UEFA Champions League (Official Thread)

[Messi18Man]

Kalou was definitely offside but only by a hair (usually UEFA refs hardly ever miss those) and the defender at least in my eyes got a slight touch on the ball from Lampard going to Kalou. Drogba then just cleaned up the rebound with a laser beam low to the short side.

 

[jazzman]

Man U played very dominant soccer to hammer the Hammers, 4-1 over the weekend. Ronaldo reached the 40-goal mark too, part of what has been an unbelievable season for him. There's no way anyone could deny him the "World Player of the Year" award. Man U seem to be finding some form once again, and that's an ominous sign for Chelsea, not just in the EPL but the Champions League as well.

 

[thackattack]

Man U played very dominant soccer to hammer the Hammers, 4-1 over the weekend. Ronaldo reached the 40-goal mark too, part of what has been an unbelievable season for him. There's no way anyone could deny him the "World Player of the Year" award. Man U seem to be finding some form once again, and that's an ominous sign for Chelsea, not just in the EPL but the Champions League as well.

I don't know about ominous. Like someone said earlier, still a lot of time before that May 21st final...anything can happen over the next 3 weeks.

 

[PlanetFrnd]

Watching the Chelsea-Newcastle match from home right now - Chelsea looked very sluggish in the first half, but they are hanging on to 1-0 lead through 77 thanks to a Ballack header off a Drogba direct around 60-1'

 

[PlanetFrnd]

Malouda at 81:41!!!!

Chelsea is putting alot of pressure on ManU for the Premiership... it all comes down to next Sunday

 

[thackattack]

[quote='BusNative;115671;4]Watching the Chelsea-Newcastle match from home right now - Chelsea looked very sluggish in the first half, but they are hanging on to 1-0 lead through 77 thanks to a Ballack header off a Drogba direct around 60-1'[/quote]Ballack is firing on all cylinders right now! He has been very impressive lately. Good timing on that, too, with Frank having been out with the passing of his mother.

 

[jazzman]

[quote='BusNative;115671;9]Malouda at 81:41!!!!

Chelsea is putting alot of pressure on ManU for the Premiership... it all comes down to next Sunday[/quote]

'BusNative,

Since you asked.....I don't see Man U dropping any points against Wigan. I'll be shocked if they did.....they should win the EPL....and win it in style. Chelsea are paying the price for a slow start early in the season. But I could get it wrong....you never know. Man U are playing away at Wigan, and Chelsea are home to struggling Bolton. If I were a betting man I'd put money on Man U winning.

However, I'm not so sure about the Champions League. If the two were to meet today, I'd say "advantage Chelsea"!! To put a dampener on that....history is not on Chelsea's side. NO LONDON CLUB HAS EVER WON THE CL!!! That's a pretty stunning stat.

But it's a ways away, and when we have more on injuries and availability of players on the day it would be less challenging to pick a winner.

 

[PlanetFrnd]

'BusNative,

Since you asked.....I don't see Man U dropping any points against Wigan. I'll be shocked if they did.....they should win the EPL....and win it in style. Chelsea are paying the price for a slow start early in the season. But I could get it wrong....you never know. Man U are playing away at Wigan, and Chelsea are home to struggling Bolton. If I were a betting man I'd put money on Man U winning.

However, I'm not so sure about the Champions League. If the two were to meet today, I'd say "advantage Chelsea"!! To put a dampener on that....history is not on Chelsea's side. NO LONDON CLUB HAS EVER WON THE CL!!! That's a pretty stunning stat.

But it's a ways away, and when we have more on injuries and availability of players on the day it would be less challenging to pick a winner.

Nice - thank for the answer. I agree - I can't see ManU losing a point, so it looks to me like Chelsea will have to really focus on the Champions League... I can't believe that no London club has ever won - what a crazy stat!

 

[tmporter]

[quote='BusNative;115752;6]Nice - thank for the answer. I agree - I can't see ManU losing a point, so it looks to me like Chelsea will have to really focus on the Champions League... I can't believe that no London club has ever won - what a crazy stat![/quote]

'BusNative,

Since you asked.....I don't see Man U dropping any points against Wigan. I'll be shocked if they did.....they should win the EPL....and win it in style. Chelsea are paying the price for a slow start early in the season. But I could get it wrong....you never know. Man U are playing away at Wigan, and Chelsea are home to struggling Bolton. If I were a betting man I'd put money on Man U winning.

