[Archived] Champions League 2012/13

[Salgado Is A Hero]

There wasn't a thread for this last year but it does produce some cracking games with the world's best players.

The draw for the group stages is just after 5pm today and there obviously some great teams in there.

Pot 1 - Chelsea, Barca, Man United, Bayern, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Porto, Milan

Pot 2 - Valencia, Benfica, Shaktar Donetsk, Zenit St Petersburg, Schalke, Man City, Braga, Dynamo Kiev

Pot 3 - Olympiacos, Ajax, Anderlecht, Juventus, Spartak Moscow, PSG, Lille, Galatasaray

Pot 4 - Celtic, Dortmund, BATE Borisov, Dinamo Zagreb, FC Cluj, Malaga, Montpellier, FC Nordsjyland

Potentially there could be a group of Real Madrid, Man City, Juventus and Dortmund......in other words the Spanish, English, Italian and German champions.

[braddock]

Wouldn't mind Celtic getting drubbed by an English team.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Wouldn't mind Celtic getting drubbed by an English team.

Usually doesn't happen, in 10 matches against English teams in group stages or knockout rounds of European competitions since the 90s.....Won 4, Drawn 4, Lost 2.

[Tom]

City and Real in the same group so far

Off topic but I noticed Vinjay tweeted about this he's a fully fledged city fan now, its just baffling how someone can do that

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Group A - Porto, Dynamo Kiev, PSG, Dinamo Zagreb

Group B - Arsenal, Schalke, Olympiacos, Montpelier

Group C - Milan, Zenit, Anderlecht, Malaga

Group D - Real Madrid, Man City, Ajax, Dortmund

Group E - Chelsea, Shaktar, Juventus, FC Nordsjyland

Group F - Bayern, Valencia, Lille, Bate Borisov

Group G - Barca, Benfica, Spartak Moscow, Celtic

Group H - Man United, Braga, Galatarasay, CFR Cluj

Man City get another rough draw with the Spanish and German champions......Giroud at Arsenal gets to play against his former team......Man United get an easier group for a change.....Chelsea vs Juventus should be a great game as both teams have made some quality signings on top of their already talented teams and Celtic have a very good chance of coming 2nd in their group behind Barca.

[speeeeeeedie]

There are a few comments in the PL thread but I thought I'd bring this one up.

Man U-Real Madrid is a great game. Low on technical quality, high on energy. Rafael to go off at half time. He has had a nightmare.

2 years ago Phil Jones was scrappnig for Steve Kean. Now he is playing in the Bernabeu. Easy decision to leave for me.

As for yesterdy. Juventus and PSG comfortably through after 1 game.

[Amo]

2 years ago Phil Jones was scrappnig for Steve Kean. Now he is playing in the Bernabeu. Easy decision to leave for me.

"The lad wanted CL football and we're not quite there yet..."

[Baz]

He'd still be in the youth team if Stevie hadnt discovered him.

He's been excellent tonight.

[Tom]

He was very lucky not to concede a penalty but has been good

He isn't too popular with most united fans I know and was dodgy last season for them after the first few games but clearly has talent

[Stuart]

Bit strange that. I thought the ball had to be in play to blow the full time whistle?

[RibbleValleyRover]

Jones put in there to do an ugly job on one of the biggest stages and passed with flying colors. Immense performance from him tonight.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Aye, he played very well. Great result for United there but the tie is by no means over obviously.

Looking forward to Bayern-Arsenal next week.

[Hughesy]

Jones put in there to do an ugly job on one of the biggest stages and passed with flying colors. Immense performance from him tonight.

Immense?

At the top level its all about being 100% on top of your game, you cant even shut off for 1% - he did that when he didnt track Ronaldo when he switched wing, and bang 1-1.

He was also very lucky not to concede a penalty in the first half, risky challenge to make away at a place like that.

Other than that he did very well. But Immense I think is abit biased.

[LeChuck]

Immense?

At the top level its all about being 100% on top of your game, you cant even shut off for 1% - he did that when he didnt track Ronaldo when he switched wing, and bang 1-1.

Jones wasn't man marking Ronaldo.

