Wednesday, September 17, 2008

CL Open Thread


Now that everyone here got the Roma-CFR Cluj matchup completely wrong, it's time to move onto Matchday 2. Arsenal, Celtic and Manchester United are you British teams involved, With ManU-Villareal apparently our ESPN2 game of the week. Given that the early listing was for Real Madrid-BATE Borisov, I'll take it. If you don't like that game, please feel free to browse our links. There is one that should really help you out.
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Cristiano Ronaldo will be making his season debut for Manchester United tonight. That is, if he gets off the bench. Unfortunately for us American fans, The Haitian Sensation is not on Villareal's Champions League roster, though Giuseppe Rossi is. Bastard.

Match-ups and lineups after the jump.

Group E
Celtic-Aalborg
Manchester United-Villareal

Group F
Lyon-Fiorentina
Steaua Bucharest-Bayern Munich

Group G
Dynamo Kiev-Arsenal
Porto-Fenerbahce

Group H
Juventus-Zenit St Petersburg
Real Madrid-BATE Borisov


Lineups
Celtic: Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, Nakamura, Robson, Brown, Maloney, Samaras, McDonald
Aalborg: Zaza, Beauchamp, Jakobsen, Olfers, Pedersen, Curth, Johansson, Augustinussen, Risgard, Enevoldsen, Saganowski

Manchester United: Van der Sar; Ferdinand, Evra, Neville, Evans; Hargreaves, Fletcher, Park, Nani; Rooney, Tevez. Subs: Anderson, O'Shea, Ronaldo, Vidic, Brown, Foster, Giggs
Villareal: Diego Lopez; Gonzalo, Capdevilla, Angel Lopez, Godin; Fernandez, Eguren, Edmilson, Cani, Pires; Franco. Subs: Viera, Llorente, ibagaza, Fuentes, Cazorla, Senna, Venta

Dynamo Kiev: Bogush, Betao, Diakhate, Mykhalyk, Nesmachniy, Vukojevic, Yussuf, Yeremenko, Aliev, Ninkovic, Bangoura. Subs: Shovkovskiy, Ghioane, Morozyuk, Shatskikh, Kravets,
Arsenal: Almunia; Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy; Walcott, Fabregas, Song, Denilson; Van Persie, Adebayor. Subs: Fabianski, Vela, Eboue, Bendtner, Ramsey, Wilshere, Djourou

Alright, it's Lingering Bursitis here. I have no idea what I'm undertaking, but I thought that since I'd found a Real Madrid v. BATE Borisov feed, I might as well do a half-hearted liveblog (while still technically at work). Call it madness, but I could probably bank on us being the only ones around with that depth of coverage.

2 mins: Raul goes close to scoring. The feed is in Portuguese. This is not going to be easy.

5 mins: All Real so far, unsurprisingly. BATE elicit loud wolf-whistles for hoofing their sole possession downfield.

11 mins: GOAL REAL MADRID... nice build-up. Robben's romp down the left wins a corner. Van der Vaart takes it short, and Guti's low "cross" scuffs across the box to Sergio Ramos, all alone on the back post, and he one-times it through Veremko's legs. Real Madrid 1, BATE Borisov 0 (Ramos 11")

And brilliantly, the patchy Portuguese feed goes down. What the hell was I thinking anyway? I'm just playing out a crisis on the blog... the need to do something about soccer completely overwhelming my better nature.

Time to troll for another obscure game to cover.

86 comments:

The NY Kid said...

Will Real Madrid master Bate?

Oh, and where's the TM - NY KID on "The Haitian Sensation"?

Jacob said...

I figured you would be along to do it. I was right.

BackBergtt said...

im watching the liverpool/sunderland reserves showdown. one day, id like to see a woman naked.

Unknown said...

Also, we get a blog TM on Spartak London

Unknown said...

I am going to actually watch the Real/BATE match. Wish me luck

Unknown said...

Fuck it, I'm moving to the post for some Real Madrid insights.

The NY Kid said...

Hang in there, Georger! It'll happen for you some day.

The NY Kid said...

the Arsenal kits are making my eyes bleed

Jacob said...

I hate the home Arsenal kit more. Using the Blackcurrant on the sleeves. Yuck.

Jacob said...

My Arsenal feed sucks. I should find a Celtic one, no one will want to watch that.

BurgerBrother said...

Would Gary Neville start for Birmingham?

The NY Kid said...

Sopcast 6029 for Arsenal feed

strong like bull smart like tractor said...

Gilardino scores to put Fiorentina up one (against the run of play) in Lyon...

BackBergtt said...

lyon are the pre 2008 spain of the champions league

The NY Kid said...

Porto already up 2 on Fenerbache.

And dammit, Lyon! Allez!

BackBergtt said...

munchinland up 1-0

Unknown said...

Screw looking for a BATE feed... Porto look good, don't they? Poor Aragones... :(

The NY Kid said...

Sergio Ramos master(s) Bate

Unknown said...

NY Kid: because he's Adebayor. It's what he does. Hat trick one week, 6 weeks without a goal, then another hat trick

Precious Roy said...

Can't get any good streams. Ack. Oh Southeast |Asian pirates, why do you hate the Mac OS? Think I picked Fenerbahce to go through. I'm an idiot.

The NY Kid said...

But doesn't he care about my CL fantasy team?

Unknown said...

Aalborg are applying some neat pressure... look out, Celtic. You have the NY Kid dreaded vote of confidence to advance

The NY Kid said...

I am truly the kiss of death. Bet any and all monies against my picks!

