Quote:
Originally Posted by BigT
Seriously! I'm very happy Chelsea was able to pull that off. I really hope the guys can give their all for the rest of the season and Champions League as they did today. (I'm a ManU fan, but have much respect for the guys like Drogba, Terry, etc.)
Also very happy Real Madrid pulled off an easy win vs Moscow.
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I hope we can keep this form up for the duration of the season as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blue660r01
Wow so no talk about Bayern absolutely tearing Basel apart after being embarrassed the first leg?
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So you wouldn't agree that Chelsea's win last night was one of the most improbable and memorable victories of the tournament, or in recent memory for that matter? To overturn that deficit against a great Napoli side was incredible, just as it would have been had Arsenal defeated Milan at the Emirates last week. Not the biggest Arsenal supporter, but I would have been the first to congratulate their brilliance had they done the unthinkable, and they came very close. I like to think of this as the premier club competition in the world, and the ties should reflect that. The two English teams provided the most exciting second legs of the tournament in my opinion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by phelan
bayern absolutely hammering basel wasn't completely out of the ordinary....gomez' strike rate is ridiculous.
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Agreed, Bayern thrashing Basel at home was no more than I expected honestly. They swept Hoffenheim aside in the Bundesliga by 7 goals and conceding just 1. I don't think they were 'embarassed' in the first leg, Basel scored at the death to take a slim 1-0 agg. to Munich. Bayern had many chances to score during the first leg, but quite honestly, the Basel keeper won that game for them. We watched Messi put 5 past Leverkusen and Barcelona advanced 10-2 on agg., so the Bayern scoreline wasn't shocking for me. Basel are good, but they certainly got a reality check against Bayern, as they are incredibly strong at home in this competition. As are Real Madrid, so CSKA didn't have much of a chance against them at the Bernabeu. If anything, we should be talking about how the little Cypriot side called Apoel Nicosia are in the quarter finals after eliminating Olympique Lyonnais.
With that being said, if you'd like to talk Eredivisie, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, La Liga, Swiss Super League, or Europa, by all means, lets talk. Speaking of Europa, some nice looking fixtures to be played today-
Schalke/Twente
Besiktas/Atletico Madrid
City/Sporting Lisbon
PSV/Valencia
Quarter final draw is tomorrow. I think this is one of the most diverse elite 8s in recent memory. England, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal and Cypress all represented. Dream ties for me:
Chelsea FC / Olympique de Marseille
(History here: Didier Dechamps old club Chelsea and Drogba's old club Marseille)
FC Barcelona / FC Bayern
(Should just be awesome football to watch, two great sides)
Real Madrid CF / SL Benfica
(Iberian derby)
AC Milan / APOEL FC
(David vs. Goliath. 7 time champs Milan against little APOEL, upset in the making)
Anyway, my $.02