Champions League 2007/08

But Schalke will strike back next week......Barca was bad and Schalke was to green, although they played in blue dresses.

I caught the second half of Chelsea vs Fenerbahce.  I was cheering for Fenerbahce(sorry, AoO).  I wanna say Fernerbahce could have easily scored a couple after giving away Ballack's first goal and they had to open up the game but Chelsea could have scored a couple more also.  So I guess 2:0 result was fair enough.  I was impressed with that imposing midfield again with Ballack, Lampard, Makalele and Essien, even Joe Cole.  Actually Chelsea looked lot like when they beat Arsenal recently in EPL(last Chelsea game I watched).  Ballack is regaining his former self of being a big stage clutch player, but I'm actually more impressed with how he was banging and chasing, which is a prerequisite for that midfield before anything else.  I was hoping to see Anelka for a little drama against his former team but apparently they didn't need his service.  Good to see Belleti getting some playing time more regularly even as a sub.   I also miss Alex but I can't argue against either Terry or Carvalho, can I?  For Fenerbahce, I'm sad to say goodbye to them for this year since I can't get any Turkish league games but I'm so proud of the run they had this year.  Not only I'm proud of them for making this far coming from a secondary league and beating teams like Inter, Sevilla, and taking one from Chelsea also.  But I'm most proud of them for the way they played regardless of the results.  It looks like they are coming back again next year and I will cheer for them again.  I don't remember seeing Roberto Carlos in that game.  Was he hurt?  I can't see Zico leaving him out if he was capable of playing.  Perhaps Hidden Face can tell me why.  And also whatever came out of Appiah situation?  I'm assuming he's no longer with Fener.  Anyway, congrats for Act  of Oblivion and condolences for Hidden Face.  But really, I can't feel bad for Fener the season they had/having, so....  I'm happy for both of you!

I can't say the same thing about Liverpool vs Arsenal result.  What the freak happened to Arsenal?  Only few weeks ago, Arsenal looked like they were on their way to be one of the greats ever and Liverpool looked like a team owned by an American.  It's so sad.  I guess it all started with Van Persie getting hurt but I don't understand lock of production from Fabregas and Hleb in past month or two.  Those two were the most fun thing to watch in the first two month of the season.  That turn Torres did on Sendros to set up the second goal was simply the world class and it changed the game.  Why couldn't Sendros  play like that against South Korea in Germany?  Then again South Korea has no striker like Torres.   Now people will look back on this season and say this Arsenal squad is not different from any other year, 'intricate but fragile overachievers who cares more about a perfect goal than the tally of goals'.  It's all so wrong.....

More or less same for Man Utd vs Roma but I was little more happy about this game because my boy Ji Sung Park played good.  I really enjoy watching this Roma squad though.  I really thought that this could be the year for Roma when they beat Real Madrid. Totti must've been hurt but I don't know if even Pablo Rossi could have gone through Van der Sarr on that day.  Well, least it wasn't 7-1 like last season.

And Barca vs Schalke, it was the most expected result out of the four.  But I have to say that Barca did it without Messi, Ronaldinho and Deco and that's pretty impressive even against Shalke.  I was really impressed with Krkic.  Xavi, too.  Yaya Toure's goal was rather freakish, more than the goals they scored against another German team Stuttgart earlier in the group stage.

I will cheer for Chelsea against Liverpool and Barca against Man Utd.
 
Wait a minute, three EPL teams in the Semi again?  When are you guys kicking out the foreigners?  How about.... Now?

PS.  Well I'm gonna mention this game here because we don't have a UEFA Cup thread this year, but Bayern vs Getafe was one of the most exciting match anywhere this year if not ever.  I knew Getafe could give any team a hard time.  They were the best defensive team in La Liga last two seasons which might not as great as being the best defensive team in EPL, Bundsliga or Serie A since La Liga would be the least defensive league in general but I think it's the best attacking league.  So to be the best defence against that kind of offenses does say something about this unknown team.  Schuster also got his Real Madrid job because of this Getafe squad.  This Getafe squad also features the Argentinian national team keeper Abbondazieri who allowed less than a goal a game in La Liga last season.   But he allowed two goals in last 5 mins of the over time while his team was leading two goals, 115th min and 120th min.  And one of them was complete meltdown by, yes Abbondanzieri.  And then in the closing minute with a goal down, Oliver Kahn came out and even had good linking touch that eventually led to the winning goal.  No Hollywood script can top this.  Wow! 

The funniest part was that this game never should have went to over time first place.  Getafe went around Kahn twice missed both.  The game should have ended 3:1 Getafe.  But it was 1:1 after the regulation.  Getafe regrouped and scored 93th and 95th min going up 3:1 in the early part of the over time.  And then the record stopped, a mirror was broken and a black cat ran across the Getafe's bench spitting out Hungarian Paprika from 1954.  And that was that.

Now does this help to erase the memory of that fateful 2 mins against Man Utd (when was that?) 1999(?) Champs League Final?  I'm pretty sure Ulrich will tell us.


 


Edited by King Kang of Mu - 11-Apr-2008 at 05:05

Saw Liverpool vs. Arsenal. One of the best matches i've seen for a long time. Schalke was the poorest teams among two poor teams.

