CL Semi-Finals Leg 1

PHB

1st Leg:

Man Utd vs. Milan - United (but with Milan getting an away goal)
Chelsea vs. Liverpool - Chelsea (2-1)

In terms of the United match, United's defence really is gona be very weak, and unless Brown and Heinze put in incredible performances, I can't see Kaka not being able to pick them apart.
A lot depends on whether or not Evra is fit.
If he is, we can play Fletcher in midfield to hold off Kaka (funny I know ), if not, he'll have to play right back, and our defensive cover is going to be tough.

I hope Fergie goes for a
4-2-3-1 again.
If Evra is fit, I'd like Fletcher part of the 2 holding midfielders, with Scholes, Giggs, and Ronaldo the 3, with Rooney up front on his own.
But if not, it's gona be Scholes and Carrick, with Rooney-Giggs-Ronaldo, and Smith up front.

While Smith up front was a masterstroke against Roma, Milan don't rely on their CB's for creativity, and play a much more traditional game. If we can avoid using Smith, (all to do with if Evra plays), then I'll be happy.

I think if Evra makes it, we can win without concedding.
If Evra doesn't play though, I think we could be a tough night for United.

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As for Chelsea vs. Liverpool, I think Chelsea have been playing pretty well, but against a team that can take their chances, they are conceding a lot of goals. Chelsea havn't been playing as well as their performances make out, and Liverpool are unlikely to be victim to a last minute winner due to poor concentration. That said, if Chelsea come out, and all play to their best, they'll blow Liverpool away.

Chelsea will give you chances, and I think Liverpool will take one of them at least. But I also think Chelsea are gona score.
2-1, giving the advantage to Liverpool in the second leg.

herbieflowers

Man U will hopefully react like the did against Roma on the back of the disappointment against Portsmouth. But it's ridiculous imo that they're only producing results now as a backlash. Every game is important, I thought after the Roma win that the ship was steadied but it doesn't seem that way after yesterday's performance, although in fariness the defence was emaciated through injury...we'll soon see...if one of Heinze, Brown, O'Shea or Evra gets injured on Wednessday Man U are in serious trouble for the rest of the season

Guy:Incognito

I thought Utd were away first, that puts a slightly different slant on it imo. tipping it ever so slightly in Milans favour.

As for Liverpool. I dont like the amount of pundits and the like sayign how they will beat Chelsea and hjave too much for them etc. I much prefer when it's "Liverpool are ****e, they shouldnt be in the competition, Chelsea will hammer them" etc. Underdog works, dont like bneing tipped.

Royale with Cheese

Chelsea - Milan final for me.

mike65

AC Milan to beat Utds ramshackle defence, Chelsea-Pool down to a knife edge between the two, depends entirely on if the players 'turn up'.

Mike.

redspider

Stekelly wrote:

I much prefer when it's "Liverpool are ****e, they shouldnt be in the competition, Chelsea will hammer them" etc. Underdog works, dont like bneing tipped.

Dont worry, Chelsea are the favourites, and Liverpool are the underdogs. But .... given the usually close games between the clubs in recent years, Liverpool are seen as slight underdogs rather than major underdogs. I too prefer the underdog label, and the psychological position it gives.

Last time (2005), Mourinho was happy with a 0-0 draw in the 1st leg and Chelsea played a less than expansive all-out attacking style. In the 2nd leg, Liverpool bombarded Chelsea with waves of attacks and sneaked a goal. Its all up for grabs this time and depends very much on player selection, tactical approach, etc. I would imagine that Chelsea will be more attacking in the 1st leg, and Liverpool set-up for counter-attacking, cue Bellamy and Kuyt.

Enjoy the football,

Redspider

cregser

mike65 wrote:

AC Milan to beat Utds ramshackle defence, Chelsea-Pool down to a knife edge between the two, depends entirely on if the players 'turn up'.

Well liverpool have had fairly steady form for the last few weeks thanks to clever rotation. Chelsea however should be nearing exhaustion at this stage.

