PSG are easily the better side so far. Barca have plenty of possession but aren't doing anything with it. They're lucky it's still 0-0.

MOTHERFUCKER! Let's hope they can keep that lead.

I know you like Bayern but seriously, you're watching the wrong game.

Fuck. My sphincter is about this-> . big.

Fuck's sake. Meh well.

psg learned that things can get a little messi in barcelona (sorry i couldn't resist)

Messi or not, it still looked like the best team lost tonight.

i saw this at halftime. rewatching, i sort of agree that barca wasn't doing anything ith possession but i didn't find psg "better" until the 2nd half, not just because the goal but because their attacked more and better.


i just finished watching and it was okay, but i don't think it was extraordinary or anything. i feel sorry for barca having to rely on messi so much. i hope he hasn't worsened his injury. i thought barca would be able to pull a spain and win with fabregas, but looks like it's messi or nothing for them. that's never a good thing.

btw, i think beckham's yellow card was for saying to the ref "do you know who i am? do you know who i am? i'm david beckham! i'm married to posh spice! you might have seen me in such shows as 'bend it like beckham' and 'kitchen nightmares...'" or some such douchery...

anyway, i was definitely glad to catch the bayern game... it was fun until the last minute. i could see them feeling kroos's absence on the attack this time around (his good passing was missed), but they adapted. this was a different match than last week's-- mandzukic didn't chase down the juve defenders like a hound and pirlo was allowed a bit more space i thought. the star for me this week was javi martinez, he really played great and did all kinds of good everywhere.

btw, mandzukic might have been cooled by the vile and unfair yellow card he received early on, completely unjustified, and now he won't be playing the next match. worst of all is it apparently can't be appealed. pure bullshit!

match of the week for me definitely remains the dortmund-malaga one. it was a tremendous ending. the zonal marking commentary on that has been up since earlier, but it seems to me it's a bit obvious this time around, it's not like he has a deep analysis to open the magic kingdom of secret understanding or something-- he usually does but not today. well maybe not for me this time around. anyway, still better than newspaper commentary, check it out & let me know.

its that old adage, good teams know how to win even when they play badly. man u are experts in this regard.

in my eyes, psg were only better from the beginning of the 2nd half until when messi came in.

Yes, what you said.

Hola !@#$%!, que pasa?

They improved when Messi came on for sure but I honestly think PSG should've been home and dry after the first half. Xavi was pretty poor and Iniesta hasn't been in form for a while. They just didn't look like scoring, and PSG were making mincemeat of their defence. Valdez saved them big time tonight. On their day I still think they can beat anyone but I'm seeing more and more games like tonight's where they're looking seriously beatable. But, as Madcap says, they're still winning. Although unlike with Man U, who I always somehow expect to win, however badly they're playing, I just couldn't see Barca getting that equaliser tonight.

Yeah, Malaga Dortmund may be my fave of the tournament so far, although for sheer epicness, it's hard to beat Barca's comeback against AC Milan. I read the zonalmarking report. If anything I thought it was pretty generous with the amount of tactical coverage it gave. It wasn't a really interesting game on that level to begin with, just really exciting, which doesn't really translate in zonalmarking terms. Although I'm disappointed nobody was described as an intergalactic winger.

demonrail666 summed it up pretty well.

i don't know, perhaps psg did better in the first half, but having no dog in that race i didn't feel anyone had overwhelming superiority and it was all about final scores. (e.g., were i a barca fan, i might have been disappointed & furious like i was with dortmund before they flipped the tortilla)

i did see barcelona suck, but not so much as to completely lose either control or hope to make it to the next round. yes, at the beginning psg attacked more, but by halftime i thought barca was being successfully at managing a 0-0 tie, which was risky, but favorable to them. because that's all that counted, yes?

the 2nd half however i thought they truly lost their shit until messi came in. why psg didn't score more i don't know, but you can't win matches on deserves.

after messi came in however and pedro scored barca was able to once again manage the tie. which, again, objectively, is all they needed to do.

anyway-- potato, potato, barca is going down against the germans ;)

--

so, tomorrow's the new draw. who do you want to see?

it would be hilarious if we got barca-madrid and bayern-dortmund, though it wouldn't be so interesting cuz those happen all the time.

barca-bayern would be fun-- future and past guardiolas meet in the present.

and dortmund-real madrid could become the rivalry of the year after dortmund won the group stage. i see pros in seeing 2 more of these matches-- the teams know each other and could both prepare better.

oh man.... whatever happens, i'm really looking forward to tomorrow's draw.

I'd rather that than a Spain/Spain or Germany/Germany final (even though it could still happen anyway). Barca are inconsistent but I still think they're the most able to stop Bayern so that's the final I'm hoping for. I respect Bayern but I just can't bring myself to like them so I'll be backing whoever plays them if they make the final.

Anyway, zonalmarking analyses are up from both of last night's game.

right-- a monocountry final would be somehow fundamentally wrong (or a slap in the face, depending).

so it's safer if that chance is cancelled out on semis, is what you're saying?

