Barcelona vs Bayern Munich 2nd Leg (RTE2 and SS1) KO 7:45pm

Bodhisopha

Timmyctc wrote: »

The Spanish league is just a glorified Scottish league. 2 competitive games in the league a year and about 4 or 6 el classicos annually. Like the old firms of old.

That's a fresh perspective.

the_monkey

Can someone please put that up on youtibe ? the RTE lads ....

grenache

Quandary wrote: »

Long ball to a lone big striker is what I'd call one dimensional. Despite this utter humiliation, Barcelona play anything but one dimensional football. Anyone who claims otherwise is being silly IMO.

They only play short, to feet, passing. They don't cross it from wide, they don't play it long. They don't mix it up in any way.

Just because they play a passing game, doesn't make it any less one dimensional.

ThunbergsAreGo

kraggy wrote: »

Thus Barca and Real only have 2 seriously challenging league games a la SPL until last year.

Feeling the strain in Europe now.

In fairness, have you seen Bayerns results this year?

klose

Timmyctc wrote: »

The Spanish league is just a glorified Scottish league. 2 competitive games in the league a year and about 4 or 6 el classicos annually. Like the old firms of old.

Perhaps in terms of the teams challenging for the league title but the likes of valencia,atleti,malaga,seville etc... Are no hearts,dundee or motherwell tbf

.jacksparrow.

eagle eye wrote: »

I only got to see the very end of that game and clearly Barca were well beaten again tonight. Its sad to see that I think but it will be interesting to watch this Bayern team over the next couple of years. I don't think Barca are finished by any means, they still have the greatest player in the world and its likely Neymar is going to join them soon. They just need to sort out that defense imo.

This thread tonight is a good one to find the people you want to put on ignore imo. Its the haters I'm talking about. Imo if you love football then you could not possibly hate this Barca team with all the wonderful football they have played over the last couple of years. I'm not a supporter of theirs but you couldn't help but be a fan of the way they dominated over the last number of years with the style of football they played.

I've been around to witness the great Liverpool teams, the great Milan team and others but the Barca team of the last five or so years is undoubtedly the greatest team to ever grace a field in my lifetime.

I hate them because of their diving, surrounding the ref, trying to get players sent off, but most of all the disrespect they have showed to arsenal through the years, from their players and club, except pep, who always showed respect when the whole club was tapping up our players.

Turtwig

kraggy wrote: »

Thus Barca and Real only have 2 seriously challenging league games a la SPL until last year.

Feeling the strain in Europe now.

Wha??
Do you even watch La Liga?
Real Socieadad are probably the best team in Spain at the moment. Definitely the on form team.
Guess who was the first team to beat Barca in La Liga?
Guess what template Milan and Madrid copied.
La Reals' who copied Betis' from earlier in the season. They're a quality side and if they hold their players and form in the Champions league they could be a real potent threat.

That Malaga team weren't have bad either. Although their owner seems hell bent on self destruction and it looks like their going to lose their manager and most of their players.
Then there's Betis. Another quality side that should have beaten Barca but for sheer misfortune.
Madrid lost to several teams this season.

Your "competitive" argument just doesn't really hold much water.

Bodhisopha

grenache wrote: »

They only play short, to feet, passing. They don't cross it from wide, they don't play it long. They don't mix it up in any way.

Just because they play a passing game, doesn't make it any less one dimensional.

Relying on superior technique can never be one dimensional. What a lazy description. Sure, perhaps they lack a plan B, but one dimensional? Nothing one dimensional about mastering your craft.

Seans_Username

eagle eye wrote: »

This thread tonight is a good one to find the people you want to put on ignore imo. Its the haters I'm talking about. Imo if you love football then you could not possibly hate this Barca team with all the wonderful football they have played over the last couple of years. I'm not a supporter of theirs but you couldn't help but be a fan of the way they dominated over the last number of years with the style of football they played.

