Down by a goal, but it is a crucial away goal. Could prove pivotal in the tie. One more half to play in Italy.

Chelsea are really poo. Napoli are great on the counter, but their defense was woeful.

That Chelsea couldnt score doesn't auger well for a return leg when they'll really have to attack. Napoli are made to play as an away team & hit on the break. I can see them getting a couple goals.

they're still in a better position than arsenal.

i can't be the only one bemused by arshavin, park, chamakh, and benayoun ALL featuring for the reserve side, can i?

Match Report: Basel 1-0 Bayern Munich - Goal.com

awwwwwwww yeaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

God dammit.

The Real Madrid-CSKA Moscow match was fun to watch.

I have no idea if I was watching it live last night, or if it was a recent replay, but was awesome.

Moscow tied it on literally the last play of the game.

And Ronaldo missed so many golden opportunities, the fact that RM didn't win can pretty much be placed on his shoulders, although he did have their only goal.

That game was live at noon yesterday so you saw the replay. Good game regardless of when you watched lol

I don't pay attn to the schedules, or the format, or the standings. I just love plopping on my couch and going, "hmm, what's on Fox Soccer Channel?" Whether it's Champions, Premiere, or Serie A, I can watch for hours.

I think what I like the most about it is the distinct lack of commercial interruption. It's just game.

Unlike the NFL, which I also love... But I hate this sequence... Touchdown, commercial, Xtra point, commercial, kickoff, commercial... :facepalm:

the worst part of it all is: the results had all the makings for any team like...say, ARSENAL, to make a deep CL run

no manchester teams in sight
chelsea sucks *** (sorry jon, but admittedly your side was downright awful against napoli)
basel overturned a suddenly shoddy bayern team
inter is falling apart
lyon and marseille, ligue 1 representatives, aren't exactly lighting it up right now

i mean, aside from the spaniards (barca poured it on but are looking leggier by the day; RM could get shellshocked, you never know), the italians are the only ones playing well. AC milan should have been a close game, but arsenal were never in it. if we had something out of the san siro, i'm confident we could have gotten a positive result at the emirates.

but noooo. in spite of the weakest pool of CL teams in recent memory, we get spanked by the rossonerri. ugh.

maybe naysayers are right, and the EPL just sucks now.

forza...udinese.

Bayern will win at the Allianz so no worries there. But I kind of expected to lose this one with Schweinsteiger out.

Not disagreeing with you. We played pretty poor on Tuesday. Had at least 3 clear chances of wrapping up the tie in Italy that night; taking a huge, maybe insurmountable aggregate lead back to London, but we gave away chances and paid the price. David Luiz, it has to be said, is a outright terrible defender. He gift wrapped Napoli's 3rd not dealing with a simple ball over the top. Nothing fancy, just clear you lines and get on with it! :shakes head: If we advance to the Quarter Finals, we will surely go out at this stage unless something is changed. AVB might be out of a job even before then...

You might be right, the strength of the Premier League in the Champions League has not been what it used to be this particular season. Although City are having some success in the Europa league; they sent Porto crashing out of the competition. Against the top European sides though, English teams have been struggling.

Bayern probably should have won that match in Switzerland, but credit to Basel for playing to the last whistle. Its certainly not something Bayern cannot overcome at home, as they are very strong at home in Europe.


I agree the two Spanish teams look the strongest to make it to the final. Madrid have been playing extremely well in all competitions, so you have to say they're the favorites to go pretty far in the tournament. Might be Jose Mourinho's parting gift to Madrid, to present the club with a La Liga title and European trophy before leaving in the summer, just like he did at Inter. If he returns to England, what club will he manage I wonder?

I'd like to see a Madrid/Milan final actually, I think that would be a very entertaining game. Lots of history between these two clubs too, the two most successful clubs in the history of the competition. Wouldn't hurt to see a German side return to the final again either.

Arsenal when Wenger coaches us to a #6 finish and gets subsequently axed. We have a 60 million pound war chest dont ya know...:ugh2:

Arsenal's Andrey Arshavin completes loan move to Zenit St Petersburg | Football | The Guardian

what the ****

yeah, just seen that. Part of me is glad for him because he'll be able to get first team football, yet part of me feels bad because to me, this marks the beginning of the end to the Arsha saga at Arsenal. He's been crap this season, no doubting that, but i've always had a special place for the guy, he pulled goals out of his ass against some strong teams, i'll miss him a bit.

I'll always remember his winning goal: 1st leg Barcelona last year.

As far as consistency, he has been only inconsistent.
Maybe similar to Cesc, Arshavin prefers to play in his home country. ?. .