Love the Barca hatred in this thread.
Also love the fact that nobody mentions that Madrid were just as bad as Barcelona? I guess jealously plays a part there.
"Trouble ahead? RT @barcastuff: Ronaldo: Do I like to play in a defensive team like Madrid? No, but I have to adapt to what the coach wants" not good. Bye Bye Mourihno?
Yes, Pique is quality, and Busquets does his job very well. Dani Alves isn't great at defending though, and I don't rate Valdes that highly either. At full strength they are better, but if it is anywhere near today's line up for the final then I would be very pleased. I can't see a left back at Barcelona that will be able to cope with Valencia's pace.
If Arsenal had Vermaelen available for the majority of the season then they might well still be challenging for the league. I honestly think their defence is underrated
1. Debatable but just about. Lacks depth though, injuries could become an issue.
2. United also had a much weakened team, with Fabio and Raphael playing on the wings, and O'shea and Gibson in the centre of midfield
I don't know why you are so anti-United. Fletcher can do the job that Pepe did tonight, should SAF ask him to. We are much more disciplined and versatile than Real Madrid, I am no longer scared of Barca. Sure, they are a great team, but Real have shown that they aren't invincible this season, and we are probably better and more defensive than any of the big teams that were in the competition. I'm sure it will be a tense and boring (for the neutrals) game, but I cannot wait for it.
Yes, Pique is quality, and Busquets does his job very well. Dani Alves isn't great at defending though, and I don't rate Valdes that highly either. At full strength they are better, but if it is anywhere near today's line up for the final then I would be very pleased. I can't see a left back at Barcelona that will be able to cope with Valencia's pace.
If Arsenal had Vermaelen available for the majority of the season then they might well still be challenging for the league. I honestly think their defence is underrated
I presume the straight red can be appealled, but the damage has already been done. Real can't possibly pull back a two goal deficit without Real opening them up again.
Love the Barca hatred in this thread.
Also love the fact that nobody mentions that Madrid were just as bad as Barcelona? I guess jealously plays a part there.
"Trouble ahead? RT @barcastuff: Ronaldo: Do I like to play in a defensive team like Madrid? No, but I have to adapt to what the coach wants" not good. Bye Bye Mourihno?
Love the Barca hatred in this thread.
Also love the fact that nobody mentions that Madrid were just as bad as Barcelona? I guess jealously plays a part there.
"Trouble ahead? RT @barcastuff: Ronaldo: Do I like to play in a defensive team like Madrid? No, but I have to adapt to what the coach wants" not good. Bye Bye Mourihno?
Indeed. "Jealousy" or a general feel that for all their wonderful football, Barca are quite an ugly football club for several reasons; including surrounding the referee and trying to get someone sent off at every possible opportunity for minimal contact.
Busquets has done it three times in 2 years now, hasn't he? Vs Inter and now vs RM twice?
No it cant, unless its a case of mistaken identity then any red card in European football cant be appealed.
Are you sure? I thought that was two yellows? - eg Fletcher a few years ago when he missed the final
and why everyone loves Arsenal (because they don't win anything)
Can RM appeal the red card/suspension of Pepe? Clearly not a sending-off at all..
Missed the 2nd half (saw ITV highlights) but two magnificent goals by Messi gave Barcelona a deserved (just about - having 80% possession and doing nothing with it doesn't give you a divine right to win a game) win on the night. Barca's plan B coming through again.. If at first passing around with no end product doesn't succeed.. Uh... Give it to Messi and watch on.
You have to say that had Pepe been on the pitch, though - the likelihood of Messi scoring that 2nd goal would have been significantly less likely. Not just because it means they have 11 men, rather than 10 but because Pepe had him in his pocket until he was harshly sent off. His no-nonsense approach to man-marking Messi and going in hard whenever he got the ball limited his impact almost entirely.
Getting really sick of Barca (and Real to an extent: Di Maria and Marcelo, particularly) and their ugly antics on the pitch. Both Pedro and Busquets (again - third time in 2 years) fell down holding their faces after minimal contact. The challenge by Arbelona on Pedro wasn't even anywhere near being malicious or anywhere near his face.
@CJACKO - Better defence, same problems. V vulnerable to counter-attacking (especially with Nani getting in behind Dani Alves), inability to defend set-pieces properly (Vidic, Smalling, Ferdinand all brilliant in the air) and lack of adequate cover. If Puyol or Pique are injured, they're pretty screwed. Abidal was superb against Arsenal but may not be able to do that again and Milito is really poor.
They also have a better forward-line, but again - same problems. They don't take a lot of chances - against us, against Madrid several times over - and Utd won't give them as many chances with a better side and not a make-shift Cup side. and they overcomplicate it a lot of the time as well.
The main difference between Arsenal and Barca is that they have Messi tbh. Obviously they're generally a better side but Messi can change a game in an instant - on his own, he's effectively Barca's Plan B: Knock it around for a while and hope for an opening.. If that fails, give it to Messi and watch him go.
Pepe is a kick boxer and deserves all the reds he can get. I'm shocked people say this wasn't a red, perhaps the Brits on this forum are too used to seeing a snapped leg every now and again that this was just a standard tackle for them. If that foot was on the ground this could easily be a career ender.
The match on the other hand was much worse than these teams are capable of and the diving was disappointing till Messi saved the day.
Hopefully the 0-2 will make for a better rematch since Jose can't hide on his anti-football tactics now.
Trust me i am more anti Barcelona than i am Utd. No way is Fletcher the same type of presence as Pepe. Its not in his nature simple as that. Also you say you are no longer scared of Barca because Madrid have proven they can beat them but you forget who is in charge of Madird. Jose has a sensational record against Barca at Chelsea and Inter, like i say i hate Barca more than Utd but i just think Utd will be grinded down too much as the game goes on.
I'm a lot newer to football than most of you I presume.....just started watching in earnest about two years ago (give me a break, I'm american), and have only become fanatic in the past year.....probably mostly because of FM. Like a lot of people, I really admired Barcelona for their unique precision and style and they've been one of the few clubs I'd go out of my way to watch.
But over the past few matches, they've absolutely made me sick to watch, with the incredible petulance and playacting. And while accusations like that are almost universally met with either "everyone does it", or "what about Madrid/CR?", the fact is that no one is close to as ridiculous in their endless attempts to manipulate or deceive the ref at every single opportunity. Only the godlike Messi is immune to it, made even more incredible by the rough treatment he gets on a regular basis, even moreso in these Clasicos.
And maybe its not worth repeating for the Nth time, but Busquets is simply shameless and lacks anything resembling integrity. Its sad that a game like this was one of the few shown on regular cable TV here in America, because this kind of behavior is exactly what prevents the sport from getting any traction in the states. A guy like Busquets would be considered a pariah over here, he would be laughed and/or jeered off the field everywhere he went. They really need to start using replays to clean this stuff up, because it seems like using an adequate number of referees to accurately officiate the game is simply not an option.
Actually one of the bests ways to stop messi is to deny him the space to run into, some that carrick and fletcher do really well. people for get that when we played barca and won, our best tracking mid was playing at rightback. very tough, but doable
Sensing that the relationship between Mourinho and Ronaldo isn't great. Didn't look happy at all tonight and his comments after make you wonder. Do Madrid keep the worlds most expensive player, or one of the worlds greatest coaches? One will surely go. Knowing Madrid, it'll be the manager.