[Archived] Champions League 2010

[Hughesy]

I don't know how anyone who is even slightly neutral could want Barcelona to win after last night.

Agreed…..I’ve always followed Barca’s progress as Iv been to a few games, and know quite a few Barca season ticket holders. I’ve also been there when they won the league and it was an amazing experience…I was also at the Champs league final when the Mancs beat Bayern thanks to some of the locals we know in Barca who got me a ticket for just £30! So you could say I normally would be rooting for Barca to beat Madrid - However last night their attitude, cheating, diving, hounding of referees etc just spoiled the game. If I was a Barca fan then id be annoyed with the attitude of my team, who basically couldn’t beat Mourinho’s tactics so had to cheat around them!

[chris]

Why is it millions of people watching can see the play acting yet the top ref's can't?

[Mattyblue]

Be a cold day in hell before I want Man United to win the European Cup!

Hope Barca win 5-0

[novella]

Agreed…..I’ve always followed Barca’s progress as Iv been to a few games, and know quite a few Barca season ticket holders. I’ve also been there when they won the league and it was an amazing experience…I was also at the Champs league final when the Mancs beat Bayern thanks to some of the locals we know in Barca who got me a ticket for just £30! So you could say I normally would be rooting for Barca to beat Madrid - However last night their attitude, cheating, diving, hounding of referees etc just spoiled the game. If I was a Barca fan then id be annoyed with the attitude of my team, who basically couldn’t beat Mourinho’s tactics so had to cheat around them!

They hardly had to cheat to win. Did you see how negative real madrid were. They got hammered in every department and barca were missing a few key players. Also in the copa del rey final the ref give every decision Madrids way. Nothing was said then. A few Madrid players were a disgrace last night as well. I wanted to smash my tv everytime di Maria fell over and whinged. Also Ronaldo throwing temper tantrums like a 2 year old girl.

[Iceman]

Bloody Hell, 1 game where everything got out of hand, and people are suddenly anti Barca? Mourinho started this whole mess, he is the main culprit as is often the case. If I was a madrid fan, I would be disgusted that playing at home, and with all that talent available, and still manage to lose the game is and should be the talking point.

some of the things were a bit silly from Barca, but still 80% ball posession and basically went out there to win the game despite being the away side. Madrid continued where they left off in the Copa Del Rey final, where the whole idea was to rough the Barca players up, negative football and then counter. Do you guys honestly think, that if they play United it will be the same rolling around? they wont need to, because at least United will attempt to play the game and win.

This was REAL MADRID VS BARCELONA, one of the fiercest rivalries in football, in a champions league semi final, with a nut case of a manager on the Madrid Bench. It was bound to get out of hand, and that is what happened. Im surprised that thug Adebayor wasnt red carded as well.

[savage8]

Sergio Busquets is a disgrace. Nuff said. Good player but a wimp, a cheat and a vile man.

[Iceman]

Sergio Busquets is a disgrace. Nuff said. Good player but a wimp, a cheat and a vile man.

Cheat --->>>>

[Hughesy]

They hardly had to cheat to win. Did you see how negative real madrid were. They got hammered in every department and barca were missing a few key players. Also in the copa del rey final the ref give every decision Madrids way. Nothing was said then. A few Madrid players were a disgrace last night as well. I wanted to smash my tv everytime di Maria fell over and whinged. Also Ronaldo throwing temper tantrums like a 2 year old girl.

At 0-0 with 11 v 11, Madrid looked far more likely to win & Barca were creating next to nothing - simply passing around their own half....the red card which was caused by feigning of injury and hounding of the ref CHANGED the game totally!

As for Di Maria - he was fouled 3 times by Alves before the ref took any action. What about the lad De Pedro? He must have been punched 6 times with the amount of times he was rolling around holding his face.....disgrace!

[MarkBRFC71]

At 0-0 with 11 v 11, Madrid looked far more likely to win & Barca were creating next to nothing - simply passing around their own half....the red card which was caused by feigning of injury and hounding of the ref CHANGED the game totally!

As for Di Maria - he was fouled 3 times by Alves before the ref took any action. What about the lad De Pedro? He must have been punched 6 times with the amount of times he was rolling around holding his face.....disgrace!

Di Maria is the worst diver in La Liga - watch any Madrid games and he spends more time on his arse even than Ronaldo.

At 0-0 Real Madrid were containing Barca but didn't create anything. Once Pepe was (rightly) red-carded, Barca had more space to play and well, give Barca any space and you'll lose.

Adebayor should have been red-carded for pushing Busquets in the face, as should Marcelo for his blatant stamp on Pedro.

There was an equal amount of play-acting and diving from either side, but Real were trying primarily to rough-up and stop Barca playing rather than win the game.

[BiggusLaddus]

Di Maria is the worst diver in La Liga - watch any Madrid games and he spends more time on his arse even than Ronaldo.

At 0-0 Real Madrid were containing Barca but didn't create anything. Once Pepe was (rightly) red-carded, Barca had more space to play and well, give Barca any space and you'll lose.

