Village Idiot

Aye, while Cronaldo is great, it's people like Benzema, Özil and Higuaín all stepping in what are turning them into a force.

The way Scottish football is going, soon the winner of the SPL will earn a spot in the Emirates Cup instead of the CL.

Really looking forward tomorrow, general strike so I can be a lazy bastard and watch all euro football while making it look like I'm doing something good for the country

I think it fizzled a little during the second half, but it was good. But my team was involved in it so I'll hardly get bored.

Can't remember the last time we were involved in a goalless match. There was that Barcelona derby a couple years ago, but surely must have been another since then.

Well, not a terrible result I guess, although Milan will probably do the same in the home leg and try to nick it. But I'm confident on beating them at home.

Thanks Pep

Guardiola, the bench, use it.

Keita has a good shot on him, scored a few screamers. Alves... That's about it though.

Tello don't think this is a game for him.

To be frank, I think Keita is doing quite well. Would probably take Iniesta off around the 60 mark for Cesc.

We need a more natural finisher upfront, we really miss Villa... Could do with Cesc on during the second half I guess.

Meh, we got them boxed but can't make those chances count.

Score FFS.

I wish we could play in a decent pitch in an away game for once...

Alexis, man, embarrassing that.

Keita Pep being cautious, he obviously respects Milan.

Desailly still appears in my worst nightmares to this day. Still... http://www.thefootballramble.com/blog/entry/retro-ramble-ac-milan-5-real-madrid-0-19th-april-1989 Milan AC, bumming Spanish clubs since the 1980s.

From his times with the kids I had Thiago penned as an attacking midfielder, but Guardiola has played him deeper and he has adapted admirably. He was always looking for the Hollywood ball or the wonder goal in years prior, but now he's so much more composed and patient, he really has matured a lot in just a single year and I really look forward to his development. He's the closest thing to a Xavi successor we have.

He's been ripping up trees since he arrived there, and is currently the main catalyst of Espanyol's attacking play. Everybody in Spain is wondering how Inter let him go given how s*** they are. He looks really really good and his finishing looks alright for an attacking midfielder. He has 4 in 9, in a team that was pretty dire going forward before he joined.

Across all competitions, but yes. Should have been sent off too.

I like Alonso, but is he known as a bit of a w***** or something? Might be coincidence, but in his last season for Liverpool, I think 3 or 4 people were sent off for hacking him down! One was Joey Barton. He always seems like such a sly, dirty f***er against Barca as well. Loads of niggly fouls, plus some really naughty ones. Seems to escape punishment, whereas players like Ramos just pick up their customary red card Alonso does get a lot of yellows doesn't he? His tackling is Scholes-esque indeed and picks up quite a few yellows and should get more reds than he does. He seems a fairly sporting guy though, one of the few that never gets involved in the routine Barça-Madrid brawls.

Agreed, which says anyone saying Barcelona is a one man team is absolutely f***ing daft. (although I do feel the debate whether who is better between him and Zidane is interesting) As I like to say, Messi sits on the throne that Xavi builds for him. In my opinion, even if Messi is clearly the focus of our team, we need both. But if you had to lose one of them for a season or so, there's no doubt who you'd choose surely? Fabregas could do a very serviceable job filling in for Xavi I would have thought, but I can't think of a single player (and not just in Barca's squad, take any player in the world) that could even come close to filling in Messi's role in the team. We tried Cesc in the Xavi role this season and hasn't worked well (he's been great as AM though). He has admitted that he doesn't have "Xavi's patience" for building up play but he'll "try to learn it". I have high hopes for Thiago though. He's matured a lot in just a single year and ability-wise he has it all. Needs time, of course.

Zidane had a higher peak than Xavi, and if you judge on that he was the better player. Absolutely unstoppable on his day. Daniel Andersson who played for Bari said he had to mark and defend Zidane even when they were on the attack. Said it was the most difficult job to do because of his strength and ballprotecting ability. Xavi is more consistent, doubt Ive ever seen Xavi have a really really bad game. I have, but those are very odd and even this season he carried a knock when he had his last bad game (away at Villarreal). Anyway, I won't contest that when Zidane was on, nobody couldn't touch him. My gripe with him as a player is how inconsistent he was (at least during his time at Real Madrid, which is the period I watched him most). I have seen lots of games with him dragging his feet in midfield while Ronaldo/Figo/Raúl did the business for the team.

Agreed, which says anyone saying Barcelona is a one man team is absolutely f***ing daft. (although I do feel the debate whether who is better between him and Zidane is interesting) As I like to say, Messi sits on the throne that Xavi builds for him. In my opinion, even if Messi is clearly the focus of our team, we need both.