Arsenal vs Villarreal

Guy:Incognito

PHB wrote:

Btw, if it is a Barca vs. Arsenal final, it is a victory for football.
Two teams that play the game properly as it is meant to be play, to attack.

So why were defenders invented? The game is played to win. You play to your strenghts. Not everyone has the ability make a mazy run through 4 or 5 players and score into the top corner. Jamie Carragher doesnt score goals or play flair football but he's just as important, if not moreso, to Liverpools success than Steven Gerrard.

Roddy23

spot on. barca deserve to win it though, they are without doubt the best team on the planet.

Please explain how. Sure they haven't even reached the Final yet, and here you are, giving them the trophy.

Bit dis-respectful to Milan

PHB

So why were defenders invented? The game is played to win. You play to your strenghts. Not everyone has the ability make a mazy run through 4 or 5 players and score into the top corner. Jamie Carragher doesnt score goals or play flair football but he's just as important, if not moreso, to Liverpools success than Steven Gerrard.

They were intended to defend obviously, the word itself gives it away. Liverpool are not an example for me of a team that should be emulated. They play defensive boring football. Arsenal play attacking great football, fast paced and passing based. Defending is obviously allowed, but defending always isn't good. Barca have a fantastic defense.

If you want examples of defending who do justice to their position
Ashley Cole - Incredible defender and attacker
Cafu - The same
Puyol - Incredible defender, great passer of the ball.

Kingp35

Arsenal were slighty lucky tonight because they were awful. Villareal were not an awful lot better but they had three great chances to score and missed them all. Arsenal will have to up their game big time to win the final.

county

Roddy23 wrote:

Please explain how. Sure they haven't even reached the Final yet, and here you are, giving them the trophy.

Bit dis-respectful to Milan

i agree there and so what if barca are the so called best team,the best team does`nt always win

evad_lhorg

I say milan will win the match tomorrow and go out on goal difference,


the match tonigh...... absolutely terrible. it didnt seem like either team wanted to go to the final of the biggest club competition for their sport. ridiculous.

Back to the days of "borring boring Arsenal!" tonight!

YeatsCounty

evad_lhorg wrote:

I say milan will win the match tomorrow and go out on goal difference

If Milan win 1-0, it will go to extra time. If Milan win by any other scoreline then they will qualify either on aggregate or on the away goals rule, circumstances depending.

Here's hoping that Nesta, Kaka and Sheva will be fit enough to turn Barca over on their own patch tomorrow!

PS: A belated happy birthday to Billy Costacurta. He turned 40 on Monday and he is part of the squad for tomorrow's tie. The man is a living legend.

redspider

First off, Congratulations to Arsenal and Arsenal followers. It is an achievement to get to the CL final, no matter what happens in it, and anything can happen in finals, as we all know.

In terms of the match, this was definitely not a typical Arsenal performance. They created very little up front, apart from one Henry late breakaway after the missed penalty and in the 91st minute which the keeper saved. Villareal put up a soild midfield and defence and snuffed out everything Arsenal tried to do, being all too aware that an away goal would end the tie, but it was Arsenal which did most of the defending, doing so very deep for most of the match, and defending quite well, usually.

However, Villareal had several (5x) gilt-edged chances to get a goal. What would have happened if they would have scored we can only guess at, but the advantage would have surely been with Villareal.

Of course, there was no more a gilt-edged chance than the penalty. Clichy, who had a great game I thought, coming on for Flamini who went off very early after 8 mins, was in some ways harshly pulled up for the foul, but it was a foul, although in many similar situations he would get away with it. Lawrenson rightly ointed out that he got away wth one in the previous match. But Requelme's penalty kick was not great, he seemed to buckle under the pressure, and Lehman, as he admitted in his interview, guessed the right way and made a good save. Lehman was good on the night.

