₦airaland Forum

K.O Time : 7:45pm Local Time
Venue : Allianz Arena, Munich.

Bayern Munich will be hosting the first leg of the second Champions League semi-final against Lyon tonight at Allianz Arena in Munich. The Germans are the overwhelming favorites to go through to final, but the Frenchmen are certainly no walkover and can hurt any team as they showed against Real Madrid in 1/8-finals.

Before tonight’s semi-final Bayern Munich have only won one of their last eight Champions League games played against French teams, but the victory was actually against Lyon in last years Champions League. In this seasons group stage they lost both their games against Bordeaux and one might wonder whether they have a complex against French clubs. On the other hand Lyon have good results against German clubs as they have won five out of their last seven games and only lost one, which funny enough was the pre-mentioned game against Bayern Munich. The two teams have played each other six times over the last ten years in Champions League and won two games each. Their last game ended 1-1 at last year’s group stage and was played in Munich.

This said Bayern Munich must be very confident going into tonight’s Champions League semi-final. Their recent form has been impressive and they prepared for tonight’s game by winning 7-0 against Hannover in the Bundesliga, which mean they still lead table at home. At the same time they showed great moral in the two games against Manchester United in quarter-finals, where they come back in both matches after trailing at halftime. This was no coincidence as they played well and deservedly sent out a somewhat struggling Manchester United team after the aggregate 4-4 over two matches. Bayern Munich can bring a full-strength squad to the match after both Robben and Ribery seems fully fit from their minor injuries.

Lyon beat their fellow countrymen Bordeaux to reach the semi-final in the Champions League. The two games against Bordeaux were highly affected by the fact that the two teams knew each other very well from the home league. Lyon was somewhat lucky to win over the two matches and owe a big thanks to their goalkeeper. The French team is currently struggling a lot in the domestic league and is almost out of the race after winning and dominating for many years, which means Champions League is their only hope left. This is the first time they have reached the semi-final after going to the quarter-finals four times and even though they of cause want to go further, it might be considered a success in itself and could take some pressure of the team. Let's all remember that Lyon beat Real Madrid on their way and is not without chances.

Your Predictions!

@sini

Man, away from the sun STILL blows my mind. . .I also love "Here without you" as it's very emotional. .
Most peepz think rock songz are just too noisy. . .loud instrumentals here n there. . It has a much more deeper meaning than that. I heard Amy Lee is a conc christian!

Resuming all my torrents!

Wetin?

Dat picture is hilarious, d guy resemble se

Slim,

The quicker DUDU realises that NO ONE on here is buying his "finacial times" posts on the Arsenal stock Market, the better . . .If all that cash & talk of "besting" Chelsea in the transfer market CAN'T result in bringing in players that can win things, then bleep it!   I'm an Arsenal fan to a fault but seeing this team fail time and time again calls for REALLY serious step-ups on all fronts. This could have been the season we won the premiership but "In Arsene we trust. . .Screwed UP!" when we needed his better sense of judgment the most.

Lets face it,those boys don't have a winning mentality,lack the fighting spirit the "Invincibles" showed back then, I mean what team in this day and age PRACTICALLY try to pass the ball into the net? You play for 90mins+ and your shots on goal is just 3-5 per game ? (When RVP is MIA).

Yes, we've been written off already on so many occasions, isn't it time those boys stepped-up and prove the bookmakers and critics wrong? Are we still "top 4" material?Is there EVEN a top 4?

At least we now know why Arshavin was running his mouth about the lack of depth in this squad.We can't EVEN challenge for the Carling Cup,isn't THAT woeful for a club with a "top 4" reputation?

We keep talking about long-term development, isn't 5 seasons enough?

Well this season's over, next season's almost here. . Lets see what AW does in the transfer window

Dear Lord,did sum1 bring dis thread bk? I so luv Amy Lee,korn,seether,linkin park,3 doorz dwn,hoobastank,limpbizkit. . .my list is huge n endles! I'd tk Lithium by evanesence,d reason by limpbizkit,photograph by nickleback. .i dnt go 2 slip w/out hearn those 1z. . .share ur faves pls

@4ller,u don enta market finaly. . .i swear,my laptop juz dey laff pas me wey get am

Damn, ep 13 won't kill me. . .see "kill em all" style

debosky:
And whoever regards you as an intelligent commentator is more of a retarded pea brained simpleton than you are.

I don't blame you - it's Wengers idiocy that has allowed half wits like yourself to come here and attempt to analyse things.

Errm, Debo. . .I'm tempted to make this disappear but brov could you take it easy? Ahn Ahn. .G-sus!

^^
Are you sure u watched the game? As a goalie,how do u explain "dropping" a ball you'd ALREADY caught??  .My friend, please look left before u start posting right!

AaaaaH!

Had to stop the torrents, switch to IDM mode. . . God dey o

I wouldn’t be surprised if the fans decide to sit at home for the next 3 games or we have a barely full stadium with angry fans displaying banners here and there, protesting or booing the players/manager.

