The first leg of the Champions League knockout round continues today at 2:45 (EST), with the remaining 8 clubs facing off. Sporting Lisbon finished second in their group, behind Barcelona and ahead of FC Basel and Shaktar Donetsk.
Bayern Munich finished first in their group, ahead of Lyon, Steaua Bucuresti, and Fiorentina.
Sporting coach Paulo Bento sees his side come into the knockout stage after having played second-fiddle both domestically and in European competition for the past few months.
The club was always projected for second in their group behind Barcelona in the Champions League and they are making their first ever appearance in the knockout stage, while at home in Portugal they trail perennial favorite Porto by 4 points for the title.
Bayern, in contrast, sit 4th in the Bundesliga amidst an up-and-down season, but have been consistent Champions League contenders in their history (aside from last year) winning 4 titles in the competition with the last coming in 2001.
Unfortunately for Sporting, they have failed to beat a Bundesliga side in their 14 previous attempts during UEFA competitions, and many feel that today's match represents another uphill battle despite being played at Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon. Bento himself has downplayed expectations:"For a number of reasons, Bayern are clear favourites. They are a very well-organised team and well-balanced, so we have to be organised and, above all, enjoy the game."
Coming into this match, Sporting will have to deal with the loss of striker Postiga to injury, while Bayern will most likely may able to start Luca Toni as he returns from injury. The renewed pairing of Toni with Klose, who is tied for the CL leading scorer position with 5 goals, should give Bayern a reasonable edge in this match.
Expected Line-ups:
Sporting Lisbon: Tiago, Silva, Tonel, Polga, Grimi, Rochemback, Izmailov, Vukcevic, Moutinho, Liedson, Derlei
Bayern Munich: Rensing, Oddo, Lucio, van Buyten, Lahm, Altintop, van Bommel, Ze Roberto, Ribery, Klose, Toni
Prediction:
2-1 Bayern, with goals from Lahm, Klose, and Liedson.
1-0 Bayern in the 2nd leg, with a Ribery goal.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Champions League Preview: Sporting v. Bayern
Liverpool vs. Real Madrid - Interview time!
There is so much riding on this match, and not just the hopes and dreams of our Scouser brethren.
Some folks are using this to show off whether they are healthy or not, while others will be using it to interview for a new job.
Meanwhile, Rafa is acting like he needs to dump his Starter Wife for next year's model. Poor Ramos. I hope the spiked vitamin water he's been feeding everyone at Bernabéu will sustain tonight's contract hubris.
One thing is certain: outside of all the coach talk, there will be a nice match tonight.
Real started off the season as a club in crisis mode, but Ramos' steady hand has turned them around, and now they've been beating down semi-tough La Liga talent to make it look more impressive than they may actually be. They are playing a lot crisper in their attack, and they are serious in their play. Expect from them some excellent passing in the midfield and some serious attacks. They'll be playing like they have nothing to lose.
Liverpool's been, well Liverpool-ian. Playing dominating football at times in the EPL, and mailing in the rest. Rafa's contract has kept the club in a media circus tent for the past month or so, and it's becoming a distraction. Stop being a weenie, and either sign it or not. The Over/Under on the announcers discussing Rafa's contract is currently sitting at 87.
Who to watch for:
For Real, it will be the striker of note - Raul, the Fresh Prince of Madrid. Keeping him marked and off the ball will be the key to Liverpool's defensive success. Skrtel will have his hands full with him.
For Liverpool, hope that Stevie G can feed Kuyt all day, as he will be the one who needs to have the big game. Torres will get his chances, but Dirk has the passion that makes the Scousers wet themselves (more than usual).
