Segun Oluwaniyi

I think ASM can compete with the likes of Juventus/Dortmund, PSG, and maybe Porto. They play rubbish football, but have been effective and successful all season.

What is Kurzawa doing?! Know the situation and just clear the ball properly!

Players should be allowed to hit the ground in the box without receiving a yellow card. There was contact, the player fell, it isn't a penalty, so play on. I heavily dislike the yellow for anything other than dives with no contact. Didn't he grab the ball with his hands as well though? I assumed the yellow was for the dive, I don't have the game in a language I understand, anyway, so it is hard for me to tell. If for a handball, apologies to the ref.

Players should be allowed to hit the ground in the box without receiving a yellow card. There was contact, the player fell, it isn't a penalty, so play on. I heavily dislike the yellow for anything other than dives with no contact.

Have to go for it now though Conceding one goal also has no effect on the the task in front of Arsenal, so there is no reason not to be incredibly aggressive against a side that plays very defensively. As we saw last week, getting to ET away from home in a tie is actually somewhat of an unfair advantage as there an away goal is essentially impossible to overcome.

With Gouffran, he was never a special players, just a useful forward with some good attributes, but it is hard for me to believe that running around in nonthreatening areas pretending to work hard is the best he has to offer in what should be the peak years of his career. He was a better player than Riviere, anyway. Maybe he simply is not a good footballer anymore.

M'bia's dancing is consistently terrible. He should stop.

Santon would have an assist if not for great defending by Rodrigo Palacio.

Played way, way better without him last night. Stick Cavani (even though he seems to be finished) up top and pop Lavezzi on the wing, jobs a good 'un. Not that I think they're better without Ibra but last night they showed they have experience and quality all over the pitch, it's not a one man team. Thought Lavezzi was poor when he came on though, Lucas will be a better option off the bench. I would hate for this poor performance from Chelsea to produce an inflated opinion of PSG. They are an uninspiring side that play dour football (much worse than last night's opponents) despite having no financial competition domestically. They are the best side in France for the same reason, and look in trouble now that l'OM and OL have put together challenging sides despite lack of funds. They are not on pace for 80 points this season, and Blanc might still be sacked. Absolutely, agree with all of that, but do you agree that when you go into latter rounds of the CL experience plays a huge role? Players like David Luiz, Ibra, Motta, Thiago, Maxwell have huge experience and four of them showed that last night. I still don't see them winning this, but if they get Porto, Monaco/Arsenal, Dortmund/Juve or Bayer/Atletico they will stand at least a 50% chance of qualifying to the semi's which in terms of what they have achieved before is huge (even if financially is where they should be aiming for each season). It is more a matter of mentality than experience, imo, though both are obviously important. Chelsea won this competition with their worst side in the Abramovich era because they had warriors with strong mental attributes (who may have been lacking in other areas, esp. going forward) like Terry, Cahill, Luiz, Mikel Obi, Ramires, Lampard, Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, and Meireles to hold their position and a brilliant striker that could make chances out of nothing. PSG can undoubtedly replicate that. Knockout football is nothing like the true test of league football, referees make poor decisions, important players have bad nights/are injured, mistakes are made. A lot depends on the draw obviously. If they are drawn against the winner of Juventus/Dortmund or Porto/Monaco, they are clear favourites, imo.

Played way, way better without him last night. Stick Cavani (even though he seems to be finished) up top and pop Lavezzi on the wing, jobs a good 'un. Not that I think they're better without Ibra but last night they showed they have experience and quality all over the pitch, it's not a one man team. Thought Lavezzi was poor when he came on though, Lucas will be a better option off the bench. I would hate for this poor performance from Chelsea to produce an inflated opinion of PSG. They are an uninspiring side that play dour football (much worse than last night's opponents) despite having no financial competition domestically. They are the best side in France for the same reason, and look in trouble now that l'OM and OL have put together challenging sides despite lack of funds. They are not on pace for 80 points this season, and Blanc might still be sacked.

Africa is behind Blatter as well for similar reasons. Also, the corruption in FIFA and football and general is much deeper than Blatter. He gets a lot of the press because he is the figurehead and a buffoon in his media dealings, but removing him changes very little, imo.

Don't be daft, Barca will destroy city. Arsenal could quite easily turn up to Stade Louis II and get a 3-0 or 4-1 if they play their best football. Despite the previous result and ASM's fantastic defensive record, there is a gap in quality, imo. One thing I will say about the recent performances of the English teams is that excluding Manchester City and their early group stage adventures, they have simply been given tough draws early on and just haven't been able to make it through. Arsenal seem to draw Barcelona or Bayern in the second round every season. In isolation, not too many of the results would really worry me. Obviously, the trend is alarming, but all it will take for a one-time reversal is a change in luck of the draw because the Premiership generally has the most or joint most teams in the second round every single season. That is not a coincidence.

