2011 CL Final: FC Barcelona - Manchester United FC 3-1 - Champions!

[Alissa]

how is thinking real would make it to the final - perhaps beating MU on the way smug??? it's just a thought, nobody's saying united are shit and we'll rip them into pieces yet a lot of people accusing some fans of being smug... if someone feels a team would do better than another team then that's absolutely fair don't you think? jeez... this "barca fans are smug" shit is getting old

^Thank you. That's what it was, a thought. I didn't put it down as a fact, i said IMO Real would have made it, how's that being disrespectful towards United? I respect them a lot, they are the best English team for a reason and their consistency is simply amazing, yes they have a little 'je ne sais quoi' and I enjoy watching them play but I think that Real would have made it. Simple as that. I can also say that you are being disrespectful towards Real for saying that they wouldn't have reached the final had they faced United, but I won't because it's a thought, it's your opinion and I respect that. We'll never know, so it will remain an opinion or a thought.

And just to make it clear, I never said that United aren't there by merit, I see them as a worthy opponent for Barca and I'm hoping for a great game.

 

[Creepy]

60/40

I'll take that any day.

 

[Unbiased United]

I'm sure you will agree we weren't as ready in 2009 as we are today.
This is all I meant...simply..

You had chance and a half to put us away for dead last season. You failed.
So,How do you see this one going away from us coming in stronger now.?
Personally, I just don't know.
Do you perhaps.?

Because, despite what some say, this is also a stronger United team. We will be better!...will it be enough, perhaps not, but I think it will be close.

 

[Pitbull2k4]

I have watched all Man U games but still think Barca should win this handily. Of course you can say it's one match and anything can happen, but if you are going to say that we might as well not be here. All we can do is take all the games by both teams and infer the likely outcome. Having watched all Man U and Barca games this year, more or less, Barca can take this.

I'm not saying it will be easy, just that the odds are heavily in Barca's favor. I also don't see why I should reciprocate 'modesty' when you say it's 50/50. Anything can happen in football but if we're going to take a stab at it (which is what a discussion is for), it's 60/40 for Barca at least. I think our games with Real will be a blessing in disguise. They gave us some valuable insight in playing defensive teams. I don't think Man U will refuse to football but when Barca get the pass game rolling Man U will be forced back, which will happen a few times in the 90 minutes I reckon. The Real games will help us stay calm and not give away counters when that happens.

 

[Neil1984]

how is thinking real would make it to the final - perhaps beating MU on the way smug??? it's just a thought, nobody's saying united are shit and we'll rip them into pieces yet a lot of people accusing some fans of being smug... if someone feels a team would do better than another team then that's absolutely fair don't you think? jeez... this "barca fans are smug" shit is getting old

I'll give you a clue:

Even if you win the final, that makes you better than Barca only by definition.

In other words, "No matter who wins what cups, I'll still insist we're the best and try to undermine everyone else's victory, probably with accusations of luck." You win and you lose with grace and class. I highly doubt if United win that you'd hear Pep say that United are only better by definition.

I don't think all Barca fans are smug, au contraire, I love Barca for their fans and their ethos. And for me, that kind of superiority talk doesn't tie into that. Same with someone in the Busquets thread the other day saying that they didn't care about his diving and general carry on, and then championing the morality of the club on another thread.

 

[Unbiased United]

I have watched all Man U games but still think Barca should win this handily. Of course you can say it's one match and anything can happen, but if you are going to say that we might as well not be here. All we can do is take all the games by both teams and infer the likely outcome. Having watched all Man U and Barca games this year, more or less, Barca can take this.

I'm not saying it will be easy, just that the odds are heavily in Barca's favor. I also don't see why I should reciprocate 'modesty' when you say it's 50/50. Anything can happen in football but if we're going to take a stab at it (which is what a discussion is for), it's 60/40 for Barca at least. I think our games with Real will be a blessing in disguise. They gave us some valuable insight in playing defensive teams. I don't think Man U will refuse to football but when Barca get the pass game rolling Man U will be forced back, which will happen a few times in the 90 minutes I reckon. The Real games will help us stay calm and not give away counters when that happens.

Thats the danger, sometimes Barca play that well they stop teams from playing. But given the chance we will really try to make a game of it, I think Barca will unquestionably have more possesion, but we are very dangerous with the possesion we do have.

 

[Chainsaw]

I'll give you a clue:

Even if you win the final, that makes you better than Barca only by definition.

In other words, "No matter who wins what cups, I'll still insist we're the best and try to undermine everyone else's victory, probably with accusations of luck." You win and you lose with grace and class. I highly doubt if United win that you'd hear Pep say that United are only better by definition.

