Shoutbox

quote:

---

Originally posted by Basilis

quote:

---

Originally posted by John Anderton
I remember an AC Milan vs Inter (or was it Juve) final.. it sucked utter balls cause both of them played defensively and cancelled each other out.. 'twas totally boring (just like the Seria A imo )

---

It was Milan-Juventus and Milan won the cup with Shevchenko scoring the last penalty and giving Milan a 3-2 win. It was indeed a nasty game.

---

Yeah I remember everything about it except it being Juve I saw that match on tele. Just goes to show how much I thought it sucked

Anyway, Basilis, predictions for the second leg of the semis?

I said some posts before yours that I think Chelsea and Man. Utd will progress.

Arsenal sucked big time. Big let down. I was expecting a good fight.
I'm a United fan but I have to say this.. the first half, I hated the way the ref gave away soft decisions in United's favour (like the free kick to Ronaldo where he scored in the 11th min)
The sending off of Fletcher was appalling.

As for the Chelsea match, I really think Chelsea drew the short straw. nimicitor said something about van de sar not being worked.. well, barca made only ONE shot on target.. which they scored. Cech made 0 saves
Chelsea imo deserved better. At least a couple of penalties. The Malouda one was contentious. The Drogba one in the first half should have been given.
But more than that, the two hand balls towards the end (around 85+ mins and 95-96min after Barca scored) should have both been given. So that's 3 penalties against them.
As for Abidal's sending off, he deserved to be sent off in the first half and a penalty be given to Chelsea. The time he was *actually* sent off he did nothing Two wrongs don't make a right but meh.. that's football.

So its going to be United vs. Barca. I pip United to win. Messi doesn't do well against English clubs.. most of the Barca players don't. (90+ goals between the 3 forwards and no goals for more than 210 mins 160+ goals in total by the team this year)
I feel the match is going to be sucky.
Barca 0-1 Manchester United.

Thanks ref for denying us a free flowing United vs Chelsea repeat.
Despite being a United fan, I would rather see a good match with Chelsea where we could lose than a sucky match with Barca where we mostly would win.

Btw, I know Barca are a great side in great form. They just totally suck against English clubs. They can't handle them. And iirc, both their full backs are suspended. Puyol should be back though.
So go figure
@Time: Any predictions?

Not going to comment on the chelsea semi-final, i was highly unimpressed by the officiating of the match.

But i feel that Barca will win, because they seem to have pure dum luck with the officials.

I'm going to assume that Thierry Henry will be fit for the final, despite the mysterious nature of his supposed injury.

In which case, I think Barcelona will win it. Fletcher missing.. that leaves their defensive midfield players lacking. That gives Iniesta and Xavi the space to orchestrate things with Messi (despite his lacklustre previous games) for a more potent attack. Man Utd could really show up on the day and spoil that but still.. the Premiership will begin to wear on even their depth. We shall see.

I was watching the match and the moment I saw Essien not being able to send the ball of the box, I was sure that Barca would score. Unfortunately, they did. Only one shot on goal and they scored.

Last night's officiating reminded me a lot of some matches of Olympiacos, in which the officiating costed the team to not progress (I remember R. Carlos playing the role of the GK in front of the empty goal and both the referee Merk and the linesman had not "seen" it)

I believe Henry was fit last year when we had an extremely boring 0-0 + 1-0 (or was it a 0-1.. don't remember).
The only goal was a scorcher from Paul Scholes off a corner or something. But all in all considering the star line up of the two teams, the match was extremely boring.

Considering this will be one of the last matches I'll get to see on tele for a while, I certainly hope its really good

quote:

---

Originally posted by toddy
whats the money on it been an all english final again ?

---

nearly correct

quote:

---

Originally posted by toddy

quote:

---

Originally posted by toddy
whats the money on it been an all english final again ?

---

nearly correct

---

What can we say, shit happens
All part and parcel of the game. Sometimes decisions go your way, some times they don't. But when 4 clear penalty chances in one match don't go your way and you lose on away goals, you have a right to feel that you've been screwed over
Gotta move on, I guess

quote:

---

Originally posted by John Anderton
Considering this will be one of the last matches I'll get to see on tele for a while, I certainly hope its really good

---

I hope it will be good. I don't expect it to be
1-0 to United. 2-0 at max.. either way, I have a feeling it might be kinda boring

Match is to start in about 40 minutes..
I stand by what I said..

quote:

---

Originally posted by John Anderton
I hope it will be good. I don't expect it to be
1-0 to United. 2-0 at max.. either way, I have a feeling it might be kinda boring

---

I see a high United winning probability (80% imo). 10% chance of Barca winning it in 90 minutes and 10% it goes to extra time.
If it goes to penalties, I have a feeling Barca has a 60-40 to win. United kinda fail at penalties imo

United have a good chance of scoring this year (despite the way last year's match went) simply because of the lack of first line defenders in Barca's team for the finals.
Time once said that due to Fletcher's absence, United's Defensive Midfield is a tad bit weak and might give rise to more midfield possession (thus match control) for Barca. This might be true.. but I'm sure Ferguson has something planned for it.
Also, imo, Central Midfield is where Chelsea dropped off.. they played too defensively allowing Barca to attack.. it almost worked (having 10 men in defence in 2 lines of 5 but its always risky

What do you guys think is going to happen? (assuming someone is here before the match )

EDIT: Found a stat here.. United have never lost in European Finals (that's something every United fan knows). But do they also know that every time, United was the "home" team. Hence every time they had their choice of jersey picking Blue, Red, and Red in 1968, 1999 and 2008 respectively.

This is the first time they have been drawn as the "away" team hence getting second choice of jersey. Barca is going with their Red/Blue stripe so United is going with White.

The last time Barca played a team in White they seems to have drubbed them 6-2 or something (just heard that in an interview). Ferguson replied "We're better than Real Madrid"