Tuesday, March 10, 2009

CL Open Thread: Ramos, Rafa, Ranieri and Roman. UPDATE

Good times in Spain


(Real quick... if you didn't see it earlier, check out that Terri Leigh interview below. It's a good 'un.)

UPDATE: One more thing... the US put their clocks forward ages before everyone else (I assume this was GWB's idea in order to fight terrorism with an extra hour of daylight or something), so we're in a holding pattern until 3.45. Even so... come insult me and your peers in the comments!

There's a reason we don't get paid to put out predictions, as evidenced by our performance two weeks ago when all these teams met the first time. We were bang on about there being a few close encounters, but alas, in the case of Sporting Lisbon, several UF pundits smelled an upset that simply wasn't there.

I mean, they could score 5 goals in Germany, right?

Thank the gods that the other three fixtures still have a frisson soupcon of intrigue to them.

LIVERPOOL v. REAL MADRID
Alright, so it may not have been pretty, but that's European football for you. Put all the continent's best teams together, and they're gonna give you a lesson in defense-first.

Rafa Benitez is no different, but shit, his system works. Despite being woeful in the league, he's managed Liverpool to a CL trophy in 2005, a runner-up medal in 2007, and a semi-final in 2008. What for 2009 is anyone's guess, but at home, with a lead and an away goal to protect, can there be any outcome that doesn't involve Liverpool's name in the hat for the next round?

Real may have attacking threats in Higuain, Guti and Robben, but they were collectively dire in the first leg (except for the meandering, aimless left-to-right dribbling power of the Dutch winger) and don't seem to enjoy facing actual defending, something La Liga isn't exactly known for.

Mark it down. LFC snooze into the quarter-finals with another cagey 1-0 win.

JUVENTUS v. CHELSHEA FSHEE
This is Juve's last chance at Champions League glory for a while, namely because their talisman Pavel Nedved is hanging up the boots at season's end, and there's really no-one to fill the void. Add to that an injury list including their best player this season, ex-Liverpool scapegoat-come-good Momo Sissoko, and it looks grim.

Under Hiddink, the Blues have magically unearthed some nice form, which is a euphemism for "the manager they didn't like has gone, so they're finally playing like they always could have, if they'd wanted to."

Playing away from home isn't always kind to Chelsea (see: 3-1 drubbing at AS Roma in the group stage), but there's honestly little in that Juventus lineup to trouble them. Honestly, who's going to do the scoring? The 77-year-old Del Piero? David "I fucked the coach's wife and now I can't get a game for France" Trezeguet? Vicenzo Iaquinta? Despite the fact that John Terry appears to be aging rapidly and defending like a pregnant teen, mark it down for a 1-1 draw.

BAYERN MUNICH v. SPORTING
Without embarrassing the lads further (u75 and Precious Roy), I think we can add the creaky, unfashionable Bundesliga side to the quarter-finals, right? Maybe they'll rest a few guys and give up a goal or two, but nothing that should trouble the aggregate score.

2-1 win for the Portuguese.

PANATHANAIKOS v. VILLAREAL
Not wishing to toot my own horn (except for that spot-on score prediction from the first leg), I still think the Greeks will bang this one out at home. It's an unforgiving place, football-wise, and you can bet their tails are up from the good result away from home. Plus, they're in good form at the moment (draw at Olympiakos, 3-0 win this past weekend), and with former Gooner Gilberto Silva patrolling the midfield, I fancy them to win, albeit with little flair.

I'm sticking with a 2-1 home win.

So there you have it. Stick around and berate me like you're from a Spurs message board. Your worst insults, please!

2.58pm: Instead of just harassing people, I figured I'd add the lineups as they trickle in. It'll only help cement my prediction skills.

LIVERPOOL v. REAL MADRID:
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Skrtel, Carragher, Aurelio, Alonso, Mascherano, Kuyt, Gerrard, Babel, Torres.
Subs: Cavalieri, Dossena, Hyypia, Lucas, Ngog, Spearing, Kelly.

