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... and criticise you mercilessly from our armchairs.

and reading you is even more boring.

/argument

did you see barça/madrid? fucked up.

no, good game, the fuckers, lots similar to the chelsea game (defense/defense/great goalkeeper/defense/kickintheballs), except it seems to me real madrid has a much better offense than chelsea. looks like unless something big changes they are poised to get the championship, the motherfuckers.

I didn't watch it but read the reviews. It does look like Real will be champions and at any other time we'd probably be praising them to the heavens but with Barcelona on the scene and people so divided over Mourinho, I think they'll always be difficult for the neutral to embrace.

Not wanting to undermine Chelsea's achievements last week but, while they've definitely improved under DiMatteo, they're really not that good this season and I'd be really surprised if Barca don't beat them on Wednesday and go through.

Man U's draw with Everton was unbelievable. The title's now back in Man City's hands, despite Mancini's stupid claims it's over.

And what the fuck's happened to Spurs?

watch it as a rerun somewhere. i don't care one way or another about mourinho, must be an english thing, i just find cuntiano ronaldo insufferable, even though he plays pretty, the bitch. gotta say i've been a fan of ozil and khedira for a while now and they both played a great game.

i don't think barcelona will have it so easy. they need a 2-goal difference to win and against an italian-style defense plus cech it's going to be tough.

what the real madrid game proved beyond chelsea's game is that barça is vulnerable to such counterattacking schemes. madrid scored, then went 100% on the defense, barcelona could not score,and when they finally (barely) did, madrid let loose and scored again and retreated back under their shell. chelsea is not that good in the attack but they only need to be good enough for a draw. i hope i'm wrong, but i think it's going to be a tough game for barça.



thanks for the spoilers, fucker! im going to watch this later, ha ha (it's available on delayed broadcast). (it's okay, all is forgiven).


who???????????

Tottenham Hotspur. They were on fire at the beginning of the season but have disintegrated in the last few months, basically since their manager has been linked with the vacant England coaching job.

Oh shit, haha, sorry. Of all the games you wouldn't want to know the outcome of in advance, that's definitely one of them.

ha ha, i know, just making fun of your perspectiva anglocéntrica.



regardless, it was AWESOME!

of course, to say that tottenham was on fire at the beginning of the season is literally true.

Don't want to give the result away in case el symbols is still waiting to watch it but that was fucking EPIC!!

what a match! i kept making excuses at work to go down into the nearby mall to catch it on the screen down there. amazing defending but with so many players suspended how will chelsea cope in the final.

what was terry thinking of?

oh, i don't look here anymore before i watch any game, but thank you!

toldja it was gonna be hard for barça, didn't i? didn't i? didn't i? yeah, i saw their game against madrid. i saw this shit coming, and i wasn't surprised.

anyway, unbelievably annoying game for me, very frustrating, but fair result, yeah. barça did not deserve to win, passing the ball around the area like a bunch of dolts with one extra man and still unable to score? missing a penalty that was a gift from the ref? meh! fuckers.

i don't know who's to blame here but guardiola might likely be crucified by the press. not that i read a lot of it, but i'll check in coming days to see what they say.

and as much as i love bayern for the entertainment they have provided me over the past year, i suspect real madrid will go on to the final, and there likely beat chelsea who will lack some key players. but that's the obvious pick. for one thing, madrid is not afraid to kick from outside the area-- cristiano ronaldo, that babyfaced cunt, is very capable of putting one in the corner beyond cech's reach.

if munich makes it, however, all bets are off, and i have no clue how these teams will play against each other. but my money is on real madrid right now.

I didn't think Barcelona were particularly bad tonight. I think they just came up against a really determined and disciplined (Terry aside) Chelsea side, with perhaps more to prove.That was a classic for me. Maybe not the best from a purely footballing perpective but as drama it had everything: real needle between the teams; Cahill's injury; Chelsea going down a goal; their talisman leader sent off; a wonder goal from nowhere (Ramires); the missed penalty; the disallowed goal; the Alamo-like defending from Chelsea; the personal drama of Torres' goal at the end. Brilliant.

In terms of the final, I'm more curious about seeing Bayern in it simply because it'll be a rare chance for me to watch them. For sheer drama though, I think Real v Chelsea would be massive. But with so many players now suspended, as you say, I wonder if Chelsea will be able to really compete against either. It'll be interesting to see how things go with suspensions tomorrow [edit. tonight].

yeah, cahill's injury but also piqué, who for a moment looked like he was going to start seizing. fucking valdés almost broke his neck.

barça wasn't "bad", but their scheme was bad, they lacked an assassin to pierce through that defense, and when you looked at them they were all tiny guys running like mice around the area. i mean no disrespect by this, but shit, they didn't force things enough-- when they did they actually created danger, but instead they wanted to walk into the goal with the ball attached to their fucking shoes most of the time.

people keep saying "best team in the world best team in the world" but to me they are lacking a striker to resolve things. an assassin. and the problem is that villa has a fucking broken leg, and he can't be replaced. alexis sanchez is good but not "'best in the world" good. yes, yes, villa is tiny too, but most deadly. and without him barcelona is all testicles and no penis. :(

(ha ha, maybe im on crack)

ANYWAY, bayern also has a shitton of yellow cards; should they win (i doubt it, but you never know), they might be equally hobbled come the final.

tomorrow im watching in realtime. thanks, rupert fucking murdoch, for "foxsoccer2go"! :/

Two indisputable rules of Chelsea v Barcelona:

i) Chelsea will have a player sent off
ii) Messi will not score

It was a very good match. Though Terry got what he deserved ... i mean, come on, he lost his mind that very moment.

And as for Drogba? Shiiiit, he needs to be nominated for Academy Awards for this semi-finals double match.