No. Just no.

I'll admit that I did love watching them score beautiful goals week in week out in La Liga about 2 or 3 years ago. Their footballing abilities are incredible.

BUT, they are easily one of the most detestable teams in the world. The whining, diving, play acting, bad sportsmanship, referee abuse, and even the amount of crazy decisions they seem to be given are all factors which should be taken into account when judging this barca team.

Also, people call them 1-dimensional is a bit of an exaggeration, but they do lack a plan B. The constant passing from right to left 30 yards out when they can't find a way through is enough to bore anyone to death.

Mr.Nice Guy

One good thing about Barca's predicament tonight was we didn't have to see their players rolling about on the ground for five minutes.

missingtime

The level of schadenfreude in this thread is completely over the top in my opinion.

OneColdHand

Seans_Username wrote: »

No. Just no.

I'll admit that I did love watching them score beautiful goals week in week out in La Liga about 2 or 3 years ago. Their footballing abilities are incredible.

BUT, they are easily one of the most detestable teams in the world. The whining, diving, play acting, bad sportsmanship, referee abuse, and even the amount of crazy decisions they seem to be given are all factors which should be taken into account when judging this barca team.

Also, people call them 1-dimensional is a bit of an exaggeration, but they do lack a plan B. The constant passing from right to left 30 yards out when they can't find a way through is enough to bore anyone to death.

Sure every team is at that sh!te!

Francie Barrett

Jernal wrote: »

Your "competitive" argument just doesn't really hold much water.

Do you know anything about La Liga, seriously?

Barcelona have lost only 2 games this season, nothing competitive about La Liga.

Cienciano

Corholio wrote: »

Because the German league is so close at the top?

Bayern ran away with it this year, but 4 different winners in the last 6 years in Germany. No one comes close to winning the Spanish league outside the big two.

LuckyLloyd

missingtime wrote: »

The level of schadenfreude in this thread is completely over the top in my opinion.

Over the top like the claims that Barca are the greatest club side of all time!!

Over the top like a 7 - 0 margin of defeat - the greatest in CL history.

Over the top like the Busquets peekaboo a couple of years ago, ultimately what this ended era should be remembered for.

Timmyctc

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

One good thing about Barca's predicament tonight was we didn't have to see their players rolling about on the ground for five minutes.

When they don't have the ball they still manage to do it a lá Alves hacking the legs of Schweinsteiger then rolling around on the floor in a bid to avoid a booking :pac:

Quandary

grenache wrote: »

They don't mix it up in any way.

Just because they play a passing game, doesn't make it any less one dimensional.

Couldn't disagree with you more. Barca score plenty goals from little dinks across the box, pull backs to the edge of the box. Beautiful intricate passes in and around the opponents box resulting in tap ins.

They play the most difficult type of football to play. It requires incredible technical ability, impeccable timing, awareness, hard work, selflessness, discipline and a whole host of other traits that most other teams in the world don't come close to having.

If anything, they play the most multi dimensional game out of any team in the world.

Long ball football, out and out winger football?? Thats easy. That's why most teams use it.

I'm not a Barca fan btw, but I do appreciate incredible talent.

Andersonisgod

This has been a great generation of players, lets not make any mistake about that. They have been the defining team of their generation, at club level they have swept all before them, at international level they have accomplished goals that may never be match and they have done it all in a style never seen before, as Guillem Balague put it, creating "another way to win." Rightly, they will go down as one of the greatest teams ever, in my lifetime I have seen none finer and I doubt I will ever see a finer side than this vintage of Barcelona.

Not since Frank Rijkaard's last season in charge of Barcelona has something truly drastic needed to happen, until now. Then they appointed the prodigal son, Pep Guardiola, and from that came a revolution of football, a revolution inspired by a renaissance of the total football of Johann Cruyff with Guardiola' own twist. Barcelona have been on the cutting edge of football for close to a decade. Now is another moment which requires a drastic change.

