Champions '& anyone who finishes as low as 4th in their league' League Final

[Tangled up in Blue]

It's a great shame that the expanded Champions League format has robbed us of classic confrontations like Nottingham Forest vs Malmo. I mean, where's the excitement in seeing two of the biggest teams in the world?

I remember seeing that Forest side play at the Nou Camp in the Super Cup(Bar$a had won the old Cup Winners Cup)It was a great to see the footballing genius that was Stanley Bowles strut his funky stuff on a stage a world away from Shepherd's Bush.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

FWIW,I think Bar$a did MU a big favour.Apparently, they have plenty of dosh to spend and boy do they need to.

 

[yogi bear up the cagire]

Lionel completely Messied up Manure's night.

 

[GrumpyBlue]

Fair result but lets not get carried away with Bar$a (as the media do) - as an attacking force they are good but have a dodgy defence - Its a pity Giggs, Valencia, Carrick (how on earth this clown is tolerated by SAF I have no idea - hope Capello saw this and banishes him from the England squad), Hernandez, Nani and Scholes decided not to turn up to test Alves, Mascherano etc - might have been a closer game.

Bar$a are good but not that good :thumbdown:

 

[canveyshrimper]

Fair result but lets not get carried away with Bar$a (as the mdia do) - as an attacking force they are good but have a dodgy defence - Its a pity Giggs, Valencia, Carrick (how on earth this clown is tolerated by SAF I have no idea - hope Capello saw this and banishes him from the England squad), Hernandez, Nani and Scholes decided not to turn up to test Alves, Mascherano etc - might have been a closer game.

Bar$a are good but not that good :thumbdown:

Agreed.com

Some pundits are going completely over the top by claiming Messi is the greatest player ever. :nope:

 

[Beefy]

I'm not sure where this idea that Barcelona have a dodgy defence comes from. Of all the impressive stats in the build up to the game, the one which stood out to me is that Victor Valdes only made 16 saves all tournament. He didn't have one to make last night. So that's 16 saves required in 13 games. And they've got a dodgy defence...?

The impressive thing about this Barcelona team is that not only are they best side in the World with the ball but they work harder than any other side when they haven't got it. They close down all over the pitch, they play the whole 90 minutes at an unbelievable tempo and they do it 60 times a season. They must be the fittest team to have ever played the game.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Fair result but lets not get carried away with Bar$a (as the mdia do) - as an attacking force they are good but have a dodgy defence - Its a pity Giggs, Valencia, Carrick (how on earth this clown is tolerated by SAF I have no idea - hope Capello saw this and banishes him from the England squad), Hernandez, Nani and Scholes decided not to turn up to test Alves, Mascherano etc - might have been a closer game.

Bar$a are good but not that good :thumbdown:

I'm no Bar$a fan(as you know full well).:winking:However I was impressed by the quality of the players they brought into their side last season,namely Villa and Mascherano.Re-signing Alves this season was a smart move too.That is what great teams always do.Rebuild when they're still at the top of their game.Carlos Puyol obviously needs replacing and I would expect Bar$a to move over the summer to do just that.They'd love to get Cesc back too but that's likely to prove rather more difficult(though I'm sure it'll happen eventually).
MU, on the other hand,have been guilty of not spending properly, the money they got for Ronaldo.De Gea will be a good replacement keeper but they'll need to spend much more than that this summer to seriously challenge Bar$a in the near future.
MU 's last great generation of home produced players including Beckham,Scholes and Giggs etc has clearly passed its sell by date.La Massia on the other hand still manages to produce players of outstanding quality on a regular basis.

 

[ShrimperChris]

The impressive thing about this Barcelona team is that not only are they best side in the World with the ball but they work harder than any other side when they haven't got it. They close down all over the pitch, they play the whole 90 minutes at an unbelievable tempo and they do it 60 times a season. They must be the fittest team to have ever played the game.

Agreed, the amount of work the whole side put in to win the ball back last night was incredible. IMO its their style of play that lets them do that. All of their players are so comfortable on the ball they dont need quite as much space to receive the ball and use it constructively as other teams. That means they dont have to move quite as quickly to get into a position to receive the ball. Also their quality on the ball and ball retention ability allows them to play at a slower pace, conserving energy for when they need to win the ball back.

 

[yogi bear up the cagire]

Fair result but lets not get carried away with Bar$a (as the mdia do) - as an attacking force they are good but have a dodgy defence - Its a pity Giggs, Valencia, Carrick (how on earth this clown is tolerated by SAF I have no idea - hope Capello saw this and banishes him from the England squad), Hernandez, Nani and Scholes decided not to turn up to test Alves, Mascherano etc - might have been a closer game.

