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| Champions League 09/10 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 23 2009, 05:46 AM (4,888 Views) | |
| Dr. Z | Apr 8 2010, 07:44 AM Post #331 |
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I am enjoying this Champions League and really enjoy the fact that with these four semifinalists Florentino Perez will have to see one of the following at the final at the Bernabeu: [1] His worst nightmare, Barcelona lifting the trophy; [2] Wesley Sneijder a player he discarded leading Inter to the title; [3] Arjen Robben, another player he discarded leading bayern to the title; or [4] Lyon, the club who eliminated Real Madrid winning the European crown. Any of the four should give him heartburn with Barcelona's triumph of course being his worst fear come true.
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| Poniendo el pecho a las balas! | |
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| Martin | Apr 8 2010, 08:59 AM Post #332 |
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I would not worry so much about Florentino Perez' reaction, he will still be laughing all the way to the bank after hosting the Champions League Final! What struck me about the Bayern Munich-Manchester United game were the mistakes made by many of the young players in the game. We have already discussed Rafael's sending off for a grab of Ribery when he already had a yellow, but there also was Badstuber geting run into the ground by Antonio Valencia who played an excellent match, along with Nani the best player on the night for Manchester United. Then there was Thomas Mueller who wa sinvisible for Bayern in the first half and who was repalced at the half by mario Gomez whose entrance helped make Bayern's attack all the more effective. About the only young player who stood out on the night was Darron Gibson who scored that nice opening goal, although he also blew an even easier chance later in the game which he hit weakly straight at Butt. Bottom line is sometimes experience still counts and high pressure games like this may be too much to ask for young players to make positive contributions. Hugo Lloris is having a breakthrough season and I too am happy for Lyon, who for so long tried but failed to reach this stage of the Champions League. They may not have the stars they have had in the past but they seem to have a good collective and they should give Bayern Munich all they can handle in their semifinal. |
| Club Sportivo Desamparados | |
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| Sporting | Apr 8 2010, 09:43 AM Post #333 |
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I have a feeling, not backed up by any particular hard evidence, that Inter will give Barcelona a very close run in the semi final. Mourinho will be stretching every muscle of his tactical know-how to find the best way to prevent Messi and co from reaping damage and I have the feeling he may well find the answer, maybe if not to actually go through to the final then at least to inflict many more problems than Arsenal were able to do. |
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| Martin | Apr 8 2010, 10:12 AM Post #334 |
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I agree Sporting and in fact Mourinho had a pretty good tactical plan in their two group meetings last fall. Lucio has also shown the ability to be effective against Messi in the 2007 Copa America, but then again that was 2007... I think the Barcelona-Inter game should become a very fascinating tactical battle between two of the modern game's brightest coaching strategists. I just read this today,
http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=a...nmunichferguson When did Alex Ferguson turn into Basil Fawlty? Even before the sending off, I thought Mario Gomez' entrance for Muller was turning the game in Bayern's favor. |
| Club Sportivo Desamparados | |
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| libero | Apr 8 2010, 01:14 PM Post #335 |
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:lol: That really does sound like Basil Fawlty. Even a veteran coach apparently lets the blood rush to the ehad and make outlandish comments. That was simply a stupid play by Rafael, a lack of experience but I am with martin, even before that it looked like Bayern were stamping their authority on the game. He may be a real SOB on the pitch and the type of player you hate when he plays against your team but van Bommel is the kind of player you love if he is on your team. He really took over the center of the field in the 2nd half and with Robben and Ribery buzzing down their flanks, Bayern have a lot of ways they can impose themselves on a game. |
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| Manzanares | Apr 8 2010, 02:14 PM Post #336 |
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I also agree with this, Inter will liekly make this game much more like last year's Barcelona-Chelsea semifinal, they'll look to close Barcelona down in midfield and try and score on a counter or off a set piece. And with Sneijder, Milito, Etoo and balotelli on their team that is something Inter will be very capable of doing. I expect this semifinal to be a tense and very closely fought two match series. |
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| Simon | Apr 9 2010, 02:33 AM Post #337 |
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Don't mention the war! I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it! I think those comments about Inter are correct. Barcelona practically invite you to play that way against them, but Arsenal just don't have that option in their locker. I don't want to be too critical of the Gunners as I appreciate they were missing five of their starting XI in that second leg, but they can be pretty naive and open at times, and it's not unusual at all to see them get a doing in a big game. Speaking of 'Gunners', I agree with the opinion that Ronaldo was even better than Messi when he was coming through. Messi is a top player and I enjoy watching the lad play, but some of the hype is getting pretty silly if you ask me. Fortunately, Messi seems to be a level headed lad who won't take it too seriously, otherwise it could affect his game. Good point about some of the younger players in the United-Bayern game, though re Gibson's weakly hit shot, I thought he was all set to put his foot through that one until the referee got in his way and made him adjust his approach |
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| Merengue | Apr 9 2010, 08:15 AM Post #338 |
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Very true, unfortunately we live in an age where media hype runs overboard and every promising young player is the "next (fill in blank of past great)" which is an extremely difficult and unfair measuring stick but every once in awhile a truly extraordinary player does emerge and Messi appears to be such a player, I say just enjoy watching him play, unless he's going up against your club as he is tomorrow against mine!
