Champions League

Milan 0 - Arsenal 2 (Arsenal win 2 - 0 on aggregate)
Man Utd 1 - Lyon 0 (Man Utd win 2 - 1 on aggregate)
Barcelona 1 - Celtic 0 (Barcelona win 4 - 2 on aggregate)
Sevilla 3 - Fenerbache 2 (5 all on aggregate - Fenerbache win 3 - 2 on penalties)

Huge results for Arsenal and Fenerbache, with Arsenal becoming the first English side to beat Milan at the San Siro. Milan's woes mean they now are in danger of missing out on the Champions League altogether given they are currently in fifth place in Serie A in what has been a horrible season for the Rossoneri. Messi's hamstring injury marred Barcelona's progress as they cruised past Celtic.

Tomorrow:
Inter - Liverpool (Liverpool lead 2 - 0)
Real Madrid - Roma (Roma lead 2 - 1)
Chelsea - Olympiakos (0 - 0)
Porto - Schalke (Schalke lead 1 - 0)

what a massive win for the Gunners, AC Milan are past it I reckon, they need a major re-shuffle in the off season, and yes the current 5th place finish in Serie' A won't get them in the competition next season, they have started the season poorly and they are a completely different outfit than last year.

Man U's narrow win is all that matters to progress, although they had so many possession and chances, they should have put them away.

Barca's narrow win add more misery for Celtic.

My friend said he's hoping to see a Barca v Man U final this season

Well the thing that really annoys me about the CL is they do another draw after the round of 16, which is complete BS. The tournament tree should at the very least be set in stone once the draw for the last 16 is made, if not back when the groups are drawn.

fair point, although I think UEFA purposely do that so less teams from the same country (if possible) will clash too early (even in the KO stages), so the chances are we'll see 2 teams from different countries representing in the final, etc...

Lionel Messi is out for 6 weeks, what are Barca's chances of progressing further in the CL?

we'll see...

what a player he is!

Yeah but they already do that in the Group Stage and the second round draw, how long do you need to keep them apart for? To me it reduces the credibility as it's more open to corruption whereas if the tournament tree was laid out as early as possible there's no room for favouritism.

I think we;ll miss Messi in La Liga more than in the CL, we have Giovanni, Krkic, and Henry who can all play there but we'll definitely miss his gamebreaking factor, which I think will be more apparant in La Liga where we need to be perfect to win now.

Sorry I got that fixtures slightly wrong Liverpool aren't playing till next week on account of Inter and AC Milan sharing the San Siro.

Results:
Chelsea 3 - Olympiakos 0 (Chelsea win 3 - 0 on aggregate)
Real Madrid 1 - Roma 2 (Roma win 4 - 2 on aggregate)
Porto 1 - Schalke 0 (1 all on aggregate, Schalke win 4 - 1 on penalties)


Fascists Gone

Although that does mean they can concentrate on La Liga now which may be a bad thing.

*trumpet*

boring...

Champions League quarter-final draw:
Arsenal v Liverpool (First leg 2 Apr/Second leg 8 Apr)
AS Roma v Man Utd (First leg 1 Apr/Second leg 9 Apr)
Schalke 04 v FC Barcelona (First leg 1 Apr/Second leg 9 Apr)
Fenerbahce v Chelsea (First leg 2 Apr/Second leg 8 Apr)

Champions League semi-final draw: (1st leg: 22/23 April/2nd leg: 29/30 April )
Arsenal/Liverpool v Fenerbahce/Chelsea
Schalke/Barcelona v AS Roma/Man Utd

interesting draw...

I've had a feeling Man U could be drawn against Barca or Roma, and they got Roma, what deja vu, last year's quarters copy book, and this year's group stages, and now this...

hoping for a Man U v Barca semi final, what a game that would be, me and Jono better sit away from each other in the pub for that one, haha

Chelsea would also be happy as they avoided an English side in the draw, I'll tip the scousers over the Gunners, simply 'pool has nothing else to chase for this year, Barca to easily beat Schalke, Man U edging past Roma, and Chelsea getting past Fenerbahce convincingly.

