Barça -v- Arsenal, Champions league Last 16 2nd leg

Sgt Pepper 64

KeithAFC wrote: »

Lack of knowledge more than anything. Yeah, ruining the match against the best team in the world. Oh lord give me strength.. :rolleyes:

How exactly are they the "Best team in the world"
Because a bunch of journos fawn over them?
Or because we are continually told they are, so it must be true?

Last time I checked, InterMilan were the reigning European Champs.

I'm sick of this sycophantic love fest for a club that means nothing to any one not from Barca.

As the Smiths would say,

"Because the music that they constantly play
It says nothing to me about my life"

So go and ask a Rochdale fan or a Blackpool fan, or god forbid, an Arsenal fan, who the best team in the world is

Turtwig

monkey9 wrote: »

Only Van Persie will ultimately know if he knew he was offside.

To me, he looks as if he has seen the linesmans flag from the corner of his eye. And nobody seems to have mentioned the actual shot he took. That looked the shot of someone who knew he was offside. He didn't seem bothered. He was through on goal and casually hit it about ten yards wide.

IMO, he knew he was offside, but as i said, only he will know for sure.

Yeah and it's not like he could ever claim he heard it.;)

gimmick

Thank God for Bendtner being awful.

Fact is, Barca were by far the better side, but ya, the team who had no shots on target and less that 1/3 of the possession were robbed.

parker kent

KeithAFC wrote: »

Would not be saying that if Bendtner knew how to score. Like i said before, could of went either way. Barcelona could of scored a few more but we could of scored near the end, got 1 goal in the game and down to 10 men.

I think we did very well compared to last season. The team is much better overall.

Would have been pretty lucky though. Obviously it only takes 1 second to score and change the game, but overall I think the result is fair.

And on a sidenote...it is could have, should have not could of, would of! Drives me mad!

Lukker-

gimmick wrote: »

Thank God for Bendtner being awful.

Fact is, Barca were by far the better side, but ya, the team who had no shots on target and less that 1/3 of the possession were robbed.

Only 1 stat that matters and the fact is Arsenal had the advantage in it before the sending off.

Pal

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

How exactly are they the "Best team in the world"
Because a bunch of journos fawn over them?
Or because we are continually told they are, so it must be true?

Last time I checked, InterMilan were the reigning European Champs.

I'm sick of this sycophantic love fest for a club that means nothing to any one not from Barca.

As the Smiths would say,

"Because the music that they constantly play
It says nothing to me about my life"

So go and ask a Rochdale fan or a Blackpool fan, or god forbid, an Arsenal fan, who the best team in the world is

Ask me. I'm a Chelsea fan.

The best team in the world is Barcelona IMO.

Nobody else plays football as good as them.

adox

Give it up Rio!

https://twitter.com/rioferdy5/status/45240778204782592

Blatter

monkey9 wrote: »

Only Van Persie will ultimately know if he knew he was offside.

To me, he looks as if he has seen the linesmans flag from the corner of his eye. And nobody seems to have mentioned the actual shot he took. That looked the shot of someone who knew he was offside. He didn't seem bothered. He was through on goal and casually hit it about ten yards wide.

IMO, he knew he was offside, but as i said, only he will know for sure.

It has been confirmed that there was only one second between the whistle and RVP's shot. It's not like he took an extra touch or anything, he just shot straight away. Players do it the whole time and nothing is said or done, as long as it was very close to the whistle. Nobody even complains, nobody cares.

Absolute joke of a decision, and this is working on the assumption that RVP had heard the whistle.

amacachi

monkey9 wrote: »

Only Van Persie will ultimately know if he knew he was offside.

To me, he looks as if he has seen the linesmans flag from the corner of his eye. And nobody seems to have mentioned the actual shot he took. That looked the shot of someone who knew he was offside. He didn't seem bothered. He was through on goal and casually hit it about ten yards wide.

IMO, he knew he was offside, but as i said, only he will know for sure.

That's as good a shot as I've seen him take with his right foot. :pac:

gimmick wrote: »

Thank God for Bendtner being awful.

Fact is, Barca were by far the better side, but ya, the team who had no shots on target and less that 1/3 of the possession were robbed.

