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Champions League 09/10
Topic Started: Jul 23 2009, 05:46 AM (4,890 Views)
raconteur
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libero,Apr 6 2010
03:53 AM
Inter will likely look to close up the back in Moscow and use Eto'o and Milito on the break and Sneijder's ability on set pieces as their keys to victory. Lucio's return should strengthen the backline too.

Wednesday's partial result
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Good call libero, an early Sneijder free kick goal, aided by a poor wall, and Inter are 1-0 up after 30 minutes. This partial result means CSKA Moscow now need 3.

Rooney is definitely out for tomorrow's match.
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Don Balon
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Sneijder is running the show in midfield and is always a danger on free kicks. He really is a quality player.

It is halftime now and still 1-0. Looks all over now. An early goal later tonight could be decisive in Barcelona-Arsenal too, a Barcelona goal and Arsenal will be in trouble but an early Arsenal goal and we could have quite a dramatic game.
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ursus arctos
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It ends 0-1 to Inter, who are the first team through to the semi-finals.

Guardiola has gone with the collective wisdom of this board and will be starting Abidal at full back, with Milito and Marquez in the middle. In a bit of a surprise, Arsenal are starting Mikael Silvestre alongside Vermaelen.
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ursus arctos
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Leo's just a bit special, isn't he?
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Winslow
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And the complete second-leg results...
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Barcelona 4, Arsenal 1 (6-3 aggregate); CSKA Moscow 0, Inter Milan 1 (0-2 aggregate).

Actually it was Messi 4, Arsenal 1, in yet another staggering effort by the young fella. Arsenal actually took the lead at Camp Nou after 18 minutes as Walcott, set free on the right, crossed to Bendtner; the Dane's first shot was blocked, but he was first to the rebound and rolled it into the net. That lead lasted three minutes, as Messi's attempted through ball was blocked straight back to him at the top of the box and he smashed it past Almunia.

15 minutes after that, Barca took the lead after the Gunners again failed to clear a muffed pass; Pedro toe-poked the loose ball to Messi, who coolly finished into the roof of the net. Messi finished his first-half hat trick a few minutes later, running behind the Arsenal defense to collect a header and smartly lobbing the onrushing keeper.

The second half featured a few wild-and-high misses by the Gunners until Messi got his fourth in the closing minutes; after getting the ball in the clear and dribbling into the box, his initial shot was blocked, but he collected the rebound, sportingly allowed Almunia to get up, then nutmegged him.

Jeez, I wish I had the time to watch this guy every week.

As mentioned earlier, Sneijder scored the only goal in Moscow; Akinfeev must have seen it very late as it came through the wall, and could only hopefully stick a leg out as the ball went past him. Other than that, he had a fine match and kept the score respectable, as CSKA wasted most of its few opportunities. The home side played with ten for nearly all of the second half, after Odiah got his second yellow for a (harshly judged IMO) tackle.
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Sporting
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I was very disappointed in Messi today. Barely a minute had passed after he'd scored his third when he miscontrolled a ball which if he had collected cleanly would surely have seen him score his fourth when the game was still in the first half. Poor show all around, don't you think?
















:P
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raconteur
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What can you say other than this was the Leo Messi show! You read about players like DiStefano, Puskas or Eusebio scoring 4 goals in a European match but you just do not imagine you would see that happen now, especially in a quarterfinal of the Champions League against a quality team like Arsenal. But today the Gunners played Washington Generals to Messi & Barcelona's Harlem Globetrotters. I have a feeling this will be a game people will talk about for years to come.