I don't think all Barca fans are smug, au contraire, I love Barca for their fans and their ethos. And for me, that kind of superiority talk doesn't tie into that. Same with someone in the Busquets thread the other day saying that they didn't care about his diving and general carry on, and then championing the morality of the club on another thread.

Which side are you btw?!

 

[Unbiased United]

I'll give you a clue:

Even if you win the final, that makes you better than Barca only by definition.

In other words, "No matter who wins what cups, I'll still insist we're the best and try to undermine everyone else's victory, probably with accusations of luck." You win and you lose with grace and class. I highly doubt if United win that you'd hear Pep say that United are only better by definition.

I don't think all Barca fans are smug, au contraire, I love Barca for their fans and their ethos. And for me, that kind of superiority talk doesn't tie into that. Same with someone in the Busquets thread the other day saying that they didn't care about his diving and general carry on, and then championing the morality of the club on another thread.

Spot on. I really respect Pep, he just gets on with it win or lose. It wouldn't surprise me if closer to the time, he makes it our as though Utd are the favourites. Not because of mind games, but purely because of the amount of repect he shows to other teams.

 

[Alissa]

I'll give you a clue:

Even if you win the final, that makes you better than Barca only by definition.

In other words, "No matter who wins what cups, I'll still insist we're the best and try to undermine everyone else's victory, probably with accusations of luck." You win and you lose with grace and class. I highly doubt if United win that you'd hear Pep say that United are only better by definition.

Please don't put words in my mouth, I would never say such thing. What I meant was: no matter who wins Barca remains the better team for me. If United wins they will for sure deserve it and will be the better team on that particular day but Barca remains the best team of the year for me.

 

[Unbiased United]

Which side are you btw?!

You disagree with him???...i'd just say he's a fair and respectful fan of football.

 

[Neil1984]

^Thank you. That's what it was, a thought. I didn't put it down as a fact, i said IMO Real would have made it, how's that being disrespectful towards United? I respect them a lot, they are the best English team for a reason and their consistency is simply amazing, yes they have a little 'je ne sais quoi' and I enjoy watching them play but I think that Real would have made it. Simple as that. I can also say that you are being disrespectful towards Real for saying that they wouldn't have reached the final had they faced United, but I won't because it's a thought, it's your opinion and I respect that. We'll never know, so it will remain an opinion or a thought.

And just to make it clear, I never said that United aren't there by merit, I see them as a worthy opponent for Barca and I'm hoping for a great game.

Fair enough.

But i am not being disrespectful to Real as I never said United would have beaten them? How could anyone know? Would Barca have beaten United over 2 legs? Who knows. Nobody knows. Because it didn't happen.

I was more pointing out that Madrid had, in my opinion, the easiest route to the semi finals of the 4 teams there.

Also, it wasn't the Madrid point I took exception to with the "smug" comment. It was the implication that even if United win, Barca are better.

If United win, then they will have as many CL's since 06 as Barca, will have met Barca in 3 tiesin that time, and won 2. They'll have played in 3 of the past 4 finals..... hard to maintain that point of view really....


Look, we all know Barca play the "best" football, I wax lyrical about them every single week, but the best football isn't always thee winningest football, just ask Holland in the 70s.

 

[Aryagorn]

The thing I observed about our team is... we generally are very slow in the first 15 minutes. That's like our reaction time, we get into our passing rhythm only after that period. Against smaller teams we don't necessarily observe that because they don't have the talent to expose that issue. But when we play the elite, it tends to show. Kinda like the CL final against UTD. Usually the opponents have the first sight of goal!!


With Chicharito and Rooney in the box and the pacey wingers in Valencia & Nani, UTD have enough tools to expose our usual slow starts. So the defense needs to be at their highest concentration during that period. Once we cross that first hurdle safely, if the attack take their chances I think we are in for a win. We'll see what happens. Hoping for the best for our club

 

[Unbiased United]

Please don't put words in my mouth, I would never say such thing. What I meant was: no matter who wins Barca remains the better team for me. If United wins they will for sure deserve it and will be the better team on that particular day but Barca remains the best team of the year for me.

So he's right then, 'Barca are better no matter what because I say they are'....shame.

 

[Chainsaw]

You disagree with him???...i'd just say he's a fair and respectful fan of football.

No I was just curious, cause he has a Barca player as his avatar but talk like he's the fan of the other team.

 

[Thierry]

Because, despite what some say, this is also a stronger United team. We will be better!...will it be enough, perhaps not, but I think it will be close.

Oh, yes.
I'm sure it will be.
Its just that "close" never really counts.
They only remember those who lift "the thingy" at the end of it all.
Oh bloody hell..