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| Champions League 09/10 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 23 2009, 05:46 AM (4,906 Views) | |
| Merengue | Sep 30 2009, 09:57 PM Post #61 |
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It is going to take some time for Madrid to come together completely but don't forget they are still unbeaten this season. They find ways to win. And the teamwork on the 3rd goal is a sign of what is to come as this team finds it's comfort level. Ronaldo may miss the Sevilla match this weekend however because of Diawara's wild tackle. I enjoyed what I saw of Manchester United-Wolfsbrg. I'd say Man U deserved the win but Wolfsburg gave a good show especially on the road at Old Trafford. Dzeko is a real handful to handle. It should not surprise us much but Arjen Robben had to leave the Bayern-Juventus game because of an injury. Not sure how serious it may be. In the first round of games Zurich did not play poorly against Real Madrid, well their goalie did but apart from him Zurich showed some good moments so maybe their win at the San Siro against an inconsistent Milan is not that much of a surprise? It does open up this group though and is the first win by one of the supposed "minnows" of this tournament. Platini must be smiling! |
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| raconteur | Oct 1 2009, 04:19 AM Post #62 |
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Leonardo received the dreaded vote of confidence after the loss to Zurich so that does not sound good for him. But he can't be blamed for the mess Milan are in. The money from selling Kaka was not used to buy quality replacements. And Leonardo is not at fault for Inzaghi's misses last night or Seedorf and then his sub Ronaldinho playing poorly. Just a bad all around game at home aganst what is supposed to be the group's weakest team. So were the bankers in Zurich dancing in the streets after this win? They have not had much to celebrate recently there! The question is who is in a more delicate situation, Leonardo at Milan or Abel Resino at Atletico Madrid? Maybe Apoel of Cyprus are not as bad as everybody thought? After tying away to Atletico Madrid they gave Chelsea fits yesterday. They don't look to be pushovers. Arjen Robben hurt? Tell me something new! Bayern played well while he was in but when he went off, they lost a little steam, still Juve has to thank Buffon, once more, for helping them get out of Munich with a draw.
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| Martin | Oct 1 2009, 03:37 PM Post #63 |
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The weekend league game in Sevilla will really be Real Madrid's first serious test of their "nuevos galacticos." But as Merengue commented, bottom line is they are undefeated since the season started which considering all the new faces on the team is impressive. Cristiano Ronaldo likely will miss that game though because of the ankle injury suffered on the penalty. Like Dr. Z, at first glance I too thought it was not a penlty but replays from other angles showed it not only was the right call but Diawara rightly deserved expulsion for the play. You guys talked about Nikopolidis the Olympiakos goalie aging but look at Didier Deschamps, you can see how coaching is taking it's toil on him! Despite the loss, I thought Marseille played reasonably well and with Milan losing to Zurich and entering into a tailspin, I think Marseille stands a good chance to finish second in this group. These next two rounds when Madrid plays Milan and Marseille face Zurich home and away will be key in determining which club joins Madrid in moving on to the next round. It is not simply his name but Porto's Hulk has become one of my favorite players to watch recently. The guy never is afraid to take a defender on and he really does work hard for the team. I think we can be grateful, however, that he plays in the blue and white of Porto and not for a club like Wolfsburg, Celtic or Sporting Lisbon who have green as their primary color! :lol: Speaking of Wolfsburg, I too was impressed with their play at Manchester United. They definitely created some awkward moments for United as the Dzeko-Grafite forward combination is a difficult one to defend even for as accomplished a pair of defenders as Ferdinand and Vidic. Wolfsburg are an enjoyable team to watch. And include me in with the Ryan Giggs fan club, what he is accomplishing at such a late stage of his career is extraordinary. He seems to have gotten better the past two seasons, maybe it is just finding a comfort level within the team as he has become more of a central player, but for whatever the reason, Giggs looks now like a Maldini or Matthaus, players still very effective in their late 30s. |
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| cafetero | Oct 1 2009, 04:03 PM Post #64 |
