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| Champions League 2010-11 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 16 2010, 07:51 AM (4,377 Views) | |
| Lalo | May 3 2011, 08:46 AM Post #316 |
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Too bad Collina or ex Argentina ref Javier "El Sheriff" Castrilli are retired, either one of them would have been able to handle these Barcelona-Real Madrid matches and would have issued some cards to any player trying to surround him trying to get the referee to caution an opposing player! But now that he is an "overseer" hopefully Collina will give some of his wisdom on handling this sort of game to tonight's referee. |
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| chacal | May 3 2011, 09:43 AM Post #317 |
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Best thing for today's game is for a first half Madrid goal, that will get both teams playing and concentrating on winning the game rather than engaging in theatrics or kicking each other! |
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| Winslow | May 3 2011, 12:51 PM Post #318 |
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The second superclasico leg... . . . . . Barcelona 1, Real Madrid 1 (3-1 aggregate). The better team moves on in the rain, after a more satisfying and quiet evening at the Camp Nou. There were no early goals, though Casillas had to be very good twice to keep the visitors level. After halftime, C. Ronaldo got dumped from behind on a strong rush, and soon afterward Pedro blew through a huge hole in Real's central defense, took a smart pass from Iniesta, and slid his shot under the keeper. Real hung in there and equalized midway through the half, after a nice 3-way passing move put Di Maria in the clear; his shot bounced off the post and straight back to him, then he rolled a short ball for Marcelo to drive home. Abidal came on for Puyol in injury time and got a huge hand from the home side; after the final whistle his teammates tossed him way up in the air. Easy guys--you may need him at Wembley! |
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| Don Balon | May 3 2011, 03:04 PM Post #319 |
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Very good to see Abidal back, and he will have time to play himself back into full fitness before the 28 May Final at Wembley. One more talking point for the conspiracy theorists, with the score still 0-0 Higuain scored after receiving a pass from Ronaldo but the ref called the goal back for a foul by Ronaldo as he fell and knocked down Mascherano who was covering Higuain. The problem was Ronaldo was pushed into Mascherano by Pique so the ref either should have whistled a foul on Pique or let the play continue, as Higuain was already past Mascherano before he fell. But the decision the ref did make, call a foul on Ronaldo was in my eyes, and I had no horse in this race, the wrong one. But overall Barcelona was the better team over the two legs although I think this was probably the best of the four games this month between the two clubs and was by far the cleanest played. |
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| calimocho | May 3 2011, 03:18 PM Post #320 |
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Yes, Abidal's return is very welcome for fans of the sport everywhere but especially for Barcelona. If he can recuperate anywhere near his pre surgery form he will be a huge addition to the team. To me before injury Abidal was having his best season since he came to Barcelona and I did not recall seeing a better left back anywhere this season. I do agree with Don Balon about the goal called back, it was a foul by Pique and that should have been called. I do not think I would have let the goal stand because Mascherano was knocked down on the play but Madrid should have had a free kick just outside the penalty area for Pique's foul on Ronaldo, and it should not have been a free kick for Barcelona. But without a few good saves from Casillas, Barcelona would have won easily. But Casillas as almost always (this past weekend a rare exception) kept Madrid in the game. I was left wondeirng why Adebayor played instead of Benzema as a 2nd half sub. Adebayor has no technique, he is just physical force and this was a game which called for skill which Benzema has. But Mourinho seems to prefer strong, fast guys and thus Adebayor came on and did absolutely nothing but commit a few nasty fouls and give the ball away. To me Guardiola won the tactical battle in both Champions League games and that is a bg reason why Barcelona and not Real Madrid are advancing to the final. |
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| Martin | May 3 2011, 05:34 PM Post #321 |
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I too think this was the best of the four games between the clubs this month and was probably the one with the least amount of edginess to it. Credit for much of that should be shared by the teams and the ref who from the start made it clear he would call the game closely, that is not allow much physical contact. But I am in agreement with both Don Balon and calimocho that he blew it on the play where Higuain put the ball into the back of the net. Pique fouled Ronaldo who then fell into and knocked Mascherano down. Here is the play in question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riQd1U3-FzE But in the end that play was not determinative because I do not think the goal should have stood. It should have been, as others already noted, a free kick for Madrid. What was determinative over the two legs was the harsh red given to Pepe in leg 1 as Barcelona's victory margin over the two legs was only obtained when they had that man advantage in the first game. Barcelona may have had more of the ball and created more opportunities but in these four games the teams were pretty evenly matched, they each won one, lost one and drew two, Barcelona scored 4 goals to Real Madrid's 3. But because Barca get the league and Champions League and Madrid just the Copa del Rey this will be viewed as an overall victory for Barcelona and I suppose there is some truth in that. But Madrid are getting closer to reaching Barcelona than ever before in the Guardiola era. What gets me angry as a Madrid supporter, however, are the tactics Mourinho employed over these four games, when he had the team pushing up higher and pressing Barcelona's backs, which Madrid did in the first half of the Copa del Rey and the 2nd half today, Madrid enjoyed more success. They have the players to attack Barcelona even if Barcelona possess the ball more. But too often in these four matches Mourinho I thought had Madrid sitting too deep and that to me is a mistake against a Barcelona who sooner or later will find the openings in your defense. Over the four games I think Guardiola had the better of the tactical battle and that is why his club are advancing to the Champions League Final. Adebayor was Mourinho's offensive change in the 2nd half? Adebayor!? |
| Club Sportivo Desamparados | |
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| rosarino | May 3 2011, 08:25 PM Post #322 |
