Real Football (Soccer to you Yanks) Thread

[Springsteen]

Big night of football ahead. Benfica vs Chelsea where Benfica could do a lot of damage to them. Chelsea need to get an away goal because Benfica are a fast attacking side and could get an away goal in a week. Everyone's favourite second team at the moment APOEL play Real Madrid at home in the other quarter final. I'd be astounded if APOEL even got a goal tonight but one can dream. If Real get as much as a score draw it's over. And the cup games with Sunderland playing Everton (fancy Sunderland there actually) and Tottenham vs Bolton in that re-arranged game, again I fancy the home side.

 

[porterjack]

and,we've gone from being 9 points adrift to 1 point adrift with a far superior goal difference

Mainly coz Portsmouth lost 10 points

 

[Springsteen]

Chelsea won 1-0 which is a very good result away, they should see out the second leg. Real Madrid win 3-0 at APOEL which puts them into the semi finals. Spurs beat Bolton 3-1 and Everton look to be heading through, 2-0 up at Sunderland.

 

[skyblue]

Mainly coz Portsmouth lost 10 points

some 10 years ago we were £65m in debt through bad management,so the crown jewels were sold,keane,bellamy,hadji,kirkland,hedman,chippo,huckerby...all international quality players,we ended up with a very poor team which soon got relegated,we always managed to stave off administration,we had a team of loan players,journeymen..its only now that most of the squad are under contract...pompey are now in administration for the 3rd time,do i pity them?,no i dont.whats happened there is rank bad management...i do however pity the fans,amongst the loyalist and most vocal in football,even when the team are losing badly

at the end of the day you reap what you sow

 

[Springsteen]

Portsmouth's situation is totally their own doing, the signs were there from 2008 onwards (after they won the FA cup) and had financial plans to push on. The season after they found themselves in trouble financially, and then in 2010 they went down after the points deduction, and have been falling ever since. I would also cast some blame on the "Fit and proper person's test" the FA allegedly has, they've had a lot of owners since 2008, and they've made the club awful financially. There's a few clubs in debt in football today, but it's how you manage the debt that matters. Portsmouth haven't got a clue. I hope they go out of business, then they can start again.

 

[Springsteen]

Barcelona beat Milan 3-1 last night to qualify for the Champions League semi's. Deserved win for Barca, two Messi penalties in the first half followed by a Iniesta goal in the second half. Bayern Munich beat Marseille 2-0 (4-0 on aggregate) to join them. Chelsea should see off Benfica tonight (1-0 up from the away leg) and Real Madrid will, without a shadow of a doubt, qualify, with a 3-0 first leg lead over APOEL and the second leg being at the Bernabeu. They'll win 6 or 7-0.

Chelsea would meet Barcelona in the semi's and Bayern Munich would meet Real Madrid. In the four previous occasions Chelsea have met Barca in the knockout stage, Barca have progressed twice and Chelsea once. 99/00 Barca beat Chelsea 6-4 overall, 04/05 Chelsea progressed 5-4 overall, 05/06 Barca won 3-2 overall while in 08/09 Barca won somewhat controversially 1-1 on away goals. I hope Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid is as good as the 2001 semi final.

 

[Zorak]

I had the misfortune of watching last nights game in the company of Milan fans. They honestly, honestly(!) believed they were robbed.

 

[Springsteen]

I really couldn't see how, and that's even with my love for Barcelona. The first penalty was certainly a trip, and the second, Nesta had his hands all over Busquets. I thought Ambrosini was very fortunate to stay on the pitch last night, as well as Nesta. Amazing to see Seedorf still playing though, what a man.

The FA still aren't budging from Chelsea playing on Sunday April 15th (FA Cup semi) and possibly/likely Wednesday April 18th (CL semi). Personally I don't sympathise with them because a/ they have the squad to cope with 2 games in 3 days b/ they don't travel out of London and c/ they are Chelsea. Fixture congestion happens, live with it. We've had a lot of it over the years, and almost always coped (the 94/95 run-in for example, 96/97 run in, few more).

 

[Zorak]

I really couldn't see how, and that's even with my love for Barcelona. The first penalty was certainly a trip, and the second, Nesta had his hands all over Busquets. I thought Ambrosini was very fortunate to stay on the pitch last night, as well as Nesta. Amazing to see Seedorf still playing though, what a man. .

