Champions League 2008-09 Thread

[Who]

Who'd have thought Liverpool-Chelsea would be so entertaining?

Two terrific games - very exciting and boy am I glad that they're over!

Chelsea's backline is all over the place right now. That Bolton game, and now the Liverpool game .... if that isn't fixed by the Barcelona game, then the contest is already over before it begins.

If Cech has another disaster this weekend, it might be necessary to sit him down. The games are too big right now for Hiddink to play him through a rough patch confidence wise.

[celticmaestro]

Who'd have thought Liverpool-Chelsea would be so entertaining?

Two terrific games - very exciting and boy am I glad that they're over!

Chelsea's backline is all over the place right now. That Bolton game, and now the Liverpool game .... if that isn't fixed by the Barcelona game, then the contest is already over before it begins.

If Cech has another disaster this weekend, it might be necessary to sit him down. The games are too big right now for Hiddink to play him through a rough patch confidence wise.

Cech, once considered the world's best. He makes so many errors.

[cordobes]

Leaving the office in a few minutes; in 30 minutes or so I should be here:



All I ask is an impartial referee. I know that's asking for a miracle when you're a very small team facing an UEFA's darling like ManUtd, as we've seen one week ago, but at least someone decent enough to give us a fighting chance.

[Roy Hobbs]

Wahoo!  I'm home to see the second half.

1-0 Utd, 63 minutes in.  Let's keep it up.

[celticmaestro]

That goal was absolutely sensational. Anderson was the difference today. I'm over the moon right now.

[MattG12]

So mad I missed the game!
It will be Manchester United vs. Chelsea again... I'm calling it now. My best friend is a Chelsea fan so I can't wait to rub it in when we beat them... again.

[Celtic]

That goal was absolutely sensational. Anderson was the difference today. I'm over the moon right now.

It was pretty impressive, almost 30 yards out.

[ederson]

The goal was truly amazing. When i saw CR ready to shot the ball i started shouting at him ( ) "what the F are you doing" cause it was a noce chance for a (semi)counterattack. I got that right.....again


But MU had one more  bad (or not good game)We were lucky Porto had an equaly bad game too. Hulk was a disaster.

BTW chelsea`s defence is indeed a joke but so is barca`s.

[ACF]

I'm over the moon right now.

Bring on the British Lakers! 

[Galiza Ceive]

The goal was truly amazing. When i saw CR ready to shot the ball i started shouting at him ( ) "what the F are you doing" cause it was a noce chance for a (semi)counterattack. I got that right.....again


But MU had one more  bad (or not good game)We were lucky Porto had an equaly bad game too. Hulk was a disaster.

BTW chelsea`s defence is indeed a joke but so is barca`s.

Any reason why...
Actually, Barca is the Spanish team that allow less goals. When zou have the ball 80% of the match you dont need to defend a lot.

[ederson]

You have a point there. It all depends on how you read the figures.

I`ve watched more than a few of their games (especialy primera games)
Barca`s press starts literaly from the opponent`s keeper so they can`t build up an offence and as you say with players like Messi Xavi etc they can keep the ball for most of the 90 mins. And if you don`t hav the ball you can`t score.

The problem is that they allow many goals compared to the opponent`s offensive effords.

I don`t mean that chelsea will qualify or that they are better than barcelona (i hurts so much just typing good words for them!!!!) but from the 8 quarterfinalists i think chelsea has the best chances to qualify over them in 2 games

[thebirdman]

Pretty uninspiring game yesterday. I am disappointed ManU advanced, they weren`t better than Porto in 2 games. One great but lucky shot was enough.

Hopefully the gunners beat them in the semis. I certainly don`t want to see arrogant Ronaldo in the finals...

[Who]

If Liverpool had of gotten through, they would beat Barcelona in the next round. Their defense, and discipline, is too much for Barcelona.

Unfortunately, It's hard to predict what type of defensive performance Chelsea will give.

[MBz]

If Liverpool had of gotten through, they would beat Barcelona in the next round. Their defense, and discipline, is too much for Barcelona.

Unfortunately, It's hard to predict what type of defensive performance Chelsea will give.

Agreed.  You never know what Chelsea team is going to show up.  Also, anyone else think Petr Cech is extremely over-rated?

[Galiza Ceive]

You have a point there. It all depends on how you read the figures.

I`ve watched more than a few of their games (especialy primera games)
Barca`s press starts literaly from the opponent`s keeper so they can`t build up an offence and as you say with players like Messi Xavi etc they can keep the ball for most of the 90 mins. And if you don`t hav the ball you can`t score.

The problem is that they allow many goals compared to the opponent`s offensive effords.

I don`t mean that chelsea will qualify or that they are better than barcelona (i hurts so much just typing good words for them!!!!) but from the 8 quarterfinalists i think chelsea has the best chances to qualify over them in 2 games

I agree with you to some extent. Barça assume big risks because of the way they play, and I am sure Valdés, not being a bad keeper from time to time really scares me. But in general terms I think Barça defends quite well, specially at midfield.

In my opinion though, Clesea will be a extremely difficult team to beat, principally because Drogba and Essien. I only remember two teams that completely dominated the ball against Barça recently. Two years ago, during the group round Essien totally overplayed Xavi and Deco. In the 1/8 final the same year, Gerard and Liverpool did pretty much the same in Anfield.

If Barça has the ball I am quite confident we will reach the final but Chelsea midfield is really physical so it should be a nice match to watch.
Will be Joe Cole ready? because other than him Chelsea has no real wingers and that is terrific for Barcelona.