However, I'm not so sure about the Champions League. If the two were to meet today, I'd say "advantage Chelsea"!! To put a dampener on that....history is not on Chelsea's side. NO LONDON CLUB HAS EVER WON THE CL!!! That's a pretty stunning stat.

But it's a ways away, and when we have more on injuries and availability of players on the day it would be less challenging to pick a winner.

Man U should take care of business this Sunday. Wigan have been playing well, but the overall talent difference should see United to their second straight title. Who knows what will happen in Moscow. they will be playing on an artificial surface for Christ's sake. United should like the speed and predictiable bounce of the surface.

As far as no London team ever winning a major European Cup final, how many London teams have been historically any good? Arsenal off and on for the last 60 years and then who? Nottingham Forrest had some good years, Crystal Palace has a here and there team that was good. English Soccer has been dominated by the Northwest for many, many years. 35 top leagye titles between Liverpool and United. Blackburn is the only team other than the big 3 of Chelsea, Arsenal and United to even win the Prem. London teams have been below par for a number of years now, and I hope it stays that way.

 

[jazzman]

As far as no London team ever winning a major European Cup final, how many London teams have been historically any good? Arsenal off and on for the last 60 years and then who? Nottingham Forrest had some good years, Crystal Palace has a here and there team that was good. English Soccer has been dominated by the Northwest for many, many years. 35 top leagye titles between Liverpool and United. Blackburn is the only team other than the big 3 of Chelsea, Arsenal and United to even win the Prem. London teams have been below par for a number of years now, and I hope it stays that way.

London clubs have not necessarily dominated English football....but have always had multiple clubs finishing in the top half of the English premier league. When you do the math, you would have thought that in all probability at least one club would have gone on and won something in Europe......it's still a pretty stunning stat IMO that no one has. But the London clubs are getting closer and closer.....Chelsea in the recent past narrowly missed out in the semis, and Arsenal lost a final. Maybe the time has come when history is changed forever! When you look at the make up of the two squads, Chelsea oddly enough has around as many players who have played in a CL final as Man U. So there are not gonna be many in the Chelsea team thinking that history is against them! They know and have what it takes to win it all on 21st May.

 

[tmporter]

London clubs have not necessarily dominated English football....but have always had multiple clubs finishing in the top half of the English premier league. When you do the math, you would have thought that in all probability at least one club would have gone on and won something in Europe......it's still a pretty stunning stat IMO that no one has. But the London clubs are getting closer and closer.....Chelsea in the recent past narrowly missed out in the semis, and Arsenal lost a final. Maybe the time has come when history is changed forever! When you look at the make up of the two squads, Chelsea oddly enough has around as many players who have played in a CL final as Man U. So there are not gonna be many in the Chelsea team thinking that history is against them! They know and have what it takes to win it all on 21st May.

Chelsea have way more players that have played in a CL final the United do. Chelsea have Andriy Shevchenko ,Claude Makelele, Ashley Cole, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, and Juliano Belletti. United have Edwin van der Sar and Ryan Giggs. Scholes and Wes Brown were on the team and neither played. Anyway, the 2 teams know each other well and the experience in a final isn't nearly as important as playing a solid game and playing your brand of football.

 

[jazzman]

Chelsea have way more players that have played in a CL final the United do. Chelsea have Andriy Shevchenko ,Claude Makelele, Ashley Cole, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, and Juliano Belletti. United have Edwin van der Sar and Ryan Giggs. Scholes and Wes Brown were on the team and neither played. Anyway, the 2 teams know each other well and the experience in a final isn't nearly as important as playing a solid game and playing your brand of football.

Agreed! My point was that history doesn't count for much when it comes to the current Chelsea team. That's why it's gonna be a great final....both teams have been here before and have players who have done it all.

 

[DaytonBuck]

Van der Saar is still playing?

 

[jazzman]

Van der Saar is still playing?

still one of the best in the business...in fact we'll have two of the top goalkeepers facing off in the CL finals.

 

[tmporter]

Van der Saar is still playing?

still one of the best in the business...in fact we'll have two of the top goalkeepers facing off in the CL finals.

Yes van der Sar probably has a year left at United and then I would guess he will go back to Ajax to finish out his career. Cech and VDS are 2 of the best. They have numerous things in common. Tall, great anticipation, nerves of steel and fearless. Both also make the same kind of mistakes. They sometimes think they can do too much.

Can't wait for Ben Foster to take over for VDS. Kid looks just awesome.