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I agree that Hulk is an enjoyable player to watch due to his all action style of play. Against Atletico Madrid he had a shot stopped, fought for the rebound, had a 2nd shot stopped then passed to Radamel Falcao Garcia who scored Porto's opening goal yesterday with a backheel shot! Great definition by Falcao but it was set up by Hulk's tenacity. Falcao and Hulk have the possibility to become a good forward duo for Porto. |
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| Simon | Oct 2 2009, 04:55 AM Post #65 |
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FC Porto is often a first port pf call in Europe for South American players, and I think it's an arrangement that works well. Lisandro Lopez had been an important player for Porto but in Falcao they signed a ready-made replacement and the transition seems to have been seamless. |
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| valenciano | Oct 3 2009, 12:47 PM Post #66 |
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I know we discussed this before but between their development of Portuguese players and their astute buying of South Americans, Porto have developed a very good business model, one which has enabled them to still compete with Europe's best teams. Look last season how much of a battle they gave Manchester United in the Champions League, then they also won their league (again). I think a good argument could have been made that last season only Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea were superior to Porto in all of Europe. And this season once again they look to be competitive. I am looking forward to their matchups with Chelsea in Champions League group play. |
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| Simon | Oct 4 2009, 09:45 AM Post #67 |
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Is that specifically in Europe? Not that I'm one to stick up for Liverpool, but they did finish above Chelsea who were only vaguely in the title chase. But yes, Porto definitely punch above their weight and I'm sure they can test Chelsea |
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| Simon | Oct 18 2009, 09:10 AM Post #68 |
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Tuesday, 20 October 2009 Debrecen v Fiorentina, Gp E, 19:45 Liverpool v Lyon, Gp E, 19:45 Group E is more complicated than Liverpool would have liked. Winning the Premier League is always their overwhelming priority, especially as it's been such a long title drought. Having lost their last two league games, and with arch-rivals United looming on the horizon next weekend, I'm sure Benitez is tempted to go easy in this game. And yet having lost in Florence, Liverpool can't really afford to do that. Dropped points in the double header against Lyon could be very costly, as it's likely that Fiorentina will win home and away against Debrecen. Whatever the respective merits of Liverpool's other players, the key decision revolves around Gerrard and Torres. To play them against Lyon when not fully fit would be to risk them missing the United game, and it will be fascinating to see if Benitez thinks he needs to take that chance. Barcelona v Rubin Kazan, Gp F, 19:45 Inter Milan v Dynamo Kiev, Gp F, 19:45 Inter remain a conundrum, their expensively assembled squad of star players wins the Italian championship quite easily each year, and yet the CL is their priority and they never seem able to compete. They now haven't won any of their last seven games in this competition. But here's a good chance to end that run. These two games could well illustrate one of the common problems with the CL, and that is that eastern clubs have a quite dreadful record on their travels to the west. Anything other than pretty straightforward wins for Barca and Inter would be a surprise. Rangers v Unirea Urziceni, Gp G, 19:45 VfB Stuttgart v Sevilla, Gp G, 19:45 Stuttgart are struggling, yet to win in the CL and already with 5 defeats in the Bundesliga. Victory at home to Sevilla could kickstart their season, but I can't see it. Sevilla are very much superior to their three Group G rivals. Rangers have been inconsistent so far this season and took a beating from Sevilla last time out, but in a way their results against Sevilla, who are clear group favourites, won't determine whether they qualify or not. If they can win home and away against Unirea and then beat Stuttgart at Ibrox, they will be in good shape to take 2nd place. Oddly, it may be a poisoned chalice. If they finish 2nd they will very likely go out in the Last 16 of the CL, but if they finish 3rd they could be equipped to have quite a sustained run in the Europa League. Olympiakos v Standard Liege, Gp H, 19:45 AZ Alkmaar v Arsenal, Gp H, 19:45 Two wins from two for Arsenal so far, and back-to-back victories over the Dutch champions would allow them to take their foot off the gas in the last couple of group games and concentrate on their title challenge. If they're going to win in Alkmaar they will have to do so without Theo Walcott who injured a knee yesterday having not long returned from injury. But Arsenal are on a fine run of victories at home and abroad and should be favourites to get a good result. Olympiakos are currently second in the group and could strengthen