Year Round The Football/Soccer Thread v2

[Mr. Prince]

As for yesterday's matches:
I'll have to agree with FrostyMouse, I didn't see Juve as strong as in some other matches. They were pretty wide open at times and lacked that superb compactness that made them such a strong and fun to watch side... not to say they were performing poorly but just not up to some stuff they have showed this season.

As for today's match-ups:
They only broadcast Dortmund in Free TV here, so I'll probably (have to) watch that one. I'd love to see Shakhtar put one over Klopp and the boys. Just so they will have to deliver in the return match at Signal Iduna Park...
It's gonna be interesting if the Bees can continue their strong performances from the group stages. We all remember teams who were playing outstandingly there but failed miserably in the knock-out stages.
So I guess, in the end either outcome is fine with me. If Dortmund fails I get my share of schadenfreude, when they prevail it's good for the league (i.e. UEFA country coefficient) and I can keep dreaming of the match-up between Barca and the Bees.

Blancos vs. Red Devils is gonna be a real blast, I'd guess. Madrid is kinda enigmatic this year... the team is such a mess. Still, there's this saying that a predator is the most dangerous when wounded. I can totally imagine Real snatching that trophy eventually.
So while I'd usually see Fergie's team prevail I can't say for sure how this match-up will turn out in the end. 2-1 at Bernabeu sounds reasonable.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Hmmm that doesn't really change my prediction; gonna stick with the same score. I think Ronaldo will score in both legs. Both teams don't have particularly "solid" defences in my opinion but Ronaldo plus the controlling midfield will be the difference.

For the other game, gonna for a draw...just have a feeling. LOL

Okay then. There are some other factors in play. Casillas is out with that broken hand, although I'm still predicting a win for Madrid.

In terms of Shakhtar vs Dortmund, don't forget that Willian left Shakhtar to go play in Russia, which definitely harms Shakhtar's offesne.

---------- Post added at 02:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:45 PM ----------

I don't like Welbeck starting, but on the other hand, Pepe's not starting for Madrid.

 

[xi0]

Holy crap, I forgot Gus Johnson was going to start doing Soccer! Wow...this out to be interesting

 

[FrostyMouse]

You're watching on FSC, I take it, Gary?

 

[xi0]

You're watching on FSC, I take it, Gary?

Yeah. Johnson used to irritate me, and I'll miss him on March Madness. But I think they intend to groom him as the soccer guy on Fox now that they have the 2018 World Cup.

He isn't doing a bad job actually.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Welbeck scores, lol. A real smash and grab on that one. 1-0 United. Completely against the run of play.

---------- Post added at 03:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:05 PM ----------

The equalizer. Ronaldo, you knew it.

 

[goldb]

Told you Ronaldo would score! .

Gary, whoever is commentating over there surely can't be worse than Gary Neville. This guy is an absolute twat.

 

[xi0]

Told you Ronaldo would score! .

Gary, whoever is commentating over there surely can't be worse than Gary Neville. This guy is an absolute twat.

We get Neville sometimes, it depends. This time it's Warren Barton.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Told you Ronaldo would score! .

Gary, whoever is commentating over there surely can't be worse than Gary Neville. This guy is an absolute twat.

Yeah, you did.

I don't know. Sometimes Gary Neville is an ass, but sometimes I actually like his commentating. He wasn't nearly as biased towards United in the matches I've watched as I expected, but I'm not watching him extolling the virtue of Rafael today. This guy that Gary and I are watching isn't that bad, but he's not great.

 

[xi0]

Barton is usually the main in studio guy. But with Johnson doing play by play, maybe they decided to shake things up a bit. It's usually Neville for CL matches. On ESPN the team is usually Ian Darke and Steve McManaman, unless it's Euro or World Cup, then they bring in a bunch of people.

 

[FrostyMouse]

A draw away was a rather unexpected result, honestly. It'll be a fun second leg. Strange decision to not allow United to take that free kick.

