General Football Debates!

[Michael92]

Latest news from Bernabeu seems that Fab might not start the match. Sanchez might be preferred over him.

Same for Ozil where it seems Mourinho may add 3 Mdf rather than 2 Mdf and 1 one offensive midfielder. I hope Ozil plays though, he's a key to link Real's play whatever his defensive abilities. Let's see, it depends on how much gamble is Mourinho ready to take. Cause' we shall not forget that a draw will still be a very good result for Madrid -though I'd like them to win.

Old news already Karanka said on the press conference the other day that Real would play 4-3-3, Özil and Kaka will most likely start on the bence with Xabi, Khedira and Lass or Coentrao on the middle, Ronaldo and Di Maria at both their ends, with either Higuain or Benzema as a more central forward.

So the question is more of, who will play right back for Real? Lass, Coentrao or Arbeloa? Who will play midfield with Xabi and Khedira? Lass or Coentrao? and finally Higuain or Benzema.

 

[Escorpiius]

Old news already Karanka said on the press conference the other day that Real would play 4-3-3, Özil and Kaka will most likely start on the bence with Xabi, Khedira and Lass or Coentrao on the middle, Ronaldo and Di Maria at both their ends, with either Higuain or Benzema as a more central forward.

So the question is more of, who will play right back for Real? Lass, Coentrao or Arbeloa? Who will play midfield with Xabi and Khedira? Lass or Coentrao? and finally Higuain or Benzema.

Well, it's only press conference news and not really said by Mourinho. But it will most likely be like this.

I'd like Contreao to start but I think it will be Lass. We'll see. I still maintain that Ozil might prove more beneficial.

And Benzema. That's pretty easy since Benzema did not play the match against Ajax fully; so yeah Benzema.

 

[Rei]

I just read that Real's 11 will be: Casillas, Coentrão, Pepe (aka the butcher), Ramos, Marcelo (aka the ape), Alonso, Diarra, Özil, Di Maria, Ronaldo and Benzema.

 

[Escorpiius]

I just read that Real's 11 will be: Casillas, Coentrão, Pepe (aka the butcher), Ramos, Marcelo (aka the ape), Alonso, Diarra, Özil, Di Maria, Ronaldo and Benzema.

We just went from speculating a defensive lineup to a very offensive one (yours). Frankly, I'd prefer this one. It will atleast show Madrid is hungry for victory on the start itself.

And Rei, let's just not start a hate over players even if I hate Marcelo.

 

[Rei]

We just went from speculating a defensive lineup to a very offensive one (yours). Frankly, I'd prefer this one. It will atleast show Madrid is hungry for victory on the start itself.

And Rei, let's just not start a hate over players even if I hate Marcelo.

okay okay! I'll save it for later

 

[Alucard]

Lmao Valdez just allowed Real to score the first goal. Great mistake. But of course, we still have 90 minutes to play.

 

[Rei]

Lmao Valdez just allowed Real to score the first goal. Great mistake. But of course, we still have 90 minutes to play.

I know, right? WTF was that? Well, at least we have learned that Pepe could make a great ballerina since he can lift his leg, whilst running fast and without losing balance, up to the face of his opponent

@Escorpiius You have to let me hate now. I'm the only woman here, I deserve some bonus for that!

 

[Majora]

Zlatan.

 

[Rei]

Zlatan.

Typical Swede. Messi, Xavi and Ronaldo are in the field right now and you are talking about Ibrahimovic! That's just funny.

 

[Escorpiius]

okay okay! I'll save it for later

Half-time with 1-1.

Benzema scored after an unprecise pass by Valdes in the 25th second (the fastest goal in the Classico).

Messi answered back later on with a shot (blocked by Casillas) after Ramos slipped.

Ronaldo should have doubled the score later on on a pass by Benzema but missed the target surprisingly.

Later on, Messi rushed towards the goal and Xabi Alonsa let him pass so as not to make a foul and be red-carded. This led Messi to give a through ball to Sanchez who equalised 1-1.

Frankly, with many people expecting Real to play rough, I've been amazingly surprised by their pressure play which is more based on interception and ball control than on 'butching' the players.

In fact, the referee is in fact favoring the Barca still. Among the 2 clear-cut fouls that were not whistled by the referee, both fouls were on Madrid players - one on Ronaldo by Pique and one on Xabi by Alves.

In fact, Messi should have been red-carded after that foul on Xabi but the referee gave him a last chance; given he's well...Messi! Also, I'm so "glad' that Alves is still such a great actor. There should Oscars for football acting seriously. I wonder how Di Maria is still playing after injuring himself on that slippery.

