Champions League Quarter Finals Leg 2

joe316

Pighead wrote:

Jesus if Lyon are a better team than United I shudder to think what the final result had of been if Lyon played them tonight!

well going on the old schoolyard principle it would have been 14 nil

Pighead

eirebhoy wrote:

Feck off. Roma are a quality team. I won't let one Champions league match change that. In fairness I'm usually attracted to teams that conced a million goals when I build them up.


Did you actually see them play counter attacking football? I didn't. I said I believed they're the best team I've seen playing that type of football but they didn't actually get a chance to do it. Utd just weren't losing possession with 5 or 6 players in the Roma half which they obviously need to play on the break. Got their tactics spot on.

I'll continue to watch Roma whenever I get a chance. You should do too and see if you agree that they're an excellent team.

Ah I know, that was a bit of a freak result. I'm only joshing with ya buddy. One question though and I demand honesty! Do you still think Roma are a better team than United?

smemon

yeah giles and dumphy need to lighten up..

the general view before the match was that Roma would win and this is the time when utd players need to stand tall.

Utd play a blinder, and hammer Roma, and now after the match:
"you can't judge them on one game.."
"Roma are a poor side, 18 points adrift in the league.."

it's a no-win situation. 8 years ago, dumphy would have been praising utd and how they're the best side in the world...

Keane leaves, and he drops them like a hot potato. Giles has become an ABU now also as he was too chicken to stand up to Dumphy when Dumphy supported Utd.

Out of the lot, Brady is the only real neutral.

BaZmO*

Raskolnikov wrote:

In fairness, Ronaldo was crap last season. He gave the ball away all the time (as opposed to some of the time this season) and couldn't cross to save his life. To be honest, I thought he'd always be something of a brainless winger but he's proved a lot of people wrong and improved his game.

In fairness to him he had a lot of personal problems last year but he's certainly proved his critics wrong this year, fair play to him!!

Only bad thing about Utd.'s performance tonight was Richardson. He played an absolute shocker when he came on, but if you're gonna play badly you might as well do it in a game that your team wins 7-1

DaveMcG wrote:

And all that without Scholes!

Paul who?

leninbenjamin

Utd did what they didn't do for a while now, they chased down and harried the Roma defenders when they were on the ball. In the last few matches when Utd lost possession in attack they simply left it up to the defenders to recover it. Tonight Smith and Fletcher in particular, did this to great effect, and it clearly unsettled the Roma team, who hadn't expected so much pressure all over the field. that's what won it. Even Ronaldo earlier on was defending and covering for O'Shea (who still had his hands full with Mancini).

Starting Smith was probably the best tactical decision Ferguson has made since bringing on Sheringham and Solskjaer in 1999.

And Chelsea powered through as expected. hate to say it but they deserved it.

eirebhoy

Pighead wrote:

Ah I know, that was a bit of a freak result. I'm only joshing with ya buddy. One question though and I demand honesty! Do you still think Roma are a better team than United?

I was more disappointed as a growing fan of Roma tonight more than the few quid I would have won on the final prediction. I had no money on them tonight. Player for player I think they're better than United. Although Ronaldo is as good as 3 players these days so that's no way to judge.

BaZmO*

eirebhoy wrote:

Although Ronaldo is as good as 3 players these days so that's no way to judge.

Although he doesn't do it in the big games...

leninbenjamin

BaZmO* wrote:

Although he doesn't do it in the big games...

in fairness he hasn't til today really... (at least i don't remember any)

BaZmO*

BaZmO* wrote:

Although he doesn't do it in the big games...

Coz tonight wasn't a big game?

LostinBlanch

Biggest victory in any CL quarterfinal, so definitely a night to savour!

If anyone wants to enjoy watching the goals from OT, here they are. Enjoy.

leninbenjamin

leninbenjamin wrote:

in fairness he hasn't til today really... (at least i don't remember any)

I remember him being the best player on the pitch in the fa cup final united lost to Arsenal!

BaZmO*

Turn on your sarcasm detectors lads...

