Manchester United v FC Barcelona - Champions league Final

SlickRic

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

enviro wrote: »

Torres and Gerrard didnt do it in the greatest game in club football though, big difference.

automatically takes away from the point does it? :rolleyes:

his point still stands.

Mr Alan

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

em actually Gerrard has "done it" in a CL final-did you class him as the best in the world at that point? doubt it.

my point was simply that just cause they schooled Utd last night does not make them the best players on the planet. They are class players, no doubt, but the honour best on the planet belongs to their short team mate.

A7X

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Eirebear wrote: »

fairynuff, just picked you up wrong.

No bodger. It's one thing that struck me loads last night. Imagine if you had Xavi and Iniesta feeding Ronnie in the form he was in last night.

enviro

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

ScienceNerd wrote: »

So they did it with a worse team....so they must be better?!?

There is not much between many of the top players imo, its all about form and raising to the game when called upon. If you think Liverpool are worse than Barca thats up to you.

Iago

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Mr Alan wrote: »

**** sake, some football fans are so reactionary.

just cause Iniesta & xavi schooled yous last night does not automatically make them the best players in the world :rolleyes:

You remember Torres & Gerrard schooling yous a few weeks ago? are they the best in the world?
What about Zamora & Murphy who schooled yous against Fulham shortly afterwards? best players in the world?

FYP

Vampireskiss

dfx- wrote: »

.As for the 99 midfield that is being compared, I remember Bayern running riot in that game too..

But you fail to remember that neither scholes or Keane were playing that night

Eirebear

A7X wrote: »

No bodger. It's one thing that struck me loads last night. Imagine if you had Xavi and Iniesta feeding Ronnie in the form he was in last night.

It would have been lethal, thats the thing about some of the hype surrounding superstar players right now.

They are only as good as the players around them.

To take it to a FAR lower level, ive watched it week in week out this season with Pedro Mendes, the amount of times he has played killer passes only for his team mates to missread them completely is unbelievable.

Highsider

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

Off topic but if Spain keep Xabi and Iniesta fit then i can't see past Spain for the WC next summer. Jesus....:eek: Alonso,Fabregas,Xabi,Iniesta,Torres,Villa. What an embarrasment of riches they have.

enviro

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Highsider wrote: »

Off topic but if Spain keep Xabi and Iniesta fit then i can't see past Spain for the WC next summer. Jesus....:eek: Alonso,Fabregas,Xabi,Iniesta,Torres,Villa. What an embarrasment of riches they have.

Some line up alright, a true great between the sticks too.

A7X

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

enviro wrote: »

Some line up alright, a true great between the sticks too.

Ah yeah but their defence.... :pac:

gucci

A7X wrote: »

Quote from SAF.

I really couldn't agree more. Going into that match all the hype was about Ronaldo and Messi. Who was the best player in the world. And what came out of it, from my point of view, was that Xavi and Iniesta are.

The hype players can be decisive in tight games. Anyone who had watched Barca and Man U play knew what to expect from every player, Iniesta and Xavi delivered on the promise. Sometimes the people doing the hype arent always clued into the bigger picture. Because they are paid to watch football dosent mean that they have to actually know anything about it.

Highsider

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

Very sad news
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090528/twl-man-utd-fan-kills-four-in-nigeria-41f21e0.html

MisterAnarchy

Barcelona (Neutral)

Barca really did their homework well on that Utd side.
They out thought them and outplayed them.
It wasnt a great performance by Barca ,I've seen most of their matches this season,but it was very solid,effective and executed perfectly.

Puyol and Sylvinho didnt give Rooney a sniff,Barca had studied Rooney when he played on the left and he cuts in 4/5 times on his right foot when he receives the ball,too predictable.

Eto and Henry played in deeper positions than they normally do and worked harder than normal.

Ferguson played right into Guardiolas hands by picking that formation and team selection.
It might have worked against poorer opposition but it wasnt going to work last night.
Its the old flaw of Ferguson,square pegs in the round holes.
Rooney on the wing,Giggs playing off Ronaldo,Ronaldo up front,too lopsided.

