United played an exceptionally strong line-up but couldn't get the job done. I fully expect them to qualify from the return leg but with a packed fixture list over the coming weeks, how many more games can the Special Once risk his key players?
I think that Mourinho will be pretty happy with that, to be honest. Tricky tie, got the away goal, didn't lose and nobody seemed to get seriously injured. He'd have taken that at the start, I think. Some of his players do some to have played a lot of games, though. Might explain why some of their performances have been very flat. Lots of big games left, but you shouldn't join a big club if you don't want to be involved in plenty of them.
Rafael just got fouled by one of his own teammates and had to go off for treatment. As he's playing for Lyon against Roma in Europe, I somehow doubt he'd swap places with his brother Fabio, though. 4th in France and playing in the Europa or 3rd from bottom and playing for Boro? Not much of a choice, for me. Fazio's just given Roma the lead with a great header, though. Lyon chasing the game now. Good player, just completely unsuited to our high line.
I'd have thought that Rafael would be getting paid more. Higher profile, bigger club with a larger wage bill and he's probably got better sponsorships, too.
Doesn't surprise me one bit.Didn't rate them or Monaco come to that.Still trying to work out why we didn't show up against them.....
This is what I hate about the EL. Another fixture thousands of miles away, on a paddy field, for players asked to play twice every week (soon to be three times). It just becomes of war of attrition with the aim of doing enough to position the team to have a good chance of progressing after the home leg. It doesn't make for a good spectacle and has a negative effect on how the team performs in other games. It's been nothing but a burden for English teams, who having congested fixture lists anyway. Playing weakened teams or giving the competition little priority makes a mockery of it. Why is it so bloated? Why not simplify it and make it a 64 team one game knockout with no CL failures passported into it? Why not even regionalise the early rounds so that teams don't have so much travelling ,fans can attend games and there are fixtures which are likely to be of local interest? I have no problem with a second tier competition for teams who are not in the CL, but the present format remains a farce.
You're probably right but on overage PL players earn 2-3 times what Ligue 1 players earn but at Lyon you might well be right.
Kasper Dolberg scores for Ajax, though they're behind 2-1 now: Offside? Possibly. One to watch, though. I think there'll be clubs after him in the summer. Rafael's had to go off at half-time, due to that injury. Crocked by his own teammate!
That's genuinely one of the worst passes I've ever seen. Really badly placed and a ridiculous decision to play it. Genuine schoolboy error. Lucky to get away with it. The keeper's follow-up was rather, er... eccentric, too. Gave Clive Allen an excuse to talk about Pat Jennings though, so it wasn't all bad!
