UCL Semi Final First Leg: FC Barcelona vs FC Bayern München RTE 2, SS5,SS1 K/O 19.45

Turtwig

gimmick wrote: »

Whichever he said both are wrong.

Apparently Busquets had a poor game tonight according to Dunphy. I honestly think he watches different games to me. I thought Busquets was absolutely immense again.

Agreed I thought himself and Rakitic did a fantastic job in screening the back four. Did Bayern even threaten in that second half? I think there was Thiago's deflected effort. Most of the opportunities still fell Barca's way for all the dominance Munich had.

Also:
Do you have a competition to see who can dress the most ridiculously or something?
https://twitter.com/casadelfutbol/status/596007782765207552

The_Kew_Tour

Messi, I salute you.

Slicemeister

adox wrote: »

Maradonna overrated.

The mind really boggles.

Was using hyperbole to illustrate a point. Same way as another poster declaring both Messi and Maradonna were streets ahead of everyone else, including Zidane.

Don't worry about it too much.

Too Tough To Die

Slicemeister wrote: »

Was using hyperbole to illustrate a point. Same way as another poster declaring both Messi and Maradonna were streets ahead of everyone else, including Zidane.

Don't worry about it too much.

They are/were both considerably better.

SlickRic

Trilla wrote: »

They'll probably say that hindsight is 20-20.

Just to say, I've no issue with people having some doubts at the start of the season. That was a perfectly reasonable position to take.

I saw certain posters rip him to absolute shreds, making up nonsense about how Messi has no respect for him, how he was just a political pawn, how Messi was about to leave because he couldn't handle how he was being ''treated", how Enrique was destroying the legacy of tiki-taka, and how he'd forgotten the football Barcelona "should" be playing, that Guardiola perfected, etc.

To me, Enrique, with the help of the addition of Suarez as a focal point, and his encouragement of the team to play far more direct when needed, has played a vital part in this Barcelona revival.

Andersonisgod

SlickRic wrote: »

Just to say, I've no issue with people having some doubts at the start of the season. That was a perfectly reasonable position to take.

I saw certain posters rip him to absolute shreds, making up nonsense about how Messi has no respect for him, how he was just a political pawn, how Messi was about to leave because he couldn't handle how he was being ''treated", how Enrique was destroying the legacy of tiki-taka, and how he'd forgotten the football Barcelona "should" be playing, that Guardiola perfected, etc.

To me, Enrique, with the help of the addition of Suarez as a focal point, and his encouragement of the team to play far more direct when needed, has played a vital part in this Barcelona revival.

These things have taken time to develop. Anyone that watches Barcelona on a weekly basis that before that Sociedad match there were problems, the team lacked structure and it was tough to see exactly what Enrique's Barcelona were trying to achieve on the pitch. Perhaps this was down to Suarez still searching for match fitness and sharpness or Enrique not knowing his best 11 but there was certainly problems on the pitch.

The really serious issues were off the pitch though. An unelected board who appeared hell bent on destroying traditions, who had gone out of their way to insult Guardiola and had repeatedly failed to offer Messi the same protection that Ronaldo enjoys in Madrid, who had somehow managed to get the club a hefty transfer ban and whose sporting director appeared clueless and remarkably uninspired. This is where the real problems were. When books are written on Messi, that week will be highlighted as a pivotal one, you may not believe me now but that's the week he took a stand and brought everything to a head, there's very few people at Barcelona with the power to do that, the etorno is an almost irresistible force.

Anyway elections were brought forward and suddenly a clear way of playing emerged too. Ironically that clear way of playing is a disorganized one, these aren't the carefully planned and orchestrated attacks of Guardiola's Barcelona, this is a side that relies on the individual brilliance of that front 3, it's got an excellent balance to it and the components of the team look fitter and more motivated than they have in some time, heck our attacking and defending of set pieces this season has been brilliant for the most part. Enrique is certainly more direct and, as long as he has the players to execute this way of playing, the cules are happy.

SlickRic

Simply saying Enrique is proving you wrong would be enough.