A7X

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Highsider wrote: »

Very sad news
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090528/twl-man-utd-fan-kills-four-in-nigeria-41f21e0.html

Just saw that aswell. Can't believe it. Disgraceful.

Nalz

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Mr Alan wrote: »

**** sake, a few Utd fans that commented here are so reactionary in my opinion.

fixed that for you

internelligent

Highsider wrote: »

Off topic but if Spain keep Xabi and Iniesta fit then i can't see past Spain for the WC next summer. Jesus....:eek: Alonso,Fabregas,Xabi,Iniesta,Torres,Villa. What an embarrasment of riches they have.

Alonso's been cloned:eek:

But on your point, you can understand why Arteta doesn't even get a look in! It must be so unlucky to be such a great midfielder that you'd walk into almost ANY international team and you end up being spanish in the wrong era.
Frighteningly good team.

Warper

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

Is is truly amazing what 1 second in soccer can do.

If Iniesta had not scored in the 93rd minute at Stamford Bridge all you would be hearing is the following:
Barca cant beat English teams
They have no Plan B
Messi is not the best team player in the world
The Spanish League is crap and Barca are over-rated
All very well beating crappy Spanish sides

But now look at the difference - people are lavishing them with praise as if they are the best thing ever. The mob are fickle alright.

Spud83

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Warper wrote: »

Is is truly amazing what 1 second in soccer can do.

If Iniesta had not scored in the 93rd minute at Stamford Bridge all you would be hearing is the following:
Barca cant beat English teams
They have no Plan B
Messi is not the best team player in the world
The Spanish League is crap and Barca are over-rated
All very well beating crappy Spanish sides

But now look at the difference - people are lavishing them with praise as if they are the best thing ever. The mob are fickle alright.

Is it fickle to ask a team to prove themselves against the best sides in Europe before calling them great?

SlickRic

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

Warper wrote: »

The mob are fickle alright.

or, because of that one second, we now all see the light.

it is us who have berated the spanish league in the past who were the fickle ones before.

i've made it my business to watch my fair share of spanish football, and that performance last night was coming.

they may not be as physical, but they don't need to be. it's not their style of play. they work damn hard high up the pitch to win possession and don't give it back.

we judge them on a couple of games every year. liverpool (admittedly) have never 'played them off the park', neither have utd or chelsea in the past. it's not like the english teams were ever miles ahead of them.

NabyLadistheman

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

Warper wrote: »

Is is truly amazing what 1 second in soccer can do.

If Iniesta had not scored in the 93rd minute at Stamford Bridge all you would be hearing is the following:
Barca cant beat English teams
They have no Plan B
Messi is not the best team player in the world
The Spanish League is crap and Barca are over-rated
All very well beating crappy Spanish sides

But now look at the difference - people are lavishing them with praise as if they are the best thing ever. The mob are fickle alright.

Thatss the difference between being great and being no-where

SlickRic

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

p_larkin99 wrote: »

To say im gutted is a massive understatement. It was a combination of Barca being good and us just not turning up. Can't really say more on that.


But the amount of pure and utter ****e that's been posted between here and the match thread is just ridiculous. From people who are just using hindsight, to people saying we big changes blah blah blah

If we had have turned up last night its not inconceivable that we would have won and we'd have been labelled greatest team etc etc but based on one bad performance (ok we've been bad most of this season but I guarantee a win last night and there wouldnt be all this knee-jerk ****e) we need massive changes?

Get a grip some of ya's.


It says something about us though that in a season where we won the league we can still be gutted.



