The UEFA Champions League 2010/11 Thread

[ausbarca]

I was kind of rooting for Man Utd to win the CL when the semis draw was made, and now I'm definitely rooting for them. I didn't see any of the press conferences but I reckon José said something about the ref and Pep acted like Pepe was actually fairly sent off. The same thing happened against Chelsea, didn't it? They were clearly robbed and then a great goal by Iniesta kind of "erased" the biased refereeing? And now Pepe gets wrongly sent off and Messi goes a good 15/20yards unchallenged in the area where Pepe should've been, scores a good goal and it somehow it makes it "erase" the unfairness of the sending off. As if, once again, somehow the great tiki-taka should be rewarded even against the rules. "tiki-taka" is the reason americans don't really like football; Barça's last 20yards are great because of Messi, other than that their short range passing and positioning is very good because they have technically gifted players. I for once prefer styles like that of Porto, Arsenal, even Man Utd.




And this is someone who actually prefers Barcelona over Real Madrid talking.

are you mourinho in disguise?? lol sorry, however your prediction of the post match rants were pretty much spot on.

i dont agree with this concept of 'erasing' moments of a match by scoring, and if you're so upset about it then why aren't you posting the exact same thing in every single match review thread, i fail to see how not just mourinho, but a substantial amount of football fans fail to recognise a trend of mourinho using the same tactics against barcelona for 4 or 5 games and of those 4 or 5 matches you have 3 or 4 red cards. so you're trying to tell me that ignorance for a man like jose mourinho is nothing to be worried about. ok so madrid won the copa del rey which they thoroughly deserved, madrid brought the game to barca but treaded an incredibly fine line with cards, pepe was insanely close to being sent off and its suddenly a massive surprise to alot of people when he does end up getting sent off for a studs up challenge in the front third of the pitch. 1. its unneccesary for him to be doing it that high up the pitch 2. you cant blame the referee for making a decision when he's been given something to decide, everybody knows a studs up challenge is at least a yellow card offence, depending on the referee you may even get a red which in this case happens (of which it is most certainly not the first time to happen, but what do you know madrid just dont learn).
your point about tiki taka...it doesnt really make sense. americans not liking football or "soccerrrr" has little if any bearing on a club's philosophy, their tried and tested manifesto of winning football matches, but not only that but to those who actually understand football. i'm pretty sure most football fans would agree if you dont like the way barcelona can play on their best day (without the play acting of busquets, alves, pedro and co. which i totally do not endorse) then football really isnt for you. actually i find it quite ironic that americans can sit through a whole nfl match and yet find football boring when its inherently played on another dimension when compared to other sports (gridiron in particular).

yeah also your point about barca being good because they have technically gifted players, doesnt really make sense either. if that were how football really worked, man for man individual talent then real madrid should have won hands down. **** man they could have played a second string madrid team against barcelona and it would still be pretty close. barcelona's style of play is all about the team, for example barcelona have scored less goals whilst a certain carles puyol has not played for them this season which couldnt possible make any sense considering he's a defender unless a) he's der kaiser (whilst i'll admit i love puyol, he's nowhere near that good) or b) it has something to do with the way the team is set up to play.

all in all, barca won, suck it, good night

 

[Zakov]

I just can't imagine Real Madrid fans being too happy, even if they came out with the 0-0. I for one know that I would be very disappointed if I ever saw Barca play like that. Especially as Real do have great attacking players in their team - enough to fill the bench. And Barcelona's defense was far from its best (which some still think isn't that good). Do you have no belief in being able to score against us? Instead you put everybody behind the ball, not even press unless the ball is a bit loose or the player turns their back? Foul everyone in sight?

In the first encounter this season, I watched that game and thought Real did try to attack Barca and it was a bit out of character from Jose, knowing that this sort of tactic is suicidal against Barca.

And they got hammered 5-0. I'm sure the fans would prefer not to witness another slaughter of their team.

