CL: Barcelona vs Arsenal | 17/05/06

[dublingunner]

Let's be realistic, it's gonna be Barca.

Let's be realistic, 3-0 Arsenal, 11 straight clean sheets.

Yeah baby.

 

[brianfrance]

I add Milan to the title, but you'll edit it tomorrow :wink:

 

[jester]

very close game no matter who.
our run as gone:
0-0
1-0
0-0
2-0
0-0
1-0
0-0

so 2-0 it is then

 

[brianfrance]

of course it is 2-0
Lehmann brace!

 

[imbak]

Me and my friend have it worked out already. 3-1 Arsenal. The goofy brazilian scores a wonder goal in the 3rd minute and then Eto'o misses an open goal in the 5th.
On 41 minutes Toure tackles the ball, passes to Eboue, who gives it to Hleb. He runs past a few players and gives it to Cesc who threads a through ball for Henry to score.
75th minute Bergkamp comes on, assuming he travels. He turns Puyol and scores like he did against Newcastle a couple seasons ago.
On 89 minutes Ronaldinho hits the post and the ball goes out of play after hitting Senderos. Valdes comes up for the corner. Lehman catches the corner and then kicks the ball upfield as hard as he can... AND SCORES.

 

[brianfrance]

Me and my friend have it worked out already. 3-1 Arsenal. The goofy brazilian scores a wonder goal in the 3rd minute and then Eto'o misses an open goal in the 5th.
On 41 minutes Toure tackles the ball, passes to Eboue, who gives it to Hleb. He runs past a few players and gives it to Cesc who threads a through ball for Henry to score.
75th minute Bergkamp comes on, assuming he travels. He turns Puyol and scores like he did against Newcastle a couple seasons ago.
On 89 minutes Ronaldinho hits the post and the ball goes out of play after hitting Senderos. Valdes comes up for the corner. Lehman catches the corner and then kicks the ball upfield as hard as he can... AND SCORES.

Where can I sign ? I buy that scenario at any price

 

[Mark]

I think we'll play Barca, but the interesting thing is what formation do we play? Do we go for the 4-5-1 that has served us so well, or do we go for 4-4-2 as this is now less of a tactical battle. It's just one match which needs to be won. No playing for draws now. So even though 4-5-1 has worked in the CL, this is going to be a very different game and I wouldn't be against 4-4-2.

 

[dublingunner]

I think we'll play Barca, but the interesting thing is what formation do we play? Do we go for the 4-5-1 that has served us so well, or do we go for 4-4-2 as this is now less of a tactical battle. It's just one match which needs to be won. No playing for draws now. So even though 4-5-1 has worked in the CL, this is going to be a very different game and I wouldn't be against 4-4-2.

Me neither, and I wouldn't be surprised if Wenger went for 4-4-2 to surprise everyone.

 

[kel varnsen]

will be a tough game no matter what. i am a bit worried after tonight's, and the last few weeks', performances though. we haven't really played well since the home game against juve.

wenger must convince the players to go out there and play like they can. we were terrible today and got way too catious. i fear that the same thing might happen in the final. we need to go out there and forget that it is the champions league final and just give it our best shot. play our own football and not be afraid to go forward and create chances.

because if we don't, barca will ****ing hammer us...

 

[Aussie]

Possibly the only thing ill ever agree on with you Kel.

 

[awooga83]

I think in the final we will be there not to counter as much but rather to win it i would think the formation would be more attacking and if we do go out there with the right attitude and at our tempo we might just surprise whoever we face, we'll certainly be the underdogs and thats the way we like it.

The final is just such a different scenario to the two legged knock out stages i'm sure the teams philosophy will be different.

 

[cescypoos]

GEEEET INNNN !!! SACRE BLEU MONSIEUR, BON VOYAGE EN ROUTE Et PARIS!!!

 

[Jimbo14]

think about it, we always seem to score & win in the 1st leg, there's only 1 leg were a-shoo-in

 

[Courier]

I really think Wenger should give Theo a run out against Sunderland and not bring in Dennis. Arsène needs to know that if needed what kind of impact he can make in CL final if required.

Maybe he could try him in Reyes role because if we are going to pursue with 451 then we need pace, penetration and energy from deeper areas to support Henry better than tonight.IMO Pires or Dennis will not provide Either Milan or Barce problems but with Theo who knows? Come on Arsène we paid 5 million down to get him for this season now give him his wings.

 

[dublingunner]

I really think Wenger should give Theo a run out against Sunderland and not bring in Dennis. Arsène needs to know that if needed what kind of impact he can make in CL final if required.

Yes, because playing Walcott against Sunderland is very comparable to playing him against Barcelona.

 

[stiiphunn]

will be a tough game no matter what. i am a bit worried after tonight's, and the last few weeks', performances though. we haven't really played well since the home game against juve.

wenger must convince the players to go out there and play like they can. we were terrible today and got way too catious. i fear that the same thing might happen in the final. we need to go out there and forget that it is the champions league final and just give it our best shot. play our own football and not be afraid to go forward and create chances.

because if we don't, barca will f****g hammer us...

Spot on.

But honestly, tonight's game can be seen as an off night. First, you could see that, physically, the players were completly exhausted! I've never seen Thierry that tired!
Then it was obvious that the players didn't really know what to do given that we won 1-0 in Highbury. They were afraid going forward.

The final will be different as it's 90 minutes, possibly 120 minutes. Our players won't hold back and will play just the way they played in the first match of every single round we've had till today.

 

[Mark]

will be a tough game no matter what. i am a bit worried after tonight's, and the last few weeks', performances though. we haven't really played well since the home game against juve.

wenger must convince the players to go out there and play like they can. we were terrible today and got way too catious. i fear that the same thing might happen in the final. we need to go out there and forget that it is the champions league final and just give it our best shot. play our own football and not be afraid to go forward and create chances.

because if we don't, barca will f****g hammer us...

Spot on.

But honestly, tonight's game can be seen as an off night. First, you could see that, physically, the players were completly exhausted! I've never seen Thierry that tired!
Then it was obvious that the players didn't really know what to do given that we won 1-0 in Highbury. They were afraid going forward.

The final will be different as it's 90 minutes, possibly 120 minutes. Our players won't hold back and will play just the way they played in the first match of every single round we've had till today.

I'd agree that this was something of an off-night. The thing with these horrible first legs and second legs is that they're so tactical and tonight we really were too nervous to risk conceding a goal it seemed. We were also pretty tired which hopefully we won't be when it comes to Paris.

 

[clockwork orange]

totally different opponents: Milan play a more defensive 4-4-2 percentage game and lack width. Barcelona play attacking 4-3-3 with lots of width. So can't say anything about tactics for the final yet. But I would prefer FC Barcelona, because they are easier to play against.

 

[Maximus]

ive predicted the last 3 champions league games correct...scorelines aswell...very weird..hmmm
ive been having dream about all the games, ~ a day before we play them...ill let you guys know closer to the time

 

[koivu]

Possibly the only thing ill ever agree on with you Kel.

Too right!