Champions League 2009/10

Quarterfinals starting up. ManUre at Bayern (sans an iinjured Robben) and an all-French matchup of Bordeaux (speaking of wines) at Lyon.

EDIT: Bayern w/2 late goals (the second really late) for a 2-1 victory. If I was Patrice Evra it would be time to do a media blackout, he got his pocket picked bad in stoppage. Worse for Manu, Rooney looked like the injury he sustained was not minor.

Only person who had a worse day than Evra was the left back for Bordeaux, he made not one but 2 horrendous gaffes leading to Lyon goals. They'll need a 2-0 home win to advance.

 

I have to admit I'm lovin' the Bayern win...a lucky deflection and then, hello, Mr. Evra, I'll be taking that ball, thank you very much...

Van Der Sar was peppered and did a great job in my opinion, neither goal was his fault.

This was a fun match to watch for the neutral.

 

The 2nd Half was impressive for Bayern. They have threats all over the place, and teams outside of England, Spain, and Italy can indeed really have some talent worthy of challenging those from the "best" leagues.

2-1 will be uphill at Old Trafford for "The Bavarians", but better than 0-1 or even 1-1. I'm beginning to like their chances.

 

How much box wine did you consume today, WB?

 

I'm waiting to pull the plastic top after BAYERN secure moving on to the semis!

Pulling for INTER today, although hard to not like the plucky "former-communists" a little.

Like to see ARSENAL upset the apple-cart, but this is the point in the competition where The Arse show all too convincingly that they are merely pretenders, not real contenders.

(Despite LYON winning somewhat convincingly yesterday, I'll be surprised if BORDEAUX do not come back strong in the second leg. Problem for them, Chamakh is no longer much of a secret, and they are not known for putting up lopsided wins.)

 

I'm liking Bayern's chances to get a result at Old Trafford.

They are getting healthier (Robben and Gomez will both be healthy to start) and ManU will be without Rooney, who is out 2-4 weeks.

 

That Arse-Barca match was truly spectacular. For the neutral fan that 90 minutes was about as good as it gets. Almunia stood on his head in the first half, then had his head in his posterior in the first 20 ticks of the second half (what was he doing?). Walcott turned the tide, and now at 2-2 w/both Barca CBs out for 2nd leg they at least have a sliver of hope. However, no Fabregas (yellows), Arshavin & Gallas left early due to injury.

The one thing missing was Highbury. That place's atmosphere would ooze through the tv set. Emirates is obviously good for the ledger, but the Gooners old house was special.

 

I'm going to be a contrarian and say United are in a pretty good position in Old Trafford. I thought they were pretty unlucky to lose that game, and VDS was fantastic -- my hat is off to him. I see a goal from Valencia or Fletcher, or someone else, to pick up the slack for Shrek. I don't see a goal for Bayern, reinforcements or not.

Hopefully I just hexed Man Yoo reeeeeeeeeeeal good.

 

I concur about the Arse-Barca game; I stayed up until Midnight watching in on my DVR (had to watch stuff with the missus first).

After the first half, I thought Almunia was going to have a MOTM performance, leading to a late Arse 1-0 winner. Arsenal played much better in the second half; not so much more attractive football, but grittier - I think they realized that Barca plays better than they do so they pumped up their pressure. Still, one of the most attractive games I've ever seen. Even my wife, who is only a casual watcher of the game stopped to watch for a while, amazed at the passing and movement.

2nd leg will be interesting, with Barca without their starting central defending pair and Arsenal without Fab. As beautiful as their games are, I think it may come down to who wants it more.

 

Cesc, Gallas, and Arse-shaven (love that skit from "Special One TV") all out for Arsenal. Not looking good for an upset, even with Puyols and Pique suspended. Afraid Barcelona are just too deep,.... and of course there's Messi.

Speaking of awe-inspiring movement on the pitch, Theo Walcott and his speed take your breathe away. His movement with te ball gives us all time to catch it. He is in a different class, but if he could move with ball, he'd be one of the best.

 

Of course as I am enjoying watching him score that goal to turn the match, my next thought and probably yours as well, "How in the hell will U.S.A. defend THAT!?!?"

 

Thanks for the head's up guys. I caught most of the Barca-Arse replay late last night and it was brilliant.

That was a good skit WB, wish they'd bring Special One TV back.

 

Out of all the teams to fall in love with I find two teams that make everything difficult. We could be rolling into Moscow with a comfortable lead and instead we fail to take one of the 50 billion chances after the first goal. The plastic pitch sucks and we could be going out.

 

LOL! I had the same thought, but then again, he can't score from the bench.

 

love, Love, LOVE the early, 11:30 Central, match time for Russian clubs! Here's to the Big Grass Snake slithering back with a spot in the semi-finals, against either Barca (most likely) or a very depleted Arsenal.