--

ps- why you not like bayern? not trying to sell you, just curious.

I wouldn't mind if a single country had the two best teams (as in the past with say Barca and Real) but while anything can happen I think Barca are still a better team than Dortmund just as Bayern are better than Real. So a real/Dortmund final would be even worse. In terms of the two best teams (statistically) meeting in the final, it has to be Barca and Bayern.

for variety though, you could get TWO barca/bayern matches in the semis instead of just the one final. i mean, i get the symbolism of the final but my greedy eye right now just wants moar bettarr matches. which is why i don't want two clasicos and two bayern-dortmund macthes-- we get to catch those year-round!

to mix it all up barca-dortmund and bayern-madrid would be cool in the semis... just stuff we don't see that often.

I can see that. I just like the idea of the two best teams fighting it out at the end and, as we know from last year, it's not always the best teams that make the final, or even win it. It'd just be nice, after Chelsea winning it last year, for us to reasonably be able to say that this year, the Champions of Europe really are the best team in Europe. And going purely on their overall records for the season, of the teams still in it, that's still Bayern and Barca. So for me it has to be those two, in a single game, at a neutral ground, in the final.

Edit: FIFA has just released it's new world rankings.

http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/ran...ble/index.html

The usual insanity.

i'll take anything but another classico for the semi's. ive had enough of these two squaring off.

Ideal for me would be Barca beating Dortmund and Bayern beating Real (although in any other situation I'd want Real to beat Bayern.)

Had a good time with some Geordies today.

CL Semis draw:

Bayern Munich v Barcelona

Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid

(first leg April 23/24, second leg April 30th/May 1)

i saw. i am simultaneously disappointed and excited by the dortmund-real repeat-- disappointed because we've seen that already, but excited because dortmund has a good chance to make the finals, provided no key players are benched. i believe hummels and gundogan and reus and gotze and lewandowski can make anything happen on a good day and with the right support, cuz that's where the magic is.

i'm excited by the two rounds of bayern-barcelona we're gonna get. i think gomez (since mandzukic is out for the first match) should be a good weapon against barça's tiny men.

Yeah, not ideal but still can't wait. Barcelona's defence is right down to the bones so, as long as Bayern keep their heads, I have to make them favourites. I can't separate Real/Dortmund at all, although I'm leaning towards the likelihood of an all German final - which'll definitely make someone very happy:

i'd be happy with that too actually.

tv coverage of the bundesliga has gone down here in 'merica.

comcast recently dropped american-owned goltv (which broadcast bundesliga) to make room for aljazeera-owned beinsport, which shows la liga instead. so i dropped comcast in return.

so right now there is limited national coverage for goltv-- time warner in new york carries the HD version and in the rest of the country there's basically 1 satellite provider that carries the SD signal (DirectTV).

Not being in NY and having no access to DirecTV in my current abode (only Dish, which sucks), I am therefore forced to watch on weird streams-- TRT Haber (from Turkey) offers the best quality so far, but I don't speak the language. Damn, I want my cable with good signal, no interruptions, and english-speaking commentators.

My guess/wish/dream is that with Total Bundesliga Domination (ha!) golTV with its Bundesliga contract till 2015 would become more desirable and available in more carriers/markets so I can get it again GODDAMMIT.

Hmm all these games are too close to call. All the teams are jsut as liekly as the other to get to the final. I'll say this though I dread an ANOTHER El Classico final more than an all German final. How many times have Barca and Real played each other this season alone?!

Eitherway I'm hella looking forward to them.

bayern is playing practically the whole bench and it's still beating nuremberg 3-0 at half-tme. all 3 goals were scored in the first 24 minutes by boateng, gomez, and rafinha.

subs-- Neuer, Alaba, Dante, Martínez, Robben, Hojbjerg, Mandzukić

hilarious. they have the german cup semis on the 16th and they'll be playing wolfsburg which (on paper anyway) shouldn't be hard to beat.

--
edit: 4-0 is the final score! tom starke saved a penalty with a header. why heynckes doesn't play him more ofthen i don't know-- earlier this season neuer was playing with a broken finger ha ha ha. !!!

They're just one of those teams, for me. They have a bit of a reputation for being really arrogant. They're Germany's Man U, Real, Inter.

This is an old article but gives some reasons for the widespread dislike:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/f...h-2361499.html

Although it conveniently overlooks the fact that, in England anyway, for lots of boring reasons, German football will never get any kind of popular support - be it clubs or their national side. Rightly or wrongly, it just won't happen.

ac milan, you mean?

bayern will hit a new low on choking if they don't eliminate this barça.

puyol being puyol woudn't surprise me if he actually makes it to one of the legs, though that's only part of the problem... they've been very bad defensively the whole season.

It may be changing but I think Inter are traditionally more disliked. They have a reputation for being really dirty and fell out of favour in Italy for having so few Italian players - when that used to be a big deal.