This is a club capable of returning to dominance. There is still Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and a talented crop of players behind them. The squad is not as strong now as it once was, that needs to be changed. The reliance on Messi is too great, that needs to be altered. The ability to change a game from the bench needs to return. The purchase of a centre back is essential. But more than all of that, the return of the hunger in the Barcelona play is crucial, the aggression, the ferocious pressing, the tenacious closing down, the whiz in the passing, whether that is under Vilanova or a different coach is one for the board to decide.

It is tough being at the top for as long as Barcelona have. Winning everything at every level, its only human nature that the fire flickers. When Guardiola joined there was a purpose, every game was a fight in honour of the cause, to show that you can win playing the Barcelona way, that you can win with smaller players, that their way, the Barca way, is the right way. Once that was proven and their conquest complete mentally it has taken an edge from the team and Guardiola saw that and left in the hope it returned under the stewardship of somebody new. Of course age and fitness have taken their toll too, playing Barcelona's aggressive style for so long was always going to drain a lot out of the players, the opportunity to rest has been rare and age has been catching with some of the older members of the squad. But the hunger must return, the desire has to be there from next season. Afterall, Barcelona are a great club, the great club, més que un club.

Oat23

Cienciano wrote: »

Bayern ran away with it this year, but 4 different winners in the last 6 years in Germany. No one comes close to winning the Spanish league outside the big two.

Bayern will dominate the BL for the next few years unfortunately.

It's all Dortmund's fault too, becoming the darlings of Europe and winning the league twice in a row, you angered them :mad: :P

Amirani

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Do you know anything about La Liga, seriously?

Barcelona have lost only 2 games this season, nothing competitive about La Liga.

Arsenal went a full season unbeaten as did Juventus last year. Bayern have lost 1 league game this season. Man Utd have lost 4. Are none of those leagues competitive?

Carles Puyol

Corholio wrote: »

Itll be hilarious if Guardiola plays the 'tedious' style of football at Bayern. How long till they'd be 'found out'.

Yea, he'd be sacked!:pac: Another 14 trophies in 4 seasons, they're mad to hire him at all:D

Turtwig

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Do you know anything about La Liga, seriously?

Barcelona have lost only 2 games this season, nothing competitive about La Liga.

Watch La Liga almost every week. More than EPL at the moment because I find the games, especially between the lower tier teams more enjoyable. Also try to watch Bundesliga (mainly because of a recommendation of a certain Redout about a certain Dortmund three years ago.) Only league I don't watch is Serie A. (Stupid time constraints.)

And a lot of those were pulled from the fire in the dying minutes of the game. I can't remember who it was but at the start of the season Villa and Messi saved their bacon in really tough away game that they won playing with ten men. Results don't always tell the whole story.
Look at the relegation battle in La Liga. It's ridiculously competitive every hear.

By your logic Bundesliga isn't competitive because Bayern are 20 points clear. Some terrific games in that league too.
Scottish League neither of those are.

smileyj1987

eagle eye wrote: »

I only got to see the very end of that game and clearly Barca were well beaten again tonight. Its sad to see that I think but it will be interesting to watch this Bayern team over the next couple of years. I don't think Barca are finished by any means, they still have the greatest player in the world and its likely Neymar is going to join them soon. They just need to sort out that defense imo.

This thread tonight is a good one to find the people you want to put on ignore imo. Its the haters I'm talking about. Imo if you love football then you could not possibly hate this Barca team with all the wonderful football they have played over the last couple of years. I'm not a supporter of theirs but you couldn't help but be a fan of the way they dominated over the last number of years with the style of football they played.

I've been around to witness the great Liverpool teams, the great Milan team and others but the Barca team of the last five or so years is undoubtedly the greatest team to ever grace a field in my lifetime.

