yeah I was watching Manchester vs Marseille so I missed the inter-bayern game I agree the italian league isn't what it used to be These are the possible line ups Barcelona Starting XI: Valdes - Alves, Piqué, Abidal, Maxwell - Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta - Messi, Villa, Pedro Arsenal Starting XI: Szczesny - Eboué, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy - Song, Wilshire, Fabregas - Walcott, van Persie, Nasri Barcelona will struggle without Puyol in their defense and arsenal without Sagna. As for the forwards Messi himself has said that he has never seen a player as dangerous as Walcott. Villa is one of the best strikers I have seen but Van Persie has "Klass" just look at the goal he scored during their first game. Nasri is just recovering from an injury so he might not be in top form but I am sure he will pull through. Definitely going to be a good game can't wait for it !!!Go Gunners!!!
To be honest, I think Walcott and Fabregas are overrated. They play well occasionally, but sometimes it can be a bit 'hit an miss' with them. Nasri on the other hand is a brilliant player. One of Arsenal's key.
I think Walcott is overrated, A bit like Nani in a way amazing in some games, completely ineffective in others, if they could both become more consistent they would be amazing. Fabregas I think just in not as imposing on some games, he sometimes drifts in and out of some games, never really has bad games just is not as involved as he should be.
Walcott has amazing speed and dribbling ability but yes he might be a bit overated since he isn't very consistent Fabregas is quite good but yes he doesn't get involved as he should
Slightly off Topic but, Birmingham are the Carling Cup Champions after a 2-1 win over Arsenal, Ben Foster MOTM I am still a bit mad that Alex Ferguson let him go especially now seeing as this is Van Der Sar's last season.
Does any body know any websites I can use to watch the games live? Most of these games are during the day when I am not at home so I need some sort of website I can watch the games on my laptop
I don't think we are allowed to post links to stuff like this, but Just google something like "watch football online" and find one that works.
Ohh this game is getting feisty, Arsenal Barca is hotting up, looking like a few red cards if things continue EDIT/ Messi 1-0
Half Time Arsenal 0-1 Barcelona 47' Messi Ball Possession 25%-75% The goal was assisted by Iniesta after cesc fabregas lost the ball. Two arsenal defenders where marking Iniesta so messi easily sneaked around them lobbing it over the goalkeeper and then pushing it in. Beside the goal arsenal's defence has been almost perfecting stoping messi from scoring 3 times. I think arsenal is playing a 4-5-1 very defensive and lacking in offenese 3 yellow cards for arsenal I don't think they deserved it one was a dive by dani alvez Barcelona retaining possession as always
Gooooool! Nasri gets a corner causing an own goal to be made by busquets also Robin van Persie got a red card for being offside. I the referee is really bad. I think he is in favor of Barca. This eliminates arsenal only forward. Defending is awesome goalkeeper include making 3 crucial saves so far. and as I was typing this Goal by Xavi. and while I was typing that penalty by messi Arsenal 1-3 Barcelona 3-4
My quick analysis of what Arsenal are doing wrong, It is the combination of a pretty poor defence and the midfield not putting enough pressure on Barca's mid. Van Persie red card was a joke, the first yellow was barely a card, This game is further emphasising my point that referees are getting worse, I thought that the standard of refereeing in the world cup was dreadful especially the final, and it has continued. FIFA and co are protecting the refs way too much not introducing goal line tech and video refereeing challenges , Players get bans and pay docked for playing bad or getting sent off yet there is no punishment or anything done about bad referees. Rant over.
Barcelona through Arsenal were outplayed, and, if I'm honest, really didn't deserve the goal. They hardly played well at all (possibly because they hardly got the ball?) and at time sloppy. The defence was pretty poor. But credit to Almunia, he played extrememly well considering the circumstances and got battered alot. The thing is, when Messi scored the penalty, Arsenal actually started to play better and more attacking. Maybe they thought they had nothing to lose and just went for it? Anyways, those are my opinions
Arsenal 1-3 Barcelona 47' Messi 53' Busquets own goal 66' Xavi 71' Messi I think the deciding factor was Van Persie red card ( I don't think he deserved either yellow card) made alot easier on Barcelonas defense he was the only striker and the only one who wasn't on his own half most of the time. I also don't think there was a penalty Koscienly lightly tapped the ball and his foot was down pedro just ran against it Bendtner also had a clear goal but he wasted the opportunity Oh well kinda disappointed I missed school just to watch the game. You win some you lose some
A 1-goal lead isn't always going to be sufficient against Barcelona at the Nou Camp. Any team that wants to knock out Barcelona must at least have a 2-goal lead on their home turf like what Inter Milan did against them last year. I would like to point out prior to the 1st leg, the Barcelona team had to take a bus/coach to Itay due to a volcanic erruption in Italy and I suspect, it could have sapped them? But I give credit to Jose's Inter because they really defended really well against Barcelona last term especially considering that Jose's new team Real Madrid team was beaten 5-0 earlier this season. I got a feeling that Jose will modify his tactics against Barcelona in their next encounter. Anyway, in the first leg against Arsenal I felt that the withdrawal of David Villa actually allowed Arsenal back into the game as the former was giving Arsenal all sorts of problems back then. In the second leg, I felt that Van Persie's sending out was extremely harsh but he didn't help his cause as he was involved in a shoving match earlier. I really like Arsenal's style of football but IMO the lack of "seniors" i.e. experience in their team has hurt them just like in previous years. I would rather Arsenal concentrate on the league this year and "build" from there. Winning builds confidence. With regards to the final, its a "one-off" game, any team playing against Barcelona has got a chance against them and have to hit them on the counter.
So Spurs, Shakhtar, Barca and Schalke are through Man United leading Marseille 1-0 Bayern 2-1 Inter And then Real and Chelsea have to go through tomorrow If the expected 8 get through it is a pretty good quality line up with no clear winner so far. I want to see Barca play a team with a better defence, Spurs Barca I think would be a brilliant match, if Bale is fit I think Spurs could be the team to beat them.
Manchester United 1-0 Marseille Hernandez 5' Ball Possession 57%-43% Manchester wasted a couple of good chances to score one do to Chicharito slipping. Marseille had a clear chance to score the but the striker's shot went over the net. Hernandez got a yellow card for pushing Heinze but I don't think he deserved it. Rafael came on for O'shea due to injury. Looks like Manchester is going to win hopefully we will see another goal.
C'mon Inter! Not a fan of Bayern Munich. The Man Utd match is pretty boring. The competition should heat up in the next few rounds. Who would you like to see in the final?