For anyone in North America interested in watching that Bayern vs Getafe, Fox Soccer Channel will replay the game tonight at 11 pm ET, though many soccer channel scheduling can change any time I've found out, especially for rerun games.   I gonna have to record that game this time. 

I still can't get over that game. 

I do have have a question though; Should away goals from the overtime of the second leg of the home and away derby count as the tie breaker?

In this case the first leg was 1:1 in Munich, giving Getafe one away goal.  The second leg was also 1:1 in Getefe, Ribery giving the Bavarians  the precious  tying  away goal in 89th minute.    In overtime  they both had two goals  making the aggregate  4:4, but Bayern won the round with 3:1 in away goals.   I think after two regulation ties the away goal rule should not apply in the overtime unless you can play 15 mins in Getafe and the other 15 in Munich which would be very inconvenient.  Bayern got extra 30 mins to score away goals only because the second leg was in Getafe. But then again, many team would rather have that extra 30 mins in front of the home crowd than hoping to score more away goals. 

I don't know.  More I think about it more complicated it gets.  But I'm leaning towards that they should have played another 15 or 30 mins.    I just think in the home and away knockout round situation the over time should be counted as a separate entity or there should be overtimes in both legs. 

However I do think Bayern would have prevailed eventually if they played more.   And if we do count the overtime as separate entity, like a third leg, then the third leg was in Getafe so the away goal advantage goes to Bayern.  There I solved my own riddle.

Originally posted by King Kang of Mu           Now does this help to erase the memory of that fateful 2 mins against Man Utd (when was that?) 1999(?) Champs League Final?  I'm pretty sure Ulrich will tell us.

Originally posted by ulrich von hutten Originally posted by King Kang of Mu           Now does this help to erase the memory of that fateful 2 mins against Man Utd (when was that?) 1999(?) Champs League Final?  I'm pretty sure Ulrich will tell us. Yes he will. One of the greatest moments i've ever seen. Bloody Bayern lost the match in the space of a minute,  seehere

That game was sooo unreal.  Freaking Beckham and Sheringham....   
Just looked up some info; 
Refed by Colina,  in Camp Nou,  90,000 attendance     Wow, it had all the billing of a legend, except the wrong team won. 

I'm soooo glad the Soccer Spice ended up where he belongs, MLS.  And he can't even dominate that league.  If I had $250 mil to waste, I would give it to Beckham to not play at all.  I will give him that he can kick a ball when it is completely stopped.  But other 85 minutes of the game he's completely useless.   Can't dribble, can't defend, can't make short pass, he just gets the ball, stops it, looks up, and bombs it.    If I do that 30 times a game, a couple of them will even make me look good.   That's called probability, not a skill.


Edited by King Kang of Mu - 18-Apr-2008 at 17:17

I didn't get to see the game.  I was little worried when I heard about Essien.  I thought losing in Anfield 1:0 or 2:1 is acceptable result.  You just don't want Liverpool to go up 2,3 goals after the first leg.  So, Chelsea's conservative approach is understandable even after getting behind 1:0.  When I read that it was Riise that headed in the own goal, I thought, 'That's funny, I was just wondering about why you don't see guys like Riise, Hyypia, and finnan in that Liverpool back line.'   Perhaps, there was a reason.    And Riise might not even played at all if Aurelio didn't get hurt. 

I liked the idea of lining up Drogba, Anelka and Kalou when they wanted score at the end of the game.  That's a lot of fire power there. 

Now for the 2nd leg,  AoO, do you think Chelsea should start Essien at the right back and move him up to midfield again like they did against Arsenal?    I think so.  Either way Essien will be big addition for Chelsea for the 2nd leg.   That's why I think Chelsea will advance.  Gerrad is a great player, but he's not good enough to take on Lampard, Essien, Makalele together.  Xavi Alonso and Mascherano are great defensively but skilled enough to pressure opponent's midfield when they have the ball.  They should have kept Sissoko.  He's doing great in Juventus.  He will be like taller Seedorf type by the time Juve comes back to Champs League next year. 

Originally posted by King Kang of Mu I'm soooo glad the Soccer Spice ended up where he belongs, MLS.  And he can't even dominate that league.  If I had $250 mil to waste, I would give it to Beckham to not play at all.  I will give him that he can kick a ball when it is completely stopped.  But other 85 minutes of the game he's completely useless.   Can't dribble, can't defend, can't make short pass, he just gets the ball, stops it, looks up, and bombs it.    If I do that 30 times a game, a couple of them will even make me look good.   That's called probability, not a skill.

Still though, it was a good marketing move although not a great soccer move. When Beckham left Real Madrid, the club lost some $60 million in sales revenue.

Bar�a's defense has held solid for the first half - I just want us to score at least one goal before going to Old Trafford. How about Crisitan Ronaldo huh? Missing a penalty wide? I figured that was a sure thing. I will say that Bar�a has been moving and controlling the ball very very well, although nothing to show for it. I'm mainly just excited that I get to watch the game because an English team is playing, so it's on ESPN 2.

Edit - Man U's defense has been resilient, resisting all of Bar�a's attacks. It's odd though... Rooney has only touched the ball once after forty-five minutes.


Edited by Kaysaar - 23-Apr-2008 at 20:49