Champions League 2017/18

Altomonte

New member
Look at the facts: Chelsea will play Hull in FA Cup on Friday, will then have 3 full days to prepare for Tuesday evening match against Barça. Barça will play Eibar - currently in great form - Away on Saturday, will then have to travel to London to play another Away match against Chelsea. I think we should
1. Respect the current PL champions and their coach, despite a couple of poor PL performances
2. Take advantage of our La Liga cushion and rest key players, maybe not even let them travel to Eibar.

We just saw (Getafe) how difficult it is to play well after a tough match (Valencia) with only 2 days rest.

Messi has only one weakness, namely recovery time he requires before a difficult match against world class defense. He should not play after just 2 days of rest.
 

draconifire

NTC with a Positive attitude
Match of the season, and also the end of the season, if we dont perform.
We are not looking good at all, hoping PSG are the same mental midgets we saw last season.

Nah, you'll be grand. You are facing the biggest bottlers this century after Pathetico. It should be a breeze.
 

Lutece FC

New member
Gianluca Rocchi is the unknown referee who will be the referee for the Real vs Paris S.G.

Apparently UEFA found his next Aytekin.... Another no-name referee, easy to use and to to throw in the bin.

Here some info on this Rocchi :

In Sunday's game, the controversy was caused entirely by the former. Well, maybe "honest mistakes" should be replaced by "incompetence" when it comes to what happened in the Juventus Stadium on Sunday. What makes it worse is that the Lega Serie A could have avoided the farcical performance by simply selecting the right referee.

They certainly didn't do that this time around. The selection of Gianluca Rocchi as referee was an unfortunate and extreme mistake, and it marred what should have been the best game of the season so far.

Some background: Rocchi is a 41-year-old Florentine who has been been a professional referee since 2000. He's been refereeing the higher divisions since 2004 and became an international referee in '08.

How he has maintained that international status—or made his way onto UEFA's Elite list—is anyone's guess. Rocchi's career at the highest level has been marred by incident after incident.

Rocchi has had a contentious relationship with several teams, including Inter.


********* compiled this list of Rocchi's past head-scratchers in the hours after the match ended. The incidents are many. He's fallen for dives—notably in a game between Palermo and Lazio in 2010. He's given mystifying yellow cards—like an incident involving Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Inter, where he issued the Swede a second yellow for continuing play beyond an offside whistle despite the fact that Ibrahimovic was in the act of kicking the ball when the whistle blew.

He has shown a distressing inability to control matches. In a 2011 clash between Lazio and Bologna, every call was subject of argument. He lost control early, and eventually two players saw red for their part in an unsightly brawl. Another fray on the stroke of full time saw Mauro Zarate punch one of the assistant referees.

Phantom penalties have also been a part of his CV. In a 2011 contest between Inter and Napoli, he awarded a penalty on a challenge from Joel Obi that was outside of the box—and sent the Nigerian off to boot. The spot kick was missed and Hugo Campagnaro slotted home—despite having encroached into the box. Inter manager Claudio Ranieri was sent to the stands after the incident.

The coup de grace came in a 2012 Champions League game between Manchester City and Real Madrid. Rocchi issued seven yellow cards in the match, awarded a controversial penalty and sent off Madrid's Alvaro Arbeloa. Rocchi's performance was so bad that UEFA suspended him for the first leg of the round of 16.

That last sentence really says it all. Gianluca Rocchi has been suspended for poor performance over the course of his career. Yet somehow, the Lega Serie A decided that he was suited to take command of a game that would once again draw the eyes of the soccer world to the Italian peninsula.

It's clear how disastrous that decision was. Rocchi had lost control of the game long before he courted controversy with his first penalty call. Players mobbed him with every whistle and clearly had no respect for his position on the field.

Nicola Rizzoli, shown here at the World Cup final, would have been the better choice to take command of such an important game.
Nicola Rizzoli, shown here at the World Cup final, would have been the better choice to take command of such an important game.Clive Rose/Getty Images
Whether the calls were accurate or not is a matter for another article. As James Horncastle pointed out on ESPN FC on Sunday evening, the margins were so thin that you can watch the replays forever and never be totally sure.

What is certain is that Rocchi was clearly unsuited for an assignment such as this. Given the table positions of the teams and their contentious history, a ref with a strong hand was required. Rocchi's history showed that he lacks such strength—and he proved it on Sunday.

What makes the Lega's decision even worse was the fact that they had a referee who absolutely could handle such a match at their disposal. Nicola Rizzoli has been named Serie A Referee of the Year the last three seasons. In the last two years he has been entrusted with the final of both the Champions League and the World Cup. On merit alone, Rizzoli was the clear choice for such a high-profile job. Instead, his talents were wasted on the Udinese/Cesena match earlier in the day.

Saturday's game was the kind of matchup that, in the past, would have been given to the likes of Pierluigi Collina or Roberto Rosetti. For some reason, the current equivalent of those esteemed officials was passed over for this most crucial of assignments and an inferior referee was given the responsibility instead.

It was that decision—one taken before Rocchi had ever blown his whistle on Sunday night—that was the chief cause of the controversy that followed.

Another article :
Controversial referee switch for table-top clash between Juventus and Napoli
Late switch will not be viewed positively by Napoli fans keen on seeing their side stretch two-point lead over Juventus, especially if Gianluca Rocchi, accused of a Juve bias, is appointed.

