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Post by mandragora on Apr 18, 2017 17:39:49 GMT
Bale out for Real Madrid. Lewy, Boateng, Hummels all starting for Bayern (quite unexpectedly, didn't look at all like the latter two would be ready yesterday).
Will still take a small miracle to pull this off for Bayern.
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Post by staggerstag on Apr 18, 2017 17:56:00 GMT
(90 mins)
Real Madrid 13/8
Bayern Munich 13/8
Draw 29/10
(To qualify)
Real Madrid 2/7
Bayern Munich 11/4
Preamble by Jacob Steinburg :
"Hello. For some teams, winning isn’t everything. For some teams, not winning simply makes them an even better story. Think of Hungary in 1954, Holland in 1974, Brazil in 1982 and England in 2016. They won a lot along the way, but they didn’t win enough and they didn’t win the matches that mattered, and in the end that made them losers - if you think winning is everything. If you don’t, then those teams will hold a special place in your heart because they made football fun to watch, which is more or less the reason we’re all here in the first place. It is, after all, only a game.
But no one seems to have told Real Madrid. You get the sense that they’d regard that kind of loser talk as the doomed, pathetic witterings of a hopeless, foolish dreamer at the Bernabeu, where the guiding ethos very much is about the accumulation of trophies. Forget about trying to redefine the game, seems to be the message coming from the Spanish capital, there’s no point trying to beat Barcelona at their own game; let’s beat them and the rest at our own. The philosophy doesn’t matter - winning does. They might be the champions of Europe and they might be top of La Liga, they might have Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema and They have Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo and so many talented players that James Rodriguez barely gets a game any more, and their manager might be The Zinedine Zidane, but as long as they win, they don’t really care if they leave you or me cold.
It can make them hard to warm to, that sense that they aren’t quite as committed to setting the pulse racing as Barcelona are, and that cold focus on victory does have the effect of making them one of the more inscrutable top sides of the past few years. Working them out isn’t easy. Are they actually good? The answer is obviously yes. But are they good? Are they good in the way Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona were good? Are they good in the way they were around the turn of the century? If not, do they even care? And should we care if they don’t? Should we care if it often looks like they don’t know what they’re doing? Does Zidane? Do the players? Or are they just lucky to possess more individual talent than almost anyone else?
Just what is there to admire about the European champions? It’s a provocative question. A bit of a stupid one, too. One thing to admire about the European champions is that they’re, er, the European champions. They might still be the European champions come the end of the season, not to mention the champions of Spain, and that’s because they’re bloody hard to beat. Few teams are as dangerous as this lot when they’re chasing a game.
It happened on the weekend, when they fought back from 2-1 down to win at Sporting Gijon in the last minute, and it happened in Munich last Wednesday. Indebted to Arturo Vidal for Jaap Stamming a penalty that would have given Bayern Munich a 2-0 lead at half-time, Madrid took control of the tie in the second half. Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t do much, but he scored twice and got Javi Martinez sent off. Job done.
Well, almost. Madrid are the hot favourites to go through after winning 2-1 in Germany. Bayern have it all to do and the weight of history is against them: in 61 years and eight months, only six teams have reached the next round after losing the first leg of a European Cup tie at home. The good news for Bayern is that they should have Robert Lewandowski back from injury and he usually gives Madrid the heebie-jeebies. All is not lost for Carlo Ancelotti’s side, who certainly have the attack to make it a nervy night at the Bernabeu. They’re capable of scoring twice and we could be in for a classic if the Germans get the first goal. Then they’ll face the unenviable task of keeping their foot on Madrid’s throat."
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Post by MrFurious on Apr 18, 2017 18:23:43 GMT
C'mon BM! and make Ronny cry but the Spaniards are going through.
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Post by MrFurious on Apr 18, 2017 20:16:57 GMT
1-1
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Post by MrFurious on Apr 18, 2017 20:18:33 GMT
Looks like we're goin to xtra time
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Post by staggerstag on Apr 18, 2017 20:19:17 GMT
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Post by mandragora on Apr 18, 2017 20:26:56 GMT
Down to 10 again.
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Post by staggerstag on Apr 18, 2017 20:31:35 GMT
Jacob Steinburg says :
"4m ago
21:26
Red card for Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich)
84 min: This is a poor decision. Vidal clearly wins the ball as he slides in to win the ball off Asensio, but Viktor Kassai sees differently and shows the Chilean, who missed a penalty in the first leg, a second yellow. Oh dear. Bayern will be livid when they see that back."
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Post by staggerstag on Apr 18, 2017 20:33:23 GMT
3m ago
21:28
88 min: Bayern are forced into a defensive change, Joshua Kimmich on for Robert Lewandowski. The referee has ruined this game with a terrible decision.
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Post by mandragora on Apr 18, 2017 20:37:49 GMT
Except Vidal could've been sent off a couple of times before.
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Post by MrFurious on Apr 18, 2017 20:40:30 GMT
Last week I backed BM. This week I backed RM.  |
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TheSowIsMine
Junior Member
@thesowismine
Posts: 2,683
Likes: 1,746
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Post by TheSowIsMine on Apr 18, 2017 20:58:16 GMT
The refereeing is terrible.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 20:58:48 GMT
The serial 'Rapist' of German clubs in European competition at it again.
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Post by WullieFort on Apr 18, 2017 21:01:35 GMT
CR7 was offside when he got the ball, before scoring
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TheSowIsMine
Junior Member
@thesowismine
Posts: 2,683
Likes: 1,746
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Post by TheSowIsMine on Apr 18, 2017 21:03:42 GMT
Yes and just now the ref was blocking 2 BM players.
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Post by Excellent Bulletproof Vest on Apr 18, 2017 21:03:53 GMT
Ronaldo hat-trick. Has to be a serious contender for GOAT at this point. Fifth Ballon d'Or likely this year.
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Post by WullieFort on Apr 18, 2017 21:05:21 GMT
Fabulous Marcelo
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 21:09:07 GMT
C'mon BM! and make Ronny cry but the Spaniards are going through. I'd like to see them break both his legs and a vertebrae or two. Perhaps I went a bit far with the vertebrae comment, just a couple of broken legs would do me. |
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Post by mangekyoalleluia on Apr 18, 2017 21:13:10 GMT
Once again a Spanish team obliterates a German one.
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Post by WullieFort on Apr 18, 2017 21:16:41 GMT
Great match for 85 mins and then total farce
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