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Re: Champions League 2010/2011-Who wins? Vote.
I`m for Real but in finale i would like MU to be magnificent , they are on wemble in England, i hope ref will be a ref.
VIVA REALComment
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Re: Champions League 2010/2011-Who wins? Vote.
barca vs man united promises to be dream final for footballfans, let's hope this match will be a sportive one with attractive game from both teamsComment
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Re: Champions League 2010/2011-Who wins? Vote.
This is something happening in all football competitions... Players begging to the referee and simulate great injuries, and when these type injuries appears nobody gaves a s..hit. So the players are playing a very angerous game - to their health... Another thing - Barça whithout Messi is a mess, and nowaday after scoring they are stop playing football ... just play the ball untill the end of the game. And if eventually are scoring again everybody is happy. So poor soccer fans are paying to see half games...
The last idea - talking about Rooney - he IS A LIVERPOOL product by Everton... so he knews a lot of... tricks.Comment
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Re: Champions League 2010/2011-Who wins? Vote.
Barcelona is the bestComment
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Re: Champions League 2010/2011-Who wins? Vote.
Andy Townsend confronted by Real Madrid fans
Friday, April 29 2011, 12:29 BST
By Andrew Laughlin,
ITV football pundit Andy Townsend has revealed how he was threatened by Real Madrid fans after being mistaken for Champions League referee Wolfgang Stark.
Townsend said that he feared being attacked while having a meal in a Madrid restaurant with anchor Adrian Chiles and ITV bosses following Real's loss to Barcelona on Wednesday evening.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the former footballer said that he soon realised the fans had mistaken him for Stark, who made a number of controversial decisions during the game.
"I went into a restaurant and was eating when I noticed people looking at me. Some of them started taking pictures and then someone came and gave me a pot plant, saying, 'This is for you,' with a funny look on his face," said Townsend.
"There were 10 of us around the table thinking, 'What is going on here?' When I stood up I got booed and when I went to the loo I got followed there and back. A waiter escorted me to my seat... I didn't know why!"
He added: "Then people came up to me, talking aggressively in Spanish and there was a man shouting at me from the other side of the restaurant. It was all getting out of control.
"Then it dawned on me. Because I still had my UEFA accreditation around my neck they thought I was the referee. To them I was Wolfgang Stark! So I had to turn around and tell them I was from English television."
Chiles saw the lighter side of the incident, but Townsend blamed Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho for whipping the fans up into "a frenzy".
"Adrian's started calling me Wolfie, but actually there's a sinister edge to it. The crowd were baying for the referee's blood. They totally saw the referee as the villain of the piece. That's how Mourinho whips up a frenzy," he said.
"As ITV were going off air there was actually a fight going on in front of me in the stadium - two men were exchanging blows. And these were the decent seats. I witnessed first-hand the effect Mourinho has on fans. I wouldn't want to see him back in England."
Last week, it emerged that Townsend was being lined up by BBC bosses to join BBC Breakfast as a replacement for the outgoing Chris Hollins.Comment
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Re: Champions League 2010/2011-Who wins? Vote.
Barcelona 1 - 1 Real Madrid (agg 3 - 1)
BARCELONA IN FINALE
Pedro (left) celebrates opening the scoring with team-mate David Villa
Barcelona booked their place in the Champions League final after drawing their semi-final second leg with arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Camp Nou.
Barca, who led 2-0 from the first leg, were lucky not to go behind when Gonzalo Higuain had a goal disallowed.
They went ahead when Andres Iniesta's fine pass enabled Pedro to rifle home but Real levelled when Marcelo fired in after Angel di Maria hit the post.
Barca now face either Manchester United or Schalke in the final on 28 May.
The Catalans, who have won the tournament on three previous occasions - 1992, 2006 and 2009 - will learn of their Wembley opponents when United, who have a 2-0 lead from the first leg, entertain German side Schalke at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
But European football's governing body Uefa, not to mention the hierarchies at both Barca and Real, will be relieved that Tuesday's match largely passed by without the theatrics, spite and bad blood that enveloped events at the Santiago Bernabeu last week.
As if that game wasn't bad enough, the aftermath of Barca's 2-0 win in the first leg was marred by both teams complaining about the other's conduct to Uefa, Real coach Jose Mourinho stirring things up and the Madrid club accusing Barca's Sergio Busquets of racism, so it was a blessed relief to get back to football.
With a torrential downpour in Barcelona adding to the sense of foreboding at the Camp Nou, referee Frank de Bleeckere led the two teams out perhaps expecting the worst - but he, like the boisterous 90,000 crowd, was instead treated to a thoroughly entertaining football match.
Mourinho, sent off last week, was not in attendance but he picked a more attack-minded Real team with Kaka and Higuain restored to the starting line-up as they went looking for goals to haul themselves back into the tie.
They started brightly enough, with Marcelo finding some joy down the left and Cristiano Ronaldo initially appearing to be in the mood, but once Barca adapted to the slicker-than-usual surface they soon began to toy with their expensively-assembled opponents.
