UEFA Champions League

Big Dave wrote:How do you manage to turn this into a spurs/arse thread, Spurs aren't even in Europe.

I was going to praise Arsenal and it just felt wrong, so I needed a dig to balance my Karma

And JK, it wasn't a penalty because the defender clearly and cleanly player the ball. Walcott, to his credit, didn't just do the traditional fall over the leading leg, unfortunately, his attempt to avoid said leg, rather than jumping over it or turning away from the defender, was to turn into the defender (clearly assuming that the leg wouldn't have a torso involved) and the trailing leg, which was tucked under the defender in such a way that he led with his knee, is what caught him.

He can't even claim that he was brought down as he turned with the ball as he didn't start to turn until the ball was gone.

But as I said before. Good result.

What a goal from Ronaldo. 39.6 yards, unreal.

Hopefully that sets us back to how we were pre-Liverpool. The two semis should both be epic, I'm pretty confident we can beat the Arse over two legs. It's just that we're at home first, it's definitely a disadvantage.

Messi greatest player in the world?

When ever ive seen him hes been a diving lil shit! and they complain about ronaldo! remeber a few years ago when he rolled around on the floor about 40 times trying to get a chelsea player sent off.

Hopefully Chelsea go through! think the Spanish league isnt as strong as some say as Barca didnt seem that great as everyone says.

I predicte that Wenger will blame tonights result on Swine Flu! After all Vela had to be checked out for it the other day.

Whoops!!!

You can not win anything with a team full of kids (other than a scrap in the league cup). You need a mixture of experience.

Nice to see the fans leave after 60mins of a Champions League Semi-final because they were 3 goals down. Try having the season we've had. NOT ONCE DID OUR FANS LEAVE THAT EARLY.

Arsenal - The breeding ground for big clubs.

Wenger looked like he had just been raped all night

Poor Fletcher, I must admit I thought it was a penalty first time I saw it so im not blaming the referee but every time I saw the replay the decision just looked worse and worse!

Onto the final now then if im honest I would rather play Barca than Chelsea. I know Barcas front line is awesome but I still think their back line is terrible and if United hit them on the break they will take them

That was funny

Wasnt it just

Drogba is an idiot, no doubt he'll gt a suspension for acting like a dick at the end. At least he was showing a bit of passion though!

Im sure most people will be wanting Barcelona to win the final which is funny as they are a bunch of big headed diving cheats! never have liked them and will be hoping for Man United to win the final! find it funny that people keep going Ronaldo needs to prove it on the big stage time and time again, and he has time and time again, yet they never say the same for Messi who seems to be the golden child of football, Barcelona are a good team in a very VERY bad league.....

Barca being without Dani Alves and Eric Abidal for the CL Final is a big boost for Man U, Ronaldo should have a field day in Rome, downer that we may not have Darren Fletcher for the final, hes had a great season, hope the appeal is successful!

The Ayatollah wrote:Barca being without Dani Alves and Eric Abidal for the CL Final is a big boost for Man U, Ronaldo should have a field day in Rome, downer that we may not have Darren Fletcher for the final, hes had a great season, hope the appeal is successful!

I think his ban stands.

As always, if I'm in on a Wednesday I'll watch the first half of the Champions League then The Apprentice, which is far better television. With the amount of replays and highlights you get these days it makes sense, even with the BBC iplayer!

Here's my contribution to the thread.




Here's a funny picture.


It will be interesting to here Sweatsock's opinion of the ref. There certainly seemed to be a few clear but penalties not given IMO, but not anti-English conspiracy!

I only saw the last 15 minutes or so as I was on a game myself. The only penalty decision I've seen so far is the Pique handball and for me, yes, that's a penalty. Haven't really seen the refs view point of it but I'd assume it wasn;t the best as it looked a pretty clear handball to me. I wouldn't neccesarily expect the assistant to get involved here though as it's halfway across the pitch and it's quite difficult to judge intent, which the key factor here, from that far away. The one right at the end was never a penalty and Ballack's reaction was out of order. I notice how no one from Chelsea or the English press has come out and praised the red card for Abidal which was a great bit of teamwork from the ref and the stand-side assistant.

Still, even if the ref had turned down 10 stonewall penalties, there is absolutely no justification of the Chelsea players, Ballack and Drogba in particular. Professional players acting like that only encourages the bampots and idiots on the public parks to think it is acceptable to behave in that manner towards a ref. Bit of a sore subject for me at the minute tbh since I had to report a coach for violent conduct against myself last week.

I honestly rate Tom Ovrebo really highly and even if he did have a stinker I'd still have him up there in the top 5 or 6 in Europe.

Sweatsock wrote:I honestly rate Tom Ovrebo really highly and even if he did have a stinker I'd still have him up there in the top 5 or 6 in Europe.

Are you sure? I mean, apparently he's Norwegian so therefore shouldn't ref at this level...

It was hilarious!

Add Bosingwa to the list of shame - called the ref a thief on portuguese TV and now has asked to retract the comment in the hope he'll get away with it...

The Pique one was, I thought, strange. As the ball came towards him, he actually turned his torso away from it before it hit his arm, but the strange thing is that if he HADN't done that it would have hit his chest instead. I can only think that the ref took that as a sign that there was no intent as he didn't gain by exposing his arm to the ball inj the first place.

Just guessing...

Oh, and yes, I want Barca. I called them in the quarters. And to claim they'll be the only team in the final with diving cheats is a litle excessive. Man Utd's games always suddenly seem to include a large number of set piece opportunities in the final third as games wind down if they're not leading because of the sudden rise of the dreaded visious tripping grass on the pitch whenever an attack seems to break down.