Perfect post to sum up Barcelona . When you look back over the last couple of years their last defeat at the Nou Camp in the champions league was against Liverpool in 06 / 07 . That is one hell of a record to boast in European football . I think once they refresh their team with a few new faces they can get back to where they where . All great teams have cycles and their cycle still isn't over they will win La Liga this year and when you consider Mourinho couldn't even take them down it highlights how good they have been .

jethro081

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

I hate them because of their diving, surrounding the ref, trying to get players sent off, but most of all the disrespect they have showed to arsenal through the years, from their players and club, except pep, who always showed respect when the whole club was tapping up our players.

That was when i began to dislike barca. The whole Fabregas saga. Basically couldn't go a week without hearing one of the Barca lads coming out and talking about him. Thought it was pure disrespectful, and i'm not even an arsenal fan.

I am however a Liverpool fan, and this was all compounded when they started to tell torres through the press to move clubs.

seriously, what other clubs pull this sh1t. I didn't see Rooney or Gerrard out telling Hargreaves where to go. And there were no interviews from english lads telling Michael Owen to leave Newcastle. That crap made me dislike them, and the fact that their style of play is not particularly appealing to me didn't help either.

Seans_Username

OneColdHand wrote: »

Sure every team is at that sh!te!

I was going to say that but thought it was obvious.

Every team does it but Barca are horrific for it. They treat referees like absolute shít. And I can't quite remember a team being so bitter about losing a game that they turn on the sprinklers to get them off the pitch.

eagle eye

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Over the top like the claims that Barca are the greatest club side of all time!!

Who was better than them in your lifetime?

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Over the top like a 7 - 0 margin of defeat - the greatest in CL history.

Thats fair, it certainly was a huge victory for Bayern. I don't see anybody saying anything bad about Bayern in this thread btw.

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Over the top like the Busquets peekaboo a couple of years ago, ultimately what this ended era should be remembered for.

So one player acting the ass means you dish the whole club? How on earth can you support Liverpool fc these days?

kksaints

smileyj1987 wrote: »

Perfect post to sum up Barcelona . When you look back over the last couple of years their last defeat at the Nou Camp in the champions league was against Liverpool in 06 / 07 . That is one hell of a record to boast in European football . I think once they refresh their team with a few new faces they can get back to where they where . All great teams have cycles and their cycle still isn't over they will win La Liga this year and when you consider Mourinho couldn't even take them down it highlights how good they have been .

Rubin Kazan beat them in 2009 in the Nou Camp.

Francie Barrett

NiallSparky wrote: »

Arsenal went a full season unbeaten as did Juventus last year. Bayern have lost 1 league game this season. Man Utd have lost 4. Are neither of those leagues competitive?

None of the top 4 leagues are competitive anymore. Money has completely transformed football and the gap between the top 2-3 clubs with the rest of the teams. That gap is only getting wider and wider.

smileyj1987

kksaints wrote: »

Rubin Kazan beat them in 2009 in the Nou Camp.

Fair enough I was wrong

Cienciano

eagle eye wrote: »

This thread tonight is a good one to find the people you want to put on ignore imo. Its the haters I'm talking about. Imo if you love football then you could not possibly hate this Barca team with all the wonderful football they have played over the last couple of years. I'm not a supporter of theirs but you couldn't help but be a fan of the way they dominated over the last number of years with the style of football they played.

A few people disagreed with you, add me to the list. What's wrong with not wanting the best team of all time to win?? Barca go into every tie as favourites, some people want the underdog to win.
And I hate people telling me what football I should like. Yes, barca can play good football, but I find the Barca and Spanish style of keeping the ball, passing it around for 5 minutes boring to watch. Don't tell me I'm not a football fan because of this, it's just more of the barca fan (i know you're not a fan:pac:) arrogance that makes people dislike them more.

missingtime

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Over the top like the claims that Barca are the greatest club side of all time!!

Over the top like a 7 - 0 margin of defeat - the greatest in CL history.