Dcully

As a LFC fan ,that was a great performance tonight by both premiership outfits.
Man U have been playing solid stuff all season hence why they top of the premiership.
The last year or 2 when chelsea dominated Man U were writtne off by everyone but fair play to ferguson he got them up for it this year.
While never spectacular they have been the best side so far this year imo.
Chelase in their last 17 games won 14 drew 3 i think? They are on a roll and i expect a close finish for the title.
Tonight the word spectacular is fiting for Man U.
Ronaldo,player of the year for sure,great tonight again.

I still think Pool can beat chelsea over 2 legs if we overcome PSV tomorrow.
Id then love to meet Man U in the final and beat yas
Ive got a feeling about the CL this year being ours again,maybe wishfull thinking but i gotta have faith

Played chelsea and Man u tonight.

stepbar

Is nobody going to stick the neck out and go for a CL winner?

stovelid

smemon wrote:

yeah giles and dumphy need to lighten up..

the general view before the match was that Roma would win and this is the time when utd players need to stand tall.

Utd play a blinder, and hammer Roma, and now after the match:
"you can't judge them on one game.."
"Roma are a poor side, 18 points adrift in the league.."

it's a no-win situation. 8 years ago, dumphy would have been praising utd and how they're the best side in the world...

O Herlihy doesn't help with his consistently dopey line of questioning. He must be told to wind up the panel (so basically, we won 7-1, will yis now admit you're wrong and Ronaldo is a genius) for TV.

Giles and co are making a valid point too much and in a graceless way.

growler

great performance by chelsea tonight, i wasn't feeling very confident beforehand but after valencia going ahead, and looking very dangerous in the first 30 minutes, i was fecking ecstatic to see the sheva nick one and essien (least likely scorer of winning goal) stricking beautifully in the dying seconds for the win at a ground that doesn't concede easily. Fantastic to see Joe Cole back, and what an impact he made, even the glacial Ballack managed to put in a better performance than Lampard, this season has been a real rollercoaster for chelsea they sure ain't making it easy on their fans.

Great night for chelsea, bring on the pool.

Great performance by utd aswell, happy to see them kept busy in the CL too, gives us a better chance of stealing the league off them yet!

besty

Oh My God! What an amazing night of football from United. I couldn't believe my eyes at stages when I looked at the score. Really impressive performances from the "weak links" like Carrick, Fletcher, Smith. Hopefully we can carry this form into the run in and scoop the treble!

dcarroll

what was with dunphy calling ferdinand a tramp?
we can count ourselves lucky tho, they are far better than those bbc idiots/ fence sitters

redspider

Man Utd

WOW !!

I dont think anyone thought it could have been a 7-1 win for Man Utd over Roma, their biggest European win since 1968 against the much more lowly Waterford, and up there with their best ever results in Europe!

Its true that Roma were off colour and contributed to the score, with some poor defending (no closing down) and goalkeeping (not even diving?!?), but Man Utd put in a huge huge and commendable effort and would have won this game easily irregardless of whether Roma were at their best or not. And this was achieved with a 2nd string selection of sorts, no Vidic, no Neville, Larsson gone (is he wishing he stayed on now for a few more months?), no Saha, no Scholes.

The first goal was key and Roma had a few shots that went close-ish but once Carrick's went in Roma lacked any real fight and their defending got even worse. It could have been more than 7.

So, a very good result for Man Utd. Their tactics seemed to be straight-forward, give the ball to C.Ronaldo and see what he would do with it, see where the cracks appeared, and they did. Ferguson was delighted.

As for the RTE 'Comedy Panel' (Dumb-phy, Giles and Brady), as is more than often the case got it wrong again. Whilst their main point did have some validity, as in Man Utd showed a chink of vulnerability with their recent lose to Portsmouth and have at times been failing to put away teams, their prediction spectacularly blew up in their faces. What's ironic is that both Giles and Dunphy are Man Utd afficiando's so they deserted the ship a tad too early.

Chelsea
A different match with a much more difficult proposition. Things looked bad when they went 1-0 down and were outplayed for the first half. But they came into the game more, got the qualiser and then looked like they could shade it. Canizares made a brilliant save low down which was Gordon Banks-like, but after the 90th minute a low angled shot beat him at the near post, a cardinal sin for a goalie and it gave the win to Chelsea.