Real Madrid: Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro, Pepe, Heinze, Robben, Lassana Diarra, Gago, Sneijder, Raul, Higuain.
Subs: Dudek, Saviola, Marcelo, Guti, Metzelder, Miguel Torres, Van der Vaart.

Notes - Gerrard and Torres both pass fitness tests to get in the starting XI, and the only intrigue in that subs bench is whether oft-named Jay Spearing or Martin Kelly will ever get a minute of playing time.

Standard stuff from Real, and look to Juande Ramos to bring on every striker midway through the second half to prove once and for all that he's not got many good ideas.

JUVENTUS v. CHELSEA:
Juventus: Buffon, Chiellini, Mellberg, Iaquinta, Del Piero, Nedved, Trezeguet, Marchisio, Grygera, Molinaro, Tiago.
Subs: Manninger, Zebina, Salihamidzic, Amauri, Poulsen, Giovinco, Ariaudo.

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, A Cole, Mikel, Essien, Ballack, Lampard, Anelka, Drogba.
Subs: Hilario, Carvalho, Malouda, Deco, Kalou, Belletti, Mancienne.

3.30pm:
More lineups.

BAYERN v. SPORTING:
Bayern Munich: Butt, Lell, Lucio, Van Buyten, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Van Bommel, Ottl, Ze Roberto, Klose, Podolski.
Subs: Rensing, Oddo, Breno, Demichelis, Sosa, Muller, Yilmaz.

Sporting: Rui Patricio, Silva, Tonel, Anderson Polga, Veloso, Adrien Silva, Vukcevic, Bruno Pereirinha, Joao Moutinho, Derlei, Djalo.
Subs: Tiago, Caneira, Ronny, Abel, Daniel Carrico, Izmailov, Tiui.

Notes - nothing sporting about that Bayern lineup. Thanks folks, please tip your waitstaff.

PANATHANAIKOS v. VILLAREAL:
Panathinaikos: Galinovic, Nilsson, Vyntra, Sarriegi, Wawrzyniak, Silva, Simao, Karagounis, Gabriel, Salpingidis, Mantzios.
Subs: Tzorvas, David, Spiropoulos, Mattos, Christodoulopoulos, Ivanschitz, Rukavina.

Villarreal: Diego Lopez, Angel, Fuentes, Godin, Capdevila, Santi Cazorla, Senna, Eguren, Ibagaza, Rossi, Nihat.
Subs: Viera, Javi Venta, Cygan, Pires, Fernandez, Bruno, Llorente.

201 comments:

1 – 200 of 201   Newer›   Newest»
Jacob said...

You forgot the link, moron. (how's that?)

Unknown said...

It's there now, dick

Spectator said...

Твоя мать выглядит Ian Dowie!

BackBergtt said...

So the Liverpool game DOES start at 3:45 right? ESPN.com still has the coverage as starting at 2:45

Unknown said...

Spectator: If that says "LB's penis is as long as Ian Dowie's face", I'd be arrested from crimes against the cervix.

What, too much?

Jacob said...

Georger, don't tell me that we have to tell you that ESPN and Soccernet are morons. Unless you set your default as Central Time, that is. Then it's your fault.

BackBergtt said...

Soccernet shows me games in GMT and I don't think I'm logged into ESPN.com but if I was it would be showing EST.

I just don't feel like getting up and going upstairs to check the tv.

Unknown said...

First rule of soccer: ignore what ESPN says

Whizalen said...

so why did they (I assume UEFA) push back the normal start time an hour? Really hurts my normal "watch the gunners in a bar on work time" CL routine.

and yes...long time reader, first time poster.

Unknown said...

No wait! He's right! The Brits have not put their clocks forward yet, so we're stuck waiting another hour for CL to kick off.

Bollocks.

BackBergtt said...

Oh look at that, WHOS THE BEST COP NOW!

Jacob said...

I knew he was right. We have three more weeks of this. Then the Brits (and everyone else) sensibly go to summer time.

To clear up--3.45EDT is the kick off time. Sorry you have to work another hour.

BackBergtt said...

The English and American DST started differentiating a few years ago I think, they don't spring forward for a few weeks more. Or something. Stupid trains.

Jacob said...

Ahh, LB, another fuck up, and I don't even think you are drinking yet.

Unknown said...

Well done, Georger. How does it feel to be right about something that makes us all angry?

Also, welcome Whizalen. Of all the things we've written here, it was timezones that got a comment? :)

BackBergtt said...

I'm on Spring Break, don't have a job, already went to the gym, and have a Penguins game immediately after the Liverpool game, so this day is fucking awesome.

Jacob said...

But this is the most spirited pregame conversation we have ever had. Let's paginate again today guys.

Unknown said...

u75: you're supposed to be insulting me. Pointing out my fuckups and drinking habits aren't exactly offensive.

Unknown said...

Well done Georger. You're just making us loathe you more right now. Spring Break, etc. I wish I had that.

Jacob said...

Shall we get to talking about mums again today?

BackBergtt said...

Crap I just remembered I broke my laptop keyboard in a drunken fit last weekend (was trying to prove how durable it was, oops), so I have to go to my backup laptop which has a realllly small keyboard. Get ready for an absurd amount of typos from my bratwurst fingers once I go upstairs for the game.

Whizalen said...

what can I say, I was just so captivated? I'm in Denver so my customary kick-off is 12:45. The hour push effs up my schedule tomorrow and no where could i find the reason why. So I thought I'd register and ask...now you will see me comment on every story.

Jacob said...

Was it one of those ones that has the hard casing and everything? I've always wanted to break one of those.

Unknown said...

Excellent, Whiz! Do you at least have a decent bar in Denver for soccer?

Georger: it's called karma in advance.

BackBergtt said...

"Was it one of those ones that has the hard casing and everything? I've always wanted to break one of those."

Nope just a five year old refurbished standard Dell Inspiron, I was just pointing out that it had gone through hell and not failed me yet .. now I don't have a 'T' key.

The NY Kid said...

Let's paginate again today guys.

I don't want to get arrested again.

Jacob said...

You know, someone's going to pop on the site in a few minutes, see all of the comments for this thread, then, without looking at the comments, start asking why he/she can't find the game. I can feel it.

Maybe it will be Bigus.

The NY Kid said...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL Trezeguet!

Take that, LB!

/just adding to the confusion

BackBergtt said...

The line-up in full is: Reina, Arbeloa, Aurelio, Carragher, Skrtel, Babel, Kuyt, Alonso, Mascherano, Gerrard, Torres. Subs: Cavalieri, Hyypia, Dossena, Ngog, Lucas, Spearing, Kelly.

Jacob said...

I have a similarly old Inspiron. Missing its V button and both ALTs as well as a CTRL because my son kicked the keyboard once, then got his tiny fingers underneath the other keys.

Unknown said...

NY Kid: I bet you a copy of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition that he doesn't score today. Mark it down.

BackBergtt said...

By the way I have a terrible feeling about this game.

Jacob said...

LB has told me that there is no way we can do worse to him than the Spurs fan boys did to hurt his fragile Bleacher Report spewing ego. I think differently. Anyone want to play his game?

The NY Kid said...

Skrtel, Kuyt, Torres?

You'll never make it with all those 'T's



@LB - I never bet on Trezeguet. See: 2006 WC Final PK

/sobbing

BackBergtt said...

Oh fuck me Sneijder is playing. I was desperate for us to sign him two years ago and always got shouted down by people claiming he wasn't good enough, thus guaranteeing he tears apart the defense today.

Jacob said...

Georger--I think you may be more correct than LB's assertion that it will be a 1-0 snoozer. I don't see how anyone could think that 2 goals could be reasonably safe for this liverpool squad and their idiotic manager, even if the game is in injury time. I'm just saying, is it is 2-0 on aggregate, even late in the second half, Madrid are still in it.