But overall, there is some perspective needed. This is only Villareal, a club which a couple of decades ago was no bigger than Bohemians. They did very well to get this far, but they are a team that are 10th in the Spanish league. They effectively have punched well above their weight to get this far, and if anything its a poor showing on Arsenal just to have scraped past them. Granted, this is the CL semi-final, but Arsenal should have been well able to put this side away over two legs. That shows to me some signs of nervousness at this level from Arsenal, whilst it is to be expected, it doesnt auger well or the final if there is no change. The final though is a different ball game.

How their realisation of being in the final will effect them is anyone's guess. Being the underdogs in the final, no matter who gets there from tomorrow night, should be a help. But if there is any lesson from last year, it is that no-one in the final will take a lead as being unassailable and defending efforts are likely to be better. It would be great if Arsenal will have a go in the final, and I think they will have to.

Arsenal have a chance to win, but a lot will depend on the personnel on the night, how they raise their game, how they perform, etc. Its impossible to predict, even less so 3 weeks away.

Once again, well done to the 'Woolwich' Arsenal.

redspider

The Muppet

Well done Arsenal, They did what they had to do and got to the Final playing well within themselves. I hope Barca go through tonight and that should give us and excellent final.

Jimboo_Jones

Well done Arsenal, all the best to you in the final

Dont Ban Me

chiller wrote:

disgraceful viilareal deservea place a in the final a lot more than arsenal. they played liked school boys 2day

What a load of crap! Why do they deserve a place in the final? Becuase they played a half decent game in one leg of a game? I dont think so, IMO Arsenal played supremely all throughout the knockout stages and fully deserve their place.

May be a little biased as Im a fan and have been for a long time, but it just bugs me with that crap talk... :mad:

But yeah we're there!! C'mon Barca, I want to beat the best!!

TheMonster

If Arsenal play like that against either Milan or Barca - it could get embarassing.

It was a deffo penno - yes it wasn't much of a fould but he was barged in the back - if it was outside the box would anyone complain?

[RANT]
Why don't referees give pennos against Spanish teams for holding in the area?
[/RANT]

BaZmO*

Congrats to all the people that are saying that Arsenal need to play better in the final. Congratulations on stating the bleedin obvious. Arsenal were the away team last night defending a 1-0 lead the onus was on Villareal to score and they didn't. Arsenal destroyed them at home, even go so far as to put on two strikers with 10 mins to go.

Would love to see Barca in the final with Arsenal and if they do make it they don't have a God given right to win it, for performances throughout the competition Arsenal would deserve it just as much.

Johnny_the_fox wrote:

amazing to see the villarreal fans clapping arsenal.

I thought they were just congratulating their own team on their amazing achievement of getting that far in the CL.

MrJoeSoap

chiller wrote:

disgraceful viilareal deservea place a in the final a lot more than arsenal. they played liked school boys 2day

Haha, I couldn't let that one slide by. The team who scores more goals in a tie generally "deserves" to get through. The game of football is about putting the spherical object in between the metal (or occasionally wooden) posts, and below the crossbar.

Villarreal got a perfect chance to do this, in the 90th minute, but Riquelme proved himself to be the ultimate bottler. He NEVER looked confident and anyone with a bit of cop on could see he was going to miss it. His contribution after the penalty miss was to practically stand still for 4 minutes in a trance. The ultimate waster.

In no way do Villarreal deserve to be in the CL Final.

MBC

Okay we rode our luck last night but so what we had lead and we kept it.....that deserves a final spot.......any team that has 9 consecutive clean sheets in 1 tournament merits a final spot. If you don't concede you can't lose.


You will see a much better Arsenal in the FINAL.

Bring on Barcelona or AC.......No prob at all, we take them.



PS: anyone know how the hell I could get tickets???

BolBill

Fair play to Arsenal for getting to the final, good thing Riquelme is such a choker, worst penalty I've seen in ages though it can be argued that it shouldn't have been given.

