UEFA Champions League

[gregb0b]

Theres a difference in hitting the woodwork and not getting a brilliant cross.

Even if man utd connected as well as chelsea... we'd still be at pks

[rajputwarrior]

Theres a difference in hitting the woodwork and not getting a brilliant cross.

Even if man utd connected as well as chelsea... we'd still be at pks

hahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahhahah

weren't you saying something about how bad last month was for me... way to seriously choke. Can't score a penalty kick on a goalie who can barely stop a shot in a real game and you can't even win the last game of the year. I bet beckham is happy that happened so people in england will be talking about someone else messing up...

You're clearly not a ****ing Liverpool supporter then are you.

I feel physically sick. I hope every Liverpool player was MADE to watch that final so they can feel the hurt that I do now.

I might watch the 2005 European Cup Final tomorrow...you know, just to remind myself that we have won it five times.

its okay martyn, we still got more then all of'em :)

and wow piracy you make no sense with your hatred of chelsea more...

[gregb0b]

sure its an epic fail I agree. Its mainly drogbas fault any ways:

The sympathy will only heighten at the revelation that Terry was not meant to be among Chelsea?s first five takers and would not have been had Didier Drogba not been sent off for his gentle but idiotic slap of Nemanja Vidic, the Manchester United defender, in the second half of extra time.

?He was not supposed to be in the first five,? Henk ten Cate, the Chelsea assistant manager, said. ?John stepped up when he wasn?t supposed to. It?s unbelievable it happens to him. He slipped. We practised penalties so much all last week and he was very confident. We were all very confident. Penalties is a lottery and we got the short straw.?

I duno what you're laughing at rajput... both of your teams couldn't make it thru April LOL

[rajputwarrior]

sure its an epic fail I agree. Its mainly drogbas fault any ways:

I duno what you're laughing at rajput... both of your teams couldn't make it thru April LOL

and you couldn't make it through may... it hurt less when your teams don't lose closer to the end... when they give you hope, but then they choke hard... REALLLY hard

[Brodel]

First rule of penalty taking, do not let an Englishman take a penalty as they are not very good at it.

To be fair, 4 other English players took pens and all scored.

[Martyn]

I see Martyn. Sorry i didn't mean to upset anyone ok. I was saying from my POV.

I know they are bitter rivals to us and really i wanted to both to lose (which i know was not possible) But Chelsea are like Russian controlled in a way and all the millions they have spent in 3 years to get where they are, they were a nothing team before RA brought his money to the club.

I mean i want Liverpool to come out next season and actually try and win the PL and CL and prehaps the FA cup aswell.

Of course my view will be alot different down here as i am mostly surrounded by Chelsea supporters, where you are in the Liverpool area you have Livepool supporters and Manchester is right near you.. I wasn't trying to upset you Martyn and i apologise if i did.

No worries. YNWA (Y)

Now I'm a Man Utd fan, but I'll be as unbiased as possible.

I watched the game with 5 scousers tonight, and 3 of them wanted Chelski to win... Until they saw the sign that said "No Scousers Here", and then they were behind Man Utd all the way. How can a SCOUSER not be offended by that? I know that MUFC are your bitter rivals, but the fact of the matter is that they specifically offended the Liverpudlians and if you were a true scouser you would have been offended by that.

Buying your way to the champions league final is all well and good, but in all honesty, Man Utd should have won it out of principal...

Well the banner actually said "Scouse Free Zone". Personally, I don't see what is wrong with that banner...I was not particularly offended myself and I don't know many of my fellow Scousers who where.

Anyway, I was actually surprised Chelsea knew how to make a banner, let alone display it! Man Utd sing about Liverpool for 90 minutes of every game anyway, so it kind of negates your argument of how a single crap banner could make us suddenly hate Chelsea more than Man Utd who themselves constantly sing obscenities about the Hillsborough disaster and other things rather than focusing on supporting their own team.

And Martyn, some teams win, some team loses. In this case it was Chelsea who lost and Man United who won, why not give credit when it is due? I don't see a reason why you should hate another team just because they're rivals. I sat beside a friend who is a Chelsea fan and we both went through the match bantering at each other but at the end of it we're still friends, because what matters most is what's beside you, not what's on the screen.

Nah, sorry. The most I did last night was offer my tentative congratulations to a friend who is one of the sounder Man Utd fans I know...

You would never catch many Man Utd fans congratulating Liverpool fans (as proved after Istanbul), infact, I remember RedCafe (a Man Utd forum) actually shut itself down for a week after we won :laugh:

[HilariousNinja]

Absolutely Glorious. Actually, quite a few fans, (including me) have congratulated Liverpool fans. But most Liverpool fans seem to be a bit more bitter about the win. Of course with the win against AC, you could do nothing but say that it was a tremendous comeback.

As for yesterday, a brilliant, brilliant game. Everyone was proved wrong and it was basically a tale of two halves. To say that one team played better than the other is completely ludicrous. I admit like every single other Utd fan that Chelsea played better in the second half. And that we did exactly the same in the first.

Extra time showed how tiring the last game of the season with ET could be and either team could have won it.

It was fitting yet sad that it had to come to penalties, and fate had to play a part in the end.

Can someone pinch me please? :laugh:

[what]

My mate's a Chelsea fan. He managed to get tickets for the game at the last minute, which meant paying ?500 for a plane ticket (him, his brother and his father went, so it totalled ?1500). I can't wait till he gets home. All that money for a los:D:D It was a great game though so I'm sure he'll try to assure himself the trip was worth it.

