CL Semi finals 5/6th May

[Individuum]

18/4 is written all over...

[greenbloodred]

18/4 is written all over...

NO

[-V-]

Man Utd can't defend as well as Chelsea and Liverpool because they dont have as effective defensive midfielders. On a neutral ground they will be forced to come out and play, barca will find the way through. It won't be much like the semi-final. Etoo was poor and Messi had 4 men on him at all times. But with Henry back and Messi and Etoo more experienced at playing against PL teams i am confident in them winning. The front 3 will step it up and Xavi/Iniesta partnership back in midfield will be effective im sure. There is enough experience and form in that attack to step up in such a major final.

Barca all the way

[-V-]

Btw, has anybody seen the picture of Ballack diving out the road of Iniesta's shot? Can't believe he is such a pussy in such a big moment

[Reece]

Watching Iniesta's goal again - is it me or does Ballack kind of duck out of the way of the shot?

Btw, has anybody seen the picture of Ballack diving out the road of Iniesta's shot? Can't believe he is such a pussy in such a big moment

Not just me then

[Neil Young]

Man Utd can't defend as well as Chelsea and Liverpool because they dont have as effective defensive midfielders. On a neutral ground they will be forced to come out and play, barca will find the way through. It won't be much like the semi-final. Etoo was poor and Messi had 4 men on him at all times. But with Henry back and Messi and Etoo more experienced at playing against PL teams i am confident in them winning. The front 3 will step it up and Xavi/Iniesta partnership back in midfield will be effective im sure. There is enough experience and form in that attack to step up in such a major final.

Barca all the way

With any luck they'll miss Fletcher, like they did against us.

I'd still put Man Yoo as favourites though even without Barca's enormous selection problems in defence. I've just realised - they'll have only one of their first choice back four.

[Kenneth]

The Chelsea theatrics both during and after the game were a disgrace. If UEFA have any balls some long bans will come of it. Sadly the referee only booked players which I think will probably take away UEFAs ability to do anything (or at least will give them an excuse not to).

Certainly a case for Drogba, who was booked but then carried on when the ref had left the field, probably for his own safety.

[lickedlollipop]

didn't watch the game, so dunno who deserved it..

[Craig_H]

Man Utd can't defend as well as Chelsea and Liverpool because they dont have as effective defensive midfielders. On a neutral ground they will be forced to come out and play, barca will find the way through. It won't be much like the semi-final. Etoo was poor and Messi had 4 men on him at all times. But with Henry back and Messi and Etoo more experienced at playing against PL teams i am confident in them winning. The front 3 will step it up and Xavi/Iniesta partnership back in midfield will be effective im sure. There is enough experience and form in that attack to step up in such a major final.

Barca all the way

Hope you're right, but i disagree. The mancs have learnt how to spoil in europe over the past few years, and it's brought them success.

Barca have only one way of playing and if the mancs set up with 7 defensive players, they'll nullify barca.

[Joe King]

I wonder who United will pick in the centre of midfield. Carrick and Anderson are shoe-ins. Do they pick the tiring and aging Giggs or Scholes who doesn't seem to have the same sort of control for these occassions any more. Or do they shift the industrious Park inside to create some more hustle and play Tevez on the wing... United will hope they don't get injuries to any of their centre midfielders.

I think Andy Gray and Graeme Souness made a good point about Barcelona and their desire yesterday. Going down to ten men and still having the same urgency and desire to really put a very couragous display at Stamford Bridge, it has to be commended with or without the referee's blindness. The harrying, hustling, tactical organisation was fairly good from the very green Pep Guardiola who has a team now unlike Rijkaard's side which was based mainly on individuals.

[-V-]

Truly hope gutless Uefa don't change the rules for the scum and let fletcher play but judging by Taylors comments today its as if they are trying to find a way to let him play. If fletcher plays and abidal does not it will be sickening.

I really believe that on neutral ground over 90 minutes Barcelona will score more. The only concern for me is set-pieces

[-V-]

Not just me then

Back page of the mirror

[dww]

I wonder who United will pick in the centre of midfield. Carrick and Anderson are shoe-ins. Do they pick the tiring and aging Giggs or Scholes who doesn't seem to have the same sort of control for these occassions any more. Or do they shift the industrious Park inside to create some more hustle and play Tevez on the wing... United will hope they don't get injuries to any of their centre midfielders.

I think Andy Gray and Graeme Souness made a good point about Barcelona and their desire yesterday. Going down to ten men and still having the same urgency and desire to really put a very couragous display at Stamford Bridge, it has to be commended with or without the referee's blindness. The harrying, hustling, tactical organisation was fairly good from the very green Pep Guardiola who has a team now unlike Rijkaard's side which was based mainly on individuals.

