Champions League

by **Jaszalcatraz** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 7:01 pm

After the Round of 16 Draw this morning the following are the ties for the First Knockout Round to be played in February.

Its the usual aggregate of two matches format.

Real Madrid-Juventus

Porto-Inter

Barcelona-Chelsea

Werder Bremen-Lyon

Liverpool-Bayer Leverkusen

PSV Eindhoven-Monaco

Man United-Milan

Bayern Munich-Arsenal

Complete match previews with complete team rosters will follow.

by **azazel** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 7:04 pm

by **CtrlAltDel** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 7:28 pm

why?

by **Der Schakal** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:11 pm

CtrlAltDel wrote:why?

To SPAM.

by **Sharjeel** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:36 pm

Bayern!

They have in-form strikers, fantastic mids and world-class defenders. AND the main thing this year is that they seem to be freee from contorversy, unlike all the other teams in the group. I also think ManU have a chance.

by **Jaszalcatraz** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:40 pm

"Free from controvery"?

What kinda controversy are u talking about?

by **Der Schakal** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:43 pm

Jaszalcatraz wrote:"Free from controvery"?

What kinda controversy are u talking about?

I think he means that Beckham thing........(Just a guess).

by **Sharjeel** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:45 pm

Real is in turmoil. Player spats, et al. Arse-nal are chokers outside England. Barcelona may do it, but their injury list is too long.

Chelsea? I dunno. Too many players, so a lot of nervousness and not enough gelling in the team. Inter n Juve also going through tough times. Milan is a spent force...

by **Sharjeel** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:47 pm

Der Schakal wrote:I think he means that Beckham thing........(Just a guess).

Close, but that is only one controversy among the many at Madrid.

by **Jaszalcatraz** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:56 pm

I'm looking at the Bayern Roster and all I see are Kahn, Ballack, Jeremies and Claudio Pizzaro. None beside the first two are big game players. and the Champions League is all about big games

by **Der Schakal** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:57 pm

Sharjeel wrote:
Der Schakal wrote:I think he means that Beckham thing........(Just a guess).
Close, but that is only one controversy among the many at Madrid.

There are more controversies........ :shock:

by **Jaszalcatraz** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:04 pm

They arent real controversies.....they're just problems with motivation and inability to gel as a team. That's what happens when you have tooooo many big names. Nay not just big names, HUGE names

by **Sharjeel** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:06 pm

Bahut controversy hai, baap. Beckam ki to off-field hi hai.

Well Bayern Munchenm has Makaay, Sagnol, Ze Roberto (*drooooooooooooooool*) , Santa Cruz (dunno abt his fitness tho), Saliha-whatever, ....

Every player in that team is top quality. They're not as hyped as the other players, but they are Fantastic. They also are much more compact and have a well settled team.

by **Jaszalcatraz** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:10 pm

Another thing going against Bayern is that they face Arsenal. IMHO this is the Gunners year to go far in the Champions League. Fabregas and Flamini will definitely be big names in the mid field by the time that match comes around.

Arsenal will definetly work outta their present slump by then and Bergkamp will be back. Forget Henry, I hate that idiot.

by **Sharjeel** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:20 pm

Jaszalcatraz wrote:Arsenal will definetly work outta their present slump by then and Bergkamp will be back. Forget Henry, I hate that idiot.

Aye! Forget the idiot Henry! I hate him too! But apart from the wingers and God Bergkamp, they do not have any good defense. Good news about them is thayt Vieira may come back.

The Germans are too fast for Arsenal. Methinks they will blow away Arsenal because Arse-nal will never be able to break them down, while Ae Roberto will be dribbling circles around them.

by **Jaszalcatraz** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:24 pm

me's doing a small match preview, check back in 10 mins sharjeel.

by **Sharjeel** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:25 pm

Gladly!

by **Jaszalcatraz** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:47 pm

Since we got a discussion going, lets do our first match preview.

Bayern Munich vs Arsenal

Bayern Munich starting 11

Kahn, Lucio, Kuffour, Demichelis, Frings, Ze Roberto, Ballack, Rau, Hargreaves, Makaay and Pizarro

Subs:Scweinsteiger, Hashemian and Guerrero

Arsenal starting 11

Almunia, Campbell, Cole, Vieira, Lauren, Toure, Fabregas, Reyes, Pires, Bergkamp and Henry

Subs: Flamini, van Persie and Lehmann

Bayern 33 Goals scored, 20 conceded (so far in Bundesliga)

Arsenal 44 Goals Scored 23 conceded (so far in Premier League)

Bayern played 17 won 10 drew 4 and lost 3

Arsenal played 17 won 10 drew 5 and lost 2

again in respective leagues.

