2011/12 UEFA Champions League - Semifinals 1st & 2nd Leg

Jose Mourinho says the final can't be Madrid vs Chelsea and he's right. Uefa have already fixed this so Barca play Madrid in the final; the draws have just happened to make sure Barca and Madrid play away first

Semis should be a bit better but Chelsea should get well beat over 2 legs, the one will be a walk over for Madrid at home, you just watch.

Lewis I bet you found the Brazil 82 team boring didn't you?

It's on!

Jaime wrote:

It's on!

Robben to score the last minute winner in the bernabeu by diving for a penalty.

Més que un club wrote:Lewis I bet you found the Brazil 82 team boring didn't you?

Well seeing as I wasn't born 'til 9 years later I had no opinion on it really

Jaime wrote:

It's on!

the good old days

this is my line up

i prefer kroos ahead of müller, he gives us extra dominance in the middle, and he always makes good decisions, also müller is a better sub player

i hope vanbuyten is match fit, we are doomed when one of boa-badstuber getting injured

-----------neuer

lahm-boa-bad-alaba

----schweini--gustavo

robben---kroos--ribery

-------gomez

bench:
tymo
vanbuyten
olic
müller
pranjic
rafinha

If everyone is fit Jose will most likely play:

------------------Casillas

Arbeloa-----S. Ramos-----Pepe-----Coentrao

------------Alonso-----Khedira

Ronaldo-----------Ozil-----------Di Maria

----------------Benzema

My guess is Di Maria will play down the left to help track back and pick up Robben along with Coentrao. I suppose Jose might got with a trivote in Munich but hopefully he has learned that FOOTBALL > progress.

Can't wait!

A few more from the Real Madrid-Bayern Munich archives...

And one of my personal favourite memories:

Still remember that Kahn error vividly...

Figo has the coolest hairline around.

Kahn cost Germany the WC with that mistake as well,shame.

Jaime wrote:If everyone is fit Jose will most likely play:

------------------Casillas

Arbeloa-----S. Ramos-----Pepe-----Coentrao

------------Alonso-----Khedira

Ronaldo-----------Ozil-----------Di Maria

----------------Benzema

My guess is Di Maria will play down the left to help track back and pick up Robben along with Coentrao. I suppose Jose might got with a trivote in Munich but hopefully he has learned that FOOTBALL > progress.

Can't wait!

Is Coentrao ahead of Marcelo in the pecking order? I've only watched 5-6 of your games this season but to me Marcelo always seems like the most impactful of the two.

Coentrao is much better defensively although Marcelo is better attacking wise.

Jaime wrote:If everyone is fit Jose will most likely play:

------------------Casillas

Arbeloa-----S. Ramos-----Pepe-----Coentrao

------------Alonso-----Khedira

Ronaldo-----------Ozil-----------Di Maria

----------------Benzema

My guess is Di Maria will play down the left to help track back and pick up Robben along with Coentrao. I suppose Jose might got with a trivote in Munich but hopefully he has learned that FOOTBALL > progress.

Can't wait!

That might be better than a trivote defensively so I would be fine with it. If we go with a 4-3-3 he will probably play Ronaldo+Ozil which won't cover us on the flanks at all. Then it is better to have Di Maria on one flank so we are at least a bit covered down the left.

Reactionary

Ah Chelsea-Barcelona. Once this was an annual CL fixture, as consistent as a worms windup. It was seen as a clash of the titans, the battle of the good (the boys from La Masia High School), the bad (the Khazars, not afraid to use their blood money in the hope of progress) and the ugly (the refereeing controversy surrounding Frisk, Collina and Ovrebo). But with the first leg fast approaching, so many questions remain unanswered:

Will DDA Drogba disgrace himself once again?

Will Messi silence the critics who doubt whether he can do it on a mild Wednesday night in West London?

Which team has the most petulant Brazilian?

Who would dare to be a referee for this tie?

If history has taught us anything, it is that you can expect one or two controversies in this tie:

Red n' Black wrote:

Jaime wrote:If everyone is fit Jose will most likely play:

------------------Casillas

Arbeloa-----S. Ramos-----Pepe-----Coentrao

------------Alonso-----Khedira

Ronaldo-----------Ozil-----------Di Maria

----------------Benzema

My guess is Di Maria will play down the left to help track back and pick up Robben along with Coentrao. I suppose Jose might got with a trivote in Munich but hopefully he has learned that FOOTBALL > progress.

Can't wait!

Is Coentrao ahead of Marcelo in the pecking order? I've only watched 5-6 of your games this season but to me Marcelo always seems like the most impactful of the two.

Coentrao plays in all of the important matches because Jose believes (and rightly so) that he is better defensively than Marcelo. THere have been a lot of critics of Coentrao but apart from the first clasico (which was a nightmare!) when he played as right back he has been very good. Not as dynamic as Marcelo going forward but he is competent and can put in a decent cross. I think there would be less criticism if he didn't cost 30m euro.

S4P wrote:Ah Chelsea-Barcelona. Once this was an annual CL fixture, as consistent as a worms windup. It was seen as a clash of the titans, the battle of the good (the boys from La Masia High School), the bad (the Khazars, not afraid to use their blood money in the hope of progress) and the ugly (the refereeing controversy surrounding Frisk, Collina and Ovrebo). But with the first leg fast approaching, so many questions remain unanswered:

Will DDA Drogba disgrace himself once again?

Will Messi silence the critics who doubt whether he can do it on a mild Wednesday night in West London?

