UEFA Champions League Thread [Archive]

[Alex.]

It's a better result for us than for Barca since it was or away leg.

However, Barca now have the oppurtunity to score away goals, whereas your chance has gone. Both 2nd legs will be very interesting 👍

 

[Dave A]

The fact is playing away is harder than at home. They couldn't score against us at the Nou Camp when they had the lions share of possesion and had the crown supprt and the pitch that they're used to. That's a pretty good sign from our perspective for the game at Old Trafford. It doesn't mean that arn't capable of it, or won't but it's a good sign for us all the same. It will be an interesting 2nd leg though, I'm pretty confident.

 

[Venom77]

We need are pitch nice and wet to beat barca on tuesday give um the old northern wheather wet and windy and we will turn um over in good styleAs for liverpoo they in my eye's are out on wednesday with chelsea's win over united this saturday there confidence will be on a high.I hope im wrong though as i would rather united face liverpoo on a final easy match for united :tup:And i cannot see barca scoring at old trafford they could'nt even score at home odds on for united for the double hopfully:tup:

 

[Dave A]

I can see us beating Barca but I wouldn't rule out them scoring. I agree I'd rather get Liverpool in the final, yes I tihnk it would be an easier match for us but mostly the rivalry would make it a bigger spectacle imo. United v Chelsea matches are usually boring, Chelsea played pretty well on Saturday though, sadly I have to conceed that they deserved thier win. But usually I find games between the two clubs pretty boring. I'd rather a United v Liverpool final, we'd have a better chance and it'd be a better game. Imo.

 

[Muzaffar]

I'd rather a United v Liverpool final, we'd have a better chance and it'd be a better game. Imo.

Well said my friend. 👍
It makes both of us happy. (me and my friend that is) At least both Man Utd and Liverpool has got some history in them unlike other teams!!!!!!

So about my early predictions:
Barcelona vs. Man. United, April 29.
After a 0-0 draw at Nou Camp, I can't see this changing. Both teams are equally good in terms of defending and attacking (+1 for Barca on both) and that Man Utd have Vidic injured as well as Sir Alex Ferguson using the wrong formation! He has got to do something about the defending....... Man Utd will probably retain Teves and Rooney playing at the front while hopefully Ronaldo and Giggs will play on the side as usual......

Liverpool vs. Chelsea, April 30.
Despite conceding an own goal at the last minute, Chelsea has got to consider themselves lucky. (as well as having a penalty awarded to them late in the game vs. Man Utd) But their luck may run out somehow when they face Liverpool again at Stanford Bridge. Liverpool must be kicking themselves for Riise's own goal and are sure to attack Chelsea as they would know how. Be sure to watch out for Torres and Gerrard as they will primarily the one thats gonna cause trouble.....

 

[Venom77]

Sir Alex Ferguson using the wrong formation! He has got to do something about the defending....... Man Utd will probably retain Teves and Rooney playing at the front while hopefully Ronaldo and Giggs will play on the side as usual.

I think youve got something wrong there matey united have the best defence in the premier league and maybe in europe.... As for giggs he needs to give nani a roll in his position for a full game atleast or i think fergie should bring giggs on in the second half if nani is not doing well....My hope's are high for some wins in the next couple of games as that we need nothing but win win win no draws

 

[Dave A]

Vidic isn't out for the Barca game, we have a fully fit defence. The knock against Chelsea knocked one of his teeth out and knocked the others through his bottom lip. He's perfectly fit and ready to play on Tuesday.

 

[Venom77]

It was a brave header out from vidic and a nasty knock but he is strong and he will be in the barca game:tup:My main worry is rooney though he looked a bit stressed on his hipMy prediction for the barca/united game 1-0 to unitedUnited with a late goal 80th minute ronaldo fingers crossed

 

[Only_in_f1]

I've heard Rooneys fit and well. The hip didn't bother him much while he was scoring but it didnt look good after. Where was Anderson at the weekend?

