On the Eve of the new Season...

[vansmack]

It must be your handsome lead because the Toon match isn't even on Setanta Premium (PPV):
 
 Thursday, Feb 22
 
 1:15pm UEFA Cup 2nd Leg: Dinamo Bucuresti v Benfica  
 
 
 3:05pm UEFA Cup 2nd Leg: Rangers v Hapoel Tel Aviv

[godsshoeshine]

apparently they are having trouble getting people to buy tickets

[vansmack]

I don't know how many of you saw it, but Giggs clearly asked the ref if he had to wait for the whistle.  A small conversation ensued, which could presumably only have been about the wall not being 10 yards back.  Giggs must have said I don't care if the wall is ten yards back, the ref stepped away from the ball, raised his arm to allow the kick and Giggsy shocked the French squad into the open net.
 
 A cagey play by a heads up veteran, that made up for a terrible first half.  The French coaches pulling their squad off the pitch after the goal reminded me of why the French Army can't claim a military victory since Napoleon.  Pussies.

[Frank Gallagher]

Originally posted by vansmack:
  A cagey play by a heads up veteran, that made up for a terrible first half.  The French coaches pulling their squad off the pitch after the goal reminded me of why the French Army can't claim a military victory since Napoleon.  Pussies.

I'm just relieved that nobody got injured during the crushing incident in their le petite stadium!!
 
 Small teams like Lille, Monaco, chelski and Arsenal should not be allowed to play with the big boys in the biggest club competition in the world...at least arseholes are trying to do something about their stadium.

[godsshoeshine]

isnt lille playing somewhere temporary while their new stadium is being built? kinda unfair to lump chelski in with that, arse already moved...and they looked terrible yesterday. i was already for some good cl action when i got home

[Barcelona]

Haven't seen yet the Lille Man.Utd. images on tv. Any link already on Youtube?
 
 As for today´s games, I think the Barça Liverpool should be a great game, afraid to death of Gerrard and worried over Etoo´s absence.  Also the Inter-Valencia is promising. Oporto Chelsea should be good as well.

[brennser]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bIcgGP7WlFc

[vansmack]

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
  isnt lille playing somewhere temporary while their new stadium is being built?

Actually, in this case they opted to play the game in the Stade Félix-Bollaert instead of PSG's Stadium, Parc des Princes, the Stade de France, or Stade Vélodrome all of which are better suited for Champions League play.  United complained about this, but UEFA ignored the complaint.

[Barcelona]

I couldn't watch the game, but I think the Champions League is over for us. I haven't read any reviews, nothing, still too sad to read any newspaper, but all my respect for Liverpool, I guess they were better than us.

[bigyellow100]

fuck manchester.  that game was given to them.  how that lille goal was disallowed was ridiculous.  vidic(?) took a dive and was not pushed by odemwinge...at least he wasnt pushed hard enough to fall like that.  isnt there something called "incidental contact" in soccer?  and gigg's goal was bullshit.  he was obviously talking to the ref while sylva was organizing the wall.  though it may have been "legal", it wasnt in good sportsmanship.  however, i think he still took it too early; a lot of arsenal's set pieces get called back because theyre taken too early.  
 
 man is lille pissed over this game.  the prez pretty much said that this game was fixed.
 
 as for all those security concerns, naturally, it was the manchester fans causing trouble.  like people dont throw shit anywhere else; and it was a very isolated incident at that. and the person who tried to rush the field was a manchester fan.
 
 lille operates on a budget of $40some million a year.  so theyre not going to have the best stadium, but they are building a new one.
 
 these uefa regulations are ridiculous, theyre just keeping the smaller teams down and protecting the more revenue-producing teams.  that way it would be hard for lille to have a real home advantage.  it is elitist and greatly hurts the game.

[Frank Gallagher]

Oh dear, seems we have a sore loser here...are you an arseholes fan by chance?
 
 As for the fans, Manchester United have the best behaved fans in Europe....and the bloke who ran on the pitch was trying to get away from the crush, tear gas and night-sticks of the security....There should be a rule that if your mickey mouse team doesn't have a stadium that meets regulation you should not be allowed to compete in the competition. (that would include chelski though so I can't see it happening)
 
 Giggs asked if he could take the kick even though the wall was not 10 yards back, the ref put his arm up....the goal is scored, 1-0! Lille showed their lack of professionalism by not getting ready for the play and then walking off like cry-babies. No offense, this is the big league, not the MLS. As for the Lille goal, I didn't see it but Vidic is not one to go down, had it been Ronaldo I may listen to your bleating, but not Vidic....and why would a full back go down? It just doesn't make sense.

[bigyellow100]

hell yeah im a sore loser.  and im super sore because your team had to get extra help in order to beat my mickey mouse of a team.  theyre like those rich kids that get unlimited time on standardized tests because they are to stupid to read at a brisk pace.  
 
 as for the giggs goal.  yeah that shit happens a lot in the premiership, but dont a lot of the arsenal set pieces get called back because henry takes the kick too quickly?  yes they do.  that was a rhetorical question.  as for vidic.  why would he take a dive?  cause he dove for the header and whiffed.
 
 as for the security, again, it was mostly manchester fans getting fucked up and acting like fools before and during the game.  a couple of my friends who were there concede that though police force was excessive, police force was necessary to calm these clowns down.  instead of using batons, tear gas, and pepper spray, they couldve used just one.
 
 a little bit of this might be lens' fault for selling alcohol.  last year when the cl games for lille were played at the stade de france, they only served non-alcoholic beer.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by Barcelona:
  I couldn't watch the game, but I think the Champions League is over for us. I haven't read any reviews, nothing, still too sad to read any newspaper, but all my respect for Liverpool, I guess they were better than us.

Your back four were terrible.  You missed a few chances going forward, but your defense were full of holes.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by bigyellow100:
  fuck manchester.  that game was given to them.  how that lille goal was disallowed was ridiculous.  vidic(?) took a dive and was not pushed by odemwinge

Really?  Seemed kind of odd that Odemwinge didn't argue at all after the push was called.

[godsshoeshine]

maybe lille has more respect for the game than that
 
 wait