[Archived] Blackburn Rovers 0 Bayer Leverkusen 0

[brfc_jonesy]

what a referee, how the (Please don't use that word again) he managed to get his licence is beyond me! diego faggot! im so hacked off, i was close to bloody tears at the final whistle! and them german scum especially that castero foul after foul going unpunished! disgrace! ARRRRRRRRGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tchocky]

Nonda gets into good positions but his finishing lets him down, Benni creates the space for himself (when on form) and is a killer finisher.

But none of it resulted in a Rovers goal today

[des]

when I saw the 4-4-2 and the players that he had to pick from I did think that we might find it hard to score.

they did to us what we did to the gunners on saterday, expect that we had three good chances and did not take one, thats football and so we are out.

Our midfield with two wide players were never going to control the centre of the pitch and hence they had a lot of the ball.

The good points, we will learn from it and a good sized crowd was there to watch it.

while we have some good forwrds there all apart from roberts tend to play in the same style, and in the close season this needs to be addressed. Still with the players that we have/had out our season to date as been fine, so roll on satreday and the midweek match

[sany]

Derbyshire was sh!te and should have been subbed at half time if not before.

[Presty On Tour]

Derbyshire was sh!te and should have been subbed at half time if not before.

were you watching the same game as me pal?

[spanishblue]

I'm gutted. Sat in my local Spanish bar and called the ref and linesman fit to burn in Spanish. Some of my neighbours were looking at me in a different light

I haven't seen the blues dominate a match like that for sooooo long and get nothing. Oh bugger.

Ah well there is the FA cup where we will stuff the Arse and end up in the final (in my dreams)

[Exiled in Toronto]

It was probably a level to high for Sir Matt at this stage. Agonising result but I had resigned myself to at after about 60 mins. Our two in the midfield against their three or more meant we weren't getting any decent shots in from good positions. Can't complain though, it's been a good tournament for us for once

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Real heartbreaker, we created enough chances and we should have won

Great support from the fans though....real shame Rovers just couldn't deliver.Pride has been restored this Uefa campaign and we can ALL hold our heads high.

[sany]

were you watching the same game as me pal?

yes I was watching the same game...even though nonda missed a sitter he offered more than derbyshire did whole game.

[MI ROVER]

What a frustrating game, good chances went begging. Ref and German diving team didn't make for enjoyable viewing. Too much long ball needed to get bentley and mgp down the wings more. Lets ensure we do the Le Ars next week to make amends. Hopefully crowd will still turn up but the casual fan will again leave disappointed and watch on tv.

[Rovermatt]

We were pretty bad but the ref had a shocker. Leverkusen played just like your typical canny German side. It's all a bit of a let down really.

[sijoco]

Just got back from the game now. Tremendous atmosphere, shame the referee was reffing a different game. Graham Poll all is forgiven Gutted. Finishing let us down tonight.

[Billy Castell]

Bayer Liederhosen did to us what we did to Arsenal. Ref was useless, but our midfield was too brittle and we lost out on so many headers. Dunn was very crap, and Tugay was not as magical as he can be.

[1864roverite]

No wanting to moan or be negative in any way as I have thoroughly enjoyed my Rovers Blue and White European adventure. I would like to thank my wife for allowing me to venture abroad following my team , I would like to thank my family for making sure my Rovers shirts and passport were always handy and the lads and lassies I have met along the way. Its been a bloody great adventure.

Now onto tonight.

All at Ewood made an impassioned plea for the fans to turn up and back the team onto the win they desired. The manager, the chairman and the players all voiced the same message.

Well Rovers, you got your wish. Over 25000 Rovers supporters got in the ground having belied the weather, the traffic the bosses and the wags.

It is such a pity that some of the team didnt bother to make an effort like the fans.

You dont win matches with 6 players and you cannot afford to miss the chances that McCarthy and Nonda missed tonight if you want to progress in European competition.

Yes the ref was frankly a disgrace and the Germans were typical of a team coming away from that part of the world. They did enough to ensure a draw as it was all they needed.

Now then, whats the odds on Rovers turning oveer Arsenal at Ewood next Wednesday ?

[stuwilky]

Someone told me David Dunn was playing?

Can someone vouch for this?

[John]

Gutted.

Really enjoyed our European adventure this season.

[RoverInWigan]

i thought we played really well tonight it was just the finishing that let us down and on another day we could have won 3-0 but it wasnt to be after all we did have the chances. david bentley 4 our eurpoean player of the year and i was also impressed with schneider for them he looked impressive

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just not our night, the Gods of football chose not to smile on us. I thought we made life hard for ourselves by allowing the Germans to play themselves in during the first half, we came out with all guns blazing second half and really had them rocking but the ball just wouldn't run for us, we really needed a big game from Benny tonight but he was lacking and blew our best chance.