He's done more than just make Barca solid at set pieces FFS. Just because it's not Guardiola-esque does not mean the attacking is disorganised. That's incredibly insulting and going out of your way to give Enrique as little credit as possible.

quarryman

Andersonisgod wrote: »

These things have taken time to develop. Anyone that watches Barcelona on a weekly basis that before that Sociedad match there were problems, the team lacked structure and it was tough to see exactly what Enrique's Barcelona were trying to achieve on the pitch. Perhaps this was down to Suarez still searching for match fitness and sharpness or Enrique not knowing his best 11 but there was certainly problems on the pitch.

The really serious issues were off the pitch though. An unelected board who appeared hell bent on destroying traditions, who had gone out of their way to insult Guardiola and had repeatedly failed to offer Messi the same protection that Ronaldo enjoys in Madrid, who had somehow managed to get the club a hefty transfer ban and whose sporting director appeared clueless and remarkably uninspired. This is where the real problems were. When books are written on Messi, that week will be highlighted as a pivotal one, you may not believe me now but that's the week he took a stand and brought everything to a head, there's very few people at Barcelona with the power to do that, the etorno is an almost irresistible force.

Anyway elections were brought forward and suddenly a clear way of playing emerged too. Ironically that clear way of playing is a disorganized one, these aren't the carefully planned and orchestrated attacks of Guardiola's Barcelona, this is a side that relies on the individual brilliance of that front 3, it's got an excellent balance to it and the components of the team look fitter and more motivated than they have in some time, heck our attacking and defending of set pieces this season has been brilliant for the most part. Enrique is certainly more direct and, as long as he has the players to execute this way of playing, the cules are happy.

Wow, your posts actually quite good, when you cut out the masturbatory flowery crap.

Andersonisgod

SlickRic wrote: »

Simply saying Enrique is proving you wrong would be enough.

He's done more than just make Barca solid at set pieces FFS. Just because it's not Guardiola-esque does not mean the attacking is disorganised. That's incredibly insulting and going out of your way to give Enrique as little credit as possible.

Actually the disorganized attack is a phrase I lifted from Guillem Balague when he was discussing the performance tonight and it is fairly accurate. It's not an insult either, I'm not sure why you would take it as such it's simply an observation that his approach differs from Pep, for Pep the best way to score is meticulously planned attacks, where seemingly everyone in the team has a role to play, for Enrique it's utilising the quality of that magical front 3, getting it to them as quickly as possible, Suarez deserves huge credit here, his runs and hold up play give Messi and Neymar more space to work in. Bringing Messi back out right has also been a great move.
Obviously he's done more than that, in fact Enrique's assistant coach Juan Carlos Enzuè takes the credit for improving Barcelona's set pieces, Enrique deserves massive credit for vastly improving Barcelona's defending, fitness, balance, and also for playing to the strengths of this particular group of players.

I'm more than happy to say that I'm delighted he has stayed this season, though I also maintain the complaints at the time were valid. Enrique has changed since then and it's been a massive success.

miralize

My thoughts on Messi

Andersonisgod

quarryman wrote: »

Wow, your posts actually quite good, when you cut out the masturbatory flowery crap.

Unfortunately I'm full of masturbatory flowery crap at heart and dammit Barcelona just brings out the best best in me.

Jelle1880

Great game in general from both sides, but Messi was just unbelievable.

dfx-

That is a very satisfying result

SlickRic wrote: »

Simply saying Enrique is proving you wrong would be enough.

He's done more than just make Barca solid at set pieces FFS. Just because it's not Guardiola-esque does not mean the attacking is disorganised. That's incredibly insulting and going out of your way to give Enrique as little credit as possible.

he dropped Messi and lost at Sociedad, there were legitimate questions. The team was adrift, changing every week. It was disorganised and rotated then. He finally settled on a midfield.

Whatever blood letting happened between the Sociedad game and the Elche Copa del Rey quickly followed by Atletico at home (which very few expected Atletico to be beaten) has changed things.

The questions he faced and the cost to Zubizarreta and Bartomeu that week cannot be chosen to brushed under the carpet now it has all worked out.

