[EU] Champions League 05/06 (6 Viewers)

[Bjerknes]

Without the likes of Deco, Xavi, and Messi, of course Barcelona will not be as entertaining and fluid through the center of the pitch. That goes without saying. So to beat Milan at the San Siro without those key players, you have to keep the defense sound and organized above anything else. That's what Barcelona did, and you cannot fault them for giving a rather subdued performance tonight, in relation to what they're capable of.

 

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[Bisco]

u cant deny barca deserve this win against milan and they honestly deserve to win the champions league they play really well i really enjoyed watching tonights game. ronaldinho is not human. ancelotti is as stupid as capello how can he substitue gattuso and pirlo they were holding th midfeild very well and then he replaces them with cafu, amborsini, and maldini all are old slow players. i really dont think amborisini will add sth to juve its amistake to buy him seriously.

in the end i think the best team won ( although milan played well i ave to be fair but barca was superior in the second half they owned milan) now milan will be fired up to win the league title and this means juventus have to gather up against lazio or else we r in all kinds of trouble.

 

[Intro]

Without the likes of Deco, Xavi, and Messi, of course Barcelona will not be as entertaining and fluid through the center of the pitch. That goes without saying. So to beat Milan at the San Siro without those key players, you have to keep the defense sound and organized above anything else. That's what Barcelona did, and you cannot fault them for giving a rather subdued performance tonight, in relation to what they're capable of.

But they had Deco and (well started with) Messi in the return leg against Chelsea and turned in the same 'subdued performance in relation to what they're capable of' then too. This is my one point with this team: for so long we have wanted to see a 'deserved' Champion of this competition (probably not in my eyes since Real Madrid in 2000) and that is the one moral stance Barcelona always hold - the fact that they play the 'better' football - win or lose. This is a big point of contention between Italian and Spanish commentators with the Spanish always holding supremacy over that point.

But when Barca perform as they did today like many other sides they can no longer hold this. I appreciate your intelligence compared to others on this forum for acknowledging how the result was obtained. Of course such a display is only natural given the circumstances as even Ronaldinho like all footballers is human and this is a human reaction.

But it is also this performance which give Milan a slight hope. They performed as they did today partly because of the missing players but the occasion. Being at home I expect probably a similar performance as tonight and indeed in the second leg against Chelsea. This time Milan have more attacking options (hopefully Inzaghi back too) then Chelsea had and also less of a task. Will we see Ronaldinho magic for the 3rd occasion? Or will the balance of luck finally shift?

Milan are not without a chance but unfortunately their defence and gamplan is out of place with the remaining three contenders and they may as well exit here as I doubt they would succeed against a similar style in the final either. Ronaldinho and glamour apart I don't think we have or will have seen a major shift in footballing philopshy leading to success in CL. If anything such performances probably give coaches like Mourinho and Capello hope that their time will come again without too much change.

 

[Oggy]

milan will be fired up to win the league title and this means juventus have to gather up against lazio or else we r in all kinds of trouble.

Nice said, I'm afraid of that too.

But we still can hope that they will not push to hard against Siena, you know they will be focused on how to overturn result in Barcelona.

That is the reason why actually was on Milan side, and hoped Milan will win (still hoping )

 

[IceJuve]

I´ve been reading the above posts made by Intro and i have to say that I completely agree with you. In Iceland there seems to be a misunderstanding which has lived through the years and even still held up high which is the old "catenaggio" style. Its seems that many football "specialists" still hold on to the notion that Italian teams always play boring football. In my opinion this is not true and Milan showed us that tonight. They brought the game to Barca, and there´s no doubt about it. But still most people persist that Barca was the "better" team of the night.
There are 2 views. The efficient style of view and the style of view which calculates which team had more chances in the game. Beyond any reasonable doubt, Milan had more dangerous attacks and were more likely to put the ball in the net. But after the goal it was like they couldn´t take the drawback and didn´t know how to react. At that point Barca took control of the game in Arsenal style and kept passing the ball with one-tough-passes which worked fine to tire the frustrated Milan players. I´d like to say Milan were beaten by their own trick which is excatly to exploit their slim chances. Barca only really had 1 big chance and they took advantage of it. And indeed it was a slim chance, cause Giuly did really well and Dida was on his heels. Evidently the Milan players were frustrated cause they knew they were playing better in the game.
But if you think Barca was the dominating team in this game its your view, but it is a view which eminates pretty much the Italian view, which is to fall back and use the opportunities when they come. That is excatly what they did and Rijkaard gets my clap on the back for that.

Bleh could say much more but this enough for the night. Getting tired

 

[Desmond]

I am of the opinion that a draw would have been the fairest result.

On the defensive end, Milan gave an excellent display of applying pressure through the midfield for long periods in the game, Barca's back four was tight and kudos to the fullbacks who refrained from forays into the Milan half and played sensible football.

Ronaldinho didn't play all that well IMO, lots of wayward passes and a callous overconfidence of the ball saw him turn over possession plenty of times. But as it is with the general football-watching community too many people here tend to overlook these mistakes and judged his overall performance based on that one moment of genius.

Gilardino gets the majority of the blame for the loss, I'd thought the absence of Pippo alone would mean little on a night between two mesmerising teams but in the end it was his predatory instinct Milan missed the most. Unforgivable finishing for a player touted as the future Christian Vieri TBH.

