Champions League Semi Final *Spoilers* 29/30 April

Well played United, getting through stoically, but you have to say over 180 minutes wtf did C Ronaldo do? he went missing imho, like he did in last years semi final games against AC Milan, best player in the world...hmm?!

According to the commentators he was 'not overdoing it', translation: doing nothing.

In all fairness though, he wasn't great but wasn't bad either, but, at the moment, he can do know wrong in front of commentators, pundits and Man U fans.
 
Well he won a penalty, should have had another two. I thought he was good tonight, was pretty efficient in posession and had a very good move with Tevez.
 
Well he won a penalty, should have had another two. I thought he was good tonight, was pretty efficient in posession and had a very good move with Tevez.

I was only really referring to this game, and the commentators comment was only after about 10-15 mins. As I said though, he wasn't bad or anonymous but he wasn't great either.

Also, the Marquez incident was not a penalty.
 
I was only really referring to this game, and the commentators comment was only after about 10-15 mins. As I said though, he wasn't bad or anonymous but he wasn't great either.

Also, the Marquez incident was not a penalty.

that was half in reply to redzep as well.


And yes it was.
 
I thought the game from manu's point of view was dissapointing. It looked more like Barca were the home team to me.

As a neutral I always find it frustrating how manu can tear teams apart with fast flowing attacking football in the premiership but play a steve davis percentage game in europe.

The 10 men behind the ball at the end was so England and so worrying.

I honestly think ferguson is clueless in european football and for some reason bottles taking the game to the big teams.

I think it's unfair to critise Ronaldo as going missing in the big european games because united play a completely different game against the big clubs in europe.

I think it's idiotic to critise a winger whose scored that many goals in a season to say he goes missing against the big clubs.
 
Very few teams who are 1-0 up and would lose if they conceded would be attacking in the last 10 minutes. Barca for all their incompetence can be a very hard team to get the ball of at times. Especially considering we were missing two of our top 3 players imo.
 
Very few teams who are 1-0 up and would lose if they conceded would be attacking in the last 10 minutes. Barca for all their incompetence can be a very hard team to get the ball of at times. Especially considering we were missing two of our top 3 players imo.

Its not about attacking it's about how deep united and england always play when defending a lead. Thumping the ball out of defense right back to the other team. Losing possession and inviting pressure right back. Instead of having any confidence to play the ball about.

If the result was reversed and united where chasing the game barca would have kept ball. English clubs hump it and keep on inviting pressure.
 
Play


*This is the one - Stone Roses

:D :D :D

I never thought I'd say this about Utd in Europe, but what a professional performance over both legs- this could be a massive turning point for the club in Europe whether we take the trophy or not. Once you've reached one final you suddenly get the knack of doing it, and this team has the quality to dominate in Europe- yes, it's not the 3-2s and 4-3s of 1998-2002- but defensively we were excellent and that gave us the platform where only a single goal is enough. It's incredible that we've only conceded one goal in the knockout stages, even when we've had to shuffle the defence: it gives us the platform to counter attack and I thought we created as many good chances as Barca with hardly any possession.

There was not one player tonight that let us down- I thought Tevez, Park (who never stopped running, he did a brilliant job) and Carrick were outstanding on the attacking front. Evra and Hargreaves too were brilliant at full back against Messi who once again saw a lot of the ball and did bugger all with it- don't get me wrong, he's a stunning dribbler and it amazes me how he keeps the ball sometimes but he was given no joy at all, restricted to just one decent shot on goal. Ferdinand and Brown were both absolutely imperious at the back, they dealt with everything and anything with the minimum of fuss, it's tough to find anything to criticise really, they gave VdS an unbelievably easy night really. Puyol might learn a thing or two from the pair of them, he must be one of the most overrated defenders in the world.

Ronaldo put in a really professional performance, rarely giving the ball away and being an integral part of our attacks, and defending solidly when it was required. He didn't do as much pretty stuff as Messi but once again he was more effective. Nani showed his immaturity but on another night he might have bagged a goal with better shooting, it was great to see him put in the running and take players on- his run and shot around the hour mark was great to watch.

Hmmm... seems like I'm forgetting someone...

Hmmmmmmmmm.......

Paul Scholes = God :D I've been screaming at him to shoot all season and he's always opted to pass, but I forgive him all that for scoring the most important goal of his career (yet!). Over the 2 legs he was definitely one of our best performers.
 
I'm not flaming I am just being honest as a neutral.
As far as Im aware utd made about 5 good chances over 2 games to barcas 20-30 chances.

When did that ever matter? What was the score again? :)

Obviously playing for 3 hours against a team does not provide a fair enough reflection- 4 legs next year? :p

You talk about the 20-30 chances Barca had as if they were being cleared off the line with regularity- far from it, they're best efforts were either set pieces or speculative efforts, like Deco's 2 shots in the first half (both wide I might add), Messi's curled shot and Henry's header straight at Van der Sar. I might also point out that until Henry's two attempts, Barca had an incredible 1 shot on target.