Obviously the Liverpool-Arsenal clash is te big match of the round, all the others have a clear favourite. But this clash is made even more interesting by the fact the tw sides will also meet in the league at the same time so they will face each other three times in 1 week (CL games are only 1 week apart from now due to Euro 200. Neithr side can afford to take the league fixture lightly either and both ghave massively tough and important fixtures throughou April. Arseal obvious are giving it their all to win theleague, whereas if Liverpool are at risk of missing out of the next seasons CL altogether.

From the 23rd of MArch:

Arsenal: Chelsea, Liverpool, Liverpool, Liverpool, Bolton, Man Utd

Liverpool: Man Utd, Everton, Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal

With so many important matchs (even Bolton is a big game for Arsneal given their recent record against them) for both sides I really think this tie will be too close to call. Liverpool are good in Europe yes and in form lately but the fact is Arsenal are like no side they've ever faced. Liverpool are typically dominant at home and rock solid away in the knock out stages, however Arsenal typically win ties in the away game. Liverpool also need to be wary about how much confidence they take from their win over Inter who spent around 3/4s of the tie with 10 men and were woeful in front of goal in Milan. Still Rafa is a master tactician in Europe, then again Arsenal will be buoyed by the game at Anfield earlier this season when Liverpool where lucky to escape with a 1-1 draw.

The league game at the Emirites realy compliates tins though, on the one hand both managers may be tempted to rest key players but on the other hand, they both are in vital need of 3 points, and victory for either side could prove a massive confidence boost ahead of the European tie. Plus as I mentioned above there's the clash of Arsenal who tend to do the job on the oad in Europe against Liverpool who typically rely on a fortress Anfold approach.

Fortress Anfield sorry.

very interesting analysis there Jono.

this is how I see it:

Arsenal will try and avoid defeat against Chelsea, obviously it's a London derby and also will be a special clash between the 2, Gallas used to play for Blues and now skipper for Arsenal and also (C)ashley Cole, the ex. Arsenal left back now with the blues. You could see a draw written all over this one, then Arsenal will take the next 3 games against 'Pool one by one, again, there won't be much, even if whoever wins the first will still have no advantage over the next 2 games, simply those games are too close to call, 'Pool aren't a team they used to be like in the 80's, so they will sit back hit the opposition on the counter attack, Arsenal will want to play keep ball and play some beautiful attacking football with a lot of crisp passing up front, those 3 games in a week could be decided by a single goal / mistake, etc... Won't be much in it, and again both teams don't want to lose, so it might turn out to be a boredom one instead of a classic.

After all that Arsenal will have massive fatique from the 3 games vs 'Pool and when they play against weaker teams like Bolton, they will falter, and when their squad becomes so small (through more fatique and more possible injury, they will get smashed by Man Utd at Old Trafford)

'Pool's fixtures list, equally daunting, up against Man U at Old Trafford first up, they would like to seek revenge over their 1-0 loss at Anfield earlier this season, so this one could go either way, maybe a draw, or a even a 'Pool win, who knows? then they'd be really pumped up for the Merseyside derby against Everton and do not want to lose that one, by that time they might still be fighting onto fourth place finish in the league with the Toffees, if they lose that one, they will then take their anger in the next 3 games against the Gunners, which would be very interesting...

Dunno about the thinking there lads; Liverpool were a massively different team last time they met Arsenal, I reckon we've got them in the CL though I admit I could see them getting the league games off of us.

Actually I think Arsenal met Bolton prior to Liverpool and possibly have the man Utd game before the final CL game.

While I'll freedly admitLiverpool are vastly better than the last time they met, I think the key point is that Arsenal tend to win ties in the away leg which is the opposite of Liverpool's European form. If Liverpool go the Emirites and grind out a 0-0 result then I don't necessarily think they will take much of an advantage back to Anfield given some of Arsenal's results in European away legs.

