The Champions League 2014-2015

@ianhh6: No go on, feel free to discuss anything you want.

And let me be the first one to congratulate you on the treble. STILL, ENRIQUE'S BARCA IS NO MATCH FOR THAT OF GUARDIOLA'S BACK IN 08-09. Just so we're clear.

@elkoldo: Has there been any team that is a match for Guardiola's Barça in 2009? This team has an amazing offensive line with a great midfield to help them and a very solid defense. The '09 Barça was a pure symphony from Valdés to Eto'o with everyone in between, and Xavi waving the batton.

@ianhh6: What are your thoughts on the issues with Spanish football at the moment, regarding TV money and the whole some games may not get played at the end of the season?

@Garfield360UK: To be honest the Spanish sporting news hasn't done a bang up job of telling the story well told, but from what I understand the strike has its reasons (aside from seeing who has the biggest dick). The people who called for the strike are trying to protect the footballers more than they are (obviously they refer to the ones who aren't paid in the millions) and decrease the economic gap between first and second division, which would help to reduce fixed matches and corruption... Eh, I want there to be football this weekend, but I don't want things to stay the same as they have these last years. Dilemmas.

@ianhh6: It would be good to see some action where the money gets distributed better. The English league has the same issue where the Premiership has a fortune then everything bellow has hardly any revenue coming in from TV. That said, there is too much reliance on it here. Without the Sky deals, the English teams would be in huge debt and would not be able to compete for the top players.

Well the ideal situation would be to have all countries split the moneyas equally as the others, but then each country would have incentives to allow their big clubs a little bit more budget to sign better players... it simply isn't a Nash equilibrium :P

Actually I find domestic leagues hardly have a place in football anymore, they usually come down to a few games per year, and we all end up caring more about the UCL anyways...

In my opinion a European First Division and Second division would be the way to go. Imagine it, a First Division with Barça, Madrid, Bayern, Chelsea, PSG, Man Utd, Juve, Inter (lol inter... needed some other italian team for fluff :P ) and the likes all competing for first place, with teams like Tottenham, Napoles or Sevilla playing in a very entertaining "Second Division", fighting for the promotion. Anything under those two could be divided into countries with domestic leagues, which would make for a more interesting domestic competition, as the obvious winners have been taken out of the equation, and the more equal teams would be fighting for a place in Europe. It could also solve the entire TV rights money issue, as instead of each country dividing the money amongst their teams, the best teams in Europe would get a far more equitative share of the pie, seeing as they'd be sharing with 19 other teams as big as them, not 19 smaller teams (see Bundesliga...) and I doubt there would be a massive loss in interest in each of the domestic leagues, seeing what's in stake year after year. Who knows... just a thought of mine...

In January, there was (allegedly though) a somber quarrel in Barca's dressing room, which led to the club's presidential elections to be brought forward, and the team had been, for weeks and even months, performing so poorly on the pitch that on the evening of Barca-Atletico game (just after Atleti had hammered Real in Copa del Ray) it was stated that the Atletico game could very well be the last game of Enrique as Barca's coach. But the victory over Atletico set them on a course that is now only a handful of games away from a remarkable end; a treble of trophies. Now isn't this a funny world we inhabit.

And now I have goosebumps.

Barca played well. Can't wait until June 6!

Congrats to Barcelona (*vomits*). Now let's see who will face them in the final.

Ha Ha Madrid

Ja Ja Madrid

lol Madrid.

and lol @Put_in_Kitna

Barça - Juventus in the Final!! Suck it Madrid.

Visca Barça!!

Haha ianh6 is throwing a party for Real's elimination!

Someone post some gifs of Buffon's post-final-whistle shouts, we need a symbol of "spirit" and "not giving up"!

Mate how about Casillas' foul throw? I think my 90 year old grandma could throw a ball in better than that.

@BattleSpectre: Now that you mention it....

Ha ha Casillas

Ja ja Casillas

lol Casillas.

( @Seabas989: I hope you didn't mind :p )

@elkoldo: I can just think of the excuses he'd come up with when questioned about that..... "It was the gloves! They have too much grip!". Lol, I wanted Madrid to win but that was just embarrassing I got to admit. Anyways, who do you have winning it mate? I did say before this match that it'd be a slaughter and Madrid would smash Juventus, so I've definitely learnt from that haha.

@BattleSpectre: You shouldn't take it for granted that the topdog team always beats the underdogs. And Madrid have a beautiful record of getting eliminated after losing the first leg, no mattter what the result (2-1, 1-0, etc) so I kinda expected that Juve would win on aggregate. About the final though, I can't tell. Anything is possible but I guess Barca will have a difficult time getting through Juve's defense.

And I thought you said you'd be happy if Real got eliminated?

@elkoldo: Maybe I did, but I do like the team... Barcelona on the other hand (some of their players grind my gears) like Suarez and I feel Neymar is quite the arrogant one. Wouldn't mind seeing their smile wiped off their face.

@BattleSpectre: Because none of the Real Madrid players have an ounce of arrogance in them... especially not one in particular...

Neymar does seem a bit arrogant, but Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, Piqué, Mascherano, Rakitic... they aren't.

Sorry, but Ronaldo WAS arrogant. But lately he has really matured as a person and I feel he has become a better man for it. But I know what you're saying, I remember an interview where they were asking Ronaldo questions and they asked him who he thought the best 3 players in the world were. He said himself all 3 times xD (he was probably joking but still).

@BattleSpectre: True, he is a lot better now, and I dislike him less than I dislike others like Arbeloa or Coentrao (thank god Xabi Alonso isn't there anymore, what a total bellend). Still though, the way he celebrates scoring penalties, the way he ignored Chicharito when celebrating after the latter passed him a godsend to easily tap into the net, or the way he got angry with Arbeloa for scoring when, had he let the ball go on, Cristiano himself would have scored. Really, you don't see Messi act that way on the field. Ever.

