UEFA Champions League

[red.]

To be fair, it doesn't really matter how much possession you have if you don't do anything with it.

[deuz]

ok just watched champoins league hour( aus show on sbs-'the world game' not sure if if itll be on youtube or you might have to go to there website).... and they pretty much analysed all the 'penalties' and from what i saw and what they said the only one that should of been given was piques handball. Most of the other didnt need to be given (including the other handball which could have been given the either way) so honeslty i dont think chelsea were robbed. they just didnt expect to lost to an understrength, 10-man side....whiny *****es

and seriously drogba...lol

[Rappy Veteran]

I have to admit I can't stop watching the Drogba swearing clip :rofl:

[Weld_El_7aj]

these are the 5 penalties Chelsea is claiming:

First one:

they are holding eachother, so it can be penalty as it can be Malouda's Fault.

Second :

i already posted about the fainting effect Bar?a players had on Chelsea ones

Third :

Clearly hits the ball.

the other two :

No comment on these two ones, even if someone could say that Eto'o was too close to Ballack, but you can't defend with your hand spread like that.

About the possession that Red. tells, you can do nothing without the ball. bar?a played a mediocre game thanks to the great defensive work of chelsea.

[deuz]

they were saying that the second handball should of been given but could go either way as he is putting his hand up 'to protect his face' and for the first one even if a penalty was given it would of been out of the box as the pushing started out of the boxes and ended just inside....

[Brodel]

Barca played better over the two legs, but Chelsea were unlucky. The ref was poor and there were two clear shouts for a pen. Also, cards should be wiped for the semis and the final imo, and decisions should be reviewed for incidents other than mistaken identity. UEFA need to get their act together.

[idioot]

Playing it safe in Barcelona came back to haunt them, should have gone for that away goal ! :p

Barca should have had a penalty last week too..

[deletedxyz]

After reviewing the match, I still am confused at how the commentators stated that Chelsea dominated Barcelona. Chelsea had fewer shots on goal but had three more shots on goal. They had less possession of the ball but played solid defense. I must admit that Barcelona was lucky but both sides played conservative soccer, which made the whole match boring until the 93rd minute. Barcelona, if the performance over two legs of both teams were compared, Barcelona would be the winner but the second leg was quite a disappointment offensively from both teams.

[Martyn]

I'm so glad Barcelona went through. They are a proper footballing side with a rich heritage and deserve to win the competition.

Chelsea should be ashamed of themselves, all the play acting from Drogba this season in the Champions League is destroying football. The way he and Ballack behaved last night was embarrassing for football, similarly with the way the referee has already received death threats because of yesterday and had to be smuggled out of the country...

[nothuman]

True, this is not the way I love football.

[Subject Delta]

I have just watched a re-run of the game, and for sure there are several cases for Chelsea to be aggrieved, however there is no excuse for their players to act so unprofessionally. I also thought the red card was a really poor decision, in typical Chelsea fashion Anelka went down like a sack of s*** with little or no contact (a dive that Drogba himself would have been proud of).

Despite the hordes of sad Chelsea fans claiming a conspiracy, it wasn't the ref was just awful all around. It makes me sad that out of 2 semi-finals featuring 4 of the biggest names in world football, the major talking points are about the quality of the refereeing, and not the on pitch action. Uefa need to sort it out.

[nothuman]

The ref played an important part of the result but Drogba missed a huge chance to score the second goal, and that is probably his most important mystake he did last night. And he did a lot of. ;)

[Mike]

I have just watched a re-run of the game, and for sure there are several cases for Chelsea to be aggrieved, however there is no excuse for their players to act so unprofessionally. I also thought the red card was a really poor decision, in typical Chelsea fashion Anelka went down like a sack of s*** with little or no contact (a dive that Drogba himself would have been proud of).

The red card was kinda inevitable once the free kick was given, it was *not* a dive (or going down too easily). Anelka tripped himself (not on purpose), the problem is the replays don't show if it was Abidal who tapped Anelka's leg (accidentally as no challenge was made) or whether it was the result of a shoulder challenge. You see "challenges" like that in the PL a lot and they're always given as free kicks which is where the last-man rule falls down. Abidal didn't make a challenge yet gets sent off for accidental contact.

[Weld_El_7aj]

i don't know how the UEFA do it, but putting a Ref from Norway (who the f@ck plays in Norway) on one of the 3 biggest games of the year wasn't a great idea IMO, the show he did is a clear example of it. they should put good ref from big leagues for this kind of games.

as Martyn stated, the ref on the ManU - Pool was excellent, I'd prefer seen him, even if he is an English ref, for yesterday's game than that dude.

[Subject Delta]

The red card was kinda inevitable once the free kick was given, it was *not* a dive (or going down too easily). Anelka tripped himself (not on purpose), the problem is the replays don't show if it was Abidal who tapped Anelka's leg (accidentally as no challenge was made) or whether it was the result of a shoulder challenge. You see "challenges" like that in the PL a lot and they're always given as free kicks which is where the last-man rule falls down. Abidal didn't make a challenge yet gets sent off for accidental contact.