Ah, we just beat Inter at San Siro....???

arsenal over liverpool
man utd over roma
barce over schalke
chelsea over fen

chelsea over arsenal
man utd over barcelona

chelsea over man utd

my picks!

Good game this morning, feel Arsenal were unlucky not to get a second on a couple of occasions but then so were we. Good reffing, plenty of action, and good result.

Now for the Anfield leg...

no draw is ever a good result. period.

thou being a liverpool suporter tony, its understandable u settle for weak results week in and week out.

well its an ok result. away goals are important in champions league fixtures.

Great game at the Emirates, Arsenal should have won it, but they didn't and that will come back and haunt them!

I have a feeling Liverpool will grind out a 0-0 draw or 1-0 win at Anfield and they will take them through, don't see Arsenal scoring there on a European stage.

Man Utd had a great win over Roma 2-0 away from home, who else but Ronaldo again opened the scoring with a powerful header, 36 goals in all competitions now, what a player! and with Man Utd in such great form, they will win the Premiership and the CL.

Looking forward to Barca v Man U in next round and Fenerbehce v Liverpool.

Didnt think Man U looked that impressive actually. Good goal from Ronaldo, other one was very lucky.
Read an article yesterday saying that he was regarded as cocky and arrogent, and had little to no respect for opposing players. Never met the guy, but i think it kinda shows in his play.....

Anyhoo. Didnt think Liverpool looked that flash either. Lucky to get away with that result. Gunna have to sort their shit if they wanna win this thing. Dont think they'll be knocked out this round though.

I think the stage is set quite nicely, as I've said above if anyone can get a goal at Anfield it's Arsenal so I think the tie is very much in the balance.

I wouldn't put too much into Fenerbache's win either, it was only 2-1 and I have a feeling Chelsea will pummel them at Stamford Bridge.

0-0 whut? 1-0 hhhhhhwhut??!

Chelsea go down next, and then Barca.

Liverpooooooool!!

Jesus! I need a lie down after that game... Probably the game of the season.

Best game I've seen in aaaaaaaages. phelix and I didn't talk much as I dropped him up to uni...

phelix: "They're the dominating tyrant of football."

^^ True story. ^_^

haha. I spat the dummy something chronic after arsenal's second. Quietly reached over and picked it back up after captain courageous slotted the penalty

Ha! What a fucking awesome game!

I came in my pants a little after herpes header, them for about 2 minutes was the grumpiest cunt ever. Fucking awesome.

LIVERPOOL!!!!!!!!

worst penalty call ever.

(and i hate arsenal more)

We lost it after that penalty was given. Kinda reminds me of the penalty we were not awarded in the previous (champs) game.

coulda woulda shoulda..
Point is ya didnt get it and we did. god knows how many shit calls we have had in the past.

Besides we scored again anyway

Haha, I'm not being a sore looser. It was a great game! I'll be pissed off if you don't win the cup however.

If I wanted to go into coulda woulda shoulda teritory I could go on and on about Edwardo and Rosicky.

football orgasms, very unheard of, although if Ronaldo scores in injury time in the final for Man U I might do the same

haha. yeah il be very pissed off too!!!
Should be interesting with Chelsea though. If roma beat UTD @ home it will make my week

Fuck off. It was an obvious penalty. I disagree with the yellow card, but the penalty should have been given.

Stop being so emo.

I just saw the game after work, and I must say that wasn't a penalty, but it was given, big from the referee, I wonder if the score stayed at 2-2 Arsenal could hold on, which the answer could probably be yes, so 'Pool got away big time

sometimes football you get things going against you, I'm sure if Wenger got a penalty himself for the team for a similar incident at the other end (for example), he wouldn't be complaining

so 'Pool to play Chelsea again in semis, can they do it for the third time?

ok heading to bed soon, tomorrow the big one:

Man U v Roma

anyone putting a 7-1 bet?

hehehe

Senderos went missing and the momentum was gone from that point. We looked awesome in the 1st 25 mins.

Walcotts run was primo.

But fcuk we need to learn how to close. All the skills in the world, but we need some good old fashioned experience.