Even so, it's hard to hate Madrid as much now... There will never be a time I hated a team more than with Mourinho as coach. Scum down to the last man with him managing the team.

Why do we need to even say this. It's like insisting Mandela was a better man than Hitler.

@elkoldo: Well it makes a good point on the values of each club... (at least before Rosell decided to go all corrupt on everyone's ass, but still)

The idea that one idolises Cristiano, the other Messi, one advertises Bwin.com, the other Unicef, one gives its hooligans front row seats, the other bans them from the stadium, one spends millions each summer, the other nurtures its young players into great footballers, one stadium insults Catalonia while the other merely shouts for independence... it's what defined the rivalry for many years, even if a lot of those points are now mute.

When it comes to Barça vs Madrid all these points and more are going to be brought up, it's inevitable :P

Edit: but all this is unnecessary because the final in Berlin is Juventus - Barça :D

@ianhh6: Sorry man but I'm all for Juve winning the final. :P I think I've had enough of Barca these past few years, plus it's going to be nice seeing an old great football club like Juventus rising to the top.

I actually miss the days when Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal consistently reached the top 4; City just aren't up to scratch. I'm glad for Juve, I'd also like Inter and/or Milan to get back to the top... Oh! And Olympique de Lyon. Those guys were cool (I've given up on Ajax and the Dutch league...).

Still, you'll understand if I'm not tired of the streak Barça has been in since 2006 (save for the odd year) :P

I suppose we're of a similar age so we both grew up with these clubs in the spotlight. We are lucky enough to have witnessed Barca's tiki taka football as well as hyper athletes such as Messi and Ronaldo but nothing beats the old days imo. It's probably my nostalgia speaking though.

Yep, you're more than justified. ^_^

1 of 3!!

@ianhh6: Good for you!

2 down for Juve, now only one remains...

aaaaand two down, one to go! Força Barça

@ianhh6: I didn't watch the second half, I knew Xavi would be substituted in and I simply didn't like to watch, knowing this would be his final performance at home (I already have my eyes wet as I'm typing this). I'm not the one for goodbyes.

I do so hope he'll come back soon, and take the helm.

Messi's first goal was magnificent.

@elkoldo: I've been trying to forget the fact that I'll never see Xavi play football with Barça's colours again... it gets me all sentimental-like :(

But he'll be back before we know it as coach (and what a coach he'll be)!

I just manned up and watched the farewell. Tearful him, he isn't one for goodbyes either.

lol no idea why you brought me up here.

I believe it was around the time that San Antonio was KO by the Clippers.

And aren't you a Bayern Munich fan?

No. lol. Don't really have a team. I just enjoy watching soccer in general.

So here we are, the world's best and second best teams are facing each other tonight. Earlier I stated that I preferred Barca to win it, simply to give Xavi, my hero, a beautiful and glorious send-off. However, I'm having a change of heart, if you'll excuse me. Juve are without a doubt no more than a medicore team compared to Barca, and I've always supported medicore teams against the ones with big budgets. That aside, Juve have won a remarkable double in Italia, and they've made it to the final in Europe through beating Real Madrid. Just remember how loud we lol'ed when it was announced that Real had drawn Juve in semi-final. We all considered that a free ticked for Real to Berlin. Look at them now.

So taking these factors into account, I'm rooting for Juve in the final tonight.

I'm pretty sure Xavi will win plenty of UCLs when he makes a comeback as the manager.

@elkoldo: After seeing them play against Madrid I stopped thinking of them as a mediocre team. I was expecting a defensive team that was hoping to win by the bare minimum, and while that's sorta what happened, I didn't expect to see such a creative team with Morata, Vidal and Pirlo as amazing as they were. I hope they don't cause us many problems.

I'm sure you're right that Xavi will win the UCL plenty as coach, but I'll be damned if I see the greatest midfielder ever leave Barcelona and Europe without lifting his fourth Champions League trophy! Also, is Juve's budget really that small compared to Barça's?

anyways:

Edit: I forgot what it was to be nervous for a Champions League final

@ianhh6: Well Barca is the fourth wealthiest club in the world and Juve is the tenth. Enrique receives 5.5 million euros per year and Allegri receives 2. And their players are not even comparable. So I guess it's safe to assume Barca have the bigger budget.

Anyway it's halftime as I'm typing this and you're leading by one but don't start celebrating just yet, a moment of counter attack or a corner kick or a free kick could make things ugly for you.

Oh and Jesus. I can't believe Enrique has sidelined Xavi in this game. Jesus...Mother of God...

@elkoldo: Surely you didn't expect Xavi to be in the starting 11? He'll come on, just give it time.

And yeah, I didn't doubt Barça having the bigger budget, I'm just wondering if it's, like, as big as twice Juve's budget.

1-1

I TOLD YA!!!!!

Hey, I never underestimated them :(

We need Xavi :P

Barca looking a bit disorganized now.

If Juve win this, they can't thank Buffon enough.

**** me backwards Barça need to reorganize. XAAAAVIIIIII

YEEEEESSSS!!!!!! Messi is simply amazing! And thank God Suarez was where he had to be!!

@elkoldo And here he is, like I said, Sir Xavi Hernandez

@ianhh6: Oh please Juve score the equaliser !

Thirty minutes more of Xavi!

@elkoldo: Oh dear god Juve, don't you dare... Do you know how fucking nervous I am???

@ianhh6: I dont give a ****! I want 30 minutes extra time with Xavi!

@elkoldo: How 'bout Suarez's sillywalk to waste time? Lol

Also, Ter Stegen, blessed be he