[gregb0b]

I would have payed 2x that to see a match like this in person. It doesn't matter who wins, being a part of an event like that has to be amazing. Its just more glorious if your team is successful :p!

I disagree rajput :p

[Powa]

Hhhhhhhaaaaaaa

Best team in the world.

[Rappy Veteran]

Former European champions Porto have been thrown out of next season's UEFA Champions League by Uefa.

The 2003/04 Champions League winners, under the guidance of Jose Mourinho, were punished after being found guilty of bribing referees in two games in the same season.

Porto, who secured their third consecutive Portuguese title this season, were docked six points for their part in the match-fixing scandal - although it failed to make an impact on the table.

However, rather than testing themselves against Europe's finest next season, the Portuguese championship find themselves out of the competition altogether.

Porto have stated they will do their utmost to overturn Uefa's decision, although the club would not give any reaction to the punishment.

[Crazysah]

Thats just bad for Porto!

[Rappy Veteran]

Bulgarian champions CSKA Sofia have been excluded from next season's Champions League.

The Bulgarian Football Association has refused to allow CSKA Sofia to compete because of the debts of the club.

It said: "CSKA will not participate in the 2008/2009 Uefa Champions League as this is a final decision."

CSKA president Alexandar Tomov has resigned and took responsibility for the club's position and stated: "It is me and only me who is to blame."

CSKA won their 31st Bulgarian league title last season and are the country's most successful club.

An executive meeting of the Bulgarian FA will also decide whether to also now expel the club from the domestic premier league and relegate CSKA to the country's amateur third division.

"I'm not going to blame any of my subordinates because I'm the leading figure and everyone stares at me," said Tomov, who is to be replaced by chief executive Emil Kostadinov, a former CSKA player.

"I will continue helping the club in the future," added Tomov.

Seems everyone is getting excluded!

[Shibby]

It just seems stupid with the rules that can stop clubs from working there way out of debt.

If it's not getting 10+ points taken away, it's getting kicked out of a competition

[Martyn]

I think Milan may have slipped some people a few quid to get put back in the Champions League.

I believe the team with the highest UEFA Coefficient gets promoted to the Champions League when a team gets kicked out...and AC Milan are in the UEFA Cup ;)

[HilariousNinja]

So who might the teams be who get to go through to the Champions League due to the exclusion of Porto and CSKA from the Coeffiecient Rule?

[Rappy Veteran]

So who might the teams be who get to go through to the Champions League due to the exclusion of Porto and CSKA from the Coeffiecient Rule?

Martyn said AC Milan could be one.

[HilariousNinja]

O rite sorry, I didn't really read through his post clearly. Because I had assumed that they would be at least in the Champions League places in Serie A but I was wrong.

Just checked out the Co-efficients and from that it looks like Sevilla?

[Guyro]

where did you check out the Co-efficients RPatel??

[Martyn]

The whole issue is a confusing one.

If you look at the rankings for next year (which will be used for the seeding in the coming Champions League group draws), here, of which Liverpool are top by the way ;), then AC Milan would get a place in the Champions League because they are second in the standings (and finished 5th in Serie A, hence missing out on the Champions League in the first place).

I think I am right anyway, although I am not 100% sure. Some people seem to be thinking that the place goes to the next team in the Portuguese league, and the next team in the Bulgarian league. I'll guess we have to wait and see, although I am sure AC Milan will sneak in somehow!

[Shibby]

I think it is only fair that the teams from the same league, as the clubs kicked out should be allowed in.

[Rappy Veteran]

I think it is only fair that the teams from the same league, as the clubs kicked out should be allowed in.

Yeah thats only fair.

[L3thal Veteran]

It is the fair way to do it but like it was mentioned before, AC Milan will somehow manage to get in next year's competition.

Assuming they do the right thing, looks like Guimaraes will join Sporting with direct access to the tournament and Benfica will take Guimaraes' spot in the qualification round. Good for Guimaraes, because they played the best football in Portugal this past year. Their style of playing is entertaining and it reminds me of the way EPL teams play.

Not to mention Guimaraes just got back to the first division this year. This team is very well coached and they have very good players. They went over a year without losing a single game.

[ctebah]

I think it is only fair that the teams from the same league, as the clubs kicked out should be allowed in.

that's exactly what's going to happen. an uefa spokespearson already came out, on the 6th i think and said that milan cannot join the champs league. though i am dissapointed, it is only fair that the countries who have the spots, fill those spots.

[Rappy Veteran]

Porto have won their bribery case appeal and could now feature in next season's UEFA Champions League.

The Portuguese champions were thrown out of the competition last week after being found guilty of bribing referees in two games in 2003/4.

They were also deducted six points but still won the league by a big margin.

Porto contested the decision and Uefa have now overturned the suspension that was imposed by its own disciplinary body.

Uefa's Appeal Body has stated that the disciplinary committee must look at the case again.

"The result of the meeting was that the 4th June decision was annulled, but it will return to consider the issue from scratch," Porto director Adelino Caldeira confirmed to Portuguese news agency Lusa.

If the disciplinary committee rules in Porto's favour they will be reinstated to the Champions League.

Uefa rules say clubs must have a clean record to play in European competition.