Good stuff, next time Arsenal dominate possession and don't win I'll remember that.

Headshot

gimmick wrote: »

Thank God for Bendtner being awful.

Fact is, Barca were by far the better side, but ya, the team who had no shots on target and less that 1/3 of the possession were robbed.

this might be hard for the likes of you to understand now

Now bare with me

Were Arsenal winning the tie with the own goal and that change the game altogether and then the ref made a balls of a decision

Like the great one once said " it doesnt matter" about shots on target or possession, Arsenal were winning before your ref ****ed up

Paully D

adox wrote: »

Give it up Rio!

https://twitter.com/rioferdy5/status/45240778204782592

In fairness Bussacca is regarded by the majority as being the best referee in Europe. He was very, very poor tonight though and that's an understatement.

CSF

gimmick wrote: »

Thank God for Bendtner being awful.

Fact is, Barca were by far the better side, but ya, the team who had no shots on target and less that 1/3 of the possession were robbed.

The team who were 3-2 up. Don't ignore that fact.

daithijjj

If there was ever a game that showed that stats meant fk all its tonight. Arsenal got tonked in possession for most of the 180 mins and still arguably would have won the tie if bentner was as good as he thinks he is, even down to 10.

monkey9

DH2K9 wrote: »

He has always had a poor right foot and was off balance.

But he doesn't even look bothered as he's turning around for what would be an appalling miss at such a crucial stage.

I just think he knew what he was doing, imo.

Turtwig

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

How exactly are they the "Best team in the world"
Because a bunch of journos fawn over them?
Or because we are continually told they are, so it must be true?

Last time I checked, InterMilan were the reigning European Champs.

I'm sick of this sycophantic love fest for a club that means nothing to any one not from Barca.

As the Smiths would say,

"Because the music that they constantly play
It says nothing to me about my life"

So go and ask a Rochdale fan or a Blackpool fan, or god forbid, an Arsenal fan, who the best team in the world is

Firstly asking a club supporter (especially die hard ones) questions about football is like asking a religious person questions about a religion. If you ask a Man U fan they'll say Man U are the best just like a diehard Christian would say Christianity is best regardless of what the reality is.

Secondly, the best team doesn't always win anything. I'm not saying Barca are or aren't the best team in world but I do know Inter Milan certainly aren't.:D

ironingbored

dan719 wrote: »

Would you stop wumming and f*ck off back to the Ra heads.

I'm a chelsea fan and I am genuinely gutted for Arsenal tonight. To send off RVP was an absolutely crazy decision that changed the flow of the game. Absolute madness from the referee.

Barca are no more than a club, being sponsered by the Qatar Foundation (have a look at that country's human rights record) proves that.

Ouch...Chelsea fan taking the moral high ground.

gimmick

Headshot wrote: »

this might be hard for the likes of you to understand now

Now bare with me

Were Arsenal winning the tie with the own goal and that change the game altogether and then the ref made a balls of a decision

Like the great one once said " it doesnt matter" about shots on target or possession, Arsenal were winning before your ref ****ed up

Headshot. Lol.

If, maybe, whats, wherefores is all that. I am just glad that Barca are through.

A Dub in Glasgo

I do not get this line that Arsenal were winning the tie at 3-2 when VP was sent off therefore they deserved to win the tie. There is absolutely zero evidence that Barcelona would not have scored those two goals in the 2nd half even if VP was still on the pitch. Arsenal were being carved right open almost at will by Barcelona when they had 11 men on the pitch.

Headshot

gimmick wrote: »

Headshot. Lol.

If, maybe, whats, wherefores is all that. I am just glad that Barca are through.

so you were typing BS ?

thought so

cson

Just in from the pub there, I'll try to keep the red tinted specs out of my reach.

Aw got the tactics wrong in sitting back but at the same time you have to hand it to Barcelona, absolutely clincal control of the football and the 20 odd minutes they didn't have it in the 90 they harried like men possessed and invariably got it back. Alves in particular was outstanding, and I highly dislike the man.

Overall we didn't deserve to win that match. That said, I did think we defended very well for most of it. As for RVP, an absolute joke of decision - I mean you coach youngsters I'd be telling them finish it off [within reason]; look at Barca's reserve keeper and his 'whistle' earlier in the season. I don't think we would have won nor would we have deserved to but it would have been easier with 11 lads on the pitch no doubt. Our lads did alright [Wilshere in particular stood out] but you just have to hold your hands up and say we were beaten by a better team. I was disappointed with the contribution Fabregas made but then again was he 100% and he's not as good on the back foot.

So yeah, all the best Barcelona and it's onto Old Trafford on Saturday for us.

Turtwig

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

I do not get this line that Arsenal were winning the tie at 3-2 when VP was sent off therefo9re they deserved to win the tie. There is absolutely zero evidence that Barcelona would not have scored those two goals in the 2nd half even if VP was still on the pitch. Arsenal were being carved right open almost at will by Barcelona when they had 11 men on the pitch.

That's why I'd have loved to seen 11v11. Barca tend to score a heck of a lot more often in the second half than they do the first once they have worn teams down and the 1-1 gave Arsenal something to really cling on to, so I'd actually grabbed some Pringles was getting nice and cosy then I saw the linesman raise his flag and was thinking "OOHHHH NO DONT KICK IT!!" saw the card coming unfortunately . Gutted, because it could have been an excellent spectacle, it still was, but the red card soured it a bit.

cson

Paully D wrote: »

In fairness Bussacca is regarded by the majority as being the best referee in Europe. He was very, very poor tonight though and that's an understatement.

I think the thing that grates though is you have to know that your consciously ****ing common sense out the window with that sending off.

gimmick

Headshot wrote: »

so you were typing BS ?

thought so

Yes Headers thats what I was doing. You are right, as always. Better team won the tie. But lets not let that get in the way of your constant anti Barca views. Your obsession is laughable.



Thumbsup.

dagdha

Any Arsenal fans remember Messis goal in the Emirates that was disallowed when it was clearly onside and would of put Barca 2 up?

A Dub in Glasgo

Malty_T wrote: »

That's why I'd have loved to seen 11v11. Barca tend to score a heck of a lot more often in the second half than they do the first once they have worn teams down and the 1-1 gave Arsenal something to really cling on to, so I'd actually grabbed some Pringles was getting nice and cosy then I saw the linesman raise his flag and was thinking "OOHHHH NO DONT KICK IT!!" saw the card coming unfortunately . Gutted, because it could have been an excellent spectacle, it still was, but the red card soured it a bit.

Totally agree

NTMK

Malty_T wrote: »

Firstly asking a club supporter (especially die hard ones) questions about football is like asking a religious person questions about a religion. If you ask a Man U fan they'll say Man U are the best just like a diehard Christian would say Christianity is best regardless of what the reality is.

Secondly, the best team doesn't always win anything. I'm not saying Barca are or aren't the best team in world but I do know Inter Milan certainly aren't.:D

Im a utd fan and i think on paper chelsea are the best

barca are not the best they were lucky against chelsea in 09 inter controlled them last year they have zero depth outside the starting 11

Sgt Pepper 64

One of the things that is so great about football is that it doesnt always follow form and the "best" team doesnt always win, which is why the FA Cup still survives as a format.

Barca could have had 99.9999% of possession, but if they dont score to win the tie on aggregate then they LOSE!

Simple fact

DH2K9

dagdha wrote: »

Any Arsenal fans remember Messis goal in the Emirates that was disallowed when it was clearly onside and would of put Barca 2 up?

Clutching at straws.............

Turtwig

cson wrote: »

I think the thing that grates though is you have to know that your consciously ****ing common sense out the window with that sending off.

It's a tough one. If it were any other player he'd probably have hesitated, but referees study players too and they know they way some behave. Van Persie was far from an angel in the first half. I think that was still on the back of the ref's mind.

A Dub in Glasgo

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

One of the things that is so great about football is that it doesnt always follow form and the "best" team doesnt always win, which is why the FA Cup still survives as a format.

Barca could have had 99.9999% of possession, but if they dont score to win the tie on aggregate then they LOSE!

