Time to risk looking stupid, here are my predictions...


Barca 2 Shalke 1
Liverpool 1 Arsenal 2
Man United 2 Roma 0
Chelsea 1 Fenebache 1 (oh yeah I went there)

Barca 2 Schalke 0
Man U 5 Roma 0 (if Man U score a goal in the first 20 it will be a riot, Roma have a lot of class but I think mentally they are afraid of Man U)
Chelsea 1 Fenerbache 0
Liverpool 1 Arsenal 1

Agreeaments. Except the bit about Roma, they have no class outwith Totti. But 5-0 is a bit excessive, 3-0 I think.

Holy Shit.

What a game.


Pity such an amazing run by Walcott won't be remembered as well as it should be, but fucking hell, what an ending

Walcott run deserved to put Arsenal through and the scum out

I sh!t myself about 5 times during the game, and it got so bad that I was on my knees pawing at my plasma and rejoicing for Torres, then crying, and back to pawing for Gerrard. That run by Walcott had turned me to a ghost white, so many emotions from this Pool fan. Sorry Arsenal, you guys should have put the game away I'll agree to that.

Sign of things to come, I hope, for England.

Can picture him in 2010 running through the Germans like that!



(Should I be worried though, that every time my gf sees him on tv she goes 'awww, it's the little boy, he looks so sweet I want to look after him'...?)

now THAT was a great game. Pool gets the 50/50 call at home. Enjoyed the live ESPN coverage.

Hmm.

So far so good.

Because Ronaldinho is out and their league form is a little shaky, I'll go for United>Barca.

Liverpool v Chelsea - Too close to call... Liverpool over-perform in Europe, and Chelsea will be trying their hardest to win the one trophy that's eluded them since Abramovich took over.

I'm going for 1-1 tonight, and very possibly the same result next week (decided on penalties).

If not, it could come down to a dodgy penalty decision or one goalkeeping error. I really think there's nothing in it, but hopefully it will entertain at least.

vomit

1- nil is about the best I could have hoped for. What a dreadful game, btw

You do know it wasn't 1-0, right?

Are you serious! I left at the 1 minute mark into extra time.... oh noes! I cant' believe I missed the own goal! that's fcking awful!!!! I'm furious!! ARGHHH!!!! I feel like puking.

So did most of Liverpool and those of us with money on 1-0!!!!!!

I somehow- somehow- got it into my thick head that the semi's were going to be on the same night.
And made sure that I would have the next 2 wednesdays off.

I've had such a "blond" week, don't get me started about when I tried to replace a burst tyre on a car

Dis-****-ing-aster!

ok Im in Israel, but thats a shocking mistake.

I even had conversations about which match you would prefer watch Barca/Man U or Chelsea/Liverpool. I had no idea it was a hypothetical question.

I'm disgusted with myself.

Anywho, got tuesday off and the 2 wednesdays.

Wow, this prediction was pretty spot on.

That's his thing. He's goot.

Come on United! One time!

So, Vidic looks like he'll miss out - very bad news. Ferguson may now choose Scholes, instead of Anderson, for more support. My initial thinking was that it'd be a mistake to go with Scholes and Giggs together. One of them, ok, but Ferguson imo, should have faith in Anderson and Nani now. I think they're more of a threat to Barcelona.. Scholes doesn't have more than 45 quality minutes in him any more, and that's vital for a game like this. Starting with Giggs would be ok, but if he's lacking an impact... get Nani on. He must start with Tevez too, I think, even though he's shown he doesn't like to, away from home in Europe.

People are talking about Barcelona's League form... but this doesn't mean anything really. As Liverpool show, it doesn't directly translate into European form. Yeah, they're not doing great, but they've won their last 5 European matches in a row and didn't lose a match in their group. They're a team of 'star' players, like show ponies who only turn up to play the big games...and this is a big game.

It'll be hard for Rooney and Ronaldo too... Marques and Abidal are tough, and it'll be hard for them to find space... the second half is hopefully where we'll see Ronaldo start to shine.. maybe the last 20 minutes. But this is why he should start with Tevez, because we may be able to force the openings from the start that way.

I'll be hoping for a Utd rout, but.. final prediction:

Barcelona 2 - 2 Man Utd (which would be a good result for us!)


I'm hyped, I'm psyched.. I'm ready to party!

I about knew it was bad when Fabio went down for Liverpool, so of course GG Riise bad choice.

OMG missed pen after 2 mins.

Disappointed.