They'll have to play better against Barca or Milan in the final but then again we said the same thing about the 'pool last year !!!!

Loomis

Johnny_the_fox wrote:

brillant save.. fair play to him.

Are you serious?
The penalty would sully the good name of piss-poor,
My granny coulda saved that

county

Mr. Anderson wrote:

Are you serious?
The penalty would sully the good name of piss-poor,
My granny coulda saved that

he still had to save it though

tred

Mr. Anderson wrote:

Are you serious?
The penalty would sully the good name of piss-poor,
My granny coulda saved that

if he had guessed the other side then it would have being a great penalty...he had it on target and jens guessed correctly.....its not like he hit it straight at him u clown..

Dcully

He NEVER looked confident and anyone with a bit of cop on could see he was going to miss it.

Never knew one could 100% predict the outcome of a penalty :rolleyes:

Well played Arsenal,poor on the night but done the job.
LOL i bet Man U fans are sick ,first Pool in a CL final now the gunners

Loomis

BaZmO* wrote:

Congrats to all the people that are saying that Arsenal need to play better in the final. Congratulations on stating the bleedin obvious. Arsenal were the away team last night defending a 1-0 lead the onus was on Villareal to score and they didn't. Arsenal destroyed them at home, even go so far as to put on two strikers with 10 mins to go.

Would love to see Barca in the final with Arsenal and if they do make it they don't have a God given right to win it, for performances throughout the competition Arsenal would deserve it just as much.


I thought they were just congratulating their own team on their amazing achievement of getting that far in the CL.

I'd disagree with you there.
I dont think they've done anything special really. They beat a Real team that a well organized Sunday league side would beat despite their myriad of genii on the pitch. They don't play as a team and are an aging side. The English media harped on about that like it was some scalp. They should have been sorely disappointed had they not beaten a poor Real side.
Juventus was odd. Juventus had played well throughout the league stages but it's like they stalled against Arsenal. And no I don't go along with "it was due to Arsenla not allowing them to play." In my opinion Arsenal again did nothing special. Juventus were actually worse than Real in both games. In the second game the wheels totally came off. Juventus are by far a better side. Their posiiton in Serie A should tell you that. For whatever reason it just didn't go against Arsenal. So again while a fantastic result and one they weren't expected to get they did nothing special (and weren't required to) in beating Juventus.
Last night Gilberto should have been sent off. End of story. The referee bottled it, it was right in front of him. It would have been a totally different game as a result. not saying Villareal would have won. But it would be more likely. And with them piling forward it could have worked out better for Arsenal in a weird way being able to hit them on the break.
So summing up I don't think they've done anything special to get to the final. They beat a terrible Real side and got immeasurably lucky in coming up against a superior Juventus side that never got out of the blocks. Beating Villareal, as well as they've done again having done nothing amazing, to get to a Champion's League final is pretty laughable and certainly nothing to boast about.
Assuming Barcelona beat Milan they deserve to win it. They are the best team in the competition in my opinion. They have played the best football and have looked the most impressive of all the teams in it. Not they don't have a God-given right to win it but I totally disagree with you in saying they deserve it as much as Barcelona based on past performances. Like United in 99 they deserved to win that. On the night (and speaking as a United fan) they didn't deserve to win the match. But I think they were the best team in it and proved that with group games against Barcelona and knock-out wins over strong Inter and Juventus sides. I'll liken it to Greece and Liverpool winning Euro 2004 and Champion's league respectively; it was bad for football. It just didn't feel right watchign either game. Did it for you?
Arsenal have gotten to the final without being made trully work for it. For that reason I think it would be bad for them to win it over superior teams of Milan and Barcelona.

Loomis

tred wrote:

if he had guessed the other side then it would have being a great penalty...he had it on target and jens guessed correctly.....its not like he hit it straight at him u clown..

