UCL - Chelsea FC vs. FC Barcelona {P & R}

[dobrin1980]

Did you see the first foul from Del Horno..? That was a 2 red card foul...

exactly
some people concetrate on the second situation (on purpose) and say its not even for a yellow but look at the first DeL Horno - Messi clash...it was horrible...the spaniard nearly tore his shorts...i wonder Messi continued playing

 

[Dreath]

exactly
some people concetrate on the second situation (on purpose) and say its not even for a yellow but look at the first DeL Horno - Messi clash...it was horrible...the spaniard nearly tore his shorts...i wonder Messi continued playing

NOT TEAR HIS SHORTS! MY GOD HOW DID HE PLAY ON WITH TORN SHORTS!?

First challenge could be argued to be fair, he got the ball first.

 

[Rob]

Who cares? Its done, still another 90minutes to go.

 

[PaPaGeorGeo]

18 and Argentine

Hes almost as good as Cesc

 

[Luis Ah-Hoy]

this thread rulezz, ahahah...

some classic posts from [untouchable] and [Dragan T]
and i'm a bit disapointed with some posters; but i won't mention their names...

Juss to say that... Messi owned half of the Chelsea team!!! :funny:
Best young player around, no doubt...

I think it was an harsh decision by the ref, by giving the straight red; it was a clear yellow coz Del Horno certainly didn't go for the ball! But i think he deserved the red card for the previous challenge on Messi...

But anyway... i think the best Chelsea would get is a draw; then Barcelona would own them in Nou Camp!... this Barcelona team is arguably the best team in the World right now! Chelsea showed that they're a great team... but Barça showed that they're the BEST!!!

 

[Filipower]

barça did not show they were the best, they simply showed that they were better than chelsea with one more man...i'm not saying barça isn't better, i really believe they have better players, but with a genius like mourinho, chelsea with 10 men is more fair to teams who play against him..

 

[valioso]

18 and Argentine



No way, Messi jumped up in order to protect himself from Del Horno's tackle.

It was a yellow-card offense.

i think the fact that del horno did not even attempt to play the ball is what made it red.

 

[panxoman]

busy thread.

Few minutes earlier del horno deserved the red card. That's why he received it on that fault, besides the fact that he didn't try to polay the ball

Mourinho talking about theater ... and saying that Chelsea should come with the second team to Nou Camp because they were robbed yesterday ... his cynicism has no limits.

 

[AberdeenFC]

it was just a couple of queers too scared to attack the ball and both jumped over the challenge they both thought was coming... then they both look up to the ref and roll around. quality.

 

[Ebonix]

Just watched the highlights, what the hell was Valdes doing when Barcelona conceded? Christ, I coach 15 year old keepers who can deal with crosses better.

 

[Dream Team]

Now that we're more calmed, I'll analyze the game from my point of view.

First of all, I don't see where's the controversy.

Clip 1. 31st minute.

No comment.. the ref decided to ignore it. Fortunately Messi didn't get injured.

Clip 2. 37th minute.

Del Horno's intention was only to kick Messi. I see he's adapting well to the Premiership. He combined the worst of the Premiership with the worst of la Liga. Overall a great performance.

1.Red 2.Yellow, or 1.Yellow 2.Yellow, or 1.Red 2.Red. Del Horno deserved the red card in any case.

Now Chelsea will play the victim role, like last season, so maybe they get a favour in the second leg, like last season. Though this time the second leg is at Camp Nou. When the refs favour a team, in Europe 9 out of 10 times they favour the home team, like it happened in this game. The handball of Geremi and the penalty of Terry. I think it's impossible that the ref didn't see those penalties. Probably he was too scared.



Like Rijkaard said, it wasn't the best performance this season. I think however that it was the most intelligent performance of the season. They did learn the lesson. No risks in midfield and when there was any doubt they kicked the ball away. Well done. We had the possession, even though most of the time in the first half were only passes between Puyol and Márquez. Chelsea didn't get a shot on goal until the 50th minute, Ferreira from outside the box.