Jacob said...

Ahem
. . . if it is. . .
oops

Unknown said...

u75: your words are bouncing off me like Wanda Nara's pendulous breasts

Unknown said...

NYK: exactly, just as I thought! Go back to your cave and your fromage.

The NY Kid said...

Franco-confession: I don't like snails or frog's legs.

Unknown said...

Yeah, plus that would have been a cheap joke.

Jacob said...

Since when do any of us shy away fro one of those?

Nathaniel said...

Hello UF liveblog.

Hoping phil is about for the games...

Thank god for working at a university (espn360.com available to all .edu IPs).

Unknown said...

Good afternoon Nathaniel. Score predos for today?

Jacob said...

Trust me Nathaniel, I am very jealous of that offering.

Dammit, LB, I just noticed you used "frisson" again. Do we need to buy you a thesaurus?

The NY Kid said...

he just enjoys using French words. i think he's trying to tell me something

Unknown said...

u75: quite possibly. It's a good word. Funny though, as when I look up "u75" in my thesaurus, I get several words for "douchebag".

NYK: yeah, I'm trying to tell you I took French classes once upon a time

Unknown said...

There you go. One french word swapped for another. I could do this all day (but won't)

Nathaniel said...

Liverpool 2 - Real Madrid 1

Juventus 1 - Chelsea 1

Panathinaikos 0 - Villareal 0

Bayern Munich 1 - Sporting Lisbon 0

But what do I know?

Now, if I could just convince someone at work to let me have a PC with more than a Pentium 4 and 512MB of RAM so the games don't stop every 10 seconds or so. Grrr.....

Jacob said...

That might explain it, using the Urban Dictionary to look stuff up.

Precious Roy said...

Jesus. 50+ comments before kick...

The Chahm -pyahns!

Jacob said...

I thought we were supposed to get stuck with Juve-Spartak. What happened?

Jacob said...

@PR-
Go figure, LB screwed up the exchange rate on Daylight Savings versus GMT

Nathaniel said...

The best part of ESPN360?

Those Champions League bumpers with the crappy choir singing "The Champions" in place of most commercials. It's all I hear the rest of the day in my head (along with the voices telling me to BURN IT BURN IT ALL!!!!!111!!!!!11!ONE)

BackBergtt said...

Nope, it was always this game to be on. And by always, I mean yesterday when I checked the schedule it was there.

Mini laptop is up and running, lets do this. Speaking of which, can anyone beat 'TARDIS' as far as nerdiest Wifi network name?

Unknown said...

Good predictions, Nathaniel. They're all wrong though (at least the ones that don't correlate with mine are).

PR: if that song/chorus doesn't get you fired up, nothing will.

BackBergtt said...

DAMNIT

Nathaniel said...

I'd prefer Babel to be rapping over the Champions song. Or not.

And of course my predictions are completely false...

Precious Roy said...

Whoa... almost game, set, match. Nice turn. Better save.

BackBergtt said...

Mascherano the deadly long range shooter

Nathaniel said...

So close Mascherano...

30f said...

@MG - my wifi network is named 'Gygax' - does that count?

Real needs to realize they can kick the ball away and out of their own end.

Iker is looking around like the one player in '8 Men Out' who didn't take the bribe.

BackBergtt said...

Wow, yeah you win.

BackBergtt said...

Um was that an epic dive that the announcers just missed?

Unknown said...

Now that's a good way to dispel all the talk of parking the bus at home.

Nathaniel said...

Nedved is almost as good at crying into the pitch as CRonny...

But not quite...

30f said...

Is Bayern looking dangerous for the whole thing (just scored and now up 6-0 on agg) or is Sporting just crap?

Unknown said...

Hope that all of these chances not converted to goals don't come back to haunt us.

Unknown said...

30f: Sporting is just crap.

Nathaniel said...