KEEP THE RED FLAG FLYIN' HIGH!!!!

do you not think your midfield needs strengthening?

it's masked by your generally watertight defence and moments of magic up front. that was not enough against a few sides this year, and you finally got shown up last night.

big games between big teams are won in midfield, and sorry, despite all the deserved plaudits you've got this year, it is a glaring deficiency.

monkey9

Highsider wrote: »

Very sad news
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090528/twl-man-utd-fan-kills-four-in-nigeria-41f21e0.html

What's this about?? I can't open the attachment

L'prof

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

jasonorr wrote: »

I have

€5 2-0 Barca & Iniesta to score first @ 149/1
€5 2-0 Barca @ 16.5/1
€5 Barca to win & Eto'o to score @ 11/2
€5 Barca to win & Iniesta to score @ 10/1
€5 Barca to win & 9 or less corners & card index 45 or more @ 10/1

So, I want Barca to win I have to be honest and say I expect to lose all my bets!

Boggles wrote: »

Pity with the money you spent you could have got a Barca T-Shirt.

I might get 2 of them now

Sizzler

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

SlickRic wrote: »

big games between big teams are won in midfield, and sorry, despite all the deserved plaudits you've got this year, it is a glaring deficiency.

Are they? But what if you have the likes of Heskey up front on one side and Torres on the other? Would you not then be saying the big games are won with strikers

On another note, for all the 'total' domination of Utd and all this crack about them having the ball for long periods they still only had 51% of possession Easy to get caught up in the hype sometimes! Im surprised myself tbh.

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15280/match=302813/report=st.html

doonothing

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Outclassed
Gutted..

leninbenjamin

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

monkey9 wrote: »

What's this about?? I can't open the attachment

horrible stuff really;

A Manchester United fan in Nigeria has allegedly killed four people when he drove into a crowd of Barcelona supporters after his team's Champions League defeat. Skip related content

Police said the crowd in the town of Ogbo were celebrating Barcelona's victory when the minibus drove into them.

A police spokeswoman said ten people were injured and the driver was arrested.

She said: "The driver had passed the crowd then made a U-turn and ran into them."

Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 in what has been hailed as a "dream final" between two of Europe's best clubs.

Both teams have large fan bases in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation.

Pro. F

Sizzler wrote: »

On another note, for all the 'total' domination of Utd and all this crack about them having the ball for long periods they still only had 51% of possession Easy to get caught up in the hype sometimes! Im surprised myself tbh.

No hype, Barca did totally dominate.
They didn't squeze the life out of United by keeping the ball for very long periods because they didn't need too. But whenever they were under a bit of pressure they got a hold of the ball and strung a good few passes together and were then back on top.

The Al Lad

Best part of the night... watching all the united fans turning on each other at the end LOL

It all got a bit MESSI :pac:

dfx-

IAN WRIGHT - Columnist

Published: 26 May 2009

I EXPECT my mate Rio Ferdinand to lift the Champions League trophy aloft
in Rome tomorrow.

And it will not only be a victory for Manchester United and English
football.

It will also be one in the eye for Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini and all
the rest who refuse to acknowledge the vast array of talent at United
and in the Premier League, and are so desperate for Barcelona to win.

Make no mistake, Alex Ferguson and his team are not just up against the
Catalan giants as they bid to become the first team to retain Europe's
elite club competition in its current format.

Barca will have the backing of most of the continent including, sadly,
most of Britain.

FIFA chief Blatter and his UEFA counterpart Platini will be secretly
hoping Pep Guardiola and his players can triumph in the Stadio Olimpico
to halt the rise and rise English football.

The neutrals and so-called purists will cheer on the Spanish giants so
they can justify their opinions that when it comes to the beautiful game
we are still lagging behind our European rivals. It's got nothing to do
with football, it's just snobbery.

Purists? Puerile more like.

You know the types. They drink their cups of tea with their little
fingers in the air and prattle on about how La Liga is so much more
sophisticated than the Premier League. They have not got a clue.

I am sick of hearing how Barcelona deserve to be crowned champions of
Europe because have more technically-gifted players than United.

What rubbish. What about the technically-gifted players at United?

Yes, Barcelona have the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi.
But United have Rio, Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and more besides.

Yet some people do not like recognising them as world class simply
because they play for United.

Yes, La Liga is probably more technically advanced than the Premier
League but that does not mean all teams in Spain's top division are good
on the ball.