Crouch was definitely a key man, Senderos just couldn't deal with him after the Hyppia's goal... Have to say though that was probably the most important goal of Liverpool's season (Hyppia's)) as that goal completely changed the game, at that stage Arsenal looked like they might be 3 up by halftime. But once again an inability to defend set pieces costs them dearly.

Rubbish. The man was taken down. Sure, it wasnt blatent, and there was no intent or malice, but regardless, the man was taken down by the contact which means its a free kick. And cos it was in the box, it is therefore a penalty.

Rules of the game my friend.


Mostly agree with your sentiments Jono, although i disagree with your Crouch call. I didnt rate his performance at all really, and to be honest, i dont know what hes doing on the liverpool side, let alone any English squad he might make.

As far as the penalty goes I'm undecided... The contact looked light but at the same time there does appear to be a tug of the shirt before he fell, appear being the key word as I'm not certain. First look was no, second look was maybe so I can't say either way.

it'd be a 50/50 call on that, the ESPN commentators said that there maybe contact and the grab of the jersey in the box, I can't see it, probably from another angle, they could, yes the rules of the game is it, but to give a penalty here and not the one at the Emirates, (I mean I'm a Man U fan, I couldn't really give a shit who gets and who gives a penalty), I'm just saying it from a neutral point of view, that that wasn't a penalty in my mind.

no way in hell that was a penalty, can't believe it was given in those circumstances as well, but i guess penalties in europe are a lot easier to get then penalties in the premiership..

chelsea to smash liverpool in the semis!

Man U 1 (Tevez) Roma 0

Shocking penalty decision again, but I guess justice has been done, De Rossi missing from the spot when he blazed the shot over the bar

Comfortable and convincing win by United, composed and patient display

AGGREGATE 3-0 to United

Barca 1 (Yaya Toure')Schalke 0

A solo goal was enough and well taken by Toure' when the ball was bouncing around in the box which puts Barca through 2-0 on AGGREGATE.

Semi finals:

(1st leg)

22nd April - Liverpool v Chelsea
23rd April - Barcelona v Man Utd

(2nd leg)

29th April - Chelsea v Liverpool
30th April - Man Utd v Barcelona

Bring it on!

*cough* Who's gonna grind out a 0-0 draw or 1-0 win??

that was a bold prediction, yours will always bolder

you guys got a lucky penalty, remember?

I'd still like 'Pool to beat Chelsea (cos I hate the blues so so much) and we'll deal with you in the final

That Arsenal game was epic; Theo's run deserved to win it for them, that penalty was utter bullshit....should've been a card for diving.

contact was made. he came down in the box. Penalty. stop your whining. Its over

If we end up with a Man Utd v Liverpool final we all have to watch it down at Foxes I reckon. ^_^

Very keen to get a massive crew in there mate

fuck i will travel from the tron for that!

I'll be watching the game regardless of who makes the final, I have already registered a day off work on 22 May, but yeah I'm down with it mate, will keep in touch closer to the date.

nice to see De Rossi has singed a contract with the Packers as a field goal kicker

:>

Sif scum will be in the final.

heheh

a lot of my football friends said it'll be Man U v Liverpool in final

Man U will smash those bloody scousers

"The Reds go into this latest Chelsea clash having lost just one of their eight semi-finals in continental football's premier competition – and that was 43 years ago."

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N159651080421-1522.htm

Go on you scousers!

and let United rip Barca apart (sorry Jono)

bring on 22 May!

Just on that..... Is Messi fighting fit again? I wanna see him walk right through the Man u defence.

he's just come back from injury, so he won't be 100% fit, pretty useless to bring him on at this stage of the season, but we'll see.

Will be a good game none the less

Badass. These are gunna be some awesome games

Totally. I'm front and centre for both games; they're both going to be epic.

1-0 to the Scousers at the half

there's only one game on today mate, the real big one is on tomorrow!

Glory Glory United!

... ginga goal

chelsea v man u in the final now

"So, where will the next chapter be won and lost? Well, anyone having a punt on the first scorer might want to bear in mind that over the last four years strikers have been responsible for just a third of this fixture's goals.

