World Forums

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/index.html

Arsenal are taking the piss out of Rosenborg tonight. They're terrible. If it had not been for that dreadful error by Malmumia or whatever the fuck his name is, this would be an embarrassing whitewash.

What a game last night .... still hoarse. Beautiful.

Matt, congrats. Impressive win by your boys.

Is this the first time all four English clubs go through the first round?

RedFury wrote:Matt, congrats. Impressive win by your boys.

Is this the first time all four English clubs go through the first round?

Correct. Iit is only since the 2002-2003 season that England have four CL berths (they had not been in the Top three of the UEFA 5 year ranking before). I know this because England's extra place went at the expense of Germany

Anyway, in 2002/03 Liverpool failed to make round two, and one year later, Newcastle didn't even survive the qualifying.

Real Madrid CF v Juventus FC

FC Porto v FC Internazionale Milano

FC Barcelona v Chelsea FC

Werder Bremen v Olympique Lyonnais

Liverpool FC v Bayer 04 Leverkusen

PSV Eindhoven v AS Monaco FC

Manchester United FC v AC Milan

FC Bayern München v Arsenal FC

Barca vs Chelsea and Real vs Juve - That could easily have been the semifinals - instead, two of them will go out even before the quarters.

Still, this is a very good draw. I don't see one single game with a clear favourite. Could be two very exciting CL matchdays.

Yeah interesting draw. Will Real wake out of its duldrums by Spring. Not a good draw for Juve.

Same for Milan (Man U) Arsenal (Bayern) Chelsea (Barca). Some galmour matchups early on (the "should" be semi-finalists).

In the mean time Merry Christmas.

And merry Christmas and a happy new year to you too.

As announced on WX yesterday, I'm going to sign off from the discussion boards for the year shortly.

See you again on Jan 3rd or 4th or so.

DAMN!

Those are some titan matchups for the 2nd round... you knew it was gonna be like that with the teams there were in the pot.

Juve's a strong team and very hot right now but I think we can take them out... just like they surprised us a couple years ago in the semis when we were so hot.

Vendetta time, baby!!

Juve are going to kick Madrid out in the second round.

By the way, have Madrid ever failed to reach the quarter finals in CL?

Well Madrid still have a lot of match winners on their team. It wouldn't surprise me to see them raise their game and beat Juve.

It will really depend on the form of the teams going into the match. The matches are scheduled in Feb-March and it is just December. A lot can happen in 3 months!

Though I think Juve have got the upper hand, I think Madrid are going to push them throughout the 180 mins (Possibly extra time). It's very difficult to write a side off when they have Zidane, Raul, Beckham, Ronaldo, Owen and Figo! Even if you have Buffon, Del Piero, Trezuguet, Cannavaro, Nedved and Emerson, Ibrahimovich and Zambrotta on the opposite side!

Real, only team (with over 3 appearances, I believe) to have never been eliminated from CL group stage, and never failed to make QFs.



Let's be honest here... THIS IS A HELL OF A MATCH-UP!! Can't wait....

Italian Peeps - What´s your take on the Milan - man Utd game? I really, unless they get Rooney and RVN firing in front of an potent midfield.

It´s a tough one because Man Utd can put out a very attack minded formation with the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney, RVN and Giggs but if they do that they run the risk of giving up an away goal which might be crucial in this one.

I still think it's the way to go in the first leg which, IINM, is at OT.

Heinze and Rio will do OK but G. Neville, while solid 95% of the time, always seems to make one blunder in big games like these.

So, am I wrong? Are Milan really not all that?

Ali,

Right now Milan is playing very well. It's a two-leg match so anything can happen, but I still give Milan the edge, but I'll pull for ManU--what am I saying the dark and darker sides. BAH.

Never understand a fan of Italian football not supporting a team from the same league.

Much as I dislike Arsenal I'd always rather they won playing against European teams. Right up until the final that is. We wouldn't want them winning and getting all big headed now would we!!!!

Is Mini-Bineaz back to semi-functional normality yet?

Ali

When the Italian teams include Berlusconi's side, and the biggest cheats in Serie A history in juve, it's easy to cheer their downfalls in ANY game. Besides, how many ITALIANS are actually starting for milan in any given game? 3? 4 at the most? F' 'em. And juve? Which Italian's are worth supporting on that team? "I-took-10-pills-before-each-game" Del Piero?

Buffon and Zambrotta are worth supporting as Italians, but not enough fo me to overlook juve's LONG history of match-fixing, and their recent scandal of drug abuse.

Yeah, F' 'em.

I am HALF supporting Inter, but even that's quite a stretch for me considering how many ex-laziali are in that squad. I only support them because they are the weakest of the Italian sides, and their advancement - while the others are hopefully knocked out - is a small spite-ful pleasure.

