2010-2011 UEFA Champions League Thread

[Shzm13]

Who wants to give me a 5 minute synopsis of the UEFA Championships League?

I think this explains it pretty well:

Following countries are allocated for the Champions League.
Associations ranked 1 to 3 have four positions.
England, Spain, Italy.
Associations ranked 4 to 6 have three positions.
France, Germany, Russia.
Associations ranked 7 to 15 have two positions.
Scotland, Holland, Portugal, etc
Associations ranked 16 or lower have one position.
The Rest of Europe.
--------------------------------------…
There are 8 groups. ( Champions league )
4 clubs per group. Each club plays each other 3 times ( 6 games )
Top two finishers advances to the knockout stages.
The third place finisher will go into the UEFA cup second round group stages. ( Unfair. If you ask me )
--------------------------------------…
Scond stage:
Last 16. Top finisher from one group will be paired with a runner up from another group. Each team will play home and away game.
From here on, its a knockout competition.
Last 16.
Last 8. Quarter Finals
Last 4. Semi Finals
last 2. Final.

link

 

[Shzm13]

Here are some highlights from the opening leg between Schalke-Manchester.

Sinslin was absolutely right, Neuer is definitely one of the top keepers in the world. I too thought he was being a bit of a homer at first, but Neuer is an amazing player. United/Arsenal would be wise to go after him this offseason.

 

[ellinikoscooby]

Nueuer is bound for Bayern from what I hear, and if the press is correct, the scum are signing young David da Gaea(sp?) of Atletico Madrid. Arsenal should go after Lloris.

 

[Shzm13]

I believe Atletico dismissed that rumor. Wenger does have an affinity for the Frenchies, so I wouldn't be too surprised to see them go after Hugo. Either way, they need an upgrade.

 

[Renz]

Madrid 0-2 Barcelona

Outstanding result for Barca. Pretty ugly match until the end. Messi's second goal was a thing of beauty.

Looking like a Man. U/Barca re-match in the final.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Madrid 0-2 Barcelona

Outstanding result for Barca. Pretty ugly match until the end. Messi's second goal was a thing of beauty.

Looking like a Man. U/Barca re-match in the final.

Will be a legendary final. Too bad the game today was such crap. Have no idea how Pepe gets a straight red, that was a BS call.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Madrid 0-2 Barcelona

Outstanding result for Barca. Pretty ugly match until the end. Messi's second goal was a thing of beauty.

Looking like a Man. U/Barca re-match in the final.

Wasn't the second one where he just ran diagonally and struck the ball going through the keeper's legs?

I thought the first goal where he took the ball from Xavi (I think) and streaked 30m around 2 or 3 guys to the goal was much more impressive.

 

[Renz]

Wasn't the second one where he just ran diagonally and struck the ball going through the keeper's legs?

I thought the first goal where he took the ball from Xavi (I think) and streaked 30m around 2 or 3 guys to the goal was much more impressive.

The first goal was the cross from Affelay. The second was his run through the RM defense.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

The first goal was the cross from Affelay. The second was his run through the RM defense.

Ok, I got them confused. That was a great goal.

 

[slinslin]

Here are some highlights from the opening leg between Schalke-Manchester.

Sinslin was absolutely right, Neuer is definitely one of the top keepers in the world. I too thought he was being a bit of a homer at first, but Neuer is an amazing player. United/Arsenal would be wise to go after him this offseason.

Neuer is already going to Bayern. Arsenal could never afford him anyway with Bayern bidding.

Germany has the best talents in the world at the moment, we were the 2nd youngest team in the WC last year and played the best soccer.

Mario Goetze is 18 and broke into Dortmunds team as a 17 year old. He is pegged as the next Messi.

Thomas Mueller is one of the best young players in the world. Oezil too.

Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Gomez, Khedira, Mertesacker and Neuer are also still young..

It's a shame that Nuri Sahin plays for Turkey and Kevin Prince Boateng plays for Ghana.

Thomas Mueller
Mesut Oezil
Toni Kroos
Mario Goetze
Sven Bender
Mats Hummels
Benny Hoewedes
Jerome Boateng
Lewis Holtby
Andre Schuerrle
Lars Bender
Kevin Grosskreutz
Marco Reus
Ilkay Gundogan
Marcel Schmelzer
Mehmet Ekici
Julian Draxler

And many many more that are just about to break into teams.. all of these are talented enough to play for the top teams in Europe at least eventually.