This is perhaps unsurprising when you have the world's two most prolific central midfielders on the pitch, though it's actually Messrs Riise and Cole who top the scoring charts here with three and four respectively."

4 each now...

btw I'm now praying for Barca tomorrow so you and ginsus sixty fucking nine feel my pain, Zennith you giant fetid cunt. ^_^

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=239779&cc=9999

I don't know what's going on there exactly but that's how it should've ended...

Ahh they fixed it now; stupid reality

i don't care whether we play man u or barca in the final... moscow is kind of a home game for chelsea init?

Oh you're Chelsea? Fair play then, thought you were another band-wagon fan like my mate Zennith there

See you next week mate; best your lot point out the goal mouth to your forwards at training next session tho coz that draw was some hand of God kinda lucky right thurr ^_^

CHEEEEEEEEEEEELSSSSSSSSEA!!!!!

Shame ginger scousey fucktard!

:>

gc.

about time we had some luck in this comp

DRAAAAAW OFF AN OWN GOOOOAL!!!!

You stand proud fella :>

well that was a moment of madness, all he had to do is stick a boot onto it clear it for a corner, instead he chose to duck down and let the ball jump onto his head and rocket the ball on the roof of his own net, can the scousers score the away goal at the bridge?

Liverpool has to score at least one goal, otherwise it's bye bye Moscow.



sorry Tony...

more facts for you scousers fans:

Liverpool have never scored a single goal at Stamford Bridge under Rafael Benitez' reign in all competitions.

Quite frigtening statistics really...

Still, what better stage to break that duck.....

You'll never walk alone

My pub was choc full of Liverpool fans too. Fuck I laughed. Everyone over here hates Chelsea, and loves Liverpool or fucking Arsenal.

I don't really even like football. I just happen to work at Stamford Bridge on matchday (yes, I get to watch a bit of footy), so Chelsea is the only team I really know anything about.

It pains people so much when you tell them you like Chelsea too. Makes it even better!



gc.

hey SMF, maybe you should start following the beautiful game, plenty of signs there for you, it's never too late to start watching

I'm a general sports fan. Not really 'anti' football or anything, I watch it when it's on.



gc.

good to hear my son!

Anyway getting ready for KO now!



C'Mon United!!!

scoreless at the half...

Barca dominated for much of the half, very resilient defending by United though, big talking point, penalty in the second minute for handball from corner, justice probably been made when Ronaldo struck his spotkick against the post and bounces back out to safety.

absorbing 1st interval, hopefully a breakthrough in the 2nd half.

bye bye u cunty barca fags

0-0 is not all bad of a result, Barca should have got more out of the game, they lack the cutting edge in the final third or final ball.

Old Trafford has been a fortress for United for many (big) occassions, it'd be hard to see Barca score an away goal, although you never rue out the possibilities, because anything can happen in football.

The penalty? well let's just say that it came too early on.

We've played fantastically defensively, just not offensively.

I was wrong about Messi, he had quite a brilliant game

Quietly confident of a result next week... United will need to be more open and won't be able to throw 10 men behind the ball, plus Barca have been getting the job done in their away matches in the CL. Plus Messi should be back to full match fitness next week.

Nil all wasn't the best result but was glad to see Messi looking quite dangerous, not really sure what the rational of having Iniesta in the front 3 instead of Henry was though. Perhaps Rijkaard was looking to hold possession, which we did extremely well but I thought Henry should have at least been introduced a lot earlier if not started as he looked the most likely player to score once on the field. Van Der Sar had a great game though, as did Ferdinand, Vidic, and Evra. Felt there was a moment where Eto'o should have gone down after clearly being tripped in the box but he choose to stay on his feet and then had to cut the ball back as the ball had gone too far for a shot by then. As for the early penalty I thought it was probably deserved Milito's arms were way above his head and anytime the ball hits your arm in that position you're in trouble. I might have a different opinion if he'd scored though.

