Haven't had time to read any links or even watch the news of late. Can someone tell me -- is this really actually going to happen?
What's weird for me is that everyone seems to be focussing on the fact that some games will be abroad rather than the inherent unfairness of the proposed system which will turn the league into (more of) a joke.
Manchester United 1-2 Manchester City
they never really got it together and were obviously very frustrated. city played an excellent game i thought too. ronaldo was non-existent. adebayor's tied him now in scoring![]()
Who saw it? Were Utd as poor as the minute-by-minutes made out?
It summed him up when he banged in that free kick to beat Sporting early in the season- the team he started at- and he still pulled his 'who, moi?' face when he scored it. I know it's awful but I really would be relieved if he broke his legs and never played again; I can't hack people with that much talent and luck who're still just cheating cunts.There's something about that Roanldo that's just loathsome. Can't remember the last time I hated one player so much, and he just gets worse - the way he reacts after scoring, like even he is dazzled by his own brilliance...i have to switch channels
summed him up when he banged in that free kick to beat Sporting early in the season- the team he started at- and he still pulled his 'who, moi?' face when he scored it
A small cheer was permissible last Wednesday when Schalke beat Porto on penalties to take their place in the Champions League's last eight with England's big three or four and the survivors from Italy, Spain and Turkey. Not because there were six Germans in the Schalke team (there were), but because the cheapest seat in the Veltins-Arena is a laughable €17 (about £13). If you don't mind standing (for Bundesliga matches) you can get in for €11. And kids pay just €8. You can normally pay on the day in Germany, too, and decent beer and sausages are available at all times.
As will be apparent, they do things differently in the Bundesliga, although, while the above arrangements represent something of a fans' paradise, they are not as popular with clubs and players. Schalke have little hope of emulating Borussia Dortmund's 1997 achievement and winning the Champions League as unfancied underdogs. They have no household-name players, no depth to their squad and they are in the quarter-finals for the first time in their history. Kevin Kurányi, Schalke's first-leg goalscorer, has just admitted Porto were the better team in the second. Dortmund themselves almost went bankrupt a couple of years ago, and even the mighty Bayern Munich are competing in the Uefa Cup this season. German football has kept faith with the spectators, both by keeping admission prices low and preventing private investors buying more than 49 per cent of shares in each club (to stop any outside investor gaining a controlling interest). The result has been an observable decline in Germany's standing as a big football nation. Their teams no longer frighten the rest of Europe and many of their leading internationals play abroad.
German football stands as an exact opposite, in fact, to the English model. Inward-looking, underfunded and unsuccessful outside its own borders. But undeniably cheap. There is no shortage of potential investors in the Bundesliga - Tim Leiweke, the AEG president who effectively bought David Beckham for LA Galaxy, already owns a couple of German ice-hockey teams and arranged a meeting with club presidents in Frankfurt last week. The sticking point is the 49 per cent rule, because clearly people will not inject money into a club without gaining a say in how it is run. The German league say a decision on whether to overturn the rule or not will be made by the end of the year.
I think he's mixing up club and country in that article - I mean, German clubs have never had the success of those from Spain, Italy or England but they've always been a force in world cups - has that really changed? I don't think that there is necessarily a direct correlation between how good a nation's club sides are and how good the international side is and the same can be said for whether the best players play at home or abroad. In other words, the wealth of a nation's clubs does not necessarily direct affect the status of a nation as a "footballing power"."Interesting piece this. Is this waht our choice comes down to? England as the centre of the neo-liberal football industry with 4 teams in the CL quarter finals or an insular league with real competition drawing large domestic crowds, but losing its best players abroad and never threatening the final stages of the top tournament. Which would you prefer?"
I think he's mixing up club and country in that article - I mean, German clubs have never had the success of those from Spain, Italy or England but they've always been a force in world cups - has that really changed?
Well, they're supplying one team, the same number as Italy and Spain. Maybe Schalke are the weakest but they are there by winning games, would it be different if Bayern were the one team? To me it's the dominance of the English clubs that is more noteworthy than any German retreat although I agree they are two sides of the same coin."Historically they've provided 13 finalists (just one less than England) spread across 6 teams. From that to supplying just Schalke - the weakest of this year's quarter finalists - is quite a fall off."
Well, they're supplying one team, the same number as Italy and Spain.
Any thoughts on the draw for the next round?
Here it is by the way
1. Arsenal v Liverpool
2. Roma v Manchester United
3. Schalke v Barcelona
4. Fenerbahce v Chelsea
(winner 1 plays 4, 2 plays 3)