 

[Venom77]

I think he was rested for the barca game:tup:Anderson really needs to score a goal for united he keeps knocking but no ones home soon as he gets his first im sure they will keep coming class player:tup:

 

[Muzaffar]

I think youve got something wrong there matey united have the best defence in the premier league and maybe in europe.... As for giggs he needs to give nani a roll in his position for a full game atleast or i think fergie should bring giggs on in the second half if nani is not doing well....My hope's are high for some wins in the next couple of games as that we need nothing but win win win no draws

Well maybe that was me, but they started with Ronaldo up front and Rooney on the side, with Hargreaves as a defender. (yeah, seems totally out of place to me, but I guess they could always switch sides) But seeing Hargreaves with very little of the ball just makes me mad. He could have contributed more if he was playing midfield.....

Vidic isn't out for the Barca game, we have a fully fit defence. The knock against Chelsea knocked one of his teeth out and knocked the others through his bottom lip. He's perfectly fit and ready to play on Tuesday.

Well I hope. After Gary Neville got injured for almost a year, Man Utd only had to rely on Ferdinand and Vidic to the tackling and clearing the ball (I despise all the other defender, the can't even do a half decent tackle without getting a foul.....) Yeah, just hope for the best and see if Vidic could get a starting line up...... 👍

 

[Dave A]

What, you despise our other defenders??? Evra is an amazing left back, Brown hasn't been too bad this season either and Pique I'm pretty sure would slot into any first team outside of Chelsea and Man U with little trouble.

As for Hargreaves he played right back a lot for Bayern Munich. He's better as a right winder or holding midfielder but he's perfectly capable of filling in as a right back when needed. I'd rather a fully fit Neville and Brown as the stand in but Hargreaves is still good in that position. The way we played at the Nou Camp was to stifle Barca's attack, putting Rooney on the win forced thier attacks downt he middle more since Roo ney defends and backtracks better than Ronaldo. Ronaldo up front on his own isn't nearly as good as he is on the wing, but I can understand what Fergie did and why he played like that. I'd have rathered to have seen us play more offensively, it was a pretty boring game, but I can understand the reasons.

 

[Mr. Boy]

This game is gonna be fantastic.

This will be our starting line-up IMO:
................Valdes...................
Zambrotta...Puyol..Milito....Abidal
.................Toure..................
.......Deco.................Xavi
Messi............................Henry
..................Eto'o.................

I really hope we show up tonight.

 

[Venom77]

Here's utd line up imo:tup:

.................van der sar....................
Brown...ferdinand...Vidic...Evra.....
Ronaldo...Carrick...Anderson...Nani
...Rooney..............Tevez.....

Not sure on evra as silvestre is fit and playing but both players got good pace and are not scared of going forwardIf a early goal is produced then we are inn for one hell of a game....

Hope sven see's sence a leave's the scum city and they get relagated next season:tup:Come on sven do us united fans a favour and drop um in the ....👍

 

[Only_in_f1]

I'm Gonna stick my neck out, 3-2 to Man United.

 

[Alex.]

I reckon 1-0, messi 👍

 

[Mr. Boy]

Congrats to all mancunians. 👍 Have a good time in Moscow.

 

[daan]

Strange how Man U fans will all be posting in here shortly, yet they ignored the Premiership thread on Saturday....

 

[Dave A]

For that I'm not going to post in here now. Doh.

That's because we were depressed on Saturday but we arn't now . To be fair though, I did comment on Saturdays match briefly in this thread, I'm not scared of saying we were beaten by the better side on the day, gutted about it but I can admit it.

As for tonights game, again we didn't hold the midfield well, defensively we were amazing but we arn't playing to our attacking strenths. If we had Rooney fit enough to play he always adds an extra spark up front with his movment and energy and vision but we haven't been holding the ball nearly as well as I'd like us to be or as well as we can in the last few games. We will need to play better than we did tonight to win the final, that I'm certain of. We deserved the win, but mainly that was because Barca we're poor infront of goal and poor at the back, they were great in the midfield though, they we're getting upto our aerra well but didn't do much once they got there. Too many individual performances in Barca imo and not enough team cohesion.