I almost retract my previous Nedved statement. He really looks hurt. Collapsed again on the touchline.

Rub some dirt on it, Petr!

BackBergtt said...

Dirty from Pepe. Im worried about this after seeing the hitjob they put out on Messi this year.

BackBergtt said...

By the way, I love that Madrid only have three Spanish players, yet somehow Spain is still a competent national team.

The NY Kid said...

who is nerdier: the guy who named his wi-fi network "Gygax", or all of us who immediately knew what (or rather, whom) it referred to and are discussing it on the interwebz?

Nathaniel said...

Nedved out of the game, btw...

BackBergtt said...

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Nathaniel said...

Goal!!!!

BackBergtt said...

'the guy who named his wi-fi network "Gygax", or all of us who immediately knew what (or rather, whom) it referred to and are discussing it on the interwebz?'

good point. im in the middle of a currently 3000 word blog post about why Futurama is better than The Simpsons, and Gygax's cameo has definitely been mentioned

Magnakai Haaskivi said...

So does Rafa take Torres out now?

30f said...

'self destruct button' is right.

Is Gerrard mad that Torres stole 'his' goal?

@NYK - I am pretty darn nerdy, but must it be a competion? I am Lawful Good, after all.

Unknown said...

Fuck yeah, 'Nando.

Nathaniel said...

Juve scores..

Nathaniel said...

Great pass from Trezegut for the goal...courtesy of NY Kid

Unknown said...

The Guardian says it could have been, but to be honest, Pepe was already in the process of sliding/fucking up his backpass, so it's a moot point.

Unknown said...

Damn, Juve scored! I did not predict this!

I knew it wouldn't be David T, though.

Magnakai Haaskivi said...

I'm almost happier about Juve scoring than Torres scoring, to be honest.

BackBergtt said...

OH MY GOD what a possession there. That could have been the greatest Champions League goal ever by Stevie. Man.

Unknown said...

That's fine and understandable, Magnakai. I'm elated simply because now I can relax a little bit for the next 70 minutes, though not too much, obviously.

Watching CL games at work gives me terrible heartburn.

30f said...

More pressure from Liverpool. Maybe having a midfielder play center back is not such a good plan.

Magnakai Haaskivi said...

From one angle it looks like Torres is all over him, from another it looks like there's no contact...hard to say. The angle the ref had, though, was the one that looked like he was all over him.

BackBergtt said...

Pelligrino looks like a Bond villain

Unknown said...

If it weren't for Casillas, this would be a cricket score by now.

Magnakai Haaskivi said...

LB-I'm at work as well; I'm watching the game without sound, even though it's DVRing at home and I know I'm gonna watch it again tonight. I agree, watching at work blows; I watched Everton at work earlier, got home in time to see Cahill head in the equalizer.

BackBergtt said...

PENO

Precious Roy said...

I'd say the clocks have moved ahead in Spain already, but that would have meant that Real would have been early.

Magnakai Haaskivi said...

Stevie G. was not exactly going for the ball there, was he?

Jacob said...

bad call

30f said...

Ugh. Harsh penalty call. Now that this game is over, can ESPN switch us to something more competitive? Like Sporting v Bayern?

Unknown said...

I agree. An awful call. That said, Real have been absolutely dire thus far, so they deserve what's coming to them.

I agree it was a terrible call, but fuck Juande Ramos. That is all.

Magnakai Haaskivi said...

Rafa is NAILING this interview.

Unknown said...

ARE YOU WATCHING, VICENTE BOLUDA??!?!

Precious Roy said...

6-2 final.

Real have to throw everyone forward. They get to, but give up 4 more.

Unknown said...

Awfully harsh call, but can we all agree Real are shite, or at least have been thus far?

Precious Roy said...

to = two

BackBergtt said...

Definitely a makeup call coming at some point, I'm feeling a questionable second yellow for Stevie.

Unknown said...

Seriously though, Boluda said this would be 5-1 Real on aggregate. Have to love the awfulness of that one.