NIMAN

Jelle1880 wrote: »

Great game in general from both sides, but Messi was just unbelievable.

I must have missed something, but I thought Bayern were average enough.

No shots on target. From Bayern Munich? In a CL semi? Sorry but not good enough.

They miss Robben and Ribery so much.

the_monkey

Guardiola talking some sh'ite ... "There is no system that can stop Messi - nor a coach"

I think there is , Jose Mourinho did it ... Chelsea did it ..

0 goals v Chelsea ...

dfx-

you can of course pick and choose the games where it worked for him to suit your biased point (and of course you will), but in reality it didn't work a whole lot for Mourinho though did it. He lost 5-0 playing a similarly high defensive line and 0-2 at home in the CL semifinal.

Chelsea could keep Messi quiet...but not Iniesta:)

the_monkey

dfx- wrote: »

you can of course pick and choose the games where it worked for him to suit your biased point (and of course you will), but in reality it didn't work a whole lot for Mourinho though did it. He lost 5-0 playing a similarly high defensive line and 0-2 at home in the CL semifinal.

Chelsea could keep Messi quiet...but not Iniesta:)

ah yes, bringing up the greatest scandal in football history very good.

Anyway at least this year they are winning it fairly..

Andersonisgod

the_monkey wrote: »

Guardiola talking some sh'ite ... "There is no system that can stop Messi - nor a coach"

I think there is , Jose Mourinho did it ... Chelsea did it ..

0 goals v Chelsea ...

To be fair here in a game of that magnitude, between two of the greatest clubs in the world, Guardiola was hardly going to put 10 men behind the ball for 90 minutes. It would have been like saying "forget everything we've worked so hard on the last 2 years, it's all meaningless"
Guardiola's ideas were clever given that he was missing a couple of key players, his man to man marking with a 3 man backline for 15 minutes was brave and reminiscent of what he did in 2011 when Barcelona went to the Bernabeu. Even though it says Bayern had no shots on target they certainly did have chances.

At the end of the day this is a great coach with a reputation for getting his teams to play the right way. It's not always been easy at Bayern and he has been hindered by that injury list. He's gone to the Camp Nou and tried to match Barcelona, he's given us a magnificent game of a breathtakingly high standard, that game last night would have been a worthy final.

TheCitizen

the_monkey wrote: »

Guardiola talking some sh'ite ... "There is no system that can stop Messi - nor a coach"

I think there is , Jose Mourinho did it ... Chelsea did it ..

0 goals v Chelsea ...

Messi is in better form this season. Bayern actually got it right. They were looking comfortable with 15 minutes or so left and were starting to look like they could win the game, and then Messi took over.

inforfun

the_monkey wrote: »

ah yes, bringing up the greatest scandal in football history very good.

Anyway at least this year they are winning it fairly..

What has Argentina - Peru in '78 to do with last night?

marklazarcovic

the_monkey wrote:

Guardiola talking some sh'ite ... "There is no system that can stop Messi - nor a coach"

the_monkey wrote:

I think there is , Jose Mourinho did it ... Chelsea did it ..

He managed Madrid against messi too

sjb25

Was working last night recorded the game just watched it now this is all

CR 7

I still can't stop laughing at the way Boateng falls over for the second goal.

Bohrio

the_monkey wrote: »

Guardiola talking some sh'ite ... "There is no system that can stop Messi - nor a coach"

I think there is , Jose Mourinho did it ... Chelsea did it ..

0 goals v Chelsea ...

True, but in all fairness, Barcelona never played Mourinhos Chelsea!! At least not in CL.. last time they played was in 2012 I think. Unless you are referring to 2006? Messi was 19 then.

And no need to remind you what happened to Mou when he first played Barcelona as Real Madrid Manager and the fabulous 5-0? He might have stopped him from scoring but not from creating assists.. I think he did learn his lesson though and for further games he bought a new bus and it has been park there since...

But goalswise from the top of my head I can remember that second goal in the bernabeu against Madrid in the CL semifinal (or quaterfinal not sure now)...

