Messages

Same old Ronaldo then

Is that real?!

No puns please! 

Whether or not there was contact the scenes of Barcelona players surrounding the referee to try and get Pepe sent off & Alves going off on a stretcher like his leg was broken only to run back on moments later was very distasteful viewing.

You'll be hard pressed to find anyone who would dispute that.

I find Pepe to be distasteful viewing in general.

The thing is Pepe can actually play yet runs about like a Sunday league hatchet man.

Agreed. He's a quality player, was outstanding last week an seems to be relishing this new midfield role. Unfortunately he's like a berserker and I half expect to see him froth at the mouth during games.

Whether or not there was contact the scenes of Barcelona players surrounding the referee to try and get Pepe sent off & Alves going off on a stretcher like his leg was broken only to run back on moments later was very distasteful viewing.

You'll be hard pressed to find anyone who would dispute that.

I find Pepe to be distasteful viewing in general.

Mourinho really does need to f**k up and take this one on the chin for once.

After the Copa del Rey, Guardiola conceded defeat graciously. Mourinho proceeds to be a terrible winner and spends the week talking about referees and he's so hard done by. Yeah, he's really hard done by with his half a billion euro squad and the extra striker he fought Valdano for but refused to play.

Let's see how Jose's claims about sendings off for his teams against Guardiola's Barcelona before last night stand up.

Busquets-Motta:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwfZwdP66og

Dreadful decision and awful playacting by Busquets. Motta shouldn't have even given him the chance by raising his hand.

Ramos-Messi:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6BHmHIrxjE

Ramos tries to break Messi's ankle in the final seconds of injury time in a match they were losing 5-0.

Villa-Albiol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4wXsTVs-ik

Albiol, as last man, wraps his arm all round Villa's neck and brings him down in the box. If it's a penalty it's a red card. And it is a penalty.

Di María-Messi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S966zTQj3D0

Di Maria picks up a second yellow in the final seconds of the game for a cynical, professional foul.

Wise up José.

Mourinho got it very, very badly wrong, both in the press conference and on the pitch.

Don't agree with that. Press conference was usual stuff no worse than before.

Tactics were spot on; with what he has available. RM were never going to outgun Barca so nullifying them was the best option.

Up until Pepe got sent off  (a yellow, never in a million years a red) Barca were pretty ineffective. 11 v 11 Messi was going nowhere. Jose was settling for a draw or a lucky goal and would have done the same in the CN. Not pretty but effective.

No team however would hold out with 10 against Barca.

Now I agree totally that Pep out Jose'd Mourinho himself tonight in the cynisicm stakes and overall the better footballing team won however this myth of Brca being pure football is b*llshit. They are just the same side of the coin as RM with better PR..and Messi.

If you think UEFA didn't want a Barca v ManU final (and a bloody nose for the Special one) you are very, very naieve.

That's spot on about Mourinho getting his tactics right... only for the sending off he would probably of got his 0-0 he played for

Why would UEFA want a Barca V United final 

No, Mourinho very clearly got his tactics wrong.

The score was 0-0 until the person who had the job of marking Messi out of the game was sent off.

20 minutes later and Messi has scored two. Go figure.

Mourinho put out the exact same formation and team he did in the Copa del Rey final. In it, they ripped Barca apart in the first half hour with a superb display of counter attacking down the wings. Then they barely survived for another ninety minutes and were and were only kept in it by some magical saves from Casillas.

Tonight, Valdes had virtually nothing to do. He saved a tame early Ronaldo shot and then saved an spilled another just before half time.

It was naive in the extreme to think Guardiola and Barca wouldn't adapt to the type of game he'd been trying to play. Puyol doesn't attack the way Adriano does. Dani Alves curbed is instincts to bomb forward. Real had room in the middle third of the pitch to spread it about for once and didn't do it. Ronaldo didn't appear to know what to do and was marked out of it by Puyol, Oezil barely figured and at least Di Maria's free kick winning dives contributed something. By the time Pepe was set off Villa had flashed on wide, Xavi had a good effort saved, Casillas stopped another Villa drive and Pedro almost turned in the rebound.

He then, seeing they were not working, altered his tactics at half time and brought on Adebayor. Who didn't even come close to contributing in any way, let alone a meaningful one.

The tactics that (just about) won him the Copa del Rey let him down tonight.

QED.

Mourinho got it very, very badly wrong, both in the press conference and on the pitch.

Don't agree with that. Press conference was usual stuff no worse than before.

Tactics were spot on; with what he has available. RM were never going to outgun Barca so nullifying them was the best option.

Up until Pepe got sent off  (a yellow, never in a million years a red) Barca were pretty ineffective. 11 v 11 Messi was going nowhere. Jose was settling for a draw or a lucky goal and would have done the same in the CN. Not pretty but effective.