BackBergtt said...

If it were nil nil going into that call I'd feel worse about it.

Torres don't take no shit from anybody, he's a Mellon!

30f said...

Torres = dive.

Diarra wishes he was still on a good team, like Portsmouth.

Unknown said...

Cannavaro and Heintze will have nightmares about Torres when this one is done.

BackBergtt said...

Real are in complete disarray here - although they are complaining bitterly about the officials for both Liverpool goals. The brutal truth is they are being run ragged from back to front. Anfield is bouncing and all the years of frustration Fernando Torres suffered at the hands of Real when he was the symbol of their less illustrious rivals Atletico appear to be bubbling to the surface as he wreaks havoc on the Spanish defence. Liverpool are playing at an astonishingly high tempo and Real are finding impossible to find any sort of rhythm or order.

I just came.

Magnakai Haaskivi said...

Jamie Carragher kind of looks like Guy Pearce.

Nathaniel said...

jesus christ, Georger.....

nice how i capitalized Georger but not JC?

BackBergtt said...

Ah theres the Kuyt I know and love!

Big game for Babel thus far, and is there a better big game player in the world than Torres right now?

Magnakai Haaskivi said...

My rec league keeper makes that same irritated gesture when nobody moves for him after he makes a save.

BackBergtt said...

I forgot to source that, it was Phil McNulty's words, not mine. Cept the coming part, I added that.

BackBergtt said...

3-0 to the Krauts. Has a tie ever been won 10-0?

Unknown said...

For those UF guys who felt an upset coming, Bayern just scored goals #7 and #8 in that one.

Precious Roy said...

And Joao Motinho scores so it's only 8-1 on aggregate.

Unknown said...

Wait a sec - Sporting just pulled one back, but then Bayern grabbed goal #4 of the night, making it 9-1 on aggregate. Scorers' delight!

Precious Roy said...

Fuck and less than a minite later Schweinsteiger comes back to make it 9.

BackBergtt said...

9-1

Magnakai Haaskivi said...

So there's going to be a Lucas sighting in the next round.

30f said...

Mascherano thinks it is too easy for his team. He'd like to see how Liverpool does down a man.

Unknown said...

what's "schadenfreude" in Portuguese?

BackBergtt said...

Dude soccer is boring, give me a REAL football game with a commercial every thirty seconds and 400 pound dudes just standing around trying not to die.

/pounds bud light with lime
// drives away drunk
/// date rapes

Nathaniel said...

That 'Nando is sexy even when he's tying his boots!

Source: Kickette.com

Nathaniel said...

Essien pulls one back for Spartak.

Ballack gets a yellow.

hockalees said...

Chelsea just equalizes in stoppage time. They had one called back that looked over the line. So it is probably fair.

BackBergtt said...

I'd like to use this time to remind all Chelsea fans that Luis Garcia's goal did not, in fact, go over the line, and that you can eat my tasty ballsack.

The Fan's Attic said...

Wow! I go to one one-hour meeting and all hell breaks loose in CL play. i always miss the exciting stuff. fuck bigus' mom in the pants.

[this is where everybody declines because they all ran a train on her last night].

Unknown said...

Are we close to paginating yet?

Unknown said...

PS. I like Michael Essien. He's a damn good player, I just wish he didn't play for Spartak.

30f said...

Why does the ESPN promo for tomorrow's games have the Barca coach wiping his nose? Is that supposed to make me tune in?

And yes, I was scared to spell 'Guardi-Hola' wrong.

BackBergtt said...

Time to talk some shit over at the big lead to their resident arsenal fan

Unknown said...

Is that the guy who writes up stories a week after we did and then doesn't link to anyone about them?

BackBergtt said...

Sounds about right. He said Liverpool would knuckle drag their way through this game and I take exception to that. He's still bitter about the tie last year. Also, thinks Ronaldhino is the most talented player in the world.

Nathaniel said...

Quittin' time, boys...

Now for the 1/2-hour drive home so I miss most of 2nd halves.