As a Liverpool fan I don't think I could handle a ManU-Chelsea FA Cup Final, a ManU-Chelsea Premiership "final" (second last game of season), AND a ManU-Chelsea ChampsLg Final.

PHB

Chelsea however should be nearing exhaustion at this stage.

Chelsea have been rotating too I'm afraid. Players like Ballack, Makelele, and Shevchenko have been given rests. With Joe Cole full of energy after just returning. The Chelsea team have a lot more depth than United's, and their core players have been given breaks, so expect them to be well up for it.

Kojak

I think it will be a Milan-Chelsea final

el rabitos

PHB wrote:

I think if Evra makes it, we can win without concedding.

united always concede. thats why i wont be shocked to see them win nothing come the end of may. far too leaky i reckon.

milan to win both legs imo. i'm sure utd will score this time though.

liverpool and chelsea will be tight, i think liverpool will need to score on wednesday to have any chance of going through, the idea that once it gets back to anfield liverpool will have it in the back doesnt really wash with me. i think chelsea will score in both legs.

PHB

united always concede. thats why i wont be shocked to see them win nothing come the end of may. far too leaky i reckon.

Really? How'd our defense do against Liverpool this season?

Our weakness in defence earlier in the season was related to us switching off when we were comfortably in front.
In most games, this resulted in late goals against us, but it didn't matter cause we were 3-0 up.
In some games though, it cost us, like against Arsenal.
But in tight games, our defense was pretty good, see the Liverpool examples.

Our recent defensive problems are to do with Brown Heinze O'Shea and some midfielders being part of our defense
Imagine if Finnan, Carragher, Agger and Riise were injured if you want to get your head around it :P That said, injuries happen to everybody, you just gotta deal with it, but when we have our first choice defense, we are pretty solid at the back.
That said, we won't have that for the Milan game.

Raskolnikov

Chelsea - Man Utd final with Chelsea to win.

mike65

Injury for Ballack.

Mike.

PHB

That's a big boost for Liverpool.

Guy:Incognito

PHB wrote:

That's a big boost for Liverpool.

TBH after the way he played at Anfield in January, I'd rather he was fit.

el rabitos

PHB wrote:

Really? How'd our defense do against Liverpool this season?

already with the liverpool crap, how'd the defence do against 'boro or watford or reading or fulham?

PHB wrote:

Our weakness in defence earlier in the season was related to us switching off when we were comfortably in front.
In most games, this resulted in late goals against us, but it didn't matter cause we were 3-0 up.
In some games though, it cost us, like against Arsenal.
But in tight games, our defense was pretty good, see the Liverpool examples.

Our recent defensive problems are to do with Brown Heinze O'Shea and some midfielders being part of our defense
Imagine if Finnan, Carragher, Agger and Riise were injured if you want to get your head around it :P That said, injuries happen to everybody, you just gotta deal with it, but when we have our first choice defense, we are pretty solid at the back.

you could almost convince a fish to jump out of his bowl and come take a walk with you.

it is what it is, utd have been conceding far too many goals, defencive problems or not, utd are doing great going forward, but your forwards wont always have a good day. if they are to beat milan the defence has to improve, if they are to avoid any more slip ups in the premiership, the defence has to improve, simple as. currently they concede too often and i wont be suprised to see it cost them in the end. [/QUOTE]

PHB

already with the liverpool crap, how'd the defence do against 'boro or watford or reading or fulham?

You claimed we always concede, I pointed out when we don't concede.

I agree, the defence has to improve, but all that requires is out starting players to come back. Evra is a huge boost for us, and gives us a much better back 4, which is what the initial comment was all about.

redspider

IF Chelsea perform like they did yesterday against Newcastle, it should really suit Liverpool and I would strongly tip Liverpool to go through to the CL final.

