OT: UEFA Champions League 2012-2013

[spacedoodoopistol]

Ah:

NYON, Switzerland — UEFA will consider extending Zlatan Ibrahimovic's suspension in the Champions League after the Paris Saint-Germain forward was ejected against Valencia.

UEFA says its disciplinary panel will hear the case Feb. 27.

Ibrahimovic is automatically suspended for the March 6 rematch in Paris as punishment for his red card in stoppage time in Tuesday's 2-1 win in the first leg of the round of 16.

UEFA can punish him further if the panel decides the offense was "assaulting another player."

Ibrahimovic lunged to tackle Andres Guardado and appeared to go over the ball and stamp on the Valencia midfielder's foot.

In a similar case in 2010, Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery missed the Champions League final when UEFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld his three-match ban.

Will be a close one.

 

[trancemeister]

Haha.....actually I meant "no offense intended". I've got nothing bad to say about Juve, strong team and good enough to hang with any of the contenders.

Tough luck for Madrid today, United played well enough but were basically defending the whole match, largely saved by their goalkeeper. That one is basically even going back to England for the return match.

I might be wrong, but isn't a straight red a two match suspension unless its rescinded? Maybe a tough call but it wasn't wrong, so I think it will stand.

DOH! Totally misunderstood your offense comment there. My bad

I sure hope the suspension gets reviewed and rescinded. It really wasn't an accidental slip of the foot looking at the replays. Might have been a hard foul but a foot stomp certainly didn't seem to be the intention there.

I didn't get to see the games today. Work was hectic and I couldn't sneak away to watch the stream. Have em recorded though so will watch them tonight. From the sounds of it, the Man-RM game was somewhat of a letdown?

 

[CalamityX11]

Madrid wasted an opportunity....

*kicks rock*

 

[mem49er]

Madrid wasted an opportunity....

*kicks rock*

Just caught the highlights but damn, seemed like a helluva' game!

 

[CalamityX11]

Just caught the highlights but damn, seemed like a helluva' game!

Real dominated possesion and had a few scoring opportunities....

Man U nearly won it twice at the end and got a wierd game over call as they were setting up a corner...which is odd cuz i've never seen that before.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

From the sounds of it, the Man-RM game was somewhat of a letdown?

I wouldn't say that. It was pretty one-sided, the ball was in United's own half of the field probably 80% of the match, Madrid just trying to find a way through.....and while that can make a boring match, it was just quality offense vs. quality defense with a lot of good plays being made on both sides.

 

[Yoshi]

Madrid wasted an opportunity....

*kicks rock*

I hear you Cal.

Ball possession towards the end was only 55-45 in favor of RM, but in terms of corners, good chances, and dangerous attacks, RM dominated the majority of this game. How they didn't win I do not know.

The return leg at Old Trafford: we're probably going to witness United putting 9-10 men back and attacking on the counter in order to protect that away goal. Benzema I thought looked horrible out there - his first touch failed him big time and he needs to get something going in order for RM to advance. CR7, Benz, Di Maria, and perhaps Higuain or Ozil need to turn up huge in order for RM to advance. They wasted a glorious opportunity but this was a fantastic match.

 

[Yoshi]

LOL at Arsenal for getting slammed by Munich, although most of us who follow UEFA CL knew that was coming.


Hopefully Barca follows suit and can get a pair of away goals and smash the Azzurri out of this tournament.

 

[trancemeister]

LOL at Arsenal for getting slammed by Munich, although most of us who follow UEFA CL knew that was coming.


Hopefully Barca follows suit and can get a pair of away goals and smash the Azzurri out of this tournament.

WTF happened to Barca today? I haven't watched the game yet but am in total shock!

 

[CalamityX11]

Barca shut out!

Madridistas hoo-rah!

 

[JPurthe1]

Barca shut out!

Madridistas hoo-rah!

^^^ What he said!

 

[Yoshi]

WTF happened to Barca today? I haven't watched the game yet but am in total shock!

Barca was pretty crappy in their attacks - they owned ball possession but weren't able to put the ball on net. To Milan's credit, they were defending the central of the box quite well.

If anyone can get three goals in a hurry, it's Barca. They have to defend, though, against giving an away goal to Milan.

Not over yet, and the return leg is at the Camp Nou. Hope coach Tito V is okay - he was in NY getting treatment for his cancer.

 

[CalamityX11]

Barca was pretty crappy in their attacks - they owned ball possession but weren't able to put the ball on net. To Milan's credit, they were defending the central of the box quite well.

If anyone can get three goals in a hurry, it's Barca. They have to defend, though, against giving an away goal to Milan.

Not over yet, and the return leg is at the Camp Nou. Hope coach Tito V is okay - he was in NY getting treatment for his cancer.

i honestly blame their jerseys...lol.

Are we seeing a fallout on the Pep-less tactics? idk, probably not but very surprised on the two goals by AC that Barca's defense let them through like that.

Yeah, Barca is more than capable of putting up 3... just got to keep it at a 3 goal lead no matter what... it's going to get interesting...

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Are we seeing a fallout on the Pep-less tactics? idk, probably not but very surprised on the two goals by AC that Barca's defense let them through like that.