Unknown said...

Georger: that is a man who clearly stopped watching football in 2006.

Nathaniel: I'm sure you won't miss much, especially in that Bayern game.

BackBergtt said...

Nope, his argument is that even though he kinda sucks now, his 'talent' hasn't diminished, rather just his 'skill' has. Of course I responded that by that logic, Pele is the most talented player in the world. This argument was last summer, but man it left an impression. Though props to someone who writes about soccer on a site where almost all the commentators hate it.

Jacob said...

About 50 more to go until paginating. we can do it.

Jacob said...

Ouch. Who's number 1 now?

Jacob said...

(says the guy who had RM over Man U last time out)

BackBergtt said...

Man I wish I hadn't made a Striking Distance reference either, cause it would have been perfect there.

BackBergtt said...

*earlier, not rather

Jacob said...

Oh man, LB's such an eedjit. He said 1-0. I bet he is crying in he beer right now about it.

Jacob said...

*his*

BackBergtt said...

Take off Gerrard NOW

Jacob said...

Soupcon? Here, you can borrow this:
ç

Jim Hendry said...

that was a rather nice goal. Lovely stuff, 4-0 on aggregate. Get in.

BackBergtt said...

Oh btw LB, he also thinks Gerrard is too stupid to be as good as we think he is, and that they have to play two defensive mids to cover all his mistakes. Thinks he is tactically dumb. Bah.

Unknown said...

Georger: yeah, what would we know? We've only been watching him since 1998 or so.

also, Stevie G is now leading the CL in scoring, with 7 goals. Get in.

BackBergtt said...

If it weren't for Messi I'd say Stevie could be player of the year, oh well. Worried about that card, he needs to come off.

Jacob said...

I bet Nathaniel's going to be chuffed to race home only to see Pool put it away about 10 minutes after he left.

Unknown said...

Alright, off home, feeling carefree.

This bodes well for Saturday. I've been confident for a while, but to see us play like this in such an important week? Gives me more hope. Man U have to lose sometime.

Precious Roy said...

Not that it's going to matter much in the end, but Torres definitely pulled on Pepe's shoulder from behind on that first goal.

Went back and Tivo'd at half.

30f said...

Benitez should take off Torres. The Real players are gonna have nothing batter to do that stamp on his high-lighted Atletico head.

BackBergtt said...

Fuck I forgot we have United and Villa next.

Jacob said...

Rafa should take off about 5 players. 9 on 11 might be fair.

Jacob said...

Villa should be a slight worry at best. They are floundering.

BackBergtt said...

Hm hope thats just saving Xabi for the weekend. As Masche is already gonna be suspended might as well let him pick up a red, but Gerrard and Torres MUST come off.

Jacob said...

Up until two weeks ago, they were pretty good.

30f said...

Real madrid looks old/slow, and every time Liverpool rushes up on them I get the feeling that the Real players think they are cheating for running so much. Like it is ungentlemanly to try so hard.

Email us at said...

now, now, umlaut. M'ON took the squad to the regenerative spas of Dubai after that Citeh horror-show. I'd expect the Villans to wallop Spurs (and hey, 'onest 'Arry's coming back to his favorite ground in the Prem!) and give RedScouse a fight.

phil said...

That's true, umlaut. But maybe the new manager bounce is over and now Juande has to manage. And this is what it looks like when Juande tries to manage.

How the hell did he win UEFA?

30f said...

How happy is Huntelaar that he left Ajax for Real? He moved so he could play in the Champions League. Only to NOT get named to the squad (Diarra took the spot) and now Huntelaar sits out and the team is out of the CL.

Plus Ramos is his manager.

phil said...

Kieth, GD is Spurs best asset right now, so can you make that wallop a 1-0 job? I have no illusion that Spurs can beat Villa; I just don't want it to be a hiding.

BackBergtt said...

Yeah but without him Ajax are out of Champions League qualification now.

Nice arm breaking kick from Skrtel

Email us at said...

