@Akolawole

Good display?

Seriously, it was an even worse display than the first leg.

Hey Passy.
Thanks for the compliments.
There's definitely going to enough wine going around.

Brilliant- This match just goes to show how mediocre Chelsea really are.

Some pretty exciting news over the last 2/3 days.
First up, Hewitt lost to James Blake of all people and second, The newly-introduced Hawk-eye technology is to make it's debut during the Nasdaq-100 Open.

About Hewitt, I've really got nothing to say. This was a guy that was acclaimed to be the most difficult player to beat before Federer came along. Can't say I know what his problem(s) is/are.

I'm excited about the new introduction to the sport not because of the technology itself but because of the player-challenge system. Hopefully now there'll be fewer errors and maybe a little more excitement.

The point of the question being what?

Are you trying to prove something here? because if you are, I would find that very amusing.

FFS, it was still only the first half when Del Horno got himself sent off. So it would be safe to say Barca did not score because they still had plenty of time to do that (which they did in style by the way). And whala' your boys just happened to make things a lot easier for them.

Happy now?

You really are shocking, my friend. Why can't you accept the fact that they are a superior team?

@Cabali

You are lucky you have something to use as an excuse. You and I know fully well that Barca had the upper hand through-out the match. You either admit it or you don't but it doesn't change the fact that chelsea lost 2-1 at home to a superior Barcelona team.

One minute you guys are blaming Messi, the very next minute, it's the referee or something from your thuts.

Your goal was not even scored by a chelsea player, so what's the point of your argument?

This is so funny.
Chinedu Amah (one of the contestants) was my immediate senior in secondary school (FEDGOCOL, Warri) and my only regret is that I never got a chance to get my own back at him for all the mean things he did to me back then.

But that was like 5 years ago. Now I know this is going to be big-time fun.

@Akolawole
I don't suppose there is any danger of Barca under-rating Chelsea. Barca seem to be taking this match like the CL final, because of the theatrics of last year. I doubt they'd approach a match against Juve in the same way.

Somehow the Lion that Mourinho created out of Barca last year has come back to haunt him. I'm looking forward to tuesday. Going to be real exciting.

Nah, the thing is Barca have moved on and you can see the amount of venom Barca have brought into this match, from the way Eto'o celebrated his goal at the Bridge. Obviously, Barca are a better team now and a better team than Chelsea are. Of course y'all know that and you definitely know, there is no way you can repeat that crazy 20 mins (of last year) at the Nou Camp on tuesday.

@Cabali

There's no denying the fact that Barca controlled the match from beginning to the end, 1-man deficit or not.

Bottomline is Barca are overall a betterteam than Chelsea, like it or not.
And by the way, you boys are over-blowing the Messi incident as if you would have done anything against such an efficient Barca side even with 11 men.

Wake up and smell the coffe or Latte', Chelsea are almost definitely out of the Champions' league because they met a far better team.
But you won't accept that, would ya?

Next up Indian Wells and Miami.
I can't wait for this tournament to begin. My money is on Nadal to win one of the two - most likely Miami.

Federer for Indian wells.

Indian wells Starts tommorow, post your comments here.

Hi @ Akolawole

Challenge Accepted.

Hey y'all

It looks like the only sport we discuss on this board is football.

Let's discuss Tennis for a change,

After today's Dubai Final between Federer and Nadal, the thinking among some of my mates (Tennis fans) is that the dominance of Roger Federer is slowly coming to an end. Of course, it is pre-mature to talk of a change in guard but considering that Nadal is now 3-1 up on Federer (H2H) and the only match Nadal lost to Fed. was their very first meeting, I think it's in order to say times are changing. Fed's record is still as amazing as ever (make no mistake about that), but Nadal seems to be building a formidable reputation as well, having won his last nine (9) finals and now Dubai. He seems to be looking to improve on all surfaces (seeing as he skipped the Latin America Clay court events this year to play hard court tournaments).

I for one, hope Nadal can break the dominance of Federer as obviously, Hewitt and Roddick are not man-enough for the challenge.

Talks of a GRAND SLAM for Federer this year? It's definitely not happening.
First of all, the French Open is Nadal's again and maybe the US Open too. '

What do y'all think?

