Uefa Champions League Knock Out draw friday 11am

Warper

Barcelona will murder Arsenal but it should be very entertaining. Very unlucky for Wenger drawing them again. Couple of rematches from last year, Inter v Bayern, Lyon v Real plus the Barca game. Chelsea and Utd get handy draws while the Spurs v Milan game should be a good one as well.

The 3 that stand out are:
Barca v Arsenal
Inter v Bayern
Spurs v Milan

Dolph Starbeam

Soby wrote: »

If I'm looking at the draw right the 2nd leg for Arsenal is the Nou Camp which goes against them as well

All the runner ups from the group stages play the 1st leg at home.

DrumSteve

No One else looking forward to Lyon v Real... I'd say that'll be a quality match.

SlickRic

Arsenal and Barca, both teams at full strength, i can see being close enough, but with Arsenal's defence so fragile they wouldn't be able to do an Inter from last year and keep Barca away.

it would be 7-5 or something over the two legs.

a couple of injuries to Barca players and everything can change...if 2 of Pique, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta and Messi were missing, then i can see an upset.

otherwise, it might make for painful viewing for Arsenal fans.

they're unlikely to even have the Verminator back. Koscielny/Squillaci versus Messi, Villa, Pedro.

fúck me gently, that would need to be certified 16+.

davyjose

Arsenal's 2010/11 Champions League campaign.

RIP

ironbluedun

eagle eye wrote: »

I'd say the best way to play Barca is 5-0-5 with a couple of big lads up front and just lump every time you get a chance.:D

FFS they will need 6-8-2 against them........:D:D

Mr.Nice Guy

ironbluedun wrote:

Arsenal have no real chance of getting through that tie over two legs, although I would like to see them doing it, I cant see it happening

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

They need to catch them on 2 off days.

Sorry but no chance.

Barcelona 0 Hercules 2

There's always a chance. I wouldn't bet on it whatsoever but I think it's silly to write them off. There's a lot of time between now and then and they managed a draw against Barca at the Emirates and I thought Barca's play there in the first 20 minutes was out of this world. It should be a cracking contest whatever happens. I reckon the following will advance:

Roma vs Shakhtar
Milan vs Spurs
Valencia vs Schalke
Inter vs Bayern
Lyon vs Real
Arsenal vs Barca
Marseille vs Man Utd
Copenhagen vs Chelsea

Essien

homerjay2005 wrote: »

chelsea in easiest draw shocker, again...

could be worse for united, will take nothing for granted though.

One things for sure, Chelsea don't tradionally get it easy in the Champions league, how many times in the last 5-6 seasons have we only been beaten by the eventual winners?

SlickRic

eagle eye wrote: »

I'd say the best way to play Barca is 5-0-5 with a couple of big lads up front and just lump every time you get a chance.:D

Sam's out of a job i hear :pac:

Arse should hire him for two games sure.

cson

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Barcelona 0 Hercules 2

There's always a chance. I wouldn't bet on it whatsoever but I think it's silly to write them off. There's a lot of time between now and then and they managed a draw against Barca at the Emirates and I thought Barca's play there in the first 20 minutes was out of this world. It should be a cracking contest whatever happens. I reckon the following will advance:

Nevermind the first 2 minutes; the first 30 mins was an exhibition.

ironbluedun

Warper wrote: »

Very unlucky for Wenger drawing them again.

While i admire the man in truth he only has himself to blame pricking about during the group stage.

Warper

Arsenal are a sitting-duck for Barca. Arsenal play open football but Barca are the kings of open football. If you try and outplay Barcelona, you will get slaughtered. This will probably be the most comprehensive defeat of all the second-round matches, just like last year.
Barca will win this in a canter.

ironbluedun

Warper wrote: »

Arsenal are a sitting-duck for Barca. Arsenal play open football but Barca are the kings of open football. If you try and outplay Barcelona, you will get slaughtered. This will probably be the most comprehensive defeat of all the second-round matches, just like last year.
Barca will win this in a canter.

get big sam to manage arsenal for this one........hoof it up at em.....;)

Warper

ironbluedun wrote: »

While i admire the man in truth he only has himself to blame pricking about during the group stage.