The defence was excellent. Barça's weakness is the wing backs. Oleguer did excellent in the first half. Not only could stop Robben, he also created our first good opportunity. It wasn't a goal from Ronaldinho because Cech did a great save. In the second half he was worse and Robben gave him some troubles. Gio didn't have too much to do, he did his job. Sylvinho also did his job. That flank was pretty quiet. Puyol and Márquez, almost perfect. Crespo had no chance at all and he was offside all the game. Drogba was more dangerous and he had a great chance.

Edmilson helped the defence more than ever while Motta was our worst player. The substitution Motta-Larsson was a great move and later it was one of the keys of the game. Deco did his job, nothing spectacular, but who sees Barça everyweek knows how important is his presence.

About the magic trio..

Ronaldinho appeared in the last 20-30 minutes. I had the feeling that he could dribble all the players if he wanted. He's amazing. That pass to Larsson was excellent.

Eto'o. Almost invisible in the game. He couldn't do much against that crowded defence. He had a good opportunity and he scored, that's what you want from a striker.

MESSI. Man of the match. 18 years old, man. He's so vertical, a constant threat. Amazing. Perfect game by Messi. Perfect.



The game at Camp Nou will be tougher because Chelsea might find more spaces to play their conter-attacking style. Barça will need a goal at least.

We have Chelsea just where we wanted, they have to score two goals. I'm delighted.

 

[dobrin1980]

1.Red 2.Yellow, or 1.Yellow 2.Yellow, or 1.Red 2.Red. Del Horno deserved the red card in any case.

well said

 

[Ubik Valis]

sorry Dragan, your sharp wit is much to clever for me. I dont get it you unfunny dick

I rest my case.

 

[Rami]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/4742654.stm

Mourinho in a mess

By Jonathan Stevenson
BBC Sport at Stamford Bridge


Does Jose Mourinho believe it is impossible for Chelsea to lose without it being down to a mistake from an official or an act of cheating?


A year after criticising referee Anders Frisk's display in the 2-1 Champions League defeat in Barcelona, Mourinho is at it again.

This time, the Portuguese finger of fate is pointing squarely in the direction of Barcelona's teenage sensation Lionel Messi.

The Argentine was the victim of two rash challenges from Asier del Horno, the second of which prompted a straight red card from referee Terje Hauge.

True, it probably should have been a yellow card, but Del Horno was very lucky to escape a caution for an earlier knee-high tackle on Messi.

Sure, Messi was cute enough to make the most of Del Horno's recklessness with a few well-timed rolls in front of the officials, but the damage was already done.

Not so, says the special one: "How do you say cheating in Catalan?"

Classic Mourinho. But this time, the Portuguese should be embarrassed by his comments. After all, what goes around, more often than not comes around.

It is only 17 days since English football widely condemned Blues winger Arjen Robben for theatrically diving to get Liverpool keeper Jose Reina sent off in a key Premiership encounter.

There is little doubt that Robben's acting was greater than Messi's, yet Mourinho accused Reds boss Rafael Benitez of sour grapes for bringing up the incident in his post-match analysis.

Maybe, in the cold light of day, Mourinho will be able to reflect on a courageous performance from his players instead of deflect attention on to an 18-year-old.

It is certainly a display that gives Chelsea plenty of hope for the second leg in Spain.

Few teams would still be in the contest after playing for over 50 minutes with 10 men against a wonderfully talented Barca side - let alone have the temerity to take the lead while a man down.


Perhaps Mourinho's frustration is because he can see the Champions League slipping away for the second time in a row.

Last year, he had the assistant referee to blame for allowing Liverpool's goal to stand when Chelsea claimed it had not crossed the line.

This year, he has cast Messi as the villain of the piece and the architect of their downfall should Chelsea fail to overturn their deficit in Spain.

But there are so many positive aspects of Chelsea's performance at Stamford Bridge for Mourinho to believe his team can still go through.

They created a host of good chances with 10 men - including a gilt-edged one for Didier Drogba with the score at 1-1 - and until the last 20 minutes matched their illustrious opponents in every department.

