UEFA Champions League Thread

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ManlyBacker

Winging it
Two games down in the Quarter finals first leg. It was Man. United against Porto (the so called easy-beats) at home which finished 2-2, and Villarreal v Arsenal away 1-1.

I don't know what is wrong with the English teams but they both put in woeful first half performances.

Man Utd were ordinary and went 1 down after 4 minutes and then were gifted a reply goal  in the howler of the year from Alves in the first half when he passed it back to the goalkeeper without looking and it fell right into the path of Rooney. United picked it up in the second term and drew ahead through a brilliant goal by Tevez who only came on late (why?, he has been brilliant for a month) but undid it all with sloppy defending to allow Porto to grab the draw with minutes to go. Those 2 away goals may cost Man Utd advancement.

It was the same at El Madrigal stadium where the Gunners were plain disappointing and a brilliant strike by Senna from 25 out rocketed past Almunia after only 10. In the second stanza it was all Arsenal as they set wave after wave and were rewarded with a stunning overhead goal by Adebayor. Wegner will take heart from the draw and it is off to Emirates for the decider.

Tomorrow it will be Liverpool v Chelsea at Anfield and Barcelona v Bayern Munich (who were hammered 5-1 on the weekend against Wolfsburg).
 
Europe strikes back…..
After the last round the way the press was talking you would have thought it was a certainty that an English team would win the big cup
Whilst this still might happen it is a nice reminder that there are quality teams in Europe….apart from in England
 
Chelsea travelled to Anfield and in an even and rough-house first half Liverpool scored on the 8 minute mark after a fantastic Torres finish. They seemed to have Chelsea's measure but started to wilt and conceded a goal before half time. Drogba missed a couple of sitters but the home team just took the honours.  The second half looked all the Reds but against the run of play a corner left Ivanovic with a clear powerful header for a surprising 2-1 lead. Only 5 minutes later Drogba scored to make it 3-1 to Chelsea and misery for the fans. Liverpool could find nothing after this and that is how it finished. I cannot see the Reds getting out of this one.

Meanwhile Barcelona ran riot against Munich. It was a game they completely dominated from the starting whistle. The backs gave nothing away while the midfield fed Henry, Messi and Eto'o chance after chance and it was a slaughter of 4-0 by halftime, and it could have easily been a lot more. They eased up in the second but still controlled every aspect and that was where the game finished.

I can't say any particular team looks the goods and all have improvements, but Barca seem to have such control all over the park that they would be an early pick at this stage.
 
Man Utd play sunday then tuesday, they were clearly tired and needed an extra day.

Lol at the pool, though i would rather seem them in the final then chelski.

Aresernal might win it.... or Barca.
 
CliffyIsGod link said:
LOL Utd scum.

when was the last time City won the Champions league or competited in it? wait, when was the last time City won anything at all? (The lottery of being chosen by the oil shieks perhaps?)
 
Not over yet boys,the way lliverpool are scoring goals they could easily score 2 required goals at stamford bridge.Faark united got out of jail again at sunderland liverpool are a much better side than united  this year surely they'll eventually crumble.
 
If liverpool lose torres, they are done and dusted. If man utd lose rooney, not everything is lost. The better team is relative.
 
manu had the choice re when to play the game (epl...) they choose the shorter turn around to give their player rest from international duty.
If you ask me that was arrogance...EPL being seen as harder than Porto
 
Zep link said:
how many teams does EPL have in the last 8 of the competition??

Most teams yes
Most likely winner yes
Most Arrogant? Manu......
 
The games were back on today and two more different games you will never see.

The first was one of the games of the year with Liverpool visiting Stamford Bridge with a 1-3 aggregate to overcome. In the first half it was all Liverpool and they were rewarded with some free kick magic from Aurelio on 19m and again with an Alonso penalty at 28m that had them 2-0 at halftime and one goal off a semi-final berth. Gus must have put a rocket up Chelsea at the break as it was a different Blues that came out. A deft touch by Drogba from an Anelka cross at 57m saw it 1-2 then a powerful free kick from Alex made it 2-2 and another from Lampard on the 76m mark made it look all over. No one told Liverpool who came back with two goals in two minutes, a Lucas deflection on 81m and a Kuyt header on 82 and it was set for a thrilling finish. But it was another Lampard clinical clincher near time that sealed Chelsea’s advancement.

Barcelona went to Bayern Munich with a 4-0 advantage and in front of a sea of red local supporters looked well out of place. Gone was the fluent control and Munich set up chance after chance and looked like the only team that showed up. For all their efforts it was 0-0 at half time. Ribery pulled off some deft weaving and goaled at the beginning of the second half for Munich. But from then on anyone who bought tickets were ripped off as Barca played back 4 and midfield keepsies for huge periods of the game. On 73m Keita scored for Barca to make it all over. Still Munich pushed forward and had an entertaining game while Barca should be red-carded for their complete lack of spirit.

Chelsea face Barcelona on 29th April.
 
What a game - it almost makes up for the tripe they have served up the previous years....almost.....
 
It was the last day of games of the quarter finals and it was victory for both English teams.

Man Utd travelled to Portugal to tackle Porto and the tone was set by a 35 mt thunder shot goal, when nothing looked on, by Ronaldo in the 6th minute that silenced the locals. The Reds dominated most of the first half and Porto looked nothing like the team from the first leg. The second half opened with a torrential downpour and the game had more fake falls, grimaces, tears and protestations than a kindergarten birthday party. Porto offered insipid attack and United controlled the play with great passing. They will be happy they got through but will need to improve.

Arsenal faced Villareal at Emirates Stadium and on paper had the best line-up for at least 4 months. And it showed. They controlled the play in an entertaining game where deft connecting passes worked for both teams. The first goal came from such play and was finished by a delicate chip by Walcott on 10m. Adebayor made it 2-0 on 60 mts and a penalty converted by Van Persie on 69 mts saw the Gunners easily go through.

It will be a Man United Arsenal semi-final and a super clash. Ferguson will need to rally his team for a better performance and the Gunners need to keep this side to show their true potential. One good thing out of this is we won't have to put up with the European histrionics and so-called injuries where a connecting foul actually missed hitting the bleating child by miles. Automatic 2 game suspensions for this rubbish should be mandated across the global game.
 
Team P W L PD Pts
3 3 0 48 6
4 3 1 28 6
3 2 1 10 6
4 2 2 39 4
3 2 1 28 4
3 2 1 15 4
3 2 1 14 4
2 1 1 13 4
2 1 1 6 4
3 2 1 -3 4
3 1 2 0 2
3 1 2 -5 2
3 1 2 -15 2
3 1 2 -22 2
3 1 2 -36 2
2 0 2 -56 2
3 0 3 -64 0
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