I thought Diarra did a great job shackling the Barca attacks in the first half, only restricting Villa and Xavi to difficult goal scoring chances. It was clear the tactic was working when they were playing with 11 men.

I can see why Pepe's card was handed out but I can also see why Real's fans are upset with the manner it came about. The half-time show was just nonsense, and I think Pinto's sending off from the bench might've affected the ref's decision to send Pepe off.

 

[mnj2x]

Either way, I find it hard to sympathize with a team whose game plan with 11 men was to allow as little football to be played as possible. You can say it is the best way to beat Barcelona, but that does not make it respectable. Can you imagine being a Madrid fan and paying god-knows-what to see your team play in the semifinals of the Champions League, only to see them destroy any offensive play on either end?

If you try to play football against this current barca side..they will pick you apart. It was part of the strategy and tactic to frustrate barca and I see nothing wrong with that. Why are madrid being blasted for this is beyond me. If it had been any other team, then yes you can lambast madrid for playing defensively. The tactic and strategy was clearly frustrating barca...they had abundance of possession but they did fck all with it.

The thing is..the most important player in the midfield for madrid was sent off. And barca went on to win. I agree with mourinho..the game was destined for 0-0 before the sending off.

 

[poet11]

I just can't imagine Real Madrid fans being too happy, even if they came out with the 0-0. I for one know that I would be very disappointed if I ever saw Barca play like that. Especially as Real do have great attacking players in their team - enough to fill the bench. And Barcelona's defense was far from its best (which some still think isn't that good). Do you have no belief in being able to score against us? Instead you put everybody behind the ball, not even press unless the ball is a bit loose or the player turns their back? Foul everyone in sight?

And then when you get penalized for your foulplay, you pretty much accuse Barcelona of bribing the UEFA and say you would be ashamed to win like this? But you would be proud to "win 3 points" by kicking the players and wrestling?

Some people who believe in the myth that Barca cannot be beaten if you try and attack or play a bit to build up an attack is non-sense. What point u are making here is correct about not being brave to field the superb attackers Real have at their disposal. BUT you must know that the players that are their are simply different and cannot compete to keep the ball the way Barca play. Barca play a possession game so its difficult to avoid fouls which attract booking. Apart from bookings due to fouls you concede possession. Again you have to win the ball back and think fast enough to make a meaningful pass. The creative midfielders are Xabi Alonso, Kaka, Ozil.

Xabi Alonso- superb passing range but is not flexible and fast enough. if you pressurize him its easy to win the ball back.

Kaka- skillful, fast, good passer in the final third but he is not versatile enough and his best and in my opinion only position is behind two strikers in the Milan diamond) formation(4-3-1-2 NOT 4-4-2 diamond).

Ozil- pretty much same as Kaka. a final third player. more versatile than him and flexible but he is 0 if you don't feed him.

The rest around the these are mostly flair players who are best utilized for a counterattacking team. Again if you don't feed them often its meaningless.

Now the point is why not try and why not attack even though Barcelona defense is not as good? Jose wanted a draw and did not really want to attack at all. Firstly there were important players who were on a yellow and if you attack Barca they have players to create an opening within no time. you most possibly gonna get sent off or booked to stop that or u can only pray for them to be wasteful. There was really not another option at that particular situation specially when you have a tube light like Ramos.

The UEFA thing it can be and cannot be. Theres foul play in every big club. People in charge know it but don't care about it a hell lot due to some reason or another. After all theres a lot at stake and its more of a business than a sport nowadays.

 

[Sevillista]

Sevillista you support Sevilla right, then if you win a CL like the way you thought is a bad advert to football scoring only lucky goals through out the whole tournament would you not celebrate ??? What do you prefer to see??? Pedro directly running at a standing player with loads of pace to earn a foul and booking for the opposition . Busquets' reaction for touching an opposition players ass as if he was shot by a sniper. And players surrounding and forcing the referee to act on situations. Dani Alves complaining Ronaldo is not humble enough to be the best player in the world and rolling all over the pitch for minimum of contacts.

