RVP got his second yellow for shooting at goal when he'd been called offside ONE SECOND after the whistle was blown. In a crowd of 90000+, if RVP doesn't hear the whistle and shoots ONE SECOND after it is blown, use some common sense ref. Great way to kill a game. This after Abidal grabbed RVP by the throat in the first half and didn't even get a warning. Pathetic.
But as I said, Barca dominated and deserved it.

yeah the ref's common sense was lacking for majority of the game.. but you can't expect much more from them.. they are clowns.

Poor Almunia will be in a helmet soon if he keeps getting stepped on and kicked on the head!

rishgoon said:

THAT is how you beat Barcelona. 2-1 to the ARSENAL

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And that is how you beat Arsenal 3-1
it was always going to be hard to win after RVP was sent off. I hope Arsenal can win the Premier league!

CL Draw:

Wednesday 6 April:
Real Madrid - Tottenham
Chelsea - Man Utd

Thursday 7th April
Barcelona - Shakhtar
Inter - Schalke

Great win by the boys this morning... scores:

Man United 2 (Hernandez, Park) Chelsea 1 (Drogba) United win 3-1 on aggregate.
Shakhtar 0 Barcelona 1 (Messi) Barca win 6-1 on aggregate.

Two matches tonight,

FC Schalke v Inter- Schalke lead 5-2 on aggregate.
Real Madrid v Tottenham- Madrid lead 4-0 on aggregate.

The whole team played well this morning.. Chelsea showed up as well but some stupid managerial errors lost it for them in my opinion. Torres was started instead of Drogba, he had probably the worst game of his professional career, couldn't hit a target and was in terrible positions..

On the united front, VDS looked a little jumpy but got the job done, Vidic and Ferdinand looked good, Evra was awesome in attack and defence, O'Shea looked good and that pass to Giggs for the assist was world-class, Nani was good but not at his best, Carrick looked good, Park looked rushed but his goal was first class, Giggs was classic giggs, Rooney and Hernandez played well together and Chicharito's run was perfectly timed. Valencia didn't have much time to prove himself but looked good when he was on the ball. Player of the match for me is Ryan Giggs.

2010/11 UEFA Champions League Semi-Final Preview
First Leg, Game 1
Manchester United v Schalke 04
@ Veltins-Arena — Gelsenkirchen

What an encounter this is going to be! Man. United will be going into the match as favourites but Schalke are coming hot off a smashing of reigning champions Inter over two legs, which really proves that they mean business. Although United have recorded shocking results against German oppositions in UCL Semi-Finals in the past, recent European form puts them in favour with the bookies and like Schalke, are capable of a final's birth at Wembley.

Head to Head:
Goals Scored: 21 (Schalke), 12 (Man United)
Attempts on Target: 59 (Schalke), 51 (Man United)
Attempts off Target: 45 (Schalke), 45 (Schalke)
Corners: 57 (Schalke), 57 (Man United)
Fouls Committed: 171 (Schalke), 130 (Man United)
Possession Percent Avg: 51% (Schalke), 53% (Man United)

Key Players:

FC Schalke 04-

Raul: The Former Real Madrid legend is still looking dangerous in the twilight years in German and European football. The UCL All-Time leading scorer has scored 5 goals for Schalke this year in the UCL and is one of those players that goal keepers hate to deal with.. Will be extremely dangerous. If United are to win this match, the likely pairing of Ferdinand and Vidic will have to be on their games to stop him from winning the match for Schalke.

Manchester United-

Javier Hernandez: The young mexican has proved to be one of the best buys of the season in Europe, scoring 19 goals in his debut season for United in all competitions. His knowledge of the game is excellent and the defence of Schalke will have a hand full with him out on the park. A certainty to start as Berbatov didn't travel, killer header and one of the best poachers in England at the moment.

Likely Line-ups:

Schalke 04: Neuer; Uchida, Howedes, Metzelder, Escudero; Farfan, Papadopoulos, Jurado, Baumjohann; Raul, Edu.

Man United: Van der Sar; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Giggs, Carrick, Park; Hernandez, Rooney.


Prediction: Schalke 1 Man United 1

---------- Post added 27-04-2011 at 03:35 AM ----------

At the End of the First Half the score reads..

Schalke 0 Man United 0.

Should be a good second half, the first half of the match was described by the commentators as United v Neuer because Schalke's attacking chances were few and far between and United would be at least 3 up if it wasn't for the excellent keeping of the Schalke Number 1.

---------- Post added 27-04-2011 at 04:38 AM ----------

Final Score in Germany-

FC Schalke 0 Manchester United 2 (Giggs 67, Rooney 69)

Great result for United, hopefully will back it up at OT next week..

I couldn't help to notice the 'wink' SAF and Neuer shared at the end of the match, it was made as if there was something going on behind closed doors between the clubs in relation to Neuer

Frantic game of football this morning at the Bernabaeu..

Things got from bad to worse for Madrid after loosing 2 men for the next match and their manager's touchline freedom which ended up with a 2-0 home loss to Barcelona.

Pepe was sent off for a foul that was no more than a yellow card (at the most), Sergio Ramos was shown a yellow which suspends him for one game and Barcelona's sub goal keeper Jose Pinto was red carded at half time for his involvement in an altercation between Madrid and Barcelona officials and coaching staff. On top of that Mourinho got his matching orders and was sent to the stands after annoying the 4th referee a little too much and getting angry like Mourinho always does..

Messi was the man to put Barca on front, Messi was also the man to finish it off, scoring a neat second-half brace to put a foot into the Wembley Final.

What's with Barca only ever having to play against 10 men in big Champions League matches?? Chelsea...Inter...Arsenal now Real?

I'd say their good at playing the referees.. Pinto is the biggest idiot out.. red carded without spending anytime on the pitch..