Torres

[Yobocop 1,098]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KB4IQqbwLU&feature=endscreen&NR=1

And Gary Neville

That is all.

[Block Y Seat 176 80]

It did sound on the BBC as if someone was giving berth.

H

[Xavi- Poor Mans Ian Crook 0]

Torres is worth every penny now. That pass straight to xavi in the build-up was inspired.

[Yobocop 1,098]

I''m sorry but what a goal from Ramieres as well

[Gingerpele 0]

Will just put this here, because I have to say it somewhere...

But why are so many people raving about Chelsea''s performance?

For a start, why does everyone suddenly love then? Have all the ''plastic fans'' left? Has Abramovic left? The only thing English about Chelsea is their location, they have about 5-6 players in the squad who are good enough for first team (and two of them are LB) who are English, everything else, players, staff are mainly foreign, so they don''t really ''represent England'' which is the only reason i''ve heard as to why people were ''supporting'' Chelsea...

Also, it wasn''t a fantastic performance, it was defending with every man. No team can get past that if your competent. Barca did on a few occasions, they should have gone 3-1 up with the penalty, they hit the post, Iniesta had a couple of good chances, an offside goal, Busquets skied what to me looked like a great chance. Same story as first leg, Chelsea took the advantage, and then put every man behind the ball. When you have 6-7 players in the center, with a couple out wide, you can''t put a ball through the middle very easily at all, even the best passer in the world, Xavi couldn''t do it. Messi kept trying and it just didn''t pay off.

I actually like Chelsea, have liked them ever since I went to watch them play Spurs, as an old work colleague of my Grandad invited us, as he had 4 season tickets in the ''box'' through work, and if he didn''t have clients to take, he could take anyone. Also my Grandad used to support/follow them when he did his national service in the area, and then worked there after that. So in a way they are his ''second team'' (He just likes football, and has always watched his local team, Eastbourne (little bit of Brighton if he could afford to get their), Chelsea, Southampton, Norwich. But he''s a proper Norwich fan now, he''s been here about 30 years I think.

Was nice to see Torres score, he had been playing quite well recently (although the only other thing he did in the match was give the ball away), and Ramries scored a great goal. And Iniestas wasn''t too bad either. Was a great game, but because I love watching Barca play, can''t believe i''ve seen comments in places (not on here) saying Barca are boring.... How on earth can you say that, when the other team are defending with every man.

[Aggy 755]

Not sure about raving about their performance, as you say gingerpele, it was just a "defensive masterclass" which wouldn''t have been all that much of a masterclass had Barcelona brought their shooting boots with them.

People want to see the English teams doing well, not because of how many English players there are in the side, but because they play in the Prem. With La Liga starting to take over really, it''s always nice to see the Prem get one over it.

However, I''ll be supporting Bayern tonight, and again in the final. Got some good German friends from Munich who are Bayern fans, I have seen Bayern play at the Allianz Arena, and I''m not a great fan of Chelsea at the best of times. Nice to see an English team get to the final - and if it''s against Madrid I''ll be ''supporting'' Chelsea, but I''d prefer Bayern to win it from now.

Strange to think though that a fortnight ago everyone pretty much assumed it was going to be a Barca-Real final, now looks like it could well be a Chelsea-Bayern one. It''s a funny old game!

[Fiery Zac 1,066]

It was certainly a ''fantastic'' defensive performance, so why cant that be summarised as a ''fantastic performance''.

Chelsea had none of their first choice CBs for 50 mins+, they had 10 men from the 37th min and they also managed to get back into the game after barca took a 2-0 lead - how many times have we seen barca take a game away from a team, particularly when they have a man advantage.

I don''t particularly like Chelsea but found myself willing them to hang on. They, like arsenal and Madrid last year went in with a game plan and it was working. They even had the same twist of having a man sent off. So what makes it a fantastic performance imo, quite simply, is to come back, score a goal and then defend with 10 men for 45 mins.

["""""""""Ben """"""""""" 0]

Good to see the so called "best team of all time" getting knocked out. Its also good for English football to have a English team in the final again to show the strength of the Premier League.

[Gingerpele 0]

I really love how people say that ''so called best team'' as if its some ridiculous statement...

[Gingerpele 0]

Not like for 3 seasons they were undeniably the best side in the world, have a very successful national team based around (most of) the core of their side. Have a player who has won pretty much every individual accolade.

They have been playing a ridiculous amount of games over the past 4-5 seasons, to be honest I thought two seasons ago they''d get too tired to carry on at their usual pace till the end, but they did, and they did again last season. This season its caught up with them a little, plus the injury to Villa, the addition of 2-3 new young attacking players, the willingness to let Fabregas shoot as much as he wants, has mean''t they haven''t been as good.

But no need for comments like ''so called best team ever'', if you can actually chose a best team ever, Barca must be pretty high up the list.

Also, Barca should have won both legs easily, Chelsea defended as well as they could. But Barca were let down by their shooting, despite having plenty of chances, the amount of good chances they had over those two legs, they''d probably normally score 5-6 goals.

["""""""""Ben """"""""""" 0]

There is a need for comments such as that as that''s what everyone was saying when they won the Champions League last season, when it is too early to make comments like that. After maybe winning quite a few more Champions Leagues (and domestic titles which they won''t this season) then maybe you could put them up there. But defining one team as the best across generations is stupid as football is totally different now to what it use to be.

Barcelona shouldn''t have won the Champions League a few years ago anyway as we all remember the countless amount of penalties they were denied against Barca. So it''s about time things didn''t go Barcelona''s way.

[Gingerpele 0]

You can''t point back to one individual game and say they didn''t deserve to win. What if Chelsea had scored the first penalty given, the others wouldn''t have happened and Barca could have gone on to win 5-1, or Chelsea could have kept the lead and gone through, or Chelsea could have thrashed Barca. To many ifs and buts.

And this whole ''best team'' there is no accurate way to define it.

But based on 3 years of achievements and performances, on individual player skill. They have been absolutely outstanding, and thats what people refer to. That side for Barcelona, 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011, thats what people say are the best side, its not based on how many trophies are won over a longer period of time, because no one is ever going to keep up that consistent winning over a 5/6/7+ period of time. Madrid have probably come closest. Maybe even done that, I don''t know. But people didn''t rave about the way they play football like people do about Barca.

Anyway, there seems to be more people who now despise Barca because of the praise they get. Its quite pathetic in my eyes, i''m sure before all this best player for Messi, and best side talk came in 2/3 years ago, everyone who enjoys watching football, enjoyed watching Barca. But as their reputation has grown, people try and find more faults in them (the amount of ridiculous arguments i''ve seen for people saying Ronaldo is clearly better than Messi...)

Its not possible to say there the best side ever, that will never be possible to completely determine. But for as far as you can go with a statement like that, how many other teams have achieved so much and played so well so consistently in 3 seasons as Barca did in the aforementioned 3? (thats a genuine question, not a definitive statement on the matter, maybe there are loads of teams who played better and won more over 3 years)

[barclay seats 4849 0]

so called "best team " .................can''t win their own league !!!

 

Now Leave it !

[Gingerpele 0]

3 years...No one is saying they are the best and will always be the best. Messi has played over 50 games four seasons in a row now, Xavi 2 games off playing 50+ six seasons in a row, Pique missed a few this season, but last 3/4 years played loads, Puyol missed a few last year, but same story otherwise with him, and Valdes and Alves and 40+ for many years for Iniesta.

This is a huge amount of competitive games, over a long period of time. When these players are running 10KM+ a game, getting kicked about. Its not going to be easy.

And you can''t just say ''now leave it''. Who do you think you are?

[Firedawg 3]

Barca - one trick pony ! I would have been so p*ssed off if it were my team. You need to have a ''plan b'' and unfortunately if Barca cannot pass their way through they struggle. I think people are fed up with all the pundits ''fawning'' over them and while its not their fault it does start to grate a bit,

[Gingerpele 0]

They don''t struggle, they only struggled to hit the back of the net, they had plenty of chances, they did pass there way through on a number of occasions, and always do.