I have seen the replay from several angles, and there is clearly no contact from Abidal

[Green_Eye]

I have seen the replay from several angles, and there is clearly no contact from Abidal

Was the Dani Alves yellow card justified in your opinion?

I only ask because you watched a re run and I remember I was really frustrated that he got it and don't remember what it was over...

[Kralik]

god dammit it aired an hour earlier than the tvguide said!! bah i hope there are highlights on youtube soon

*cough* footytube *cough*

[Subject Delta]

Was the Dani Alves yellow card justified in your opinion?

I only ask because you watched a re run and I remember I was really frustrated that he got it and don't remember what it was over...

He jumped up with his arm raised, but would never have been a yellow in the Premier League, but I believe it may have been for a succession of fouls.

Personally I thought it slightly harsh

[deuz]

lets look forward to the final..... the two best teams in the world atm are playing in it. clicky :p

[Crazysah]

lets look forward to the final..... the two best teams in the world atm are playing in it. clicky :p

And the winner is..... Chelsea or Barcelona

[Rappy Veteran]

Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher will miss the Champions League final after Uefa rejected an appeal against his red card in the semi-final.

The 25-year-old was controversially sent off in the second leg of United's 4-1 aggregate win against Arsenal.

Italian referee Roberto Rosetti sent Fletcher off for what he saw as a foul on Cesc Fabregas and awarded a penalty.

Barcelona's Eric Abidal's and Dani Alves will also miss the final after Uefa turned down their appeals.

Abidal was sent off for what referee Tom Henning Ovrebo saw as a trip on Nicolas Anelka in the semi-final against Chelsea, while Alves picked up a yellow card for a challenge on Ashley Cole, ruling him out of the final.

Uefa initially said there was no right of appeal unless the referee had made an error in identifying the player.

As this was clearly not the case, United asked Uefa to review the decision on "compassionate" grounds and allow Fletcher to face Barcelona in Rome.

[Guest]

Iniesta is a doubt for the final after picking up an injury in Barca's 3-3 draw with Villareal. Could be a big loss.

[Subject Delta]

Can't say Fletcher's ban being upheld surprises me. That "compassionate grounds" crap stank to me of "please reverse the decision because we are Manchester United". Credit to UEFA though for showing the balls to defend their procedures.

Admittedly the red was undeserved but if no other team would get the red overturned, then refusing united the same right is only fair.

Shame that 3 players are missing from the final from inept refereeing. I just get the gut feeling that all the key people missing from Barcelona will effectively kill the game as any sort of contest. UEFA clearly need a re-think of their rules about overturning unjust bookings and sendings off.

[Kralik]

Can't say Fletcher's ban being upheld surprises me. That "compassionate grounds" crap stank to me of "please reverse the decision because we are Manchester United". Credit to UEFA though for showing the balls to defend their procedures.

I felt exactly the same about it. I do feel UEFA is unjust to British clubs and especially English clubs but the law should be the same for all.. Real tried to bypass it by trying to play their winter signings and UEFA said no and its good that they upheld the law again and are not giving in to the biggest clubs in Europe.. having said that there must be an appeals process coz the level of refereeing in most European games is plain horrible.. Just hope nothing crazy happens in Rome outside the game. Rome is not the most friendly place for English fans to travel to due to the loonies called 'Ultras'.

Conflict with English fans

There have been a number of instances of conflict in recent years between some Roma supporters and fans of English clubs, pointing to an apparent dislike for English fans in some Giallorossi supporters.[48] One reason forwarded for this is the 1984 defeat to Liverpool in the European Cup Final at the Stadio Olimpico,[49] and the subsequent violence outside the stadium which saw a number of Liverpool fans stabbed.[50] Since then, there have been further instances of some English supporters being attacked and stabbed in Rome, including incidents in 2001 when Liverpool visited Roma twice and subsequent clashes with Middlesbrough fans in 2006 and Manchester United fans in 2007. In March 2009, a coach carrying Arsenal supporters was attacked by a group of Roma "Ultras" just outside the Stadio Olimpico. The coach's windows were smashed and at least one person entered the vehicle, letting off a flare and "allegedly" stabbing a supporter in the knee.[51] [52] Arsenal had posted advice to their fans on how to avoid routes taken by Roma Ultras.[53]

Source

Edited May 12, 2009 by Kralik

[Mike]

Can't say Fletcher's ban being upheld surprises me. That "compassionate grounds" crap stank to me of "please reverse the decision because we are Manchester United". Credit to UEFA though for showing the balls to defend their procedures.

I'm sure your tune will change when it happens to a Liverpool player. The fact is he shouldn't have been sent off so should be allowed to play, it has nothing to do which club he plays for. It's also a fact it wasn't just United wanting the card taken away, it was most people who know about football. If Uefa allow for players to be punished afterwards, why not have incorrect punishments removed like any other league does?