Simple fact

Yes and the simple fact is Barca scored 4 and Arsenal scored 3

Turtwig

NTMK wrote: »

Im a utd fan and i think on paper chelsea are the best

barca are not the best they were lucky against chelsea in 09 inter controlled them last year they have zero depth outside the starting 11

Yeah, I meant diehard lol. I can see moderate fans coming replying to that terrible worded post by the numbers. Diehard, diehard. Such an important word that I left out.:o

cson

dagdha wrote: »

Any Arsenal fans remember Messis goal in the Emirates that was disallowed when it was clearly onside and would of put Barca 2 up?

I don't think any level headed Arsenal fan will disagree that Barcelona deserved to go through over the 180mins, however I do think we have a right to feel aggrieved at the nature of the sending off. It wasn't a 50/50 decision, it was simply the ref throwing common sense to the wind.

bookie basher

thought barca were fantastic when they didnt have the ball, they gave arsenal no time on the ball at all, arsenal couldnt get their passing game going at all

Pepe LeFrits

dagdha wrote: »

Any Arsenal fans remember Messis goal in the Emirates that was disallowed when it was clearly onside and would of put Barca 2 up?

Wasn't clearly onside, was exceptionally tight.

Barca are a better team than Arsenal and deserved the win, I don't see many disputing that.

But the referee completely destroyed the game and Arsenal were winning. The better team doesn't always win, and nobody would watch football if they did.

Headshot

gimmick wrote: »

Yes Headers thats what I was doing. You are right, as always. Better team won the tie. But lets not let that get in the way of your constant anti Barca views. Your obsession is laughable.

Thumbsup.

At least you own up to it, Gimmick, we're getting somwhere now. The better team won alright but "who had no shots on target and less that 1/3 of the possession were robbed" is rubbish. Stats like that mean **** all.

As for my "anti barca views" no such thing. I have no anti any soccer teams, i even have respect for pool. You and some of your barca fans can never deal with anyone giving bad views on your club, its quite pathetic and iv grown tired of some barca fans because you can never say anything bad about their club, its bloody tiresome at this stage

its like a clique tbh

dagdha

DH2K9 wrote: »

Clutching at straws.............

I'm just saying fans seem to forget things that go for them and when something does'nt go their way they're up in arms giving out about it. Especially with all the talk with what way the game would of went if RVP was'nt sent off tonight.

WarZoneBrother

Believe this if you may.. But last night I actually dreamth Barcelona would win 3-1... This is unreal though because I was cheering for Arsenal the whole game... Brilliant game, wish it ended 4-1 though just to end that bullcrap dream haha!.. Had a few bets on just not on 3-1 because odds where only 9/1..

Pepe LeFrits

Also, how many shots on target did Inter have last year when they knocked Barca out? What was said about that one?

monkey9

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

It has been confirmed that there was only one second between the whistle and RVP's shot. It's not like he took an extra touch or anything, he just shot straight away. Players do it the whole time and nothing is said or done, as long as it was very close to the whistle. Nobody even complains, nobody cares.

Absolute joke of a decision, and this is working on the assumption that RVP had heard the whistle.

I understand this and i think it's a stupid rule. If someone clearly hoofs it into the stand or something in an obvious time wasting attempt, then it's a booking. When someone finishes a move like Van Persie, i don't agree with it being a yellow.

But the fact is, Van Persie is taking a risk if he knows he's offside and i believe he knew he was offside. Which, for me, makes his interview a bit galling.

eZe^

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Also, how many shots on target did Inter have last year when they knocked Barca out? What was said about that one?

Inter succeeded with 10 men.

Turtwig

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Also, how many shots on target did Inter have last year when they knocked Barca out? What was said about that one?

Inter actually had a few, they played some lovely counter attacking football. Sure 90% of it was negative and defensive, but they got their game plan spot on and attacked when they could. Love him or hate him, Mourinho usually get's his tactics to a tee.

CSF

monkey9 wrote: »

I understand this and i think it's a stupid rule. If someone clearly hoofs it into the stand or something in an obvious time wasting attempt, then it's a booking. When someone finishes a move like Van Persie, i don't agree with it being a yellow.