Bar$a are good but not that good :thumbdown:

Match statisiics Barca / Man U: Possession 68% / 32% Shots on target 13 / 1 Corners 6 / 0 Fouls 6 /15 Conclusion, if they weren't that good, then Man U must have been really bloody awful. If that was the case, then I'd respond, as I did to a friend on FB who wrote ("Whitewash, Giggs looked shagged out.")
...............'I look forward to hearing about the other ten superinjunctions.'

 

[Beefy]

Therte you go.... the best team in England are restricted to one single shot on goal in 90 minutes. Barcelona don't have a dodgy defence - far from it.

 

[GrumpyBlue]

Therte you go.... the best team in England are restricted to one single shot on goal in 90 minutes. Barcelona don't have a dodgy defence - far from it.

What I am saying is that United did not test them - Arsenal took their defence to task in both their games even with a lumpen oaf like Bendtner (and 10 men in the second leg) - the attacking and midfield players kept the ball away from Bar$as defence.

By the way I don`t include Valdes in the dodgy category.

Also although United are the `best team in England` they only have a couple of challengers (as Bar$a do - only one actually) in a pretty mediocre Premier League.

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

Barcelona were too good, simple. They're in a league of their own. And I think they could dominate for years to come. The squad's still young generally, they know each other well, they have this system of play drilled into them and they seem to have a good spirit. They play the game in the right way, one of the best things about last night was the lack of fouls and gamesmanship. I think it was about 20 minutes before a free-kick was given for a foul. Man Utd just couldn't get enough of the ball to harm Barcelona. Most of their players were anonymous (insert Ryan Giggs injunction joke). Man U should've tested Mascherona at centre-back more but I don't agree that Barca have a dodgy defence. The stats suggest they don't and I thought Pique was excellent last night. They're just a joy to watch.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Agreed.com

Some pundits are going completely over the top by claiming Messi is the greatest player ever. :nope:

He's certainly not the greatest I've seen.That would have to be George Best or Pele.

 

[canveyshrimper]

He's certainly not the greatest I've seen.That would have to be George Best or Pele.

Wouldn't argue with those two, I'll add Moore, Cruyff, Eusebio & Maradona to the list.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Wouldn't argue with those two, I'll add Moore, Cruyff, Eusebio & Maradona to the list.

Regretably I never saw Cruyff or Eusebio live.I saw quite a few of Moore's games for Fulham at the end of his career(a few for WHam and England before that) and Maradona a number of times for Bar$a.They're certainly contenders.

 

[Rob Noxious]

Barcelona were too good, simple. They're in a league of their own. And I think they could dominate for years to come. The squad's still young generally, they know each other well, they have this system of play drilled into them and they seem to have a good spirit. They play the game in the right way, one of the best things about last night was the lack of fouls and gamesmanship. I think it was about 20 minutes before a free-kick was given for a foul. Man Utd just couldn't get enough of the ball to harm Barcelona. Most of their players were anonymous (insert Ryan Giggs injunction joke). Man U should've tested Mascherona at centre-back more but I don't agree that Barca have a dodgy defence. The stats suggest they don't and I thought Pique was excellent last night. They're just a joy to watch.

Funnily enough, I thought that he had the knack of being in the right place at the right time last night ... :link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1T71PGd-J0

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Funnily enough, I thought that he had the knack of being in the right place at the right time last night ... :link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1T71PGd-J0

I had to laugh at the ITV commentary team suggesting he was a tad too slow early doors.Not bad for a stop gap central defender, who was bought to win the ball in midfield,as cover for Busquets and could only get a game when either Milito or Puyol couldn't play at the back.

 

[Rob Noxious]

I had to laugh at the ITV commentary team suggesting he was a tad too slow early doors.Not bad for a stop gap central defender, who was bought to win the ball in midfield,as cover for Busquets and could only get a game when either Milito or Puyol couldn't play at the back.

Definitely an underrated player whose motor always seems to run 'cause he never stops or gives it up. :guitar:
(http://www.metrolyrics.com/my-sharona-lyrics-the-knack.html)

 

[BrettieAngell]

I had to laugh at the ITV commentary team suggesting he was a tad too slow early doors.Not bad for a stop gap central defender, who was bought to win the ball in midfield,as cover for Busquets and could only get a game when either Milito or Puyol couldn't play at the back.

I had to laugh when Gneville said Pique isn't a natural centre-half!

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

I had to laugh when Gneville said Pique isn't a natural centre-half!

He must be a natural stopper.he seems to have taken Shakira out of circulation.:winking: