Fooking Messi is after ruining my bet :shakefist:
Might cheer you up a little to hear I backed it too in a double with Lyon. Was preparing a 
post for you and all.
:o
Why would it cheer me up, sure your my favourite poster on here
I thought it was sheer class the way Sanchez took that ball very quickly and sharply around the keeper for the second. It was brilliant how he did it at such speed. Alan McInally was waffling on about the keeper not having his angles right on Sky’s commentary but later corrected himself in fairness.
Imagine how good he would be if he didn’t have to play in the tactical straightjacket that Pep imposes on him
Shadow of his former self.
Yeah it was an excellent finish and he’s been very impressive for Barca this season.
I see Messi broke the record for the most number of goals scored by an individual in the knockout stages of the Champions League last night. He now has 19, Raul and Shevchenko both have 18, Inzaghi is back in 4th place with 16 while Wayne Rooney is in fifth place with 14.
Messi is now 6th in the all time list if Champions League goalscorers with 44. Raul is someway out in front with 71
Raul (71),
Ruud van Nistelrooy (56),
Thierry Henry (55),
Shevchenko (48)
Inzaghi (46)
Messi (44)
Given that Messi is only 24 you would have to fancy his chances of beating Raul’s total. Amazing all the same that close to half of his goals have come in the knock out stages
Big game for the Goons tonight, can they emulate their neighbours and beat the Rossineri in the last 16?
One positive is that Vermaelen will probably be back at centre back now that Mertesacker is out, not that TV is a great defender but he’s better than PM.
I think Vermaelen is actually a decent defender, his problem is playing under a tactical dullard like Wenger who pays no attention to his defence.
Vermaelen is vastly overrated
+1
I told Briantinnion this before he signed for Arsenal and few believed me. He scored a few goals in his opening season with them which endeared him to the fans. He didn’t even stand outcome a poor Ajax team a few years back.
Milan v Arsenal should be an interesting battle of very different formations and styles
A quick preview of tonight’s game…
On the left is the potential starting line-ups for the two sides. There may be changes to this – Arsenal have injury problems at the back and may play Francis Coquelin at full-back, while Milan’s three advanced midfielders can all switch around, as they did against Inter.
But the real interest here is not the players used, but the battle of systems. Milan play 4-3-1-2, Arsenal 4-3-3. This, more than most games, should be an excellent clash of styles. Milan are slow at the back and narrow in midfield – they are clearly vulnerable to pace down the flanks, as Tottenham demonstrated at the San Siro last year.
Arsenal should be able to get joy down the wings, in two separate ways – (a) attacking the full-backs at speed, and (b) by getting the full-backs forward to create 2 v 1s against the Milan full-backs. This will force the shuttlers on the sides of the diamond out to the flanks, will leave gaps in the midfield and then force the Milan trequartista to drop back and help out, making Milan a broken team. (Their trequartista is usually Kevin-Prince Boateng or Urby Emanuelson, players based around energy rather than guile, because Max Allegri is so concerned with joining the forward two to the midfield three. If that link man can be taken out of the game or pushed deeper, Milan have problems.)
The importance of attacking down the flanks is why it makes sense for Wenger to play two naturally attacking full-backs, if possible. Kieran Gibbs may not be fully fit, but it is vital to have good attacking players there, on their natural sides, rather than other options (Thomas Vermaelen is a centre-back, Coquelin and Sagna are right-footed).
Milan’s front two do little defensive work, but the movement of Robinho out to the flanks can stop the full-backs getting forward.
If Arsenal are taking lessons from Tottenham’s display last year, then it makes sense to sit back and counter. Arsenal aren’t particularly good at defending deep – Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny prefer to push high up the pitch and force attackers away from goal, but Vermaelen must beware of giving space to Zlatan Ibrahimovic in behind, as he did twice in the 2-2 draw with Barcelona two years ago. Milan’s threat comes from individual quality upfront – to win the game, they need to excel in that department rather than tactically.
But Milan’s midfield aren’t at all creative on the ball, as explained here. The man who plays the most key passes in the side is Ibrahimovic, while the assist leader this season is Antonio Cassano, who has been out for four months. The possible presence of Alberto Aquilani would change that, but otherwise opponents can afford to let Milan have time on the ball – there’s no real need to close down.
The key player, though, will be Mark van Bommel, sitting deep in the midfield. As shown by the blue, orange and red highlighting in the diagram above, Arsenal should match Milan 3 v 3 deep in midfield, but van Bommel will be free. His influence on the side shouldn’t be underestimated – his calm, reliable passing sets the tempo. Arsene Wenger rarely varies his tactics significantly, but it would be worth him asking Robin van Persie to drop onto van Bommel, and effectively playing 4-3-3-0 without the ball. That would nullify van Bommels influence and also create more space for Arsenal to break into.
On that note, while Tottenham’s strategy at the San Siro worked well, they were fortunate that Milan’s deep-lying midfielder was Thiago Silva, a centre-back out of position and not particularly great at the ball. In the return leg, Allegri used Clarence Seedorf there and the Dutchman was given too much time on the ball, completing 20 more passes than any other player. Van Bommel needs to be watched, but if Arsenal can break past him and force him into an early yellow card, his defensive ability is severely weakened.
This is likely to be an odd battle – fascinating tactically by virtue of the fact it won’t be very tactical. In other words, these two coaches are quite inflexible, playing roughly the same system every week. The 4-3-1-2 v 4-3-3 match-up is very obvious – the former has an extra man in midfield, the latter is stronger down the flanks.
The clash seems to suit Arsenal more, and this performance will say a lot about them. Arsenal now play a system based around getting the ball wide and attacking quickly down the flanks – facing a narrow side that is slow at the back plays into their hands. With that in mind, if Arsenal don’t come out on top here, one wonders which of Europe’s big guns they would stand a chance of beating.
Had a small punt on the wincast of Zlatan to score and AC to win at 13/5
On him 9/2 1st scorer
The wings of the San Siro pitch have been relayed and look rather rough. Seedorf and Antonini start as opposed to Zambrotta and Emanuelson.
Gibbs and Rosicky start down the left flank for the gunners
Antonini is awful, a real weak link for Milan, who is on the right for Arsenal?
Walcott.
Nesta is on the bench as well for Milan. Presume Mexes is beside Silva in defence
I see there is no Mesbah or Maxi Lopez on the Milan bench tonight. :strokechin:
Seedorf gone off injured. Emaunuelson replaces him