It's no disgrace, we gave it our best shot but we weren't as ring wise as Bayer ( in more ways than one), the tie was lost in Germany if the truth was told.

Ratings-

Friedel- 6 , Never seen him have less to do.

Emerton-6 , Quiet tonight, needed him to get forward more.

Zurab-6 , Steady, did nothing wrong.

Nelsen-6 , Ditto.

Warnock-7 , Class player, got forward well second half, gets caught in possession in dangerous areas.

Bentley-7 , Worked hard, got in some good crosses.

Dunn- 6 ,Tried hard but seemed unsure of his role in the team.

Tugay-6 , Not his night, Bayer marked him closely all game.

Pedersen-7 , Played well generally with some good crosses, corners not so good.

Derbyshire-6 , Ran hard all night without much support, feeding off scraps.

Mc Carthy-5 , Big disapointment tonight, missed our best chance, maybe needs some time on the bench.

Subs- Nonda-5 , came on late but still had time to miss two good chances, slow in thought and execution.

Roberts-? only on a dog watch.

[MI ROVER]

Someone told me David Dunn was playing?

Can someone vouch for this?

I thought he was nearest to scoring tonight from the header early second half great save from the keeper. Lets not look for a scapegoat with better finishing we would have been through. Although I would have loved to have savage ruling the centre of the park, he is missed on nights/games like this !

[stuwilky]

I thought he was nearest to scoring tonight from the header early second half great save from the keeper. Lets not look for a scapegoat with better finishing we would have been through. Although I would have loved to have savage ruling the centre of the park, he is missed on nights/games like this !

Scapegoat?

I was looking for a midfielder!!!!

There are at least 5 players who were crap tonight, Dunn being the worst culprit.

[JamieUK]

I thought that we were absolutely crap. We showed no urgency until it was too late and we didnt look like we wanted it. It should have been Rovers quick to close them down when they had the ball not vice versa. We didnt win any 50/50 or second balls and half of the players bottled it. I thought Derbyshire was good - always available and won alot of challenges that he had no right to (Why the £^$" was Benni not following with play and ready to pick up the loose ball?!). MGP played well, as did Emerton. I suppose you cant really fault any of the back 5 but it was so frustrating watching them play the ball between themselves as no-one made themselves free to receive it.

The referee & linesmen were a joke. How was there nly 1 minute of extra time in the first half?! I was too far away to see the ruck in the second half - What went on?

[Ozz]

I dont think I've felt so down after a match in a long while. I felt we weren't going through after about an hour of the game, just had that feel to it.

No centre midfield, too many diagonal long balls, crud ref, street wise opposition, no run of the ball....

Really down as I felt we could have gone on and on in this competition.

Still, unbeaten at home this season in Europe, no goals conceded too.

Season all hinges on beating the Arsenal next Wednesday night now...please god !!

Good night.

[Fife Rover]

Bentley was very lucky he did not see red for the right hook he threw near the end of the 2nd half. This led to a melee with players of both sides pushing and shoving each other. Which is probably why Bentley stayed on. The ref and and his assistant were so busy trying to prevent a riot that they forgot about the incident that started it all.

[Billy Castell]

I saw it on TV, and Pedersen was fouled, and the ref was faffing about deciding who fouled who whilst Pedersen went up to the player who fouled him in a Roy Keane fashion. Loads of players got involved, and Bentley pushed the Leiderhosen number 9 in the face and he promptly rolled about like a tit. And then the ref booked Warnock because his cat pooed on his flowerbed, or his eyebrows were offensive or something.

But I shall conclude with one or two positives:

1. We kept a clean sheet.

2. No-one got injured.

3. We have finally got past the 1st round.

[MI ROVER]

Scapegoat?

I was looking for a midfielder!!!!

There are at least 5 players who were crap tonight, Dunn being the worst culprit.

Agreed both games we didn't control of the centre of the park which results in our elimination from UEFA cup. Unfortunately Savage broke his leg a month ago and our squad isn't big/good enough to cope with injuries to key players. I suggest it would have been different with Savage in. Dunny wasn't to blame for our glaring misses by nonda and mccarthy. The question you originally posed seem to intimate that dunny wasn't on the park but he was nearest to scoring tonight and if that and gone in he would have been an hero on here. What a difference a few inches makes !!!