mickyg

I'm almost certain that those ucking Man Utd astards are going to win the title now. So, I'm thinking of betting some money on them to win, and then at least if they do win, I get some compensation. It's almost like an insurance policy. But then I worry if this is disloyal. Say I put one million on Man Utd. to win, then this could even me divided? So uck them - no bet from me. But have any of you thought about doing this? What's right and wrong here?

Champions League - John Terry miss. 48 years old and now living in US. Fairly successful self-employed businessman and father. Watching the game on TV. Trying to balance fear with watching. Turning off the TV and deciding when to look again, just like a kid watching Dr. Who. Three beers. Calling my (Arsenal) brother at half-time "bar stewards" I say. "What. didn't you see?" "No, I turned off" "1-1" "What" Second-half. More beer and then some more beer. Penalties. Half-aware, because sometimes that's the only way of dealing with it, because this is everything. More beer. Can't watch. More beer. My lovely Aamerican Wife - "Terry missed" F F F Need to go out to the deck. Wife comes out to the deck. "Are you actually crying?" F F F F F F And still, all this time later - F F F

Cech for me - two or three of those saves were equivalent to goals we would have had to score if they had gone in.

Does aqnyone think Scott Parker would be good enough to get in the Chelsea team today? I always liked him when he played for us.

United lose!!!!

This must be a record for the number of times a ref has blown the whistle in a half.

The rain's pouring down.

Best Scenario: It's the last day of the 2011/12 season. We're already champions. Leeds will stay up if they can avoid being defeated by more than 3 goals in their final home match which just happens to be against Chelsea...they're down 0-3 with 1 minute to go... Repeat this every other year.

BlueBeard: I remember those games too. I would readily swap an away game at Wigan or Blackburn or Hull for another shot at Leeds.

True Azz. Maybe the best of both worlds would be to have them constantly cycle between the Premiership and League 1 (or 2!) spending one year in each!

With Leeds doing well in Division 1, there's a chance that we could see them in the Premiership as early as the 2011/12 season. (Or we could meet next season if they get promoted and we get demoted!!!) I for one would enjoy the old rivalary - putting three or four unanswered goals past them at Ellen Road would be very pleasing.

As a 50 year old life-long supporter (well, at least from the age of six), I'm always in two-minds about these kind of nights. Growing up, I would never have dreamed that Chelsea could year-after-year be one of the top clubs in Europe - to the extent where not reaching the play-offs would be a disaster. Just the thought of getting in the "European Cup" for so many years in a row would have been like going to heaven! Having said that, I think that tonight's match shows two areas to improve in: - We need a "Shrek"-like attacker - We need one really good wing attacker - a Duff or Robben at their best. ...but, hey, "Best Bet" has us at 100-to-1 to not qualify, and Leeds are still two divisions below, so life is not too bad. MickeyG

I've forgotten - if it's 1-1 or 2-2 after 90 minutes is it extra time, or does Barca win the tie?

Iniesta: Thanks for your interesting posts - good luck tomorrow - but not too much!

OK, but underlying it I think were some cliches, or at least generalisations. Chelsea are much more than a brute strength and tap-in side, and the English game is often unfairly depicted as such. So there may be language issues, but I got the feeling that the basic mesage was following that well-trod simplification.

This is a very lazy post, based on flabby thought. "English style of play has pace and strength" - are you implying that Messi and Henry don't have pace? That Puyol and Keita don't have strength? That the English game is based only on pace and strength. This is a cliche. "Plot some great headers/tap ins" - so Chelsea's main source of goals is headers and tap ins? Look at the statistics of goals by type for the last three seasons. Another cliche. "Barcelona will need a lot more ball concentration in midfield and counter wing crosses at the back" - a meaningless statement. "Stamford has very thin comfort space" - not sure what this means, but if it refers to the width of the pitch, then you should know that Stamford Bridge is only about one metre less wide. It's annoying to have someone who spout off about a critical Chelsea match and base their comments and unreasoned arguments. Input from all Barcelona fans are welcome, but please THINK before you post. This game is too important.

I went to the Spanish newspaper "El Pais" to see what they had to say about last week's 0-0 game. I found an article - only trouble is I can't read spanish, so I used the BabelFish site to translate. Below is what it came back with. Something definitely got lost in the translation, but overall, I don't think it's that complementary about Chelsea! (Well calling us "young wild boars" is not too bad I suppose). "To the Barça, nevertheless, few things can be reproached to it. It played with bravery, generous and perserverante in his effort, faithful to his style. Last night, nevertheless, it did not reach to him to gain the party because nobody habia denied to him in Europe like the Chelsea. It did not yield the English wall to the vitality in a especially demanding encounter, of a brutal wearing down, very competed and badly arbitrated, since the associated one respected plus the foreign aggressiveness that the local gentleness. It was not a day for the artists, but for the young wild boars. The Barcelonist to parties are not customary like which the Chelsea raised to him, a powerful and worked equipment, of extraordinary a physical quality, always fierce, lout when it agreed, even black-market, plagued of expert soccer players."