Juventus were lucky last night

Benbaz

Juve were very lucky to go through to the next round last night, because if Deportivo had of scored another 2 goals against Utd., which after seeing the "reserve team" that Fergie put out along with their extremely amature performance was quite possible!!

BKtje

i thought they played alrught.

about as much that can be expected from youngsters.
O'shea as usual was a rock

cournioni

Originally posted by B-K-DzR
O'shea as usual was a rock

Blanc on the other hand wasn't.

BKtje

and that is why im sure he will be retiring ata end of season.

Blancs a good player but when people run at him he is a huge weakness to the side.

yop

He would not make a 1st division side, too slow

Arkan

ah come on - give credit to the relatively young united side that was fielded against deportivo! ok so they didn't win but for united fans i'm sure it was great to see that the conveyor belt of young talent hasn't dried up!! Both darren fletcher & john o' shea should get a mention - 2 great young players indeed who put in excellant performances. Three cheers for the lads anyways, there's always next time!!!

Sposs

This year has the makings of a great champions league all the big teams are still in it;

Real
Barcelona
Inter Milan
AC Milan
Man Utd
Juventus
Valenica

It's going to be hard to call a winner.

Bateman

>Blancs a good player but when people run at him


Well if you are a defender that's going to happen wuite a bit I'm afraid. The only reason he's in the team is to justify his huge wages.

BKtje

im not saying he should be in the side, far from it. He shoulda retired years ago and he is a huge liability. He however does have some strengths, he reads the game well and has good feet if not in the running capacity

Bateman

If he should have retired years ago then surely this reflects badly on Ferguson, and may be part of the reason why they ended up trophyless last season?

He can teach O Shea a lot, but not on the pitch. Not now.

BKtje

ferguson was in a tight spot and needed some 1 fast. Tbh i think he was the wrong choice but thats me.

pickarooney

The Deportivo result didn't make any difference, as Juve had the edge on them in the head-to-head (a win and a draw), so only a 4-0 loss or worse to Basle would have put Juventus out.

Benbaz

only a 4-0 loss or worse to Basle would have put Juventus out.

Is that not what I said?!?!?
:rolleyes:

pickarooney

Originally posted by Benbaz
Is that not what I said?!?!?
:rolleyes:

Is it? I could have sworn you were talking about the Man U vs Deprtivo game?

Pigman II

Originally posted by Benbaz
Juve were very lucky to go through to the next round last night, because if Deportivo had of scored another 2 goals against Utd., which after seeing the "reserve team" that Fergie put out along with their extremely amature performance was quite possible!!

You're wrong there and pickarooney was right.

Deportivo could have won 10-0 against United and it still would not have made any difference. The rules for the Champions League is that if two teams finish on equal points then ranking will be determined by the two teams results AGAINST EACH OTHER rather than by goal difference. Since the results between the two were Deportivo 2-2 Juventus & Juventus 3-2 Deportivo , Juve had the edge and only way Deportivo could have pipped them was by achieving 8 points (a total that was unachievalbe by the final match).

So the only way Juventus were going to be knocked out was if Basle could have beaten them by 4 or more goals, thus nullifying their 4-0 defeat in Turin earlier in the competition and in effect qualifying themelves for the last 8 at the expense of the Italians.

Liverpool got into the quarter-finals last year thanks to this rule, as did Real Madrid in 2001. I'm sure others have benefitted likewise.