Not only were many of the Chelsea players lack-lustre, but they were missing any semblance of an attacking system and the more I think about it the more I rate Liverpool's chances. They sorely miss Robben, and Duff for that matter! And consider that Solano, yes, Nobby, was playing as a make-shift right-back, and a dodgy one at that. He did well for a guy who is an attacking midfielder and I like him as a player but he is not a right back and his positional sense was all over the place. But Chelsea failed to exploit it and Kalou who was positioned at left forward has NO left foot capability at all. He is so one-footed it was unreal.

Chelsea's main threats came from miss-kicked passes, etc, and the threat of a dead-ball header from Terry, but he was well marked. Newcastle also won the midfield battle and Chelsea just kept giving the ball away. Only for Petr Cech, Newcastle would have won that game. And Newastle werent great either.

Also good news for Liverpool is that Carvalho is still out for Wed, as is Essien and Ballack. There probably is no better time to play Chelsea than this Wed night.

One thing is for sure. Chelsea will NOT win 4 trophies! So back to the 'old days' for Jose perhaps!

I'm quietly confident and looking forward to an away goal from Riise or Gerrard.

Redspider

Mitch Connor

United are boned against milan. It would have been a tough game with a first choice back line. Instead we are going to be without Neville, Rio and Vidic. Add to that the fact Heinze and Brown have been crap at centre back over the last few games, and that John O'Shea is crap anyway - Milan are going to walk the ball in. Its going to be embarassing.

PHB

Without Carvalho Essien and Ballack, the Chelsea team is going to be interesting:
Also, where is Cole?

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Cech

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-Ferrerira--Terry---Boularouz--Bridge

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Makelele

---

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Lampard--Joe Cole

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--SWP

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Shevchenko

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Drogba

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I think could be the team we see, although the formation could be anything.

Chong

Tauren wrote:

United are boned against milan. It would have been a tough game with a first choice back line. Instead we are going to be without Neville, Rio and Vidic. Add to that the fact Heinze and Brown have been crap at centre back over the last few games, and that John O'Shea is crap anyway - Milan are going to walk the ball in. Its going to be embarassing.

We are going to be boned hahaha!

Obviously not a man u fan

RE*AC*TOR

anyone have a clue as to Liverpool's likely lineup?

Is Alonso injured?

Mitch Connor

Willstev wrote:

We are going to be boned hahaha!

Obviously not a man u fan

I am a united fan - but i just can't see how our current defence is going to keep out a creative player like Kaka, when they were shockingly crap against Sheffield United and Middlesborough. Brown, Heinze and O'Shea are a joke at centre back without someone like Rio or Vidic to hold their hands.

If we don't concede, it'll be an amazing result.

zing

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

anyone have a clue as to Liverpool's likely lineup?

Is Alonso injured?

He missed the mid week last week game with a slight groin strain but was expected back for the weekend. Leaving him out on Sat was most likely just giving him a few more days recovery. Right now afaik the only injury worries are the 3 long term ones - Kewell, Garcia & Aurelio.

Chong

Tauren wrote:

I am a united fan - but i just can't see how our current defence is going to keep out a creative player like Kaka, when they were shockingly crap against Sheffield United and Middlesborough. Brown, Heinze and O'Shea are a joke at centre back without someone like Rio or Vidic to hold their hands.

If we don't concede, it'll be an amazing result.

I suppose to be honest you have to have a little faith when it comes to situations like this. When watching Man U in both the Sheffield and Boro games, they looked like they did against pompey. They seemed as if that they didnt want to over exert themselves, I am hoping to see a good performance come Tuesday.

** Willstev says millions of prayers come tuesday and has everything crossed.

:)

BKtje

Im kinda nervous about the Milan game now if im honest. With the state the defence is in atm i can see us conceeding an away goal which would be kinda dangerous. Ah will see tomorrow

PHB

Evra is looking set to play:

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VDS

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--O'Shea--Brown--Heinze---Evra

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Fletcher--Carrick

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--Ronaldo

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Scholes

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Giggs-

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Rooney

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I'd like to see this formation. My logic being if Fletcher can handle Totti, he can handle Kaka :P That said, Kaka is a lot better than Totti

Pepe LeFrits

Man Utd against Milan should be an intriguing tactical battle. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be rather dour though, considering how wary Milan will be of Ronaldo and co, and how much Man Utd will want to avoid conceding with a rather makeshift defence. It's still a more exciting prospect than Chelsea - Liverpool though, which is a tie that nearly bores me to death every time they meet.

