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| Champions League 2010-11 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 16 2010, 07:51 AM (4,381 Views) | |
| Rufus T. Firefly | Apr 5 2011, 03:05 PM Post #256 |
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That better have been something more than just a sore throat to keep Lennon out of the game! The mumps at least! ![]() Leave it to an ex Arsenal player, Adebayor, to spoil Spurs evening. Although Crouch did his part too. What a moronic double yellow card. Spurs defense has always been a question mark even though they did play well defensively vs Milan, but maybe that says more about milan than about Spurs defense? Some shoddy defending on both Adebayor goals but also credit Real Madrid for their swift passing and movement which opened Spurs up like a tin can. And on the subject of opening up the defense, what a disaster from Inter. Inter twice had the chance to make it 3-2 early in the 2nd half but Neuer first forced Milito to shoot narrowly wide, then made a fine reaction save on an Eto'o shot. Raul scored to make it 3-2, then while Inter were looking for the tying goal, a Schalke counter would have resulted in another Raul goal but Ranocchia accidentally knocked it in his own net before it got to Raul. Did even the most rabid Schalke fans envision their team winning 5-2 at the San Siro? Today's results pretty much confirm Madrid and Schalke as semifinalists. |
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| Santista | Apr 5 2011, 07:34 PM Post #257 |
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A silly, silly foul by Crouch put his side in a deep hole. But I agree with those writing that even at full strength, Real Madrid were going to win that game by several goals, but down a man, Spurs took a beating which will require a miracle to come back from. Only Barcelona is capable of scoring 5 on Real Madrid, right? ![]() A stunning collapse by Inter Milan but also credit Schalke and their finishing ability. Perhaps their recent coaching change has given them the necessary moral lift? it sure seems that way. |
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| Yogi | Apr 5 2011, 07:59 PM Post #258 |
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Real Madrid were just superior to Tottenham who had a great fall but were frankly pretty fortunate to get by Milan in the previous round and have been pretty poor in league play in the past month. Whether Tottenham had 11 or 10 men on the field, Madrid's skill, vision, speed and finishing were going to be too much for them. Now Schalke beating Inter 5-2 at San Siro was a surprise. I really thought Inter would lift themselves up after their weekend loss to Milan. But as everybody has noted, the defense, especially the central defense just fell apart. Lucio was really missed and you can add Samuel to that too as even with Lucio, the overall defense has not been as solid without that Lucio-Samuel partnership controlling the middle. Raul and Edu each were very lively and mobile but who could have imagined they would lead their midtable Bundesliga club to 5 goals on the road? |
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| SuperEagle | Apr 5 2011, 09:09 PM Post #259 |
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Here is an Arsenal fan who really enjoyed seeing Adebayor score two goals against Spurs! But where were Tottenham's defenders on those two plays? How do you leave Adebayor so open inside the penalty area?Lke so many others I am simpy shocked at Schalke's win at Inter. But I like that an outsider like them will at least be in the semifinals. I think santista may be right, their recent coaching change has brought new energy to the team at just the right time. I always enjoy watching Raul play, one of the smartest footballers I have seen in the last 25 years. he is one of those players who almost always seems to make the right move on the pitch. |
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| Winslow | Apr 6 2011, 01:00 PM Post #260 |
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Wednesday's second legs... . . . . . Barcelona 5, Shakhtar Donetsk 1; Chelsea 0, Manchester United 1. Barca makes it three blowouts from four with a dominating performance at the Camp Nou; Iniesta opened the scoring in the second minute and Dani Alves added another half an hour later. After halftime Pique made it 3-0 before Rakitskyi pulled Shakhtar one back just before the hour; one minute later Kesta restored the 3-goal margin, and Xavi added one more near the end. The week's only nailbiter came at Stamford Bridge--no surprise. The only goal came just before the half-hour as Giggs took a long diagonal ball from Carrick and pulled it back to the penalty spot, where Rooney stroked it off the far post and in. The Blues had several good chances; Torres hit the post with a first-half flick and had a second-half header clawed away by van der Sar. But the real talking point came in injury time on a header that nearly put Ramires clear, until Evra wrapped both legs around his and dumped him in the box. The rather obvious PK was not called. Two minutes later, Torres tumbled in the area and was (correctly IMO) booked for diving. |