I was thinking the same thing. With MM it's easier to attribute blame and giving people responsibility is a good thing. But does it result in less conceded goals? I wish someone would put the numbers up. Chelsea are the perfect side to man-mark. Terry, Cahill, Matic, Ivanovic, Costa, Zouma, Ramires, and Mikel and Drogba off the bench are all good leapers, strong players, and win the vast majority of their aerial duels. No system was at fault, and no system usually is at fault when conceding from a set-play. It is almost always a great bit of play (first goal) or an individual error (Terry for the second).

When have any of Italy, Portugal, France, or Russia sent three teams to the CL Knockout stage? The teams are not going deep, but they also generally don't embarrass themselves.

Two consecutive nights, one of the most talented teams in Europe with one of its most accomplished managers plays with no energy whatsoever in front its own supporters. Hard to understand. Credit to PSG, great fight. I don't think they will win Ligue 1, but outside of Barca and Bayern they are as good as any team left in this competition.

What a strange football match

It always stuns me when Mourinho brings on Drogba and leaves Remy on the bench. It must be blind loyalty because Drogba has trouble simply locomoting at this point, and is simply the inferior player.

He does get clipped ~90% of the time, tbf. Chelsea look very jaded recently, as though they want to win with the least amount of effort possible. Very poor.

THREE MINUTES?!

Tbf, he has cut inside EVERY single time, and Real do not seem to have noticed.

I had no idea Walter Samuel was still in Europe, but it is nice he is around and still excessively violent

With this pattern of play, there are so many goals available in this match. Schalke should have had four! I don't think he was defensive at WBA. He seems adjustable.

I'm still convinced Okugo was the guy, but Kanji may be right after all. One of the two CMs couldn't do anything right though. cmon dude, between me, everyone who watched the game not named you and SI. You still not convinced? You think Cabella is tall too? I'm surprised to even see to Orlando City players in there I mean seriously, is that the level? I though Orlando were still trying to gel. If that is XI of the Week material I'm f***ed. f*** sakes Kanji what have I gotten myself into? Already scheduled to watch the next game on tv. I didn't see the game, but my blind answer is a resounding yes. There are very few teams in the MLS capable of successfully passing the ball more than 3 times without giving it away. There is a lot of effort but very little team quality, just a few good players who every so often make something magic happen (where have I heard that before...). Although I imagine NYCFC & Orlando have an excuse given it was their first game. Which team plays the best football in the MLS? Seattle, Portland, SKC, LA. It fluctuates. New England played some decent football last season. Also, we need to end this "the MLS." It's just "MLS." Just as we don't say "the MLB." It's a pet hate and perhaps a YANK thing, but that's just how it is. It is a confusing grammatical pattern. This is just how it is and you will have to accept it. I enjoy Seattle and try to watch their game reviews most weeks. Like Felipao, this is mostly because there is a 50% chance I will see one of my favourite footballers dominate, score goals, and do flips while fire randomly emanates from behind the goal. Their style is entertaining as well (one the 2 or 3 times I saw actual matches) because the manager seems to understand he has two players well above that level up front and just lets them work.

Agreed (except for the part about Mourinho's teams being boring, I enjoy physically aggressive and quick football and the way his sides plays). The football isn't much different at all. We are all just getting older and the club we follow is one of the least inspiring in the Premiership. Football in general has been a good place from an entertainment standpoint in the last year, imo. La Liga, Premiership, and Ligue 1 have all been interesting, with the title races being interesting and several lesser teams putting good sides together. I enjoyed the ACON and obviously the last World Cup was brilliant. Defensive midfielders are going nowhere, tbh. There are different styles, from a pure destroyer, to a Makelele, to a simple holding player, but the majority of sides employ someone that sits (most of the time) and fills space. The ones that don't usually have two very industrious players in a pivot or have less than three players in the area.

He has been fantastic going forward since he left, and has played both fullback positions competently. Top quality? Come on. There's not a lot to choose between him, Haidara and Dummett. Santon was given a lot of chances, but didn't make the sort of improvements that you'd want to see in a young player. RYAN TAYLOR STARTED FOR US AGAINST MANCHESTER UNITED. And was replaced by a winger that recently recovered from a life-threatening illness.