Good point, youre right

Fuzzy_Dunlop

SlickRic wrote: »

they're unlikely to even have the Verminator back. Koscielny/Squillaci versus Messi, Villa, Pedro.

fúck me gently, that would need to be certified 16+.

Silvestre and Song in defense last year! Can't really get any worse than that. Koscielny is best dealing play on the ground too. Eboue playing right back in the first leg is more worrying.

[edit] campbell played too, not exactly best suited to playing against Barca.

KeithAFC

Win the first leg 2-1 or 1-0 or something, win the carling cup final, go into the 2nd leg on a high confidence boost for the whole club, who knows what can happen.

Losing to them is no shame anyway, so just go out and try your best.

eagle eye

SlickRic wrote: »

Sam's out of a job i hear :pac:

Arse should hire him for two games sure.

I think he will be employed by the time those games come around. The papers are saying West Ham, I'm hearing Wigan and very shortly.

shadowcomplex

The biggest advantage chelsea have playing copenhagen is that the danish league is over and does not resume till march, Arsenal dont have much hope v barca and the reason being the only way to beat barca is to try and stiffle them like inter did last year and united did in 2008, arsenal cant play like this and this barca team cant be beat if you try and play them at their own game, united should overcome marseille as long as they dont get complacent, inter and bayern is 50:50 but I think Bayern will win as inter arent as good this year although I would like Bayern to go out as they have this hoodoo over united

Raskolnikov

Is anyone else laughing their ass off at Wenger?

KaiserGunner

Raskolnikov wrote: »

Is anyone else laughing their ass off at Wenger?

cson

Raskolnikov wrote: »

Is anyone else laughing their ass off at Wenger?

He put out relatively strong teams against Shakhtar and Braga; they just didn't do the business, simple as.

flahavaj

Milan are going very well in Italy, but its mainly been down to Ibra's sensational form. If they keep him quiet, Spurs have a good chance iof going through IMO. Ronaldinho won't be playing I'd say, he's been pushed aside this season and it looks like Cassano could be on the way as well. The big question is if Spurs' defenders are good enough to keep Milan's strikers quiet. Spurs will definitely get goals especially at home. It'll be a very entertaining tie.

Happy with United's draw, though wouldn't take anything for granted in this competition.

Arsenal are in big trouble, to have any hope of beating Barca in Europe you need to defend brilliantly and in numbers over the 180 minutes. Arsenal have neither the players nor the mentality to do that IMO. Should be a great game though and hopefully they'll have their full strength side this season and leave it still in the balance in the second leg.

Chelsea should be fine, though on current form they look very fragile.

Mouth watering set of matches, Lyon/Madrid and Munich/Inter will also be must see.

The big question will be which gamnes to watch!

Blatter

SlickRic wrote: »

Arsenal and Barca, both teams at full strength, i can see being close enough, but with Arsenal's defence so fragile they wouldn't be able to do an Inter from last year and keep Barca away.

it would be 7-5 or something over the two legs.

a couple of injuries to Barca players and everything can change...if 2 of Pique, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta and Messi were missing, then i can see an upset.

otherwise, it might make for painful viewing for Arsenal fans.

they're unlikely to even have the Verminator back. Koscielny/Squillaci versus Messi, Villa, Pedro.

fúck me gently, that would need to be certified 16+.

I'm pretty sure it will be over 18's given the series of rape scenes.:pac:

shadowcomplex

Who did Liverpool get?:P

pickarooney

Might try get tickets for the Man United game. I guessed Marseille might draw them and they're as good an option as any available. Some good results against English sides recently at least.

gimmick

flahavaj wrote: »

it looks like Cassano could be on the way as well.

He will be cup tied surelay have played for Sampdoria in the CL qualifiers?

I think Spurs have an excellent chance against AC. They have earned the right to be feared. Whetehr they can pull it off remains to be seen, but I think they will shade it.

Arsenal Vs Barcelona will be a great tie, but I honestly cannot see any chance for Arsenal. They will need an enormous slice of luck to get through.

SlickRic

shadowcomplex wrote: »

Who did Liverpool get?:P

i'm all for banter, but you're treading a fine line with trolling here.

no more, and nobody bite.