It was the same story in the first leg, that despite having a ridiculous amount of the ball, Barca created nothing in the first half, and in the second half aside from the chance that fell to Eto'o, who should've definitely created a goal when he got into the box but failed to cut it back.

However, facts are obviously of no interest to you as the "neutral" (your word not mine I might add), so I'll leave you to it while I enjoy supporting my team in the final of the Champions League. :) I'm going to take a wild guess that you're an Arsenal fan, am I right?
 
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I dont think the attempts on goal is a fair reflection of barcas threat infront of goal, lets face it there was a lot of last ditch challenges and balls pelting across the box..
But at the end of the day utd defensively were a rock, which is where credit is deserved.

We can be critical of ronaldo, so what hes scored all those goals, he disappears in too many utd games of this magnitude, and yes hes a winger, but hes the winger who gets preference on freekicks, he takes the penaltys, and guess what, hes part of a front 3, and hes played quite a few times in the centre, he plays as far up the pitch as most other forwards tbh.
This isnt a dig at the lad, he just gets wayy too much credit for his goal tally, yea its great and everything, but for some reason everyone mentions him as a midfielder when they sya how many goals hes gotten.
His inconcistency in big games will disappear as he matures, but its likely that he wont carry united as much when he does become concistent, which is good for us other clubs, the problem is though is that Nani will probably peak at this time..
 
I dont think the attempts on goal is a fair reflection of barcas threat infront of goal, lets face it there was a lot of last ditch challenges and balls pelting across the box..
But at the end of the day utd defensively were a rock, which is where credit is deserved.

If you're making last ditch challenges and cutting out balls across the box, it's not luck, it's just good defending.
 
Well played United, getting through stoically, but you have to say over 180 minutes wtf did C Ronaldo do? he went missing imho, like he did in last years semi final games against AC Milan, best player in the world...hmm?!

He scored against AC Milan last year and was our best player in the second leg. People forget that so quickly.
Against Barcelona he was our best runner in the first half of the last game and the best runner in the 90 mins of the second.

People say he has a bad game when he doesn't score (which is outrageous anyway) and he was deployed as a striker, a role he doesn't excel in, but what he did do was take a LOT of pressure off the defence by running with it and allowing the defence to pull out, which was clearly the task at hand that he was given.

Ronaldo doesn't get the credit he deserves outside of scoring goals or his dribbles, the pressure he takes off the team is incredible, and that's the thing that doesn't get captured on TV. Sit in the stadium and watch it though and you see just how well he does do that against these sides.

If you're doubting his best player credentials then there is something completely mental with you.
 
top match, most nervous 20 minutes at the end I've had in a long while. was lettin out a pathetic nervous noise everytime they got past the centre circle. They were unlucky not to score I reckon at some points but our defending was top drawer tonight, the whole team played well tonight, you can point fingers and say "yeah they had more chances/Ronaldo didnt step up" but what does that matter, ultimately?

Over 3 hours worth of football played, we put the ball in the back of the net, they didn't, thats the end of the story right there. Scholesy hit that right on the sweet spot, he was smashing those in when Steven Gerrard was lacin up Ian Rush's boots. Highlight reel of Scholesy's career, that'll be the pièce de résistance, what a player.

None of you scouse or arsenal or whoever bitter boys can say he didnt deserve that goal, no one argues Henry or Gerrard are bad players whatever they may think and Paul Scholes has been one of English Football's greatest players, summed up tonight with a screaming flamer of a kick that even the goal keeper could only admire.

Moscow here we come.
 
If you're making last ditch challenges and cutting out balls across the box, it's not luck, it's just good defending.

I know its not, im saying utd deserved the win, they were a more solid unit than barca.
It was being argued barca had more shots etc etc, but they didnt make use of any of it, utd just soaked it all up.
 
We can be critical of ronaldo, so what hes scored all those goals, he disappears in too many utd games of this magnitude

Scored against Liverpool. Scored against Arsenal. Scored against Sporting. Scored against Roma. Scored against Everton. Scored against Portsmouth. Scored against Villa.

So that's all the best teams we've played in Europe this season bar Barcelona and all of the top 7 sides bar Chelsea and ourselves.

Games of magnitude? We don't think like Liverpool buddy, there are 38 games in a season and all are of magnitude. So no, he doesn't disappear.
 
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you will find most people will acknowledge he deserved that, its usually the utd fans that have problems admitting to players greatness who are not part of their own team, utd fans i know all **** gerrard and torres off, and we all know fine well they would walk into utd's starting 11, and iv seen a few **** off gerrards belters when he does deserve them.

Solid performance by utd, nothing special, nothing pretty, deserved place in the final.
Hoping for an all red affair, wouldnt mind another crack at you's after that last meet.
 
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