Pwnage: Barcelona bum Man Utd 2-0, win the CL

[Oakie Doke]

I want Barca to win but on the plus side if Man U do win, at least it will mean another medal for Giggs (the legend).

[TRon]

 

With your Juve and AC Milan example earlier you must appreciate the art of defending. 

 

absolutely, and fair play to chelsea for being the first team to stop them scoring at home this season

 

as i said before i prefer the way the italians and spanish go about defending when that's their gameplan but yeah, fair play to chelsea for that

 

still missing how Barca's defence is so bad and chelsea didn't punish it though

 

Seriously explained this like 5+ times now!  Read them.

 

oh no, i read 'em, it paraphrases to "they didn't try because they didn't have to"

 

bollocks, and it doesn't explain the first leg or were they not trying then either at 0-0?

Why is that bollocks? if your manager of Chelsea you know the opposition going to throw everything forward, you would like to see open game?  Instead of hitting them on the break when they are over exposed ala Man Utd on Tuesday?  Why exactly is it bollocks.

 

i agree with what you're saying about the tactical aspect, i.e. don't play on an open game - counter attack definately the way

 

what i'm saying is if barca's defence is/was so bad as you've suggested why didn't a counter attacking game expose this in the way arsenals defence was exposed by man u?  (not that man u played counter attack but you see what i mean)

 

i mean in your first line you're basically saying tactically hiddink tacitly accepted barca would beat them in an open game so even in the home leg he set up to stifle them and counter, yet you're calling barca's attack toothless!!

 

i see this as a massive contradiction in terms and it's why we've been slavering on for hours now

 

I said hiddink paid to much respect to them at the nou camp.  Today Barca's attack were completely toothless, i mean chasing the game for 80 minutes your one shot on target is the very last.  70% possession and one shot on target.  With Eto'o, Messi, Iniesta all these players they are supposed to steamroll through teams and they come up against a good defense and they are completely out of ideas.  Especially in the dire situation they were in.

 

going round in circles now mate, 70% possession and one shot tells me chelsea put up a wall and did it very well you seem to see it that Barca weren't good enough in attack

 

we'll never reach an agreement on that, fundamental difference in how we look at things

 

The whole point is surely that if Barca WERE good enough in attack against good enough opposition, they'd have cut through them regardless.

Chelsea didnt only put up a wall, they counter attacked.

 

If you consider the goal they had, drogba being 1 on 1, anelka would have been if it were not for a hand ball, he would have been once again had he not tripped over his own heels like a clown.

 

On another day thats 4 clear chances to score theyd have taken, could have been 4-1 and some of you would still be claiming they were playing defensive football.

 

No, they were playing a style of football that was perfectly suited to stifling barca's attack & exposing their weaknesses going back the other way. They were both severely unlucky & crap in different moments. Regardless, Hiddink set it up perfectly & Barca looked nothing special atall.

 

If Barcelona also set up to play a defend and counter attacking game we'll be watching a boring chess match. Why should only their opponents be lauded for safety first tactics?

 

 

[Jayson]

Barcelona needed to score, so obviously they couldnt play like that. They knew chelsea would sit back so they had to go fowards.

 

Its their own fault from not scoring at home, they set up the situation themselves with bad finishing.

 

End of the day, you do what gets you the result. Chelsea deserved the result, hiddink set it up perfectly & they deserved to get atleast one of those pens & probably win the match.

 

If Barca didnt deserve to win playing their openly attacking football, its worthless.

[Taylor Swift]

Yeah, it's worthless playing in the CL semis for the second year in a row and dominating their domestic league in a fashion that's not been seen for a long, long time.

[Dave]

Its their own fault from not scoring at home, they set up the situation themselves with bad finishing.

 

Who, Chelsea?

[Mr. Snrub]

Henry really needs to be fit tbh, it will be the difference.  Not just because of his presence, but because it would mean Iniesta playing in the middle.

 

Man Utd's weakest area is in the middle of the park and their current midfield engine, the one who will run all day and track back, Fletcher, is suspended.  Xavi and Iniesta could potentially have a field day against Carrick and Anderson/Scholes.  They wouldn't get near them.