Probable Teams:
Real: 1-Iker Casillas; 4-Sergio Ramos, 3-Pepe, 5-Fabio Cannavaro, 16-Gabriel Heinze; 11-Arjen Robben, 8-Fernando Gago, 6-Lassana Diarra, 10-Wesley Sneijder; 7-Raul, 20-Gonzalo Higuain
Liverpool: 25-Pepe Reina; 17-Alvaro Arbeloa, 23-Jamie Carragher, 37-Martin Skrtel, 2-Andrea Dossena; 20-Javier Mascherano, 14-Xabi Alonso, 11-Albert Riera; 8-Steven Gerrard, 18-Dirk Kuyt; 9-Fernando Torres
Prediction:
Madrid 1 - 1 Liverpool
Champions League Preview: Villareal v. Panathanaikos
One of the ugly duckling matchups in the Champions League, not many people are paying attention outside of Spain or Greece because of those bigger, fancier, more glamorous encounters between old foes, the kinds of games that wet the trousers of any tabloid journalist.
And yet, this might turn out to be one of the more entertaining pairings, simply because neither team has anything to lose.
You see, while the high-profile managers at Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter, Manchester United, etc are worried about their title races, these two teams are unfettered of that concern. The Greek League was wrapped up weeks ago, and La Liga isn't about to be threatened by a force existing outside of Barca or the capital.
And such, when you're unburdened by other concerns, or the crushing pressure to deliver in the marquee game, these two can simply kick the shit out of one another for 180 minutes and see what happens.
Case in point: Atletico and Porto. There's precious little else to worry about away from the Champions League, and so, they give us a reasonable 2-2 draw and an overwhelming sense that they're not playing for the trite, tense 1-0 aggregate win. Not having a league trophy to dream about certainly helps. (When was the last time Portugal was competitive, anyway?)
Villareal are in decent form, holding down 4th place in La Liga, as far off the pace as anyone around them. They loaned off Jozy Altidore, and make do with the strike pairing of Nihat, the flair-less Turk, and Italian/US Giuseppe Rossi. They've been sleepwalking as of late, narrowly beating relegation-threatened Sporting Gijon and Numancia while drawing to two other minnows, Osasuna and Racing, and getting walloped by Deportivo. Hardly the stuff of legend, really. Their midfield is solid, if aging, with the spritely Santi Cazorla perking up the 30-somethings around him.
In the Greek league, Pana have won 7 of their last 10, but honestly, how good a barometer is that? Should we rank them highly in our Power Rankings? We all know the Greek league is Pana, Olympiakos, and then nothingness. There's the added frisson of interest thanks to the ex-Chelsea assistant Hank Ten Cate being at the helm, as well as the resurgence of Spanish defender Jose Sarriegi who has been essential to the Greeks' qualification for the knockout stages.
Recent form aside, these fixtures yield the kind of shocks and nightmares that keep massive clubs awake at night. To draw a team like Pana or Villa means you're fighting an enemy that's not afraid to die, and yet you still need to do the killing.
When they face each other? Shit, we might get one of those freakish 4-3 results that Bayern and Lyon provided in the final round of the group stage.
Prediction:
With precious little knowledge of either team, I'm picking the Greeks to get it done, as they're the darkest of the dark horses left in the competition.
2-1 Pana at home, 1-1 in Spain.
UF Quick Throw: Rafa Out at Anfield?
At least one bookie thinks so:
William Hill has suspended betting on Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez leaving the club before the weekend. A spokesman for the bookmakers said they were told by a source that the deadline for the Spaniard to sign his new contract had passed and that he would therefore be gone by the weekend.
"There were too many calls for it to be just a rumour," said the spokesman, but sources in Spain claimed that they did not believe the Liverpool manager would be leaving his position any time soon.
Oh wait, that's two bookies. SkyBet isn't taking any more action on it either.
Read more on "UF Quick Throw: Rafa Out at Anfield?"...
Champions League Preview: Chelsea v. Juventus
Chelsea supporters will show Claudio “The Tinkerman” Ranieri the utmost in respect today when Juventus visit Stamford Bridge for the first leg of an intriguing Champions League Round of 16 tilt.
I remember well my mixed feelings when he was sacked.
Most forget that Ranieri spent four years leading the Blues. Before Roman Abramovich bought the club, Claudio had taken Chelsea, always 6th it seemed, always losing the big matches to Arsenal and United, into Champions League contention.
