United 99-01 and 07-09 were excellent sides but I don't think anyone outside Manchester would bracket them alongside Barca Sept 08-April 12. Their performances in the SanSiro 07 , Moscow 08 and Rome 09 were not good enough
Possibly, but then very few people would bracket any other club side alongside that Barca team tbh. That doesn't mean there were no other great club sides in the past couple of decades. Same as the Bayern side from 99-01 and Madrid from 00-03 - both great sides, but not at the same level as Barca.
Agreed. But I do think that Real side put some memorable shows on at European level: at Old Trafford when they went 3-0 up, and the first half masterclass 2003 against you at the Bernabeu. Good final performances too 00 and 02 Think AC Milan should be up there too 05-07, their performance in 2005 v Inter and the final (bar 10 minutes). And 2007 v you guys and Munich. Did Bayern ever reach that level 99-01, when they played you in the QFs for example
Partly agree. But Real weren't all that in the final against Leverkusen in 02 - they were hanging on in the second half, and relied on a worldie from Zidane to win. We were much more dominant in the 2008 final. One shot on target from your lot in 120 minutes and that was from a double deflection - Ferdinand was the only other player to force VDS into a save from his suicide header. AC were a good side, but the match fixing for the league titles militates against them as a great team imo. Juve 95-98 were a better side imo - won the league and three finals in a row, whilst always in the top two in Serie A. Bayern in 2001 beat us home and away, and Real home and away in the semis. Doubling both of the previous season's winners shows a pretty high level, and were arguably the better side for much of the 99 final. We had some some memorable performances as well - Inter and Juve in 99, Roma in 07, Barca in 08 and comprehensively battered Arsenal and Jose's Inter in 09. Also completely dominant in the league at the same time, which is more than Milan and Real managed during their CL periods. Barca 08-11 obviously head and shoulders above the rest in terms of greatness, but close to call between Utd, Juve Bayern and Real out of the rest.
Barca 08 before Pep took over were poor, 18 points off the top in a two horse race, but they dominated you in the Nou Camp, eight shots on target to your one, and you had just two shots on target in the second leg at home (one a worldie), and a bad Barca side created more. http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsle.../match=301914/postmatch/statistics/index.html 2008 was a decent final: we had three shots on target, you had five, but we hit post twice in normal time. and in the second half when we played well, we had 14 shots versus your 4, according to wiki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_UEFA_Champions_League_Final#Statistics Uefa's official page says we had four on target plus 16 off to your 6/6, and 8 corners to your 5. http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsle.../match=301604/postmatch/statistics/index.html Do shots against posts count on target btw?
Wow...well done for proving stats really dont tell the full story. Anyone who actually saw the 2008 final knows the game should have been over by half time. We dominated territory and had it not been for a few missed chances, particularly by Tevez we would have been 3-0 up. You did come back in the second half but nowhere near the performance of us in the match over the first 90 mins. Most ppl will agree we were the better side and deserved the win. Barca away we didnt have many shots on goal but that's not to say we didnt create enough chances. One of the first few games when Ronaldo played through the middle. We even won a penalty but Ronaldo failed to convert. We should have come away with the win. Why? It was a typical CL away performance by us for that season. Look at all our away games in the knockouts that season. Same tactics, same performances, we won those... and we should have again. As for the return leg at home, obviously Fergie taught Mourinho all he knows from that match. Score the goal and then put in a thoroughly professional defensive display. Sadly for you, you sacked your manager before he could use it and you couldnt manage the same thing the following season when you played Barca. Drogba had a meltdown in front of the camera. Shame really, it would have been nice handing you your arses again the final
Course they don't. If you hit the post you've missed the goal! You can spout the stats all you like, but name me one save VDS had to make in that entire game, other than Lampard's goal after Essien's fluky double deflected shot, and Rio's header. Compare that to Cech with top drawer saves to deny Tevez twice and Carrick, and Terry clearing off the line from Giggs. Says a lot about the balance of that game that your best chance of a winning goal came from our centre back. Hitting and hoping from 20+ yards out doesn't make for a balanced game, or did we edge the final in 09 by virtue of having one more shot than Barca and three more corners? There was only one team going to win that match during the 120 minutes. But credit to Chelsea, your defence and keeper were well drilled enough to hold on for a draw and you snatched a goal, much like the other CL final you were dominated in
I think even you know this is mostly bollox!! You were the better side in the first half and we were fortunate to be level at the break. But pretty even thereafter and we nearly nicked it with Lamps hitting the bar with the keeper beat in extra time if I recall. Merely pointing to shots on target is a vast over simplification. Very good final for a 1-1 and no surprises it went to pens. We'd have almost certainly won it had Drogba not got sent off and taken the final pen. That's how close the margins were.