We could easily field 2-3 very good young national teams that could all make it at least to the quarter finals of a World Cup. Good times to be the national team coach. Picking the squad is probably harder than coaching them right now.

 

[slinslin]

I think this explains it pretty well:


link

A little outdated. German Bundesliga is #3 right now by a good margin ahead of Italy and could overtake Spanish Primera Division next year.
It is unlikely though since 2 unlikely cinderella teams qualified for the EL this year in Germany.

Bundesliga will have 4 spots in the CL next year, Italy just 3.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method4/crank2011.html

 

[Shzm13]

Neuer is already going to Bayern. Arsenal could never afford him anyway with Bayern bidding.

Germany has the best talents in the world at the moment, we were the 2nd youngest team in the WC last year and played the best soccer.

Mario Goetze is 18 and broke into Dortmunds team as a 17 year old. He is pegged as the next Messi.

Thomas Mueller is one of the best young players in the world. Oezil too.

Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Gomez, Khedira, Mertesacker and Neuer are also still young..

It's a shame that Nuri Sahin plays for Turkey and Kevin Prince Boateng plays for Ghana.

Thomas Mueller
Mesut Oezil
Toni Kroos
Mario Goetze
Sven Bender
Mats Hummels
Benny Hoewedes
Jerome Boateng
Lewis Holtby
Andre Schuerrle
Lars Bender
Kevin Grosskreutz
Marco Reus
Ilkay Gundogan
Marcel Schmelzer
Mehmet Ekici
Julian Draxler

And many many more that are just about to break into teams.. all of these are talented enough to play for the top teams in Europe at least eventually.

We could easily field 2-3 very good young national teams that could all make it at least to the quarter finals of a World Cup. Good times to be the national team coach. Picking the squad is probably harder than coaching them right now.

Yeah, Germany is looking like a great candidate to win the next WC, they have an amazing amount of talent and actually play well as a team.

 

[slinslin]

Schalke owning Inter at the San Siro wasn't a surprise? Seriously? I know you only watch teams with Mexican national team players, but you probably need to understand what you're posting about before you post it. Schalke beating Inter 5-2 in MILAN is a huge upset.

Maybe the score but Schalke beating Inter was not an upset.

Inter was lucky they somehow got past Bayern because Bayern was inept. Bayern could have scored 5 goals in both legs against Inter.

 

[Milgod]

I would say it was an upset. Mainly because Schalke aren't that good themselves.

 

[Renz]

Barça vs Man U in the final. Should be an epic match.

Força Barça!

 

[Shzm13]

 

[Mathew81]

Final is today. Barca 2 ManU 1.

 

[Renz]

Complete domination. Barcelona are undoubtedly the best team in the world and have made their case as the best team ever.

Barça! Barça! Barça!

 

[Mathew81]

That wasn't even close in the 2nd half. Something like 70% possession for Barcelona. The better team definitely won.

 

[Milgod]

Best team in history? Pretty damn close if not.

 

[Dr. Jones]

That was a clinic........ Xavi & Messi. They shouldn't be allowed to play together.

Berbatov should have started for Chicharito. He looked out of place on the pitch IMO. He will be a stud, but the event seemed to big for him. I look forward to the next time he is on a big stage like that.

In the end though..... It wouldn't have mattered.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I missed it.

 

[CardEd]

Here's to hoping Chicharito plays that well in the Gold Cup!

 

[Shzm13]

That was a clinic........ Xavi & Messi. They shouldn't be allowed to play together.

Berbatov should have started for Chicharito. He looked out of place on the pitch IMO. He will be a stud, but the event seemed to big for him. I look forward to the next time he is on a big stage like that.

In the end though..... It wouldn't have mattered.

Don't forget Iniesta! With Scholes retiring and Giggs not getting any younger, they are going to need to address their holes in the midfield if they want to knock Barca off their perch. Although its difficult to assemble a lineup capable of stopping Xavi, Iniesta and Messi without bunkering like Mourinho did in CDR.

Valencia was awful, Carrick was ineffective, and Park was decent for about the first 10 minutes of the match. The midfield's overall ability to create anything indicated very few opportunities for both Rooney and Hernandez, who were pretty much on an island up top. Having scored twice in he world cup, CL, and vs Barcelona, I doubt his crummy game was a case of the jitters. Rooney capitalized on his few opportunities, and Hernandez wasted his by being offsides.

Looking forward to Hernandez regaining form and winning the golden boot in the 2011 Gold Cup as an accessory to the cup!