It’s been said that the Russian chose Chelsea because of the Champions League spot that Ranieri secured the year before on the final weekend.
More on The Tinkerman and today’s match after the break.
For those who don't know, Ranieri bought Frank Lampard from West Ham.
Think about it for a second. He didn’t use Russian billions, yet secured perhaps the best English midfielder of his generation for a relative bargain of 11M quid.
Similarly, he brought in William Gallas. With Abramovich’s riches, he smartly signed Joe Cole, Claude Makelele, Peter Cech, Arjen Robben and Wayne Bridge. The man also made John Terry captain and as a result, perhaps, of England.
To put it another way, the Chelsea Revolution began under Claudio Ranieri.
Think of his work in the context of Manchester City’s bumblings. Bigus can blow me - Chelsea did it right and Claudio was the key. The Tinkerman made it to the Semis of this competition in 2004 before being sacked by Abramovich, and the sacking was proper.
Big clubs had fallen away, the trophy was there to be taken, and Ranieri bungled and lost to Monaco (yes, Monaco!) in that Semi. He proved that he couldn’t take Chelsea to the next level in a bizarre tactical display that is redolent of the work of a certain current Spanish gaffer up on Merseyside.
Mourinho and trophies galore soon followed. We won the Premiership twice! Chelsea won the Premiership twice, but I’ll never forget those heady days when the Gentleman Italian showed the world how to spend wisely and manage a dressing room made crazy by money and absurd talent.
Remember that in that magic year of 2004, Ranieri finished just second to that perfect Arsenal side. No shame in that. (By the by... I fucking hate Arsenal.)
Today, Ranieri brings Juventus (the man has landed well) into Stamford Bridge for a fixture with drama only reduced in the shadow of yesterday’s Mourinho-Ferguson tilt.
Chelsea enter today’s match having found some nice form under new manager Guus Hiddink. After conceding to Watford, they exploded for three goals to run away with it. This past weekend’s 1-nil scoreline at Villa Park understates the dominance that they displayed.
Meanwhile, Juventus sit second in Serie A, 9 points off of Mourinho’s Inter and 2 clear of Meelan, but they haven’t shown their best of late. The side that beat Real Madrid twice in the Champions League Group Stage has drawn twice and lost twice in eight Serie A matches in the New Year. They haven’t been held scoreless, but they’ve yet to score three.
Two clubs in mediocre form at best, but Chelsea have had a bit of a bump just recently, and I remember The Tinkerman’s tactics in that fateful Spring.
Prediction:
I feel a big effort coming from my Blues. Many of these players still taste the bitterness of last Spring’s defeat in Moscow on penalties. I’ll boldly call it Chelsea 2, Juventus 0. Juventus take the Turin leg 2-1, but Chelsea still advance. Make it so, Guus...
Could This Be The End Of The Diego Maradona Experiment?
It would be a shame if the world lost Diego Maradona as the Argentina National Team manager without a classic meltdown or drug scandal. The Sun is reporting that El Pibe de Oro is facing a year in jail after a hit and run incident in his homeland. The Bane of England allegedly rammed a phone booth with his 4x4 injuring two while presumably trying to take out Clark Kent at 6 a.m.
Now, if I know anything about Argentina and its national hero and South American politics, Diego will not be facing too severe sanctions. This will still allow a Maradona meltdown when he will undoubtedly call up his grandson, Aguerodona, to the 2010 World Cup team.
Lord, please let it happen.
Quick Throw: Adidas v. Puma
Great piece from Uli Hesse-Lichtenberger about the rise and fall of two German footwear companies. For some reason, I did not realize Puma was a German company and knew nothing of the family intrigue involved in the history of these two companies.
[Soccernet via The Offside]
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday Backpasses: His painting is nice
Before we get started tonight, a quick recap of the day's Champions League action:
Draw-Draw-Draw-Arsenal Win.