Adebayor should have been red-carded for pushing Busquets in the face, as should Marcelo for his blatant stamp on Pedro.

There was an equal amount of play-acting and diving from either side, but Real were trying primarily to rough-up and stop Barca playing rather than win the game.

And we wonder why football has gone to the dogs.

I didn't even see a yellow card in either of those challenges.

[blue_and_white]

And we wonder why football has gone to the dogs.

I didn't even see a yellow card in either of those challenges.

Thats because they weren't. Barcelona just have as many gloryhunters as Man Utd and its very fashionable to worship them at present for a number of reasons. The bias in some of the posts defending their disgraceful behaviour last night is obvious. Blaming it all on Mourinho for provoking them and Madrid for being dirty after a few run-of-the-mill mind games and one of the softest games I've ever seen is ridiculous. Barca cheated, they feigned injury and hassled the ref throughout and finally unjustly got an opposition player sent off. It would probably have been a draw and a well set up tie before that, as soon as that happened as Mourinho said RM may as well have forfeited the round.

[Hughesy]

Di Maria is the worst diver in La Liga - watch any Madrid games and he spends more time on his arse even than Ronaldo.

At 0-0 Real Madrid were containing Barca but didn't create anything. Once Pepe was (rightly) red-carded, Barca had more space to play and well, give Barca any space and you'll lose.

Adebayor should have been red-carded for pushing Busquets in the face, as should Marcelo for his blatant stamp on Pedro.

There was an equal amount of play-acting and diving from either side, but Real were trying primarily to rough-up and stop Barca playing rather than win the game.

We are talking about last nights game - nothing else.....FACT Di Maria was fouled 3 times by Alves before he got booked - he couldnt handle his pace on the ball.

Pepe - 'Rightly' sent off?? Give over!! Jermaine Jones would have been off in every game so far if thats the case. It was a booking if anything at all.

Adebayor got frustrated with the cheating, again a yellow was suffice.

Equal amount of play acting and diving? Never in this world...watch the game back without your barca tinted specs on.

[SouthAussieRover]

Be a cold day in hell before I want Man United to win the European Cup!

Hope Barca win 5-0

Wash your mouth out.

An English based team for me anytime.

[RoversSG]

Di Maria is the worst diver in La Liga - watch any Madrid games and he spends more time on his arse even than Ronaldo.

At 0-0 Real Madrid were containing Barca but didn't create anything. Once Pepe was (rightly) red-carded, Barca had more space to play and well, give Barca any space and you'll lose.

Adebayor should have been red-carded for pushing Busquets in the face, as should Marcelo for his blatant stamp on Pedro.

There was an equal amount of play-acting and diving from either side, but Real were trying primarily to rough-up and stop Barca playing rather than win the game.

What i saw was Adebayor pushing Busquets but not touching his face yet Busquets went down as though he got a punch in the kisser. Same goes for Pedro and Alves, it's a disgrace the number of times they went down clutching their faces when they got kicked or pushed in the chest/ shoulder etc.

Having said all that, Madrid with Di Maria and Ronaldo were not much better. Not to mention Mourinho who conveniently forgot how he used to hound referees (and still do) and make false allegations against them like the referee who had to retire after referring the Barca-Chelsea game.

[jim mk2]

Barcelona's behaviour last night was a disgrace and the myth that has surrounded the club in recent years shattered as they were exposed before the watching footballing world as cheats and con-artists. Perhaps they teach their players to behave in such a fashion in their fabled academy. Alves should have been sent off for feigning injury to the extent he went off on a stretcher and then came back on the pitch. In England he would be lambasted for such behaviour but in Spain such antics seem to be acceptable. I hope United stuff Barcelona in the final and a strong referee clamps down on the Catalan con-men.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

We are talking about last nights game - nothing else.....FACT Di Maria was fouled 3 times by Alves before he got booked - he couldnt handle his pace on the ball.

Pepe - 'Rightly' sent off?? Give over!! Jermaine Jones would have been off in every game so far if thats the case. It was a booking if anything at all.

Adebayor got frustrated with the cheating, again a yellow was suffice.

Equal amount of play acting and diving? Never in this world...watch the game back without your barca tinted specs on.

It was embarrassing to see Barca dive around the place but firstly they're not the only team in the continent to do it and secondly the main problem last night was Mourinho and his tactics:

Madrid were at home. Barca had Mascherano playing CB and Puyol playing LB. They were also without Iniesta. Yet Mourinho clearly just played for a 0-0 and in a sense openly admitted that his side couldn't live with Barca when it came to actually playing football. To revert to those tactics was pathetic and from a side which contains Ozil, Ronaldo, Di Maria, Alonso ie, top football players. This wasn't a lower league side visiting the Nou Camp, this was Madrid at home and they were too scared to give it a go. That was what was so poor about last night.

Madrid were as bad as Barca in many respects. Pepe didn't deserve to go but Madrid didn't deserve to draw.