If you watch the reply of the penalty he hits almost 2/3 of teh way up the ball! He got a dire connection and worse pace. It was almost half way between the post and the centre of the goal. If Lehman moved the other way he would have scored, thanks for pointing out the obvious. Doesn't change the fact it was a terrible penalty. Just cause you score doesn't make it a well taken penalty.
And please don't insult me. I neither appreciate it not warrant it.

Dcully

I'll liken it to Greece and Liverpool winning Euro 2004 and Champion's league respectively; it was bad for football. It just didn't feel right watchign either game. Did it for you?
Arsenal have gotten to the final without being made trully work for it. For that reason I think it would be bad for them to win it over superior teams of Milan and Barcelona.

lmao so its 3 miracles sent from above is it?
Get a grip man :rolleyes:
Fair fooks to Arsenal and screw the begrudgers is what i say.

MBC

Arsenal have gotten to the final without being made trully work for it.

Thats how class Arsenal are, final of champions league with out playing our best football.......still a lot more to come from the gunners, can't wait for the final. What we did againist Villareal is something the great Man U couldn't, roll on the final.

Loomis

Dcully wrote:

lmao so its 3 miracles sent from above is it?
Get a grip man :rolleyes:
Fair fooks to Arsenal and screw the begrudgers is what i say.

I didn't say that. Liverpool was as you said.
Arsenal haven't had the massive luck Liverpool had but they've done nothing deserving of being in the final either. You could say they were lucky to get such bad performances from opposition but nothing as lucky as Liverpool. But that doens't change the fact they've done little deserving of being in a final. Had any of the opposition played half decent they woudln't be there.
*shrugs shoulders*

Loomis

MBC wrote:

Thats how class Arsenal are, final of champions league with out playing our best football.......still a lot more to come from the gunners, can't wait for the final. What we did againist Villareal is something the great Man U couldn't, roll on the final.

*resists urge to retort with equally chidlish, totally valid but childish nonetheless, comment*

zAbbo

I'll be 100% shouting for Arsenal in the Final, especially after Henry's gracious and humble comments both on Saturday after the spurs debacle and last night in regards Liverpool and Gerrards triumph last season. He's a real Pro, and deserves to lift the trophy. If Villareal had of got through, would that have been deserving of it?

Get a grip lads, Arsenal now hold the record for clean sheets in Europe, think of all the great teams that have competed but have never come close to this feet.

MBC

Mrs Anderson - Its the truth and sometimes the truth hurts. sorry.

Roddy23

But that doens't change the fact they've done little deserving of being in a final. Had any of the opposition played half decent they woudln't be there

LMAO. You can only beat the teams that are put in front of you. We have beaten all three teams, haven't conceeded a goal in ten champions league matches. To say we are undeserving is a joke, what more could we have done. Granted we have had some luck, but name one team who has gone on to win the Competition who hasn't had their fair share on the way.

ShiverinEskimo

MBC wrote:

Thats how class Arsenal are, final of champions league with out playing our best football.......

So you're saying they chose to sit back idly and not put 100% into the holy grail of European Club Football?

Eh, no man. The games against Real and Juve made Arsenal look better than they actually are because on Real and Juve looked better on paper than on grass in both games but Arsenal still had to play well to get past them. I fail to see the confidence increase in taking a great performance to beat two mediocre teams and then being shown in the Semi-final how vulnerable you really are to a fluid attacking team.

If we take your point of view and reckon they got to the final without playing their best - What makes you so sure they are capable of suddenly producing their best against a team who have looked unbeatable throughout their campaign. (Assuming barcelona go through of course. With Milan needing 2 goals without reply to go through avoiding penalties - although after last years final I imagine Milan are well schooled in penalty taking now. )

Fair play to Arsenal but don't let your last three games get you into the thinking they can win this. Maybe based on their group games but so far in the knockout stages they have have ridden their luck - specifically last night.

ZENER

ShiverinEskimo wrote:

Maybe based on their group games but so far in the knockout stages they have have ridden their luck - specifically last night.