Well, that works for me. On to the links
OK, OK, I'll expand. Juninho's goal was sublime. Bendtner is shite. This goal was the funniest thing of the day [101 Great Goals]
Quick update: the BNP has cancelled their march in Liverpool that upset the Everton-Stoke game [BBC]
Wait. Which one is real and which one is fake? [The Offside]
Oldest and youngest goal scorer in select leagues this season. Jozy shows up twice [The Best Eleven]
Real Madrid president figures the tie with Liverpool will be a 5-1 cakewalk [Daily Mail]
Indian Sports Minister says hero team of 1956 could beat modern day Indian squad [Reuters]
Finally:
There are times to run a group celebration after a goal. This was not one of them [Dirty Tackle]
UF Quick Throw: Fletcher Shipped to Liverpool
This one is a bit tough because, well, apparently the incident was fairly horrific. Darren Fletcher was burglarized whilst he was away in Italy to play for United; and his fiancee and her mother were held at knifepoint during the incident. Not good.
No, he wasn't actually sold to Liverpool, it's just that the episode is Liverpool-esque. Even the soccernet article bothers to point out: "The raid follows a series of break-ins at the homes of Liverpool players in recent months while they have been away playing high-profile matches."
This is also the basis of the running inside UF joke of the day. We're awful people, yes. But nobody was hurt, so forgive us.
Champions League Liveblog: Ashtray Floors, Dirty Clothes, And Filthy Jokes
Yeah, I can't hardly wait either. But we're inside of an hour to the start of the round of 16 for the Champions League.
Did you think we wouldn't liveblog at least one of the matches?
Inter v. United. Line-ups in a bit. Liveblog at kick.
Taking one for the team here. Every time I go to watch Arsenal at Fearon's they lose or draw (the FA Cup win over Cardiff being the exception that proves the rule). So I will watch the Special One and the Satanic One.
Outside of the Euro and the World Cup, the next two days might be the best in football.
Line-Ups
Inter Milan: Julio Cesar, Maicon, Rivas, Chivu, Santon, Zanetti, Cambiasso, Muntari, Stankovic, Ibrahimovic, Adriano.
Subs: Toldo, Cordoba, Maxwell, Figo, Cruz, Burdisso, Balotelli.
Man Utd: Van der Sar, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Fletcher, Carrick, Giggs, Park, Berbatov, Ronaldo.
Subs: Foster, Rooney, Nani, Scholes, Fabio Da Silva, Gibson, Tevez.
So, of note: Evans and O'Shea are playing. Rooney and Tevez are bench subs.
"You're looking live at the San Siro in Milan, Italy..." Okay, no Musberger but we have live pictures on ESPN2. And they aren't in HD? What the fuck ESPN?
They do a montage with some of the weeniest skinny techno music ever. Apparently ESPN assigns all of its gay interns to soccer.
I'll say it: Zlantan Ibrahimovic is one unattractive man.
ESPN is importing commercials from FSC. They are trying to sell me a Snuggie. O/U on how many Proactive spots they run?
Highlights of Porto under Mourinho beating United. Ha ha, eat shit Sir Alex.
T-minus 5 minutes: I am so excited. I just can't hide it. I think I want the Champions League theme played at my wedding. Any surprise I'm not close to being married?
T-minus 3 minutes: Could they find dorkier looking kids to accompany the players?
Dear Zlatan: When I'm upside down on my mortgage, can I live under your nose? Thanks, Precious Roy.
T-minus 1 minute: Oh my God. Kick already. And then somebody on United get hurt already.
KICK: And we're off...
And someone decided to call me right at kick. Uh, sorry. Not answering.
2nd minute: Sloppy possession by Inter, by United picks it up and counters. Ronaldo is booed severely on his first touch. Then gets a free kick.
3rd minute: From about 25 out. Ronaldo with a rocket but right into Julio Cesar's arms. Game on.
4th minute: O'Shea with a gift to Adriano near the edge of the box, but he can't make anything of it. And they give it back to United.
5th minute: United very patient and deliberate in any build up. Evra earns a corner off a good Zanetti tackle.
6th minute: HOLY SHIT. That was a rocket header from Ronaldo off the corner by Giggs. Julio Cesar with an unreal save from point blank range. Awesome stuff early.
