Your opponent of choice

[Guillermo]

I am a season ticket holder and ive just found out that im on training in Manchester for the first leg!!!!!

I really hope the first leg is not at home!!!!! and if it is i hope we dont get barca!!!

I feel your pain, dude. I'm in Dublin at the time.

Fingers crossed, eh.

 

[omega man]

Surely its better if were not the favourites. Bring on Juve or Barca
i say. Maybe even AC or Inter but not Lyon. The bigger the better.
You have to beat the best to be the best.

 

[omega man]

So Juve and PV it is then. Bring it on.

 

[bojed]

just as i wished before:

arsenal vs juve

hell yeah!!!

 

[Mostarac]

It will be very tough against Juventus, but we can do it. We will have to put in two fantastic performances in order to advance, it will not be easy for Thierry Henry to come past Cannavaro and Buffon, but he can do it.

 

[mistaz23]

I have this gut feeling that were going to get Juve. Its really strange but im pretty confident that its going to happen. :roll:

However I would like to see Villareal, Benfica or Ajax if they win

Daamn im good

 

[gstew]

I do not agree with this at all. Capello is one of the best(if not the best) managers in the world, and he knows that he will have to renew his team. And to compare Arsenal`s demise to Juventus is very naive, Juventus are a bigger club and will always have a lot of money(they have the best sponsor and TV-deals in the world right now) they can spend on big stars which will take their club forward, Arsenal do not have the same spending power at all, and must at times go for young and unexperienced players while Juventus pick players from the top-shelf. And guys like Emerson, Zambrotta, Cannavaro and Camoranesi are all getting in their prime-age, even a guy like Del Piero is still great at times. You seem to forget that they also have the best goalkeeper in the world, Buffon is only 27-28 years old. They have a good/young striker in Ibrahimovic, an excellent goalscorer in Trezeguet, a really talented and up-and-coming left-back in Chiellini which is pushing the world`s best left-back(Zambrotta) all the way to the point that Capello has pushed Zambrotta to the right-back in order to accomodate Chiellini at the left-back at times. And Juventus ALWAYS get the referees with them. And when you take all that in acount, your anticipation of the fall of Juventus is greatly exaggerated.

I respectfully disagree with you. Do you remember when Henry was never injured and could play three games in a week at full speed? Henry is the same age as Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Camoranesi, Zebina and Trezeguet. Henry is at the tail end of his prime, just like those five Juve starters. The other starters (bar Ibrahimovich) Vieira, Emerson, Nedved and Thuram are all past their prime. They are still good players, but they are not as good as they once were and they will worsen at a much quicker rate than they improved years ago.

Juve is just finishing a stage where the whole is greater than the sum of their parts. Their team is better than their players. It is true that their financial power will allow them to buy excellent talent. But this is a team sport and they will have a transition period where the sum of the parts that they buy will definitely be greater than the whole. The players will be better than the team. During that period Milan and Inter will be much better positioned and Juve will be extremely vulnerable. I have watched them quite a bit this year and they have worsened throughout the season. They continue to win by being tougher than their opponents. But quite often they are not better.

I now question if Juve are going to be "tougher" than their opponents much longer. After another long season and summer full of World Cup training and competition, Juve will have major problems next year. Their entire midfield (except maybe Camorenesi) and central defense will be old and beat up. Watching them the last few months, and especially against Roma and Arsenal, they are obviously a team running on fumes and it will only get worse. Their decline might only be temporary (for a year or two), but it is inevitable, just as our's and ManU's were.

I stand by my contention that Juve will be fighting for third in Serie A next year. This does not minimize our victory, but it just reinforces the concept that there are only two teams to fear left in the competition (Barca and Milan) and we would face neither until the final. Lyon and Inter would also make very worthy opponents, but they should not be feared, just repsected.

 

[gstew]

From Wed Mar 08, 2006 11:57 pm
From best to worst opponent (quality of team and match up of styles) these are my rankings:

1) Benfica -- Above average team that we should be able to handle fairly easily. Just because they beat Liverpool and Liverpool beat us does not necessarily give them any advantage at all. How would Bolton do in the Champions League?? 85% chance of victory

2) Villareal -- As long as we keep the ball from Riquelme they are an average team and we would dominate. I would man-mark Riquelme with Flamini all over the field in our away match against them. I would instruct Flamini to never leave his side. If he goes off the field for treatment I would have Flamini stand there next to the trainer until he got up. 85% chance of victory

3) Inter -- A good team that has some talent. I like our chances against them. 60% chance of victory