Plan Bs don''t actually work all that well, when we aren''t winning, we don''t suddenly change the way we play completely. We might throw and extra big man on, but how often do we score because we''ve thrown an extra big man on?

You don''t need a second trick, if that one trick serves you so well. The only thing I would do differently if I were manager, would be to have a striker or two who could head the ball (in fact if Pique hadn''t gone off, they probably would have had Busquets and Pique in the box and crossed it in the air a bit).

[Gingerpele 0]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/andy-mitten/now-barcelona-113259110.html

Have a read of that if your interested (sorry can''t do links on Safari). I understand some people don''t like Barca/or don''t like the probably over the top media reaction they get. But there are reasons behind that reaction. And i''ll try and defend Barcelona because I really enjoy watching them. I''m not a Becelona supporter, i''m a Norwich supporter, but if there is such a thing allowed as a ''second team'' it''d be Barcelona because I enjoy watching them nearly as much as I do Norwich. (With the advantage being, its a lot easier watching them lose than Norwich lose)

["""""""""Ben """"""""""" 0]

[quote user="Gingerpele"]http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/andy-mitten/now-barcelona-113259110.html

Have a read of that if your interested (sorry can''t do links on Safari). I understand some people don''t like Barca/or don''t like the probably over the top media reaction they get. But there are reasons behind that reaction. And i''ll try and defend Barcelona because I really enjoy watching them. I''m not a Becelona supporter, i''m a Norwich supporter, but if there is such a thing allowed as a ''second team'' it''d be Barcelona because I enjoy watching them nearly as much as I do Norwich. (With the advantage being, its a lot easier watching them lose than Norwich lose)[/quote]Could have fooled me.

[Mister Chops 7]

Barcelona are all fur coat and no knickers.  They should just get it forward, get into ''em, knock it long and feed off the knock downs from a big man like Podolski.  They are far too one-dimensional and predictable and easy to play against, if they were in the Premiership then they''d finish about thirteenth and while Lineker et al would jizz over their five minutes of highlights, they would finish behind Fulham and Stoke City.

[Gingerpele 0]

Give over Ben, what is the point of that comment? I''m allowed to like and defend other football teams. Same way your allowed to give your opinion on them as I have. But that comments is just not necessary. Nice to see you ignore all my points, and just insulting me, rather than presenting your own points to back your opinion.... Whats the point in only one of us trying?

[shefcanary 2,402]

And Barca have the biggest debt in european football at the moment.  What does that say about the modern game.  Glad the "swans" are out.  Shame it was to Chelski but.....

[Gingerpele 0]

Bigger than Man.U £600 million? I''m not saying your wrong, but do you have an exact/rough figure, i''ve never seen that said before...

Are they still owned by the fans?

[shefcanary 2,402]

http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/barcelona-s-debt-revealed-to-be-a-staggering-578m-and-financial-b

 

ManUre have reduced theirs recently

[Gingerpele 0]

Interesting.

Also didn''t know Man.U had cut theirs down so much. I thought last year I read they were £6-700 million in debt, but apparently 12 months ago (from Feb) it was only just over £500 million, and is now under £450 million.

But Man.U were never going to be in any trouble in terms of paying back the loans. Barca seem like they could be. The don''t get good value when selling players, and although they don''t buy players for ridiculous amounts very often, they probably spend more than they gain. And i''m sure not having a proper shirt sponsor is a good idea (presuming their current one is still a charity, Qatar foundation isn''t it?). They need McNally in charge...

[Unhinged Canary 375]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/9276343.stm

Most certainty not a ''charity'' shirt. They''re desparate for the money nowadays......

[Gingerpele 0]

I didn''t know that either. I just assumed a ''foundation'' would be charity related, I did wonder why ''Qatar foundation'' thought they can''t need any money, they just bought a World cup.

And of course they are desperate, they haven''t been run properly for years. Been getting loans left right and centre down to reputation, not financial reasons.

[Gingerpele 0]

Can''t we all just be friends?