I'd rather watch a goalless draw here than over there.

Our football has much more pace, power and passion than the Spanish
league game — and I expect Barcelona to discover that in Rome.

I can only see United winning. I just cannot see them losing.

Without the suspended Dani Alves and Eric Abidal and the injured Rafael
Marquez,they will not have a recognised back four. They also have doubts
over Iniestaand Thierry Henry. So the burden of expectation will fall on
Messi's shoulders again.

Against any other opponents I'd say the 21-year-old Argentine would be
able to win the game on his own.

He is a special talent, but not good enough to single-handedly take on a
United side who will not be worried by him, and with good reason. Messi
has nearly always failed to reproduce his La Liga form when he has come
up against English sides.

It will be a big test for him. United should have enough to cope with
him and his team-mates.

Unlike Guardiola, Ferguson will have virtually a fully-strength squad to
select from. Even without the suspended Darren Fletcher, the talent at
his disposal is frightening.

The only way I can see United losing is if they lose their bottle and I
can't see that happening.

Ferguson won't allow it to happen — and nor will his players. They're
all winners who have been in this type of situation countless times
before.

I can see them beating Barcelona and the snobs won't be able to look
down their noses at them then.

:pac::pac:

A Dub in Glasgo

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

Trust Wright to make a prat of himself

Eirebear

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

Trust Wright to make a prat of himself

Is he Hartson in disguise?! [/off topic]

Aidric

Manchester United (Barcelona fan)

Double facepalm for Ian Wright, again.

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

Ian Wrong.

Eirebear

Im still waiting on certain people...im looking at you especially Jackdaw.. to come on and give Barca fans the same abuse as he gave Rangers fans for leaving some litter around barcelona last season.

Should i hold my breath?

Barr

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

Well done Barca - unfortunately my Paddy Power balance is zero thanks to backing the wrong team.

SlickRic

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

Sizzler wrote: »

Are they? But what if you have the likes of Heskey up front on one side and Torres on the other? Would you not then be saying the big games are won with strikers

you generally win games by controlling the game. you do that by controlling the ball, and controlling the tempo. utd's midfield did neither; fundamentals in trying to win a football match.

there are only so many times, even for utd, that they can get out of jail with their array of talent who pull out bolts from the blue.

against the real good teams you need to gain parity at the very least in midfield; then the likes of a Torres can win it for you over a Heskey. utd have struggled more often this season against the top tier teams than over the last few years.

for me, this is due to a sub-standard (for utd) midfield.

That_Guy

That Ian Wright article just made my day.

Great performance from Barca last night and unfortunately that first goal really set United back a lot.

Anyone know who got man of the match?

MisterAnarchy

Barcelona (Neutral)

SlickRic wrote: »

utd have struggled more often this season against the top tier teams than over the last few years.

for me, this is due to a sub-standard (for utd) midfield.

Very very true.
We lost away to Liverpool 2-1 ,becoming totally overrun after a promising start.
We lost away to Arsenal ,2-1.
We drew away to Chelsea 1-1.
We drew away to Aston Villa 0-0.
We drew away to Everton 1-1
We lost away to Fulham 2-0
And we drew away to Tottenham 0-0.
These are the top 8 teams in the EPL.
Played 7 and a return of 4 pts,only scoring 4 goals.
That sums up the problems with this current team.

Pepe LeFrits

Barcelona (Barcelona fan)

Barca completely schooled Man United tactically and made the technical gap look bigger than it is. Playing without a central striker worked brilliantly; Eto'o and Henry effectively occupied the entire United back four which left Messi as the spare man in the attacking midfield position. Man United's whole team selection was setup to contain the Barca 4-3-3 and Barca didn't play it.

Boggles

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Very very true.
We lost away to Liverpool 2-1 ,becoming totally overrun after a promising start.
We lost away to Arsenal ,2-1.
We drew away to Chelsea 1-1.
We drew away to Aston Villa 0-0.
We drew away to Everton 1-1
We lost away to Fulham 2-0
And we drew away to Tottenham 0-0.
These are the top 8 teams in the EPL.
Played 7 and a return of 4 pts,only scoring 4 goals.
That sums up the problems with this current team.