Keeping in mind their leagues, I think its pretty close so far.

Key players for the rest of the season

Bayern: Ballack, Kahn, 20 year old Scweinsteiger, Makaay and the always injured Deisler.

Arsenal: Pires, Reyes, Vieira, 17-year old Fabregas and (ugh) Henry.

Nicely balanced out competition isnt it. Kahn getting old and Arsenal dont have standard keeper. The young midfielders are both sureshot future stars. Makaay and Reyes have settled well. This is gonna be a tough one.

Nice preview to do but frustrating since they so damn evenly matched.

by **Sharjeel** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:57 pm

Isn't it?

I would have loved to write off Arsenal straight-away, but looking at your (brilliant) preview, now me also getting second thots about the game.

Too close to call. Makaay and Henry are among the top 3 goalscorers of the CL, and the mids of both teams are absolutely stunning.

Arsenal are much better in Mid as far as attack is concerned. But apart from their supremely gifted attacking Mids, Arsenal have a lousy Goalkeeper and stupid defenders, while the Germans are too rock solid at the back and their mids are also better ball winners.

Bayern will quite be able to deal with Arsenal's attackers while Arsenal will have their hands full when Bayern come at them. But again, Arsenla just might slip in an early goal and this just throws all the calculations out of the window.

Me head be spinning now...

by **ycr007** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 11:02 pm

DId'nt know Jasz was such a Soccer Fan.And most of his opinions are to the T.But i beg to differ with the Fabregas n Flamini thing.Agreed that they have great potential but they are in no way in Wenger's starting lineup.Once Viera n Cole are back from injuries,they are gonna take up their fav roles.Also methinks Arsenal are good only when Henry is firing and Bayern's defence may peg him back to an extent.But if Pires n Ljungberg are also on song then it is difficult to stop Arsenal.

But I'm gonna stick my neck out for Bayern.They simply have that tenacity & Discipline that Arsenal lack.

For the SF's i think Real,Chelsea,Juve n Barca would be the safest bets.Mouth-watering clashes to look forward to.....

by **Jaszalcatraz** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 11:05 pm

Head spinning already?? Imagine Chelsea vs Barcelona. 2 fav teams drawn against each other. Unfair.

by **Jaszalcatraz** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 11:08 pm

ycr007 wrote:For the SF's i think Real,Chelsea,Juve n Barca would be the safest bets.Mouth-watering clashes to look forward to.....

You're only half right. Chelsea play Barca and Real play Juve in the round of 16. 2 of those have gotta go.

by **Habitual Perfectionist** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 11:21 pm

Milan a spent force? Utter Blasphemy. Never ever say that about a team that's breathing down Juve's neck (I'm sure they'll win the scudetto this year). Never even think that about a team that boasts of names like Maldini, Nesta, Crespo, Tomasson, Shevchenko, Seedorf, Rui Costa & Inzaghi.

And they're not just names. They've proven beyond doubt that they can perform well as a team. 6 away games won out of 7 is no mean achievement Sherry.

Arsenal...all they need is a little more of self belief. A team having won the premiership twice in succession against stellar competition from Chelsea, ManU & Newcastle cannot be the pushovers that they are outside England. Pires, Bergkamp and Henry (Even I'm a Henry hater but can't help but marvel at the guy's finishing) are a class apart and I'm sure Arsenal will get their act back together soon.

by **ycr007** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 11:28 pm

Jaszalcatraz wrote:
ycr007 wrote:For the SF's i think Real,Chelsea,Juve n Barca would be the safest bets.Mouth-watering clashes to look forward to.....

You're only half right. Chelsea play Barca and Real play Juve in the round of 16. 2 of those have gotta go.

I did'nt lookup the fixtures...Jus' the teams....Neways.....The pic will be clearer once the first rounds are over.....But thatz still more than Two months away.....Yaawn...Yaawn......

by **Sharjeel** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:40 pm

Habitual Perfectionist wrote:And they're not just names. They've proven beyond doubt that they can perform well as a team. 6 away games won out of 7 is no mean achievement Sherry.

I take my words back! I love them soo much that I hate them. Guess me expects too much from them.

Saw Juve the other day against Bolgna and they were quite good. Didnt get the goals, but they came through a very tough match and this proves their fighting qualities.

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