Messi to United anyone. I wish. The lads amazing and he was a stand out tonight, I thought Ronaldo played well too though, him and Messi made beating a man look easy. Nani is still a player I'm not sure of, he has moments of brilliance then he complety negates them with twice as much stupidity. Ronaldo often gets away with being a little selfish at times because he has an end product, Nani does not have an end product 19 times out of 20. Besides that, where was Anderson, the lad has been amazing for us this year, he's not scored but he's controlled midfield play fantastically well and has performed in all the big games he's played in. Other than that, I'm absolutely delighted to be in the final. We haven't lost a European cup final yet, let's hope we still haven't in just over 3 weeks.

 

[Muzaffar]

Strange how Man U fans will all be posting in here shortly, yet they ignored the Premiership thread on Saturday....

Don't dare to deny Man Utd from winning the Premiership.....
I would like to post, but I can't be bothered.

Anyways, totally forgot to post here after that game (yeah, I was too busy for the whole day!) and I feel ashamed of myself. Man Utd did just enough to fend of Barca for the whole 90+ minutes and really deserved to go to Moscow. 👍 Didn't really expect Rooney not to be playing, but boy oh boy am I relieved to see the score. Paul Scholes did a fantastic strike from outside the box! I don't think any goalkeeper could save that! Too bad it was Deco's mistake that cause them the game. But I can't say Barca didn't have their chances, they had plenty during the game! But unfortunately, none of them actually went into the back of the net. Tisk, tisk.

Ronaldo did what he could, but unfortunately Barca really got a hold on him and he wasn't able to do much. Nani did have better chances than Ronaldo to score, but his inexperience did really show its true colors during the game. But a good player none the less, a future prospect if I do say so myself. 👍 As for defending, the only beef I have with is Wes Brown. He's a 🤬 a**hole! I mean he "accidentally" kicked Van Der Sar twice in the head! His defending really is questionable. One time he did a good tackle, the next he gave the ball to the opposition! I hope Man Utd really can get rid of him..... The Evra incident at the end of the game really made suspense for everyone, and made me want to say "oh for 🤬 sake! Its over already"

Only a few hours till the Liverpool vs. Chelsea game starts, and I really will have to support Liverpool during that game. I can't imagine what would happen if Chelsea made it into the finals..... But I don't really know what the tactics are but for all I know, there are a few key players to look out in the game. For Liverpool, the only one that I would like to see is Torres. Considered already as one of the great players in Liverpool, being the 2nd highest goal scorer after Ronaldo, and made a big impact on how Liverpool plays. Yeah, both him and Gerrard are the one that would be causing up trouble at the Chelsea defense. Jamie Carragher and/or Sami Hyypiä would be the backbone of Liverpool and fend of any attack from Chelsea.

Now, for the Chelsea side of things...... It remains to be seen what danger Chelsea will threat Liverpool with, as Chelsea already struck a big blow on Man Utd last Saturday (damn it, damn it, damn it! ) Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack is really hoping to score today, and by chance they will! Michael Essien may cause some trouble in midfield (as well as giving a try at a goal at any time) and the same can be said for Frank Lampard. The defense would be just as strong as Liverpool, with Ricardo Carvalho and John Terry doing what they do best........

My prediction: Could be a draw, and maybe even a penalty, but probably a 1:1 result or Liverpool taking the victory..... I don't wanna say Chelsea would surely lose, but I just don't really like them and I want them to lose so badly! But already there was a lot of upsets happening, so yeah, probably a 50:50% chance.

Wow..... Think I just typed too much. Is this okay for everyone to read?

 

[Venom77]

Come on liverpoo beat chelsea again tonight with one of them goals that dont go over the lineI really hope chelsea go out tonight knowing they have been ripped off again:tup:

 

[Venom77]

Strange how Man U fans will all be posting in here shortly, yet they ignored the Premiership thread on Saturday....