So why does there always have to be an excuse for losing a game like that?

It is a shame that the culture in football deems it a necessary rather than an occasional after-match reaction.

Are the stakes too high and the rewards too great for managers to be gracious in defeat anymore?

After the pre-match pantomine surrounding that awful pitch, it is a pity that, once again, people are talking about events outside the game.

They should be disecting another wonderful game of football between two of the best teams in the world.

 

[INFESTA]

Just want to congratulate the Chelsea players for their attitude yesterday. These are the 2 best teams in the continent and, as so, any detail can influence the outcome of a match. Playing with one man down is a huge handicap for a team playing Barça, but the blues did fine and even missed a crucial goal opportunity right before Barcelona's second goal. Had they scored and this would have been a different story.

About the refereeing controversy, I think Chelsea have indeed reasons to complain, but José had that coming. Not saying the mistakes were on purpose, far from it, but UEFA and their refs certainly aren't going to forgive Mourinho for what happened exactly one year ago.

Well, I believe this is still an open match, with Barça having a 75% chance of going through.

 

[Luis Ah-Hoy]

barça did not show they were the best, they simply showed that they were better than chelsea with one more man...i'm not saying barça isn't better, i really believe they have better players, but with a genius like mourinho, chelsea with 10 men is more fair to teams who play against him..

They showed they were the best, because even tho playing against a 10-men Chelsea, i don't believe that any other team would own Chelsea like they did! Chelsea is a great team... their defence is (O_O) woowww! But Barça's attack is even better... plus, they have a very reasonable defense also!

The game at Nou Camp, will be even worse, mark my words!

BTW, nice post [Dream Team]

 

[solaimaa]

Yes, now that the tempers have calmed down a little, here's my analysis of the situation. First of all, it was an excellent game. In the Stamford bridge game last year, Barca came back to almost go through when they were down 3-0 against chelsea. Everyone said they were the only team on the planet that could fathom doing that. Yesterday, chelsea put up a tremendous fight while playing with 10 men for almost an hour, and taking the lead at one point too. This just goes to show how evenly matched the two teams are, and it's an absolute shame that one of them has to go out this early in the competition. What i wouldn't give to see a Barca vs. Chelsea final, because finals should feature the two best teams, and nobody can argue that they are the best 2 in europe at the moment.

The red card was a red card. I think mourhino's post-match comments are childish and lack professionalism to the extreme. Yes, I'm sure he's upset that he lost, but he needs to learn to be gracious in both victory and defeat. And even before Del Horno was sent off, you could tell he was struggling against messi. I know i can't make such predictions, but even if he got away with tackle 1, got a yellow for this one, i would say there's a pretty good chance that he would have committed another silly foul later in the game and gotten sent off anyway. He was clearly struggling throughout.

The buildup for eto'os goal was absolutely perfect. marquez had an amazing game, and he showed why he's such an important player for barca. his pressure caused terry to head into his own net, and the left footed cross to eto'o was just inch-perfect. motta didn't have a great game, but i think his physical prescence was very important for barca to further control midfield. we lack height as a team, so his strength is definately appreciated. he's also just come back from injury, so expect to see a much more match fit motta in the return leg, and that can only be a great thing.

in conclusion, i thought the match had a bit of everything. let's see what happens in the return leg, it's really still anyone's game. chelsea are the type of team that play their best when backed up against a corner, so they'll come out all guns blazing. yes, the pitch will make it easier for barca to play their game, but it will certainly help chelsea as well, so we'll have to be ready for some pressure. valdes needs to pick himself up and return to the form he was in towards the end of 2005, because he's starting to slack off recently. all in all though, great win for barca, and very well played by chelsea. off to camp nou!!

 

[FFC2004]

Clip 2. 37th minute.

Looks like Messi's jump scared him, then he missed the ball, momentum carried him forward after that.

We know people can miss balls like that... Pires' penalty, and the ball was dead ahaha.