In 99 we had a similar record against the top 8, slightly worse in fact. The 99 team being regarded as one of the best ever. We won the leauge this year far more comfortably than 99. United tried to do something that has never been done in the history of the English league this season, a clean sweep, some results will suffer because of that.

Lost out on penos for the FA Cup final, and got it wrong against a Barca team that they were more than capable of beaten.

You just don't pull a set of random results and say thats the teams problem. The midfield may need freshing up, but thats because one of the greatest ever United players is doing what all players do, get old.

Disaster me hole, get Money on United again for next season, because the news of their demise is grossly over stated.

SlickRic

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

Boggles wrote: »

Disaster me hole, get Money on United again for next season, because the news of their demise is grossly over stated.

there's no demise.

but by the high standards you've set you have to recognise that it's your ability to put away weak teams that has got you into the position you're in.

nothing wrong with that.

but do you not think the majority of your performances against strong teams this season have not been up to the normal standard; and that that's down to a midfield that is not quite up to that high standard.

as i've said before, the rest of the team has been incredible to cover up those deficiencies.

Boggles

SlickRic wrote: »

but do you not think the majority of your performances against strong teams this season have not been up to the normal standard; and that that's down to a midfield that is not quite up to that high standard.

No not at all.

United got beaten 4 times this year in the league.

Liverpool 2-1 ---- No complaints, Liverpool were more up for it.
Arsenal 2-1

---

Fantasic game, which United dominated but didn't take their chances.
Liverpool 1-4 ---- United again dominated the game, Liverpool had 5 shots on target, they scord 4.
Fulham 2-0

---

A goal and a man down in the 18th minute, the 10 men of United dominate possession, something I have never seen a team do that has lost a man and has been away from home, fulham got the second on the break which was always likely to happen.

The way I see it, sometimes you get beaten by City twice, sometimes Liverpool, next season it will probably be Bolton.

Uniteds problem this season (if they had one) was finishing, against all teams they simply didn't take their chances.

SlickRic

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

Boggles wrote: »

No not at all.

United got beaten 4 times this year in the league.

Liverpool 2-1 ---- No complaints, Liverpool were more up for it.
Arsenal 2-1

---

Fantasic game, which United dominated but didn't take their chances.
Liverpool 1-4 ---- United again dominated the game, Liverpool had 5 shots on target, they scord 4.
Fulham 2-0

---

A goal and a man down in the 18th minute, the 10 men of United dominate possession, something I have never seen a team do that has lost a man and has been away from home, fulham got the second on the break which was always likely to happen.

The way I see it, sometimes you get beaten by City twice, sometimes Liverpool, next season it will probably be Bolton.

Uniteds problem this season (if they had one) was finishing, against all teams they simply didn't take their chances.

plus a lot of games you won but didn't dominate as you normally have done.

listen i'm not trying to say you've been cr*p, that'd be plain stupid. but utd haven't dominated games like in the past. that is all. blackburn more than matched you in the middle of the park at OT. chelsea at stamford bridge (under scolari!!!!). sunderland even limited you at OT. there's a few more. it's just the middle is not as dominant, which is strange to see in a utd team.

you dominated Liverpool at OT simply because we only had 5 shots? i'm going to choose to leave that one...

DM_7

SlickRic said the normal standard. He is correct Uniteds performances were not always up to the normal standard against the top sides.

He didn't say United were useless but they were not impressive. United were not as good this season as last season. The play lacked the fluidity it had in 07/08

Its fair to say United needed a midfielder last night that could get the play moving and guide the play to the right areas like scholes used to.

In last nights game united looked dangerous when they got wide and tried getting balls in the box but Uniteds midfield never persisted with this option. They failed to see where united were having success and failed to influence the play towards these areas.

I don't think united are far off having a complete side but the midfield (including the wide players) has let us down at times this season.

