<<U.E.F.A Champions league 2008-2009>>

[Maserati]

he did get a yellow card

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=266494&cc=3888

some news sources probably missed it.

I stand corrected

[RASC]

You Play to WIN...you don't play to just be content.

That's the difference between winners and losers. At this level everyone has great skill. It's the heart, focus and determination that seperates the sheep from the goat.

Simple-not rocket science. Barca was a man down, struggling to break through, Alves was playing mess, Messi was shut down. No Henry, No Puyol, Defense in shambles, Red Card and STILL tried to win & away from home

...and you're telling me they don't deserve to be in the final. Your team is exactly what your name says equal2zero

[pato]

One of my favorite teams fighting a relegation battle and allyuh quarreling about who reaching the cl final.

Barca and Man U deserved to be where they are cause they played well and fought till the end. We know the officiating was poor but professional footballers should know how to conduct themselves on and off the field.

Doh worry it always have next season, Liverpool was knocked out a long time ago and the title is more or less destined for Man u but i know they played well and fought hard all the time and of course the officiating had its effects on those games too.

[equal2zero]

BARCA deserve to be in the finals

on the basis of what exactly? they were certainly not the better team over two legs. they were lucky to advance but you make your own luck and iniesta took his chance very well.

and thank God they are i swear i could not take a repeat of last year's final. Another all english final and i would have stopped watching all football for the rest of the season

not you alone, platini and blatter in the same boat.

[RASC]

Luck? WTF is luck?

People who PREPARE are LUCKY...you fail to prepare, you will NEVER be lucky!

[RASC]

.

and thank God they are i swear i could not take a repeat of last year's final. Another all english final and i would have stopped watching all football for the rest of the season

not you alone, platini and blatter in the same boat.

So wait, now is a conspiracy hoss you doh get tired of talking so much S H I T

[equal2zero]

and the only team which came into that tie with preparation was chelsea yet they got slaughtered for negative tactics.

when barca were being shut down and unable to even get a shot on target what was their plan b? more of plan a. if they were prepared and were what everyone was billing them to be they would have found a way to breach chelsea's defense.

[God Bless the Black Top*]

no sense b!tching till the 27th, then allyuh could make yuh dub plates

[equal2zero]

.

and thank God they are i swear i could not take a repeat of last year's final. Another all english final and i would have stopped watching all football for the rest of the season

not you alone, platini and blatter in the same boat.

So wait, now is a conspiracy hoss you doh get tired of talking so much S H I T

until i see a full investigation into why such an incompetent ref was appointed for such a huge game, i wouldnt count it out.

[DF1_2nR]

Come on Chelsea fans....sip it slow.

Let that Haterade warm your insides....goes down smooth doesn't it.

Sip sip....The ref cheated us....

Sip....#@$*&#$& Hand Ball!!!!

Sip......its a conspiracy!!!

Sip sip.......Why do they pass so well.....

sip......not one penalty......

sip sip...damn we should've scored

gulp...trophy case empty again this season....

[teems1]

You Play to WIN...you don't play to just be content.

That's the difference between winners and losers. At this level everyone has great skill. It's the heart, focus and determination that seperates the sheep from the goat.

Simple-not rocket science. Barca was a man down, struggling to break through, Alves was playing mess, Messi was shut down. No Henry, No Puyol, Defense in shambles, Red Card and STILL tried to win & away from home

...and you're telling me they don't deserve to be in the final. Your team is exactly what your name says equal2zero

both teams played well and both deserved a win

but the way barca got it will always leave this 09 champions league semifinal tie tainted and in disrepute.

no true barca fan would walk around beating their chest saying they were the better team after seeing that game.

at the end of the day, barca won only because chelsea had 2 clear cut penalties denied.

[DF1_2nR]

You Play to WIN...you don't play to just be content.

That's the difference between winners and losers. At this level everyone has great skill. It's the heart, focus and determination that seperates the sheep from the goat.

Simple-not rocket science. Barca was a man down, struggling to break through, Alves was playing mess, Messi was shut down. No Henry, No Puyol, Defense in shambles, Red Card and STILL tried to win & away from home

...and you're telling me they don't deserve to be in the final. Your team is exactly what your name says equal2zero

both teams played well and both deserved a win

but the way barca got it will always leave this 09 champions league semifinal tie tainted and in disrepute.

no true barca fan would walk around beating their chest saying they were the better team after seeing that game.

at the end of the day, barca won only because chelsea were a crap team on the day and didn't take their chances.