See below, that was not fair for you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIjIVNsBvpk

Fudge You

As a Barca fan, I really enjoyed last night. Great game of football, but the scoreline doesnt do justice to Bayern.

I just wanted to make a point, that Barca were not as good as they are lauded today. They deserve a lot of praise of course, and did deserve to win the game, but they definitely didnt deserve to hammer Bayern by that score line, or to finish the tie.

I remember some bad days in the champions league as a barca fan. In 2012, they lost to Chelsea, in 2013, Munich hammered them, and last year Atletico beat them.
Barca were finished according to some, especially in 2013 and 2014.
And by the way I think the better teams went through to the next round. But the reaction was crazy from the media and social media.

I just wanted to say what Paul O'Connell said. "Youre never as bad as youre made out to be, but youre never as good as youre made out to be either."


On paper, it looks like Bayern got a lesson, But that is just lazy analysis.

Andersonisgod

Fudge You wrote: »

As a Barca fan, I really enjoyed last night. Great game of football, but the scoreline doesnt do justice to Bayern.

I just wanted to make a point, that Barca were not as good as they are lauded today. They deserve a lot of praise of course, and did deserve to win the game, but they definitely didnt deserve to hammer Bayern by that score line, or to finish the tie.

I remember some bad days in the champions league as a barca fan. In 2012, they lost to Chelsea, in 2013, Munich hammered them, and last year Atletico beat them.
Barca were finished according to some, especially in 2013 and 2014.
And by the way I think the better teams went through to the next round. But the reaction was crazy from the media and social media.

I just wanted to say what Paul O'Connell said. "Youre never as bad as youre made out to be, but youre never as good as youre made out to be either."


On paper, it looks like Bayern got a lesson, But that is just lazy analysis.

Aside from a haphazard first 15 minutes where Barcelona were all over Bayern it settled down into a fairly even game, Bayern in the second half even had quite a bit of control. It's only the genius of Messi that turned the game.

I do think Barcelona as a team deserve great credit though. From where they were a couple years ago to now, it's a stunning transformation and verification that this Barcelona side is still the barometer against which all others must be judged.

Bohrio

the_monkey wrote: »

Guardiola talking some sh'ite ... "There is no system that can stop Messi - nor a coach"

I think there is , Jose Mourinho did it ... Chelsea did it ..

0 goals v Chelsea ...

"Jose Mourinho: Impossible Job To Stop Lionel Messi"

"The best way to stop Messi is man-to-man because that is better than involving everyone. When you go man-to-man, you go with similar power – although man-to-man with him is an impossible job."

"No defensive system that can stop Messi, and no coach either."

http://www.talkingbaws.com/2015/05/09/jose-mourinho-impossible-job-to-stop-lionel-messi/

dfx-

Fudge You wrote: »

As a Barca fan, I really enjoyed last night. Great game of football, but the scoreline doesnt do justice to Bayern.

I just wanted to make a point, that Barca were not as good as they are lauded today. They deserve a lot of praise of course, and did deserve to win the game, but they definitely didnt deserve to hammer Bayern by that score line, or to finish the tie.

I remember some bad days in the champions league as a barca fan. In 2012, they lost to Chelsea, in 2013, Munich hammered them, and last year Atletico beat them.
Barca were finished according to some, especially in 2013 and 2014.
And by the way I think the better teams went through to the next round. But the reaction was crazy from the media and social media.

I just wanted to say what Paul O'Connell said. "Youre never as bad as youre made out to be, but youre never as good as youre made out to be either."


On paper, it looks like Bayern got a lesson, But that is just lazy analysis.

I would tend to agree that Barcelona were not as bad as was made out in 2013 and not as good as made out on Wednesday, but to be honest...given the offside goals against Inter and debatable first leg goals in Munich, it's nice to be on the right side of a flattering result..

Turtwig

Barca created 11 goal scoring opportunities to Bayern Munich's one. I don't think things can get any more convincing that.

It is a real shame though that for the second time in succession that these sides meet one side is significantly hampered by injury.