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| Simon | Apr 6 2011, 01:42 PM Post #261 |
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Torres is just about the player I hate the most in football, an utterly shameless despicable cheat. Funnily enough I said to my mate before the match that we'd have to watch out for Torres diving - he's got a track record as long as your arm. Sure enough there were two dreadful dives from him in the penalty area tonight, he should count himself lucky he was only booked for one of them. Top performance by United this evening, very pleased with them. That's our first win at Chelsea in 9 years and we played a really good game. Having Ferdinand back made a massive difference - as exciting a prospect as Smalling is, Ferdinand is world class and brings a calm precision to our defending. Our defensive resources are stretched unbelievably thin at the moment, hence when Rafael went off injured we had to introduce a new right back by the name of Antonio Valencia (and this after Giggs played left back for us at West Ham at the weekend!) but he did very well. Actually it's Evra who's hit and miss at the moment, great goalline clearance and saving header from Anelka, but slipped up a couple of times and did foul Ramires in the box at the end. We've had a string of key decisions go against us against Chelsea in recent matches so it's nice to get the rub of the green. Admittedly that's not much consolation to Chelsea fans after they got stiffed by the referee against Barcelona in 2009 and will now reflect that it's happened again to them in Europe. Still, my (partisan) view is that United were good value for the 1-0 win. Gorgeous goal as well - beautiful ball from Carrick (who was superb all night), fantastic take from Giggsy to beat Bosingwa and then the perfectly weighted cut back that meant Rooney only needed to pass the ball in the corner. Our quarter-final is still alive though. If Chelsea play as they're capable of they can beat anyone anywhere and it's easily conceivable that they could win 2-1 at OT. Let's see how it goes, our home record is great and we still haven't even conceded an away goal in the CL this season so we've got to feel satisfied with how we're doing. The 3 other quarters look settled to me though. No surprise with the other game tonight. I think most people identified Shakhtar as the weakest of the last eight and reckoned Barcelona had a virtual bye through to the semis, but as the old English saying goes 'you can only beat the team that's in front of you' and Barca did that easily. |
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| The Artful Codger | Apr 6 2011, 01:57 PM Post #262 |
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Chelsea just did not get it done tonight. Yes, Evra did foul Ramires and I thought the ref, after not giving that foul would give one for Torres' action a minute or so later but there he correctly held off calling a compensation penalty. Bottom line was Manchester United finished their chance, Chelsea could not do that with theirs. But unquestionably this is the only one of the four quarterfinals which is realistically still alive going into leg 2. United are clear favorites with a 1-0 lead plus thata way goal but Chelsea cannot be counted out. We cannot say the same about the other three quarterifnal matchups. I will agree with Simon the Red Devil, adding Ferdinand does help stabilise the backline. He will be needed as United progress in this tournament. Meanwhile the scoring droughts for Drogba and Torres continue. |
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| xeneize | Apr 6 2011, 02:43 PM Post #263 |
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I think Shakhtar had a little stage fright and at the Nou Camp against a team of Barcelona's quality that is almost always going to end badly for the team playing with fear. Barcelona are like sharks smelling blood in the water. I am already looking forward to the Copa del Rey Final and the two likely Champions League semifinals between Barcelona and Real Madrid. With Barcelona's league lead, their league matchup is almost anticlimatic, however, anytime these two rivals play, the tension will be high. And as the first of their four upcoming matchups, that league game could be important from a mental standpoint in getting an edge over their rivals. |
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| gaviota | Apr 6 2011, 03:37 PM Post #264 |
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I thought after Iniesta's early goal that Shakhtar had some good opportunities to score but they hurried their shots and did not convert them. then once Iniesta passed to Dani Alves for Barcelona's 2nd goal, the match was essentially over. So unless Tottenham and Shakhtar perform a miracle we will have four Real Madrid vs Barcelona matches in 18 days! 16 April league match at the Bernaebu, 20 April Copa del Rey Final at Valencia, 26 or 27 April first leg Champions League semifinal, 3 or 4 May, Champions League semifinal second leg. Let the fun begin! |