Madrid's lack of finishing was probably the biggest story this match.

 

[goldb]

A draw away was a rather unexpected result, honestly. It'll be a fun second leg. Strange decision to not allow United to take that free kick.

Madrid's lack of finishing was probably the biggest story this match.

Completely agree with that. I was quite sure Madrid would win but in the end Man Utd had just as many opportunities to snatch the game as the home team had. Especially RVP's 2 back to back chances in the 2nd half.

 

[xi0]

De Gea was the man of the match.......never thought that would come out of my mouth in a match against Madrid


Well, maybe Spain isn't too fucked after Iker retires

Luls

 

[goldb]

Well, if not him then they've got Barca's no.1 .

Ozil played really well for me today, and Khedira put in a good performance. I expected more from Ronaldo but even without putting in a great shift, he still managed a brilliant goal.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Benzema and Higuain were awful. When Modric came on, he just slowed the match down, which wasn't positive at all for Madrid's attacking play. This match easily could've been 3-3 or 4-3. On the other hand, Madrid could've been out of sight like 3-0 in the first 20 minutes.

A 2-2 draw in the Howard Webb-officiated Shakhtar vs Dortmund match.

---------- Post added at 04:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:55 PM ----------

Khedira was good defensively, as he usually is, but he was poor going forward. In the fifth or so minute, he was 1v1 against De Gea and missed horribly wide. There were a few other chances for him.

 

[xi0]

Well, if not him then they've got Barca's no.1 .

Ozil played really well for me today, and Khedira put in a good performance. I expected more from Ronaldo but even without putting in a great shift, he still managed a brilliant goal.

They're the same age, so no

I'll just act like I didn't get your joke...luls

 

[goldb]

Benzema and Higuain were awful. When Modric came on, he just slowed the match down, which wasn't positive at all for Madrid's attacking play. This match easily could've been 3-3 or 4-3. On the other hand, Madrid could've been out of sight like 3-0 in the first 20 minutes.

A 2-2 draw in the Howard Webb-officiated Shakhtar vs Dortmund match.

I don't even remember those 2 to be honest and Modric was a surprise for me, I could've counted how many times he touched the ball through his time on the field.

Howard Webb-officiated

BTW did you see Shakhtar's first goal? a nice free-kick.

 

[FrostyMouse]

I don't even remember those 2 to be honest and Modric was a surprise for me, I could've counted how many times he touched the ball through his time on the field.

Howard Webb-officiated

BTW did you see Shakhtar's first goal? a nice free-kick.

Yeah, because of how awful they were. When Modric did touch the ball, he didn't make any good decisions. The world is finally seeing how bad he really is.

lol

It was, although Weidenfeller should've done a lot more. All of the goals weren't that good. The free kick should've been saved, Lewandowski fumbled and the defenders fell down, a team of Dortmund's caliber shouldn't give away a goal to Costa like that on a long ball, and then Hummels' goal was awful marking by Shakhtar.

 

[Mr. Prince]

BTW did you see Shakhtar's first goal? a nice free-kick.

That prick Weidenfeller... after the game he boldly states "Nobody could have saved that freekick!" when asked if he'd blame himself for conceiving it. Give Kahn some gloves and a pair of shorts and he'd save that one any day, even nowadays. Let alone a guy like Neuer who would have caught it with one hand. I can't believe there are guys prancing around who want him as Germany's number 1.

IMO that shot was too central.

Altogether Dortmund's performance was not really impressive. They showed their face we know from the league, rather than from the group stages of UCL. That goes especially for a guy like Hummels who is still - according to the mass media - supposed to be the best German center back by far.

Kudos to Howard Webb though. That was one of the best performances from a ref I've seen in quite some time.

 

[goldb]

GK's positioning was way off, but credit for the accuracy of the freekick. I don't follow German football so I've not even heard of this guy( seriously need to watch more football like back in the day ). Neuer is still no1? even he's overrated.