4) Juve -- Now that Nedved is no longer that effective they are a very good, yet very beatable team. They defend well in the middle with Vieira and Emerson, but I don't feel that they are a major attacking threat. I truly believe that they are entering a downward trend with most of their important players at 30 or older (Emerson, Nedved, Vieira, Zambrotta, Thuram, Del Piero, Cannavaro, Camoranesi). They currently have only one starter under the age of 28. Like Arsenal a few years ago, they are a wonderful team whose core has played together for a number of years. This stability is fantastic for team play and allows the whole to be greater than the sum of the parts. But it also leads to a team collectively aging and players that have forgotten that they need to fight for their place. Like us, their fall will be precipitous. Juve is extremely vulnerable and it would not surprise me if Milan are within two or three points of them going into the last round of Serie A. And I expect them to be passed by both Milan and Inter next year. Their decline is not just wishful thinking, it is inevitable. And watching them the last couple of months I think it has already started. 50% chance of victory

5) Lyon -- A very good team that is stronger than us in most positions on the field. Carew is similar to Drogba and it would be nice to have Sol back for Senderos if we play them. I believe that our only advantage is that they play a lower level of competition than us and that they will not be used to our speed of play and movement. I would much rather play any of the above four ahead of Lyon. 40% chance of victory

6) Milan -- I think that we match up well in most parts of the field and their strikers don't concern me too much (except on set pieces). But I would expect Seedorf and Kaka to carve up our defence. Those two are dramatically better than anything that Madrid could throw at us. And their second team midfield (Rui Costa, Jankulovski, Ambrosini, Serginho, Vogel) is slightly better than our starting midfield. Even though their defence is experienced, big and good, conversely they are slow and old. I can see us possibly beating them, but only if we can contain Kaka and Seedorf. 25% chance of victory

7) Barca -- The best team in the world. They are better than us at almost every position and have a much stronger bench (Larsson, Guily, Iniesta, Van Bommel and Silvinho would all start for our current team). And although Henry is better than Eto'o, Eto'o is still one of the five best strikers on the planet. Under what circumstances could we beat them over two legs? If Henry is fully healthy and motivates himself to dominate, then we would have a chance over two matches. Otherwise, we would need one of their players to be sent off early in one of the matches. As we are still a very good team, I expect that in a one-off (the final, e.g.) we would have a decent chance of nicking a win. That is why I hope that we avoid them until the final. 15% chance of victory

So how did I do??

)

 

[maradona]

Villareal next please

 

[cescypoos]

I'm very confident about our chances against Barca. Milan and Lyon would be more difficult opponents, I feel.

 

[Arsenal_FAN1983]

We have a better record against Italian teams than we do against the Spanish you sure you want Villarreal??

 

[Legend#1]

People are talking like we're through :?

 

[maradona]

Fair comment Leg#1 but the question is still who do you fancy next.

FAN1983 law of averages say that we tured over Inter before big time, it wo'nt happen again, and Spamish allow teams to play generally.

Either way fingers crossed!

 

[Liberace]

if they get 1 goal in 1st half next week then watch us panic.

 

[usheray]

To be honest i want Benfica to somehow squeeze past Barca and Lyon are likely to beat milan, they were unlucky not to, as for inter i personally think we can beat them everyday they struggle so much everytime they play , I think a Lyon vs arsenal final will be brilliant

 

[>YounGunner<]

Arsenal and Barce would be something else.

Hate it when we beat a team all people say is "Juve where crap", etc. It was our performance that made them look bad.

If it was Chelsea no one would ever say that.

 

[cubbz_th14]

game with AC will be awesome .. i think benefica will knock barca out

 

[nidza7]

if they get 1 goal in 1st half next week then watch us panic.

if WE get the goal in any half then watch me manic :wink:

 

[LostAndFound]

To be honest i want Benfica to somehow squeeze past Barca and Lyon are likely to beat milan, they were unlucky not to, as for inter i personally think we can beat them everyday they struggle so much everytime they play , I think a Lyon vs arsenal final will be brilliant

How about that for going against the flow

I would frankly rather have Barca in the final. Lyon have just the right blend of 2 spoons of 'good' and a pint of 'underdog', we wouldn't have the underdog tag that (I believe) has allowed our players free expression against Madrid and Juventus.

But as previously said, lets dream about getting to the semifinals first, eh... even if the job is slightly more than half done.

 

[Jidex]

I believe it wll be an Arsenal v Milan final, pretty certain Barca won't make it, they better not, had some money put on an Arsenal Milan final since the last draw was made 8)