dayokanu: So how much does Platini need from me to get us APOEL Nicosia in the next stage

Barca v Bayern would delight the purists though...I thought y'all wanted Barca "Who the f*** are Barcelona"

"We Are Not Hoffenheim, We Are Not Hoffenheim" FC Basel shouted before the match. True. Hoffenheim scored a goal and lost by only 7-1.

See what United couldn't dare

See what United couldn't dare

^^See the way Pogrebynyak is ripping the EPL to pieces. That's the same Pogrebynyak that couldn't start for Stuttgart.

Gomez, don't score a 5th.

Before The Worst - The Script.

I'm really into The Script these days.


As per Coldplay, quite honestly, I think Mylo Xyloto is wack.

usbcable: great win on saturday
2-3 win by Real Madrid.
simply awesome

Yeah, awesome for a Madridista, considering Betis were denied two clear penalties, it is "simply awesome".

I don't know if there's some kind of conspiracy going on to help Madrid win the league but one thing's for sure: La Liga has descended into an absolute farce with all this shite refeereeing.

Great win yesterday.

I believe we need more away games like this. Throughout the season away games have really been a rollercoaster ride; we hade some great ones and some terrible ones. It's time now for some consistency: convincing wins with a good amount of possesion and chances, fast ball movement and few shots on goals by the opponent. A couple of these wins would do us well and there's no reason we can't keep going like this (although Racing is not really a reliable benchmark, but hey)

Messi, 50 goals already this season. Simply awesome. I wonder how many goals he will finish with this season. There are still a lot of games to be played.

Never mind the scoreline, but what impressed me the most, was the degree to which Bilbao thoroughly outplayed United on almost every level.

Their passing and moving, their pressing, the way they set up themselves on the pitch, their speed and stamina, their creativity were all ahead of what United could ever master in that game at least.

How can their La Liga record be just 9W, 10D and 6D? The Spanish top flight is a lot stronger than almost anyone thinks. It is just that Madrid and Barca are so good, that they make the rest look far worse than they actually are.

All La Liga sides have performed remarkably in these 3 days of European football.

coogar:

with giggs/jones as central midfielders, nothing could have worked.
alex ferguson is a plank. mike phelan should be sacked.

Soon as I saw line up, I knew Athletic were gonna win. Perhaps, SAF underrated them.

Here's what I posted before the match:

medjai:

Giggs and Jones in midfield for United. Athletic has won this tie before it even started - Iturraspe, de Marcos, Susaeta and Martinez(when Athletic switch to a back 3) in midfield for Athletic.

I expect Athletic to dominate.

What's up with La Liga teams having the shittiest of shite defences? This was Bilbao FFS. They are 5th on the table. They only sign Basque players and they are basically Spain's U-21.

I'm really not surprised Athletic won. This was my comment before the game:

medjai:

Giggs and Jones in midfield for United. Athletic has won this tie before it even started - Iturraspe, de Marcos, Susaeta and Martinez(when Athletic switch to a back 3) in midfield for Athletic.

I expect Athletic to dominate.

The scoreline is not reflective of what went down. It could have been 10-0. Utd's goals came out of nothing. de Gea saved United. It would have ended in a very disgraceful scoreline for United.

Stealthy:

It was nice watching the La Liga teams dominate their EL matches tonight.

Even if not all the teams eventually qualify, tonight has shown that La Liga is much more than just Barca & Real. Every La Liga team that played tonight won their match. There's plenty of quality in La Liga but EPL fans are too arrogant to acknowledge this.

I especially enjoyed watching Bilbao dominate against ManU AWAY. Bilbao has a wonderful youth academy like many La Liga teams. It is not by coincidence that they're in the Copa del Rey final, sitting at 4th spot in La Liga and now bossing ManU in Old Trafford. I hope Munain and his boys finish the job in San Mames next week.

Athletic's Lezama academy is the best in Spain after La Masia.

You know Athletic have a Basque only policy which allows them to sign only Basque players. 90% of that team is from the Lezama Academy.

To put things into proper perspective, Bilbao are 5th in La Liga, 30 pts from 1st place Madrid.

Bilbao have a Basque only policy. They don't sign non-Basque players. 90% of that team is from Athletic's Lezama Academy.

MeGaStReEt:

Blackburn Rovers are 17th on EPL table, and if I can remember vividly, they defeated Manure with this same score line at Oldjoro Trafford last December. So, whats the big deal?

United weren't only beaten, they were thoroughly outclassed. The scoreline is seriously flattering. If not for de Gea, it could easily have been 10.