You started spouting stats in post 6524, "One shot on target from your lot in 120 minutes", I merely pointed out that the Uefa page says 4. You have conveniently forgotten that VDS tried to make saves when Lampard and Drogba when they both hit the woodwork. So 4 shots on goal PLUS hiting the woodwork twice. 8 corners to United's 5. 16 off target shots to United's 6. I was at the game (took a United fan on my air miles) and in the second half we looked like the only winner. Rio Ferdinand: "Lamps' goal was a sucker punch and we weathered the storm in the second half when they came at us. Didier Drogba hit the post. We had a bit of luck" All the United fans after the game gave Chelsea their due and some even conceded that they may have been a little fortunate. I flew home from the United airport in Moscow, and always respected matchgoing United fans from that day: no gloating from them, they just said it was a good game. I guess matches are different when you attend in person, United fans conceded we were the better side in the second half and they were nervous. I've respected matchgoing United fans ever since; losing to crowing Liverpool would have been intolerable in the hotels and bars afterwards. The United fans merely seemed relieved
It was a very good final for a 1-1 but there is no doubt by most pundits and commentators and neutrals that United were the better side and played the better football. Ofcourse Chelsea came back in the second half but you seem to equate that to balancing things out but that wasnt the case. United in the first half were considerably better than anything you did in the second. And even in that second half, United held their own, still created chances and never reallly looked troubled. A balanced 45 mins doesnt mean it was a balanced game. Overall United's win was a fair result and did the game justice. It really should have been game over in the first half. We've had some **** games with Chelsea (the cup final a year earlier) and I am happy to admit where Chelsea have performed better and fully deserved the win. If I felt you had a case to say it was remotely even or chelsea were better, I'd like to think I would give you fair dues So it's a shame some of you chelsea fans are trying to rewrite history when nearly everyone agrees who the better team was on the day. Anyway... It's red in russia
Fair enough. Did not begrudge an excellent side a CL win. I thought there would be only be one winner after we equalised, and thought we would score a second. I thought Drog's shot was going in, and thought Lamps was gonna score from Ballack's superb pass. It could have even gone in from the underside of the bar with VDS well beaten Anyway, great win and occasion. Priviledged to attend, never thought I'd see Chelsea in a European Cup final
If you were at the game, you'll be able to tell me the saves VDS had to make from those shots on target? Or the goal line clearances by our defenders? Your other shots on target in the stats probably came from Essien's double deflection and Rio's header! I agree you had the better of the second half, and could have snatched a winner. But then we had the better of the first 15 mins against Barca in 09 and could have scored two. Fact is we didn't, and neither did you. Ultimately we dominated possession, your keeper and defence kept you in the game in the first half and extra time, your goal came from a fluke, and you didn't test our keeper again. On balance, we had the better of that match, to a much greater extent that Real did the 2002 final. Which was my point to begin with
Just wanted to check I wasn't letting blue tinted glasses effect my judgement so just read the first match report that came up on goodle. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/7406252.stm Certainly implies that over 120 minutes it was a close contest, even goes on to say we dominated after the equaliser. I'm sure had the pens gone our way, people could have just as easily made a case for us deserving to have won it.
We didn't test your keeper again cos he was lucky that we hit the woodwork 3 times including the Terry pen. One of them a couple of inches in the 'right' direction and history is rewritten - he was nowhere near any of them. It was a close game, could have gone either way. Those be the Fahhkktts.
Apparently hitting the post twice and having four shots on goal is not 'testing the keeper'. But United having one shot on target v a poor Barcelona in 2008 is 'a memorable performance'. According to Swarbs anyway
http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/sto...l-side-could-have-won-champions-league-021915 Rodgers: This Liverpool side could have won Champions League Brendan Rodgers believes that his current Liverpool side could have won the Champions League if they had not been knocked out in December. Rodgers' Reds picked up just five points in the group stages of the competition - failing to beat Basel at home in their final, must-win match - but after winning six of their last ten Premier League games, the Northern Irishman is bullish once again. Liverpool now face Besiktas in the Europa League with Rodgers now suggesting that they would have competed in the knock-out stages of the premier competition. "You just never know with the Champions League because sometimes it's not the best teams that win it. I think if you're in a cup competition that's sometimes the case, especially in those big European competitions," said Rodgers. "I felt if we were maybe the team we had (last year) or were further down the road with this team then we'd have had a chance with the Champions League, that's the reality. "If we were in it now with this group and the confidence we're showing and the way of working then we would have had a chance. Of course there's maybe other teams that are more experienced and better equipped with their squads. "Certainly it wasn't the real Liverpool earlier on in the season. I was obviously hopeful that we could still be in the Champions League at this stage but it's not to be. "We're still in a very good competition, we'll attack these games in this competition like we have those in the last few months. "We'd put in two years of work building to get through to that stage and our objectives from me personally were very clear, we wanted to make the Champions League. "Of course to arrive in there not having the team and the way of working to go and play that way, it was frustrating. "But it's a great learning curve for us and I hope we can be in it for other years to come consistently and hopefully we can be a lot more stable and consistent with our performance."
