Barcelona x Manchester United - UEFA Champions League

The game starts in a few hours and it's a massive Messi x C. Ronaldo "thing". I believe neither will be the key player of the game, I actually believe Cristiano will try too much and play just marginally better than what he plays for Portugal (where he's better staying on the bench) and will lose the direct confrontation with Messi, who in turn will have a few good plays but will have his performance overrated despite the likes of Henry/Eto'o/Xavi/Rooney playing better.

Manchester is a very well structure side that plays the same way with the same people, being very solid from goalie to striker, while Barcelona has an unreliable goalkeeper, one trusty defender (Puyol) who does silly things on occasion (fouling Henry badly in WC 2006 that led to a France goal), a creative midfield that lacks on the defensive side and a powerful offensive trio. However Barça relies too much on getting inside the box for shots, while Man U tries long shots with regularity.

In the end I hope Barcelona wins but logic says Manchester United. The score could range from 1x0 to 3x1 to either side. What do you think?






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2009 07:40PM by Guimengo.

My gut instinct says it'll go to penalties, but I'd like United to win it 2-1 or 3-1 or something, and control the game, but leave it open a little for Barcelona to show their stuff.

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Everyone knows that million-to-one chances happen 9 times out of 10; indeed, it's a common requirement in fairy tales. If the human didn't have to overcome huge odds, what would be the point? Terry Pratchett - The Science Of Discworld

GPGSL S5 Race driver for IED.

I can't see Man United doing anything other than what Chelsea did in the Semis, which will be to sit back, get two banks of four behind the ball, and let Barcelona have a majority of it in front of them. It would be silly of them to go all out attack, because the likes of Messi and Eto'o, if given space in behind, can always score goals.
Barca have no plan B whatsoever though, so if United park the team bus and counter attack like they did against Arsenal, I expect them to win 1 or 2-0.
That said, I want Barca to win.
If only there was a way for Barcelona to win and for Eto'o and Henry to be denied winner's medals!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2009 08:14PM by salvasirignano.

If Man U manage to lose this they deserve every laugh and then some. Barca have half of their defence missing, Henry unfit, and their most important player, Iniesta, unfit too.

//edit: Man U won't be doing any bus parking. They're no better at that than Barca are. They're not as fluent and precise as Barca or Arsenal going forward, but they commit a lot of men forward and do so at pace.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2009 08:15PM by gav.

Let the laughing begin I guess...

First 10 minutes it looked like Man U were going to cream Barca. The Barca back 4 looked woeful. Oh how a goal changes things.

Ripped. Apart.

Iniesta and Xavi were something else.

Thank heavens I was wrong.
Man United weren't just beaten, they were outclassed.
Football is the winner of this year's Champions League.

Missed it as I was at work . Got the replay coming at 10 pm.

23 minutes of the 2nd half and so far I really agree about Iniesta being the player of the game, wow. Christian Bale Jr (Messi) did well but nothing special, he's missed more plays than got them right. Don't even know how many times he lost the ball compared to the 4 times he got "something". Enjoying Cristiano Ronaldo's frustation . Edit: And the Puyol dive fest :P.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2009 06:59AM by Guimengo.

One of the two announcers, Tommy Smith, on the Paul Scholes tackle/act of violence: "oh.. definitely a yellow card I'd say". That's agression, blatant red! And more laughs at Cristiano .

Paul Scholes is a dirty little @#$%&.
Karma says he should have had his legs broken a good few times in his career.

It was very entertaining to watch the whole thing, except for the poor ESPN commentary. I read that Guardiola did a quick honoring of Paolo Maldini, that's a very nice touch . To be fair to Cristiano Ronaldo, he seemed like he was the only one truly trying to do something but his teammates didn't step up. And Tévez should have been there from the start, tsk tsk. Messi just clinched FIFA Player of the Year for 2009, even if he doesn't play the best this year.

in the end the best team won fantastic header from 5,5 messi :D

SHEEPY Wrote:
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> in the end the best team won fantastic header
> from 5,5 messi :D


That was a good run by him and a big mistake from the defense for leaving such a massive gap, he was so free from any defenders that he could have tied his shoes, taken a nap, and still would have been fine to hit the ball . If you want to see a good header by a small person I suggest you look at Brazil x Sweden for the semi-final in the 1994 World Cup, by Romário (after a milimetrically perfect cross).

Barça YAYAYAYAYAYAY

Dont blaim me for my english im just proud that im from the Netherlands
Greetz Nick

A little too soon for this but does anyone know a list of teams already confirmed for the next Champions League? I know of a few countries but there are many leagues I don't follow and don't know up to what position they give out spots or UEFA quali spots.

There are going to be a few new faces at least in the Champions League, among them VFL Wolfsburg, AZ Alkmaar and Rubin Kazan, off the top of my head.

Poor, poor match

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