The NY Kid said...

talking about Arsenal's terrible travel arrangements for their return to London. So they get back home at 3AM on Thursday? So what?

It's only Bolton on Saturday.

/tempting fate

Unknown said...

Celtic have a Penalty...

Unknown said...

... and Barry Robson misses it. Still 0-0 there. Hilarious.

The NY Kid said...

And Fenerbache pulls 1 back

The NY Kid said...

Sir Bobby would have made it

Precious Roy said...

Ha ha... the 4-letter gamecaster mentioned the missed PK in the Arnseal v Kiev liveblog.

The NY Kid said...

There would have been a riot in the Ukraine if Walcott had scored on the counter after the ref (rightly) didn't award a PK

Unknown said...

Another for Gilardino... 0-2 Fiore away from home against the limp Lyon

The NY Kid said...

I hate you.

Unknown said...

sorry


what I meant was limp lyonnais

Unknown said...

there's plenty of other good, descriptive l words I could use

lifeless
lackluster
lame
limited
listless


limp is a good one though

The NY Kid said...

Oh, so you're a funny man?

You're lucky I'm a PSG man.

Unknown said...

plenty of bad adjectives beginning with P too


:P

Unknown said...

Where are all the Man United goals? Arsenal goals?


Europe is looking rather lukewarm tonight as opposed to the general pyrotechnics of yesterday (only one game ended 0-0, goals everywhere).

Of course, they'll all right the ship in the 2nd half. Still, 8 games and only 7 goals!

The NY Kid said...

I had no idea that Pires played for Villareal. Astounding!

Jacob said...

Madrid get a second on BATE

The NY Kid said...

Ronaldo warming up.

Jacob said...

Stats from Glasgow.
Combined shots: 14
On target: 1

The NY Kid said...

@u75 - How Ruud of them

Jacob said...

Damn Dive gets a PK

Jacob said...

Slim Charles' little brother gets a PK goal for Kiev

Unknown said...

1-0 kyiv

that wasn't supposed to happen

Precious Roy said...

Hey... Arsenal getting the shit end of a dive in the box in the CL. Sounds familiar.

The NY Kid said...

Poop.

Jacob said...

@PR-
I have purged all memories of such an event. What are you on about?

Unknown said...

Now now chaps, let's not get all conspiratorial. The pressure of playing in Eastern Europe is clearly affecting the Spanish ref as well as your lot.

The NY Kid said...

Christina has made her debut for ManUre.

Precious Roy said...

Those [officials] who do not learn from the past are dooming [the Gunners] to repeat it.

BackBergtt said...

"Slim Charles' little brother gets a PK goal for Kiev"

who we hittin?

Precious Roy said...

GC description of the call:

"It was a funny one, the pen award. One where both players have a hold of each other, but the attacker flings himself to the floor theatrically, clutching the defender's shirt, and the ref buys it."

Unknown said...

Nice Roy. At some point though, the Gunners need to shed the hard-done-to tag and simply just get the job done.

I still sympathize re: the PK just now. Not the one against us though

The NY Kid said...

oh, good - Bendtner will definitely improve the situation

Jacob said...

@PR-
That's a big boy who went flying down under little Bacary's challenge. Laughable, is it had not been awarded.

Jacob said...

*if*

Precious Roy said...

Didn't say Arsenal hasn't blown chances. And by doing so left themselves no margin for error. It's easier to take the loss (if it happens) if the error wasn't a gift from the official though.

Unknown said...

Here come Lyon... it's 2-1 now!

Unknown said...

Roy: understood. They'll get it sorted, although it won't be due to anything Bendtner does

Jacob said...

There's something wonderfully sad about Bendtner's "run with the ball until I get tackled" style. It's a simplicity that you just don't see much past 8 year-olds.

Unknown said...

Juve finally get a goal... 1-0 there, 10-15 mins to go

Jacob said...

Juve scored. Del Piero.

BackBergtt said...

this has 89th minute tevez goal written all over it

Jacob said...

Norwich down to QPR at the half despite QPR being a man down from 25 minutes.

Unknown said...

Red Card for Aalborg too... the door is wide open there, Nakamura's free kick needed a fine save from Karim Zaza

Jacob said...

Vela on

Unknown said...

Unfuckingbelievable... the damn frogs have equalized

Lyon 2, Fiore 2

Jacob said...

Lyon 2-2

Unknown said...

Meanwhile, C-ron botches a chance at the far post and then watches Jonny Evans plant a wide-open header square against the post from close range after his gorgeous cross. I am loving it

Jacob said...

1-1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Precious Roy said...

Level. Thanks you Gallas.

The NY Kid said...

BENZEMA!

The NY Kid said...

GALLAS!

It's all French all the time!

Unknown said...

that's a good result away from home, PK aside.

Goat said...

I've always loved that Gallas kid.

Goat said...

So, what'd I miss? I just came in in the 83rd minute. Am I to understand the penalty was bullshit?

Unknown said...

Porto bag another to help their goal difference, 3-1 there

Jacob said...

1-1 FT Arsenal

hockalees said...

I have no feeds... how much extra time after the Gallas' goal?

Jacob said...

And Wenger is pissed. In the American way, not the British one.

Jacob said...

@hockalees-not enough.
Gallas scored in the 88th. Maybe 3 minutes of added time.

Goat said...

According to the anjlnouncer it was a "Joobious" penalty.

Jacob said...

LOL at Group E. Two 0-0 games.

Unknown said...

close to full time in Norwich too... still 1-0 QPR

Jacob said...

Norwich fail to score. 0-1 at home to 10 man QPR