My ratings and random thoughts from the game:
1. As everyone has already said, both teams dived and simulated and whinged, and the ref was clearly shit. IMO once again it's down to the expectations of English teams against those of Spanish teams. The former probably are the most physical in Europe, the latter, the least. It's hard for a ref to get it right, and this ref got it horribly wrong. I can't imagine what would happen if an English club had to play in any South American league week in week out. All you'd ever see from posters on this board would be "he's a cheat, he's a cheat, that club is a cheat, cheat cheat cheat".
2. I didn't think the match was as bad as some people are saying it was. Some of the football was quite good. We played really well, I think this was among the best performances by us this season, no joke. The movement, passing, defending, everything was very good. It's just that Chelsea are an excellent side this year. The organisation in midfield that they have is tremendous. Top 3 among the CL favourites for sure. And I'm not including ourselves in that top 3 yet.
3. A. Cole was good going forward but only seems like he had a good game because he wasn't tested defensively. Messi went inside a lot more tonight. But I agree that when Cole and Lampard went on attacks Zambrotta found it hard to deal with both.
4. IMO Lampard's goal was a fluke, it's just the way he hit it and his reaction that doesn't convince me that he intended it. Of course we'll never know for sure though unless he admits it himself.
5. Terry was good overall, but where was he for Guddy's goal? On his ass.
6. I posted on another thread about Mourinho's post-match comments. Pirlo from this board said in advance that the ref is card-happy, so I'm quite annoyed that he blames our players for provoking more cards than normal. The real reason for this is the poor ref and the point I raised in 1. above.
7. Rijkaard made a mistake defending the 2-1. We paid for it just like the 4-2 at S. Bridge 2 seasons ago. Defending leads is not what Barcelona does, and unfortunately I think the pressure got to him. As for the Giuly-Guddy sub (instead of Saviola-Guddy), at the time I also thought it was a mistake. But looking back he probably knew what he was doing - Saviola is tiny and would have found it impossible to cope with Chelsea's midfield and defence, and Messi was cutting inside a lot so it made sense to play Giuly out wide and try to distract Cole from going forward. It didn't really work though.
8. Rijkaard never overreacts and never talks about the ref. The fact that he did so tonight says a lot about how poor the ref was. Of course losing the 2 points at the end is hard to take, and tomorrow you'll see much more calmness and sense out of him. In any case, it's a lot better than Mourinho who moans and moans forever, and brings things up at press conferences a year after the previous game too. I'm glad Gudjohnsen celebrated freely. In fact, he should have run past the Chelsea bench and given Mourinho a proper stare.
And anyone who suggests Rijkaard's job is (or should be) under pressure (even if we go out at this stage), go get a mental health check.
9. @Freddie or Not: Camp Nou usually never has a good atmosphere. It's a quiet crowd. The whistling and singing you heard tonight is the best it gets.
10. @Rai: We didn't get Zlatan because he's overrated and overpriced and not even 0.00005% as consistent or reliable as Etoo. At least Guddy is 50-60% reliable now and will be more once he adapts. The perfect example for me was late-ish in the game, Ronaldinho squared the ball and Gudjohnsen was just a split second late in reaching to it. Once everyone else adapts to his slightly slower pace compared to Etoo, he'll be much better. As for van Nistelrooy, he's old, slow, and scores only from < 6 yards 95% of the time. We need a more dynamic player up front.
11. @Obispo: you're a good poster mate...if you have some problem with Messiah then please sort it out personally with him or address your posts to him when he's around. Continually posting the same wind-ups is extremely annoying for everyone else.
12. If the game tonight means we get "bad PR" and "lose fans" as some people have suggested, then good. The "fans" we lose will be glory hunters anyway, and we could do without some that have jumped on the bandwagon. We already earned the money from them when they bought our shirts this past summer
Right, ratings:
Valdes - 7.5. Very good performance, saved everything he could.
Zambrotta - 6. Not spectacular, but not bad either. I don't understand people blasting him - what more do you want from a fullback? It's hard to play that position in our system, more so for an Italian player, since they historically never settle well. He's improved in the basics since the start of the season. A few more games and he'll have the nuances as well, and the attacking part will come naturally. He's already better than Belletti defensively, and better than Oleguer attacking-wise.
Puyol - 7. Good day at the office, crucial interceptions as always.
Marquez - 7. Some dodgy incidents but was quite good otherwise
Gio - 6. Decent game, not much danger from his side anyway and did well supporting Ronaldinho in attack.
Edmilson - 7. Very good when he came on, and a clever tactical foul on Carvalho.
Motta - 6. Did his job as a DM but conceded many fouls as he always does. Kicked out at Drogba but Drogba got him back, both could have had a yellow each for their actions.
Xavi - 6. Decent game, should have scored though. 2-0 would have been a different game.
Deco - 7. Finding his best form again - good passing and movement and a great goal
Ronaldinho - 7. Same as Deco, give him a few more games and he'll be firing like old times.
Gudjohnsen - 6. Invisible for most of the game, but the goal bumps up his score. Unfortunate to get injured. Hopefully he's back soon.
Messi - 8. MOTM for us, constant danger to Chelsea. I just wish he stayed out wide a bit more often in this match.
And all in all, 2-2 was a fair result. It feels really bad, but I'm sure I and other Barca fans wouldn't be as disappointed if the Chelsea equaliser had come in the 75th minute or something.
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