Better than losing, but an away goal would have been sweet. Don't really undertsand the way Wilkins and Souness are talking right now either, like we're through... umm, next week will be super tough. And if they score, we've gotta get two.

Hope Fergie doesn't play Park next week. He's so ineffective it's a joke. Apart from him, and Van der Sar, everyone else was pretty solid to be fair. I don't know why, but I get nervous every time Van der Sar goes for a save since he came back from that injury.

2-1 United next week.

Why the hell was Rooney playing defensive midfield? Is it because his hip was bothering him? If he's not in game shape to be an attacker, why the hell have him in the game at all? Surely Man U has people on the bench who are better suited to play Defensive midfield than rooney. That game was a complete dog to watch. Man U looked wretched, but Barca couldn't ever capitalize.

We started with Tevez, so the plan was for him and Ronaldo to be the main forwards, with Rooney playing on the right. Ferguson obviously thought (and rightly, probably) that it would be too risky to play all 3 up front together, away from home). So, Rooney was there for link-up play. But yeah he ended up being pretty much out of the game... ending up in the second half especially, with him being basically non-existent.

I hate it when Ferguson plays people out of position too (as I'm sure Rooney was v frustrated himself), but I've promised not to question him any more, because he's right more often than not! They'll have trained with that formation hundreds of times, so it's not like they were unprepared.

Different formation, and different story back at Old Trafford hopefully.

barca vs. chelsea final one time please

I honestly thought united were generally poor throughout the game. The one thing they can take from the game is that they played it tight at the back and in midfield so despite barcelonas patient passing game they were unable to penetrate. Park was exceptionally poor, scholes may as well not have played and even Rooney looked bog-standard.

The long ball tactic was never going to work so why they persisted with it i will never know, and on this occasion i think Fergie got it wrong. They played far too defensive and i cant see barca failing to score at old trafford, which really has me worried.

Saying that, to hold Barca to a 0-0 draw in their own back yard is a solid result. But with a number of key barca players out, they really should have capitalised.

Rant over. It only took so long because its taken me over a day because i couldnt find a thread.

I also just received a 'so-bad-its-almost-funny' beat and appear to be on tilt, as well as locking myself out of the house today, which only adds to my frustration. But i'll save those stories for a rainy day...

In a series this close, Ronaldo's penalty miss is almost sure to come back to haunt Man U if they fail to advance. Barca is really missing Ronaldinho (okay, maybe the understatement of the year) but where they really missed him was in the free kicks.. they had several nicely placed free kicks, and they didn't capitalize on any of them. I can't envision Barca haven't that high of ToP with Ronaldinho in and failing to score.

Tonight's prediction:

Manchester United 9-8 Barcelona

Rooney (2, 7, 49), Ronaldo (4, 18, 72), Anderson (1), Tevez (64), Van der Sar (90+5)

Messi (9, 22, 36, 78), Deco (53), Eto'o (87, 88, 89)









Ok then... Manchester United 2-1 Barcelona.

The only thing implausible about your 9-8 prediction is Anderson scoring!

2-2 tonight. Barca on away goals.

Alrighty then! There's only one way to settle this, what with your lack of confidence in United and Anderson...

Avatar bet is on. If United go through, you have to change your avatar for a week, to this:




If Barca go through, I'll change to this:



or, you're free to choose another one for me.


There is no chance of us losing tonight, so let's get it on!

Done. But I'd rather you didn't use the soltaire if you lose. I'd prefer this...

Oh Christ... ok done.

Hmmm Anderson benched. Obviously SAF trusts him for the big ones!

And Park starts again, fantastico!

There's Ronaldo, Nani and Tevez as a front 3, and then Park, Scholes and Carrick in the middle.

If you're looking for two to sit back and one to go forward, there's no room for Anderson. Park and Carrick will probably sit a little deeper and play the defensive roles needed to free Scholes. The only real choice was between Scholes and Anderson for the attacking role, and Fergie has picked Scholes.

TBH I wish he'd just play Hargreaves, Carrick and Scholes in the middle, but w/e. I guess there's no other right back available with Brown needed in the middle, and I prefer Park to Fletcher or O'Shea.

I just hope it doesn't drift back into a defensive 4-4-1-1 or 4-5-1 formation.

WHAT A GOAAAAAAAAAALLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

SCHOLESY YOU LEGEND!!!!!!!!

5 down, 2 to go, and Chelsea have an advantage going into the second leg.

Unbelieveable!

So happy right now


Bring it on Chelsea or Liverpool, we're winning this.

