Oh, happy days...
It's finally upon us. Catch the excitement! CL Matchday 1. Oh, sweet lord, I never thought we'd get here, and to think we almost didn't if it weren't for the hilarious profligacy of Standard Liege in front of goal.
Moving on, here's the slate for today/tonight:
GROUP A
Spartak London v. Bordeaux
Roma v. CFR Cluj-Napoca
GROUP B
Panathanaikos v. Inter Milan
Werder Bremen v. Anorthosis Famagusta
GROUP C
Barcelona v. Sporting
FC Basel v. Shakhtar Donetsk
GROUP D
Marseille v. Liverpool
PSV v. Atletico Madrid
Any score predictions? Anything to note about the games? Drop it after the mark and let's celebrate the return of Big Cup.
Marseille v. Liverpool:
Marseille: Mandanda, Bonnart, Zubar, Hilton, Taiwo, Cana, Cheyrou, Kone, M'Bami, Ben Arfa, Niang.
Subs: Riou, Ziani, Zenden, Kabore, Samassa, Erbate, Valbuena.
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Skrtel, Carragher, Dossena, Gerrard, Mascherano, Leiva Lucas, Kuyt, Torres, Babel.
Subs: Cavalieri, Agger, Keane, Riera, Alonso, Benayoun, Degen.
Referee: Konrad Plautz (Austria). He was the baldie who presided over the Spartak London-Liverpool 1-1 semi-final 1st leg last season, and the disastrous Portugal-Switzerland game in Euro '08 in which he incorrectly disallowed a goal and also failed to give an obvious penalty. Can't wait for this one.
Meanwhile, across the Channel... Spartak London v. Bordeaux
Spartak London: Cech, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Obi, Joe Cole, Deco, Lampard, Malouda, Anelka.
Subs: Hilario, Di Santo, Ballack, Ferreira, Kalou, Alex, Belletti.
Bordeaux: Rame, Jurietti, Diawara, Planus, Placente, Diarra, Menegazzo, Gouffran, Gourcuff, Wendell, Chamakh.
Subs: Valverde, Henrique, Cavenaghi, Bellion, Ducasse, Traore, Obertan.
Referee: Pieter Vink (Holland). This is the guy who reffed the Arsenal-Liverpool quarter-final 1st leg that same year, the one in which Hleb thought he had a penalty when he actually didn't. This bodes well for all teams involved.
marseilles have the worst kits ever.
ReplyDeletemy tvu stream or the pool game isnt great, anyone got a good one?
ReplyDeletetry justin and his .tv
ReplyDeleteFat Frank!
ReplyDelete@Georger-Check our links. There is one very lonely one waiting for you.
Lampard isn't head and shoulders above the rest in that UEFA Midfielder of the Year contest, certainly not enough to win fair and square.
ReplyDeleteHowever, he is head and shoulders wider than everyone else.
Two great chances for LFC... Babel with a sublime flick and turn to shoot, then Gerrard forcing a fine save.
ReplyDeleteJust a matter of time, imho
a rather zesty, attacking start by both sides thus far. Surprised, in fact, amazed to see LFC attacking so much away from home in the CL.
ReplyDeleteI will never survive 2 French teams losing today.
ReplyDeleteNEVER!
What? Marseille scored?
ReplyDeleteMy stream is horrible. How did it happen?
ReplyDeleteLORIK CANA!
ReplyDeleteCarragher stepped up and Cana beat the offside trap, took the chance well 1-on-1. Still, LFC have had 2 or 3 gilt-edged chances so far. The lead won't last.
ReplyDelete1-1. Well done.
ReplyDeleteWeak defense from the boys...
ReplyDeleteunbelievable finish by Gerrard. Marseille's lead lasts 3 minutes. Great build-up, stunning shot.
ReplyDeleteNice placement. Too bad he had no idea about it.
ReplyDeletea pox on gerrard.
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable finish. Gerrard gets the ball out on the right at the edge of the box, delivered behind him, and he somehow gets his entire body around the ball to shoot, sending it curling and looping across Mandanda's goal into the top left. Goalie didn't even move. Stunning.
ReplyDeleteand 2-0 for chelsea
ReplyDeletePenalty to Liverpool...
ReplyDelete2-1. Gerrard is the new Walcott.
