The Barcelona v Real Madrid thread

[cream]

I think the ref was reluctant to send anyone off and IMO he had a mare over the tie. I think Caravalho's first yellow was ridiculous, but to be fair he could have easily got sent off for consistent fouling. On the other hand Masch,Pedro & Busquets could have should have got booked or even sent off for blatant play acting which went beyond the realms of embarrassment. Also the Higuian goal should have stood, Ronaldo made a bit of a meal of Pique's mild body check but compare that to the **** Masch,Busquets & Pedro were getting away with, tame in comparison so the ref was not consistent in his decisions IMO.

IMO Barca got a lot of crucial decisions over the 2 legs, but i thought they were the better team though and Real didn't really give them any problems. Of course it could have been a different game if the goal would have stood at 46 mins in second half things may have changed, same as the cheap sending off that never was in first leg but these things happen, and the better footballing side went through.

I appreciate the way they pass the ball, but i really hope that they cut out their blatant cheating and play acting in the final and just do what they do best, which is play football. Actually i don't have much love for Madrid or Barca, As a kid i used to love Real when Butragano,Hugo Sanchez & Michel etc but they the whole galacticos bull**** came into effect and i began to dislike them, same as i used to love Barca under Rikjarrd and even up until Barca dicked United in Champs League Final 2009, which was hilarious. I used to love to watch them play but their cheating has put me off, if they start that ****e in the final, i won't say i'll be cheering for the mancs, but i won't lose any sleep if the mancs beat them.

Anyways i hope the final is a better spectacle than the semi finals matches as they were pathetic.

The final will be better, it doesn't involve Jose Mourinho. Both sides will try to play football.

[Neil Young]

The ref was clearly worried about issuing red cards. Didn't stop him with the yellow though.

You seem particularly cantankerous today Neil.

James P. said the opposite. 'Avuncular' was the word I think.

I can't help it if your argument is illogical and selective. My pointing it out is a more a sign of the weakness of your position on the issue than anything to do with my mood.

As it happens I am in fine fettle. Couldn't be better. In the pink, so to speak.

[Exiled_red]

If Jose had toned it down a bit the focus might have been targeted at Barca's unsporting behaviour, which is certainly not being criticised enough in this polarised Barca bs Jose debate. He certainly shot himself in the foot with his reaction to the first leg.

I think most people who seem to be pro-Barcelona in this thread will admit that they have been doing things that we don't like to see in football. But the extent to which they have been doing them has (rightly IMO) been overshadowed by what Madrid have been doing, as their behaviour has been much worse. Everything we have seen from Barcelona (diving/acting and complaining to the referee), we have seen at least to a similar extent from Madrid, plus Madrid played a dirty game - going out and kick players as well as accusing the officials and UEFA of biased or corruption.

Of course people are going to focus more on the worst behaved side (Madrid), that doesn't automatically put Barcelona in the right, but they are at least taking a more dignified approach off the pitch, attacking everyone they can think of rather than blaming themselves. Mourinho and Madrid's comments are the thing that has brought all this attention on them.

[Rudo]

The final will be better, it doesn't involve Jose Mourinho. Both sides will try to play football.

Jose Mourinho might have made some ungracious and unsporting remarks but he didn't make Alves dive and feign injury resulting in Pepe getting sent off.
He didn't make 8 Barca players surround the Referee and he didn't make Busquets call one of his players a monkey.

Btw this talk of Mourinho being sacked is unbelievable after he's got Real to the Champions League semis(first time they've been there in years) winning the Copa Del Rey - Real' first time winning it in 8 years and finishing 2nd to the best side in Europe by a mile.
Question his tactics, his conduct and all the rest but to question his future at Real is crazy stuff imo.

[kris90210]

The problem with Madrid is that they are so demanding of their managers, they get rid of them even if they win the league or CL if the football isn't deemed good enough. The pressure is too high. If they get rid of Mourinho they need to give someone time to build a squad and an understanding, rather than simply throwing money at the best players and hoping things work out. Whether they like it or not Barcelona will take some moving, and while they might not like accepting second best I think they need a long term plan rather than another short term fix.

Totally agree. But who out there is big enough to withstand that pressure? Del Bosque is the man for them I reckon.

[Tee]

the passion for Barca in this thread doesn't sit right with me tbh

i can understand that people admire the way they play but when the actions of some(a lot even) of the Barca players is questioned, some posters get really, really defensive about it as if they were Liverpool players.

Haha, you wait until May 28th! Especially if they beat the Scum I think even you will be smashing their backdoors right in.

[Rudo]

Haha, you wait until May 28th! Especially if they beat the Scum I think even you will be smashing their backdoors right in.

Oh i'll be a Barca fan come the 28th May, but then again if there was a team made up of 11 El-Hadji Diouf's playing against United i'd be cheering
them on too

[elrichio86]

Jose Mourinho might have made some ungracious and unsporting remarks but he didn't make Alves dive and feign injury resulting in Pepe getting sent off.
He didn't make 8 Barca players surround the Referee and he didn't make Busquets call one of his players a monkey.

Btw this talk of Mourinho being sacked is unbelievable after he's got Real to the Champions League semis(first time they've been there in years) winning the Copa Del Rey - Real' first time winning it in 8 years and finishing 2nd to the best side in Europe by a mile.
Question his tactics, his conduct and all the rest but to question his future at Real is crazy stuff imo.

Real Madrid are basically MADE of crazy stuff. At any normal club, such a thought wouldn't even be entertained...

[Reece]

Didn't Real sack Capello despite winning La Liga?

[Neil Young]

As for which club deserves more blame for what happened, I think Barcelona would have been quite happy to have played two games of football and nothing more. They'd have wiped the floor with Madrid.

It was in Madrid's interest to ensure that didn't happen so Mourinho, who is all about winning at whatever cost, got his side to play a certain way, to make it niggly and nasty. He wound up the Barcelona players and management, even getting a rise out of the normally placid Guardiola, and pressurised and mocked officials before, during and after the games, calling their integrity, and the integrity of the entire competition, into question.

Barcelona could have ignored it all and tried to play their normal way or they could have done as they did, anything to win - exaggerating or feigning injuries, diving, pressurising the referee, etc.

So Madrid's choice of tactics invited Barcelona's tactical response. To blame the latter more than the former, as some on here are doing, seems to me to be wilfully perverse.

[RedAndWhite]

Didn't Real sack Capello despite winning La Liga?

Yep - for playing boring football.......

[Tee]

Love the way Mourinho is now associated with **** house football.

[elrichio86]

Jose Pulis

Or even Jose Allardyce

[kris90210]

Sure they sacked Toshack after he won the Champions League there. Crazy.

[Kenneth]

Haha, you wait until May 28th! Especially if they beat the Scum I think even you will be smashing their backdoors right in.