[Jayson]

Yeah, it's worthless playing in the CL semis for the second year in a row and dominating their domestic league in a fashion that's not been seen for a long, long time.

 

Unless you think they didnt deserve to win any of those games i dont see the relevance. The point is that its worthless against a side who can stop it from being effective & expose their weaknesses going back the other way. Doesnt matter how impressive it looks.

 

And it is largely chelseas own fault for missing chances i agree with that. But dont think anyone can claim Barca deserved the win for how they play, not a chance in that game.

[Taylor Swift]

Henry really needs to be fit tbh, it will be the difference.  Not just because of his presence, but because it would mean Iniesta playing in the middle.

 

Man Utd's weakest area is in the middle of the park and their current midfield engine, the one who will run all day and track back, Fletcher, is suspended.  Xavi and Iniesta could potentially have a field day against Carrick and Anderson/Scholes.  They wouldn't get near them.

 

If I'm Barca, the only midfielder I don't want to see playing is Anderson. He's the only one who's got the engine to catch up with Iniesta and help Man Utd in attack. Fletcher helps with dictating the game, but Carrick can do that already. Anderson's the guy that Barca would prefer to see on the bench. The rest of the Man Utd's midfielders won't be able to dominate the game.

[TRon]

Yeah, it's worthless playing in the CL semis for the second year in a row and dominating their domestic league in a fashion that's not been seen for a long, long time.

 

Unless you think they didnt deserve to win any of those games i dont see the relevance. The point is that its worthless against a side who can stop it from being effective & expose their weaknesses going back the other way. Doesnt matter how impressive it looks.

 

And it is largely chelseas own fault for missing chances i agree with that. But dont think anyone can claim Barca deserved the win for how they play, not a chance in that game.

 

I've seen two of our leading teams play against Barcelona now, and both have basically sat back and tried to stop them playing whether home or away. I don't blame them for that because in an open attacking game I think Barcelona are going to beat most teams. If Barcelona adopt a safety first approach as well we are in for one hell of a boring final though.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

Not sure if it's been mentioned but Barca have appealed against the suspensions of both their fullbacks according to the BBC website ticker.

[Dave]

Not sure if it's been mentioned but Barca have appealed against the suspensions of both their fullbacks according to the BBC website ticker.

 

They (the BBC) said the other day there wasn't going to be an appeal over Abidal. I guess they're following the suggestions about Man Utd over Fletcher like.

[Taylor Swift]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=644765&sec=uefachampionsleague&cc=5739

 

Barcelona will appeal Eric Abidal's red card and the yellow card shown to Daniel Alves in the hope of getting their suspensions for the Champions League final against Manchester United overturned. 

 

"Of course we will appeal the cards of Abidal and Alves, out of respect for the players," coach Pep Guardiola said at a news conference on Saturday.

 

Guardiola also said he thought United's Darren Fletcher should be allowed to play in the Rome final on May 27, after the midfielder was sent off in the semi-final against Arsenal.

 

United have appealed but UEFA rules make it unlikely that the suspensions will be lifted.

 

Abidal was sent off for what the referee saw as a trip on Nicolas Anelka in Wednesday's semi-final second leg, while Alves was booked for a challenge on Ashley Cole.

 

[Adam]

If iniesta plays in the middle barca win, if not then, it will get interesting.

[Taylor Swift]

Worst possible news for Barca

 

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=645140&sec=europe&cc=5739

 

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta looks set to miss the Champions League final against Manchester United later this month after picking up a thigh injury in his side's 3-3 draw at home to Villarreal on Sunday night.

 

Iniesta looked downbeat as he left the pitch at the end of the match on a disappointing night for Barcelona, as the Catalans failed to secure the three points they needed to seal the title at the Nou Camp.

 

Early indications suggest the midfielder has suffered a recurrence of the serious thigh injury he picked up in November and Barca coach Pep Guardiola admitted he is likely to lose his in-form star for the rest of the season.

 

"I don't have a good feeling,'' he said on Sunday night. "We will do tests tomorrow, but there is no way he will play this week.''

