QUOTE:
Whoever wins, goes through, simple as that. Unless of course, Barca get a score draw and then they'll be through...

Excellent!

I second that, NS. I could almost have believed Wingco had constructed that sentence.

Thing is that ever since the first couple of failures after the Treble year, United have ALWAYS done that away to decent sides in Europe. I hate it - but at the same time it's worth remembering that last season we got beaten 3-0 in the away leg of a Champs League semi-final, so we are at any rate doing somewhat better now.

Puyol's back for the second leg so Márquez's suspension won't count for much (he wouldn't have played anyway), but I just pray that what Sir says about a different plan for the home leg is true - and I really hope that means Nani on the left in place of Park. Why we brought him on in the 75th rather than around the 60th minute I don't know (I mean I'd have preferred him to start, but since he didn't). And I, like Sir Fartle, was screaming out for Anderson, who would've given us a lot more combativeness and drive in the middle. Although we did see an absolutely superbly timed sliding tackle from Scholes at one point, which in its own way made the whole match worthwhile, given the identity of the tackler.

I've just been talking with my cousin's boyfriend (since I referred to my cousin as male further up the thread I shall clarify that I have two half Catalán cousins, one of each gender) and he concurred that as a Barca fan (which category I fall into on any day they're not playing United) he also wasn't happy with the performance in general last night.

One good thing that came of it, though, is that it may finally help put an end to the ridiculous English media hailing Ronaldo as the best player in the world. Prior to kick off last night Lionel Messi had played about 60 minutes of football after coming back from a nearly two month injury layoff. It's been said lots of times before and it'll be said lots of times again, he's an absolute phenomenon. For all Barca's possession, the only times I got nervous last night were when he got the ball and shaped to cut inside. And this season he's learned to play killer through-balls as well...

right this is my fourth attempt to write something about this game. I lost the first two posts to power cuts, and in the third one the fucking computer logged me out. Bastard computers.

Man utd were far too defensive. I think the absence of vidic, and using hargreaves at right back, and memories of last season made united far too cautious. Certainly I didn't expect a 4-2-3-1 formation with carrick and scholes operating on the edge of the d, with tevez park and rooney running around in a line six yards ahead of them, trying to close down space, with ronaldo sent off to try and do all of the attacking by himself.

Barcelona had a lot of the ball, but van der sar didn't have to make a single difficult save. United could have afforded to play a lot further up the pitch I think. There was one moment where barcelona tried to play eto'o in behind ferdinand, and ferdinand just accelerated past him and gently eased him off the ball off him and moved it forward.

United's use of the ball was poor, but that was usually because they were playing far too deep, and concentrating far too much on being in a position to swarm the barcelona players when they had the ball.

I'm not sure that i see the point of the comparisons that people were making between ronaldo and messi. one was continously given the ball, and given a number of passing options at any given time, and while putting on quite a show, didn't actually achieve much. the other was given the ball intermittently, had no support, and won one penalty, and should have been given two more and got his marker ruled out of the second leg.

I was watching the RTE panel's discussion with mounting alarm. Eamon Dunphy was amazing. He was so crazy it was unreal. He described ronaldo's performance as a disgrace to professional football, because he let himself get frustrated, and didn't spend the afternoon tackling back. I suspect that dunphy has a crush on ronaldo.

Whatever Dunphy's ranting, the clip shows up yet again the difference between the level of analysis and criticism on RTE embarrases the British broadcasters.