Napoli fans have seen their team achieve plenty of success on the pitch this Serie A season. Ciro Fusco / EPA
MILAN // A top-of-the-table clash between champions Juventus and leaders Napoli has seen its first casualty 48 hours ahead of kick-off after match referee Nicola Rizzoli pulled out injured on Thursday.

In a move that will be viewed with some suspicion by Napoli fans, Gianluca Rocchi or Daniele Orsato are now being tipped to replace Rizzoli for Saturday evening’s clash in Turin.

Rizzoli, who officiated the 2014 World Cup final between victors Germany and Argentina, is reported to have suffered a small tear in his calf during a sprint session on Wednesday.

But the late switch will not be viewed positively by Napoli fans keen on seeing their side stretch their two-point lead over Juventus at the top of the Serie A table – especially if Rocchi is appointed.

Rocchi’s poor handling of a controversial clash between Juventus and Roma in October 2014 led to him being temporary sidelined by refereeing chiefs in Italy amid claims he had given undue favours to the Turin giants.

In a five-goal thriller that saw Juve prevail 3-2 at the death thanks to Leonardo Bonucci’s controversial late strike, Rocchi awarded three penalties in the first half, two of which went to Juventus and at least two of which were debatable.

A total of six yellow cards were issued during the game and when Rocchi sent former Roma coach Rudi Garcia to the stands for dissent, and sent Alvaro Morata and Kostas Manolas off at the death following a scuffle, he was accused of losing control of the game.

The controversy rolled on for weeks as critics claimed Juventus – who were stripped of two league titles from 2005 and 2006 for their role in the ‘Calciopoli’ match-fixing scandal – still held sway with Italian officialdom.

Here we are. Paris Saint-Germain asked UEFA to nominate a top referee for this match ... And here is the UEFAmafia gift. I hope to be wrong on this.
 

Stoichkov1

New member
As someone who follows Italian football I can confirm that Rocchi is a terrible referee, probably one of the worst in Italy. Expect a lot of wrong calls during the match.
 

Lutece FC

New member
As someone who follows Italian football I can confirm that Rocchi is a terrible referee, probably one of the worst in Italy. Expect a lot of wrong calls during the match.

Sh*t up it's self-victimize ....

I fear another Aytekin case ... Why does UEFA choose a shitty referee after what happened last year ?
 

Lutece FC

New member
Whats wrong with aytekin?

Now nothing. He is in China. Longer he stays there, better it will be for european football.

Referee Aytekin is the Chinese Super League's new star 'signing'

Will officiate two games at CFA's request

German rose to prominence during controversial Barcelona 6-1 PSG

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) have taken the decision to invite foreign referees to officiate in the final three games of the Chinese Super League season.The motivation for the decision was to eliminate suspicions about officials over the remaining weeks of the campaign, with local referees coming under increasing spotlight in recent weeks.An illustrious first name has already been confirmed as taking charge of a Chinese Super League game, with Deniz Aytekin joining from the Bundesliga.He is the official who rose to fame in the return leg of last season's Champions League clash between Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain at the Camp Nou.It isn't the first time that foreign referees have taken charge of Chinese Super League fixtures as colleagues from other Asian nations have been called upon to do so in the past.The novelty on this occasion is that elite officials are European after the CFA held talks with the German Football Federation, in order to finalise the 'signing' of Aytekin.With their approval, he will take charge of the October 22 game between Chongqing Dangdai Lifan and Shanghai Shenhua before overseeing the former side's visit to Beijing Guoan three days later.It also hasn't been ruled out that further European referees will be added in the coming days.
 

Catta

Senior Member
Sh*t up it's self-victimize ....

I fear another Aytekin case ... Why does UEFA choose a shitty referee after what happened last year ?

The only shitty thing from last year is QSG mentality. Even if Collina was the ref the Qatari scum would have been eliminated. You are pathetic like your little club, as soon as Real won some games you shit your pants and already try to find excuses if your team fails. And QSG will probably lose because like their fans, they will also be shitting their pants, would not surprise me if they go at the Bernaleo with a defensive tactic looking to get a draw, and Real punishing them with 3 goals in the first 20 min.
 

vlad

New member
But they cant really blame aytekin for their biggest fuck up on highest level, you have 4:0 from first match and you shit yourself on camp nou and play like scared low tier team


Blowing up such a lead was gold, for the books, vs weak barca who got out next round vs juve.
 

KingLeo10

Senior Member
no.1 sign you know deep down you're not champion material = lining up excuses before the start. where's the bravado i normally see regarding ney and mbappe against Farmer's club toulouse and such? :lol::lol:
 

Luftstalag14

Culé de Celestial Empire
Look at the facts: Chelsea will play Hull in FA Cup on Friday, will then have 3 full days to prepare for Tuesday evening match against Barça. Barça will play Eibar - currently in great form - Away on Saturday, will then have to travel to London to play another Away match against Chelsea. I think we should
1. Respect the current PL champions and their coach, despite a couple of poor PL performances
2. Take advantage of our La Liga cushion and rest key players, maybe not even let them travel to Eibar.

We just saw (Getafe) how difficult it is to play well after a tough match (Valencia) with only 2 days rest.

Messi has only one weakness, namely recovery time he requires before a difficult match against world class defense. He should not play after just 2 days of rest.

We could throw the Eibar game if we had a 12-point lead over Atletico but we don't. The 7-point gap is too small to risk rotation and if we lose, the league title race is back on. I think we should definitely give everything for a win against Eibar and strive for a draw in London in the first leg with an away goal.
 

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