Lex Luthor

Probably never a better time to play Chelsea..

Liverpool have an extra days recovery from the weekend fixture plus they rested a lot more key players than Chelsea. Chelsea also had a long trip to Newcastle and looked very tired after the game.

If Liverpool don't nick a goal, then they only have themselves to blame.

RE*AC*TOR

I can envisage an ultra-defensive line-up from liverpool on wednesday.

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Reina

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Finnan--Carra--Agger--Arbelo

Gerrard--Sissoko-Mascherano-Alonso--Riise

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Kuyt

~Rebel~

i dont know about that. Rafa being as tactically astute as he is will see wednesday is pool's chance to take the tie by the scruff of the neck, like against barca. Chelsea are severly weakened with essien, Ballack and Carvalho out. I still dont expect him to throw caution to the wind but 3 defensive midfielders i couldnt see.. Probably Alonso and Mascherano, with gerrard on the right, riise on the left and kuyt and bellamy up front.

Lex Luthor

~Rebel~ wrote:

i dont know about that. Rafa being as tactically astute as he is will see wednesday is pool's chance to take the tie by the scruff of the neck, like against barca. Chelsea are severly weakened with essien, Ballack and Carvalho out. I still dont expect him to throw caution to the wind but 3 defensive midfielders i couldnt see.. Probably Alonso and Mascherano, with gerrard on the right, riise on the left and kuyt and bellamy up front.

I think he'll go with Bellamy & Kuyt also...chelsea need to make sure they score and hence will probably go attacking, so Liverpool will prob be set up for the counter

ntlbell

Tauren wrote:

I am a united fan - but i just can't see how our current defence is going to keep out a creative player like Kaka, when they were shockingly crap against Sheffield United and Middlesborough. Brown, Heinze and O'Shea are a joke at centre back without someone like Rio or Vidic to hold their hands.

If we don't concede, it'll be an amazing result.

If fletcher does a good a job on kaka as he did totti the defence won't have to worry about him :cool:

Nalz

:rolleyes: United dont always concede, they are missing their back 4 but still strong enough to give Milan a good game. I can't see United caving in on the night in OT but in the san siro they could be in trouble. If United win by 2 clear goals they'll go through...anything else will be a very tough job.

Liverpool imo have the upper edge, and if they nick a goal in stamford bridge that could be enough.

My heart says a Liverpool United final but both games (with Uniteds injuries) are too tough to call.



na na, na na na Liverpool are better than United.
Oh no they're not...blah blah blah

BaZmO*

I predict a Manu-Liverpool final with about 20 bannings leading up to the final and about twice as many after.

I've got a feeling that one of the pairings is gonna be decided by penos.

mike65

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

anyone have a clue as to Liverpool's likely lineup?

Is Alonso injured?

He's my guess -

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Reina
Finnan--Carra--Agger--Arbaloa

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Masch
Pennant

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Alonso

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Riise

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Gerrard

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Crouch

Which can become 4-5-1 when we have two on the board!

Mike.

gustavo

Milan and Chelsea to win through .

jesus_thats_gre

If United's didn't have injury problems at the back I would be pretty confident that they would go through over the two legs but I am not so sure now. I still think United are a better team than Milan and will pip it over the two legs.

As for the Chelsea and Liverpool match. I am not so confident about it to be honest. We bet them once this season and out played them at Stamford Bridge only to be beaten by a wonderful goal by Drogba. There is also that semi final from 2 years ago. Tis Chelsea's turn me thinks.

Chelsea and United final. Hope I am wrong though.

cournioni

7-0 to Milan. 14-0 over the two legs.