Its an interesting question. Seen it before in sports, where a great coach works up a great system, then leaves. The system keeps working with the next coach, but the next coach isn't able to make the subtle tweaks and adjustments necessary against certain opponents. It would go double in this case, because everyone that watches soccer knows exactly what Barca is going to do, and some opponents have studied it so extensively they know exactly what to do to combat it....whether they *can* do it is a different story, hardly anyone can.

But really, I think this has happened before, even under Pep. They've talked forever that Barca needs a plan B....something, anything else other than short passing through the middle when the opponent is doing a good job stopping that. They don't cross, and even when they do they don't have anyone that can head a cross. They don't ever counter or play direct. They play some version of 4-5-1/4-3-3 almost exclusively. They don't do anything else, and on a good day an opponent can stop them.

I think they need a new, bright coach that can work with the existing system as well as add some new ideas. And that doesn't even touch their increasing problems on defense, whole different story.

 

[Yoshi]

Its an interesting question. Seen it before in sports, where a great coach works up a great system, then leaves. The system keeps working with the next coach, but the next coach isn't able to make the subtle tweaks and adjustments necessary against certain opponents. It would go double in this case, because everyone that watches soccer knows exactly what Barca is going to do, and some opponents have studied it so extensively they know exactly what to do to combat it....whether they *can* do it is a different story, hardly anyone can.

But really, I think this has happened before, even under Pep. They've talked forever that Barca needs a plan B....something, anything else other than short passing through the middle when the opponent is doing a good job stopping that. They don't cross, and even when they do they don't have anyone that can head a cross. They don't ever counter or play direct. They play some version of 4-5-1/4-3-3 almost exclusively. They don't do anything else, and on a good day an opponent can stop them.

I think they need a new, bright coach that can work with the existing system as well as add some new ideas. And that doesn't even touch their increasing problems on defense, whole different story.

I agree but let's not forget Tito Vilanova is getting cancer treatment in NYC. Before his absence, Barca was on absolute fire. With him out, Barca has lost to AC Milan and now RM in the Copa Del Rey (well, considering the La Liga cup is out of reach, RM needs something to cheer on considering they have an enormously tough task at the return leg at Old Trafford).

Barca needs certain players to step up. I wonder if also many of their players are just mentally fatigued - much of their roster played in the WC and last year's Euro Cup and went the distance in both of those tournaments. Playing that much soccer can be draining no matter how fit you are.

 

[Yoshi]

i honestly blame their jerseys...lol.

Are we seeing a fallout on the Pep-less tactics? idk, probably not but very surprised on the two goals by AC that Barca's defense let them through like that.

Yeah, Barca is more than capable of putting up 3... just got to keep it at a 3 goal lead no matter what... it's going to get interesting...

LOL, yeah that ketchup and mustard away kit is

Their home jerseys are pretty sweet, however, and I hope that's one of a few things that inspires them in the return leg against AC Milan at the Camp Nou.

BTW, congrats Cal on the Madridistas advancing to the Copa Del Rey final.
If I'm a Barca follower, which I am, I want the La Liga title and a shot at UEFA CL redemption.

 

[CalamityX11]

LOL, yeah that ketchup and mustard away kit is

Their home jerseys are pretty sweet, however, and I hope that's one of a few things that inspires them in the return leg against AC Milan at the Camp Nou.

BTW, congrats Cal on the Madridistas advancing to the Copa Del Rey final.
If I'm a Barca follower, which I am, I want the La Liga title and a shot at UEFA CL redemption.

I felt like i was going to fall into a seizure if i watched a whole game of theirs lol...

Man, that return game vs AC Milan is going to be tough. Barca is fully capable of creating 10 goals if they want to but they know they need 3 goal win differential or get that 2-0 shutout and force PKs... a lot of eyes will be watching...

Gracias Yoshi! You said it perfectly in the post prior, that since la liga is out of reach, Real Madrid needed this/something lol. So we're taking it! BTW, I've never seen Puyol get his ankles broken(or rather drop to the floor in a split) like that ever... Di Maria juked the hair out of him lol wow... never seen that done to him before.

Now now, Real has their own redemption to the CL... both barca and RM shouldn't have lost their respected matches to begin with last CL...

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Just saw it was a two-match suspension for Ibra.

PSG's Zlatan Ibrahimovic given extended Champions League ban - ESPN FC

Pretty rough for them. Again, they have plenty of guys to step in but none of them are exactly top-5 player in the world like they guy they're replacing.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

I agree but let's not forget Tito Vilanova is getting cancer treatment in NYC. Before his absence, Barca was on absolute fire. With him out, Barca has lost to AC Milan and now RM in the Copa Del Rey (well, considering the La Liga cup is out of reach, RM needs something to cheer on considering they have an enormously tough task at the return leg at Old Trafford).

No doubt, you look at their league performance this year - on pace to break points and scoring records - and you can see a lot of the hand-wringing is exaggerated. But sometimes they come up against an opponent capable of denying them, and that's where they need a coach that can make tweaks. I suppose I just don't know enough about Tito to have faith that he's a great coach yet, I should probably give him more time before saying he can't do it.

And really, the players do have to take it on themselves to make some changes when things aren't going right. They're smart players, they should be able to switch it up a bit when necessary.

 

[CalamityX11]