I am with Winslow that the 2nd yellow to odiah of CSKA was harsh but once he went off, Moscow's already slim chances went out the window. Sets up a fascinating semifinal between Barcelona and Inter, teams who already met in the group stage and who should produce a wonderful tactical battle between Guardiola and Mourinho fetauring some of the best players in the world, plus the world's number 1, Leo Messi.
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Manzanares
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I think that early Arsenal goal just made Barcelona and Messi angry! :D

Hard to describe his performance in words, other than "Wow!" Absolutely a master class display. As good a game as I have ever seen from any player in years. And it was not just his finishing but on the 2nd goal he set up Abidal with a perfectly weighted through ball which eventually came back to Messi to finish for his 2nd goal of the night.

Yes, Inter should provide more of a defensive test but if Messi plays like this, what can even they do?

Another question, does Guardiola drop Pedro and/or Bojan when Ibrahimovic gets healthy? The three small attackers were a whirlwind against Arsenal's backline and maybe Inter's defenders from practicing against Ibrahimovic daily for several years prior to his departure from Inter, know his game too well?
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Merengue
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I just hope Messi got his goals for this week out of his system! :P

An awe inspiring performance and raconteur is right to compare it with exploits we have read about from the past from players like DiStefano and Eusebio. When Messi plays like he did tonight he is unstoppable but I feel that Samuel, Lucio, Cambiasso and Mourinho should have something up their sleeves for the semifinal.
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ursus arctos
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Quote:
 
I just hope Messi got his goals for this week out of his system!


This is exactly why I thought Pep should have taken him off after the third!
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Merengue
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I kept expecting Messi to be pulled off too but then again I imagine Guardiola was also thinking about last week's Arsenal comeback too.

Here are Reuters previews for Wednesday's two quarterfinals,

Manchester United-Bayern Munich Preview

Lyon-Bordeaux Preview

Contrary to the preview, I would not expect Robben to start for Bayern but he should be available off the bench. The preview's prognostication of Gomis coming in for the suspended Lisandro Lopez for Lyon sounds reasonable to me.
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enganche
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What an absolute pleasure that was to watch. The type of game which reminds you of the beauty of this sport and what makes a competition like the Champions league so special. We will be telling our grandchildren we watched Lionel Messi play.

I also was generally pleased to see Gabriel Milito play well for Barcelona, he looks nearly back from his nearly two years out injured. A good alternative to Pique and Puyol, now he gets the opportunity to face his brother Diego in the semiifnals. The brothers are used to playing against one another as Gabriel was with Independiente while Diego played for Racing, the two fierce rivals from Avellaneda, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.
Prefiero morir de pie que vivir arrodillado
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Lalo
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I too thought Gaby Milito did fine but the story of the day of course is Lio Messi. He was sensational, showing the ability to take a team on his shoulders and carry them to victory. It was an anthological performance from him, one few of us will soon forget.

Naturally we cannot expect this from him everytime but he has shown he can carry even as complete a team as Barcelona.

By the way did anybody notice other than the early goal where he broke away and passed to Bendtner, Walcott was not a factor in this game? Barcelona controlled im well, mainly by barely allowing Arsenal to have the ball!
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Dr. Z
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Manzanares,Apr 6 2010
02:40 PM
I think that early Arsenal goal just made Barcelona and Messi angry! :D

Hard to describe his performance in words, other than "Wow!" Absolutely a master class display. As good a game as I have ever seen from any player in years. And it was not just his finishing but on the 2nd goal he set up Abidal with a perfectly weighted through ball which eventually came back to Messi to finish for his 2nd goal of the night.

Yes, Inter should provide more of a defensive test but if Messi plays like this, what can even they do?

Another question, does Guardiola drop Pedro and/or Bojan when Ibrahimovic gets healthy? The three small attackers were a whirlwind against Arsenal's backline and maybe Inter's defenders from practicing against Ibrahimovic daily for several years prior to his departure from Inter, know his game too well?

Now that was enjoyable! :D

Messi had a great season in 2009 and rightfully won all the awards but he has been even better so far in 2010 and the scary thing is he is still just 22!
Poniendo el pecho a las balas!
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Martin
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What does Messi do for an encore?
Club Sportivo Desamparados
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