Phil, 1-nil might actually be better- means we might try defending in the last 10 minutes.

But I'd prefer a thrashing, as Villa haven't handed out one of those since 4-1 over SFB.

Precious Roy said...

Juve down a man.

BackBergtt said...

So for as good as this Pepe character is alleged to be, Dirk Kuyt has been working him all night. And as if we didn't notice last summer, Ramos is a horrendous defender.

Precious Roy said...

PK and possibly a red for Belletti.

Precious Roy said...

Del Piero. 2-1 Juve.

30f said...

@MG -

But Huntelaar must have had other options in January. He picked Real thinking that he would get their one UEFA-to-CL waiver spot. Then Real got Diarra as well. Knowing that, Huntelaar might have stayed in Holland until the summer or moved somewhere else (like the Arse).

Precious Roy said...

Oh man... Belletti's hand ball was deliberate. Don't know how he escaped a red.

BackBergtt said...

He'll get his chance. If he moved solely on the hope that he would be in the Champions League this year he is an idiot when Higuain has been unstoppable for Real in Spain, and Raul is still the alltime leading scorer.

phil said...

PR, he plays for Chelsea. Ergo, he gets no red card.

Jacob said...

Who is Jay Spearing? Whoever he damn well wants, he's playing for Liverpool.

BackBergtt said...

10-1 Bayern!

Jacob said...

That Bayern score makes me ill. In other news, Lando was due to return to practice with LA today.

The Fan's Attic said...

as it stands right now Juve is through on away goals, correct?

BackBergtt said...

No Chelsea is through. 11-1 Bayern

30f said...

MG -

In Dec/Jan Real definitely needed attackers. Robben and Sjneider were injured. Huntelaar was the 'solution' and they actually wrapped up the move in late Dec before the window even opened. Huntelaar is not just getting picked, he is cup-tied and not even in the squad for the CL games.

my word verification: quits

The Fan's Attic said...

wrongo! first leg was away for Juve...now at home. Juve needs another goal. Come on Eye-ties.

The Fan's Attic said...

and chelsea is through. Drogba. 2-2.

Jacob said...

Torres comes off with 6 minutes left. Great job Rafa

Jacob said...

Paginate!

Jacob said...

Wasn't Drogba wrongly denied a goal earlier?

Email us at said...

11-1 Bayern on 2 overs

BackBergtt said...

No I realize he is cup tied, and I think Diarra was the right choice, I meant he will get his chance next year, because I think if he sticks it out him and Higuain will be the preferred partnership.

phil said...

Damn. Drogba. I wouldn't piss on Chelsea if they were on fire.

Jacob said...

Man, 11-1. That's a 1st round UEFA Cup scoreline.

The Fan's Attic said...

Well, at least Van der Vaart can now have more time at home with his lovely, lovely wife.

Silver lining, folks. Silver lining.

BackBergtt said...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Dossena? Oh man, I feel good for him on that. Failure of a year and he's probably gone, but fuck it that's awesome.

Jacob said...

I think it is over now.

BackBergtt said...

Theres you future LFC captain losing his shit in front of the fans.

Jacob said...

Keane? Wait, nevermind.

The Fan's Attic said...

12-1 Bayern.

Are there any goals left for tomorrow? Hopefully only for Inter.

BackBergtt said...

ah ha. ah ha. ah ha ha ha.

So, Diarra has been the only bright spot for Real in this tie. Shame Arsenal can't find central players like him right?

BackBergtt said...

Jay Spearing is the white Gattusso

30f said...

I love how the Liverpool players with fewer letters in their last name get a bigger font. Kuyt's name is huge. Good thing they didn't pick-up Jo from Citeh.

BackBergtt said...

'I love how the Liverpool players with fewer letters in their last name get a bigger font. Kuyt's name is huge. Good thing they didn't pick-up Jo from Citeh.'

It's an Adidas thing, Alex's name on his Chelsea shirt is HUGE.

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