Champions League Second Leg

mike65

Its all kicking off, Chelsea land at Barca and get a 'Welcome to Hell' style greeting from the locals. Why is he suprised? Maybe he isn't and thinks it'll play into his teams hands as Barca react in a reckless way to the crowds urgings.

Anyway what about the football (remember that?).

Tuesday, 07 March 2006

Barcelona v Chelsea, 19:45 2-1 Barca TV3/ITV
Juventus v Werder Bremen, 19:45 2-3 Juventus
Villarreal v Rangers, 19:45 2-2 Villarreal

Wednesday, 08 March 2006

AC Milan v Bayern Munich, 19:45 1-1 Bayern
Arsenal v Real Madrid, 19:45 1-0 Madrid
Liverpool v Benfica, 19:45 0-1 Benfica RTE 2
Lyon v PSV, 19:45 1-0 Lyon

Tuesday, 14 March 2006

Inter Milan v Ajax, 19:45 2-2 Ajax

Mike.

Guy:Incognito

mike65 wrote:

Juventus v Werder Bremen, 19:45 2-3 Juventus
.

It was 3-2 to Bremen in the first leg Mike.

mike65

Read it again.

Mike.

mike65

My team/formation for Wednesday

---

Reina
---Finnan--Hyypia--Cara

---

Hamann
Gerrard----Alonso

---

Riise
----Luis Garcia--Kewell

---

Crouch

Subs - Dudek, Agger, Cisse, Fowler, Morientes, Traore

Attack, attack, attack! Then switch the formation to 4-4-1-1 when Pool go two up!

Mike.

Kingp35

Just checked the odds on the Chelsea Barcelona match and seen that Barcelona are evens to beat Chelsea. They are great odds. Barcelona will win this match, no doubt about it. Chelsea do not have the footballing talent to beat Barcelona in a game where they have to actually play decent fotball and go for the win. That doesnt suit Chelsea and Barcelona will exploit it as they are by far the better footballing side. Only one team going through here im afraid.

Liverpool Benfica will be an interesting match. For me Liverpool need to score early because as the game wears on and Liverpool push more players forward I think they will be vulnerable to Benficas counter attack as they have some excellent wingers and a good striker in Nuno Gomes. Too hard to call in this one but if Liverpool dont score in teh first half I see them going out.

Arsenal ave sorted themselves out a little bit and I feel they will have just enough to go through. I expect a score draw in this game but Arsenal to go through via their win in Spain.

Chucky the tree

Kingp35 wrote:

Just checked the odds on the Chelsea Barcelona match and seen that Barcelona are evens to beat Chelsea. They are great odds. Barcelona will win this match, no doubt about it. Chelsea do not have the footballing talent to beat Barcelona in a game where they have to actually play decent fotball and go for the win. That doesnt suit Chelsea and Barcelona will exploit it as they are by far the better footballing side. Only one team going through here im afraid.
.

Eh......apart from last year when they had to come out and beat barca and they did that?

Necronomicon

I don't think Liverpool fans would have been inspired with confidence after seeing the team unable to break down Charlton at Anfield on saturday, this one is far from over. Some felt the backlash of underestimating Benfica in the first leg, may do so again...definately not a banker.
While I think Barca will go through I don't think you can ever discount Chelsea. Lampard's fitness is a big issue. There have been question marks on whether or not he'll be able to play (has this been confirmed yet?) but if he was missing with Essien already suspended, I think they could be overwhelmed in the midfield and find it difficult to get anything out of the game.
Arsenal against Madrid, I think Arsenal will do it. It's not in their nature to shut down and kill a game off from the start, so I reckon there'll be goals. But with their current European form, I think they'll do it.

Dont Ban Me

Arsenal v Real Madrid.

Jebus Im so nervous about the game on Wed!! I just hope we can do it, I wouldnt be so bad if we had Cole or Clichy back, but ohh my poor nerves...

iregk

I actually fancy Chelsea in the nou camp. Yes that may be because I'm a fan but I think Barca flatter to decieve at times. They are a sublime footballing side but like Arsenal they don't like a fight and I still think they can be got at. People under estimate the blues and I do really fancy them to win.

That said, it would be no shame to go out to Barca!

The Arse - Real game is a tricky one. I fancied Real to tear them apart on form leading up the that game but they were just so poor it was unreal. I think Arsenal can win but only if Real play badly. If the real Real (that just doesn't look right) turn up and put on a show I think Arsenal are going home...

county

iregk wrote:

I actually fancy Chelsea in the nou camp. Yes that may be because I'm a fan but I think Barca flatter to decieve at times. They are a sublime footballing side but like Arsenal they don't like a fight and I still think they can be got at. People under estimate the blues and I do really fancy them to win.