Barca's defence looks seriously weak. Apart from everything else, losing Mascherano will mean Busquets will have to change role. It's not looking good. Bayern choking seems like Barca's best chance.

They'll probably put him or Bartra along with Piqué as a central and use Song as a 5.

So in other words, Barcelona are fucked.

hey i read the article and they summarized it with this quote:

"Put simply: Bayern were smart. And smart people who plan ahead, expect to be successful and have luck to boot, are seldom loved."

anyway, smart planning vs. sugar daddies aside--- barcelona indeed look beatable, but to close that deal bayern has to neutralize messi. if the last match proved something is that without messi barça is lost in space. how would they do it?

i think between defense and holding midfielders bayern has sufficient manpower to clamp down on messi wherever he might be. throw schweinsteiger, javi martinez, boateng and dante at him, plus alaba (i think messi tends to "dress right" (lol), correct? and he might not find much space.

then again there's iniesta. same defensive core minus alaba plus lahm, i think he'll be stopped. barcelona's wingers are a bit shit in my opinion. villa hasn't been the same since he broke his leg, has he? and pedro-- fuck, i hate pedro (because he sucks).

xavi vs and busquets could have neutralized kroos had kroos played but now it doesn't matter. barça will prolly control that zone (though mueller will try to slip past them) but be bottled up beyond. besides, schweinsteiger can run up on the attack & fuck them pretty good.

where they can be overcome is the wings. alaba-ribery vs. dani alves? that's gonna be epic. i predict yellow cards.

but the real weak hole for barcelona is gonna be alba-adriano where i'm gonna guess robben with his flappy arms wil overcome with the help of lahm. and gomez (who hasn't recovered so well since his surgery) will duel pique and maybe puyol. oh, mandzukic, why why why did he have to get that yellow card, so unfair. mandzukic is much quicker-- amazing how he has improved.

btw, puyol turned 35 today. i like him lots, but he needs to retire while he retains some glory.

damn, on paper i can see barcelona getting seriously creamed... and yet they are ahead of real madrid by 13 points as of today? ha ha ha... paper is only good to wipe one's ass! i can't wait till matchdate.

yeah i dont know, bayern is not use to not having control and barca WILL have control. it all depends if they can create some opportunities and have some luck on their side. i agree, on paper, bayern looks like the stronger team. but barca is a team full of winners while bayern has choke mentality. if barca gets ahead early, i think it will be difficult for bayern

From what I've seen Buyten and Dante look pretty slow, on his day Messi will do some damage there.



It'd be funny but for me Bayern are in the final.

he was basically put aside, there were even talks about a move to arsenal. they were forced to bring him back when things started to go wrong.

guess they'll have to make do with Gómez and bring Pizarro later on

Madrid have been stronger head-to-head.

Real won La Liga last year with a record of points and goals and since then, for the fans and for some players, it's all about 'la Décima'.



They threw in the towel early in the season. Mourinho obviously didn't like this a bit, I'm sure you've heard about the problems with Casillas and Ramos.

It's Bayern's to lose. I don't take the predictions they might choke too seriously and so long as they don't, they look too strong for Barcelona, especially over two legs. The way Barcelona have been playing I wouldn't make them obvious favourites against any of the other semi-finalists.

@madcap - yes, yes! the choke mentality! and barcelona's passing is 2nd to none. so i'm not writing them off so quickly (though i'd like to).

@tramajico - van buyten is subbing for badstuber/boateng. badstuber is broken; boateng had a slight injury or something, but he's back-- in fact he had a great match against nuremberg. so i think it should be him instead of van buyten but who knows. apparently heynckes prefers the more experienced van buyten for big matches, but it's all about adapting to your opponent, right? though van buyten is great for corners/headers.

plus, don't discount the work javi martinez does on defense. he's really great-- not sure if worth the E40 million they paid for him but he's proving really excellent.

and yes it's going to have to be gomez and/or pizarro upfront but that's my problem slightly-- gomez hasn't really been the same since surgery (since the euros really), and pizarro is a great sub but a sub nevertheless. as for that typical succession, who knows-- this past weekend they tried pizarro instead of kroos and gomez up front while mueller rested-- i didn't see a lot from that duo but gomez scored (with the help of boateng, of all people) and there were 2 goals by defenders (boateng, rafinha), plus one from shaqiri who was played on the right instead of his usual left.

so who knows what heynckes might try-- but he's a clever bastard for sure. me i'd forsake the middle (barca will have it anyway) and bet on headers by gomez/pizarro from crosses from the wings. gomez is the one who chokes by the way-- not the whole team-- so there's my worry.

and madnzukic will be free for the 2nd match. that sucka is tall too!

--

btw mourinho was in germany yesterday watching dortmund. if dortmund can stop real madrid, it's gonna be epic.

is it okay to post this?

Well that F.A Cup semi final was just brilliant. What a game.

Rafa's bound to get the usual flack for leaving out Lampard.