So, all-in-all, on this first half, I find Real much better. They had a heavy pressure on Barca plays. Now, to give an early prediction will be tight though.

The pressure exerted on Barca will decrease as time passed by. The Key for Madrid will be to score before the 60th minute. They have an excellent Benzema right now for that and a fabulous Ozil. Also as jokers, Callejon and Higuain.

As for Barca, I think they'll get stronger as the match proceeds but that does not ensure anything because they are pretty alarming both with real's counters and pressing.

On the players that may possibly be red-carded in this match, I see Xabi, Sanchez (who whines too much) and Messi who is on a thin line after his aleatory chance.

 

[Majora]

Typical Swede. Messi, Xavi and Ronaldo are in the field right now and you are talking about Ibrahimovic! That's just funny.

Zlatan is good? What do you mean typical Swede? (That's just funny..)

Anyhow, there will never be anyone to surpass Messi. Ever.

 

[Escorpiius]

I know, right? WTF was that? Well, at least we have learned that Pepe could make a great ballerina since he can lift his leg, whilst running fast and without losing balance, up to the face of his opponent

@Escorpiius You have to let me hate now. I'm the only woman here, I deserve some bonus for that!

That "ballerina' by Pepe was dangerous and weird but it wasn't a foul though. Since he didn't touch the Barca players. Luckily for his ribs lol
Let's save the hate for the player/s who'll really hurt another one for now.

 

[ReLax -]

3-1!!

This is why Madrid are always second to Barca!! VISCA BARCA (Too early? I think lol)

 

[Rei]

Zlatan is good? What do you mean typical Swede? (That's just funny..)

Anyhow, there will never be anyone to surpass Messi. Ever.

I didn't mean it offensively or anything like that, my bad if it came out this way. I have lived in your country for 6 months now and everyone is obsessed with Zlatan. Like, seriously obsessed! Zise too.

And .... hooray! We won again! I just love the sight of Mourinho losing!

 

[Escorpiius]

3-1!!

This is why Madrid are always second to Barca!! VISCA BARCA (Too early? I think lol)

Well, as I predicted after the first half given the heavy pressing of Madrid, I knew Madrid will sink after 60th minute. Well, indeed after that, Barcelone easily surclassed Madrid with their possession play. Madrid were pretty unlucky too which deepens their case. Ronaldo missed the 2-0 goal which later result into Sanchez's goal, Madrid attacked and they conceded an OG and Ronaldo missed the 2-2 header which result later on into Cesc's goal which acted as the last nail on the Coffin.

On this match, I must say that Madrid was nearly as good as Barca and in fact was better in first half. They had more shots than Barca. But Madrid still lacks the essential - be efficient in front of goals. That's something that makes Barca damn strong.

In fact, if Ronaldo scored before the equaliser or if he scored with that header to make it 2-2, I'd say Real will atleast have gained a good draw. They lacked cruelly in efficiency and that's where Barca excels as seen by Cesc's goal where their fluidity in the game didn't result in lack of efficiency.

All-in-all, great match, good performance by both teams, both teams devoted much more of their art into football than fouls, a more lucky Barca and Real showed that the only way that they can beat Barca is by converting their chances and they didn't today. Result: A 3-1 Win. Congrats to Barca.

 

[Alucard]

I know, right? WTF was that? Well, at least we have learned that Pepe could make a great ballerina since he can lift his leg, whilst running fast and without losing balance, up to the face of his opponent

@Escorpiius You have to let me hate now. I'm the only woman here, I deserve some bonus for that!

I was very impressed by the pressure Real was doing to barca. For multiple times, barca's defence and/or Valdez, nearly lost the ball right in the penalty area. I was very glad seeing Real doing that, however, what i feared most happened tough i'd prefer Real to win, i have to admit barca was more likely to be the winner.

It's not a problem tough, i hope Real wins la Copa del Rey even if they loose each time they play against barca. That will just piss barca's fans even more

 

[Rei]

I was very impressed by the pressure Real was doing to barca. For multiple times, barca's defence and/or Valdez, nearly lost the ball right in the penalty area. I was very glad seeing Real doing that, however, what i feared most happened tough i'd prefer Real to win, i have to admit barca was more likely to be the winner.

It's not a problem tough, i hope Real wins la Copa del Rey even if they loose each time they play against barca. That will just piss barca's fans even more

Yeah, but the high pressing like Escorpiius said couldn't last for the whole game. It's physically impossible.

On a side note, I saw both teams made many mistakes in passing, shooting etc. I guess the wet grass affected the game very much, but still I'm not used to seeing Barca losing the ball so many times on their own account.