That said, it would be no shame to go out to Barca!

The Arse - Real game is a tricky one. I fancied Real to tear them apart on form leading up the that game but they were just so poor it was unreal. I think Arsenal can win but only if Real play badly. If the real Real (that just doesn't look right) turn up and put on a show I think Arsenal are going home...

chelsea are 3/1 to win so i might put a few quid on

iregk

worth a few bob alright. My outside bet for the comp is lyon.

yom 1

Personally I'm getting nervous about the Benfica game. It'll either be an absolute cracker or a complete bore with the pool being their usual self of late, dominating the game but not scoring. I can't wait though cos I will be at it . Reckon the crowd will be buzzing and it could (hopefully) be another special european night at Anfield. I'll let my heart rule here and say 2-0 pool. I fancy Riise and Fowler to score.

Real I think have the players to hurt Arsenal but i fancy arsenal to beat them at home. The crowd will play a big part in it. If they get an early goal it'll be good night Real.

As for Chelsea - well I hope Barca spank you. They are just so good to watch. But really it is too close to call. Lets hope its another cracking game like the second leg last year.

cruiserweight

iregk wrote:

worth a few bob alright. My outside bet for the comp is lyon.

They are the 3rd favourites with paddy power and have been most peoples outside bet for the last 2 years!

As for the British teams! IMO Chelsea will go out tonight, I think Barcelona will get at least 2 goals and so Chelsea will need 3 and considering they have only scored 8 so far in the competition, scoring 3 against the favourites will be difficult!

As for the Liverpool game, I assume they will keep a clean sheet! But scoring is the big problem they only have gotten six in the competition so far! But last year they won all of their home ties in the knock out stages! I am just hoping it is not another Olympiakos, I don't think I could take it!

The Arsenal game is the trickiest to call! Arsenal may regret not scoring more goals in Madrid!It all depends on which Arsenal and which Madrid turn up! Don't forget before the last game Madrid had won 6 in a row in La Liga, and almost turned around a 5 goal defecit in the Copa Del Rey, and Arsenal on the other hand could not win a game away from home! So this one is a coin toss, as Madrid only need to win by 1 goal!

Rangers are out, that simple!

So my predictions :

Tuesday, 07 March 2006

Barcelona v Chelsea -- Barca through
Juventus v Werder Bremen -- Juventus through just
Villarreal v Rangers -- Villarreal through

Wednesday, 08 March 2006

AC Milan v Bayern Munich -- tight game, maybe penalties????
Arsenal v Real Madrid -- Madrid through just
Liverpool v Benfica -- Liverpool through just
Lyon v PSV -- Lyon through

Tuesday, 14 March 2006

Inter Milan v Ajax -- Inter through

cruiserweight

Well her is Alan Hansen's take on the next round and Jose as well

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/4779666.stm

Jose Mourinho arrived in Barcelona to face angry Catalan fans at his former club - after leaving a storm of protest behind him following Chelsea's win at West Bromwich Albion.


Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho
You definitely do not want to go around upsetting your opponents

I like Mourinho a lot - he has been like a breath of fresh air to the Premiership. He is successful and charismatic.

But I do think he has to be careful not to alienate too many people now, and he seems to be leaving something behind from almost every game.

Successful football managers have always been very single-minded. They do things their way, no matter what anyone else thinks.

They put their own club first in all things - but what you do not want is a situation where everyone is against your club.

You don't want everyone to love you, they never will, but Chelsea will still want the neutrals to think they are a great club.

Chelsea are a fantastic side. They will win the title by a distance, but it does them no good to go around riling the opposition.

When you are successful, it is not your business to make friends, but equally it is better to do it without too much fuss and certainly not too much antipathy.

And you definitely do not want to go around upsetting your opponents and inspiring them to even greater efforts when they meet you.

You want to make life as easy as possible for yourself, but Chelsea and Mourinho seem to be doing the opposite at the moment.

Every game is like a cup final for a club like Chelsea anyway, so the last thing Mourinho needs to do is get the opposition playing to an even higher level by stirring them into greater efforts.

It is OK for him - he is on the touchline, but his players could face teams who may have been wound up, and this is why I think he needs to be careful.

There seems to be an issue after every game, and I felt he should have shaken hands with Bryan Robson on Saturday.