Boggles

SlickRic wrote: »

plus a lot of games you won but didn't dominate as you normally have done.

Which ones, I can only deal in details mate, I have seen all Uniteds games this season, name the game and we can discuss it.

SlickRic wrote: »

listen i'm not trying to say you've been cr*p, that'd be plain stupid. but utd haven't dominated games like in the past. that is all. blackburn more than matched you in the middle of the park at OT. chelsea at stamford bridge (under scolari!!!!). sunderland even limited you at OT. there's a few more. it's just the middle is not as dominant, which is strange to see in a utd team.

you dominated Liverpool at OT simply because we only had 5 shots? i'm going to choose to leave that one...

Possession wise, only 3 teams have had more of it in the league this season, Liverpool and Chelsea away, and surprisingly City at home.

So that is 35 games we dominated possession wise this season, last season we managed 34, 1 less.

corcaigh07

Boggles wrote: »

No not at all.

United got beaten 4 times this year in the league.

Liverpool 2-1 ---- No complaints, Liverpool were more up for it.
Arsenal 2-1

---

Fantasic game, which United dominated but didn't take their chances.
Liverpool 1-4 ---- United again dominated the game, Liverpool had 5 shots on target, they scord 4.Fulham 2-0

---

A goal and a man down in the 18th minute, the 10 men of United dominate possession, something I have never seen a team do that has lost a man and has been away from home, fulham got the second on the break which was always likely to happen.

The way I see it, sometimes you get beaten by City twice, sometimes Liverpool, next season it will probably be Bolton.

Uniteds problem this season (if they had one) was finishing, against all teams they simply didn't take their chances.

Ah now come on.....

DM_7

In fairness Majority of Possession is not equal to dominating a game.

When you dominate a game you overpower the opposition, you create many real chances and you don't give them a sniff when they have the ball. Last season United were more of a threat when they had the ball as they were more fluid in attack.

United were very good this year but not as dominant in big games as they were in 07/08.

SlickRic

Don't care (just want the game to be a cracker)

Boggles wrote: »

Which ones, I can only deal in details mate, I have seen all Uniteds games this season, name the game and we can discuss it.

Possession wise, only 3 teams have had more of it in the league this season, Liverpool and Chelsea away, and surprisingly City at home.

i mentioned three off the top of my head...

blackburn at OT
sunderland at OT
chelsea at SB

and i'll add

villa at OT

blackburn they matched you for most of the game from what i remember. they went at you and showed how to get at utd. i remember being very impressed.

sunderland also frustrated utd for ages. yes possession was probably dominated, but that doesn't always tell you everything. sunderland still had chances, and utd did not seem capable of stretching as they normally have.

chelsea i remember dominating apart from a spell in the 1st half. they would have been unlucky not to get that draw.

villa had so much space and time; with the midfield unable to get to grips at all with the counter attacking style. only a trademark fightback won it.

and these are just a few.

so the normal utd standard of midfield play, from what i've seen, just isn't around. no demise; its just a facet of your team that is not as it used to be.

MisterAnarchy

Barcelona (Neutral)

DM-ICE wrote: »

When you dominate a game you overpower the opposition, you create many real chances and you don't give them a sniff when they have the ball. Last season United were more of a threat when they had the ball as they were more fluid in attack.

Utd dont seem to be able to create as many goal scoring opportunities against better teams as they used to.
The no of shots on target seems to be lower than normal.
Last night they had 2 shots on target.Rubbish .
I've watched alot of matches this season and the no of clearcut chances created in alot of matches was very low as was the no of shots on target.
Utd always had a reputation for playing great attacking football but I'm not sure thats the case anymore.

Boggles

SlickRic wrote: »

sunderland at OT

sunderland also frustrated utd for ages. yes possession was probably dominated, but that doesn't always tell you everything. sunderland still had chances, and utd did not seem capable of stretching as they normally have.

I'll just deal with this one first.

72% possession, 31 shots to Sunderlands 3, 0 on target.??

Again like I said poor finishing.