Official Champions League Final Thread

[ederson]

sickening ?

Some interesting stats

1)both teams are unbeaten in euro finals
2)man u has never scored in rusian soil (only two games played in russia though)
3)Park has started in 10 of the ast 12 games and man un was not beaten in any of them. The only game he hasn`t started was against chelsea (!!)
4)there were two finals with teams from the same country. milan - juventus and real-valencia
Both times the winner of the final finished below the runner up in the own championship!

[MattG12]

my buddy and i are huge celtics fans... as soon as i woke up today he asked me if i'm watching the game, we are the only two people i know personally who watch euro soccer. i'm a diehard united fan, he's a diehard chelsea fan. so he'll be over to watch it, it should be a fun game. i've got man united winning 2-1 with goals from rooney and scholes. drogba scores for chelsea.

[ACF]

while i am not a Chelsea supporter, the thought of Man U winning the double is sickening.  therefore i will root for my french brethren (Malouda, Anelka, Makaele).  Go Blues!

On a related note, how about Arsene swooping up Samir Nasri from Marsaille.  Nasri and Cesc paired up in an attacking midfield should make all Gunners' fans excited.

If you're NOT a Chelsea supporter why is
Man United winning "sickening"? Hmm...
What about Evra, Saha and Silvestre?
No love for them?

[Who]

Manchester United are better at ... oh just about everything. They should win and win comfortably.

Chelsea's only hope is to win the battle in the middle of the park. ManU lose some of their impetus going forward if Scholes is closed down. It really disrupts their play, they lose a lot of organization and it makes it difficult to break away quickly and effectively. Unfortunately Scholes wanders all over the field so he needs to be man-marked. I don't see Grant being smart enough for that but hopefully he'll give orders to Lamps and Ballack to close him down further up the field on their zone marking. Makelele will likely have his hands full helping across on Ronaldo and Rooney so don't expect him to be much help closing down Scholes, he'll be attacking the other end of his passing. Going to be very difficult. On the other end Ballack and Lamps have to go forward, get in the box, hit shots from outside the box. In all liklihood Drogba won't get much of a sniff against Rio and Vidic, the goals are likely to come from midfield from those two lads. Chelsea's only hope to win is through them, pivotal on both ends of the pitch.

Avram is going to shut up shop and make ManU be the aggressor. He'll do that because it's the only thing he knows how to do. Simple minded fellow. Chelsea will get 2-3 chances and they'll have to take him.

ManU will control the game and have every chance to win. Lady luck is the only thing that could go against them, I don't see much else happening to cause them trouble. I don't think Chelsea are up to this battle.

Pity they don't have Mourinho. Could have won this game.

[RL35]

while i am not a Chelsea supporter, the thought of Man U winning the double is sickening.  therefore i will root for my french brethren (Malouda, Anelka, Makaele).  Go Blues!

On a related note, how about Arsene swooping up Samir Nasri from Marsaille.  Nasri and Cesc paired up in an attacking midfield should make all Gunners' fans excited.

If you're NOT a Chelsea supporter why is
Man United winning "sickening"? Hmm...
What about Evra, Saha and Silvestre?
No love for them?

sickening because the crowing that would come out Manchester and their fans would make me ill.  i respect their accomplishments and the great season they've had but i can still root against them even though i have no vested interest in either team.  i would also be ill if the Lakers won the NBA championship regardless if they defeated the Celtics.

Saha and Silvestre...c'mon.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I hate Christian Ronaldo... think his game is beautiful to watch, but I hate how he carries himself on/off the field.  Hope he loses.

[Celtic]

This one is going to be special, to me it boils down to Ronaldo vs. Drogba and Ballack. Say what you like about Drogba, he is by no means a favorite around the soccer world, but the guy is a manimal, and maybe the best striker in the world. Ballack is a tremendous footballer and has such a great eye for the game, I am so glad he is finally consistently on the pitch for Chelsea. Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world, period. He is impossible to contain without fouling, and does things at full speed most players can only do in slow motion. Let's not forget about Tevez too, he always has a flair for the dramatic, coming up with big goals in big games.