There is a code of conduct among managers, and it states that no matter how embroiled you get on the touchline, you exchange a handshake at the end and even a glass of wine later.

Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger may not be close friends. Indeed they are fierce rivals, but they exchange a handshake - it may not be much of a handshake, but it is a handshake all the same.

I hope Mourinho does learn to be a bit more careful, because he also has many admirers in the game and I am one of them.


I think Arsenal will go through against Real Madrid
He will have even more admirers if he manages to reverse a 2-1 deficit against Barcelona in the Champions League when they travel to the Nou Camp.

They have a mountain to climb, but I wouldn't rule Chelsea out of it. They have probably got a one-in-10 chance.

They have to get the balance between defence and attack absolutely spot on. And they can do it because I actually believe they are a much better side than people give them credit for.


Barcelona v Chelsea
The difficulty will be keeping a clean sheet in the face of Barcelona's attacking riches, but don't write them off completely.

I think Arsenal will go through against Real Madrid, who I thought were a disgrace in the first game at The Bernabeu.


Arsenal v Real Madrid
Real have too many players who are either too heavy or too old and who are now unable to repeat what they did four or five years ago.

It will be a huge surprise to me if they come to Highbury and suddenly turn it on again and go from zeroes to heroes in two weeks.

They never showed any fight at any stage in the first game. Forget about their inability to seriously trouble Arsenal, it was their inability to fight that makes me think Arsenal will complete a memorable victory.

Liverpool have a tricky assignment against Benfica, but I think with the help of the Anfield crowd they will go through.


Liverpool v Benfica
They need to emulate what they did against Juventus and Chelsea last season in the Champions League and set off at a high tempo - if they do I think Benfica will not be able to contain them.

Liverpool's big problem is that they do not have a prolific and established partnership up front, and that may yet return to haunt them against a side who are one of the weakest in the last 16.

If they do not go through against Benfica they will only have themselves to blame.

They have four strikers in Peter Crouch, Fernando Morientes, Robbie Fowler and Djibril Cisse, but they just can't get the partnership right.

Cisse now looks like he is a wide player, and at the moment Morientes doesn't look like a player at all.

Morientes and Fowler are the probable partners for Crouch, but they do not have the pace to get on to the end of his flicks.

It is a worry, but I still believe Liverpool will have enough to go through.


Villarreal v Rangers
I cannot say the same about Rangers, even though they play Villarreal in Spain with the tie standing at 2-2.

Villarreal have those vital away goals, and in players like Juan Roman Riquelme the quality that I believe will send Rangers out.

dirkey_wynne

iregk wrote:

worth a few bob alright. My outside bet for the comp is lyon.

I hope you don't actually have money on it, because they won't be winning it. Their form of late is not the best, I feel Houllier is finally imposing his style of management on the side.

dirkey_wynne

I usually don't make predictions, but sure, why not, for the h€ll of it!

Tuesday, 07 March 2006

Barcelona v Chelsea : Barca through (and I hope they win the thing, restore my faith in the beautiful game.
Juventus v Werder Bremen : Juve through, win by a couple tonight I'd say, keeping a clean sheet.
Villarreal v Rangers : Definitely Villa

Wednesday, 08 March 2006

AC Milan v Bayern Munich : Milan
Arsenal v Real Madrid : Arsenal
Liverpool v Benfica : Pool easily, I think Benitez knows what he's doing more so in Europe than in the league
Lyon v PSV : Lyon

Tuesday, 14 March 2006

Inter Milan v Ajax : Inter

Kingp35

Chucky the tree wrote:

Eh......apart from last year when they had to come out and beat barca and they did that?

Eh.... well that game was in Stamford Bridge not the Nou camp. Chelsea got very lucky with deflected goals. Barcelona have improved their team more so than Chelsea. There is no way Chelsea will get as lucky again.

See the difference?

iregk

Well i dont have money on it but who says they won't be winning it? For the past two years a team that nobody fancied has won it!!!

dirkey_wynne

iregk wrote:

Well i dont have money on it but who says they won't be winning it? For the past two years a team that nobody fancied has won it!!!

I'm of the opinion they won't. I guess I shouldn't make that mistake, as I could end up with egg on my face, but I just can't see them winning it.

BaZmO*

I thought that Mourinho was being very clever creating this "us against them" siege mentality, galvanising the team into playing better as a unit. But now he seems to have gone too far, with almost everybody starting to hate Chelsea and teams getting riled up to beat them.

Dunno which way the game will go tonight but I expect a lot a goals for some reason. (Roll on a thrilling 0-0 result so)

godtabh

Inter -v- Ajax

I'm going to this game and I hope its a cracker.

