Official Football Thread

Bloody hell, was it necessary to take the foot off the accelerator completely in the second half? Crawley nearly managed to equalize, after United seemed in full control for the first 45. Credit to them, they never gave up and they really made United work for the place in the 6th round.

Now bring on Marseille, and may Bebe and Obertan stay in Manchester for that fixture, please.
 
So, thankfully the only team to have a 100% record against Man U still has that record. And it was close. ;)
 
Well, Norway haven't lost to Brazil either  :innocent: (two draws, two wins)

... and Arsenal will have to play a rematch after they did against Leyton Orient what United did not against Crawley: Concede an equalizer in added time  :D
 
Eddies Wingman said:
Well, Norway haven't lost to Brazil either  :innocent: (two draws, two wins)
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Though I'm talking of a side that has never lost or drawn to Man U. And not even conceded a goal either. Seriously, what a record. :D
 
I guess the shrimp sandwich brigade (if they exist, I haven't seen them in my visits to Old Trafford!) think there couldn't be a more fitting club to hold that status than The Shrimpers  :innocent:
 
Absolutely. It's a record they hold dear. And no bugger is going to take it from them. ;)

Back to being a bit more serious...

Arsenal have committed the exact same error that Barcelona did against the Arsenal themselves. They did not take their chances and only scored the 1 goal - when they should have been out of site. Then the sucker punch towards the end.
 
Now that comparison is a bit exaggerated, I think. I mean, the difference in quality between Arsenal and Leyton Orient should be larger than between Barcelona and Arsenal - even with Arsenal facing LO with a weakened side. Apart from that, you are obviously right. When you are the better team for an entire half, and fail to capitalize, your opponents may always punish you.

There's another difference, though. Arsenal were actually the better side in the beginning before Barcelona took over completely, but when the Catalans took their foot off the accelerator, Arsenal were allowed to dominate again. So it wasn't just that single sucker punch, Arsenal actually took the initiative back (or were given it, depends on how you look at it).

Now they will be punished with a really tight schedule in the weeks to come. Their home tie against Spurs (which was originally scheduled on the coming Saturday) is yet to be arranged - it's that hard to find a day to fit it.
 
Okay, so the first leg of the round of 16 in the Champions League is done, with the following results:

Milan - Tottenham 0-1
Roma - Shakhtar Donetsk 2-3
Valencia - Schalke 04 1-1
Arsenal - Barcelona 2-1
Lyon - Real Madrid 1-1
København - Chelsea 0-2
Inter - Bayern München 0-1
Marseille - Manchester United 0-0

I'd actually say all the teams who opened away are now favourites to go through - the one with the tallest challenge ahead of them are Barcelona, who are actually the only away team to lose in the first leg!
 
Tottenham, Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Bayern München and Manchester United will go through in my opinion. I don't know about Arsenal-Barcelona, Arsenal got great result in the first leg but Messi can shine in the second leg, he sucked in the first.
 
I wouldn't put my money on Valencia. Going to Schalke having to win, is not a task I envy them. 1-1 at home is never a good result in this kind of two-legged encounters, because even 0-0 away will send you out.
 
I'd go as far as saying the one result that could go in favour of the away team in the second leg is Man U/Marseilles. They don't concede much, Marseilles, and if they score early on, Man U will be under pressure to get two. Personally, I would not put it past Man U to score those two, but I would not be surprised if Marseilles score and then shut up shop.

Other than that, I agree with EW.

And I would love Spurs to do well.
 
Defending well is one thing - scoring first is something I wouldn't put big money on Marseilles to do. They did hardly have a finish on goal in the first half yesterday. Still, 0-0 away is far from a perfect result - 1-1 is much better, and I'll be saving up fingernails to the return leg. The away teams that got the worst results are Barcelona and United.
 
1 know you guys don't give a hoot about the UEFA Europa League but here are some stats. 16 clubs left:

3 countries with 3 clubs:

Russia:
Zenit
Spartak moscow
CSKA Moskou      

Portugal:
Sporting Braga  
Porto
Benfica

Holland:
PSV
Ajax
Twente

Now let's hope a certain country can continue this well in the next round. ;)
 
I was actually watching a little Europa League yesterday. Came home from work with ten minutes remaining of Sporting v Rangers and saw Rangers get the equalizer that sent them through, on away goals, in injury time.

Then I watched most of Man City v Aris Thessaloniki, and the away supporters were much more impressive than their team. I haven't seen a team so much worse away than home since Olympiakos played against Rosenborg in 1997. The fans, though, were class. I'd almost compare them to Mexican Maiden fans. Completely nuts, despite their team was losing.

Funny thing is, I'm going to a conference near Thessaloniki in May. Here's hoping that Aris are playing at home while I'm there.

I'd have nothing against one of the Dutch teams winning the tournament, though. I heard the bookies held Man City as favourites - no thanks!
 
PSV - Rangers should be an interesting match!

Previous encounters:

1. 1978: Rangers won in EC I, 2nd round
2. 1999: Rangers won twice (away and home) in groupfase Champions League
 
Forostar said:
PSV - Rangers should be an interesting match!

Previous encounters:

1. 1978: Rangers won in EC I, 2nd round
2. 1999: Rangers won twice (away and home) in groupfase Champions League
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PSV all the way. Never really liked Rangers. It should be a good match indeed. My hopes for getting to watch that one aren't that high, though - I think the Norwegian TV channel that have the rights will choose Liverpool and Man City (because they have more fans in Norway, of course, and will thus attract more viewers).
 
Whoops, my mistake. Well, if I had to choose I'd go for Liverpool who have a difficult season. It will be nice to see how they can manage.
 
Eddies Wingman said:
PSV all the way. Never really liked Rangers.
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I will be supporting Rangers here - mainly due to my Scottish side. That said, one should never expect me to get behind Celtic. ;)
 
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