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| Martin | Apr 9 2010, 09:23 AM Post #339 |
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Our fellow poster heebeejeebees, has a blog and he made a good post there spotlighting 5 relatively unknown players who have stood out this year in the Champions League: http://www.just-football.com/2010/04/5-of-...kthrough-stars/ They are: Hugo Lloris (Lyon) Milos Krasic (CSKA Moscow) Benoit Tremoulinas (Bordeuax) Juan Manuel Vargas (Fiorentina) Maroune Chamakh (Bordeuax) Some good selections and we have discussed some of these players ourselves here, although did not talk about either Krasic or Tremoulinas. As he points out their play this season may end up attracting bigger clubs' interest but personally I would not mind seeing them stay where they currently are. |
| Club Sportivo Desamparados | |
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| valenciano | Apr 15 2010, 03:15 PM Post #340 |
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A pretty good list but from my perspective I feel it is almost inevitable that at least half of these players picked as revelations in this season's Champions League will be bought this summer by clubs with more financial might. Bayern Munich are complaining to UEFA that the French league is postponing Lyon's match vs Monaco scheduled for the weekend between the Champions League two semifinal legs between Bayern and Lyon. Bayern claim it gives an unfair advantage to Lyon. They may have some justification in claiming that yet at the same time does/should UEFA try and regulate to Ligue 1 how they schedule their maches? |
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| ursus arctos | Apr 15 2010, 03:33 PM Post #341 |
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An interesting question. We have seen a number of leagues moving fixtures to give clubs more time to recover for Champions League matches (Inter - Juve is being played on Friday night), but I can't remember an outright cancellation before. It seems to me that UEFA would be justified in establishing guidelines, say, for instance, no cancellations, and no "anticipation" or "postponement" of scheduled matches by more than 48 hours. Not having to play at all does give OL an advantage, particularly given the tightness of the French (and German) title races. |
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| raconteur | Apr 16 2010, 07:17 AM Post #342 |
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ursus argument makes sense to me and would be a reasonable guideline to enact but in the end Bayern have decided not to file a protest with UEFA over the postponement of Lyon's league match, giving this reason, “It is an independent decision by the league and how they schedule their matches. That is a fact.” Case closed. |
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| ursus arctos | Apr 16 2010, 07:44 AM Post #343 |
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Interestingly enough, I just saw a report in Le Monde that the Ligue 1 is considering cancelling a number of other matches scheduled for this weekend due to the massive disruption of air traffic caused by the volcanic explosion in Iceland. |
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| Merengue | Apr 16 2010, 08:00 AM Post #344 |
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No TGV? Meanwhile Cologne are offering free tickets, while available, to their match tonight against Bochum for stranded air travelers, http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=r...ycolognevolcano Back to the discussion of Bayern's planned protest, I wonder if UEFA sent word to Bayern to just forget about even attempting such a protest, we will not dictate to the French league how they should schedule their games? |
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| ursus arctos | Apr 16 2010, 08:16 AM Post #345 |
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The TGV network has expanded considerably in the last two decades, but they still don't reach all Ligue 1 cities. It also so happens that this week's calendar includes a number of games with long journeys from one end of the country to the other. Nancy are planning to take a coach/bus 720 kilometers to Rennes and Sochaux is doing the same to get to Grenoble (480 km). Lens (which is playing in Nice) and OM (which is playing in Boulogne sur Mer) havent yet figured out how they will traverse the country from north to south. Nice gesture by Koln; it certainly beats sitting in an airport. |
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