Ajax scored 6 at the weekend so they know how to score.

Inter have a team but it all depends on which one turns up.

Fat Dolan was giving Figo loads of abuse during the Roma game but him and Veron (might be back for the game) hold the key for Inter.

Inter to win 3-1

Thanx 4 The Fish

mike65 wrote:

My team/formation for Wednesday

---

Reina
---Finnan--Hyypia--Cara

---

Hamann
Gerrard----Alonso

---

Riise
----Luis Garcia--Kewell

---

Crouch

Subs - Dudek, Agger, Cisse, Fowler, Morientes, Traore

Attack, attack, attack! Then switch the formation to 4-4-1-1 when Pool go two up!

Mike.

Agger is ineligible .. Nice lineup besides..

Pepe LeFrits

iregk wrote:

The Arse - Real game is a tricky one. I fancied Real to tear them apart on form leading up the that game but they were just so poor it was unreal. I think Arsenal can win but only if Real play badly. If the real Real (that just doesn't look right) turn up and put on a show I think Arsenal are going home...

Eh, Arsenal are already home!

I fancy Arsenal to finish the job now. Wenger can take exactly the same approach as he took in the Bernebeu, sit back and hit them on the break. People saying it's up to Real, whether they 'turn up' or not, aren't giving Arsenal enough credit. Just like Liverpool did against Juventus and other teams last season, Arsenal didn't let them play.

mike65

Chavski starting 11

Cech--Ferreira--Terry--Gallas--Carvalho--Robben--J.Cole--Makelele--Lampard--Duff--Drogba

Mike.

mike65

Villarreal bus arrives at thier own stadium in pieces!

Mike.

damienom

Juventus v Werder Bremen
Juventus: Buffon, Zebina, Thuram, Cannavaro, Zambrotta,
Camoranesi, Emerson, Vieira, Nedved, Ibrahimovic, Trezeguet.
Subs: Abbiati, Chiellini, Del Piero, Balzaretti, Mutu, Blasi,
Giannichedda.
Werder Bremen: Wiese, Owomoyela, Naldo, Fahrenhorst, Schulz,
Frings, Baumann, Micoud, Borowski, Klose, Klasnic. Subs: Vander,
Pasanen, Vranjes, Haedo Valdez, Andreasen, Daniel Jensen,
Van Damme.
Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire)

Barcelona v Chelsea
Barcelona: Valdes, Oleguer, Puyol, Marquez, Van Bronckhorst,
Deco, Edmilson, Motta, Messi, Ronaldinho, Eto'o. Subs: Jorquera,
Belletti, Larsson, Giuly, Sylvinho, Van Bommel, Iniesta.
Chelsea: Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Terry, Gallas,
Joe Cole, Makelele, Lampard, Duff, Robben, Drogba. Subs:
Cudicini, Maniche, Crespo, Geremi, Gudjohnsen, Wright-Phillips,
Huth.
Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)

Villarreal v Rangers
Villarreal: Viera, Javi Venta, Rodriguez, Pena, Arruabarrena,
Senna, Tacchinardi, Josico, Riquelme, Forlan, Jose Mari. Subs:
Barbosa, Guayre, Calleja, Hector Font, Quique Alvarez,
Alcantara, Franco.
Rangers: Waterreus, Hutton, Rodriguez, Kyrgiakos, Murray,
Burke, Ferguson, Hemdani, Namouchi, Buffel, Lovenkrands. Subs:
Klos, Ricksen, Bernard, Andrews, Novo, Gavin Rae, Kris Boyd.
Referee: Alain Hamer (Luxembourg)

Pepe LeFrits

Rangers are beating Villarreal, eirebhoy won't like that!

Likewise Werder are 1-0 up at Juve, so the Old Lady will need to score twice now.

Chelsea vs Barcelona is a bit disappointing so far. Messi was a big loss to the game, and Mourinho's selection of Cole, Robben and Duff hasn't worked at all so far. They need more quality passers in the side I think, bring on Eidur for Duff.

bohsman

Dont do many football bets but heres mine for the 2 nights

$30.00 Single Milan v Bayern Munich Win/Draw/Win Milan 5/6
$20.00 Single Juventus v Werder Bremen (SS2)Win/Draw/Win Werder Bremen 6/1

$20.00 Single Arsenal v Real Madrid (SS1) Win/Draw/Win Real Madrid 7/4
$100.00 Single Barcelona v Chelsea (ITV) Win/Draw/Win Barcelona 10/11

If Werder keep their 1-0 lead Im practically freerolling on the other 3 games.

mike65

Its not great but Barca are keping Chelsea on the back foot for the most part so won't be too bothered. That Carvalho is such a cheat, 'excuse me while I push you then sit on you'!. Subtle he ain't.