[den]

He was very lucky not to concede a penalty but has been good

He isn't too popular with most united fans I know and was dodgy last season for them after the first few games but clearly has talent

Well they're a bit like some of our fans who thought he was nothing special then. He's been first choice in midfield since the day they signed him - and that's not bad for a young centre half. That lad has everything he could possibly need.

[John]

Think some forget Jones is only 20 years old.

[den]

Immense?

At the top level its all about being 100% on top of your game, you cant even shut off for 1% - he did that when he didnt track Ronaldo when he switched wing, and bang 1-1.

He was also very lucky not to concede a penalty in the first half, risky challenge to make away at a place like that.

Other than that he did very well. But Immense I think is abit biased.

I would say he was immense Hughesy. Don't forget which team he was playing against and where, the position he played, the competition he was playing in and his age. Oh, and his performance. Still can't see the talent?

[Sparky Marky]

Immense?

At the top level its all about being 100% on top of your game, you cant even shut off for 1% - he did that when he didnt track Ronaldo when he switched wing, and bang 1-1.

He was also very lucky not to concede a penalty in the first half, risky challenge to make away at a place like that.

Other than that he did very well. But Immense I think is abit biased.

Ferguson said Evra should have been with Ronaldo for the goal.

[speeeeeeedie]

Ferguson said Evra should have been with Ronaldo for the goal.

Evra was. Ronaldo's knee was in his face when he headed it. Ronlado's jump was Michael Jordanesque Evra had no chance.

Reminded me of Shearer scoring against Utd in 93-94 at Ewood. He jumped right over Paul Parker.

[thenodrog]

I still feel as I did when he left that Jones's best position is as a deep sitting midfielder, ch next and full back way down in third place. I didn't watch the game tonight but his performance in tandem with Scott Parker in virtually blotting out the mighty Spanish midfield threat last year was fantastic. We saw in that triple whammy tackle on his home debut v Chelsea that he is frightened of no one and literally bullies his opposite numbers.

[Eddie]

I thought Jones was pretty good, did his job well, but I certainly wouldn't give him rave reviews. It was a good match though, although I thought the referee was poor. Jones could have given away a penalty, although it would have been harsh, and I don't know how Real got away with some very cynical tackles without picking up any bookings, not to mention the red card that they should have received when Evra was taken down.

[RibbleValleyRover]

The United fans I have spoken to say they have been really impressed with him lately. They saw glimpses of the ability but he kept picking up those niggling injuries, now he has had more of a run in the team they can see the lad has a huge amount of talent.

The same fans have mixed views on where his best position is, he has had solid games at CB, RB and as a CM. I still think he will end up being one of United's starting CB's longer term. You can tell Ferguson is smitten with the player.

[Baz]

I thought Jones was pretty good, did his job well, but I certainly wouldn't give him rave reviews. It was a good match though, although I thought the referee was poor. Jones could have given away a penalty, although it would have been harsh, and I don't know how Real got away with some very cynical tackles without picking up any bookings, not to mention the red card that they should have received when Evra was taken down.

He's a rolls royce of a footballer, reads the game well, doesnt panic, good on the floor, not slow, strong, athletic, good in the air and rarely goes to ground without winning the ball. The few times players got the wrong side, he calmly accelerated and got back the right side, breaking down the attack. If he can stay clear of injuries he could be one of Uniteds top players for the next 15 years. That was against one of the top midfields in the world. Oh and he's 20 years old, which is extremely young for a defender too.

[den]

I thought Jones was pretty good, did his job well, but I certainly wouldn't give him rave reviews. It was a good match though, although I thought the referee was poor. Jones could have given away a penalty, although it would have been harsh, and I don't know how Real got away with some very cynical tackles without picking up any bookings, not to mention the red card that they should have received when Evra was taken down.

Some of our fans reckoned that Jones was far from the finished article and that we got a great fee for someone who wasn't proven at PL level. A lot of those same fans also reckoned we'd made fantastic signings with Murphy and Etuhu and that the last few transfer windows have improved the squad.

Whatdya think?

[SydneyRover]

I am pretty anti Venkys but I think we got a fair fee for Jones.