What a disgrace Drogba is, I would have him banned for the next season's Champions' League. If he didn't miss the sitter in the 1st half Chelsea would have got through, his mistake was just as bad as any the referee may have made.

Horrible man and horrible actions.

ShowStealer wrote:

Sweatsock wrote:I honestly rate Tom Ovrebo really highly and even if he did have a stinker I'd still have him up there in the top 5 or 6 in Europe.

Are you sure? I mean, apparently he's Norwegian so therefore shouldn't ref at this level...

Oh how I cringed when Redknapp came out with that crap. Let's ignore the fact he's refereed at Euro 2008 and will be at the 2010 World Cup as well as having handled a hell of a lot of top level CL & UEFA cup games along with internationals. He was also the top referee in Norway in something like 5 out of the last 6 seasons.

Sweatsock wrote:I only saw the last 15 minutes or so as I was on a game myself. The only penalty decision I've seen so far is the Pique handball and for me, yes, that's a penalty. Haven't really seen the refs view point of it but I'd assume it wasn;t the best as it looked a pretty clear handball to me. I wouldn't neccesarily expect the assistant to get involved here though as it's halfway across the pitch and it's quite difficult to judge intent, which the key factor here, from that far away. The one right at the end was never a penalty and Ballack's reaction was out of order. I notice how no one from Chelsea or the English press has come out and praised the red card for Abidal which was a great bit of teamwork from the ref and the stand-side assistant.

Still, even if the ref had turned down 10 stonewall penalties, there is absolutely no justification of the Chelsea players, Ballack and Drogba in particular. Professional players acting like that only encourages the bampots and idiots on the public parks to think it is acceptable to behave in that manner towards a ref. Bit of a sore subject for me at the minute tbh since I had to report a coach for violent conduct against myself last week.

I honestly rate Tom Ovrebo really highly and even if he did have a stinker I'd still have him up there in the top 5 or 6 in Europe.

I was under the impression Anelka trips himself up . Seemed like a horrible decision to me anyway, which would probably explain why its barely getting a mention!

Sweatsock wrote:

ShowStealer wrote:

Sweatsock wrote:I honestly rate Tom Ovrebo really highly and even if he did have a stinker I'd still have him up there in the top 5 or 6 in Europe.

Are you sure? I mean, apparently he's Norwegian so therefore shouldn't ref at this level...

Oh how I cringed when Redknapp came out with that crap. Let's ignore the fact he's refereed at Euro 2008 and will be at the 2010 World Cup as well as having handled a hell of a lot of top level CL & UEFA cup games along with internationals. He was also the top referee in Norway in something like 5 out of the last 6 seasons.

wasn't he the re hat screwed up at the Euros in an Italian game or someting and led to them demanding an official UEFA apology?

Sweatsock wrote:

ShowStealer wrote:

Sweatsock wrote:I honestly rate Tom Ovrebo really highly and even if he did have a stinker I'd still have him up there in the top 5 or 6 in Europe.

Are you sure? I mean, apparently he's Norwegian so therefore shouldn't ref at this level...

Oh how I cringed when Redknapp came out with that crap. Let's ignore the fact he's refereed at Euro 2008 and will be at the 2010 World Cup as well as having handled a hell of a lot of top level CL & UEFA cup games along with internationals. He was also the top referee in Norway in something like 5 out of the last 6 seasons.

Refs should only come from the big football countries like England, otherwise we may have an incident in a world cup were a player gets booked 3 times!!

Hang on...

Adey wrote:

Sweatsock wrote:I only saw the last 15 minutes or so as I was on a game myself. The only penalty decision I've seen so far is the Pique handball and for me, yes, that's a penalty. Haven't really seen the refs view point of it but I'd assume it wasn;t the best as it looked a pretty clear handball to me. I wouldn't neccesarily expect the assistant to get involved here though as it's halfway across the pitch and it's quite difficult to judge intent, which the key factor here, from that far away. The one right at the end was never a penalty and Ballack's reaction was out of order. I notice how no one from Chelsea or the English press has come out and praised the red card for Abidal which was a great bit of teamwork from the ref and the stand-side assistant.

Still, even if the ref had turned down 10 stonewall penalties, there is absolutely no justification of the Chelsea players, Ballack and Drogba in particular. Professional players acting like that only encourages the bampots and idiots on the public parks to think it is acceptable to behave in that manner towards a ref. Bit of a sore subject for me at the minute tbh since I had to report a coach for violent conduct against myself last week.

I honestly rate Tom Ovrebo really highly and even if he did have a stinker I'd still have him up there in the top 5 or 6 in Europe.

I was under the impression Anelka trips himself up . Seemed like a horrible decision to me anyway, which would probably explain why its barely getting a mention!

Nah, there's a shirt pull and minimal contact with the legs but for me it's enough to put Anelka down due to his momentum and merits the foul and red card.

Bit quiet here....

Shaunj4 wrote:Bit quiet here....

That's because JK isn't posting for the foreseeable future! No doubt he would have enjoyed last night more than if his own won the champions league.

The best 2 teams of the tournament were in the final and the best team won. Not really much to add.

Yesterday was sleep day for me

Barca deserved it on the night, the infuriating thing was how they didnt have to get out of third gear to do it

ShowStealer wrote:

Shaunj4 wrote:Bit quiet here....

That's because JK isn't posting for the foreseeable future!

It'll be quiet for a good long while then. He's unlikely to be back for a while if at all.

Why so Gari?