Which team has the most petulant Brazilian?

Who would dare to be a referee for this tie?

If history has taught us anything, it is that you can expect one or two controversies in this tie:

It's On!

i change my prediction from 45:55 to 40:60

of course for real

Marca and AS are making a big fuss about Howard Webb being the ref for Bayern-Madrid...they obviously (like many Spaniards) remember his ridiculous leniency for Holland in the World Cup final.

But what they don't realise is that Mourinho will be loving it - an English ref like Webb who's all about 'letting the game flow' will be perfect for Mourinho's bunch of thugs to go to town on Robben, Ribery, Gomez, and Schweinsteiger.

fcb wrote:Marca and AS are making a big fuss about Howard Webb being the ref for Bayern-Madrid...they obviously (like many Spaniards) remember his ridiculous leniency for Holland in the World Cup final.

But what they don't realise is that Mourinho will be loving it - an English ref like Webb who's all about 'letting the game flow' will be perfect for Mourinho's bunch of thugs to go to town on Robben, Ribery, Gomez, and Schweinsteiger.

Kas has actually become a c**t over the last year

Really? Am I wrong? Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo, Arbeloa have all shown their abilities in that domain, most notably in the series of Clasicos last year.

fcb wrote:Really? Am I wrong? Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo, Arbeloa have all shown their abilities in that domain, most notably in the series of Clasicos last year.

I need no telling about the cuntish behaviour of my own team I see it often enough. Though against Bayern you will not see any of that approach, they reserve that kind of "thugurry" for Classico bcoz Mourinho doesnt believe football is the answer against Barca. This approach is not seen against any other team, yes of course there will be the moments of cuntishness from Ramos and Pepe throughout the season but we are not exactly a fucking Sam Allardyce team.

My whole thing about you becoming a c**t recently is that you have become seriously biased, Messiah is starting to sound less biased than you. I thought I would never see the day.

Cristiano wrote:

fcb wrote:Really? Am I wrong? Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo, Arbeloa have all shown their abilities in that domain, most notably in the series of Clasicos last year.

I need no telling about the cuntish behaviour of my own team I see it often enough. Though against Bayern you will not see any of that approach, they reserve that kind of "thugurry" for Classico bcoz Mourinho doesnt believe football is the answer against Barca. This approach is not seen against any other team, yes of course there will be the moments of cuntishness from Ramos and Pepe throughout the season but we are not exactly a fucking Sam Allardyce team.

My whole thing about you becoming a c**t recently is that you have become seriously biased, Messiah is starting to sound less biased than you. I thought I would never see the day.

Pepe,Ramos and Di Maria are c**ts in nearly every game,did you not watch the match yesterday? Pepe was diving all over the place faking injury like he always does.

That "leniency" of Webb, his willingness to "let the game flow" also stopped him whistling early and sending off Puyol in the final. AS and Marca should remember that.

Individual Drogba moment + Luck + Setpiece + Brilliant defense-splitting Mata pass on the counter...all these key ingredients that Chelsea will be using midweek were on display today.

The template to hurt Barça is pretty well known and regularly used by almost all clubs in La Liga now. If I was Di Matteo:

Cech
Ivanovic-Terry-Cahill-Cole
Ramires-Essien-Meireles
Torres-Drogba-Mata

Have 7 men back all the time, stay tightly packed in front of your penalty box, give away the flanks because crosses won't hurt you. The front 3 should hang about on the fringes, ready to break on a fast counter.

As soon as the ball is won, immediately play it long and diagonal to Torres or Mata on the flanks. The 3 midfielders should *not* take more than 3 touches of the ball before releasing it. If the defenders can bypass the midfield and directly release it to the front 3, even better.

If it's Torres, hit it into space in front of him, if it's Mata, hit it to his feet. Both of them should then feed it to Drogba in the middle after no more than 2 touches. If they must hold on to the ball, go down the flank and bang it in hopefully to ensure that you win the corner. Then let Terry and Ivanovic come up and do the damage.

Oh, and obviously, don't cut or water the grass.

1-2 to Barca on wednesday, 3-1 at Camp Nou.

Messi will tear Terry apart and I can't wait for it.

fcb wrote:Individual Drogba moment + Luck + Setpiece + Brilliant defense-splitting Mata pass on the counter...all these key ingredients that Chelsea will be using midweek were on display today.

The template to hurt Barça is pretty well known and regularly used by almost all clubs in La Liga now. If I was Di Matteo:

Cech
Ivanovic-Terry-Cahill-Cole
Ramires-Essien-Meireles
Torres-Drogba-Mata

Have 7 men back all the time, stay tightly packed in front of your penalty box, give away the flanks because crosses won't hurt you. The front 3 should hang about on the fringes, ready to break on a fast counter.

As soon as the ball is won, immediately play it long and diagonal to Torres or Mata on the flanks. The 3 midfielders should *not* take more than 3 touches of the ball before releasing it. If the defenders can bypass the midfield and directly release it to the front 3, even better.

If it's Torres, hit it into space in front of him, if it's Mata, hit it to his feet. Both of them should then feed it to Drogba in the middle after no more than 2 touches. If they must hold on to the ball, go down the flank and bang it in hopefully to ensure that you win the corner. Then let Terry and Ivanovic come up and do the damage.

Oh, and obviously, don't cut or water the grass.

Easier said than done,especially when facing Puyol,Pique,Mach,Busquets and Alves instead of a shite Tottenham defense with no balls.