[X_Factor]

luck U say
Essien could score another goal like what he did in 100 tries?

[dmitc]

BARCA deserve to be in the finals

on the basis of what exactly? they were certainly not the better team over two legs. they were lucky to advance but you make your own luck and iniesta took his chance very well.

on the basis that the ball went from Iniesta foot to the back of the Chelsea net

[mw2addict]

.............

[equal2zero]

ok maybe i should have said chelsea was more deserving than barca on the merit of their performance IMO

[God Bless the Black Top*]

^^^ LLAAWWWLLLSSZZERS

[DF1_2nR]

ok maybe i should have said chelsea was more deserving than barca on the merit of their performance IMO

If that were true then they would have put the ball in the back of the net more than once.

Barca showed more hunger on the field while Chelsea was content sit back and defend their lead. Their performance earned them the result they got.

[aR&D]

Hiddink as shown the formula on how to shut down Barca. Sir Alex would've taken note and i expect to see the same applied.

yes i am a ManU fan, but, that aside, on the basis of recent play by play and weakness, ManU chances are very very good.

[Maserati]

barca see their flaws they'll move to adjust in a suitable manner

[equal2zero]

ok maybe i should have said chelsea was more deserving than barca on the merit of their performance IMO

If that were true then they would have put the ball in the back of the net more than once.

Barca showed more hunger on the field while Chelsea was content sit back and defend their lead. Their performance earned them the result they got.

not to dwell on this and not to sound sour but protecting a lead for me constitutes as fighting for a game. both teams fought but barca needed the goal so they had to show more intent, chelsea were allowing them on and playing on the counter attack, simple. why is that so hard to understand?

credit to barca for pulling off what was unlikely at that point though. chelsea had their tactics for 180 mins down to a T only for it to be undone by a moment of brilliance. when you look back however and see that had it not been for a couple of bad calls you would have had the game sewn up by that time, you just have to feel aggrieved.

[Skyline_babe]

barcas persistence and determination led them to that win yesterday, all in all i am a die hard man utd fan PERO who says that barca won't do the same, we will have to wait and see what will play of it's a match between the cremme de la cremme and on the 27th...oh what a show!, i definately know it will be a tough fight...

manchester all the way
BEETCHES!!
RED DEVILS IYMC!!

[mw2addict]

................

[worksux101]

show me a man who says that barca deserves to be in the final and i'll show you a liar. barca and the entire spanish league have been shown up here, the defensive prowess of an english team has exposed barca as the most over-rated and over-hyped team of the season.

I've said for the last few weeks, since the Chelsea-Pool draw really, that Chelsea are not to be counted out...they have the experience and showed it over the two legs...when everyone start to bawl Barca would put 5 past them i said the same...both legs proved that and what you said there obviously has at least a hint oft ruth in it...

That said though...when Utd weren't given the penalty in the FA Cup semis and went on to lose on penalties, i haven't and still wouldn't b!tch about it...at the end of the day, if they were truly the better team on the day they would've scored, and that's something i and all football fans should respect...
As a neutral though, that has to be easily one of the worst and most one-sided officiating i've ever seen...conspiracy with Platini or not, one can't help to think that at the very least the recent comments by him would've affected the ref's performance...

[drunkenscorpion]

The game was a very good one IMO. Barca did play well, its just that you all looking for Messi to be the be all and end all of the team, and if he was shut out by Cole, then you all wanna say Barca as a TEAM did not play well?

The defensive tactics of Chelsea were spot on and were well executed. They had the better chances to score more goals, but hey, it happens ok. If you all expect a side to score every single opportunity they had, what's the point of having a defense and a keeper? It was a dissapointing end to Chelsea's CL campaign, but that's football. If you all noticed, the winning goal came from Messi's cross from the LEFT of the field. He was being held down by Cole on the right, and switched to avoid it, and it worked out. Good tactical move.

The game was tainted with very poor decisions, but Drogba's and Ballack's reactions were not professional to say the least, and I was dissapointed in that. I have supported Chelsea for the CL, and its sad to see them lose under those circumstances, but I take comfort in the fact that we lost to Barca who has had a remarkable season thus far, and I know will dispatch of Manu in the finals. Between Manu and Chelsea, Chelsea has a tighter defense, and I think that will be Manu's downfall.......Messi will play rings around your defense!