 

[pede54]

Well, well, well....hohoho...
The Revenge Is The PLaTe ThaT UseS BeTTer Cold, and yesterday was the example.

Yesterday we seen in "potato field" an awesome Barça, overall in the second half, due the first half was too much tactical, passing over the Chelsea ugly play (im agree with the translator...mourinho...is better to bring the reserve players of Chelsea for to play in the second leg, due that, in order to do what did Chelsea yesterday....im sure that the reserve players could play with more motivation)

2 stupid penalty, Terry over Messi, and the clear hand of Geremi
The stupid Del Horno thing, first a directly kick in the Messi knee and after it the "don´t move, don´t jump, stay there...you will see how i take you the ball" red card (one of two things, or Del Horno plays so much to "Train Simulator" or he listened well to Terry when this last one says " To stop Ronaldinho and company you must to do by kicks")
And if a team thinks that they can win shooting a few times only...well...at this point im disagree with the translator, most of the english teams dont play of this poor way, Arsenal, Liverpool, etc.....plays much better, they play football, and dont mount the bus in the middle of the potato field.

And very nice by the Chelsea players and fans, too much speak stand up speak up, but after, when there´s a player fallen in the field, they dont stop the game, and when Eto´o have the ball, the monkey sounds??...i dont understand...how Geremi, Makelele, and Drogba can feel with this???, very dissapointing.....very sad.

We´re customary too much to the translator declarations, before and after the macth....Mourinho, please, be a bit more original...ok??

Anyway im remain with the nice play of Messi, Deco, Puyol, Marquez, Ronaldinho, Eto´o and company.

Better luck next leg blue fans...and prepare for the Camp Nou hell

P.D: I think that is possible to change the grass, im not sure, but at least i saw that when a field is of a brown color....you should to change it.

Take care

neovico
The Mind

do you base all your opinions on what you read in the Spanish press. Get a life and offer some constructive comments instead of being so dull.

 

[pede54]

Yes, now that the tempers have calmed down a little, here's my analysis of the situation. First of all, it was an excellent game. In the Stamford bridge game last year, Barca came back to almost go through when they were down 3-0 against chelsea. Everyone said they were the only team on the planet that could fathom doing that. Yesterday, chelsea put up a tremendous fight while playing with 10 men for almost an hour, and taking the lead at one point too. This just goes to show how evenly matched the two teams are, and it's an absolute shame that one of them has to go out this early in the competition. What i wouldn't give to see a Barca vs. Chelsea final, because finals should feature the two best teams, and nobody can argue that they are the best 2 in europe at the moment.

The red card was a red card. I think mourhino's post-match comments are childish and lack professionalism to the extreme. Yes, I'm sure he's upset that he lost, but he needs to learn to be gracious in both victory and defeat. And even before Del Horno was sent off, you could tell he was struggling against messi. I know i can't make such predictions, but even if he got away with tackle 1, got a yellow for this one, i would say there's a pretty good chance that he would have committed another silly foul later in the game and gotten sent off anyway. He was clearly struggling throughout.

The buildup for eto'os goal was absolutely perfect. marquez had an amazing game, and he showed why he's such an important player for barca. his pressure caused terry to head into his own net, and the left footed cross to eto'o was just inch-perfect. motta didn't have a great game, but i think his physical prescence was very important for barca to further control midfield. we lack height as a team, so his strength is definately appreciated. he's also just come back from injury, so expect to see a much more match fit motta in the return leg, and that can only be a great thing.

in conclusion, i thought the match had a bit of everything. let's see what happens in the return leg, it's really still anyone's game. chelsea are the type of team that play their best when backed up against a corner, so they'll come out all guns blazing. yes, the pitch will make it easier for barca to play their game, but it will certainly help chelsea as well, so we'll have to be ready for some pressure. valdes needs to pick himself up and return to the form he was in towards the end of 2005, because he's starting to slack off recently. all in all though, great win for barca, and very well played by chelsea. off to camp nou!!

Now thats what i'm talking about........good frigging post mate.....

And for the record, I too would be happy if Jose moaned a little less in future.