football anyone? as in soccer...

[pica]

so glad chelsea nailed it.

[brycickle]

Somewhat surprised that Torres was able to score an open net goal though...

[Smell Good]

That was such a good fucking game. Inspirational. They did the unthinkable. No shame in parking that big blue bus.

[thepman]

so glad chelsea are through to the final! shows that not always the best team win, but often it just comes down to sheer grit, determination and heroism.

[Smell Good]

I wish there was a .gif of that Ramires goal.

[Cthulhu!]

Oh there is.

[chockfullofthat]

Well I was naive enough to think I could get away with not watching it live and not get the result spoiled but i'm still fucking ecstatic.  Shotgunned beers and all.  See ya in Munich!!

[brycickle]

Well I was naive enough to think I could get away with not watching it live and not get the result spoiled but i'm still fucking ecstatic.  Shotgunned beers and all.  See ya in Munich!!

Yeah, with that game, there was no way of actually having it spoiled. It was one of the most exciting matches this season even if you knew the result.

[jackherer]

the final is going to be shit. chelsea is missing half their fucking team now. they had to give so much to scrape by barca that they have depleted themselves completely. not to mention the park the bus strategy will not work against either munich or madrid because those are not really possession teams.

[chockfullofthat]

You're such a cynical little bitch, don't watch the final then.  It's possible that they'll have a backline of Bosignwa, Luiz, Cahill, Cole.  That's not ideal, but if they could stop Barcelona without Terry they can stop Madrid or Munich.  I'm not saying they will but anything is possible.  Meireles contributes nothing going forward anyway, but he'd be a nice player to have in the squad.  The big blow, for me, is Ramires.  They still have Drogba, Lampard, and Mata to try and nick a goal and obviously have a strong spirit and desire to get that extra boatload of money courtesy of Mr. Abromovich in case they win.

[jackherer]

You're such a cynical little bitch, don't watch the final then.  It's possible that they'll have a backline of Bosignwa, Luiz, Cahill, Cole.  That's not ideal, but if they could stop Barcelona without Terry they can stop Madrid or Munich.  I'm not saying they will but anything is possible.  Meireles contributes nothing going forward anyway, but he'd be a nice player to have in the squad.  The big blow, for me, is Ramires.  They still have Drogba, Lampard, and Mata to try and nick a goal and obviously have a strong spirit and desire to get that extra boatload of money courtesy of Mr. Abromovich in case they win.

how is that cynical? it's looking at it objectively. a lot of their key players are out, that is a fact. and considering it's a miracle in itself that they got this far, having just scraped by napoli, benfica, and barca, I would say they need all the help they can get. now they're going to have to pull another miracle out of their ass against either madrid or munich, but without a lot of those key players. I'll still watch it, but to me madrid v munich is going to be a much better match up than the final.

[Alan]

Chelsea deserved to go through, there's absolutely no denying it, no matter how disgusting the club is. I thought Barca would tear them a new one after the red card and the 2:0 but they turned it around. Ramires' cool finish was outstanding, seriously, the kid's got nerves of steel.

I expect tonight's game to be on the same level, red card included.

[jackherer]

Chelsea deserved to go through, there's absolutely no denying it, no matter how disgusting the club is. I thought Barca would tear them a new one after the red card and the 2:0 but they turned it around. Ramires' cool finish was outstanding, seriously, the kid's got nerves of steel.

I expect tonight's game to be on the same level, red card included.

I hate to say it but I agree. More than that, it really highlighted Barca's weaknesses. It was the perfect example of why they should not have got rid of Eto'o or Ibra, or at least replaced them with someone similar. They really need that pure striker that is also physical and can disrupt the defense to compliment messi and the midfield. That said though, it really was unfortunate for Barca that they were missing David Villa, though Barca should still probably get a bigger striker just to hold possession in the box a little better.

[Cthulhu!]

[Smell Good]

lololol

Neuer is a true beast. Dude's got a nice haircut too

[jackherer]

casillas held his own too. but then ramos sent the ball to the moon..

[Stoeipoes]

Who cares about his haircut? neuer's saves were fenomonal. I used to be a goalie aswell and those penals werent badly taken.

[ALT]

[Alan]

Is there a gif of Mourihno's reaction after Neuer's second save? That was rather good.

[Stoeipoes]

after ramos' miss

[Alan]

Ha, even better!

