The Barcelona v Real Madrid thread

[Rudo]

I'll be amazed if Mourinho stays. Copa Del Rey means ****. Marca and all the rest in Madrid will go mad about the tactics tomorrow (apparently they already are) and I reckon he'll either walk before he's pushed or get the bullet.

Didn't you know that Sky Sports' Spanish football expert Guillem Balague reckons Mourinho will stay another year at Madrid

[Lecter]

he was up against average players in at least five or six games out of ten. It was more easy to be ahead of your time back ten. More easy to dominate.

Seriously this is absolute tripe to suggest that todays footballers come up against world class players week in week out is ****ing horse**** and that most of the players years ago were "average" is ****ing bollocks. I've watched football all through the 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's the bulk of it live (not on TV) and I still think the general standard is no better than it was back then. The 70's & 80's Liverpool sides would still be winning leagues today, the 90's Milan side would still be winning Serie A.

Messi is playing in a league that is dominated by two teams the rest are barely average

Yet he did **** all in the World Cup - that both Pele and Maradona have shone in

[McDermotX]

Ahhh......whenever the Messi/Maradona talk comes up, I always like to see the Getafe goal again. Similar doesn't so it justice really.

[ame="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrao0ROwpAM"]YouTube - Messi goal vs Getafe[/ame]

[ame="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nXzXsdZJ5AQ"]YouTube - Messi VS Maradona[/ame]

[Craig_H]

The reason that we won against them a couple of times in the CL? Tactics and a better manager.

If you look at the squads back then they should have walked all over us. The only thing that could save us was that Rafa would win the battle against Mourinho.

Mourinho struggles big time when he is up against a tactically excellent manager.

What would a tactically excellent manager done tonight against a Barcelona team with big problems in defence? He would have attacked them IMO. He would have played at least one of Benzema or Higuain from the start. Kaka instead of Lass. He would have played players that would be able to press all over the pitch.

Mourinho got it totally wrong. Barcelona was there for the taking tonight. For the taking I mean that you could with the right tactic have a chance to win against them.

They didnt have half the level of team when we beat them, that they do now.

[Lecter]

The reason that we won against them a couple of times in the CL? Tactics and a better manager.

If you look at the squads back then they should have walked all over us. The only thing that could save us was that Rafa would win the battle against Mourinho.

Mourinho struggles big time when he is up against a tactically excellent manager.

What would a tactically excellent manager done tonight against a Barcelona team with big problems in defence? He would have attacked them IMO. He would have played at least one of Benzema or Higuain from the start. Kaka instead of Lass. He would have played players that would be able to press all over the pitch.

Mourinho got it totally wrong. Barcelona was there for the taking tonight. For the taking I mean that you could with the right tactic have a chance to win against them.

Rafa himself said on British TV the other week that the tactics he used to earn those wins would not work with todays Barca team and that it was an unenviable task trying to work out how to beat them

As for attacking Barcelona well Arsenal tried that one....

[Craig_H]

Seriously this is absolute tripe to suggest that todays footballers come up against world class players week in week out is ****ing horse**** and that most of the players years ago were "average" is ****ing bollocks. I've watched football all through the 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's the bulk of it live (not on TV) and I still think the general standard is no better than it was back then. The 70's & 80's Liverpool sides would still be winning leagues today, the 90's Milan side would still be winning Serie A.

Messi is playing in a league that is dominated by two teams the rest are barely average

Yet he did **** all in the World Cup - that both Pele and Maradona have shone in

With Pele, you have the counter argument that he never did it in a european league. So swings and roundabouts perhaps.

Did Maradona light up the European Cup like Messi does?

[Vermilion]

That Messi goal (2nd one) tonight was lovely, the way the ball was 'given' to him.......i used to have a jack russell, and i would put my foot on the ball lightly and he'd run at it and take it away pushing it along with his nose, twisting this way and that as he went.

It was just like that with Messi tonight, his team mate just put his foot on the ball....held it there for half a sec as an offer to Messi, and off he went.

Lovely stuff.

[Shaggy]

"The return game is mission impossible,'' he told the press after the game. ''Barcelona has qualified for the final. Sometimes I feel disgusted about this football world of ours. Yes, we have already been knocked out.

''We had the intention to keep the game at 0-0, then bring on a striker, then a third phase with a No. 10 behind three forwards. But the ref didnt allow it.''

Mourinho continued his post-match rant by targeting Barcelona's record of playing against ten-men in the competition, most notably their win over Chelsea in the semi-final in 2009.

''Congratulations to Barcelona,'' he added. ''But I just do not understand why Barcelona always receive the help of the referee. All my life I will be asking myself this question, and one day I hope to receive an answer.

''I am not too sad, I have a great family. But I don't understand why Barcelona have this power. It happened two years ago to Chelsea (in the 2009 semi-finals), almost to my Inter last year, and also to Arsenal this year.

''Why do the opponents of Barcelona always have a man sent off? Where does this power come from? Maybe it is to give more publicity to UNICEF, maybe because of the power of (Spanish federation president Jose Angel) Villar in UEFA.''

[Nick77]

I was there tonight sat right next 2 the dugout where Pep & the subs were - I was the only person out of nearly 100,000 wearing an LFC shirt!
I just have one thing to say - the atmosphere @ Anfield is 100 times better even with less than half the capacity! Look I'm not saying there wasn't any singing but my God it's nothing like our Cathedral...

[Buzzo]

That Messi goal (2nd one) tonight was lovely, the way the ball was 'given' to him.......i used to have a jack russell, and i would put my foot on the ball lightly and he'd run at it and take it away pushing it along with his nose, twisting this way and that as he went.

Lovely stuff.

Hahahahahah

Definitely the best bit of 'commentary' on Messi this evening. I only wish they came up with stuff like this on the telly.

Big Ron in his pomp would be proud of a line like that.

[Buzzo]

''We had the intention to keep the game at 0-0, then bring on a striker, then a third phase with a No. 10 behind three forwards. ''

No ****ing way was this the intention.

[Lecter]

With Pele, you have the counter argument that he never did it in a european league. So swings and roundabouts perhaps.

Did Maradona light up the European Cup like Messi does?

It probably is swings and roundabouts my major point was Arn saying that many of the players in the 60's, 70's & 80's were "average" compared to to those currently plying their trade in the Premier League

Bearing in mind that Poulsen, Jovanovic & PFK appeared in our sides in the early part of this season thats a rather dubious statement

Maradona didnt do well in the European Cup but compare his Barcelona team to todays is like comparing Roys Liverpool to Kennys Liverpool . Napoli were equally lacking in quality (apart from the man himself)

This Barcelona is a very very good team, I'm not sure that even our great sides would beat them unless we were playing back in the 70's & early 80's when we could get Souness to go round kicking everyone

[Rich]

Just seen the Pepe red card. Harsh. Yellow at most.

[Neil Young]

You can only be good in the time you play in. The game changes and may well improve in many ways. But if Pele or Maradona were playing today, then I see no reason why they wouldn't be as good as Messi, if not better.

[Rudo]

Just seen the Pepe red card. Harsh. Yellow at most.

Very, very harsh. The ref destroyed the game there and then.