My only real soccer loyalty lies with the New England Revolution, who on a global scale, let's be honest are inconsequential. I am an enormous soccer fan, but really have no hatred for any particular team, or unbiased loyalty to another, I just love to watch the beautiful game played by the best players. If Chelsea wins, I will be wearing my Drogba jersey after the game, if Man U wins, I will be wearing my Rooney jersey. It's like being a fan of the Sox and Yankees, but I don't care I just love the game, and want to see this game live up to it's expectations, as I expect it will.

My pick, Chelsea wins, too many superstars all clicking at the right time and they look angry. We also can't underestimate Essien's presence in the midfield, he really can control a game's tempo with his speed and defense. Although if Ashley Cole is out, Essien may drop back as a defender, he has done it before.

Gonna be a good one, and go Chelsea United.

[OmarSekou]

This is my first game of the season (where do they broadcast soccer in the States, I'm p---ed that I missed the futbol season even though Boston sports have been unreal). I'm rooting for Chelsea because Cristiano Ronaldo is scum. Can anyone update me on some highlights of the Champions League up to this point?

[ACF]

I hate Christian Ronaldo... think his game is beautiful to watch, but I hate how he carries himself on/off the field.  Hope he loses.

If you think his game is beautiful, then
isn't that all that matters?
He's young and still has a lot to learn in
terms of how to behave, etc.
If you compare him to Kobe isn't that the same
thing? You may not like what he does off the
court but does that really matter?
To me, it doesn't...
I may not like Kobe the person but if I hate
the player (even if he's a Laker) then I do not
understand the game of basketball.
Same goes for No. 7!
Just my two-cents...

I wish you all (Chelsea fans as well) a great
game, I hope it's one for the ages...

  I'm rooting for Chelsea because Cristiano Ronaldo is scum.

Best scum in the world, then... 

[size=38GO UNITED!pt][/size]

Redz, I'm having Another Bad Quote Day.
Heeeeelp 

[Celtic]

This is my first game of the season (where do they broadcast soccer in the States, I'm ****ed that I missed the futbol season even though Boston sports have been unreal). I'm rooting for Chelsea because Cristiano Ronaldo is scum. Can anyone update me on some highlights of the Champions League up to this point?

The game today is on ESPN2, all the Champions League is broadcasted on ESPN2 in the states. British and Italian leagues are on Fox Soccer Channel, as well as all USA friendlies, and some tournaments, and a lot of international friendlies and tournaments, and UEFA cup. Spanish and German leagues are on GolTV, it's up in the spanish channels, but all the programming is in English except for the commercials, they also have some tournaments there too. Select Mexican, Colombian, Argentinian, Japanese, Korean league matches are also played on these channels, but I can't remember which carries which.

[ACF]

United in the lead!!!!!!!!
Ronaldo with the header.
42 goals for him this season...

[ACF]

Lampard scores on a loose ball, 1-1.
Halftime!

[Celtic]

Lampard scores, 1-1. Interesting first half, I expect the second half to be very exciting, should be a lot of runs. So much of this game is taking place in the midfield that it almost seems like both teams are vulnerable to quick counter-attacks, if that remains the case Man U has the advantage with Ronaldo, so deadly in the open field. Unless Carvalho takes him out first.

[ederson]

Man U was much much better. Chelsea got lucky . Very lucky. But that`s football.
As expected Drogba is all alone in front. Completely isolated and even if he takes a header (cause his team mates  try to find him with long balls) there isn`t anyone close enough to collect.


Of topic : I don`t know if is Ronaldo is s scum... What i do know is that the players of the Premiership and the coaches of the premiership voted him as the best player of the season. And he has scored 42 goals. Players with less impressive performances were declared football legends. CR is no legend but he deserves respect at least for the miracles he has performed this season.

[ederson]

Second half completely different game! Chelsea dominated but did create chances.
Man U lost the midfield and Sir Alex played it safe moving Hargreaves in the center next to Scholes and Carrick and moved in right wing Wayne.