Meh, congrats gents. And I'll have Anderson as my avatar ASAP. But I will stand by a few things and tonight cleared them up.

Messi>Ronaldo.

Nani is a waste of space.

Barca were the better side. Zambrotta clears that in the other direction and it's a different story, but a phenomenal strike nonetheless.

Man Utd should win it now, all the best.

^^^ lol pwned!


Nice avatar... who is that guy btw? You a big fan of his or something?

Meh, he did his job. Tried a few things that didn't work but overall he played pretty well.


Messi played really well, although he never really got past us. He made a lot of runs infield and made some good through balls, but overall it never really got anywhere. Ronaldo played well and did what was needed, but was pretty quiet. Like last week though, a lot of that was because of how both teams were playing.
Barca had more posession. They had more attempts. They made more attacking moves.

That's because United got a goal and sat back. Whenever Messi got the ball he had Eto'o, Iniesta, Deco, Xavi, Zambrotta and Abidal all upfield, making infield runs, looking for the ball and moving defenders around. Barca were fighting to get a goal, and the United defenders were more "occupied".

When Ronaldo got the ball he usually had Nani and Tevez there (although Nani usually likes to stay out wide), but the others were all reluctant to make probing runs. For good reason. There was no need for us to really go forward and attack.

Messi skipped past your defenders a lot more than you cared to notice. Ronaldo came unstuck against Zambrotta several times. Don't think he got past him once. But w/e. I'm sure you boys don't care that your star man didn't look the business tonight as long as he does it in the final.

And Tevez - vastly under-rated, the man was everywhere tonight. If he has a long career at Old Trafford then it could be one of the best ever.

We had a few chances to go 2 ahead, with a few periods where we looked very dangerous going forward... but yeah, after 60/65 mins on, it was basically backs to the wall. For the last 10 minutes, all I wanted us to do was keep the ball for longer than 15 seconds but we couldn't seem to. I'll admit I was pretty frantic at the end!



QFT, he should get a huge mention. Great performance, man of the match for United, imo.

One thing, again, Van der Sar... I like him, and rate him highly, but hmmmmm.. just making me nervous at the moment a lot.

Oh, and nice touch on the sig too (you'll win one soon )

Yeah, Messi played well, but he didn't actually DO anything. He got one shot off in the first half that Van der Sar got to easily. He was skipping past challenges and drifting into the middle, but he very rarely managed to get through the defence. He opened up space and passed well, but I didn't think he really looked like getting in and scoring.

I was extremely impressed with Zambrotta. He was one of Barca's best players and managed to stop Ronaldo and Evra countless times.

Before the goal it felt like it was going to be a pure cracker of a game, although Man U had trouble with possesion.

Kind of fell apart but was pretty tense. I like Hargreaves, hes a fighter. The only thing I think Man U lack is some hot headed Roy Keane leader type.
I mean they are the full package, but both legs, they seemed vunerable and a bit shaky. Last Year agaisnt Milan too. It would have been interesting how they would have handled conceding a goal.

Anyway I'm happy. Fergie obviously deserves another Champs league trophy.

Messi was impressive, don't think I've ever seen someone skip through Scholes like that before.

Great goal by Scholes. gg Man U.

Still reeling from Riise's own goal last week.....my wife who knows nothing about soccer saw it and goes "dont they kill players for stuff like that??"

guess he is lucky he doesnt play for Colombia.....

man, I need to check this forum way more often





hahahahahahahahahahhahahaha



this is pretty lol too. We've only given up 2 goals on 4 occasions this year so far, and only once was it at home





barca wasn't the better side, what game were you watching. They were all lead up and no finishing. Plus, from the 30th minute on, it was very clear that ManU were the superior side and Barca were lucky not to lose by more





He'll be fine for the final. Vidic will be in full health, we'll have wrapped up the league, and soon we'll have Ben Foster to look forward to for the next 10+ years between the sticks

Uh-huh, now James, Simo and I may disagree on things but they don't come away with downright daft comments, thats my thing.

But to say Barca weren't better is offside. They are technically better and Man U had to be at their best to stop them getting through to EVDS. They didn't get a chance to finish and credit to Rio and co for that but "all lead up" was so good at times it left Man U reeling. And lucky not to lose by more? Maybe because Valdes was flapping at crosses but other than the goal Man U only had one shot on target.

It was a good close game. But Barca are a technically gifted side who pass the ball better than anyone in Europe but they only showed that sporidically tonight, Messi apart.