their position if they can win at home to Standard. Wednesday, 21 October 2009 Bordeaux v Bayern Munich, Gp A, 19:45 Juventus v Maccabi Haifa, Gp A, 19:45 French champions Bordeaux hadn't read the script that said Bayern and Juve would control this group. They've started well, and if the key to advancing is usually to win your home games and then pick up a few supplementary points on the road, they're in a good position to follow that formula so far. This double header with Bayern could be decisive. Juventus haven't won yet, but home and away matches against Maccabi should be a good opportunity to put six points on the board. CSKA Moscow v Manchester United, Gp B, 17:30 Wolfsburg v Besiktas, Gp B, 19:45 United are top of the group with two wins from two, and that crucially gives us the wriggle room to rest a few players in midweek. As ever the championship is of course the priority, and the last thing we want to be doing is slogging around out in Moscow only to have to play our biggest game of the season, at Anfield, just a few days later. I think we've got a strong enough squad to make a few productive changes. I'd happily take a point from this game. Besiktas look a bit off the pace so far, and Wolfsburg were very impressive at Old Trafford, despite losing. I would expect the Germans to win on Wednesday. FC Zurich v Marseille, Gp C, 19:45 Real Madrid v AC Milan, Gp C, 19:45 The marquee game this week is Real Madrid-AC Milan, surely not another dull 0-0 draw? Inter-Barca and Juve-Bayern have been disappointments, but I bet Leonardo would love a dull 0-0 in the Bernebeu right now! The interesting contrast between these two heavyweights over recent years is that Milan have been happy to accept hand-me-down 'post-galacticos' like Ronaldo and Emerson, that Real Madrid have no further need for. Huntelaar so far doesn't look like a distinguished change to that from Milan's viewpoint, and of course it looks like another 30-something former galactico, Beckham, will be Milan-bound again in January. Meanwhile the young jewel in Milan's crown went to Real Madrid in the summer. Ronaldinho has been another player Milan signed when past his best, and they seemingly can't get his best form back. He was once the star turn in Barcelona's 3-0 win at the Bernebeu, but a repeat performance seems somewhat unlikely. Madrid must be real favourites. Leonardo clearly has a long-term rebuilding project to do, and hopefully he'll be given the time to do it. Marseille are currently bottom but could get back into contention with 6 points against the Swiss. Chelsea v Atletico Madrid, Gp D, 19:45 FC Porto v Apoel Nicosia, Gp D, 19:45 Two wins for Chelsea so far, and two further wins against Atletico Madrid would likely qualify them and leave them to concentrate on the league. Whether that happens or not will be interesting to see. Form and momentum would appear to be on Chelsea's side after their strong start to the season and Atletico's struggles, but Chelsea have lost two of their last three games and there may be a couple of defensive wobbles that Atletico could profit from. APOEL have looked pretty useful so far, but we should still expect Porto to record a home victory. |
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| valenciano | Oct 18 2009, 02:07 PM Post #69 |
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Well I guess the only place we have to compare is in Europe and last season Porto in addition to winning their league title again were very strong in knockout play in Europe. As Simon well knows, not many clubs can go to Old Trafford and get a reuslt like Porto did , of course only to give it up in the return leg at home. But I think my point stands that in Europe last season, Porto were one of the better teams and I think could be placed as the 4th best club last season. Enough about the past though, let's get on to the future, Simon as usual has come up with a great preview. OK after the first 2 rounds supposed big matchups: Inter-Barcelona and Bayern-Juve were duds, I'm going to ignore this round's top battle between Madrid-Milan. Instead I will focus on the Bordeaux-Bayern game which I think will be fascinating. Gourcuff missed France's games last week, is he ready to play now for Bordeaux? Without him I would not give Bordeuax much chance. Bayern have been boosted by the return from injury of Mark van Bommel, he makes their team run more smoothily in my view. And if Abel Resino is not yet out of a job at Atletico Madrid, I am thinking after Cheslea beats them this week, he will be looking for new work. |
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| Mr. Pither | Oct 19 2009, 11:46 AM Post #70 |
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My thanks as well to Simon for the fine preview. Like valenciano I am wary of the Madrid-Milan match but Milan's weekend win should give them some renewed hope against a Madrid side who will still be missing Cristiano Ronaldo. Yoan Gourcuff came on as a 71st minute sub over the weekend for Bordeaux, so I suspect he can play against Bayern, whether he will be 100% is another question however. But Bayern will be missing both Robben and Ribery. |