Lol you have a point there. I can only speak for myself, but if we lose the Copa del Rey again from Real I will be furious.

 

[ReLax -]

Well, well, well...look at the score line 3-1 Barcelona? Yes, people Barcelona is still the boss of La Liga and Europe

This game we saw some play acting, but not too many bad calls from previous meetings between the two so, I'd say it was fine and its not like the bad calls altered the game in a huge way. Alves has been a play acter from Brazil, to Sevilla and now Barcelona, unfortunately we cannot really change that, only the player himself can. The play acting came from both sides, more from Barcelona.

First half:

Madrid came on very strong with a lot of pressure the first half. The goal I was so mad at, it started from Basquets, that one slip up with the ball (which was half a second) changed the game pretty much. He slipped, panicked passed the ball back, Madrid pressured, and than came Valdez mistake which, Busquets again failed to clear twice and the second time it landed to Benzema, which led to the goal. if Pique moved up a little maybe could have been offside also.

Barcelona played poorly the first half, but got the counter and Messi fed Sanchez with an equalizer! (I had a bet with my friend Sanchez would be the difference in this game and score...guess who won ) They finally had a 1-1 going into half, I was panicked a little coming to second.

Second half:

This is were Barcelona become deadly (Last year in some Clasico VS Madrid, also VS United in CL Final). They pretty much figured out Madrid playing style all thought not entirely as Madrid still had some good plays, but Barca dominated that half. Madrid defense showed up. Xavi got a deflection off Mercelo, which left Iker on the other side and before he got to the ball it went off the post and in. This is were I saw the face of Ramos, Pepe, and Mercelo, I knew some aggression was going to take place. In the past few games whenever Barcelona are winning, especially second half Madrid players get real aggressive, which lead to some bad fouls. The third came for Fabregas, what a goal at least Barcelona have a header in the box now

Barcelona/Madrid both made mistakes, mainly Barcelona, the mistakes in passing was ridiculous to see from them. Madrid may have been the better side, but clearly Barcelona outclassed them when it was most important. I honestly think Madrid played better in Espana Cup, than today's game (IMO). That game would go either way and it was right down to the wire, but when the second goal went in, it was game over here.

Messi VS Ronaldo? Well, clearly Ronaldo can't really perform when it comes down to playing Barcelona. He had a great shot in the start, better yet he could have fed the ball to Di Maria who was wide open, but he got selfish after that he missed two open shots a kick which was a guaranteed goal if shot was on target and than a header. Messi wasn't at his best either a few fouls by him, Madrid closed him down, but he still set up Sanchez and had his part in Fabregas's goal also. As far as I see Messi always plays better than Ronaldo when it comes down to Clasico.

This year either Messi or Xavi deserve Ballon D'or no excuses, and if not its complete bullshit. I personally don't see any other candidates (harsh call? maybe, but truth).

I was expecting results from Madrid than from Barcelona. We seen Madrid streaking fire this season and scoring/assisting a lot. Barcelona had a bad start especially away records, they won only two games away this season. Madrid never lost at home this season. They know as a team they were a lot better and confident in themselves. Barcelona on the other hand had some injury problems and some people just coming back from injury, they also let Puyol play RB and Alves was actually a winger? That was probably the question on almost every Barcelona fan, but we trust Pep in his decision. As you can see Madrid seemed the better side, but after today they proved they are second to Barcelona still and slight luck on there side at the moment in La Liga/CL, I say Bayern Munich,Milan, and Chelsea (once in form) have a great chance VS Madrid. Madrid have yet to play any other top tier Europe team except Barcelona the past two years, they played VS Ac Milan in CL last year, but struggled in the second game drawing it and winning first one, due to Milan having a few players injured.

I was impressed by Alves, other than play acting he was quite impressive and good on his attack in today's game, shockingly he hasn't had a defeat VS Madrid for a while now as he wasn't available last year in the Copa cup defeat.

Madrid still have more work to do, there game play VS Barca right now only will last them for so long.

Well, we will see Chelsea VS City lol Escorp

Well, lets hope if Torres gets an open net here, he either scores or instead of him we have someone else there who can put it in the net (I will reply to your previous post later on). I have a feeling Chelsea may take this one for some reason.

Also when is Barcelona VS Santos? I can't wait for this one also, if Barcelona lose will be disappointing after this win over Madrid, but hey in football anything is possible.

 

[ReLax -]

Spoiler

I decided to wait for Man U to win today so that I can be less angry over them (by 1% atleast) and also less embarrassed U_U Okay, good thing they won 4-1 against Wolves. (Brace for both Rooney and Nani) Arsenal and Liverpool each won 1-0 with V.Persie and Suarez goals respectively. Okay, let's go a bit more over the 'disastrous' side now and wait for El Classico.