7th minute: Inter chasing the game a bit as United are keeping possession fairly easily. Rivas on Park gives United another free kick from about 30 out. Ronaldo takes it... Just wide. Forces a dive from Cesar but it curves about 2 feet wide. United with the chances early.
9th minute: Now Inter... At the edge of the United box. Ball goes to the right and Stankovic puts it into row DD. Oops.
And my picture flickers. Don't fuck this up ESPN.
11th minute: Stankovic again sends one in to low orbit. Just an awfful toe punch.
12th minute: United easily the more composed side. Inter look tentative on even the shortest of passes. They've had one good sting of passes around the box. United with a throw deep in Inter's half.
14th minute: Zanetti takes Carrick down just outside the 18...
Gigss takes it. And knocks it off the wall. Inter are giving United all kinds of chances from set pieces.
15th minute: Poor communication from Maicon and Ibra and Inter waste another trip to the outside of the United box. Inter look like crap.
17th minute: Inter almost slowing things down. But United counter and Berbs almost hits Park with a clever flick through. Cesar picks it up and the threat is over.
18th minute: Ack! Adriano collections a sky ball and feeds it back to Zanetti who again allows Van Der Sar to tend goal while touching himself if he so chooses.
19th minute: Berbs is deep but some nice defensive cover picks it up from Inter and they counter. Adriano collects it turns it up field. The ball gets to Zanetti and again the cross is errant. Good end-to-end for both teams. Nothing comes from it.
21st minute: Fletcher takes down Santon but no whistle. Ronaldo turns it over and Inter are countering, whoops... No they aren't.
22nd minute: And a feed from Ronaldo deflects right into the box and it hits Giggs in the ass. He can't find it or he had an easy goal. Cleared for a corner that falls dangerously in the box. The ball goes back across the box and Evra sends a nice header just wide of the far post. United having the better of it.
24th minute: Ibra gets a long ball and goes 1-on-3. Kicks it in to Evans' shins and it deflects back to midfield. Now United go long. Suddenly it Route 1 from both sides. United with a throw on the Inter third.
26th minute: Do we overrate Serie A this much? Blackburn looked like they posed more questions over the weekend... Oh and Giggs gets in alone. He's got Ceasr lined up and he makes a huge save. Wasted by United.
28th minute: That was horrid defense by Rivas. Just shocking. Giggs had a one-on-one down the left side. They keep Inter on the defensive off the corner. Adriano fails to clear. Ronaldo falls down and He gets the free kick. Shocker.
28th minute: Another beauty free kick and a rocket at that from Ronaldo who forces another great save from Cesar. Oh... and now a header from Ronaldo goes just wide as he had Cesar flat-footed.
30th minute: Someone check Jose's pants and see if he's shat himself yet.
31st minute: Another free kick for United. Their 114th. It is still scoreless. I was joking but before I can even get this posted, Berbs earns another free kick. Ronaldo takes this one from almost the same spot he hit one against Blackburn over the weekend.
32nd minute: And the natives are getting restless. That's lot of whistling from the locals. Ibra offside on a long ball.
34th minute: Inter's best chance yet. Muntari gets deep but his feed for Adriano goes long to the back post and is cleared away by O'Shea.
36th minute: Inter can't get out of their own half or get out of their own way. A nice ball from Ibahimovic with a clever backheel from Stankovic, but there's not enough on it to worry Van der Sar who collects it. That's the first thing he's had to do all day.
38th minute: Ibra almost feeds it to Adriano but O'Shea gets a touch to it and kills what would have been a naked run in on Van der Sar. At least Inter looks like it belongs on the same pitch, but just barely. United on a counter...
39th minute: Ibra with a nifty move to get some space coming out of the corner and he knocks one toward goal. Adriano tries to redirect but it VdS there first.
41st minute: Cesar comes out and jumps high to punch away a ball off the corner. It's a nervy moment and Chivu clears it down the pitch.