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This is how I see these games, Mourinho erred in gifting the ball to Barcelona and sitting back and hoping to do something on the counter. When he had Madrid pressing more they were more effective. To me futbol won out as Barcelona looked to play futbol in all 4 games while Madrid for the most part were content to defend and hope for ssome luck on the break. Full praise to Guardiola who remained true to his club's philosophy of keeping the ball and looking to create opportunities. Fortunately this gaame was less rancorous than the previous ones. As for the Higuain goal that was not, in my view Pique and Ronaldo just ran into each other, there was no foul there but there was when Ronaldo inadvertenly knocked Mascherano over and took him out of the play. That to me was the proper call by the ref. |
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| Santista | May 3 2011, 08:35 PM Post #323 |
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Real Madrid gave Jose Mourinho one of the best teams money could buy and his tactics are to defend, defend and then defend some more. Unbelievable! With that attitude and the team's subsequent lack of class as they are still claiming the officials decided this game and not their own fearful tactics, it is no wonder most neutral fans around the world are happy that Barcelona are the club advancing to the final. |
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| Dr. Z | May 3 2011, 10:41 PM Post #324 |
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Pep did do a good job as Barcelona seemed to have an answer for just about everything Real Madrid tried to do in these two legs. He quickly learned what did not work in the Copa del Rey and adjusted. Madrid may have kept it close but it was Barcelona always looking the more dangerous and Barcelona dictating play in these games. It is very pleasing for any Barcelona fan to advance to the finals after beating Madrid, even sweeter seeing Madrid's coaches, players, directors and fans fail to accept Barcelona's victory (excluding posters here of course!) |
| Poniendo el pecho a las balas! | |
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| Johnbuildr | May 4 2011, 05:44 AM Post #325 |
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<<One more talking point for the conspiracy theorists, with the score still 0-0 Higuain scored after receiving a pass from Ronaldo but the ref called the goal back for a foul by Ronaldo as he fell and knocked down Mascherano who was covering Higuan. The problem was Ronaldo was pushed into Mascherano by Pique so the ref either should have whistled a foul on Pique or let the play continue, as Mascherano was already past Mascherano before he fell. But the decision the ref did make, call a foul on Ronaldo was in my eyes, and I had no horse in this race, the wrong one.>> Just a comment about that play that no one has mentioned: No way Mascherano is close enough to stop that shot on goal by Higuan, even if he were not clipped down from behind. The defender was simply too many steps away from the shooter who only needed the one touch shot to have had any effect on the shot. A Real lucky foul, so to speak...... :lol: |
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Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum | |
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| gaviota | May 4 2011, 06:12 AM Post #326 |
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As Martin mentioned in a post a few before this one, it was not so much disallowing Higuain's goal last night which has upset Madrid fans but the expulsion of Pepe in the first game was the deciding moment of this two legged series. Prior to Pepe's expulsion that game was looking like it was headed for a 0-0 finish which combined with last night's 1-1 tie would have sent Real Madrid through on away goals. But with the advantage gained by Pepe's red card, Barcelona built the cushion they needed to advance. Where I agree with many here is that Madrid were too timid in all 4 of these clasicos. When the team did play with less timidity they were more effective and Mourinho's failure to have the team playing more offensively was I think a major mistake which the club are trying to mask now by solely focusing on the officiating. |
| CHAMP13NS | |
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| The Artful Codger | May 4 2011, 09:44 AM Post #327 |
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That is the way I saw it too John and while I am glad Barcelona's more attacking mentality eventually won out over the two legs, I do think Real Madrid were short changed on that call. |
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| Rufus T. Firefly | May 4 2011, 10:47 AM Post #328 |
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While I know they have their decisive league match on Sunday vs Chelsea, Manchester United are treating this second leg of the semifinal like a late November meaningless group game, look at the starting teams: Manchester United: 1-Edwin van der Sar; 22-John O’Shea, 12-Chris Smalling, 23-Jonny Evans, 21-Rafael; 8-Anderson, 18-Paul Scholes, 28-Darron Gibson, 17-Nani, 25-Antonio Valencia; 9-Dimitar Berbatov Schalke 04: 1-Manuel Neuer; 22-Atsuto Uchida, 4-Benedikt Hoewedes, 21-Christoph Metzelder, 3-Sergio Escudero; 17-Jefferson Farfan, 14-Kyriakos Papadopoulos, 18-Jose Manuel Jurado, 11-Alexander Baumjohann; 31-Julian Draxler, 7-Raul |
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| Johnbuildr | May 4 2011, 12:37 PM Post #329 |
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Yep, I should have called it a Real shame, not Real lucky........ |
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Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum | |
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| Winslow | May 4 2011, 12:51 PM Post #330 |
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At least half the Premier League would kill to have that lineup. Wednesday's second leg... . . . . . Manchester United 4, Schalke 04 1 (6-1 aggregate). No surprises here as the Red Devils dominated throughout, allowing their fans to sing about going to Wem-ber-lee for most of the second half. The home team broke the ice just before the half-hour after a midfield giveaway; Gibson picked out Valencia as he ran behind the left back, and the substitute striker rolled it in off Neuer's arm. Five minutes later a loose ball in Schalke's box fell to Gibson, whose shot went off Neuer's hands and in. The Germans pulled one back before halftime as Jurado shot first-time inside the near post after a scramble, but that was it. Anderson added a pair in the second half; the second was nicely set up by Berbatov, who had made a splendid run to get free before Valencia found him in the box. Man U didn't exactly put the tea lady out there as Simon suggested, but even Michael Owen got a late runout; he nearly scored too, but Neuer made his best save to deny the ex-wonder boy. It was a rare high point for Schalke's lame duck keeper, whose performance may have given United fans bad memories of Massimo Taibi, the Blind Venetian. He must really want to stay in Germany. |
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5:03 PM Jul 10