The Muppet

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

If United's didn't have injury problems at the back I would be pretty confident that they would go through over the two legs but I am not so sure now. I still think United are a better team than Milan and will pip it over the two legs.

As for the Chelsea and Liverpool match. I am not so confident about it to be honest. We bet them once this season and out played them at Stamford Bridge only to be beaten by a wonderful goal by Drogba. There is also that semi final from 2 years ago. Tis Chelsea's turn me thinks.

Chelsea and United final. Hope I am wrong though.

FFS you're really letting the side down these days.

I fear that our defence will make costly mistakes tomorrow. The question is will our attack compensate for them ? If we are still in with a realistic chance after tomorrow I will be happy. All we need then is some miracleous recoveries before the second leg.

Mossin

The United - Milan ties could be great.

Despite United's defensive problems at the minute, they can be electric going forward. I feel that at home United have the ability to rack up quite a few goals, although Milan in Europe don't concede many.

Out of the four remaining teams these are the Goals for and against and no. of clean sheets:

Man Utd: 21 (F) 7 (A) CS (4)
Chelsea: 16 (F) 8 (A) CS (3)
Liverpool: 17 (F) 6 (A) CS (6)
Milan: 13 (F) 6 (A) CS (6)

Out of these stats, Milan have only conceded twice in games they have won, and only lost twice, with a 2-2 draw with Munich being the other game in which they conceded.
Man Utd have conceded in 3 games they have won and lost 2 games 1-0, and against Roma 2-1.
Chelsea have conceded in 3 games they have won, only lost 1 game so far though, and have had 3 score draws.
Liverpool have only conceded in 2 games they have won, they have only lost twice with the rest being clean sheets.

These make for interesting reading I think. The best attack goals wise against the [joint] meanest defense. Although Milan don't have as much going forward. Hopefully United's youthful exuberance can force home victory against what is undoubtedly an aging Milan squad, albeit one full of outstanding players still.

The Chelsea - Liverpool game doesn't intrigue me as much. I actually kinda hate these all-English games in Europe. They never live up to expectations. Honestly I'd prefer Liverpool to win, just for the good of the game and to show Chelsea that you can't buy the CL.

~Rebel~

Results wise, i think the Liverpool Chelsea match will finish 1-1. Kuyt and Sheva the scorers. If Chelsea really feel their player losses, could even see Pool get a second. Riise has a great record in scoring against chelsea.

I thinkUnited will win the home leg 2-1. Id say they'll be level at 1-1 at some point, and uniteds attack will just prove too much as the game goes on. Giggs and Rooney the scorers, Ronaldo setting at least one up. Maldini to score for Milan!

daveg

I had heard all day yesterday Evra is out. Today BBC news say he is doubtfull:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/6582631.stm

The good news is Richardson is also out.

PHB

With Evra, I think we can win, without him, I think we'll be in a very tough match.
If Evra doesn't play, I can't see Kaka not creating lots of opportunities. Let's hope Gilardino has one of those days he likes to have every once in a while.

ROCKMAN

I think Utd may have to be Patience ,if that early goal does not come, The last twenty minutes of both legs with be keg. It's then that we can do some damage imo (young strike force v ageing defence)

Prufrock

United might be ok if they keep the tempo high. Milan are an ageing team.

bucks73

United to win 2-0 tonight. Other semi is very hard to call but think Liverpool will just about sneak it again. United v Liverpool final. Sweet.

PHB

I'm really happy that Dida is out, their reserve goalie is pretty ****.

Nalz

Yeah if we keep the tempo high and fletcher,carrick and smith play out of their skins then we have a great chance. Brown isn't going to get bullied off the ball like he did against Middlesboro but we still need a good performance from him tonight. Comon United!

PHB wrote:

their reserve goalie is pretty ****.

Used to play for Leicester I think, can only be a good thing.

Mr Alan

Milan to win both legs against United. And Liverpool to go through in a VERY close contest, penalties perhaps with two 1 nil home wins.

leading to a replay to the greatest final of all time

jank

milan chelsea for me but would love to see a united liverpool final.