No team however would hold out with 10 against Barca.

Now I agree totally that Pep out Jose'd Mourinho himself tonight in the cynisicm stakes and overall the better footballing team won however this myth of Brca being pure football is b*llshit. They are just the same side of the coin as RM with better PR..and Messi.

If you think UEFA didn't want a Barca v ManU final (and a bloody nose for the Special one) you are very, very naieve.

That's spot on about Mourinho getting his tactics right... only for the sending off he would probably of got his 0-0 he played for

Why would UEFA want a Barca V United final 

No, Mourinho very clearly got his tactics wrong.

Mourinho got it very, very badly wrong, both in the press conference and on the pitch.

Don't agree with that. Press conference was usual stuff no worse than before.

Tactics were spot on; with what he has available. RM were never going to outgun Barca so nullifying them was the best option.

Up until Pepe got sent off  (a yellow, never in a million years a red) Barca were pretty ineffective. 11 v 11 Messi was going nowhere. Jose was settling for a draw or a lucky goal and would have done the same in the CN. Not pretty but effective.

No team however would hold out with 10 against Barca.

Now I agree totally that Pep out Jose'd Mourinho himself tonight in the cynisicm stakes and overall the better footballing team won however this myth of Brca being pure football is b*llshit. They are just the same side of the coin as RM with better PR..and Messi.

If you think UEFA didn't want a Barca v ManU final (and a bloody nose for the Special one) you are very, very naieve.

Saying UEFA want a Barca-United final is very different to saying that UEFA were determined to get a Barca-United final. The latter implies that UEFA had some sort of say in the result of this match. Are you suggesting they tampered with a ref? Which is it?

Busquets and Pedro, Alves to and to a lesser extent Villa are all terrible divers. Name me a team who doesn't. The only player at this level you'll ever see picking himself up and trying to stay on his feet every time unless he gets absolutely flattened is Messi, one of the smallest of the lot.

and why would they not have the ball

OK, who wants to go first?

UEFA determined to get barca to final. Sending off of pepe was disgrace.

Jesus Christ wise up. Uefa determined to get them there, Spanish Federation concealing doping etc.

Mourinho got it very, very badly wrong, both in the press conference and on the pitch. The last day and a half focused on Pep "cracking up" and "losing it" rather than the changing of the guard stories that had been on the go since the Copa del Rey final last week. He knew exactly what he was at tonight - yes players like Alves, Busquets and Pedro go down easily and Barca hound players for cards, but tonight was so exaggerated it had to be an intentional tactic. In no way admirable, but it worked and had the Madrid players cracking up. Should also be noted that these are all favourite tactics of a certain Jose Mourinho.

None of that though should cover up the fact that Jose sent his team out the exact same way as he did last week. No striker, Pepe in centre mid and Xabi Alonso playing very deep worked last week - just. Madrid deserved the Copa win for an outstanding defensive display, but it shouldn't be overlooked that Barca completely outplayed them for large portions of the match and for 25 minutes in the 2nd half Barca simply toyed with them and ripped them apart. To think he could get away with it again was unbelievably naive.

As for Messi, what else can you say?

dwarf bonking as well

Statistically, only one in seven dwarves is Happy, a similar number are Grumpy.

it didnt take the wolves long growing up last week they were only pups and yet everyone else remains the same age..

It's a fantasy work ffs.

Was just reading that! Not like Pep to come out and say something like that, he's normally the epitome of cool but seems to have lost it a bit there. Couple of big players missing for both teams tomorrow, Khedira and Carvalho for Madrid and Iniesta will be missing for Barcelona - a huge loss given how badly their injury situation already is.

Not like Pep at all! From the moment he started he's always been very quiet and respectful, maybe fighting back is the boot up their hole they could do with. Puyol back too won't hurt them.

Iniesta wasn't banned in the end. Is he injured?

Plus United will be resting players for the 2nd leg. one of the many examples that anything can happen in football>>http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/champions_league/3609737.stm

Same year Monaco turned Madrid over as well! Some brilliant performances.

Slight difference though - those second legs were at home. Schalke have to overturn a two goal deficit away from home. In Champions League history on Ajax in '97 and Inter at Bayern this year have managed to progress having lost the first leg at home.

Neuer being interviewed on German TV - 8 on target shots stopped if Google Translate isn't lying to me!

Missed it, but was Schalke that bad?

If it wasn't for Neuer it would have been 5-0 by half time.

Even the most blind United fans on here would give him MOTM.

Yeah, definitely. There could be a lot more than I thought. Apologies. Still a good one to get the brain going though.

Davor Suker.

Ivan Campo (Bolton + Ipswich - do they count?)

Suker is definitely correct. Campo only played for Ipswich in the championship.