43rd minute: You'd never know that United were the ones with the defensive issues entering the match. Rivan and Santon have been iffy. Evans and O'Shea have been solid. Shit call and Toldo gets carded on the bench? Huh? Yep, Toldo carded for talking shit to the ref and know he's having a laugh about it on the bench. Anyway, O'Shea got Muntari in the nuts and they called Muntari for the foul.
45th minute: Santon takes a shot and it's deflected back. Now Maicon gets fouled by Carrick. It's yellow. For Evra? Or Carrick?
HALF. Just one minute of stoppage. Inter lucky to be in a 0-0 match.
Okay, just went to gamecast to check... there was no card on either Evra or Carrick for that challenge on Maicon right before half.
Inter were getting run off the pitch for the first 30, then merely outplayed for the next 15. They gave up about 8 free kick, 6 of which required some good keeping by Julio Cesar. Inter has also made a spectator out of Van der Sar. So, if Jose wants to see the round of 8, he's going to have to do some halftime voodoo so that a different team takes the pitch in second half. A 0-0 draw isn't a disaster for Inter, but this Inter team cannot win at Old Trafford.
Okay, well farting will be interesting for the Inter players as they all now have a second asshole.
Cordoba on Rivas off for Inter.
2nd Half
KICK
46th minute: Muntari wastes no time in giving it away in the United third to undermine and Inter threat early.
47th minute: Now Ibra deep on the left side. He makes a nice little loft pass into the box, but Evans clears. It... Oh, and Adriano misses a sure goal. Ibra let it go by him right to Adriano who knocks it off his own plant foot to send it over the bar.
48th minute: Oh and Adriano goes down on a cross. Rio with a hand on him but no call. Could have gone either way, but of course, no United player ever fouls anyone in the box.
50th minute: Inter already look a different side. Adriano really did have Van der Sar flat-footed and beaten. Then on a good cross from Ibra, Adriano went down in the box. He flooped but Rio had his hand up on his shoulders. Could have been a foul but Adriano's dive didn't help his cause.
51st: Stankovic takes a "Eh, why the not?" low shot from range. It goes wide without troubling Van der Sar. Now United countering... and they hold it up and reverse field. Evra with a good low cross to the feet of Park but it's broken up and cleared.
54th minute: Yep, different Inter team. Crisper. Making better challenges.
55th minuteL United take it down the left side and Park crosses one long and wide. Julio Cesar lets it go for a goal kick.
56th minute: Ibra gets loose alone deep on the left. But O'Shea blocks the cross. Ibra collects the rebound and sends it back in. O'Shea deflects again and it goes for a corner. The corner goes to the far post. On contact between Adriano and Van der Sar, there's a whistle against Inter.
57th minute: Chivu with a two-footer on Berbs who sells it. It was probably a card, but the Bulgarian did his best shot-victim. Yellow for Chivu.
59th minute: Reading the comments, apparently Bendtner is sucking total ass.
Back in Italy, Maicon gets carded. Bullshit. That wasn't a yellow. Just once I'd like to see a match involving United that was ref'ed fairly. IF that was a card, then Evra's tackle was a card.
60th minute: United is starting to look a little gassed. Expect to see Tevez or Rooney in the next 5 miuntes. And Ronaldo goes to the turf and gets a whistle. Fag.
61st minute: An offside Berbs isn't whistled. And he heads it to Park who is guilty of an obvious handball. And there's a whistle. Thanks ref. Not like it wasn't blatant or anything. Inter making United work on defense a little.
63rd minute: And down goes Ronaldo again. This time no whistle. He pouts. Inter give it away and United counter. Park tries to hit Giggs with all kinds of real estate in front of him, but his ball isn't in the same zip code, or Italian equivalent thereof.
65th minute: Cordoba with a nice header back to Cesar to keep Giggs from getting a shot. And back the othe way. Ibra with a cheeky kick shot. And Muntari is tripped. Oh, and no call...? Really? Come on.
