Year Round The Football/Soccer Thread v2

[FrostyMouse]

Not really in my opinion. I wouldn't have argued if he was given a PK for it, but his actions didn't scream to me that he was only trying to take him out. But it's a good thing it didn't cost them winning.

You can't kick someone in the face and get away with it. Admittedly, Ba was kicked in the head in the Newcastle match and no call was given, no penalty, no red card, no nothing. It's not like he was going for the ball and hit him (although Nani got sent off for that), this was just violent conduct and deserved a sending off. Last season, Terry lightly knees Alexis Sanchez, who looks around as he was confused about what had happened, sees Terry, then collapses to the ground and acts as if he's been killed. That was a sending off, so...

 

[xi0]

You can't kick someone in the face and get away with it. Admittedly, Ba was kicked in the head in the Newcastle match and no call was given, no penalty, no red card, no nothing. It's not like he was going for the ball and hit him (although Nani got sent off for that), this was just violent conduct and deserved a sending off. Last season, Terry lightly knees Alexis Sanchez, who looks around as he was confused about what had happened, sees Terry, then collapses to the ground and acts as if he's been killed. That was a sending off, so...

I didn't really see it until the replays. I thought you were talking about the contact. Torres just laid there on the ground at the corner of the six yard box for a long time after he went to the ground. It didn't look intentional to me, and I think if you just lay on the ground that close to the goal with play developing out wide you should expect to get stepped on. So I don't know.

 

[FrostyMouse]

I didn't really see it until the replays. I thought you were talking about the contact. Torres just laid there on the ground at the corner of the six yard box for a long time after he went to the ground. It didn't look intentional to me, and I think if you just lay on the ground that close to the goal with play developing out wide you should expect to get stepped on. So I don't know.

No, no. It probably wasn't a penalty anyway, but I was talking about the kick to the face. It looked 100% intentional. He was still on the ground, the player walked up to him, and kicked him in the head. I don't see how you can think that that wasn't intentional. It was violent conduct, which is deserving of a red card.

 

[xi0]

To be honest, I missed that part and only saw the replay that focused on him being on the ground and then the player coming in sort of stepping into his head or trying to step over him. So I can't really say. But I can see where he might not have seen him.

 

[FrostyMouse]

To be honest, I missed that part and only saw the replay that focused on him being on the ground and then the player coming in sort of stepping into his head or trying to step over him. So I can't really say. But I can see where he might not have seen him.

There's no way he can't have seen him. It looked pretty intentional, as in order to have kicked him in the face, he had to walk towards him.

 

[kakashi919]

UCL draw:
Malaga v Dortmund
Real Madrid v Galatasaray
PSG v Barcelona
Bayern Munich v Juventus

I had hoped to avoid Munich until the semi or the final, but after seeing Arsenal beat them I don't see them as a threat anymore

 

[Josef]

Anyone up for predicting semi finals?

Also, Munich vs Juve seems to take center stage currently, sad that Barca and Real did not get either Munich or Juve. :/

 

[kakashi919]

Anyone up for predicting semi finals?

Also, Munich vs Juve seems to take center stage currently, sad that Barca and Real did not get either Munich or Juve. :/

Juve vs Barca and Real vs Dortmund semis

Juve vs Dortmund final

 

[Hardy]

WTF is Málaga doing between Europe's best 8 ....

 

[goldb]

Juve vs Barca and Real vs Dortmund semis

Juve vs Dortmund final

This would be one of the most unlikeliest's final scenario. Both Madrid and Barcelona will be in the semis imo, but I feel like there's a gonna be a shock result.

 

[Mr. Prince]

Weird draw... I guess one can say without doubt that both, us and Juve, are the unlucky fellows of today's draw. That match is the only one that, under normal circumstances, is pretty much even.

Personally, I'm not overly happy about facing Juve (I would have preferred us playing against Gala/Málaga/PSG) but there were also three other teams I would have liked to avoid even more (namely Barca/Real/BVB). So it's basically O.K., I guess. Not too easy, but also not a hurdle we can't take. I think in some way that is just about the right kind of opponent we need at this point. Our sport director Sammer also stated that today.

How I basically rate the remaining teams in a nutshell:

Spoiler

1. Barcelona
2. Munich, Madrid (due to their current momentum)
3. Turin, Dortmund
4. Paris
5. Málalga
6. Istanbul

As for predicting the results of these QF matches:
Málaga CF VS. Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid C.F. VS. Galatasaray S.K.
Paris Saint-Germain F.C. VS. FC Barcelona
FC Bayern Munich VS. Juventus F.C

That would make the semi finals a Spanish/German exclusive event!
There I wouldn't mind seeing the two national "Clásicos", i.e. Barca VS. Real and us VS. Klopp's bees.