Wouldn't be the first team to do this, would they ??

Thought the incident with the Barca shirt with Henry was hilarious. I was surprised the director allowed it to be aired, usually they don't give these antics any encouragement at all and point the camera elswhere.

Well done to Arsenal though, looked under pressure at times last night - to be expected away from home I guess but a good performance. Good for Campbell to be in there too. Glad to see the penalty didn't earn a goal - he was fishing for it. That said I was surprised that Leihman (sp?) called him a cheat in the interview afterwards.

Here's looking forward to a quality final in May hopefully against Barca.

ZEN

tred

Mr. Anderson wrote:

If you watch the reply of the penalty he hits almost 2/3 of teh way up the ball! He got a dire connection and worse pace. It was almost half way between the post and the centre of the goal. If Lehman moved the other way he would have scored, thanks for pointing out the obvious. Doesn't change the fact it was a terrible penalty. Just cause you score doesn't make it a well taken penalty.
And please don't insult me. I neither appreciate it not warrant it.

I think you should take your anti arsenal dribble to another forum and let us Arsenal fans enjoy the moment. After Real game, everyone said, ooohh juventus are certs, then when we beat them off the park, "oh they are an ageing team". Same again with villarellel. it was a semi final, they were under pressure and the kids were feeling it. We had players like gilberto and lehmann wise heads who played out of their skins. Some of the best players in the world have missed important penaltys, Roberto Baggio comes to mind, but lehmann deserved that save last night. Jose mari dived like he was shot in the ass by a sniper and i even predicted he would try it i was dissapointed ref didnt see through him
Who ever wins tonight, i hope its a good game and i would not be at all surprised if Ac pulled it out of the bag, but for football sakes, everyone has being saying since the group stages , that an Arsenal Barca final would do justice to the game. So maybe people are going to get what they want. Arsenal will need to improve a lot from last night, but if riquelme had scored, we would have taken them in extra time, we had subs to come on and they had taken off a lot of defensive players...

shatners basoon

How can anyone day that Arsenal don't deserve to be in the final? The only time they rode their luck was last night against a team who simply couldn't score, over the two legs i'd call it pretty even but you can't argue with the result. Villareal have very little up front, they're pretty solid in the back and in the middle but don't know how to score.

In the previous knockout stages arsenal simply outplayed their opponents, the fact that these teams could have played better makes no difference, the fact that they've better teams on paper makes no difference, if teams should be in the final on that merit it wouldn't be that great for football would it?

Arsenal deserve to be in the final, the team that deserves to win it will be decided in may, just as liverpool deserved to be in the final and the team that deserved to win it was decided last may too (well milan probably deserved to win but the pool win was better for footie )
Good luck Arsenal in the final.

Tonights match should be interesting.

jank

Like United in 99 they deserved to win that. On the night (and speaking as a United fan) they didn't deserve to win the match

Nice contracdiction!

Anyway on the match. Arsenal played ****. They gave villareal way too much time and space. It was never a peno and justice was served when lehman saved.

Clichy did ok I thought.Gave a lot of space in the first half but tightened up a lot in the 2nd. His first game in about 4 months so he did very well considering that.

Campbell too did well I thought.

It was the midfeild that let arsenal down. Hleb and Gilberto were awfull kept giving the ball away. Cecs I thought was the best player in midfield for Arsenal last night. Henry had it tough. He was always facing about 3 players anytime they got the ball. Villareal knew that Henry would be alone so the pushed up the full backs to the midfield was over run.

Anyway they are in a final...A CL FINAL!!

In 90 minutes anything can happen and I doubt very much that they will play that bad again. Also remember that was their 3rd tough game in week. They did look very tired. So a bit of a rest for some players and they should be back to their Juve beating best!

10 clean sheets in a row now (The previous record was 7). For that reason alone they deserve to be in the Final. Lets hope they make it 11

mike65

Can anyone refresh my memory on the following - did'nt Wenger liken Liverpool reaching the CL final to Millwall being in the FA Cup against Man Utd?