If u find Pepe's challenge so dangerous then u should watch PL leagues game on a regular basis. I can challenge you will be literally petrified if u think that was so dangerous. The ball was in a perfect position to be won and he went for it which is what he was supposed to.

Yes Mourinho has got a point. Its becoming more than a coincidence and happening on a regular basis. UEFA overrule refereeing decisions to let Iniesta play in the next CL match. Pep Guardiola uses Mourinho's tactic of earning a yellow card to be free of suspension to face Real Madrid no fine no nothing. People even don't notice. Decisions that go against their opposition are just not normal. Van Persie second yellow card was meaningless. I saw Villa kicking the ball in a game against Almeria(not sure) out of frustration no one notices??? great.
What do you expect a coach to do??? crucify his player for something immoral or foul play??? thats nonsense. If you come out to defend this saying Pep never complains and stuff then why did he start it in the first place about Jose being happy having a Portuguese referee??? Then Jose replies and then he again replies in a disgusting way again defends himself by saying Jose used PEP in his comment thats why he replied. What a joke.

Listen Im not gonna claim one is more of a good man or one is a better team and all that. The thing is why does a team like Barcelona full of excellence needs to playact in situations and then run their mouth we are the better team we played the best football and all that??? Its not like they need to do it. If you don't consider that foul play then you must have something against Real Madrid.

There's a lot of stuff in here that is just irrelevant or not at all a response to what I was saying, so I will just respond to a few points.

1) If Sevilla won the CL defending, I would celebrate like crazy, but I wouldn't be proud of the tactics, and I would be embarrassed if we did so with a roster like Madrid's.
2) Going for 50-50 ball studs-first is not acceptable in the EPL either.
3) Is there any evidence that Iniesta purposely got a yellow card? I'm not sure, I haven't looked into it much.
4) The only *blatant* help Barcelona has received from refs has been that absurd RvP yellow, and some penalties against Chelsea three years ago. The rest, while arguably incorrect, have been plausible.
5) I never defended Barcelona's playacting. It upsets me too.

 

[Socrates]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwPQ0fInwx8&feature=player_embedded

From the Copa del Ray final....was worse than Pepe's tackle as it actually made contact. Not even a yellow card was given. Sow how is Pepe redcarded? Riddle me that?

Sevillista you forgot 2006 and the disallowed Sheva goal.

 

[Arnau]

Wasn't even disallowed because the referee whistle much before Sheva heather and Valdés don't even try to stop it. Spot crying and congratule the victor, bitch.

 

[4ndr3i]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwPQ0fInwx8&feature=player_embedded

From the Copa del Ray final....was worse than Pepe's tackle as it actually made contact. Not even a yellow card was given. Sow how is Pepe redcarded? Riddle me that?

Xabi Alonso didn't do a 360 jump like Alves did.

 

[Sevillista]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwPQ0fInwx8&feature=player_embedded

From the Copa del Ray final....was worse than Pepe's tackle as it actually made contact. Not even a yellow card was given. Sow how is Pepe redcarded? Riddle me that?

That ref blew the call. Riddle solved. Busquets should have been carded.

 

[poet11]

So far during 2010-2011 season Barcelona played 6 matches against top 10 clubs, according to the current UEFA club coefficient table. Here are all of them: 29 November 2010 Barcelona - Real 5 – 0 (against 10) 16 February 2011 Arsenal - Barcelona 2 – 1 8 March 2011 Barcelona - Arsenal 3 – 1 (against 10) 16 April 2011 Real - Barcelona 1 – 1 (against 10) 20 April 2011 Barcelona - Real 0 – 1 (against 10) 27 April 2011 Real - Barcelona 0 – 2 (against 10) Barcelona played just one game against 11 men and lost it (to Arsenal). (won 3, drew 1, and lost 1). You are welcome to draw your own conclusions. Yes, very good. Has it occurred to anyone that perhaps it is more likely that fouls will be committed on players of a team so comfortable on the ball, and so difficult to take it off?? The point is not how many, but were these sending offs legitimate???