I think a balance needs to be found, primarily by the media. Like you, I've grown a little tired of all the platitudes aimed at Barcelona this season, presenting them as 'the greatest thing to ever happen to football'. It's become as irritating as commentators waffling on about 'samba football' every time Brazil take to the pitch. I've even grown a little tired of all the Messi love. Not to take anything away from him but he scores a shitload of goals in a very attack minded team compared with with the more defensive-minded Real that Ronaldo plays in and still manages to score just as many goals. But Messi is the more loveable, Barcelona the more likeable. I'm not saying Ronaldo's better than Messi, or vice versa, but I'd say they're a lot closer than the media likes to suggest. And Mourinho has already proven that his Real are easily a match for Barcelona this season. Real just lack the romance associated with their biggest rivals.

It was inevitable that other teams beside Real would eventually find a way to neutralise Barcelona's main threat, so it's now up to Guardiola to tweak things for next season so they present a new challenge, and so far the jury's out as to whether he's capable of it (or even whether he'll still be there by then).

Ramires' goal was just brilliant.

Real/Munich game tonight! Real will pull it back I reckon. Especially after the confidence booster of nailing barca gently in bum.

haaa haaa haaa fucking Cronaldo! suck ittt! hhaaa haaa haaa. & kaká = kaka.

yeah!!!

i dont really like bayern so i am gonna go for a chelski win in the final.

quite the match, cant quite believe all the penalties.

Yeah, I definitely think Bayern deserved it, on chances alone. Robben's miss was unbelievable and he'll probably re-live it till he dies. Bayern should've been out of sight by half time. Real's penalty never was but Ronaldo's finish was super cool, as was his goal. But he seemed to fade after that. I think both teams were playing for penalties towards the end.

Impossible to call the final, especially given that both teams will be effectively fielding their reserves. Either way, Mourinho was right: Real won't be meeting Chelsea in the final.

i don't remember who chelsea will be missing besides terry, the fucking maniac, but bayern will be missing 2 defenders + a defensive midfielder. ouch!

luckily their offensive lineup will be intact-- unless you count alaba in it. he's particulary a huge loss not just because he can attack and defend but also because he and ribery play together so well on the left side. did you notice the change when muller came in & robben was moved to the left?

anyhuevos, this is gonna be awesome. cripple fight!

Chelsea will miss Ivanovich, Ramires, Mireles and Branislav. Ramires will be the big miss.

Haha, cripple fight is about right. It does seem wrong though, that the team that wins the final won't be the one that got them to it.

Terry is a big loss. No matter what you think of either Lampard or Terry they're both great players. So the fact Terry was a twat and got himself sent off is a shitter for Chelsea.

Ramos' penalty last night was just brilliant.

Apparently Anton Ferdinand's lawyer has advised him not to shake hands with John Terry when Chelsea and QPR meet. WTF?????

Ha! And risk another debacle like the Suarez incident?

Can't see the sense in that. The only person who'd come out badly by not shaking is Anton. It's just a formality, although I do think they should ultimately get rid of it.

Why?

I don't think the handshake's a terrible thing, just that it's so transparently artificial. I don't see what it achieves, besides giving tv stations a chance to squeeze in another ad break.

The fa have 'suspended' the handshake, presumably until the court case, then the rest of them can hug it out

So Guardiola has officially left Barcelona for a 'rest from football'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...ona?intcmp=239

Can't help wondering if there might be another dead man walking situation at the Bridge. I could imagine Roberto Di Matteo winning both the cup finals and still getting let go so that Guardiola can come in. If that was Abramovich's plan, I would prefer to see Guardiola having his year out, RDM being given his chance as boss next season (he deserves it on the basis of the match-by-match results he's acheived since coming in, even if the season ends trophyless), and if that doesn't work out, then bring Guardiola in.

What does worry me a bit is that the senior players are all rallying around RDM and saying they want him in charge next year - will they all throw their toys out of the pram again if they don't get their way? Even if we win the Champions League, I still think it's time to get rid of those guys, get some new blood in, and rebuild.

Finally, I wonder if Abramovich really does want Guardiola anyway, or if it's Messi he wants and he sees Guardiola as the way to get him?

UAU

he cracked under pressure.

can't say i blame him.

I tend to agree. Even Mourinho has mentioned the ridiculous pressure. Although I also think Guardiola realised that there maybe wasn't any more he could do with that team. Shame he couldn't go out on more of a high, though. Definitely the end of an era.

There's no way Guardiola will go to Chelsea. I honestly think he means what he says when he wants to take time out. Managing Barca must be so time consuming and incredibly stressful and you only need to look at pictures from when he first started out to now. He must've aged 10 years.

On the other side of football leagues where the hell did this strength come from for Wigan?! That's three of the main teams beaten in dramatic fashion. 4-0 against Newcastle? Good on 'em.

I agree. I don't think there's any conspiracy behind his leaving. As you say, just looking at pictures he looks increasingly exhausted. And I can't see him going anywhere other than back to Barcelona. I certainly don't think he'd be tempted by Chelsea. Although I also think he'd be a big risk for another big team. Nobody could deny his success but he had that with a team he largely inherited from the academy rather than built, and we know he isn't great with pressure.

Wigan's up-turn is just weird to me. They're just lucky it came in time to save their season.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...England coach"

Quite a shock, that. I really thought Redknapp was nailed on for the job. I still think 'Arry would've been ideal but consider Hodgson a better manager all round and one that would've probably been favourite were it not for his disastrous stint at Liverpool. I'll definitely find it easier supporting England with him in charge, rather than Redknapp.

--See you at the champions final.
--Cool. Do we watch it in your house or mine?

dont know what to say...

except that it turns out Roy is a Croydon boy! so he must be safe