Considering Bilbao own the whole damn pitch, I wonder where exactly SAF is trying to shore up.

Bilbao are looking like the home team. They are totally dominating United plus the fans are outsinging the Utd fans.

The Lion King, Llorente.

Bilbao schooling United.

Athletic should have had a penalty

Giggs and Jones in midfield for United. Athletic has won this tie before it even started - Iturraspe, de Marcos, Susaeta and Martinez(when Athletic switch to a back 3) in midfield for Athletic.

I expect Athletic to dominate.

mama-gee:

You're discussing messi with pele.

You're discussing messi who has 0 goals in the world cup to a man who single-handedly lifted the world cup at age 17 and lifted two more after that.

You're a delusional, beclouded messi bandwagoner.

Even ronaldo is better than messi when it comes to world cups.

Messi scored vs Serbia in the 2006 WC.

Like I suspected, the Ronaldo fans know nothing about football. No wonder they think Ronaldo is the best player to walk the face of the earth.

elampiro:

Medjai,

Those guys may be good but they do not know how to get results as much as Giggs, Scholes and co. Giggs will give you and intelligent pass that he alone brought from the outer space. Those guys in Madrid are just learning now. They are getting there gradually.

Compared to Alonso, Scholes is an apprentice when it comes to the passing business.

Of the 11 players that made up the FIFPRO XI, 4 are madrid players - Casillas, Marcelo, Alonso and Ronaldo. . . Ronaldo equally plays in a world class team.

elampiro:

Ronaldo even as world best player at Man U, did not want to stay in a comfort zone. He went for a challenge in Madrid. If he were to be in the midst of Rooney, Giggs, Nani and Scholes he would surely have been doing better and winning more trophies.

Let Messi try elsewhere.

You mean Rooney, Giggs, Scholes, Nani are better than Ozil, di Maria, Higuain, Benzema, Kaka, Alonso?

You don't know what you are talking about.

One of those very few times we aren't making the news for the wrong reasons.

Congrats.

I would put my money on Bilbao to walk away with at least a draw if I didn't need it for something else.

Teams like Leverkusen are making the champions league become the 'Chumpions League'

Watching Messi is compelling evidence that we live in a Matrix-like dystopia.

We are all now plugged into parasitic machinery sucking our energy away, yet we are led to believe that we are in front of our laptops.

Messi is trying to show us, the error of our ways. . . .

Encomiums have been pouring in from far and wide after Messi's manita show:

Tw John Heitinga (Everton): "Mejores jugador del Mundo Messi! Best player in the World! #GrandeMessi #cincogoles" [@johnheitinga]


Tw Eden Hazard (Lille): "Is Messi the best player of all times?" [@hazardeden10] #fcblive


Dutt (coach Leverkusen): "Without Messi, Barcelona are still the best team in the world. But with him, they're from another galaxy" #fcblive

Dutt (coach Leverkusen): "Who has played football, knows there are no words for Messi. He's at his own level." #fcblive


Tw Owen (ManUtd): "Not old enough to see some of the greats but can't believe anyone can have played the game of football as well as Messi."


Tw Falcao (Atletico Madrid): "Was this a CL game or was this Messi in a PlayStation game? Unstoppable!!" #fcblive [@falcao]


Tw Jack Wilshere (Arsenal): "Its a pleasure to watch this guy, MESSI" [@jackwilshere] #fcblive


Messi: "5 goals? Nice, but the main thing was to qualify." #fcblive


Tw Wayne Rooney (Man United): "Messi is a joke. For me the best ever." [@waynerooney] #fcblive

See the free gift of nature señor Dayo is supposed to be enjoying.

afrodoc:

lol
this LENO has got a lot to LEARN O  

LMAO

Stealthy:

Lol. You actually wrote this at half time? You're a perfectionist o! We were already 5-1 up on aggregate. At half time, I just wanted Pep to take off the whole first team and bring in our youth team!

Lol, We were 1 up and approaching HT while I was typing. Before I posted, it was 2.

2nd half:

Bring on Tello/Cuenca for Cesc and move The Don back to midfield.

Leverkusen are having a lot of the ball. If this continues, it's only a matter of time before they put in a decent cross for Keissling. We need to keep the ball more.

Barca starting XI:

Valdés, Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Adriano, Busquets, Xavi, iniesta, Cesc, Messi, Pedro

chic2pimp:

Whether he did or not woulda made little difference. Dude is still a young manager with lots to learn. If the Inter rumours are true, I for one welcome his appointment.

You mean if AVB had £200+m to build a team after his own image plus the free hand, it wouldn't make a difference? It would make a hell of a difference.