Messi, who had single-handedly spared the teams total embarrassment in the first leg with his two fabulous goals, was causing Ricardo Carvalho all sorts of trouble with his lightning-quick anticipation and the fit-again Iniesta and Xavi were keeping the ball moving with staggering accuracy and speed.
After Busquets headed a corner into the arms of keeper Iker Casillas, Barca put together a mesmerising spell of five minutes in which they could have opened the scoring on five different occasions.
Messi twice forced superb saves from Spanish number one Casillas, who also had to be alert to push away a David Villa shot, while Messi dragged another effort off target and Pedro lashed narrowly wide from just outside the box.
But while the score on the night remained goalless, Real always had a chance - and early on in the second half they were unfortunate not to halve the overall deficit as Higuain slotted past Victor Valdes, only for the referee to rule that Ronaldo had fouled Javier Mascherano in the build-up.
A few minutes later, Barca were ahead. Iniesta picked a perfect pass to slide Pedro clean through, the forward taking one touch to tee himself up and another to lash the ball past Casillas with his left foot.
Marcelo's second-half goal gave Real some hope of a comeback
Real were left with a mountain to climb - but try to climb it they duly did. Emmanuel Adebayor and Mesut Ozil came on for Higuain and the ineffective Kaka and they momentarily silenced the Camp Nou when Di Maria fired against Valdes's right-hand post and then kept his cool to set up Marcelo to fire home.
Their main problem then was getting the ball back off Barca. The hosts refused to panic, kept on playing their normal game and did not let Real have another sniff of their goal.
It threatened to get tetchy towards the end as Real's increasingly desperate players found themselves only able to break Barca's momentum by committing fouls but De Bleeckere magnificently stood up to the challenge and exerted his authority at the right moments to keep the players under control.
For for first time this season a Barca-Real 'Clasico' finished with 11 players on both teams but the joy unconfined belonged exclusively to Barcelona at the final whistle as they celebrated reaching a third Champions League final in six seasons.Comment
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Re: Champions League 2010/2011-Who wins? Vote.
Barcelona is the best teamComment
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Re: Champions League 2010/2011-Who wins? Vote.
"oscar player"
new prize in football world
called
"barselona prize for best actor"
the nominee go`s to......
Pedro
maxvelComment
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Re: Champions League 2010/2011-Who wins? Vote.
UEFA Champions League Live: Manchester United v Schalke
Adrian Chiles presents coverage from Old Trafford of the second leg of the semi-final. United are attempting to reach the final for the third time in four seasons, while Schalke have never been this far in the competition. Sir Alex Ferguson's side put paid to Chelsea in the quarter-finals and will be desperate to book their place in this year's final at Wembley, the venue for their first-ever European Cup triumph in 1968. Commentary by Clive Tyldesley and Jim Beglin. HD
Today on ITV1 London HD from 7:30pm to 10:00pm 10832 H Astra 2D at 28.2°E
helped use "Thanks"
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Re: Champions League 2010/2011-Who wins? Vote.
Still say Barca will beat Manure in the final!Comment
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Re: Champions League 2010/2011-Who wins? Vote.
Manchester United 4-1 Schalke 04 (UEFA Champions League): MATCH REVIEW
Manchester United are on their way to Wembley to face Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League final after dismantling Schalke 04 in their semi-final tie. United won 6-1 on aggregate after a 0-2 victory last week in Germany after a 4-1 home victory tonight. In the second leg, United scored first after a terrific through ball by Gibson found Valencia through for a one-on-one; the Ecuadorian winger calmly slid home the ball and United had essentially earned passage to the final by that point. Gibson later tallied himself and he was joined in the scoring barrage by Anderson; the Brazilian midfielder bagging his brace in the 2nd half. It was an impressive performance by United after fielding a side that closer resembled a Carling Cup XI rather than a Champions League semi-final XI.
OPENING LINEUPS & FORMATIONS
United played in a 4-3-3 shape. Edwin van der Sar was in goal and the center-back pairing was Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling. John O'Shea wore the captain's armband at left-back and Rafael returned at right-back. Paul Scholes played as a deep-lying playmaker and he was joined in the center of the pitch by Gibson and Anderson. Valencia was the wide right player and Nani was the wide left player. Dimitar Berbatov led the attacking line as it's fulcrum.
Schalke played in a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 type of shape. Manuel Neuer was the goalkeeper and the center-back tandem was Christoph Metzelder and Benedikt Howedes. Atsuto Uchida was the right-back and Sergio was the left-back. Kyriakos Papadopoulos was the holding midfielder while Jose Jurado and Alexander Baumjohann player higher up the pitch in the center. Julian Draxler was the wide left player and Jefferson Farfan wide on the right. Raul Gonzalez was the striker and he played in a "false-nine" role.