Semi-Finals:
It looks like 3 english teams will get through. Liverpool know Chelsea but also know that it will be difficult, and whilst we have nothing to fear, Valencia would have been the preferred opponents. It will be close.

Bayern are likely to get past AC Milan and face Man Utd. Their tails should still be up after this win, and they must be favourites to win it.

Final
So, does an all-English final beckon? It looks that way .... Liverpool v Man Utd is possible ..... nervy affairs in the league and more recently Man Utd have won them quite easily.


Redspider

besty

John O'Shea to score the winner in the Champions League final against Liverpool?

Take it

PHB wrote:

United vs. Chelsea in the FA Cup, CL, and then in the 2nd last match in the premiership. Could be incredible

I wasn't aware that Chelsea beat Liverpool in the Semis already?

Dave!

United v Liverpool would be an amazing final

God I woulda loved to be there tonight .... wearing riot gear, so the ultras don't get me!

smemon

i think a Utd - Chelsea final would be a better advertisement for the game.

Whatever about liverpool winning it a couple of years ago, winning it twice in 3 years would make a bit of a mockery of the Champions League.

Barcelona restored some nornality last year when they won it deservedly. Previous to that, the Porto and liverpool victories de-valued the competition imo.

So i'd prefer to see a Utd - Chelsea final and one of those two win it.

besty

But the intensity of the United/Liverpool rivalry would be out of this world if it was showcased as a Champions League final. I actually don't want to think about it too much because I'm already getting excited and it's by no means guaranteed...

Guy:Incognito

smemon wrote:

i think a Utd - Chelsea final would be a better advertisement for the game.

Whatever about liverpool winning it a couple of years ago, winning it twice in 3 years would make a bit of a mockery of the Champions League.

Barcelona restored some nornality last year when they won it deservedly. Previous to that, the Porto and liverpool victories de-valued the competition imo.

So i'd prefer to see a Utd - Chelsea final and one of those two win it.

Whereas , tonights result aside, Uts have been demolishing all before them in amazing displays of footballing genious for the last 7 years?

As for Chelsea? How many threads are there on boards whinging about Chelsea grinding out results in poor games?

Devalued my hole, Liverpool deserved to win it.In the knockout stages they beat the top two Italian side, the English Champions and a team that hammered Madrid in the group stages. Wasnt an easy group on paper either.

This season they've come by Barce. Who else should they beat before thery are worthy of winning a cmpetition that is only good when won by the likes of Utd? Especially considering the very strong possiblity that if they do win it they will have beaten Utd in the final having beatenb Chelsea in teh semi's.

smemon wrote:

So i'd prefer to see a Utd - Chelsea final and one of those two win it.

I'd be amazed if one of them didnt win that final.

~Rebel~

smemon wrote:

liverpool victories de-valued the competition imo.

hmmm what a silly comment about the team who won it in what will probably go down as one of the very best finals ever. not like it was an easy run or anything, what with juventus and chelsea.

or is it just because it was liverpool. in which case its a really really silly comment.

would you prefer if they put in a rule that only a nice fashionable big name is allowed to win it?..just silly...

Royale with Cheese

It's a cup competition. Everybody who makes the knockout stages has an equal chance of winning it. De-valuing the competition? Rubbish.

cousin_borat

smemon wrote:

Barcelona restored some nornality last year when they won it deservedly. Previous to that, the Porto and liverpool victories de-valued the competition imo.

Seriously, get back in your box.

MisterAnarchy

DaveMcG wrote:

United v Liverpool would be an amazing final

I doubt it would.
There hasnt been a decent match between these two in over 5 years.

RasTa

smemon wrote:

Whatever about liverpool winning it a couple of years ago, winning it twice in 3 years would make a bit of a mockery of the Champions League.

Barcelona restored some nornality last year when they won it deservedly. Previous to that, the Porto and liverpool victories de-valued the competition imo.

What an idiotic comment to make.