Disappointing result for Barca. Man U were ripped to peices all over the field, and were made to look fairly amateur. Ronaldo had a shocker (and threw his toys a lot) which really made me laugh. He seems like such a pratt. I think thats prolly the worst i have seen man u play in a long time.

Next week is guuna be sweet.

wow, i'm surprised no Man U posts yet...

i know this has been bought up before, but i just can't be fucked looking for the answer: I just moved house and have no sky... can anyone tell me any bars that open for the game tomorrow morning... i can't wait to watch liverpool not score again at the bridge

Most guys will be down at Fox's!

yip, foxes is a great spot to watch football..

they show most prem games aswell.

yay for foxes

We'll all be making the trip down for CL final, on the 22 May.

Glory Glory United!

my late post, old PC died, new one just in

tight affair, wonder goal by Scholes, Barca continued to hold the ball but do nothing with it, typical that of that season story

I'd rather play Chelsea than Scousers in the final, for the revenge, or dream final still Man U and 'Pool

says it all really

says it all really

Great game Chelsea and good to see Lampard score after his loss. One of the best and most exciting games of football I've ever seen even if I am feeling heartbroken right now.
Drogba's opening shot was beautiful, Babel's shot was legendary, Anelka's still a fantastic player, and Torres really is El Nino.

So upset Xabi just let that ball go with 2 minutes and can't believe Rafa didn't get Crouch on when we were getting so many balls into the box right where he could've destroyed them...

That Terry's a fucking cunt tho inne?

Xabi could've created a legend with that ball on the corner of their box with no-one marking him and two minutes to go in extra time, that's the one thing I rue in that game...

*applauds both teams*

yup i agree. Was a great game and i bet those last 6 mintues chelsea were packing. I just dont see how Rafa could have not put more attacking prowess into the game.. and taking Torres out???

All in all im pretty gutted but cannot deny a great game.

Cant see Rafa staying at the helm. He just doesnt understand the English game anough and places too much importance on the CL. And now he hasnt delivered

CCCCHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEELLLLSSSSSSEEEEEEAAAAAAA!



gc.

Dunno Tucks, I think the worst thing we could do now is drop Rafa. He's finally constructed a world beating team and has them working like one fuck of a unit; I reckon it'd be a terrible waste to lose him now.

Of course I've said he was the man for the job all throughout this bumpy season of ours so maybe I'm not the most objective

And now I have had a couple of conciliatory quiets and have beaten Chelsea with Liverpool twice on world class in a Champions League replay on Fifa 08 I feel a lot happier about things ^_^

That explains it, I did think it was odd

haha fair enough too mate. I just think his thinking has gone stale.. our midfield has gone missing. It doesnt have the right balance imo. alonso has had shocker after shocker, gerrard looks lost and the chopping and changing of benayoun, mascherano and co just reeks of indecisiveness.(sp) we need to score more goals and the combinations just arent there i dont think. but we shall see i guess..

back to the drawing board eh..

I agree to an extent but I think Gerrard has been locked down particularly in these last two; he's Grant's favourite player and had Essien (??) all over him throughout the entire game because of it. I mean check those corners; you know you're being targeted when you have to repeat three corners due solely to the marking! Teams know he's a threat and lock him down which is why we've seen less of him; give the guy a sniff tho...

Hmmm, on thinking about it I think the indecisiveness may be due to us having so many options up front. We have Torres as the true MUST HAVE at the front. The other four (Kuyt, Pennant, Babel, and my homey Crouch) are all great with the right mids there to support their particular style meaning we're gonna change 'em around. The same is true in some way for the backs as we've got such depth there the only option is to work different combinations.
Rafa's presto-chango technique has been hard this year but has meant that we nearly have two full first teams in terms of interplay. I think next season is going to be a beautiful one. We're gonna have a serious first team of about twenty lads even though only eleven of them can be on the field at once. And I can't fucking wait

MY FUCKEN TEAM IS GOING TO SMASH YOUR FUCKEN TEAM IN THE FINALS!!!!!! ILL BE TXT'N YA!