Over the top like the Busquets peekaboo a couple of years ago, ultimately what this ended era should be remembered for.

Dismissing their achievements because of the over the top comments by fans and media is unfair.

I don't understand why they should be held up as the bastion of all that is good and holy when they do the exact same things all other clubs do. It's as though their critics expect them to be this model of fairness and honesty. Why should they be when no other club on the planet are?

I'm in no way saying that Barca are the greatest ever, but in their heyday they were very very good.

kraggy

Jernal wrote: »

Wha??
Do you even watch La Liga?
Real Socieadad are probably the best team in Spain at the moment. Definitely the on form team.
Guess who was the first team to beat Barca in La Liga?
Guess what template Milan and Madrid copied.
La Reals' who copied Betis' from earlier in the season. They're a quality side and if they hold their players and form in the Champions league they could be a real potent threat.

That Malaga team weren't have bad either. Although their owner seems hell bent on self destruction and it looks like their going to lose their manager and most of their players.
Then there's Betis. Another quality side that should have beaten Barca but for sheer misfortune.
Madrid lost to several teams this season.

Your "competitive" argument just doesn't really hold much water.

If you read my post properly you'd understand that I meant over the last few years, not just this year.

To put it clearly, since 2006, only 3 teams have come in the top 2 in La Liga.

In the Bundesliga, 7 different teams have made the top 2.

That's a big difference.

Hulk Hands

I have great respect for Barcelona and all they have achieved over the past few years, one of the greatest sides ever with wonderful players.

Andersonisgod wrote: »

But the hunger must return, the desire has to be there from next season. Afterall, Barcelona are a great club, the great club, més que un club.

But this crap from their fans annoy me. Since when did Barca become 'the club'? Bigger than Madrid, Milan, or even Manchester United? The 'more than a club' crap is even more annoying

Timmyctc

Hulk Hands wrote: »

I have great respect for Barcelona and all they have achieved over the past few years, one of the greatest sides ever with wonderful players.



But this crap from their fans annoy me. Since when did Barca become 'the club'? Bigger than Madrid, Milan, or even Manchester United? The 'more than a club' crap is even more annoying

Couldn't +1 this any more. "More than a club" who turn on sprinklers when they lose a match. Busquets general behaviour. Swarming refs 5, 10 times a game. Not traits you'd associate with a team that are "more than a club". I think the Spanish media exacerbate the situation. The Spanish sports press are imo among the worst in the world. Like school kids; especially the more Catalan oriented ones.

mitosis

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Since when did Barca become 'the club'? Bigger than Madrid, Milan, or even Manchester United? The 'more than a club' crap is even more annoying

When fans of the aforementioned started wearing their shirts? You know, the bandwagoners?

Lukker-

I hope Guardiola doesn't try and force the the team to play tiki taka. The current style of play is far more entertaining and apparently effective. Jupp Heynkes deserves a great deal of credit imo. I think he can feel a little hard done by the fact that he didn't get to continue on for another year see he wanted

smileyj1987

Hulk Hands wrote: »

I have great respect for Barcelona and all they have achieved over the past few years, one of the greatest sides ever with wonderful players.
But this crap from their fans annoy me. Since when did Barca become 'the club'? Bigger than Madrid, Milan, or even Manchester United? The 'more than a club' crap is even more annoying

How is it though they are multiple clubs Basketball , Futsal , Roller Hockey to name a few so they are more then a club they are a sports institution .

munchkin_utd

Anyhow, isn't it just lovely that the final which is in London to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the english FA is an all German affair celebrating the 50th anniversary of the German bundesliga.

Cienciano

smileyj1987 wrote: »

How is it though they are multiple clubs Basketball , Futsal , Roller Hockey to name a few so they are more then a club they are a sports institution .

Roller Hockey makes them "more than a club"? :pac:

miralize

Hulk Hands wrote: »

I have great respect for Barcelona and all they have achieved over the past few years, one of the greatest sides ever with wonderful players.