Mister men

shadowcomplex wrote: »

Who did Liverpool get?:P

Nobody. We are'nt in it this year. We thought it was a bit unfair winning it five times and what with owning old big ears forever and all that. We thought we'd give the smaller teams like Chelsea,Arsenal and Spurs a chance to win their first.

carlop

KaiserGunner wrote: »

Going to be a tough draw for us gunners alright. Two months is a long time though, so hopefully we will be in better form. Lets just hope that its a full strength Arsenal and Barcelona this time round. May as well get a difficult team early, as in 2006 we got Real Madrid in this round and eventually got to the final.

This is the last thing you want! A full strength Barca will definitely beat Arsenal, you need to be praying that Xavi, and to a lesser extent Messi, will be injured.

carlop

eZe^ wrote: »

I agree with you mate. People here seem to be naturally scared of Milan, which is justified, but I've watched them in the CL this season, and their ball retention is absolutely fcuking woeful. In both games against Madrid they could hardly string two passes together, and resorted to kicking Ronaldo for the game. If Spurs can control the tempo of the game, they'll absolutely maul Milan, especially on quick counters. I'll stick my neck out here, and say if Ronaldinho plays both legs, then Spurs will comfortably qualify. He is so lazy and lackadaisical on the ball it's untrue, he'll cost his team the tie.

There's a good chance Ronaldinho won't be at Milan after the transfer window, and even if he is I really doubt he'll be starting in either leg. Milan are beginning to find their rhythm in Serie A and they have been here before, whereas for Spurs a big two-legged European tie is relatively fresh territory. It could go either way and injuries will play a big part.

RasTa

Mister men wrote: »

Nobody. We are'nt in it this year. We thought it was a bit unfair winning it five times and what with owning old big ears forever and all that. We thought we'd give the smaller teams like Chelsea,Arsenal and Spurs a chance to win their first.

No you didn't.

ironbluedun

carlop wrote: »

This is the last thing you want! A full strength Barca will definitely beat Arsenal, you need to be praying that Xavi, and to a lesser extent Messi, will be injured.

Irrespective of how Arsenal play over the two legs, these days they are lacking a bit of steel in the team. You could say that they just do not have the moral strength or fortitude to beat a team like barca.

handy one for chelsea, a bit harder for utd, spurs have a half decent chance of getting through if they defend properly.

Mister men

RasTa wrote: »

No you didn't.

Yes we did.

carlop

ironbluedun wrote: »

Irrespective of how Arsenal play over the two legs, these days they are lacking a bit of steel in the team. You could say that they just do not have the moral strength or fortitude to beat a team like barca.

handy one for chelsea, a bit harder for utd, spurs have a half decent chance of getting through if they defend properly.

True, but more importantly they simply don't have the talent to beat Barca.

ironbluedun

carlop wrote: »

True, but more importantly they simply don't have the talent to beat Barca.

Ah they have talented players but no belief on big match days, such belief is borne from inner strength and alas there is poor levels of inner strength within a lot of those talented players.

cson

ironbluedun wrote: »

Irrespective of how Arsenal play over the two legs, these days they are lacking a bit of steel in the team. You could say that they just do not have the moral strength or fortitude to beat a team like barca.

handy one for chelsea, a bit harder for utd, spurs have a half decent chance of getting through if they defend properly.

****ing hate this cliché of Arsenal lacking steel. They're one of the toughest teams in the League at the minute - look at the United game on Monday, 17 fouls or something like that. They can get stuck in.

I don't know what moral strength is but they certainly don't have the mental strength to beat them in terms of belief - Arsenal atm don't believe they can beat the likes of Barca/Man Utd/Chelsea. Add this to a shaky keeper and a loose defence and it's easy to see why the record vs big teams in the last two years is ****.

So yeah, less of the lazy clichés please.

Mr. Guappa

Delighted that Spurs got Milan. We've a decent chance of beating them, I can see us winning 2-1 at the San Siro and finishing off the job at the Lane. They are a big name so the players will be well up for it - I'd be more worried if we got Copenhagen tbh. We've nothing to lose playing Milan and no matter there current form they are still a major scalp to take. Ibra is obviously the main worry so hopefully we can keep him relatively in check.

