Football (Soccer)

[Catfood]

On a side note, I wonder if Beckham's dedication to AC Milan will be questioned after this, as he was the only player on the losing team smiling at 4-0 down.

nah, he created everything Milan had second half and was by far their best player. They should have played him from start. You could tell he was touched by the applause from the United fans when he came on the pitch. Seemed to me that the applause was louder for him than for park's goal just a few minutes earlier.

Real getting knocked out by Lyon was surprising and huge blow to Real, especially considering how much money they've spent and the players they have.

[Sombre]

nah, he created everything Milan had second half and was by far their best player. They should have played him from start. You could tell he was touched by the applause from the United fans when he came on the pitch. Seemed to me that the applause was louder for him than for park's goal just a few minutes earlier.

You have a point. As long as he gets into the England squad for the World Cup I'll be happy. I think he deserves it, especially given the rest of England's midfielders.

Real getting knocked out by Lyon was surprising and huge blow to Real, especially considering how much money they've spent and the players they have.

What?! I'm watching the rebroadcast now and they're up 1-0 in the 60th. I want to see this now. So much for all that money spent on Ronaldo and Kaka. No Real Madrid at the Bernabeu for the finals.

[Sombre]

UEFA Champions League tomorrow. Manchester United vs. Bayern Munich. If anyone has any free online streaming sites I can use to watch the match, please send them my way. I'll be in lecture during the match, and would love the distraction.

[polishmike]

i can hook you up but only if you hate the scum

[stereophobic]

^ Download Veetle/Sopcast and there's always a list of mirrors up on myp2p.eu.

Oh shit I thought the Arsenal/Barca game was tomorrow. Looks like I'll be able to watch the game on Thursday morning then since I've stuff to do tomorrow :/

[dream]

i'm looking forward to the barca/arsenal game. should be a great one.

[stereophobic]

Watching the Bayern/ManU game this morning the only thing that came to mind at the end of it was, "Karma is a bitch!"

[theetruscan]

i'm looking forward to the barca/arsenal game. should be a great one.

It certainly was. I still don't know about that foul called against Puyol though.

[Johnny]

/\ I do - it was ridiculous to award a penalty. fabregas kicked him when he was standing his ground to protect the ball. he actualyl seems to have broken his leg in doing so. i can't believe how little comment there is in the UK press on this. i'm hopeful that barca can triumph. they got too casual after the second last night.

[theetruscan]

Sorry, that was just poor word choice by me. I agree with you completely. Sometimes I forget that inflection doesn't transmit through the internets.

[stereophobic]

Refereeing was poor the whole night and Vermaelen was subject to a similar soft red card in the premier league just two weekends ago. Arsenal are still going to get their shit pushed in at the Camp Nou next Tuesday. Should be a treat.

[jumpoff]

Even worse refereeing last night in the Benfica-Liverpool game. He got the penalty decisions right, but that was about it, and at least one of those decisions wasn't even his but made by the extra ref.

Why nordic refs are given such games is beyond me. Claus Bo Larsen is a good referee, but it seems every time any swede or norwegian are refereeing an important european game they fail miserably.

Looking forward to the Manchester United-Chelsea game tomorrow, should be a good one. Backing Chelsea to win.

[stereophobic]

I read about Torres being manhandled the whole game, looking at the events of the past three weeks I think he's pretty lucky not to have gotten himself injured!

I'm backing Chelsea to win myself, they can't afford to lose this one not when Manchester United have to rely on Berbatov as a striking option. Even a draw would be considered a failure at this rate.

[Sombre]

So it's been a whole week of bad officiating then. The assistant referee should be flogged for keeping his flag down for Drogba's goal. He was about 15 yards away with a clear view of the back line. If this were Italy I would suspect match fixing. Absolutely deplorable. And then of course the penalties the ref failed to call. Lampard's tackle on Berbatov was fair, but I think Park should have had a penalty, and there's no excuse for not calling Neville's challenge on Anelka.

I wasn't impressed with Man United today. The old boys didn't perform well, particularly with their passing. Scholes and Neville gave the ball away far too frequently. I don't want to admit it because I'd like to believe Man Utd is not a one man team, but Rooney was deeply missed in attack. I firmly believe that he would have buried the volley that Berbatov missed late on. Rooney's movement would also have caused more trouble for Chelsea's defence.

Bottom line: if Chelsea doesn't win the league they will kick themselves hard.

[Bubu]

With the way the rest of the team played Rooney wouldn't have done any better. Valencia, Park Ji Sung, Gary Neville, as well as Nani had been the key contributers to Rooney's goals, and they were subdued. The midfield was too busy defending to launch any sort of onslaught thru the flanks.

In addition, the Allianz match was mentally and physically sapping for the players, and it showed. You are right, it's Chelsea's to lose now.