Champions League Thread (the dawn of time - 2014)

[War]

Definitely.

Carrick's performances alongside Giggs in both legs against Chelsea makes me want to see how well he would do partnering Wilshere in England's central midfield.

Thought this quote from Giggs after the match summed it up:

Ye ha i'm slowly but surely being won over by Carrick. If he keeps up for the remainder of the season - midfield headache will have certainly have been created for Don Capello.

Only slight issue i might still have, is presuming England maintain their new 4-3-3 formation, if Carricks form where to demand a starting place in the next year or so. I really cant see him being of 3 mid-fielder in that formation if all mid-fielders are equally playing well (since we are presuming Wilshire & Parker are the main two & its battle between Stevie G/Lamps for the 3rd position).

 

[Dr. Pepper]

The moment Chelsea opted to go with the Christmas tree formation , thats the moment i realized any chances of a comeback were done and dusted . You just cannot play that formation when you have out of form misfiring strikers . And it has never seemed to work for them too . Coming to the game , i feel Ramires was really unlucky to get that first YC , the ref was just a tad bit harsh on him . Right now , he would be cursing Evra who should have been sent off in the first leg .

I disagree, I thought that the christmas tree was working. Chelsea were over-running the midfield, despite Carrick playing excellent, with Malouda and Anelka drifting in and playing very narrow. Anelka was poor though and didn't make the most of his opportunity to make a difference.

Carrick, Park and Rooney were fantastic. Rooney dropping deep is really working, his passing has improved so much. Last season he really worked on his heading as he played as a lone striker, this season he's worked on his passing as he plays off a pacey front man. That's really impressed me.

But again, no creativity from Chelsea. No Benayoun? Really can't understand that.

Btw how similar has this season's champions league been with 2001/02? El Clasico semi final, and Man Utd vs a German team in the other (assuming Schalke go through).

 

[JBlues08]

No major upsets tonight but what a blunder from Gomes. Can't believe he made a mess out of it and it's just really hilarious that both North London clubs have dodgy goalkeepers.

Anyway, 4 El Classicos coming up!

 

[AfridiRulez]

4 El Classico's, gonna be awesome

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Man U vs Schalke will be a good watch. Can't write off Schalke the way they have performed.

Gomes

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Champions tried their heart out.

 

[Sahil 7]

haha good bye inter milan so man u will be very happy to get schalke in semi final

 

[JBlues08]

haha good bye inter milan so man u will be very happy to get schalke in semi final

TBH, I don't think United will mind too much even if they have to face Inter because they are not what they used to be under Mourinho.

Under Leonardo, they are great going forward but defensively, they are extremely awful. A complete opposite if you compare them to last season.

 

[Auwais]

They didn't learn from their mistakes against Bayern, when they were a bit lucky to go through.

Conceding 5 goals at home is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Hi all, I've had some internet nonsense, but that's all sorted now, thankfully!

So, tonight's game - magnificent performance by the lads, it could've been 3,4,5,6 anything. Shame we didn't completely put the game to bed, but as the pundits said, it'll be more of the same at Old Trafford. Credit to the Schalke fans, they never stopped supporting their team - and we have got to pull out all the stops to get Manuel Neuer whether Van der Sar reconsiders or not. He is absolute class.

Playing like that, we can beat anyone and that includes the almighty Barcelona and Real Madrid.

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TBH, I don't think United will mind too much even if they have to face Inter because they are not what they used to be under Mourinho.

Under Leonardo, they are great going forward but defensively, they are extremely awful. A complete opposite if you compare them to last season.

If Schalke destroyed Inter, I wonder what we would've made of them...

 

[JBlues08]

How on earth did Schalke managed to get this far?! Their defending was absolutely atrocious! Inter should be ashamed of themselves!

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Playing like that, we can beat anyone and that includes the almighty Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Although you did play well but Schalke made it extremely easy for you guys. They just sat back for most of the game and inviting you guys to thrash them. If it weren't Neuer, it could have ended 5-0!

 

[m_vaughan]

The only thing that mattered for me was Raul and Giggs exchanging shirts. Two legends of the game.

Also Schalke are not out of this yet. They scored five away goals in the last round.

 

[JBlues08]

Also Schalke are not out of this yet. They scored five away goals in the last round.

That was against an Inter side who can't defend.. I can't see Schalke scoring the 3 goals they need to overturn this tie at Old Trafford. Unless United have an off day and gets complacent, they are pretty much in the final already.

Well, time for the more glamorous semi final tie later tonight.

Pep talk turns air blue - ESPN Soccernet

Strong words from Pep Guardiola there. Wonder if Mourinho's mind games are getting to him. Anyway, prediction time.

Madrid 2-1 Barcelona

 

[Haarithan]

That was the most disgraceful performance by a team in the SFs of a Champions league at home . Edu , Metzelder , Jurado , Farfan all deserved a big . Having said that , United were just beautiful to watch yesterday despite being a bit complacent with the finishing . Neuer is an absolute masterclass , legend , etc .. , it could have been 8-0 had it not been for him .

As for tonight's showdown , I have suddenly lost the faith I had in Barca so am content with a 2-1 victory to Real . Also , I think United deserve to win this year's CL . Man , I can't believe am farting these words out , but they were just bloody brilliant yesterday .

 

[JBlues08]

Neuer is an absolute masterclass , legend , etc .. , it could have been 8-0 had it not been for him .

Arsenal fans must be crying out for a goalkeeper like him when they watched yesterday's game.

 

[BKB1991]

Kinda disappointed at how great we were last night against Schalke. I am going to watch the return game at Old Trafford but I guess I can go with the feeling that we have already put a foot in the final

 

[JBlues08]

1. Mourinho's team never finishes with 11-man against Barcelona. Next time, he should just start with 10. Poor decision from the referee for the red card!

2. Some of the Barcelona players should register themselves for Hollywood acting classes once they stop retire from football. Their acting skills are so impressive till the point I think they deserve to be nominated for Oscars!

3. For all the pre-match hype, this turned out to be one of the worst El Clasico ever! No ambitions whatsoever from Mourinho which led to a poor and dull game. Don't get the idea of bringing on Adebayor at half time. He was running around like a headless chicken! Higuain or Benzema would have been a better choice to cause Barcelona's makeshift centrebacks.

4. Both of Messi's goals were brilliant and the second one was just class!

5. Can we just have the Champions League final played next week rather than on 28th May?