But the fact is, Van Persie is taking a risk if he knows he's offside and i believe he knew he was offside. Which, for me, makes his interview a bit galling.

For me, the only risk he took was the risk of not scoring.A player should never do anything other than put the ball in the net no matter how they feel about whether they're offside until they hear the whistle, we'd all be up in arms if the whistle hadn't went up and he stopped.

A Dub in Glasgo

cson wrote: »

I don't think any level headed Arsenal fan will disagree that Barcelona deserved to go through over the 180mins, however I do think we have a right to feel aggrieved at the nature of the sending off. It wasn't a 50/50 decision, it was simply the ref throwing common sense to the wind.

Aggrieved - absolutely

Using it (as some have here) to state that Arsenal were winning 3-2 at the time therfore they would have won the tie if the sending off did not happen is just :eek:

KaiserGunner

monkey9 wrote: »

I understand this and i think it's a stupid rule. If someone clearly hoofs it into the stand or something in an obvious time wasting attempt, then it's a booking. When someone finishes a move like Van Persie, i don't agree with it being a yellow.

But the fact is, Van Persie is taking a risk if he knows he's offside and i believe he knew he was offside. Which, for me, makes his interview a bit galling.

As a player you are always told to play to the whistle. The whistle was blown one second before V.Persie took his shot. Was never a booking in a million years. Really dont understand what was going through the "referees" mind at that moment.

the untitled user

Malty_T wrote: »

It's a tough one. If it were any other player he'd probably have hesitated, but referees study players too and they know they way some behave. Van Persie was far from an angel in the first half. I think that was still on the back of the ref's mind.

It was just an awfully weak refereeing performance in the face of Barca's cynicism. The noise of the camp nou, the way Barca crowd the referee, the rolling around and whinging, as good as they are with the ball at their feet, they are a pretty damn cynical team and know how to 'exploit' the ref.

What drove me cracked wasn't the sending off, it was in the first half. Koscielny gets a card for stopping the run when he gets caught out of position. Fair enough, but then why when Busquets does it twice (immediately before and immediately after Kos' card) does the ref do nothing?

Another thing, replays showed the ref was facing the direction of RVP/Abidal when Abidal grabbed RVP by the throat. Why didn't he do anything then?

The sending off was stupid, but Barca had made sure the ref was on their side at that stage so you couldn't expect anything else.

Pepe LeFrits

Malty_T wrote: »

Inter actually had a few, they played some lovely counter attacking football. Love him or hate him, Mourinho usually get's his tactics to a tee.

I just checked, 1 (off target) if you take the Guardian, 0 if you take the BBC.

eZe^ wrote: »

Inter succeeded with 10 men.

Which is all anyone bases the post match stuff on in the end.

Turtwig

Headshot wrote: »

At least you own up to it, Gimmick, we're getting somwhere now. The better team won alright but "who had no shots on target and less that 1/3 of the possession were robbed" is rubbish. Stats like that mean **** all.

As for my "anti barca views" no such thing. I have no anti any soccer teams, i even have respect for pool. You and some of your barca fans can never deal with anyone giving bad views on your club, its quite pathetic and iv grown tired of some barca fans because you can never say anything bad about their club, its bloody tiresome at this stage

its like a clique tbh

Gotta strongly disagree here. Many of the barca fans think their team are off form. Just read redout's comments on how he sees barca.

monkey9

KaiserGunner wrote: »

As a player you are always told to play to the whistle. The whistle was blown one second before V.Persie took his shot. Was never a booking in a million years. Really dont understand what was going through the "referees" mind at that moment.

Oh, i know that. Play the ball and not the whistle. I just think he's lying when he says he didn't know he was offside.

steelcityblues

Well done to Shakhtar too.

Wonder if they can go any further?

Turtwig

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

I just checked, 1 (off target) if you take the Guardian, 0 if you take the BBC.

Which is all anyone bases the post match stuff on in the end.

Well, I'm going to have to rewatch the match now, cos I do seem to remember some very dangerous breaks from Inter. Unlike Arsenal, who had only really the Bendter fluff and the Nasri corner flag run. Inter had a number of serious counter attacks iirc.