Well, where to start...? Oh yeah, congrats to Basel to qualify themselves as well as Napoli, Lyon and CSKA Moskow.

United did a disastrous performance; more specifically - one of the worst second-half that I've seen from them. I'm serious, the second half against City was almost better U_U The first half was far from great but atleast we did shoot quite some times on goals and tried to control the match. The 2nd half was beyond pathetic where I almost wondered if they were hallucinating if they were seeing Basel as Barcelona (given the blue-red jersey) as they kept going backwards in defense while this was clearly the time to attack all-out.

This defeat is clearly SAF's fault this time. I don't really want to blame any players - though I'd like to know why some of you could already have gotten tired after 60 minutes while the crucial time started then. First of all, our midfield was inexistent. I like Jones but he isn't Mdf material. I don't understand why someone like Carrick/Fletcher were not playing while we needed someone to give a defensive solidity in midfield. We were not supposed to create SpongeBob's kind of holes in midfield where Nemo (Shakiri) could swim in his personal swimming pool.

That was the first lineup mistake that SAF made. Second was how he let someone like Giggs in midfield after 60th minute who was inexistant after that. If they sold the match to Basel, well, the money gained should be spent on a Creative Midfielder in January and if they did not sold the match and did that pathetic performance, well, they'll need to buy it even more U_U

There were many more mistakes by SAF. I'll just point the 2 other more striking of them - not making the right choice after Vidic's injury and not getting up during the match while United was sinking low as minutes were passing and were playing more calamitously.

Well, you were saying that the Cl match could be crucial and it was definitely. Now, they better won atleast the remaining matches in December (including Boxing Day) till some new signings come in. I expect atleast 3 signings; it's time to shop now. There are 2 worse news that also come with this elimination - Vidic is out for the season and we'll need to play on Thursdays which could be at times less that 48 hours before the next match.

City did well though. And could almost had gotten lucky cause' Napoli was playing quite ill-fully in that match but got lucky on a hopeful shot.

I was awestruck by Lyon. Which made me even wonder how we could not qualify ourselves. *sigh* But let's mention that the referee stole Ajax during Madrid's match. And if the 2 Ajax goals were not refused, I'm pretty sure that they could have gained a draw against B-Team Madrid which will have make them qualified despite Lyon's valiant performance.

Poor Lille too. With a victory over Trabzonspor, they could have been qualified but their draw gave them 4th place. Trabzonspor and Lille literally ruined their won qualifying chances by drawing (0-0); opening the doors for Moskow.

LOL I wonder why Nani hasn't played much? Or has he, but I never noticed

Rooney and Nani were in top class in that game over the weekend, in your case and every other Man U lets hope they stay like that.

Basel played great...lol there was a lot of jokes going around of how Man U was probably terrified by Basel kit colour thinking of Barca, seem like Vidic and rest of Man U have to wait until they face Barca anytime soon, as Vidic stated Man U is obsessed in beating Barcelona Basel is also getting cocky thinking they can beat anyone lol wait till they land Madrid or Barca the story will change.

Man U problem is there defence, they need to strengthen it especially since De Gea is new and still working on his skills, so he needs the support post importantly, rumours are going around that Rio and Evra may get transferred.

As far as signings go Man U still want Sneijder, they could have taken him over the summer, but didn't want to pay him 200 000 a week, so lets see if that changes now. Cavani is also on there list as well as Madrid's, Chelsea, and City, but Cavani has stated he is interested in playing in an EPL team...with him tho Herendez may have competition, Madrid were after him, so a move in near future there is also for Herendez, but his injury problems is effecting United. United also need defenders with Vidic out for the season, and Rio getting older, it's going to be difficult for them, Jordi Alba is also on the list of United who will be competing with Barcelona to sign him (he is a L/RB, also can play Midfield).

Ferguson said: "That [playing in the Europa League] is our penalty for not qualifying."

Platini responded: "The world does not revolve around England. The Europa League is a brilliant competition."

"I know Mr Ferguson would have preferred to be in the Champions League but so would many clubs who don't have that possibility."

lol Well United can win Europa and they will face off VS the winner of this seasons CL before the start of next season, so they can still prove themselves.

 

[Uchiha seeker]

I didn't mean it offensively or anything like that, my bad if it came out this way. I have lived in your country for 6 months now and everyone is obsessed with Zlatan. Like, seriously obsessed! Zise too.

And .... hooray! We won again! I just love the sight of Mourinho losing!

Real Madrid own!!! but i dont like Mourinho