Now, about your other query:

milan/ManU -

milan just don't have th killer instict at this level, imo....this was demonstrated in their CL Final performance last year. I think they'll play not to lose and ManU's recent pedigree of being survivors in this competition will be the mental edge needed....and the blood-in-the-water mentality. I see milan far too conservative in attack. They can hold the ball, but they don't do much with it. ManU won't sit back...milan will.

I think ManU will win BOTH games...

Dezzi - Not easy for me either. A Man Utd fan backing Arsenal is essentially an Englishman (in my case) backing France!!

Not sure I agree with regards to Milan losing both games, at most Man Utd can hope to win one and scrape a draw in the other. Two wins would be a huge shock to me.

I guess the bureaucrat in me wants all Serie A teams to do well for the co-efficient, so ultimately I would pull for Milbn.

Ali,

I wish, but you won't be the first to know. Let's put it at that. [Still healing, malpractice attorney on call, thanks for asking.]

Dez,

Merry Christmas fratte and Happy New Year. It seems you've swallowed some real bitter pills lately. 8)

Bineaz -

LMAO@Fratte! No bitter pills for me, my man...I leave those for ADP!(;-))

What's happening with you for the Holidays?

I'll actually be working from tonight until X-mas....we have a lot of holiday parties to accomodate, and things have been quite busy at the bar. That's always good. Next week I'll work one day, and take the rest of the week off until NY Year's Eve (AKA: Amatuer Night).

The lady and I will cook a nice Prime Rib for x-mas dinner, and that wil be the extent of it.

Anyway......I wish the very best of times for you and your family during this Holiday season and coming new year!

And to you and yours :!: :!: :!:

Milan are going to get a shock of their life!

Although Milan defence is the best in the world today, I don't think it'll be enough to stop ManU from scoring atleast once in both the games.

The key to the game, IMO, for Manchester lies in RVN's fitness, and whether Rooney can produce the unexpected.

The key to Milan, IMO lies in whether Kaka can work his Brazilian Magic, and whether their defence can avoid blunders like they did against Deportivo last season (4-0 loss away!)

Another factor might be the psychological one. Milan did win CL 2 seasons ago at Old Trafford, and most of the members of the current team -- Shevchenko, Nesta, Maldini, Inzaghi (if he's fit that is) Tommasson, et al were a part of that squad!

On the attacking front, Manchester are in great form with the goal scoring at the moment. Scholes, who hadn't scored in the earlier part of this season seems to be getting goals. Keane seems to be playing well. But the match is in Feb, 2 months from now. Given ManU's inconsistancy this season, I can't say how good, or bad they'll be then.

Milan, on the other hand, are a team which can beat the best on any given day. They have defeated Barca once this season. But, their defensive tendencies can be their down falls. They really rely on Shevchenko to get their goals, and Inzaghi isn't fit either. Can they field an attack potent enough to breakdown Ferdinand and Silvestre?

All in all, all I can at the moment is : Forza Manchester!

How are they planning to stop Shevhcneko, though? They can try, but, I suspect, they won't prevent Sheva from scoring.

They'll be hoping Ferdinand and Silvest plays their best!

On the other hand, you do have Ruud van Nistleroy at the other end to counter score Shevchenko!

GoReds wrote:They'll be hoping Ferdinand and Silvest plays their best!

On the other hand, you do have Ruud van Nistleroy at the other end to counter score Shevchenko!

If you're hoping to beat an Italian club in open football - abandon all hope. There is no way you can engage them in that sort of a competition.

You must bide your time and strike letally after a long enough time has passed. And, all the while, hold your net unbroached.

Barcelona take on Chelsea in the 2nd round too! Surely the pick of the draw. How do you see that match?

A Barca win?

World’s top 20 football clubs set to break £2 billion income mark in 2005

http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/press_release/0,1014,sid%253D2834%2526cid%253D74042,00.html

The Champions League is back with some excellent match-ups in the next few days: Real Madrid - Juventus, Barcelona - Chelsea, and Manchester United - AC Milan should all be good ones.

Enjoy everyone.

Alright Juventini, here we go for all the marbles (OK, for all the marbles till the next round comes)... it's our turn, right?


HALA MADRID!

our = Juventus > Yes

Campi,

As we all said, a lot can happen in a couple months and it has. You guys are back on the rood to good form, but we're going through a bad spell. I still think we have what it takes to get it done. Today's result. 2-1 Real Madrid.

FORZA JUVE :!: :!: :!:

That was my prediction for today... so the last time that happened you came back to win (also in Turin) 3-1 in the second leg. Tough loss for us... I'm thinking we may need a two goal margin today.

Is Nedved playing?

Yes, Nedved is expected back.

Damn, I thought for sure ESPN2 was broadcasting this game... Fuckers! World's Strongest Man lives on...



Josdepuuuuuta!!

Did you know ESPN owns part of the fishing tournament they show. They should buy Real Madrid!!!!!

Raul strikes the post! A few good chances for both teams... Thuram has a yellow, still knotted up.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL Helguera!!!!!!!

Crap -- oh well --gotta go. enjoy the rest of the match.