Di Canio's celebrations today after each Sunderland goal were hilarious. Guy's great entertainment value, and that was some result. I really, REALLY hope that Stoke go down.

Haha, yeah. If he can ride out the controversy and keep Sunderland up, he'll be entertainment gold next season. And yes, Stoke going down would be the highlight of the season for me.

Barcelona are definitely vulnerable against height and I agree that Bayern will probably concede midfield and maybe even revert to something a bit more long-ball so they can bypass it altogether while still using their advantage. But that would require Bayern to largely sit back and invite pressure onto them which, if Messi, Xavi, Iniesta et al have a good night, could be disastrous. It worked against Juventus but they have far less attacking options than (a fully functioning) Barcelona.

Given your point about Bayern forsaking the midfield, what role do you think say Ribery and Robben will have?

Barcelona are definitely vulnerable against height and I agree that Bayern will probably concede midfield and maybe even revert to something a bit more long-ball so they can bypass it altogether while still using their advantage. But that would require Bayern to largely sit back and invite pressure onto them which, if Messi, Xavi, Iniesta et al have a good night, could be disastrous. It worked against Juventus but they have far less attacking options than (a fully functioning) Barcelona.

Given your point about Bayern forsaking the midfield, what role do you think say Ribery and Robben will have?

Barcelona are definitely vulnerable against height and I agree that Bayern will probably concede midfield and maybe even revert to something a bit more long-ball so they can bypass it altogether while still using their advantage. But that would require Bayern to largely sit back and invite pressure onto them which, if Messi, Xavi, Iniesta et al have a good night, could be disastrous. It worked against Juventus but they have far less attacking options than (a fully functioning) Barcelona.

Given your point about Bayern forsaking the midfield, what role do you think say Ribery and Robben will have?

Barcelona are definitely vulnerable against height and I agree that Bayern will probably concede midfield and maybe even revert to something a bit more long-ball so they can bypass it altogether while still using their advantage. But that would require Bayern to largely sit back and invite pressure onto them which, if Messi, Xavi, Iniesta et al have a good night, could be disastrous. It worked against Juventus but they have far less attacking options than (a fully functioning) Barcelona.

Given your point about Bayern forsaking the midfield, what role do you think say Ribery and Robben will have?

i imagine ribery+ alaba shuttling on the left and lahm+robben on the right while boateng>martinez>schweinsteiger>mueller>gomez push up the middle.

then ribery + robben + alaba + lahm if they are not such goal gluttons will throw crosses from the corner which gomez or boateng or pizarro or mueller will headbutt into the hole behind valdez's crying eyes.

the thing is that both these teams each play a version of total football, but while barcelona is more accurate with the little passes (like a bunch of mice) bayern is more athletic and powerful.

the question is which version of the same tactical school will win. i see bayern as a more mature and balanced team whereas barcelona is a creaky old cart with the wheels falling off but a turbo engine (messi) driving it.

the other thing that i don't know is how stressed will barca be at that time battling for the copa del rey and la liga titles. although of course this is the big one, they have a little more pressure. bayern has won the bundesliga and all they have to do is prep for their barcelona match.

speaking of which, this week (tuesday?) bayern plays wolfsburg for the dfb-pokal semis if you wanna watch them in action. should they pass, they will not play again for the final until after the champions final (june 1st). so after tuesday they have nothing else to do but get ready for the following week. yes there will be a weekend bundesliga game but who gives a shit really. they can put the full bench and it's all good. meanwhile, messi might have to economize his wear & tear (though i see they had no problems creaming zaragoza which is down for relegation anyway)

tello-- i can't say i've seen him play.

Steady on!


I don't think Barcelona are that bothered with the Copa Del Rey and they're 13 points ahead in La Liga, so while they could lose that title, mathematically, they're realistically pretty safe.

On your point about motivation, it's true that a number of Barcelona's players have won just about everything there is to win in the game but I don't think it'll make them any less determined. Bayern's players still have to prove themselves on that level so they'll arguably have greater motivation but, as we've discussed, it's how they deal with it.

yeah, barca is actually out of the copa del ray already(remember madrid kicked the shit of them?) and the league is all but won. champions league is their main concern now.

on a side note, whats everyone thoughts on hummels going to barca. it certainly makes my nipples errect!

hummels to barça? fuck! noooooo!!!!!

what was the last german player to play on barca? the last i can think of is schuster in the 80's but surely there was someone after him

I can't think of any (I never even knew about Schuster). Hummels to Barca would be amazing, though. And what about the rumours that Rooney's going to PSG with Falcao replacing him at Man U?

i've no idea, but i want dortmund to be great, and hummels is KEY. he's dortmund's pirlo, dammit!

fuck la liga

easy tiger. the lure of barca is too great. its not like he would be fighting for a position like if neymar came. its pretty much a guaranteed starting spot. and please dont give me that "the liga is nothing but a two team league". you could say the same thing about the bundesliga. the "lesser" teams in spain are pretty damn good too. see athletico madrid's dismanteling of chelsea(okay, chelsea is not great but still). also athletic bilbao kicked the shit out of man u in last years europa. valencia routinely get into the knockout rounds of the champions league. malaga was an offside goal away from the semi-finals this year in the champions league. while i agree that the revenue sharing is terrible in la liga. its not like barca and madrid dismantle teams worse than dortumund or bayern.

i didn't say any of that! spanish football is great! i just follow the bundesliga, and hence have a selfish interest in it becoming great vs. other leagues. especially in the face of bayern being the dominant force, the need to develop a sustainable rivaly bla bla bla that we were just talking about a few posts ago. so i want dortmund to keep it up & improve. same thing w/ schalke and leverkusen.

what i meant by "fuck la liga" is just that--fuck them! but it was fun to read what you thought i was saying-- very informative. :D

oh. well. nevermind! :P

ha ha. it's all good.

eh, i had to look that up in the dictionary (it's not an american english expression i think, and i'm a furrner on top of it so it's always complicated for me,) but now that i know what you mean i think i'm not really exaggerating-- at least from my impression of the psg match. (of course the same could have been said of bayern's 3-0 loss to bate borisov-- and bate is no psg!)

anyway, check this one:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...spiritual.html

"But if Messi isn't fully fit for the final part of the season, they won't win the Champions League. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and perhaps even Borussia Dortmund are stronger: they have more energy and aggression; they are in sharper physical shape and in better form."

(it's a long-ass article to read. he thinks it will be a spanish final. i'm hoping it's all-german.)

I like Gary Neville (who wrote the article) but I think he overstated Messi's impact on the pitch (if not on the fans). The week before, Barcelona improved when Messi was replaced, so it's obviously not just about him. Of course he's vital but many of those who tried to dismiss him as only relying on the players around him, now seem to be writing Barcelona off as a one man team. If Barca hold firm at the back and their midfield clicks, I think they can beat Bayern with or without him. The problem is their defence is shot and Xavi and Iniesta aren't in the best form at the moment. Barcelona may be a one system team but they're definitely not dependent on one player, even when that player's Messi.

Even though they were struggling till Messi came on at PSG? Whilst I'll admit that if any of the players in Barca played for someone else they'd be seen as their best player, they do rely on Messi a bit much. Has Fabergas shown to have the same quality he had at Arsenal? In my opinion non.