But this crap from their fans annoy me. Since when did Barca become 'the club'? Bigger than Madrid, Milan, or even Manchester United? The 'more than a club' crap is even more annoying

You have to understand that to local Barcelona fans, the club is a major symbol of Catalonia, thats mostly where the "more than a club" motto comes from. Theres nothing wrong with a club being a symbol for a community like that.

The_Kew_Tour

munchkin_utd wrote: »

Anyhow, isn't it just lovely that the final which is in London to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the english FA is an all German affair celebrating the 50th anniversary of the German bundesliga.

Followed by Ireland beating England just few days later:pac::pac::pac::pac:

maybe not:o

Turtwig

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Followed by Ireland beating England just few days later:pac::pac::pac::pac:

maybe not:o

And then probably getting hockeyed again by Spain.:o
Can't be worse than the first time surely!

Andersonisgod

Hulk Hands wrote: »

I have great respect for Barcelona and all they have achieved over the past few years, one of the greatest sides ever with wonderful players.



But this crap from their fans annoy me. Since when did Barca become 'the club'? Bigger than Madrid, Milan, or even Manchester United? The 'more than a club' crap is even more annoying

It has a few different meanings. For a very long time they had no sponsors on their jersey. They still have UNICEF on their jersey. The club is more than just the soccer team.

But for me, it means that this is a club with principles. A club with beliefs, beliefs laid down by Johan Cruyff. A club with the greatest youth academy the world of football has ever known. A club who play a certain way, the Barca way, whose principles are represented anytime a team steps onto a pitch in the colours of the blaugrana. A club who represent a nation.

Liam O

Andersonisgod wrote: »

It has a few different meanings. For a very long time they had no sponsors on their jersey. They still have UNICEF on their jersey. The club is more than just the soccer team.

But for me, it means that this is a club with principles. A club with beliefs, beliefs laid down by Johan Cruyff. A club with the greatest youth academy the world of football has ever known. A club who play a certain way, the Barca way, whose principles are represented anytime a team steps onto a pitch in the colours of the blaugrana. A club who represent a nation.

All of which they have sold out in the last few years. With the exception of how they play, which ironically before that I found much more entertaining.

miralize

Liam O wrote: »

All of which they have sold out in the last few years.

Not really, Unicef is still on their jersey.

Turtwig

Liam O wrote: »

All of which they have sold out in the last few years.

If they did they kept the worse value of all that stupid Lollipop kit. :mad:
Nah, they didn't. Did anyone see the atmosphere of the Classico last year in the Nou Camp. Amazing Atmosphere!

Hulk Hands

miralize wrote: »

You have to understand that to local Barcelona fans, the club is a major symbol of Catalonia, thats mostly where the "more than a club" motto comes from. Theres nothing wrong with a club being a symbol for a community like that.

I know, and the incorporation of other sports and fan ownership is a great concept. But that is no reason for their fans (most of whom arent from Catalonia), to rub that in people faces as a reason why their football team/club is the greatest ever

Timmyctc

miralize wrote: »

Not really, Unicef is still on their jersey.

Is it not Qatar foundation?

Andersonisgod

Liam O wrote: »

All of which they have sold out in the last few years. With the exception of how they play, which ironically before that I found much more entertaining.

They still have a variety of sports teams under the banner of the club. Their academy continues to produce great teams at youth level and continues to produce great players. The Barca way of playing has never stopped, it just needs to be reinvigorated in the players. The club still proudly represents a nation.

Liam O

miralize wrote: »

Not really, Unicef is still on their jersey.

I'm sure they can have some advertising for them there with the multi million shirt sponsorship. They used to say they would never have a shirt sponsor if I remember correctly, the Unicef thing was good but then to get into bed with the Qatari's in such a way is a bit of a sellout for a club who seemed to pride themselves so much on not having shirt sponsors.