 

[Ascension]

First of all - what an enchanting match!! :tongue:

I was left with the impression that everything is still wide open for the return leg in Barcelona. Both teams played up to an incredible level. It was interesting to see the duel "Kaka vs. Ronaldinho" and I actually thought these two players delivered an equally great match.

Watching most of Milan's matches this season I have come to conclusion that they need to make changes in the summer. Pirlo, who to be fair is a good player, just simply doesn't provide what could be provided with his unique place on the team. Kaladze is the same story - pretty ok player but makes silly mistakes sometimes. Hopefully for the sake of Juventus they will ignore to sell them.

Barcelona played a clever game and you can't help think Frank Rijkaard had finger in that. Sure, they conceded too many chances to Milan in the opening 20 minutes but they completely turned that around and managed to score that away goal which may in the end become the very source to their entrance to the final.

 

[Maher]

I told you guys that barca will win against milan and win the CL this year cause they deserve it , forza barca.

 

[A_LAcki]

The reason why Barca played better is on the hand for me! They moved a lot more and they were quicker on the counter attack, but also on coming back to the defense. This team has everything.
Puyol outplayed Sheva, who didn't do anything; the midfield from Barca was worldclass! They were winning the ball through out the night and quickly played it into a save position, were they could again start an attack! Iniesta was really great. Every pass arrived and he was too quick for most of the milan players.
I won't say anything about Ronaldinho, cause you already know that. You see nothing from him the whole game (Congrats to Gattuso and Stam, whomade him dissapear in the first half); and than he comes up with this pass. Congrats to Giuly too. Icecold finishing!

Milan are out!

 

[PhRoZeN]

Barca are removing there sterotypical football of scoring a goal and keep on attacking without the necessary need of actually closing down the players. What we saw yesterday was some good defending and all the players working as a team.. there were many cases even the forwards coming back to defend.. thats shows exactly how much desire they had for winning the match and overall they played a great match. Ronalidinho? Speechless. His pass was terrific which put giuly in for the goal it reminded me of zidanes quality but even more so ronaldinho actually makes it looks easier, His the worlds best player and If he continues to play the way he is I wont be suprised to put him alongside the likes of pele in the worlds best 11 ever. Edmilson did a great job in causing milans midfield and half of the time even gattuso didnt know what to do. They play some of the best football n europe and have consistently been the best side in the CL. If they dont win the trophy ill be gutted.

 

[Maher]

agreed

 

[ZhiXin]

Finally Rijkkard changed an all attacking Barcelona to a Barcelona that defends at crucial times. Good job Barcelona.

Hoping for a all- Spanish final

 

[Wings]

Ive never been a fan of ESPN commentators but last night one produced a killer punch, can't remember exactly but it went something like this:
Spanish flair & ???? meets Italian style & elegance, but you certainly can't accuse Gatusso of being stylish or elegant - Gattuso got owned, he just started doing some menacing poses only to be left for dead
Pity Puyol got a yellow after Kaka's dive.

 

[Juno]

FT 1-0 Arsenal, Eboue

This was the last CL game on the Highbury

 

[mikhail]

FT 1-0 Arsenal, Eboue

This was the last CL game on the Highbury

1-0 to the Arsenal. There's a classic score to end on.

 

[Stephan]

man of the match:

 

[Oggy]

man of the match:

Nice picture

 

[Intro]

Nice to see Henry criticise Villarreal for not attacking . You'd think top-level players would have some intelligence but very few do. I think all player interviews should be banned so we don't have to hear all the same cliches over and over again.

Van Bommel was just as bad last night as he managed to squeeze; 'concentrated', 'organised' and 'deserved' in the space of 10 words only for me later to read how he said Barca would attack in the second leg because that is how they always play. Err??? Also remember reading Eto'o saying how they would 'play the first leg as if there was no second leg'. Yeah...right. Ok, I'm probably still sulking over last night. Sorry.

Anyway was the Squirrel awarded the Man Of the Match? I don't know I turned over to watch The Apprentice which I do most Wednesday CL nights (unless Milan are playing) which sums up how bad football is these days. Then again maybe Sir Alan is needed to 'fire' Capello

 

[swag]

Ive never been a fan of ESPN commentators but last night one produced a killer punch, can't remember exactly but it went something like this:
Spanish flair & ????

paella?

meets Italian style & elegance, but you certainly can't accuse Gatusso of being stylish or elegant - Gattuso got owned, he just started doing some menacing poses only to be left for dead
Pity Puyol got a yellow after Kaka's dive.

That sounds like a Derek Rae quote. He's generally innocuous, at least.

Oh, but what my satellite TV provider could earn from me in pay-per-view revenues to see Tommy Smyth covered in ground beef and ripped apart by a pack of rabid dogs...

 

[ZhiXin]

Am I the only 1 who thinks that Villarreal was robbed last night? When Villarreal players are knocked down, the play goes on but when Arsenal players are knocked down, it is a foul. The tackle by Giberto on Jose Mari is highly debatble and should be a penalty. What's worse is, it happened in the penalty box. Riquelme is slow, but I don't think he can do anything recklesss seeing the he is booked for dissent after complaining that he has been knocked down 3 times before the referee does something.

Villarreal also defend well, with a young player with the name of Arzo, who plays in central midfield. The defence did all they can to deny Arsenal, and it is clear that they r frustrated as the referee goes against them. You can look at Penta's expression when he shouted for a foul. It's strange that only Villarreal players r booked.

For the man of the match, I will go to Giberto, but I think he should have been sent off.