UEFA Champions League/Europa League 3/4/5 May *** Spoilers ***

Cosimo

Cosimo

Cosimo

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Champions League - Semi-Final Leg 2

Tuesday 3 ​
Barcelona v Real Madrid, (agg 2-0), 19:45

Sky Sports 2 & HD and Radio 5 Live​

Wednesday 4​

Man Utd v Schalke 04, (agg 2-0), 19:45

ITV 1 & HD and Radio 5 Live

​

Europa League - Semi-Final Leg 2

Thursday 5​

Braga v Benfica, (agg 1-2), 20:05 Five

Villarreal v FC Porto, (agg 1-5), 20:05 ITV 4
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When was the last time Jose lost 3 games in a row? Will be fun to see RM go all out on the attack and then watch Barca rip them apart on the counter.

Not looking good for Schalke. They got beat 4-1 yesterday by Bayern München.
 
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Too add spice and most probably an excuse for jose, the ref for that game is the same guy who took the second leg between barca & inter last season:D
 
Just been told that UEFA have appointed the same ref that sent off Motta at the Nou Camp last season for the Barca - Real game. Hope JM's asked about it in his press-conference :D
 
Does anyone really expect anything to happen regarding the hearing about the RM vs Barca multi- fracas during the first leg?

Personally think it will be slap on the wrist at worst for both teams / clubs

Really hope RM go all out attack, I dont expect them to win, but it would make it an interesting game (even if the tie is already decided)
 
I know its near impossible but I hope to god Real get to the final. Expect Barcelona to role on the floor after every single tackle. Why UEFA chose to play the same ref for the game as last year is beyond me. Can see where Jose Mourinho is coming from with Barcelona getting favours.
 
Fergie's already said that Scholes, Berbatov and Owen will start for us on Wednesday, I'd hope the rest of the team to line up like so....

---------------VDS---------------
Fabio--Ferdinand--Vidic--Evra
Valencia--Fletcher--Scholes--Nani
----------Berbatov--Owen----------

Cant take too many risks, Schalke may have been crap in the first leg but they did score 5 goals at Inter. Need to keep Giggs rested for Chelsea on the Sunday
 
Glad Berbatov is getting a chance, Hernandez needs a break as well, afraid we're pinning too much on him.

I'd expect one of Nani and Valencia not to play, think Gibson will play for some reason.
 
I would also expect Rio to be given a rest, I hope Gibson isnt anywhere near, because that could be a huge mistake (the whole pace of the team will be sacrificed, no midfield pressure and if Shalke manage a goal back, even with subs trying to build the pace back up can go disasterously wrong)

Have Berba and Owen actually played much together (apart from the few minutes today / yesterday)?
 
sunnysingh said:
I know its near impossible but I hope to god Real get to the final. Expect Barcelona to role on the floor after every single tackle. Why UEFA chose to play the same ref for the game as last year is beyond me. Can see where Jose Mourinho is coming from with Barcelona getting favours.
Click to expand...

Not giving a penalty and disallowing a legal goal isn't excatlly what i would call "getting favours":rolleyes:
 
I just hope we get it out of the way with no injuries to focus on the Chelsea match. I'd rather we get knocked out if it means we can go on and beat Chelsea, it's far more important.

A team of 11 Gibson's should be able to go out and not concede 3 at home though.
 
Shamikebab said:
I just hope we get it out of the way with no injuries to focus on the Chelsea match. I'd rather we get knocked out if it means we can go on and beat Chelsea, it's far more important.

A team of 11 Gibson's should be able to go out and not concede 3 at home though.
Click to expand...

I can never agree that 2nd leg of a CL Semi is less important than an EPL game - equally important yes, for sure - and theoretically easier, yes I would go along with that , but given what Shalke did to Inter away no sorry 1 Gibson is too much of a concern even as a sub
 
It would take a miracle for us to beat Barca. I'd rather we reach semi final of the CL and win the league than come second in both if that's the choice.
 
Shamikebab said:
It would take a miracle for us to beat Barca. I'd rather we reach semi final of the CL and win the league than come second in both if that's the choice.
Click to expand...

but then you risk losing both anyway by potentially losing the CL home game and that would be really demoralising just before the Chelsea game (where tiny fractions of percent in performance counts massively imo)
I also dont think it would be that much of a miracle, Utd have done it once before , and in the final Utd didnt turn up for 70 odd minutes plus (imho) Utd are much more of a team this season than we were two seasons ago when it was the Ronaldo show more than anything else

Remember Barca have been shown repeatedly to be beatable away from home this season , Im not saying Utd are favourites or anything (actually not being the favourite usually brings out the best in Utd) , far from it - but Barca are beatable
 
I think we can, just not the way we or they are playing at the moment. We are needing 5/6 chances to get a goal at the moment and we simply won't get that against Barca. When we beat them over two legs we were simply amazing in defence, at the moment we are making a lot of defensive mistakes (like Rio clearing the ball straight to Wilshere early on yesterday who should have scored, or us leaving someone completely unmarked on the edge of the box for their goal) and Barca would take advantage of those.
 
Shamikebab said:
I think we can, just not the way we or they are playing at the moment. We are needing 5/6 chances to get a goal at the moment and we simply won't get that against Barca. When we beat them over two legs we were simply amazing in defence, at the moment we are making a lot of defensive mistakes (like Rio clearing the ball straight to Wilshere early on yesterday who should have scored, or us leaving someone completely unmarked on the edge of the box for their goal) and Barca would take advantage of those.
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fair enough - but with no disrespect to Arsenal, winning 6 (and drawing the other) out of the last 7 matches against them was the main cause for the average display throughout the team yesterday - something that would never happen against Barca

Either way - I totally appreciate your pov, and while changes need to be made for tomorrow - I think changing too many could easily make for a catastrophe
 
As a few of you have stated, I'm afraid about these games. Against Arsenal we played a decent team but not a full strength one, and in the process knackered key personnel whilst losing the match. This has put extra pressure on the Chelsea match encouraging Fergie to rest more key players for the Schalke game. Worst case scenario is our second string now lose to Schalke and we get beaten by Chelsea.

I wish we had rested more players vs Arsenal (especially Rooney, Hernandez and Evra) if this was going to be our approach.
 
He's been timid away from home all year, that's why we've drawn so many games, keeps trying to defend a 1-0 lead and setting our team up to cancel their threats instead of making them worry about dealing with our threats.
 
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