 

[Imperium]

Man...Seeing these QF without an English team feels so weird. There is no one for me to hate. I have to invent fake hate that I dont really feel just to pick a side to support. Like Madrid are dicks, Barca are cunts...but the hate is not real. I would love to see the underdogs do well though. Something like 04 would be brilliant.

 

[kakashi919]

Man...Seeing these QF without an English team feels so weird. There is no one for me to hate. I have to invent fake hate that I dont really feel just to pick a side to support. Like Madrid are dicks, Barca are cunts...but the hate is not real. I would love to see the underdogs do well though. Something like 04 would be brilliant.

Yeah, I'm hoping either Malaga or Gala pull off an upset... more towards Gala though, I actually like Dortmund. As for another classico, no thanks...I've had enough for one season

 

[Imperium]

I am rooting for Gala the most as well, followed by PSG. Something to break the stranglehold that the top four nations have on the competition would be nice. A turkish or french team in the final would send a positive message to other nations.

 

[Mr. Prince]

I can see where you're coming from but I just don't see Galatasaray capable of pulling off such a stunt. They are this year's APOEL Nicosia. (Funny how it's always Real who get these kinda "free lottery tickets"... ) But in contrast to Nicosia I find them to be extremely dislikable due to their ridiculous display of megalomania. Also, the football they are playing is unappealing and lacks in the tactical department and their pitch looks like they're cultivating potatoes on it. (It's scandalous a team gets to spend millions on former star players while they can't even manage so much as getting a proper pitch.)

Málaga has the potential to pull one over Klopp's boys. Dortmund just ain't comfortable in the role of the favorites. They much rather like to see themselves as the underdog. Another thing is the lack of depth to their squad: Hummels will be out due to injury for a good amount of time (Santana is a fine back-up but he's notorious to screwing up on a regular basis), other players like Piszczek or Gündogan are pretty much forced to play despite suffering from (minor) injuries for weeks now. Their backup striker Schieber is a joke, so if Lewy happens to be suspended/injured/on a scoring dry spell their attacking force is diminished by a large amount.

And Paris, to me, simply does not show great team chemistry. I think they still need time to develop the right kinda spirit. Plus, Ibra's suspension hits them hard. (Then again: Let's not forget the Ibra curse... so PSG never had a shot in the first place. )

 

[FrostyMouse]

This would be one of the most unlikeliest's final scenario. Both Madrid and Barcelona will be in the semis imo, but I feel like there's a gonna be a shock result.

We got Bayern vs Chelsea last season, so...

---------- Post added at 06:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:37 PM ----------

If you were wondering, I'm picking Dortmund vs Barca and Bayern vs Madrid. I would like to see Dortmund vs Bayern in the final, honestly, but I don't think it'll happen. Dortmund vs Madrid seems to already be in Dortmund's favor.

I'm afraid that we'll end up with a Clasico for the CL Final, which is something that I don't want.

If it matters, I hate Barca with a passion as I'm a Chelsea fan.

 

[xi0]

Maybe I'm naive, but what's the correlation between being a Chelsea fan and hating Barca? Aside from losing to them in the semis several years ago? Or is it just that?

 

[Hardy]

Maybe I'm naive, but what's the correlation between being a Chelsea fan and hating Barca? Aside from losing to them in the semis several years ago? Or is it just that?

Cause barca plays nice football and Chelsea fans hate it.

 

[kakashi919]

Yessssss I love how everyone is writting off Juve

Would make it so much more sweeter when we win it all

---------- Post added at 04:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:53 PM ----------

Cause barca plays nice football and Chelsea fans hate it.

No no... because Barca has a playing style and Chelsea doesn't

 

[FrostyMouse]

Silly noobs, shush. At least we won a CL title lately and your teams haven't. :P

What it comes down to is that in our matches versus Barca in the last several years, there has been some very, very, very, very, very questionable refereeing. In the early 2000s, we had some great matches against Barca, but the 08/09 SF was marred by so much poor refereeing that it wasn't funny. We got our revenge for that match last season, but it still doesn't matter. I hate Barca and I always will. Messi's a great player, but it doesn't change my opinion about Barca.