Mike.

BaZmO*

mike65 wrote:

Can anyone refresh my memory on the following - did'nt Wenger liken Liverpool reaching the CL final to Millwall being in the FA Cup against Man Utd?

Mike.

Oh the irony.

But if his comments prove anything, it's that when people are talking about their own team they tend to talk sh1te!

http://www.theallineed.com/news/0505/079499.htm

Wenger says Liverpool 'lucky' to be in Euro final


UEFA are set to dash Liverpool's hopes of defending the trophy should they beat the Italian giants in Istanbul on May 25 but finish outside the Premiership top four.


But Arsenal's French manager - who has yet to guide the north London club to a European trophy since arriving at Highbury in 1996 - said Liverpool were fortunate to be in this season's Champions League at all after only finishing fourth in the Premiership last term.

"Normally they should not have played in this cup. They are already lucky to be in it because of the advantage this country has in having four qualifying places," Wenger said.

"Most countries have only three places, so they already had an advantage in qualifying last season after finishing fourth," he added on Friday.

Chelsea may have dethroned Arsenal as Premiership champions but the Gunners, like Liverpool - who beat Jose Mourinho's men, still have European ambitions dependendent upon the final few league games of the season.

Wenger's men are currently second, four points ahead of Manchester United, and if they stay there will go straight into the Champions League proper rather than having to play a qualifying round.

Liverpool, who beat Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Champions League earlier this week, meanwhile are involved in a manic scrap for fourth with city rivals Everton and fellow north-west side Bolton.

Everton currently hold the coveted spot, just three points ahead of Liverpool and four clear of Bolton but they do have a game in hand on both their rivals.

And Wenger was adamant that if Everton finished fourth they should be allowed to compete in the Champions League and not be 'knocked out' by Liverpool.

"I feel the rules were clear at the beginning of the season so it was very difficult to change. You cannot knock Everton out of it," he said.

"You could argue that four places in the Champions League is already quite a big share - and that if you are good enough to win the Champions League, you should be in the top four of your country.

"Normally I'd agree with the premise that if you win the cup you should be allowed to defend it but changing the rules for next season, so the winners qualify, would perhaps be the best solution."

He added: "If you call it the Champions League, basically you should only have the league champions there."

Wenger cited Barcelona, only beaten in the quarter-finals by Chelsea after the referee missed a foul by Ricardo Carvalho on keeper Victor Valdes in the build-up to the Blues' winning goal, as the best side in Europe this season.

And he said Arsenal's last 16 conquerors, Bayern Munich, as the "best European team we have played in the past four or five years".

Wenger said the Champions League, which in the days of the European Cup was restricted to the holders and the continent's national champions alone, was becoming more of a lottery than a test of excellence.

His view appeared to be backed up by the fact that last season underdogs Porto and Monaco contested the Champions League with Porto, then managed by current Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, winning.

Meanwhile Liverpool, despite being 33 points behind Chelsea in the league, now find themselves in the final of Europe's leading club football tournament.

Wenger praised Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez but said nohing had altered his view that the Premier League had to be a priority for a leading English club.

"The championship has to be our absolute priority as you cannot make the Champions League as the priority," he insisted.

"Why would we change our style? Liverpool were one minute away from going out (before Steven Gerrard's winner against Olympiakos) and who knows if the ball was in or not against Chelsea?

"Liverpool deserve a lot of credit and have shown a lot of courage, but the championship is the only competition where the quality of the team is reflected after 38 games.

"The Champions League has now completely become a cup competition (without a second group stage)," added Wenger, whose side face holders United in the FA Cup final on May 21.

"Everybody can win it. Last year you had Porto and Monaco. Every year you will have two different teams in the final because it is so open.

"It's like last year, when Millwall were in the FA Cup final. Next year, you could have Coventry.