This is class to be honest.. Tottenham Hotspur vs. AC Milan in the knockout stages of the Champions League.. Bring it on!!!

ironbluedun

cson wrote: »

They can get stuck in.

But its not about the amount of fouls or getting 'stuck in', its about belief, i am not anti arsenal i admire the ball they play, but there is a belief problem there, no doubt.


Actually i thought the ref was very hard on them last monday, and some of the 17 fouls were strange decisions to say the least, but thats old hat now.........

Warper

Fabregas back to his home too at Camp Nou. Should be a good one. Lets hope Messi can score more than the 4 he scored against Arsenal there last year.

Blatter

Warper wrote: »

Fabregas back to his home too at Camp Nou. Should be a good one. Lets hope Messi can score more than the 4 he scored against Arsenal there last year.

Can see hm getting a couple against them at the emirates this time.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think he has scored on Englsh soil yet, bound to happen sooner rather than later.

Seaneh

At least we avoided teams with CL experience like Shaktar and Copenhagen

Warper

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

Can see hm getting a couple against them at the emirates this time.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think he has scored on Englsh soil yet, bound to happen sooner rather than later.

I think youre right, I cant remember him scoring in England either.

ironbluedun

Warper wrote: »

I think youre right, I cant remember him scoring in England either.

Did he not score against chelsea a few years ago?

Bodhisopha

ironbluedun wrote: »

Did he not score against chelsea a few years ago?

No.

Simple draws for Chelsea and united. Both should win at a canter.

I expect Spurs to progress. In fact I think they might be darkhorses for the whole thing.

Bye bye Arsenal.

Blatter

rarnes1 wrote: »

Simple draws for Chelsea and united. Both should win at a canter.

I expect Spurs to progress. In fact I think they might be darkhorses for the whole thing.

Bye bye Arsenal.

lol.

Hyzepher

All this talk of Arsenal having no chance is a load of crap. Even last year after going 2-0 down they actually took the overall lead over in Spain. This was without anything close to their full strength team and playing worst than they are this year.

No doubt it will be a difficult game but I guarentee that Barca arn't overly happy with the draw.

SlickRic

rarnes1 wrote: »

I expect Spurs to progress. In fact I think they might be darkhorses for the whole thing.

unless Barca, Utd, Madrid, Chelsea and Arsenal all go out, and Inter and Bayern don't improve, then sorry, it's not happening.

they'll beat AC IMO, but as soon as they come up against a team with better players, who play with the same intensity, and/or a team whose tactically more astute than Harry, or a team which exhibits both, they will be shown up.

the spine is far too fragile to win a Champions League.

Pepe LeFrits

Deleted User wrote: »

HUGE difference between Real Madrid 06 and Barca 2010.

There's a fairly sizable difference between the two Arsenal sides too tbf... the tactics employed in 2006 are a good reference for the way Arsenal will need to play if they're to have a chance of getting through. Arsenal won't see much of the ball so it'll have to be a case of being organised and countering effectively when able.

The club staff expect Vermaelen to be back in January, if so the defence may not look quite so shaky come Feb. It'd be hard to be any worse than last time anyway, when Vermaelen had Song and Silvestre as CB partners at times! Combined with Cesc and Robin not really being much of a factor thus far this season (that's basically the team's spine), there are reasons to hope that things may look rosier in the new year.

Blatter

Hyzepher wrote: »

All this talk of Arsenal having no chance is a load of crap. Even last year after going 2-0 down they actually took the overall lead over in Spain. This was without anything close to their full strength team and playing worst than they are this year.

No doubt it will be a difficult game but I guarentee that Barca arn't overly happy with the draw.

Sorry but I'll have to disagree.

Ths current Barca side is one of the best football teams ever.
The current Arsenal side is a much weaker side.

IMHO, the only way Arsenal would have a chance is if they try to frustrate Barca, like Inter and Chelsea have done in the past. But Wenger won't do this, as it goes against his footballing philosophy. Even if he wanted to, I don't think it would suit his players.

The way the two teams play, it would take extraordnary luck for Arsenal to progress. They would have to take all their chances, and hope that Barca miss a bucket load.

They got very lucky in the frst leg last year as Barca should have been 3 or 4-0 up at half time at the emirates. But that huge luck was still not near good enough for them.