[worksux101]

BTW i wouldn't put much faith in Ramos...he had money to spend at Spurs, and wasted most of it...2 points in 10 games for a club of their stature and players...not acceptable...its one thing to rebuild fom the ground up, its another to dig holes into the foundation...Ramos failed at both, and the only thing keeping Real in second is the inconsistency of the teams behind them and the fact that they have a good attack against La Liga's generally poor defense...

i never quite understood what happened with ramos. he did well in la liga, went to tottenham and won the carling cup, they finished just outside the top ten and then things just seemed to go downhill quickly. he sold defoe, berbatov and keane and brought in dos santos, modric and pavlyochenko(who are by no means adequate replacements) and seemed to bank his entire attack on bent(who was having a solid pre season). once the season started tottenham were just poor and the whole controversy with his refusal to learn and speak english just seemed to aggravate the situation. he then moves to madrid, loses the first clasico(which was expected given the circumstances) and then goes on a huge winning streak and closes the gap on barca. he's either a genius in la liga but not cut out for the prem or he is just lucky to be in the circumstances he is in.

given his performance this season, do you think they should extend his contract or still look for a new manager?

He won the Carling Cup because they focused all their energy into it being the only trophy they were alive in when he came...with a striking pair like Keane and Berbatov, who were imho the best pairing in the prem since Yorke and Cole, it is of little wonder that they won it...
His transfers were rubbish in the preseason, overpaying quite alot for some, and then furthermore getting only 2 points from the first 10 games...for a club with the stature and players as Spurs that is completely unacceptable...

You will know alot better than me i'm sure wrt his performance at Real Madrid this season, but from what i have seen of them and how the other teams in LaLiga are, i think he's just inherited a team with great attacking potential.
With the combination of generally poor defenses in LaLiga coupled with all the teams around them in the table faltering, i suspect he was made to look better than he was...

I'm not a Real fan, but had i been one i'd certainly have wanted to see him go before he wastes Real's money as well...
Would you...and the other Real fan's here...like to see Ramos kept or gone?

[worksux101]

Messi to be the be all and end all of the team, and if he was shut out by Cole, then you all wanna say Barca as a TEAM did not play well?

Messi, Ronaldo and Rooney play the same way...they MOVE all the time, so no one defender can ever cover them...Messi was held down by everyone in chelsea's defence...

The "cross" that led to Iniesta's goal...it was a stab across the pitch to Iniesta because he was losing his balance and control of the ball after 2 or 3 Chelsea players closed him down...
Last year everyone said the same about Messi running rings around Utd...he could barely get into the box...they also said the same before the Chelsea games...ditto...

Messi is a great player yes, but he is a product of great players around him, just like Ronaldo...they can rarely influence games by themselves and if the players around them aren't playing well, they will hardly ever step up and take the team by the reigns...

[drunkenscorpion]

Last year everyone said the same about Messi running rings around Utd...he could barely get into the box...they also said the same before the Chelsea games...ditto...

While I will agree with this statement, Messi has improved alot since last year with his ability to shift play suddenly with his pace. Manu has to take notes as to how Chelsea kept him at bay, but as I said before, I don't think Manu's defense is as resolute as Chelsea's. The "dream final" as everyone is making this to be will be decided in the first 10 minutes of the match. My bets are on Barca

[avinashr]

take a close look 5 yellow shirts to 3 blue!

labelled on uefa's site as:
Petr ÄŒech cannot keep out Iniesta's :snipersmile: 93rd-minute shot

still no word from gt4tified?

good game......... drogba and anelka started diving alot in the second half (was actually glad drogba was broken up and taken off)........ unfair red card decision.............. ballack should have been RED CARDED for getting on like a SKuNT with the ref (lack of professionalism)................... great goal by essien....... better goal by iniesta!.....

that is why i like barca........... they doh give up till de end....... man could say what they wah but yuh hadda hand it to a team who does play like that........ only prob was they were playing too much possessive football which led to the late score....... but say wah all de attackers confused the sheit out of the chelsea defence at some point in time in the game............ not to mention barca played without puyol and marquez.......

looking forward to a great game and some beers for the final!

Man U vs Barca May the better team (from yesterday) WIN