[jackherer]

except thats not what he was wearing...still funny though! mou is a boss

[chockfullofthat]

Were the saves that good?  I think it was mostly down to shitty pens.  I don't remember anything special about the saves.  Chelsea will have a better chance against Munich with them missing players as well.  A German friend of mine tells me Alaba and Badstuber are costly.  I only really see highlights of German football so I don't have a great idea about what the odds will be.  Playing on their home turf could be the decider though.

[jackherer]

[brycickle]

Press conference tomorrow apparently about whether Pep stays with Barca.

[weedpop]

Were the saves that good?  I think it was mostly down to shitty pens.  I don't remember anything special about the saves. 

Neuer's saves were of a higher quality than the ones casillas made but Ronaldo's kick wasn't great by his standards and the next madrid player who missed was even worse. The two bayern penalties casillas saved were pretty shit (especially Kroos') but both pale in comparison to Ramos...

Bayern are in pretty bad shape with suspensions next game as well, alaba has been excellent in the champions league and badstuber is a big loss too but they're also missing Gustavo, who was probably the best guy they had for putting pressure on the ball in midfield and breaking up play last night. They also don't have a direct replacement for him without pulling one of their center backs into midfield, and they don't want to shake up their defense that much in a cup final. It's going to be interesting to see how Chelsea alter their tactics against Bayern; both teams will have defensive weaknesses (with Terry out and possibly Luiz and Cahill as well) but Bayern probably have a lot more attacking threat given that their front line is still intact. Chelsea are actually going to have to play the ball a lot more than they did against barca, but I still think they're going to pretty much stick with a defensive counter-attacking style, especially if none of their first choice central defenders are available.

[chockfullofthat]

GUARDIOLA OUT!  Damn dude he's only 41, it can't be that stressful to watch Messi every week.

Were the saves that good??  I think it was mostly down to shitty pens.?  I don't remember anything special about the saves.? 

Neuer's saves were of a higher quality than the ones casillas made but Ronaldo's kick wasn't great by his standards and the next madrid player who missed was even worse. The two bayern penalties casillas saved were pretty shit (especially Kroos') but both pale in comparison to Ramos...

Bayern are in pretty bad shape with suspensions next game as well, alaba has been excellent in the champions league and badstuber is a big loss too but they're also missing Gustavo, who was probably the best guy they had for putting pressure on the ball in midfield and breaking up play last night. They also don't have a direct replacement for him without pulling one of their center backs into midfield, and they don't want to shake up their defense that much in a cup final. It's going to be interesting to see how Chelsea alter their tactics against Bayern; both teams will have defensive weaknesses (with Terry out and possibly Luiz and Cahill as well) but Bayern probably have a lot more attacking threat given that their front line is still intact. Chelsea are actually going to have to play the ball a lot more than they did against barca, but I still think they're going to pretty much stick with a defensive counter-attacking style, especially if none of their first choice central defenders are available.

One thing that is going to hurt Chelsea is that they won't have a significant height advantage against Bayern.  If Bayern can produce the amount of corners that Barca did I can see them scoring on a set piece without Terry and Ivanovic heading everything away.  Drogba needs to have a big game and the rest of the team needs a bit of luck.

[Smell Good]

Definitely a real lack of defensive options for Chelsea. I think ideally, for any team to be competitive you're going to want at least 3 dudes fighting for one position.

Available fullbacks: Bosingwa, Ferreira, Cole and Bertrand

CBs: Luiz and Cahill if they can manage to recover on time for the clash

[brycickle]

GUARDIOLA OUT!  Damn dude he's only 41, it can't be that stressful to watch Messi every week.

He had the responsibility of managing the best club in the world and all of the expectations that come with that for the last four years. I can see how that might get a little stressful.

Besides, he just needs a break, you know he'll be back eventually.

[weedpop]

GUARDIOLA OUT!  Damn dude he's only 41, it can't be that stressful to watch Messi every week.

Have you ever read a spanish newspaper? I know the English media is renowned for being hyper-critical but seriously, in spain it's like everyone turns into a cranky, underslept toddler whenever Barca or Real lose a game. The pressure built up over the "big two" rivalrly has been at head exploding levels for over a year now, and with their pre-season schedules, each team is playing up 60-70 games per season. It's just too much to sustain for both players and coaches.