Agree. I was shocked with how badly they played. Especially after the first leg where they really harried barca. They didn't seem to give a shit.

 

[skyblue]

Barcelona beat Milan 3-1 last night to qualify for the Champions League semi's. Deserved win for Barca, two Messi penalties in the first half followed by a Iniesta goal in the second half. Bayern Munich beat Marseille 2-0 (4-0 on aggregate) to join them. Chelsea should see off Benfica tonight (1-0 up from the away leg) and Real Madrid will, without a shadow of a doubt, qualify, with a 3-0 first leg lead over APOEL and the second leg being at the Bernabeu. They'll win 6 or 7-0.

Chelsea would meet Barcelona in the semi's and Bayern Munich would meet Real Madrid. In the four previous occasions Chelsea have met Barca in the knockout stage, Barca have progressed twice and Chelsea once. 99/00 Barca beat Chelsea 6-4 overall, 04/05 Chelsea progressed 5-4 overall, 05/06 Barca won 3-2 overall while in 08/09 Barca won somewhat controversially 1-1 on away goals. I hope Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid is as good as the 2001 semi final.

ahem:ninja

 

[Springsteen]

You know, I originally put three times but as I was writing it I remembered the 99/00 meeting, but didn't edit it. Well spotted though.

Chelsea 1-0 up through a Lampard penalty, Benfica down to 10 men, stupid foul. Real Madrid 2-0, Ronaldo and Kaka goals.

 

[Springsteen]

A fantastic 0-0 between Real Madrid and Valencia at the Bernabeu. Probably the best 0-0 you'll ever see. Could have easily ended up 9-5 to Real who had the more chances (about 76, compared to Valencia's 44) but it was two top Spanish sides going at it, a good old ding dong.

Lead for Real is 4 points. Not brilliant considering it was 10 a few weeks ago, and they still have to play Atletico away, Bilbao away and Barcelona away. It's going to the wire.

 

[TGLucario475]

I can honestly see La Liga going to the last day, and if all goes to plan, then a "grand final" would happen in Munich. Oh how tasty that would be!

 

[Springsteen]

2007 was the best end to a Title race I've ever seen, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla could have all won it. Real only needed to win, Barca needed to win and hoped Real didn't, and Sevilla needed to win and hope Real lost and Barca didn't win. In the end Real beat Mallorca 3-1, Barca beat Gimnastic 5-1 and Sevilla lost 1-0 to Villarreal.

 

[Springsteen]

Barcelona beat Getafe 4-0 at the Nou Camp. Alexis got the first after 13 minutes with a sweeping finish into the corner, then it was a bit of a struggle as Getafe put up a resilient display, but not many can stop Messi, who added a second after playing a wonderful wall-pass with Iniesta and firing into the top corner. Alexis added a third before Pedro scored the fourth. Barcelona were always in control, dominated possession as usual. Over to Real Madrid who play Atletico at the Calderon tomorrow night, the gap is a point.

 

[skyblue]

I can honestly see La Liga going to the last day, and if all goes to plan, then a "grand final" would happen in Munich. Oh how tasty that would be!

dont write munich or chelsea off

 

[Springsteen]

I think Bayern might beat Real. They have a good side and if Gomez turns up, they could find it difficult. Chelsea need to get 2009 out of their minds. Yes it was unlucky, but you can't dwell on these things and just focus on trying to beat Barcelona. A smaller pitch like Stamford Bridge will suit Barcelona well though, because the likes of Xavi and Iniesta will stick closer together and have high possession. They also need to play Drogba, he's always caused Barca problems.

 

[Zorak]

Bayern have been hit and miss this season. But they're more than capable of getting results against the very best.

 

[Springsteen]

That minority of Chelsea fans, what a bunch of classless cunts. Singing songs of a derogatory nature during the minute's silence for Hillsbrough and Piermario Morosini (That Italian player who died yesterday on the pitch). Though sadly it doesn't totally surprise me given their reputation as a club.

 

[Springsteen]

Aw man, that's not even close to being in. How can Atkinson even justify giving that? There is no way on this earth that that ball crosses the line. This game should be 1-1 now, it isn't because of awful officiating. Atkinson should be heavily demoted for this. It's an absolute joke.

"Chelsea's first team doctor Eva Canero supervising David Luiz's removal"

That's not the only thing she'd be supervising if I was injured