[Stuart]

Pepe didn't deserve to go but Madrid didn't deserve to draw.

I'd argue that if Pepe wasn't off them Madrid would have got exactly that. It sounds as if in your mind the best team on paper, or the team that plays the most attractive football, should always win the match. Football isn't like that and, if it was, Rovers should never have won the League.

Mourinho had a game plan designed to win - over two legs - against a superior footballing side (the best in the world if some people are to be believed). It might well have worked had the referee not made a mistake (under extreme pressure from the cheating Barca players).

Mourinho's sides might be hard to watch at times but they do get results. The guy is a genius so it's no surprise he's a little mad. I don't buy into his conspiracy theories though.

[Eddie]

Up until the sending off Madrid were the better team. They contained Barcelona and looked more threatening going forward.

[Drakefyre]

Exactly. This was exactly how Madrid won the Copa del Rey final.

For anyone who hasn't seen it, here's the video replay of Pepe's "foul" that shows no contact at all after the initial playing of the ball: http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1330054873516/noticia/Noticia/Television_images_show_that_Pepe_did_not_touch_Alves__leg.htm

[chris]

Exactly. This was exactly how Madrid won the Copa del Rey final.

For anyone who hasn't seen it, here's the video replay of Pepe's "foul" that shows no contact at all after the initial playing of the ball: http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1330054873516/noticia/Noticia/Television_images_show_that_Pepe_did_not_touch_Alves__leg.htm

makes me angry

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

I'd argue that if Pepe wasn't off them Madrid would have got exactly that. It sounds as if in your mind the best team on paper, or the team that plays the most attractive football, should always win the match. Football isn't like that and, if it was, Rovers should never have won the League.

Mourinho had a game plan designed to win - over two legs - against a superior footballing side (the best in the world if some people are to be believed). It might well have worked had the referee not made a mistake (under extreme pressure from the cheating Barca players).

Mourinho's sides might be hard to watch at times but they do get results. The guy is a genius so it's no surprise he's a little mad. I don't buy into his conspiracy theories though.

I think if Pepe had stayed on Madrid probably would have gotten a 0-0. But surely Madrid's best shot was to take a lead to the Nou Camp? They got battered there in La Liga. I just thought it was sad to see a team brimming with world class attacking players being reduced to simply stopping Barca without ever really threatening to take the lead. Inter Milan were clearly never going to out football Barca and neither were Chelsea, but Madrid arguably had as good an attacking team as Barca. Containing Barca isn't easy obviously, but I honestly thought Madrid had more to them then that.

I'd also argue that both teams put pressure on the referee. Barca undoubtedly dived more often than Madrid but the way in which both teams stormed up and around the referee was a disgrace. Both teams cheated.

I dont blame teams for shutting up shop against a top team, as you quite rightly mention, we attempt to do it whenever we play a top team, but at Ewood Park we still try to give it a go. Mourinho's tactics would have had them going to the Nou Camp at 0-0. Barca would therefore have been the favourites regardless of away goals.

[Stuart]

I think if Pepe had stayed on Madrid probably would have gotten a 0-0. But surely Madrid's best shot was to take a lead to the Nou Camp? They got battered there in La Liga. I just thought it was sad to see a team brimming with world class attacking players being reduced to simply stopping Barca without ever really threatening to take the lead. Inter Milan were clearly never going to out football Barca and neither were Chelsea, but Madrid arguably had as good an attacking team as Barca. Containing Barca isn't easy obviously, but I honestly thought Madrid had more to them then that.

I'd also argue that both teams put pressure on the referee. Barca undoubtedly dived more often than Madrid but the way in which both teams stormed up and around the referee was a disgrace. Both teams cheated.

I dont blame teams for shutting up shop against a top team, as you quite rightly mention, we attempt to do it whenever we play a top team, but at Ewood Park we still try to give it a go. Mourinho's tactics would have had them going to the Nou Camp at 0-0. Barca would therefore have been the favourites regardless of away goals.

A good post Morten's. I don't agree with a lot of it, and we could go round in circles, but a good post none-the-less.

[old darwen blue]

Personally speaking I cant wait for the second leg

[Iceman]

A good post Morten's. I don't agree with a lot of it, and we could go round in circles, but a good post none-the-less.

what don’t you agree with Jisty? The fact that Madrid were parking the bus on their own home ground, using negativie spoiling tactics, or just the that despite the fact that Barca were being a bit stupid, they still outplayed, out passed and beat Madrid at the Bernabeu?

If Madrid were an inferior side to Barca, then I wouldn’t have had a complaint with them parking the bus, or trying to be negative, but the fact is, they had a team full of attacking threat, a bench full of talent, Kaka, Higuain, Adebayor etc, yet they failed to deliver.

[imy9]

You sound like Wenger Iceman! Barca could not beat Madrid with 11 men and their tactic was to get someone sent off, how pathetic is that from a side supposedly the greatest of all time?