66th minute: United.... Should have scored. Ronaldo gets deep and sends one across the naked goal mouth. Park can't get it. Berbs can't get it. And it's finally cleared out for a corner. Just off the foot of two United players. Ronaldo almost created that by himself. Fucker is good. But he's still a diving douche.
68th minute: Ronaldo again, trying to get loose on the right. He's shielded by Santon and he pushes the youngster down and falls with him. Ha ha. Card his ass, ref. Nope. Just a whistle.
69th minute: Maicon wastes a free kick from about 30 meters out. He swings it wide and high and never bothers Van der Sar. Back the other way... Header flicked to Giggs on the right goes long and out of bounds. Teams swapping the ball at midfield.
71st minute: No liquid football today. Muntari makes a nice move to force a foul from Fletcher. Oooh, and a yellow to boot. Of all the things to draw the first United card, it's that? Not that they've been dirty, but they've certainly had harder challenges. Inter on the attack.
72nd minute: Cambiasso finds Adriano in the box, and against he botches it. That's twice that Ibra has made a nice move to let the ball go through but Adriano couldn't get the ball settled to get a shot off from the edge of the 6.
74th minute: And Cambiasso just stabs it away from Ronaldo. Nice tackle. Inter actually trying to come more up the center of United. They go long to Adriano. Ugh... and Muntari misses two targets in the box. The floater goes easily to Van der Sar.
76th minute: Giggs gets space in front he runs across the box. He fires and it's blocked. Cordoba with a nice block as Giggs had a good look at goal there.
Mutari off Cruz on for Inter.
Adriano off Balotelli on for Inter.
77th minute: Berbatov gets in but Chivu rides him far enough out that by the time Berbs gets it settled his angle is cut off and he pushes it to outside of the net.
79th minute: Cruz botches a give-and-go with Ibrahimovic. Now United walk it back up the pitch. Turnover at the edge of the box. Inter coming back. Game is slowing on both sides as they swap possession.
80th minute: Corner United. Evans fouled Cesar on the in-swinger. Rooney getting instructions from Sir Alex. So he's about to come on...
82nd minute: Maicon with a steal. Evra with a BLATANT hand ball on the edge of the box. No whistle. Ball is cross in... How the fuck did Cambiasso not score that. Ugh... That was a terrible non-call on the Evra handball. It must have been bad as even United apologist Smyth thought it was a handball.
Rooney on Park off for United.
83rd minute: So off a throw deep in the United end Ibra flicked it across the box and it hit Cambiasso in the chest but he couldn't get anything behind it so it was saved by Van der Sar. Best chance for Inter all night. So close that Ibra had already started celebrating. Doh.
85th minute: Long free kick for Inter. Ibra takes it, and it comes off Evans but they give a goal kick to United. Really, that was not a good call.
86th minute: So 0-0 is looking more and more likely...
87th minute: Stankovic gets it deep. And the cross comes in, but it's cleared by O'Shea. Ball comes out and Ronaldo finds the ground to draw a foul on Balotelli. It was a foul.
88th minute: And a yellow for Rooney who came in late and high on Cambiasso. Tommy Smyth is trying to fellate Rooney, but that's a yellow.
89th miunte: Whoa... Awful decision by Cesar to come out and Inter almost gift one to United, but Cordoba gets a great touch to push the ball wide to safety. Or wait, on replay was it Julio Cesar that got the touch?
Three minutes of stoppage.
90 +1: Stankovic from distance. Gets it off but it goes high over the bar. Never a real threat. But Inter still pressing.
90 +2: Rooney with a chip in to the box that floats to Cesar. United back on the attack. And Ronaldo takes a dive on minimal contact and gets a dubious whistle. WTF? A Yellow for Cordoba for that? Okay. Contact was legit on the replay, but that was no card. God, I hate Ronaldo. And the Spanish ref is buying every bit of his histrionics today. So United with a free kick at the death.
90 +3: With the last kick, Ronaldo lasers one right into Julio Cesar. On the rebound the whistle blows. So no second chance for United as it comes off Cesar's chest.
Game. 0-0. So it's all on the line for the return at Old Trafford.
Thanks for playing along.
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