March 9, 201213 yr This year will only be the 2nd in 8(?) that an English team hasn't been in the final of the Champions League. Over the last 5 years the Premier League has been the best, both in terms of entertainment and quality, but not now. Barca were the only team from abroad that could match the Champions League records of the four usual PL entrants, but the traditional 'big 4' are all going through problems at the moment, Man Utd not so much problems per se but this is the beginnings of Fergie's last team which will go on to be great, but not yet. Man City and Spurs just aren't there yet.
March 9, 201213 yr Author This year will only be the 2nd in 8(?) that an English team hasn't been in the final of the Champions League. Over the last 5 years the Premier League has been the best, both in terms of entertainment and quality, but not now. Barca were the only team from abroad that could match the Champions League records of the four usual PL entrants, but the traditional 'big 4' are all going through problems at the moment, Man Utd not so much problems per se but this is the beginnings of Fergie's last team which will go on to be great, but not yet. Man City and Spurs just aren't there yet. Yeah exactly. Man City are still one or two players away from being a good European team, Spurs are exactly the same, and will be more so if they get sell Bale or Modric! Barcelona will probably go through the same transition period the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea are. But they have a lot of good players coming through so it's hard to tell. Man Utd I'm not sure about, for me I think they're going through a big transition period aswell. Their attack is great, but last night they had no midfield. They can't dictate play how they want to, and their defending was quite frankly f***ing awful. Rafael loses concentration far too much for a defender.
March 14, 201213 yr Chelsea through then, the run of years with an English team in the last 8 continues. Didn't see any of it but from the radio commentary they were properly up for it.
March 14, 201213 yr Author Chelsea through then, the run of years with an English team in the last 8 continues. Didn't see any of it but from the radio commentary they were properly up for it. Napoli should have put the game to bed before half-time. Fair play to Chelsea though, they got a goal out of the blue and it spurred them on. Napoli were wasteful, and for all their pretty football after Chelsea scored the 4th they had no return. Clive Tylsley was wanking himself silly. If they draw the Cypriot team they have a good chance of getting to the semis, but they have zero chance of winning it. And anyone who thinks the Old Guard don't have massive influence in the team needs to have a look at extra time.
March 15, 201213 yr Napoli should have put the game to bed before half-time. Fair play to Chelsea though, they got a goal out of the blue and it spurred them on. Napoli were wasteful, and for all their pretty football after Chelsea scored the 4th they had no return. Clive Tylsley was wanking himself silly. If they draw the Cypriot team they have a good chance of getting to the semis, but they have zero chance of winning it. And anyone who thinks the Old Guard don't have massive influence in the team needs to have a look at extra time. Tyldesley seemed to have set himself the near impossible challenge of delivering his worst ever commentary. He is normally dreadful but tonight he was even worse than ever. How does the cry of "yes" when Chelsea scored a penalty qualify as unbiased commentary?
March 15, 201213 yr Tyldesley seemed to have set himself the near impossible challenge of delivering his worst ever commentary. He is normally dreadful but tonight he was even worse than ever. How does the cry of "yes" when Chelsea scored a penalty qualify as unbiased commentary? :lol: I was surprised how much support there was for Chelsea from non-fans actually. Even given they were our last hope in the competition, they've hardly been well-liked in the last ten or so years.
March 15, 201213 yr Author Tyldesley seemed to have set himself the near impossible challenge of delivering his worst ever commentary. He is normally dreadful but tonight he was even worse than ever. How does the cry of "yes" when Chelsea scored a penalty qualify as unbiased commentary? My favourite was when he said if Torres scored he would be forgiven for not scoring a goal for 24 hours LOL. What a spoon.
March 16, 201213 yr Outclassed in every way. Spanish football really is putting the EPL to shame at the minute. It's mad to think Bilbao are only the 7th best team in Spain.
March 16, 201213 yr City still haven't given up on being City then, but if a loss could ever improve Mancini's hopes of winning the title it's this one given how bad United were.
March 16, 201213 yr Author Outclassed in every way. Spanish football really is putting the EPL to shame at the minute. It's mad to think Bilbao are only the 7th best team in Spain. I dunno it's swings and roundabouts. Bilbao outclassed Man Utd, but Chelsea (I think) did Valencia in earlier in the season (who are higher in La Liga). With Man Utd, personally I think it's a pyschological thing for some Premier League teams. They fear them, where as foreign teams don't. In the Premier League, a team who have a brilliant attack can get away with things, but in European football especially the philosophy is to control the midfield, which Man Utd can't do. Man City put on a brave comeback, but they are still absolute bottlejabbers at time. I thought the difference between Man City and Man Utd would be Hart vs De Gea. But now it seems Lescott and Kompany are out injured. Savic is going to lose Man City the title. Rooney will tear him a new one.
March 16, 201213 yr I think saying The PL is so rubbish if the champions can't beat the 7th best team in Spain is very simplistic. Athletic play a game that no English team is used to facing and as Roo said, Chelsea beat Valencia 3-0 and drew 1-1 away and they're 3rd best. The only English team left in Europe is 5th in the Premier League, the only French team left is 8th(!) in Ligue 1. But there's no way the English sides are as strong any more. Oliver Kay was making some excellent points last night, the turning point was summer 09. United sold Ronaldo, didn't really replace him, Arsenal began to lose more than they could attract every season, Liverpool imploded and Chelsea consolidated despite their players getting older and weaker. The £ lost value and top earners tax was raised making it more expensive for clubs and less attractive to players. Bayern, Inter and Madrid all spent huge amounts of money and Barca's team finally all came together and they've only got better and stronger since. There's no doubt that the PL is as exciting as it's ever been at the top, but the quality isn't there anymore.
March 16, 201213 yr All set up for a Barcelona vs. Real Madrid final.. Benfica vs. Chelsea APOEL Nicosia vs. Real Madrid Marseille vs. Bayern Munich AC Milan vs. Barcelona Chelsea vs. Barcelona Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid
April 4, 201213 yr Quarter finals panned out as expected, although Barcelona and Chelsea were sweating more than they would have liked. The latter will need to pull off something stunning to make the final again but they'll have more than enough fuel given what happened last time Barca knocked them out.
April 5, 201213 yr Author Well done to Chelsea. They're by FAR the weakest of the final 4 teams left in the competition, and I'd be godsmacked if they got to the final, let alone win. But starnger things have happened. Wonder if di Matteo might get the Chelsea job? He's certainly not done anything wrong yet, and they are in good form at the moment.
April 6, 201213 yr I think it was really strange because in the first half we were defending but I really enjoyed the game and as much as it pains me to say it in the end I'm happy with a point but I'll take it considering how much worse it could have been. I will say here now that Barcelona will win the ECL again. --------------------
April 24, 201213 yr Author John Terry is an absolute idiot. Great goal from Ramires, but Chelsea still have no chance.
April 24, 201213 yr Apparently Terry is denying that it was deliberate. Has nobody told him that there are rather a lot of cameras being used to cover this match? One interesting point is that the Terry red card and the Barca penalty were both apparently given by the official behind the goal. This brings the total number of decision s made by those officials since they were introduced up to two.
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