The Champions League

[Deco]

Fucking hell, Go Nasri!

[Sub-Bass]

Cracking goal..

[Fuzzy]

Could be goal of the tourney right there.

[Deco]

lol this is getting embarrassing for Porto

[Fuzzy]

Porto really don't tend to travel well especially in england. Hammered.

[Sub-Bass]

Yeah 8/13 was a good price for the gooners.

[Deco]

Milan are utter pants

[londonguy]

Madrid are out. Got to laugh aint ya

[Deco]

Originally Posted by londonguy

Madrid are out. Got to laugh aint ya

Fuck me... Just noticed!

[[censored]]

They had the final at home as well.. waheyyy, great night

[Pottish]

What the fuck just happened at Old Trafford lol?

Last time I saw AC Milan in Europe was the final against Liverpool......

What the holy fuck was that lol?!?

[Fuzzy]

Just got back from the bar watching the Madrid game. Was crazy everyone was going nuts when Lyon scored was great fun!

[turkey_man]

Awesome performance last night, Milan weren't very good but 4-0 is brilliant.

[pablo_3scobar]

I fancy a we cheeky bet on inter to lift the cup.. despite getn beat 3-1 to catiana on fri nite.

Man UTD with my heart though. on the red

[DupleX]

Originally Posted by londonguy

Madrid are out. Got to laugh aint ya

In Germany, they reckon that little gives a man as much pleasure as watching his best friend fall off a roof. In Catalonia the sense of humour is slightly different: there, the belief is that nothing is as entertaining as observing your worst enemy suffer crippling calamity.

On Wednesday night, the fireworks were lighting up the Barcelona sky from the moment Miralem Pjanic equalised for Lyon in the 75th minute of the Champions League tie against Real Madrid. And once it became clear that Real were out, beaten in the last sixteen round for the fifth year in succession, this time by a side currently lying fourth in the French league, the partying along the Ramblas was unrestrained.

Wednesday's elimination of Real proves once again in football there is no such thing as destiny. Bolstered by President Florentino Perez's huge spending on the second generation of Galacticos, it was widely assumed in Spain's capital that Real were on course for the dream: winning their 10th European Cup in their own stadium. Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, two of the best three players in the world would guarantee that. Now the nightmare is unfolding.

Instead of inviting destiny into their home city, come the end of May, the locals will have to play host to invading hordes from England, Germany, France or - horror of horrors - Catalonia. And the thing is, anyone with any footballing foresight could have seen it coming.

Real have a desperation to succeed that may be admirable in other circumstances, but in football has become their Achilles heel. Every year, the urgency to get on in Europe overwhelms them. Every year a new man comes in with a new plan to secure domination. If the Galactico idea doesn't deliver immediate results, so they bring in a bunch of work-hungry Dutchmen. When that doesn't work, they buy up the Italian World Cup winning side. When that doesn't work , in come more Dutchmen, or young Spaniards, or South Americans. Then the Galactico experiment is revived as if it had been a triumph all along.

Now, presumably, they will bust the bank to bring in their Bosnian conqueror on Wednesday night, a Pjanic buy if ever there was one. Meanwhile, in the coach's dugout, the occupant varies from yes man to his own man according to prevailing whim, though they are expected to fall on their sword and take the blame for others' mistakes whoever they are.

And while Madrid vacillates like a Liberal Democrat in a polling booth, in Manchester, London and Barcelona, continuity is the order of the day. A guiding philosophy remains in place season after season. Coaches have security of tenure. And surprise surprise, United, Arsenal and Barca all do much better than Real, getting to finals regularly and occasionally winning them.

The latest idea to sweep through the Bernabeu is to blame Manuel Pelligrini, get rid of him and go shopping at the top end of the coach's market. Jose Mourinho would sort things out, it is thought. Well, he might well do, for a bit. It is certainly unlikely a Mourinho team would have surrendered as meekly as Kaka, Ronaldo, Guti and the rest did on Wednesday. But Mourinho would never want to go anywhere where the security of tenure is so fragile and where the say-so of the board is required to be acted upon in every team selection. Nor would Arsene Wenger, or Alex Ferguson or anyone who enjoys a bit of autonomy in their professional life.

The fact is Madrid, with their ceaseless ambition, have made themselves almost unmanageable. The president has power, the players have power, the fans have power. But the manager is so far down the power grid he is almost emasculated. Look back over the history of football: no club has ever won a serious trophy being directed from the boardroom, even if the final is being played in their own backyard. The fact is, until the balance of working power shifts at Madrid, the firework sellers of Barcelona will remain cheerfully in business.

-Jim White


ahahahaha

gotta love his writing

[Deco]

Yea Madrid going out put a smile on my face.... There's too many individuals and egos in that team and goes to prove no matter how much you spend its all about team spirit. Teams should be appreciated by team spirit rather than spendage.

[DupleX]

team... chelsea... spendature... spirit.... hmmmmm

[Deco]

Mourinho i still love you! But your going down tonight.

[Sub-Bass]

Not sure if Chelsea will go through, got a feeling Inter will score tonight which will make it difficult for Chelsea, especially if they get the 1st goal..I don't have any confidence in Chelsea atm in the PL either.

[Deco]

Originally Posted by Sub-Bass

Not sure if Chelsea will go through, got a feeling Inter will score tonight which will make it difficult for Chelsea, especially if they get the 1st goal..I don't have any confidence in Chelsea atm in the PL either.

Yea we need an early goal or it will be hard... Don't want to think about conceding an early one.