 

That means Iniesta will definitely miss the final of the Copa del Rey, which sees Barcelona face Athletic Bilbao at Valencia's Mestalla stadium on Wednesday night. "We will try to get him fit for Rome - that's all we can do,'' he said. "We will have what the tests reveal.''

 

Thierry Henry is also fighting to be fit for the season's showpiece against United after picking up a ligament injury in the 6-2 thrashing of Real Madrid last weekend.

 

Meanwhile, Rafa Marquez is definitely ruled out for the rest of the season and Gabi Milito looks unlikely to return before the summer.

 

Against Villarreal, Barca saw Eric Abidal sent off for the second time in a week and the France full-back will now miss both of the club's finals through suspension.

 

With Dani Alves also suspended for the Champions League final, Guardiola faces some difficult selection choices in defence.

 

But the Barca coach says other players will step forward. "We have suffered many injuries recently and we don't have a huge squad, but we have some huge players and they will step forward for the important games which lie ahead,'' he said.

 

It was a frustrating night for Guardiola as Barcelona let a two-goal lead slip in the closing stages and missed out on sealing the title in front of their own fans.

 

The Barca coach says he was as disappointed as anyone to see his side pegged back to 3-3, but remembered that the title is still close.

 

"It was disappointing because at 3-1 we were in control of the game. But we are still in a great position. We could be four or five points ahead, but we are eight clear with nine to play for, so we know the title is close.''

 

And despite fielding his strongest available side, Guardiola does not believe tiredness will be a factor in Wednesday's final.

 

He said: "We have accumulated tiredness because we have played lots of games, but we have a cup final on Wednesday and we'll be ready for it. My players won't need any motivation for a game like that - we just have to out there at Mestalla and play.''

 

 

 

[Adam]

shit

[LiquidAK]

Disasterous news, Iniesta ran the game for them against Chelsea, their biggest threat all night.

[Wullie]

Fucking hell. With that news and after watching them tonight, I think Man Utd will pick them off.

[Dinho lad]

iniesta, abidal and alves out. argh. Puyol and silvinho will probably replace the 2 defenders.

 

EDIT: Also Marques is out.(Cacares could replace him.)

 

Their defence is not going to look great, is it?

[Ridman]

I wonder if the player of the year will start...

[Astroblack]

Great news. Iniesta's really good, he'd destroy the United middle, glad he could miss out.

[TRon]

Just showcases Man U's strength in depth tbh. Like us, one or two injuries to key players for Barca and they're fucked.

 

 

[The Prophet]

Just showcases Man U's strength in depth tbh. Like us, one or two injuries to key players for Barca and they're f***ed.

 

 

 

Everyone has their key players. Man United struggled when their defence was plagued with injuey ans suspension not too long ago.

[LiquidAK]

Just showcases Man U's strength in depth tbh. Like us, one or two injuries to key players for Barca and they're f***ed.

 

 

 

Everyone has their key players. Man United struggled when their defence was plagued with injuey ans suspension not too long ago.

 

Yup, lose Rooney, Ronaldo and Vidic and they'd struggle too.

[Disco]

Fletcher definitely out

[Taylor Swift]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=645234&sec=uefachampionsleague&cc=5739

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta is confident he will be fit for the Champions League final against Manchester United after tests today showed no long-term damage to his right thigh.

 

GettyImages

 

Iniesta: Only a small tear

Iniesta sustained the injury in last night's 3-3 draw with Villarreal at the Nou Camp and it was feared he would miss the Rome showpiece.

 

But the 25-year-old is optimistic he will be fit to line up against Sir Alex Ferguson's side on May 27.

 

He underwent tests on the injury today, after which he told Sport newspaper: "I will be in Rome.

 

"It is a small tear that wasn't as bad as we thought.

 

"From here until the final I will only think about Rome.

 

"The desire that I have to play in this final is going to help (my recovery) a lot."

 

Barcelona's official website was also positive on Iniesta's recovery period after confirming the Spain international has a "two-centimetre tear in the muscle in his right thigh".

 

 

 

 

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