Okay forget the UEFA related stuff. This is just not done. Its un*******believabe that it has been happening way too much for a long time not just this season. Anyways its not a matter to consider if I support Arsenal and Real but what pisses me off more that why does a team like that has to go through with a dark side in their victory specially when it comes to facing a strong opposition? Trust me since I have been a football freak I haven't seen a team that play like this ever. With a player in Messi. He is the simplest player who is the most difficult to figure out. No fancy footwork or step overs and all that still defenders of the highest level can't understand how to stop him. But all those stuff the others do just pisses me off more due to the astonishing excellence. Specially Pedro, Dani Alves. I hate Sergio Busquets. He is one of the players I hate the most. Anyways Im not really on Madrid's side for yesterdays game because it was the worst game I have seen this year. It was only Messi 2nd goal. Rest was just nonsense even Di Maria is a player who pisses me off for his diving and acting.

Again I forgot to Mention that yellow card that Valdes got for Marcelo's penalty. Whatever he did I don't know and it was a dive for sure but conceding a penalty like that is a yellow without a second thought.

 

[poet11]

Xabi Alonso didn't do a 360 jump like Alves did.

As I said in a post Xabi Alonso isn't flexible enough

 

[Help?]

Since Pepe went for the ball and did NOT even touch Dani Alves, why won't Real just appeal his red card? Seems like they have a good case to me or is that not allowed?

 

[poet11]

They won't because they know it would be a waste of time. Its only allowed when Barca appeal for a refereeing decision to be turned around. Anyways you must pray that Rooney, Vidic, Scholes and co keep their cool.

 

[MaestroZidane]

Had you beaten us fair and square, I would have come here and congratulated you, Barca fans. Unfortunately, it's sad that Barca players had to lower themselves to play acting, in order to get the advantage on us. Were we playing defensive (and maybe boring) football?, yes we were. but does that actually mean we should have lost the way we did??? no it doesn't. So whatever, celebrate your win, I know you don't care what others think about how you have gone about to gain the advantage on us... Even if it comes from tweets from other players.

Hala madrid!!

 

[Arnau]

Sore loser. Didn't Ramos made a handball at the 3rth minute? didn't Adebayor and Marcelo attack Pedro and Busquets? i could make a huge list of invidious. SORE LOSER

 

[poet11]

ok all is great but why did UEFA change the referee???

Portuguese referee Pedro Proença was chosen at first to officiate this match. Then Guardiola came out and said- "Mourinho must be happy with the choice of referee because they are compatriots." Next day, UEFA change the referee to self-confessed Messi lover Wolfgang Stark after which Guardiola says- "I never meant to imply that I wanted the referee changed or that Proenca would favour Mourinho." WTF?

 

[Sevillista]

Had you beaten us fair and square, I would have come here and congratulated you, Barca fans. Unfortunately, it's sad that Barca players had to lower themselves to play acting, in order to get the advantage on us.

Barcelona did plenty of playacting (as did Madrid), but it was not decisive in the match.

ok all is great but why did UEFA change the referee???

Portuguese referee Pedro Proença was chosen at first to officiate this match. Then Guardiola came out and said- "Mourinho must be happy with the choice of referee because they are compatriots." Next day, UEFA change the referee to self-confessed Messi lover Wolfgang Stark after which Guardiola says- "I never meant to imply that I wanted the referee changed or that Proenca would favour Mourinho." WTF?

The Portuguese ref was never chosen, that was just a rumor.


If you guys think Barcelona has been favored by the refs, you should be upset with the refs, not with Barcelona.

 

[Arnau]

People its upset with Barcelona because we win, same happened with the ******* spanish national team. Firts they are praised by whole world and now both are team of cheaters and the anti-football.

 

[Filipower]

That's because I reckon people are a bit disappointed that such supposedly great teams end up being benefited by blatant refereeing mistakes.

 

[Arnau]

Ok, lets play mou's game