In as much as I'd like to say it's impossible, It's not.

Chelsea can beat Barca at the Camp Nou, but that would be a miracle.

***For this kind of miracle to happen though, Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Messi and Deco will have to be given sleeping pills before the match.

@Bagoma
Have a very goodnight. I hope we get to throw a bigger party than this in 2/3 weeks, by which time Chelsea would have been out of Europe.

@kOLA
No shaking, we are going to qualify alright. Shame we didn't take our chances, we could easily have trounced Madrid 4-0 at the bernabeu yesterday.

Hey Kola, Sure M'boro beat Arsenal with a fortunate goal. But 3-0, even you should know Arsenal can never lose by that scoreline to any team, not even Barcelona.

And Essien is serving a two-match ban for a truly HORRIFIC tackle on Didi Hamaan.
BTW, We are struggling in all competitions b'cos we've got a very thin squad and that's not helped by the fact that majority of our team are youngsters. Everybody knows this is a transitional season for us, but what is the Chelsea excuse? Just when you guys were beginning to believe something good could come out of stamford bridge, M'boro and now Barca have put you in your place.
Well there's always next time, I guess (I mean, next year).

@Kola
I won't pretend I'm not amused by this Chelsea humilation even at Stamford bridge, this coming on the heels of a 3-0 whitewash by the Almighty Middlesbrough.
Well, let's hope you guys have learnt your lessons and hopefully you'll start giving respect to teams that play the beautiful game the way it is supposed to be played.

And let's not forget BARCA were without Xavi, so technically both teams were lacking key players.
@Bagoma

Let the drinks flow.

@Bagoma
I'm in. I won't miss this party for anything.
This is certainly the perfect end to a perfect champions' league week.
Messi - that guy is shocking,
What I enjoyed the most was the class with which Barcelona thrashed the life out Chelsea.

@Bagoma
I would score the officiating at this tournament 2.5 on a scale of 1-10.
It's such a shame CAF still condones this mediocre level of officiating at a major tournament like the ACN.

Y'know, I really can't see the point of this third-place match. Win or lose, it's definitely not going to be showing on my TV screen. I think I've seen enough third-place matches to last me the next 2/3 years.

Tough one.
Nigeria (as a place) does not inspire any confidence or pride in me at the moment, but all the same I am Nigerian and proud to be one.

Definitely, but I'd still say we were the more awful of two colourless teams.

Thanks,
I Like yours too

The technical crew have their own share of the blame, but Eguaveon did not tell the players to play like lame ducks.

**Martins (who has been touted to high heavens for his speed) could not win a single race against the CIV defenders.
**Taye Taiwo dey play like say them tell am to "shoot at sight".
**Joseph E.., that guy is not national team standard at all.
**Odiah, Oh my Gosh. The full-backs were all over the place.

Everybody on that pitch today was awful, maybe apart from Mikel.

This is so disgusting. And to think I skipped work to watch Nigeria lose to a very drab Ivory Coast.......

Well, that's the end of the nation's cup for me. What a naive goal to concede in the first place.
Arrrrrgh..................I just want to bite somone's head off.
Even at the death, we are still kicking the ball around as if we are the team in front.

This Ivory coast team for some reason, remind me of chelsea. I'm not being pessimistic, but I can't see us doing anything against them, unless Okocha (or somebody else) can score from a freekick. Else, I think it's all over.

Brilliant match so far. Nigeria should be at least two goals ahead, but the tunisians could have scored as well.
I'm not impressed with Jaziri though, he goes looking for penalties too often and the referee is not helping matters with his erratic officiating.
All said, I've seen nothing to suggest we can lose this match. I hope Mikel knows how to direct his shots better in the second half.

Before I start ranting, Let me say:
I'm not one to complain about officiating, especially not after a penalty has just been awarded unfairly against my national team (Yeah, the irony... ), but I've been less than impressed with the level of officiating at this tournament.
Ok I'll admit, the penalty against Nigeria inspired this thread but with the focus turning to Africa from June (after the world cup in Germany), I think it is high time these African Referees sit up.