| CHAMP13NS | |
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| libero | Apr 6 2011, 08:25 PM Post #265 |
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The likely Madrid-Barcelona games could end up being very good or they will turn ugly, especially the latter games because the teams will 1] know each other so well and/or 2] build up a lot of animosity after playing 4 times in less than three weeks. Hard to imagine that there would be little to decide in the 2nd legs of all four quarterfinals. Only Manchester United-Chelsea is still a bit up in the air but even there you would have to rate Manchester United the heavy favorites going home 1-0 in front. But in the other three matchups, the smallest margin is Schalke's 3 goal lead over Inter! |
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| raconteur | Apr 6 2011, 09:44 PM Post #266 |
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libero that is a pretty good point, the 4 games within 18 days could really lead to familiarity breeds contempt situation which could lead to suspensions for whichever team emerges victorious. But as a neutral I am really looking forward to seeing those two heavyweights go after it in the semis. As for Wednesday's games, Manchester United's defense was strong but the ageless van der Sar also came up with a couple of extraordinary saves. At 40 he is still very agile. Ferguson will have some big shoes, or shall I say gloves to fill when he retires at the end of this season. |
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| robdog | Apr 8 2011, 07:03 AM Post #267 |
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I am not taking nothing away from the mancs win. Thought the goal was well crafted by Giggs & Rooney did the business. Just curious about the ref though. Not even talking about the penalty appeals, cause everyone has an opinion. Just curious what everyone thought of this play: ![]() The crazy thing is Rio started yelling & the ref backed away from him. In my Sunday league that I play in, this is at least a yellow. Rio didn't even get a talking to
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| Supporter for FCK, San Lorenzo, Chelsea, Pachuca, Corinthians & Real Betis | |
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| Yogi | Apr 8 2011, 09:16 AM Post #268 |
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He was going for the ball, missed it I believe and his follow through struck the Chelsea player, that probably should have merited a yellow card. But apart from refereeing decisions, the bottom line was Chelsea just did not get it done and their reliance on the slumping Fernando Torres is baffling to me. |
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| raconteur | Apr 12 2011, 07:02 AM Post #269 |
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Time for the 2nd legs and with three of the four probably already decided I think it is worthwhile to show the disciplinary situation these clubs face going into these 2nd leg games, Playing on Tuesday Manchester United v Chelsea Misses next match if booked: John Obi Mikel, Ramires, Fernando Torres, Yuri Zhirkov (all Chelsea) - - Shakhtar Donetsk v Barcelona Suspended: Razvan Rat (Shakhtar Donetsk); Andres Iniesta (Barcelona) Misses next match if booked: Oleksiy Gai, Luiz Adriano, Dmytro Chygrynskiy, Henrik Mkhitaryan, Darijo Srna, Yaroslav Rakitskiy (All Shakhtar Donetsk) - - Playing on Wednesday Schalke 04 v Inter Milan Suspended: Cristian Chivu (Inter Milan); Jefferson Farfan (Schalke 04) Misses next match if booked: Thiago Motta (Inter Milan); Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Manuel Jurado (Schalke 04) - - Tottenham Hotspur v Real Madrid Suspended: Pepe (Real Madrid); Peter Crouch (Tottenham Hotspur) Misses next match if booked: Raul Albiol, Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria, Sergio Ramos, Ricardo Carvalho (all Real Madrid) As the only match really still undecided, Chelsea and Manchester United can not afford to rest any players for fear of picking up another yellow and a subsequent suspension for the semifinals. Manchester United however do not have anyone in that situation but Chelsea do. Yet Ancelotti cannot afford to keep them on the sideline. Real Madrid on the other hand have several key players, Ronaldo, DiMaria, Ramos and Carvalho, all facing suspension if they pick up another card. I would think it would be wise to hold them out for this 2nd leg but Mourinho may not want to risk, even with a 4 goal lead, that players like Ronaldo and Ramos sit this match out. I am curious to see what the "Special One" will do in this situation. |
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| Sporting | Apr 12 2011, 08:15 AM Post #270 |
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I would guess that Ronaldo would start on the bench, only coming on if the situation is unexpectedly bad for Madrid. But surely this won't happen. |
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But where were Tottenham's defenders on those two plays? How do you leave Adebayor so open inside the penalty area?


5:03 PM Jul 10