Champions League - Knockout Stage 1st Round

[Slim]

Gudjohnsen will most likely not play.

FYI, for those who are tipping us to prevail, we've now gone right out to 28/1 to win the CL

If Eto'o is fit I'm sure he won't play either. But will Eto'o be fit?

[Bari]

I thinks it's a good draw. Get the difficult ones out of the way first.

For me Rafa will tactically have this one well sewn up

If we sign say Lucas Niell. I guess Rafa will go for a 5-3-2

With Finnan - Lucas - Agger - Carra - Riise
Gerrard - Momo - Alonso
And Any 2 upfront

Rafa will get this one, tactically he has the upper hand over Barce and Frank IMO

[Craig_H]

If we sign say Lucas Niell. I guess Rafa will go for a 5-3-2

With Finnan - Lucas - Agger - Carra - Riise
Gerrard - Momo - Alonso
And Any 2 upfront

Rafa will get this one, tactically he has the upper hand over Barce and Frank IMO

Oh FFS, draw Barca and we're talking about Lucas fecking Neill lining up for us against them? Dear god.

[Colemere]

If we sign say Lucas Niell. I guess Rafa will go for a 5-3-2

With Finnan - Lucas - Agger - Carra - Riise
Gerrard - Momo - Alonso
And Any 2 upfront

Rafa will get this one, tactically he has the upper hand over Barce and Frank IMO

Why drop Sami in the centre for Lucas Neill?

Sami would dominate in the air from set-pieces.

[Bari]

Oh FFS, draw Barca and we're talking about Lucas fecking Neill lining up for us against them? Dear god.

I'm thinking about the possibilities Syd. 4-5-1 and the middle gets crowed and compact, Kyut or Bellers by themselves will run themselves ragged against Puyol and Marques, Thuram (if he plays). We need 2 upfront.

No Lucas put in Hyppia instead either way. I'm going off the ability that Lucas will do damage to there star players ala carra when we played blackburn,if as I said he comes in the january transfer window

IMO it will either be a 5-3-2 line-up with a 3-5-2 counter-attack

[Liverpool]

I think we can win this, i have the feeling!

Cant wait

[JRG]

I think we can win this, i have the feeling!

Cant wait

Me too.

Shouldn't you be in school?

[Mumsafan]

Me too.

Shouldn't you be in school?

He probably is.

[anfieldanfield]

So, you think Barca will be QUIETLY confident Syd ?

Laporta: 'We wanted Liverpool'

Barça President Joan Laporta was plainly over the moon after today’s UEFA draw saw reigning champions FC Barcelona paired off with Rafa Benítez’s Liverpool. The clash will see Reina and Luis García play against the club they once called home.

“It’s going to be a very interesting couple of matches”, opined the exec, “Liverpool play an attractive style of attacking football and have many big-name players, but I must admit that given the choice of teams we could have faced, Liverpool is the one we wanted.” A recent poll by ‘El Mundo Deportivo’ found that 45% of Barça fans preferred Liverpool as a rival.

Liverpool, as first placed in the Group Stage, drop into Camp Nou for the first leg with the decider being played out at Anfield. Despite the disadvantage of playing the second leg at the mythical Anfield stadium, Laporta was confident. “We’re the defending champions and we fully intend to win the Cup again.”

[Liverpool]

Me too.

Shouldn't you be in school?

Nope Im on study leave

[Resu]

He is probably fired up for most of our games. He wants to win them all I would imagine.

Of course he is, but Barca vs Real is special.
Look at Fowler, he`s always up for vs the Scum.

[Liverpool]

He probably is.

Cant get on this website in school

[Fan65]

What is it with the cup draws this year.. The Arse in both cups and now Barca !!! top stuff !!!

With a bit of luck the players had better start playing hard for thier positions from now on ...

No disrespect but the problem playing the likes of Middlesborough, Charlton & Notlob etc week in week out is that it's difficult to soar like an Eagle when your playing with Turkeys.....

Three great cup ties ahead !!!!! Fantastic !!!!!!

[Craig_H]

So, you think Barca will be QUIETLY confident Syd ?

Laporta: 'We wanted Liverpool'

Barça President Joan Laporta was plainly over the moon after today’s UEFA draw saw reigning champions FC Barcelona paired off with Rafa Benítez’s Liverpool. The clash will see Reina and Luis García play against the club they once called home.

“It’s going to be a very interesting couple of matches”, opined the exec, “Liverpool play an attractive style of attacking football and have many big-name players, but I must admit that given the choice of teams we could have faced, Liverpool is the one we wanted.” A recent poll by ‘El Mundo Deportivo’ found that 45% of Barça fans preferred Liverpool as a rival.

Liverpool, as first placed in the Group Stage, drop into Camp Nou for the first leg with the decider being played out at Anfield. Despite the disadvantage of playing the second leg at the mythical Anfield stadium, Laporta was confident. “We’re the defending champions and we fully intend to win the Cup again.”

It's a front mate. They arent gonna come out and say they DIDNT want us.

They've just been a bit less diplomatic than you'd expect.

Dont get me wrong, out of who they COULD have got, yeah they probably wanted us. But look at the list of group winners, there isnt an easy tie in there.

They aint thinking they'll wipe the floor with us or have an easy game, they're really not that stupid mate.

[Yozza]

Barca Chief Delighted With Ticket To Ride

Made me laugh..... a trip to the Cavern indeed!


Barcelona president Joan Laporta was over the moon with Friday's Champions League draw which will see the reigning champions take on Liverpool.

"It will be a meeting between the last two champions, so it is going to be an extraordinary tie," said Laporta whose club is currently in Japan for the Club World Cup.

"I am happy with the draw, Liverpool is a team that I had a preference for in order to face at this stage."

"Liverpool are powerful opponents that play very physical football and have players that we know very well, such as Luis Garcia and Xabi Alonso.

"Let's not forget, we are the team to beat this season."

Laporta is also happy for his team to be travelling to Liverpool.

"It's the city where the Beatles were born and it will be very interesting," he said.

"I really like the Beatles and I think it will be very entertaining to go to The Cavern and visit the city, it will an added incentive in this draw."

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/spain/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=international_feed/06/12/15/SOCCER_Spa-Barcelona_Laporta.html&TEAMHD=spain

Underestimate us at your peril...