mironesco

Okay back from my first visit at the Bridge. Three points for the Blues is okay, we had our chances too but our team has been a bit too inexperienced in order to win or grab a point. Thats just normal when you appear firstly in the Champions League. In fact except Ballack and Derdiyok nobody played CL before. If Ballack had scored..... but football is not about the ifs an whens, its about results. Three points for the Blues. Revenge match to come ;-) The ref. was awful. I thought all the time "This is English soil, why is he that fussy". French men.... To summ up. Great Match. Result okay. The only letdown was the home support. That was just nothing. Had a bad day? Ususal? I will come back and find out ;-)

I count on Torres last match in bad form tomorrow ;-) I think Leverkusen will appear with Leno - Kadlec, Toprak, Reinartz, Castro - Rolfes, Bender - Sam, Renato, Schürrle - Kießling I think the blues will win it by 3-1 or 2-0. For me as a Lev supporter and Chelsea sympathiser its very sad that my first visit of the Bridge is a match against each other. If your squad takes LEV serious they should win through experience and cleverness. If we manage to defend strongly Chelsea could get troubled by the row of Sam, Renato Augusto and Schürrle. They are very fast, even for Premier League standards. Furthermore i am eager to find out how good the home support is! We will give all we can!

Yep. The seem a bit closer to the more "modern" systems Barca, Real oder Dortmund have implemented. The tasks of the centre forward have transformed within the last two years, the priority is not longer to score goals, the centre forward is the pivot point of the offense while attacking and giving the ball back to the offensive midfielders overtaking the centre forward. Nani and Valencia match perfectly into this system. Just as Müller and Schürrle do in the German National team. But this is taking its time and i think Mata, Torres and Lukaku can do this as well.

United has fulfilled to this season what is needed at the Bridge as well. Refreshment. Lampard, Terry, Drogs, all the players i ever wanted to see are aging. Even though Neville is still with United their team is younger by 0.7 years. Probably this year runners up and champion of the PL will be from Manchester, but i think that the step into the future is taken this season by AVB. I think with a defense consisting of Ivanovic, David Luiz, Bosingwa and a good left wing defender which has to be found will be strong for the next three to four years. With Fabio and Rafael United for sure has the better future on the wing defender positions as Chelsea(even though i follow chelsea whenever i can, for me as a Leverkusen supporter its hard to write "as we have"). Therefore our investments in the fullbacks was better. Essien and Ramires have to face Nani and Valencia, not on their positions but if we concern the impact on the game. Essien and Ramires will have to compensate the decline of Frank Lampard which will appear in the next years. Mata and Kalou will have to face a lot of responsibility. Drogs has to be replaced by Torres or if Torres won't work anytime he has to be replaced by Lukaku. United is not really better, Utd is just a bit ahead in order to reach reorganization and refreshment. Both teams could use one or two additional players but their biggest advantage was the composure with which this process was and is sustained. While AF could do this in a quite mannerly way, at the bridge at least two managers have been dumped. This season will be a season of restrengthening. Nothing bad with that i think.

As a German i have to agree to Eagle Owl. Germany has some right wing supporter scenes, or lets say scenes where right wing groups have huge influence. I know several supporters of BFC Dynamo Berlin or Dresden who complain about such groups in their scene. When I was with Leverkusen in Dresden it was remarkable that a noticeable number of supporters had the number 18 on their shirts. Even though there is no player with the 18 in their squad. With a bit of imagination everybody could find out for himself what the 18 means. AH. But in Dresden you had the FRG/GDR conflict more than problems wit racism. In every German scene you can find some idiots if you look for them. An sometimes in fixtures like St.Pauli - Hansa Rostock you can see communists and nazis clash. But in Germany the racist problems connected to the football are lesser than the problems which came up with the Ultra Culture. Stealing or robbing Scarvs, Tracktops, Shirts or things like that in trains has become a really awful problem on Bundesliga matchdays. I will go to Leverkusen in half an hour and i considered what to wear in order not to get in trouble with possibly frustrated Dortmund supporters after our fixture. Maybe I am a bit too careful, but i made a lot of bad experiences. Even though i am not very weak ;-) For me, i felt the most uncomfortable in Greece and Spain. With France(I only was in Lille) and England(ManUtd, Liverpool and Tottenham) i had absolutely no problems. Cool was the Ukraine, 120 supporters = 240 Policemen. They are scared that they produce bad news before the Euro2012. I hope your supporters will feel welcome in Leverkusen, because this is what European Cup matches are made for. Good tales, getting to know each other and fine fixtures. Football is nothing which should be fooled by politics or stupidity. Hopefully we get a nice matchday ;-) Leverkusen - Dortmund. Best Bundesliga action today.

Does the FA reorganize the fixtures after CL/EL draws?

Okay, I come from an area called Eastwestfalia, approx 75 kilometers below Hannover. Kölsch is not accepted as beer there ;-) Gulden Draak is really good but I am eager to get my first London Pride since 3rd of January 2008. @PietrKempya, i think that we dont have to start a competition concerning falling of chairs or staying on 'em. Except the French I think all of the Europeans, Belgians, the Danish or Dutch, the English or the Germans are quite capable of drinking beer ;-) Genk had only 15 k visitors during the qualifiers. We will get outself tickets out of the visitors sector there when they start to sell them. 120 Kilometers away. Fine distance for a European Cup match.

If u are planning to go to Leverkusen, just stay away of everything that is called "Kölsch". Reissdorf Kölsch, Gaffel Kölsch, Früh Kölsch etc! You can't call this a beer. How much supporters du you expect for the away match in Leverkusen? I think we wont be more than 500 in London. Leverkusen is not Schalke oder Dortmund.

Leverkusen is looking unbalanced. Good Midfield, even though Ballack seems to be unliked by the manager. Problems in the defense, young and unexperienced since Sami Hyypiä left the club. Derdiyok for sure is a talented striker, but he does not like to work. Kießling works his socks off but has technical weaknesses. Our Goalkeeper is injured but the substitute performs well. Germany seems to have a never ending supply of good goalkeepers ;-) I think that the second place in the group stage is achieveable. We have beaten Genk in the summer with 4 goals to 1. For the Bundesliga I think Dortmund first, Bayern second, Leverkusen third. Your reddish neighbours will have tough fixtures against Dortmund. 25k people will sing them down at the Westfalenstadion. Just one shed ;-)

Hello, since I watched the 98 Cup Winnes' Cup Final Chelsea vs. Stuttgart i was eager to visit the Stamford Bridge. Today my dream became reality, the team which possesses my heart, Bayer Leverkusen, was drawn against the Blues. To see Drogs and Lampard at the Bridge will be one of the biggest highlights in my time as a supporter. So I will take my 2002 Michael Ballack Jersey which I took to Anfield, Manchester and Glasgow to the Bridge. It may be that this match is not an even fixture but I just don't care. I just want to enjoy the two days in London and the match of the teams of my heart. By the way, for hints concerning a good Pub in which my friends an me can have some beer before the match, i give some hints doing the same in Leverkusen! Greetings from Paderborn