ReplyDelete2-1 LFC
ReplyDeleteGerrard makes it, the ref orders a retake and he puts it in the same corner the 2nd time around.
My stream keeps dying. Just gonna stick with updates from you guys
ReplyDeleteIf I was Mandanda, I would have gone to the same corner.
ReplyDeletethis is shocking, when's the last time we saw two french clubs getting humbled in European competition?
ReplyDeleteOh wait -- every year
I MUST PROTEST!
ReplyDeleteCluj are holding Roma 1-1 in Italy so far
ReplyDeleteThis just in - Sergio Aguero is a f'ing beast.
ReplyDeleteHalftime scores (or at least close to HT):
ReplyDeleteGROUP A:
Chelsea 2-0 Bordeaux
Roma 1-1 CFR Cluj-Napoca
GROUP B:
Panathinaikos 0-1 Inter Milan
Werder Bremen 0-0 Anorthosis Famagusta
GROUP C:
Barcelona 1-0 Sporting
Basle 0-1 Shakhtar Donetsk
GROUP D:
Marseille 1-2 Liverpool
PSV 0-2 Atletico Madrid
Liverpool lead, but Marseille have been bright, perky and dangerous.
ReplyDeleteI think ESPN just compared Marseille to Angelina Jolie
So they're both giant teases, then?
ReplyDeleteOh, at least one of 'em seems mired in a boring marriage, too. That wouldn't fit for a Frenchman, would it?
Well, she did give birth in France.
ReplyDeleteAnother goal for Shakhtar... 2-0 now for them, away at Basel.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant name for the scorer: Rodrigues Jadson
Very true. Sorry NY, I'm being rough on you today. Something about the French thing. I apologize.
ReplyDeleteI know that you're secretly still upset about Euro 2004.
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody else have Tommy Smyth on mute?
ReplyDeletelbra: I tried listening to Tommy Smythe once. Never again.
ReplyDeletehatem ben arfa looks perpetually confused
ReplyDeleteugh i missed all the goals, was watching a video on domestic violence in class and couldnt pull off watching my computer
ReplyDeleteSmyth rivals Christian Miles / Keith Costigan as worst footie "faux" experts on TV for unsuspecting US fans who are enamored with British accents...
ReplyDeletegive me Robbie Earle and I'm fine.
@Georger - remember, domestic violence is bad
ReplyDeletei dont know what you guys see in justin tv, every link im trying is 'not broadcasting'
ReplyDeleteJustin has not been very nice to me lately either. Perhaps he now has too many friends?
ReplyDeleteeighth time is the charm
ReplyDeleteI use http://livefooty.doctor-serv.com/ and it's pretty consistent once you download SopCast (free)
ReplyDeletelivefooty used to be my goto but it got so frustrating whenever their servers get overloaded and the site just wont load
ReplyDeletegood now though
I have the Marseille-'Pool game on livefooty (SopCast) and the feed is absolutely brilliant
ReplyDeleteCluj is ahead 2-1 against AS Roma IN ROME
ReplyDeleteriise was on the field for both goals and got subbed off after the second
ReplyDeleteSHOCKING
Yossi's on for Gerrard, Riera for Torres. Easy does it..
ReplyDeleteJustin is working just fine for me. Georger, you could always watch Chelsea on ESPN2
ReplyDeletelink me
ReplyDeletedo you think that guys like Torres and Babel understand anything that Carra says to them?
ReplyDeletebrilliant save from Mandanda
ReplyDelete3-0 chelsea on Malouda. Traitor.
ReplyDeleteWhat a goal, Chelsea. Glad I took the over 2.5 on Sportsbook.com.
ReplyDeleteLovely feet from Reira to slip out of a congested midfield and find Kuyt but he's confronted with too many options for his tiny little brain to cope with and fluffs it.
ReplyDeleteUm, wow. This ESPN guy doesn't care for Kuyt.
and Anelka gets a gift for 4-0.
ReplyDelete/insert Vichy joke here
Reina played absolutely brilliantly, and saved 'Pool this time.
ReplyDeleteCFR Cluj hang on to beat AS Roma, 2-1, in Italy. Easily one of the most astonishing results in CL history, especially as most of us had AS picked to tango into the next round hand-in-hand with Chelsea.
ReplyDeleteRoma got smoked by Palermo this weekend too....
ReplyDelete