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P-I-T-H-E-R ...as in Brotherhood, but with PI instead of the BRO and no HOOD | |
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| robdog | Oct 20 2009, 12:47 PM Post #71 |
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I guess L'Pool fans will remember this name for a while: César "Chelito" Delgado I always thought this guy had mad game. Remember him when first broke in w/ Rosario. Too bad L'Pool. Can't blame the balloons on this one
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| Supporter for FCK, San Lorenzo, Chelsea, Pachuca, Corinthians & Real Betis | |
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| Simon | Oct 20 2009, 01:16 PM Post #72 |
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Or maybe I'm just talking out of my arse? Where to start with tonight's results? Rubin win at the Nou Camp, Dynamo Kiev make it 8 CL games without a win for Inter, and Rangers get battered on a great night for eastern clubs. The Liverpool result though, wow! And as robdog says, not a beachball in sight. Gerrard started, but had to be pulled after about 30 mins! Liverpool have now lost four games in a row for the first time since 1987. I'm starting to worry that if, and I still think it's a big if, United win at Anfield on Sunday, they may start thinking of ditching Benitez. That would be a disaster from a United viewpoint. Maybe the tide's starting to turn though, old Rafa was booed tonight when he made another of his bizarre decisions, this time removing the lively Benayoun and bringing on the tried and failed Voronin. Come on scousers, keep the faith! Viva the Rafalucion!! I'll leave the rest to Winslow... |
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| Winslow | Oct 20 2009, 01:30 PM Post #73 |
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Well then, let's get on with it. Tuesday's games... . . . . . . Group E: Liverpool 1, Lyon 2; Debrecen 3, Fiorentina 4. Group F: Barcelona 1, Rubin Kazan 2; Inter Milan 2, Dynamo Kyiv 2. Group G: Rangers 1, Unirea 4; Stuttgart 1, Sevilla 3. Group H: AZ Alkmaar 1, Arsenal 1; Olympiakos 2, Standard Liege 1. Good gravy Marie, as my grandmother used to say, what a set of results. I'll let others respond to the Barca upset; I switched off the boring (at that moment) Liverpool match midway through the second half and picked up the far more entertaining action at the San Siro. No goals after the 55th minute or so (Suazo scored an apparent winner in injury time but was correctly flagged for offside), but at least half a dozen how-did-he-miss-that moments. And my, what has happened to Scottish football (to coin a phrase :lol: )? |
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| Simon | Oct 20 2009, 01:56 PM Post #74 |
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Sing along chaps: "Down at Anfield, the mighty Anfield the Lyon won tonight, Down at Anfield, the mighty Anfield the Lyon won tonight, A win away, A win away, A win away, A win away, A win away" Don't know if that should be the main chorus from the United fans on Sunday, or maybe a few hearty renditions of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14IRDDnEPR4
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| Hector | Oct 20 2009, 02:00 PM Post #75 |
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I watched Sevilla's 3-1 win in Germany over Stuttgart. Wonderful result for the club who were led by 2 goals by central defender Sebastian Squillaci and now have 9 points from 3 matches. Negredo was hurt and missed the game but no problem as Luis Fabiano was back. Stuttgart didn't play poorly but Sevilla took advantage of their opportunities, defended well and with Navas and Adriano on the wings they were a threat to Stuttgart by spreading out their defense. Unirea's big win in Scotland moves them into 2nd in the group with 4 points, Stuttgart have 2 and Rangers 1 (after 2 home matches.) Looks good for Sevilla with a tight race for 2nd. I caught the highlights of Barcelona-Rubin and listened to some post match commentary on the game. The Russians apaprently defended very well, took advanatge of two mistake sby barcelona, on the first goal, Marquez couldn't control a high ball and it fell to a Russian who fired in a nice long distance shot. On the 2nd, Messi misplayed apass to Toure, it was picked up by the Russians and Karadeniz on a counter finished well. Ibrahimovic with barca's goal from a ncie feed by xavi and they late in the game struck a post. But that group has suddenly become very close, adding this result to Dinamo's draw at Inter Milan. Barcelona still lead the group on goal difference with 4 points but Dinamo and Rubin each have 4 points too while Inter has 3. |
| iPuerta amigo, Sevilla esta contigo! | |
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Bayern played well while he was in but when he went off, they lost a little steam, still Juve has to thank Buffon, once more, for helping them get out of Munich with a draw.


5:03 PM Jul 10