"Liverpool deserve all the congratulations but it's difficult to draw the conclusion that they are dominating European football."

mike65

Knew I had'nt dreamt it!:D

Mike.

super_furry

Arsenal are in the final because they deserve to be. They beat Real Madrid and Juventus on the way. Liverpool won last year because they deserved to. They beat Juventus, Chelsea and Real Madrid on the way. It's quite simple really.

Shaque attack

emm liverpool never played madrid last year... you might of meant milan but your point stands. both teams reached the final on merit, its rediculous to say otherwise.

Royale with Cheese

Ha ha, this thread is hilarious. Did I read somewhere in here that Real Madrid could be beaten by a well organised Sunday League team? Arsenal play one bad game in Europe and they're a joke now? I hope people do forget the way they played in their previous 5 European games. Being complete underdogs definitely suits them. I do remember people talking about how Madrid would destroy them, then after that how Juventus were too good and would be a different story. Now both are apparently average European sides. Please name some better ones that have gone out of the competition. You won't name too many.

I got banned last week for my comments about Jose Mari, but let's be fair now. I was spot on. Well done Jens, well done Arsenal. Bring on Barca. Arsenal certainly aren't favourites but I wouldn't dare write them off.

Pepe LeFrits

Royale with Cheese wrote:

I got banned last week for my comments about Jose Mari, but let's be fair now. I was spot on. Well done Jens, well done Arsenal. Bring on Barca. Arsenal certainly aren't favourites but I wouldn't dare write them off.

Indeed, arseblogger and yourself look to have been spot on about him.

Anywho, it was an absolutely awful match. It wasn't quite as painful to watch as the FA cup final last year, but it wasn't far off. Jens' save was pure nirvana tho

Royale with Cheese

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

Anywho, it was an absolutely awful match. It wasn't quite as painful to watch as the FA cup final last year, but it wasn't far off. Jens' save was pure nirvana tho

Indeed it was. Painful stuff. Sweet German beer eased the pain slightly. Jens' penalty save was made all the better because I was sitting next to my Oli Kahn loving, Jens Lehmann hating German friend. How we've argued about who should be no.1 for Germany this year. I felt so sick when the penalty was given, even sicker when I saw the replay. But when Jens made the save, god damn that was good. Probably better than any Arsenal goal I remember off the top of my head. My friend just sat there in silence while the whole pub went mental. He actually felt sick when we were leaving*.


*This may have been a coincidence

mr_angry

Royale with Cheese wrote:

Indeed it was. Painful stuff. Sweet German beer eased the pain slightly. Jens' penalty save was made all the better because I was sitting next to my Oli Kahn loving, Jens Lehmann hating German friend. How we've argued about who should be no.1 for Germany this year. I felt so sick when the penalty was given, even sicker when I saw the replay. But when Jens made the save, god damn that was good. Probably better than any Arsenal goal I remember off the top of my head. My friend just sat there in silence while the whole pub went mental. He actually felt sick when we were leaving*.


*This may have been a coincidence

Thats a truely bizarre story, in a long line of truely bizarre Jens Lehmann-related stories. My favourite is still below though:

Football365 wrote:

Quote Of The Day
"I think of myself as Germany's number one keeper and one of the best keepers in Europe, and the two games against Real Madrid showed this. The decision of who will be in goal in the World Cup is the manager's choice and I will accept it whatever it may be. I don't want any arguments with Kahn, but the stats are there. In one game, he conceded four goals, and I conceded none in two matches. Little by little, things are sitting into their rightful place" - We know we shouldn't, but Mediawatch officially loves Jens Lehmann.

eyerer

ZENER wrote:

Thought the incident with the Barca shirt with Henry was hilarious. I was surprised the director allowed it to be aired, usually they don't give these antics any encouragement at all and point the camera elswhere.

Spanish directors show stuff like that
British directors turn the camera away