2011/2012 Champions League Thread

[vennegoor of hesselink]

wasnt trying to be funny just have seen 3 replays of it and no replay of it just talk of it

[sadora]

Originally Posted by M*A*S*H 4077

Canucks fans in France? Anyone else catch the green laser pointer in Neuer's eyes?

There must be Canuck fans in Italy as well. Green lasers being pointed in the faces of the Barca players as they were getting set to take free kicks.

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Originally Posted by Locke

Mario Gomez is in just ridiculous form, easily one of the top 5 or even top 3 strikers in the world right now.

And to think Liverpool almost signed him when he couldnt beat Miro Klose for a starting place.

I hated Gomez for years. He had a miss for Germany where he put the ball over the net from about 2 feet out... I think I've finally forgiven him for that

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Originally Posted by vennegoor of hesselink

wasnt trying to be funny just have seen 3 replays of it and no replay of it just talk of it

Who said you were trying to be funny?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by sadora

Barca plays a finesse game that few teams can duplicate. I can understand how winning all the time, being the best team in the world can be boring to some.

Spare me the rhetoric. They maintain possession and hope Messi scores, call it what you like, but its boring.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by M*A*S*H 4077

I hated Gomez for years. He had a miss for Germany where he put the ball over the net from about 2 feet out... I think I've finally forgiven him for that

There was about 2 or 3 years there where he couldnt score a sitter to save his life and now everything he touches hits the back of the net.

[sadora]

Originally Posted by Locke

Spare me the rhetoric. They maintain possession and hope Messi scores, call it what you like, but its boring.

That's always been one of my favorite aspects of Barca. Of course they set up Messi as much as they can, but they also have players like Iniesta, Xavi, Alexis Sanchez, Cesc Fabregas, Puyol, Pique...and when he wasn't injured, David Villa, all with the skill to put the ball in the back of the net and who have done so many times this season alone. Interesting fact for this season, in all official competition Barca has scored a total of 152 goals, 55 of which have been by Messi.

[vennegoor of hesselink]

Robben makes it look easy 2-0 Bayern

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Robben!!! 2-0!

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Schweinsteiger comes in!

[vennegoor of hesselink]

Arjen Robben's last seven goals in the Champions League have been scored in the knockout stages

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Schweinsteiger will miss the second leg because of yellows... That one was a foul though...

[M*A*S*H 4077]

I love how Messi will never get called for a foul, ever

[sadora]

Great game from Milan, 2nd leg should be interesting. Advantage Milan!

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Observations after the Bayern-Marseille match:

Neuer is one of the top, if not the top, keepers in the world. He is so confident; he owns the box.
Lahm's yellow was terribly undeserved. Card happy ref in general.
Bit of an off game overall. They can be a lot better.
Marseille defended well for the most part. Not an awful lot of chances for Bayern.
Bayern should consider themselves a little lucky with the outcome.
Don't think we'll miss Schweinsteiger too much in the return leg with the two away goals. Need to get him healthy and match fit again.
Back to Germany!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by sadora

That's always been one of my favorite aspects of Barca. Of course they set up Messi as much as they can, but they also have players like Iniesta, Xavi, Alexis Sanchez, Cesc Fabregas, Puyol, Pique...and when he wasn't injured, David Villa, all with the skill to put the ball in the back of the net and who have done so many times this season alone. Interesting fact for this season, in all official competition Barca has scored a total of 152 goals, 55 of which have been by Messi.

So....over a third of all of Barca's goals have come from one player, which really just goes to the point I made.

Originally Posted by sadora

Great game from Milan, 2nd leg should be interesting. Advantage Milan!

Yeah, best team in the world, 65%+ of possession, 3 shots, 0-0 draw because Messi didnt score. Riveting stuff. Pretty much exactly what I said.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by M*A*S*H 4077

Schweinsteiger will miss the second leg because of yellows... That one was a foul though...

Have to wonder if putting him on to get a yellow was intentional. He was proably not going to play the second game anyways and now he can serve his suspension without having to play on yellows in the Semi-Finals.


Barca always seem to struggle with the Italian teams, as does the Spanish National team. The Italians just know who to defend them and have always been good on the counter attack.

Italians are content to let them pass the ball in the middle third and defend the crap out of them in the final third and then will just try to score on them on the counter as the push up to try and break through.

Its how Inter beat Barca, how Milan has put up a good fight against Barca, and why it took PKs for Spain to beat Italy in the last Euros and why Italy beat Spain earlier this year.

It's pretty much the same strategy the Swiss used to beat Spain in the World Cup too. I honestly am not sure why people try to actually attack Barca/Spain, let them pass themselves into acoma and use speed to break on the counter.

[d_phaneuf]

it's a shame Silva was injured, I think with him back that Meelan would have had a go at Barca

[Locke]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

it's a shame Silva was injured, I think with him back that Meelan would have had a go at Barca

No Pato either.

[sadora]

Originally Posted by Locke

Yeah, best team in the world, 65%+ of possession, 3 shots, 0-0 draw because Messi didnt score. Riveting stuff. Pretty much exactly what I said.

The 0-0 result against AC Milan, though not favorable for Barca, I'll take it. AC Milan is one of the best in Europe. That same result against teams like APOEL or Marsaille would be a completely different story. We'll see what happens at the Camp Nou.