The tie was effectively over when Valencia scored, therefore, there isn't really the need to break this match down chronologically. Here are some of the tactical highlights of the match:
* Schalke's pressing: This was almost as predictable as the sun coming up in the morning. Schalke needed to have a go and that's certainly what they attempted. Schalke had the right intent by pressing our midfielders and selectively pressing our defense, however, United dealt with the pressure very well. Scholes bossed the match in the center of the pitch; he completed 33 passes in the first half out of an attempted 36 (92%). This allowed United to dictate the tempo of the match and eventually Schalke's pressing tapered off due to two factors: (1) they began to tire as they were unsuccessful in consistently winning the ball. (2) United's trio of central midfielders, especially Scholes, made Schalke wary with their incisive distribution behind and through Schalke's defense.
* Schalke's high-line: One big problem Schalke had last week in Germany was that they weren't compact enough; they left way too much space in between the lines and players like Rooney and Carrick exploited it. Along with their intent to press United, Schalke also played with a higher line of defense in the initial stages of the match. This was arguably good tactics as they were much more compact. Once again, the intent was good, but United just punished Schalke by playing killer balls behind the defense; both to the flanks, especially on Valencia's side, and also through to midfield runners (e.g. Valencia's goal from a terrific through ball by Gibson).
* United's midfield vs Schalke's midfield: The general consensus has been that United's central midfield has been the weak link this season. However, today they were superb. As already mentioned, Scholes was terrific, but so were his two partners in the center of the pitch -- Gibson and Anderson. When the match was still somewhat contested in the first half, it could be argued that Gibson was the best player on the pitch. The much criticized midfielder was making delayed but surging runs forward in support of the attack, he was intercepting passes, and he was providing incisive passing. In addition, Anderson was very industrious and he continually looked dangerous in attack; he was rewarded by bagging a brace in the 2nd half. In contrast, Schalke's midfielders were poor with their passing. Their energy was good and they had a few threatening moments, but the German side's midfield was simply outclassed by United. Here's a chalkboard of Scholes' passing in the 1st half courtesy of TotalFootball's iPhone app:
* Schalke's fluidity in attack: The visitors were very fluid in attack and the genesis of their interchanging movement was from their striker Raul. The Spaniard played as a "false-nine" and he often came deep for the ball. As the only striker, Raul's deep movements created space for midfield runners; something that Farfan, Jurado, and Draxler tried to take advantage of. Farfan and Jurado both had early chances because of this but their attempts to finish were poor.
* United's attack on the right side: In the 1st half, this was the best avenue of attack for United. They did well to quickly get balls to Valencia on the flank and the Ecuadorian was terrific. With Draxler often coming central for Schalke, this resulted in him being out of position at times when his side lost the ball. Rafael did well to get forward to help provide support in attack, often creating 2 v 1 situations on the right flank with Valencia. Here's a chalkboard of Valencia's passes received:
* Nani vs Uchida: In the previous encounter between these two sides, Park Ji-sung and Valencia did well to nullify arguably Schalke's most threatening point of attack; their full-backs. Park was seemingly being rested today for Sunday's upcoming clash with Chelsea FC, so Nani was matched up with Uchida. The Japanese full-back was not being tracked consistently by his counterpart and he did well to get forward and provide support in the attack. It was Uchida's whipped in cross that helped set-up Schalke's lone goal in the tie. No one was happier on the night that Park wasn't playing than Uchida.
* 2nd half: In general, nothing really interesting happened besides United piling it on. The half was essentially a fun exhibition. Schalke started the first 5-10 minutes with some tidy passing but they didn't get much more than a few half chances. United did well to contain Schalke's intent after the visitors threw on more attackers and the home side responded well by being quick and surgical on the break.
MISC THOUGHTS
* I don't want to take anything away from United's performance because they were stellar and Schalke did defeat Valencia and Inter Milan to reach the semi-final; but Schalke simply were very poor in this tie. I don't know if I've ever seen a worse team in the Champions League semi-final. Despite what Sir Alex Ferguson said in the build up to the tie, you know that he wasn't intimidated by the German side. Just look at the side he used today.
* Anderson: The talented midfielder was terrific today in all facets of the game. In Ando's first 127 games with the club, he scored two total goals. Today, he doubled that total. I was thrilled to see him not pick up a second yellow because he may be used in the final at Wembley. His energy and his ability to quickly break on the counter attack may be useful versus Barcelona.
* Berbatov: The Premier League's leading goal-scorer hasn't played much in the run-in, more due to Chicharito's fantastic form rather than Berbatov's own. Despite not scoring any goals today, the Bulgarian striker did well today in linking up play and in being a creator in attack. He still may play a big role in the run-in.
* This was the last appearance for van der Sar at Old Trafford in a Champions League tie, and quite possibly for Scholes as well. Today was a grand way to go out.
* Man of the match: For me, the best player on the pitch when the match was still being contested was Gibson, therefore, he's my choice. Among others, Scholes, Valencia, and Anderson were terrific as well.Comment
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