We should have won that game chelsea knocked 2 of the line it should have been 3-2 to united other wise chelsea was lucky on saturday and if you chelsea do get through tonight we will be winning are third cup in europe:tup:

 

[Dave A]

No need to be bitter, what happened happened. A shot cleared from the line is a shot cleared, we could have won if Chelsea fielded thier youth team as well, but what happened happened. We were out played on Saturday, yes I think we're a better team than Chelsea but on that day we didn't perform that well and as much as I'd have still acecpted and loved taking three points or even the 1 from a draw regardless, we didn't deserve them. We will hopefully answer the questions raised after that defeat in the best way possible, by winning our last three games of the season.

 

[Muzaffar]

Ahhh.....
Liverpool suffer a defeat from Chelsea after playing thorough 90+ minutes and 30+ minutes of stoppage time. I feel sorry for Liverpool as they were almost the top contender for the finals, and Chelsea has dealt a heavy blow to them. Drogba played fantastically well for Chelsea and I don't see Liverpool having a chance of stopping him. Now Man Utd have a heavy task of winning both or either the Premiership title and the Champions League trophy. But I really hate to see Chelsea going to the finals in Moscow, there will be many Chelsea supporters because of Roman Abrahimovic's presence. No doubt, it will be an interesting final..... 👍

 

[Alex.]

Fair play to Chelsea. Although I think Essien's goal was CORRECTLY overruled becuase they had 4 players offside obstructing the keeper's view. We should've had a pen at the other end. no complaints about Hyypia's tackle. Kalou was put through in an offside position.

If only both teams could lose in the final...

 

[Touring Mars]

Slightly off topic, but Rangers have just made it to the UEFA Cup final... and Glasgow is going a bit mad outside my window here... unbelievable, not least because Rangers' performance was abject... 210 minutes of no goals over both legs! Fiorentina had practically all the play tonight but just couldn't score... at one point the shot count was 14-0 to Fiorentina!! Rangers had a man sent off with 10 mins of extra time left, but still Fiorentina couldn't get a goal...

Rangers missed their first penalty, but a save by the Rangers keeper and a miss by Christian Vieri handed the game to Rangers...! Surprisingly, Bayern Munich were thrashed 4-0 by Zenit St. Petersburg, so Rangers will face them in the final in Manchester... Rangers will surely have to play a bit better to win the UEFA Cup, but they've made it to the final playing pretty terribly so far!

 

[MagpieRacer]

Interesting fact, Zenit are managed by ex Rangers boss Dick Advocaat, who led them (Rangers) to a domestic treble, should be an interesting reunion.

 

[Touring Mars]

Wow, I didn't know that... that does make it interesting!

 

[Only_in_f1]

Zenit 4-0. I couldn't believe that. I watched both legs of both ties and although Zenit are missing their main target man striker, I think they might just beat Rangers.

Christian Vieri. What a shame to see a one time great stiker missing easy chances and playing so badly.

 

[Touring Mars]

It's with a modicum of trepidation that I'll be venturing to the pub tonight to watch Rangers take on Zenit in the UEFA Cup final... check out the video on this page to give you some insight into what the atmosphere is going to be like tonight... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7399067.stm Although thousands upon thousands of Rangers supporters have descended upon Manchester, I expect that the pubs of Glasgow will be absolutely packed to the rafters tonight... However, Zenit are the bookies favourites, and if things don't work out for Rangers tonight, things could get pretty dodgy pretty quickly, as I expect people will be in the pubs from 5 o'clock onward (K.O. 7.45 pm) in order to get a decent vantage point of any TV's/screens in pubs showing the game. The game is on terrestrial TV, but my desire to watch the game at home has been thwarted by a mate of mine who insists on going to the pub to watch the game...

The pub below my flat has a purpose-made poster up in the window, saying "Come Early To Avoid Disappointment!"... perhaps it should read "Don't Watch To Avoid Disappointment!"... I hope for the sake of tens of thousands of my fellow Glaswegian residents that Rangers pull off a famous win tonight, but I have to bet with my head and not my heart and go for Zenit to win, perhaps after extra-time...