I hear AW talking about Arsenal constantly featuring in the UCL for ten years? With nothing but "runners-up" status to show for it? Shut the bleep up french Arrow!

Ajax, Porto, Benfica and the likes have all won the UCL in their glory days & have fallen from grace altogether, but were does Arsene & Arsenal stand? This present team does nothing but mock the “INVINCIBLES” who’re probably feeling sorry wherever they are.

We don’t have a squad good or strong enough to EVEN compete in the Carling & FA Cup, yet you have someone talking about building for the future(AW), how many more seasons do we wait? Na until I grow white hair for head I go see trophy for Emirates?

Dudu, if we run into debt just to bring in players that can win trophies/get the job done, then let us do so. Man Utd, Barca, Chelsea are ALL in debt in one way or another, haven’t they got something (in form of trophies) to justify the cash spent?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Cup_and_Champions_League_records_and_statistics.

It's time to face FACTS and stick our heads out of wherever its been buried 

Not the best way to start a new week I must say, losing two games (Your strongest rival and a relegation threatened team?) just doesn’t cut it for an Arsenal fan like me. Where do I EVEN start? Our goalies have been an utter disgrace with their lapses in key games!

I can’t remember the last time I sat comfortably watching an Arsenal game without thinking “Oh God, let Almunia/Fabianski not have another disastrous moment”, forget the former’s heroics in the first leg against Barca. . His decision is piss poor, he lacks good goalie instincts, can’t punch the ball, can’t EVEN fucking organize his defence, doesn’t yell at players when the defence is breached. . get’s lucky (if THAT’S the word) with penalties (2 out of 10).

I don’t give a rat’s arse if Fabianski won best goalie in Uganda before coming to Arsenal cuz we’re a different club with an elite top 4 status, mistakes like those week-in week-out are TOTALLY unpardonable and the axe should roll over his head as soon as possible, ditto Almunia.

Moving onto our defence, Sol Campbell has been an inspiration and I must say a good gamble on Wenger’s part in the absence of Gallas, but the thing is THAT defence has been pretty much porous over the course of the season. Anyone slaying Vermaelen should be shot in the arse, this is his FIRST season in the red and white and he’s bonded with obviously EVERYONE he partnered with in the backfour.

His decision to sign Silvestre should be questioned as I can’t remember seeing Silvestre doing us any good other than keeping players on side! He can’t read a situation and respond in due time, can’t lay an accurate pass, doesn’t know when to tackle? I trying thinking like Einstein for an answer AW would give but I seriously draw blanks!

It’s pretty much obvious AW has lost the plot, how do you defend yourself after “SUCCESSFULLY FAILING” over 5 seasons? He’s prolly gonna hide under the major reason DUDU’s been barking all over the place “FINANCE/MONEY TALK”

@dudu,
PLEASE NO MORE “We’re financially this or that” shit or I would have the bots going nuts on anything finance-related on the thread, I beg of you as it hurts the eyes to read those. I hope you’ve seen the Arsenal Site lately?. . AW’s talking about having “ENOUGH CASH” to wrestle Chelsea in the transfer window. .I would have to agree with someone who said AW’s a poet. .lacing his words carefully to avoid shooting himself in the foot

There certainly were things AW could have done in January that STILL would have kept us in the mix for the title, his major Bleep up was NOT landing Chiamaka when it was evident we needed a striker, choosing to gamble on a one-legged Bendtner. Mcheeew!

Lets face it, AW has compounded Arsenal’s problems. .he has got it all wrong, EVEN the so-called “youth policy” he creamed for is YET to bear fruit, how many kids have made it through to the first team? The likes of Vela, JET, Randall, Eastmond, Merida? Are those the “things” we look up to replace out-going players? I laugh again in Hennessey!

For Christ sakes, Chelsea lost a couple of their stars and STILL look serious contenders for the title, let me not EVEN talk about Man Utd. We lost FAB, Arshavin and a host of other players and we crumble like a pack of cards, the so-called stand-in players CAN’T even give a good account of themselves.

Make God help person o

Fab. . .hehe

Eastmond is holdn his ground

Silvestre scores Mcheew

Dudu,it seems eastmond is makn diaby luk lik a reserve player. .I hv a feelin we mite c vela or dudu

Sagna has been awful,diaby. . I dnt knw wat AW sees in dis kid .TW gets d goal. .RVP cumz in n scores 6 mur

Nice 1 TW!

Walcott! Yay!

Dear God. . .Wigan? Diaay cnt hold or lay a gd pass? @hnic,o boy i tire man

Do we have a shootn phobia

Clichy lukz injured

Izit nice 2 say diaby iz useless

Dear Lord,wat is wrng wit AW?wen did clichy tk fk's?No rvp on?

Those boys had better win dis fixture$by a huge margin

Those toddlers had berra win 2day.

NL pls help me,my guy no gree open eye ooo. . .afta losing a 80k bet. . Buh he's breathn

Adiero. Pls try reducin your font size,eh? Thnx

*sighs. . .writes dwn al his bank info,atm pinz n emails em 2 moyole*

@manny, werin do ye