Mike.

county

bohsman wrote:

Dont do many football bets but heres mine for the 2 nights

$30.00 Single Milan v Bayern Munich Win/Draw/Win Milan 5/6
$20.00 Single Juventus v Werder Bremen (SS2)Win/Draw/Win Werder Bremen 6/1

$20.00 Single Arsenal v Real Madrid (SS1) Win/Draw/Win Real Madrid 7/4
$100.00 Single Barcelona v Chelsea (ITV) Win/Draw/Win Barcelona 10/11

If Werder keep their 1-0 lead Im practically freerolling on the other 3 games.

ok mine.10e double on chelsea and rangers to win,33-1
40e on chelsea to win,3-1

BaZmO*

Chelsea just don't have the quality passin like Barcelona. Ronaldinho is fantastic. How many back heels is that now. Would like to see Chelsea score first early in the second half just to liven things up.

Ref is also kinda ruining the game by stopping play so much.

Spider_Baby!

whats the website for the champions league fantasy football? I cant find it anywhere... en.uefa(cant remember the rest!)

Any helpers??

Kingp35

Like I all ready said Barcelona are by far a better footbaling side than Chelsea and they are showing it tonight. Chelsea just cant hold onto the ball because they dont have the quality. They are a defensive side who like to nick a goal and they just dont have the know how to go and attack sides. Their only chances are coming from set pieces with balls flung into Drogba. Other than that they are very poor and I cant say im surprised.

Barcelona havent been great either though tbh. Plenty of the ball but not creating any real chances.

Fair play to both Rangers and Werder Bremen so far. Very surprising results especially Bremen.

JackKelly

what the story with the ref? He's blowing it up every three seconds.

Ronaldinho really is something else though. His feet are so fast.

county

TimAy wrote:

what the story with the ref? He's blowing it up every three seconds.

Ronaldinho really is something else though. His feet are so fast.

the ref is a joke

zAbbo

Lampard, Robben and Drogba being shown up for what they are, very ordinary players who lack any sort of passion.

county

chelsea should have scored there

smemon

zabbo wrote:

Lampard, Robben and Drogba being shown up for what they are, very ordinary players who lack any sort of passion.

i second that. theyre scared of barcelona. this is how real champions play, or should play imo.

you can't stop this sort of barcelona side.

merlinsmerryman

YES!! Chelsea are gone bye-bye what a talent Ronnie is.

county

bye bye chelsea,and bye bye my bet

BrookieD

YESSSSSSSSSSS great goal come on Barca

anonymous_joe

That Ronaldinho... Mad...

Best player around?

YeatsCounty

Holy crap! Juve vs Werder Bremen spoiler:

Bremen's goalie catches cross, goes to ground and spills ball to the foot of Emerson who finishes it. 2-1 Juve, 4-4 on aggregate. Bye bye Werder, thanks to their goalkeeper (who was having a great game up until that moment).

merlinsmerryman

They were all offside and it was a good tackle never a penalty.

county

1-1

vorbis

Thats that

The Muppet

Dreadful decision for the pen Barc were the better team over the two legs and deserved to go through.

Ronaldinho is some player.

BaZmO*

Chelsea have how much money at their disposal? and they need 2 goals with 10 mins to go or they're out of the CL and what does Mourinho do? Bring on a creative player? Hell no!! Bring on Huth, a defender and sure we'll hoof the ball up to him!!

Chelsea can have absolutely no complaints, Barca outplayed them in every aspect, and they always looked like they could up it at least another couple of gears.

Never a peno either, John Toshack flagged him as being a joke before the match and he wasn't far wrong.

kaimera

Crap game.
Chelsea offered nothing and got what they deserved.
Never a penalty but as the tv3 guys said, the ref was poor anyway.

Pld Barca tho.

Kingp35

Absolutely shocking decision for the penalty. Terry was offside and wasnt fouled.

Barcelona deserved it Chelsea were poor and never looked like winning the game. Lampard was non-existant. Delighted Barcelona went through as they are clearly the better side.

YeatsCounty

Barca fully deserved to go through. Chelsea deserved nothing from this tie and they didn't show all that much either.

Yeah, Ronaldinho is a wonderful player and all but the defending for his goal was ****e. There were four Chelsea defenders around him FFS.