? They both have looked very good/excellent in most games this season to me. I think he will go for a defensive attitude but a 4-3-3 with Scholes, Anderson and Carrick in the middle and Park, Rooney and Ronaldo up top. Probably with Ronaldo as the furthest forward allowing Rooney and Park to help the midfield defense close down Barca.

I still thought that Barcelona looked to rely on individual moments of brilliance to get a goal against Chelsea. They were tactically one dimensional and I think will be beaten quite easily by United if they play in a similar manner. Their desire in terms of willingness to attack no matter what was commendable but they lacked imagination and physical bravery and were exceptionally lucky over the two legs to squeeze past Chelsea.

[Joe King]

? They both have looked very good/excellent in most games this season to me. I think he will go for a defensive attitude but a 4-3-3 with Scholes, Anderson and Carrick in the middle and Park, Rooney and Ronaldo up top. Probably with Ronaldo as the furthest forward allowing Rooney and Park to help the midfield defense close down Barca.

I still thought that Barcelona looked to rely on individual moments of brilliance to get a goal against Chelsea. They were tactically one dimensional and I think will be beaten quite easily by United if they play in a similar manner. Their desire in terms of willingness to attack no matter what was commendable but they lacked imagination and physical bravery and were exceptionally lucky over the two legs to squeeze past Chelsea.

The only game I have seen Giggs play in a big game where he was good/excellent was against Chelsea at Old Trafford. Ferguson is mainly reluctant to play these two and Neville in the big games because they can't compete in that sort of pace anymore.

Of course Barcelona are going to lack physical bravery, look at the size of Messi, Iniesta, Xavi. Hardly six footers. For what they don't win in the 50/50s, they are unbelievably difficult to shrug off when they have the ball.

[Joe King]

Referee Tom Henning Ovrebo smuggled out of country after threats

The referee of Chelsea's contentious Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, Tom Henning Ovrebo, had to be smuggled out of Britain under police guard last night after a series of death threats, according to former official Graham Poll.

By Giles Mole
Last Updated: 12:02PM BST 07 May 2009 [Telegraph]

Ovrebo has reportedly become the target of furious Chelsea supporters, after the Norwegian denied Guus Hiddink's men a series of penalties that would have secured them victory and a place in the Rome final with Manchester United.

At the end of yesterday's Stamford Bridge clash, which finished 1-1 thanks to Andres Iniesta's last-gasp equaliser, Ovrebo was targeted by Chelsea players - most notably Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack - who confronted the referee, with Drogba caught on camera hurling a tirade of abuse in the 42-year-old's direction, calling him "a f*****g disgrace".

Poll told Radio Four: “This morning he's being smuggled out of our country under police escort - this is a referee of a football match. That is a disgrace.

“When he booked in a hotel they had to change the hotel he was staying at because of the fear that maybe fans would find him.

“When you see players acting like that, fans are called fans because they are fanatics - they may feel it's time to take action themselves.”

Poll believes the behaviour of Drogba and Ballack was “a dreadful display of petulance”, and blasted the stewards at Chelsea for failing to step in quickly enough to protect the referee. “Players should show some restraint. They should show some respect,” he added.

According to the London Evening Standard, police in Ovrebo's home city of Oslo are even investigating threats made on the internet towards the referee, with message boards displaying his home address, including warnings that fans will “hunt him” and “kill him”.

An Oslo police spokesman said: “We are watching closely what is being posted on the internet. Anything we believe would threaten his personal safety will be taken seriously.”

Unfortunately, it is not the first time Chelsea fans have turned on an official in such a manner. Anders Frisk, a Swedish referee who officiated Barcelona's 2-1 win over Chelsea at the Nou Camp back in Feb 2005, when Jose Mourinho was in charge, had a campaign of intimidation directed at him and eventually quit as a referee.

At the time Frisk said: "I have been subjected to things that I couldn't even imagine.

"I love to referee and I have done it since 1978, but what has happened to me means it is not worth continuing. I won't ever go out on a football pitch again. I am too scared. It is not worth it. Unfortunately that is the way football looks in 2005. I've had enough. I don't know if I even dare let my kids go to the post office."

Uefa have been criticised for putting Ovrebo in charge of such an important match, especially as he has previously made mistakes in a big game.

At Euro 2008 he refereed Italy's 1-1 draw with Romania, awarding the Romanians a dubious penalty and incorrectly ruling out a Italian goal. After the match, he apologised for his mistakes and did not take charge of another game during the competition.

John Terry and Guus Hiddink were both infuriated that Ovrebo had been allowed to officiate last night's encounter, with Terry saying "Why did we get a referee who has officiated in 10 games in the Champions League in his career? To be given the Champions League semi-final, that's not good enough."

Hiddink was equally scathing, adding: "If you've seen the three or four (penalty) situations waved away, this is the worst refereeing performance I've ever seen."