I'm just glad a Bundesliga team made it to the quarterfinal, thx to Manuel Neuer. In contrast to my earlier statement I have to say Bordon and Kristajic were good too. Brillant in the air. Jones was OK too. Westermann was pretty bad....Schalke desperately need Pander back.
Now I want to Schalke to play against Fener. It's the only team they could beat....everything else would be a miracle IMO. This already is (besides the victory in the UEFA Cup 1997 when Coach Slomka and manager Andras Müller were still active players) the biggest success in the clubs history. Everything else is a bonus. Now I hope they'll put up a nice show in the CL and get bashed by Bochum in the Bundesliga

Stani? He'll understand. Like I said...he'll sink Schalke May. And I'll watch him doing it

Manuel Neuers post match comments:

"This was even more thrilling than watching the UEFA Cup final in 1997." (you'll have to know he's a true "Schalker Junge" and is a die hard Schalke fan since his childhood)
When he was asked on his brillant save (aka karate kick) against Sektioui
"I practiced it during training sessions....well...it worked."

Are Schalke Bochum's big rivals or something?

Yes. Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen (have in mind that Schalke is just a distrcit of Gelsenkirchen) and Bochum are the big cities in the "Ruhrgebiet", Germanys main industrial are (coal and steel industry...but not so much as in earlier days). Bochum is just 2 km away from Gelsenkirchen, Dortmund about 10 km. So every game between those teams is a derby. I was in Bochum last year when we played Stuttgart and on the same day Schalke lost in Dortmund which meant Stuttgart surpasssed them in the league cause Bochum lost a fantastic match against Stuttgart (Hitzlsperger was the man, scored a fantastic volley goal)....end of the story: Bochum and Stuttgart fans had a huge party cause Schalke lost the "Meisterschaft" again.
But tbh the rivalry between Schalke and Dortmund is still a bit bigger. The matches between those 2 are biggest in the Bundesliga. In summer there will be a festival in Dortmund under the motto "Schalke didn't win the "Meisterschaft" for 50 years".

Schalke's keeper was amazing he blocked some crazy **** out there

Ah right, cool, thanks for that.

I'm amazed you're supporting them, though.

And does Der Hammer ever score a bad goal?

I'm a bit ashamed of supporting gthem I gotta agree. But it's good for the image of the Bundesliga to have at least one club in the quarterfinals.
Funny that you call Hitz "Der Hammer", cause we call him "The Hammer" here. And no...he only scores goals that make you go

Yeah, it'll certainly help the league. I'm pretty sure you'dhave 2 teams in the last 8 if Bayern were in it, maybe next year.

We just called him that because it sounded more German I suppose.

Is Hammer the same in English as it is in German? Or is there a different word for it.

Sure there is


Real madrid ....


PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!

We use the same hamemrs than you do and we even spell it the same. You've just learned a german word
I suppose we just call him THE hammer for the same reason...because he used to play for Villa in England.

And will never be forgotten, if only for this.

So..

The current odds have Barcelona as favourites, followed by United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. Inter being the massive outsiders.

I have a feeling either United or Barcelona will win it. But I also think the Scousers will make it to the final again. They seem to have 'it' in the Champions League.

Porty I'll be a big pr*ck tonight cause I really despise this stupid and arrogant white team of yours!!

I've told you many times you are too quick to condemn and enthrone clubs/players... Real are far from the best in Europe as you suggested earlier in the season and Robinho once again in a big match was mediocre. He is a very good player that can make a difference against weaker sides (as you pointed out to me in the weekend) but in this stage...

Real were completely outclassed tonight inside the Barbabouboula!!! And Raul's goal was offside...

So, specially dedicated to all the Madridistas out there:

1st Leg: Roma 2-1 Madrid and 2nd Leg: Madrid 1-2 Roma !!!

Great football by Roma!

And also Schalke... I wanted them to go through but I did not expect Porto to play so well even with a man down. Very good display! The Germans were lucky. And to fire up the referee talk how stupid were the linesman and referee in this game not to give a red card to Porto's keeper? How much more obvious can a violation be?

About Olympiacos... they were fairly pathetic... my school team would do better...

So it's 3 English teams (counting Arsenal as one... ), 1 Italian, 1 Spanish and 1 from Germany and Turkey in the final eight. Still one more game to be played and it looks like it's going to be 4 English teams but I'm going to wait for that. The EPL is the healthier (economically) league (by far) and the only one with a big 4 pack.

And one more thing about Real. They were lucky to win 3 CL trophies with the team Capello built back in '96/'97 and they should be thankful for it. They kicked him out again without showing any respect and this makes it all the more sweeter for me!

Poty might be fast when it comes to enthroning/condemning teasm....but I'm sure the spanish press and the Real managemtn will be even faster
It'll be tough times for Mr. Schuster an arrogant idiot that I never really liked (besides his footballing skills of course when he was still playing).

This night also showed ballack and Lampard CAN play together. It's like ballack stated countless times "Good players always find a way to play together" These two are a great midfield duo, just like Fabregas/Flamini, and might lead Chelsea to a good season. They're two of the most complete midfielders in the world...they just lack some creativity. But Olympiakos wasn't a real challenge for them too.

EPL seems to confirm it's reputation as "best league in the world". If Inter will be out by next week the EPL will send 4 out of 8 teams to the quarterfinals with only Barcelona having a real chance to knock them out.

As I said...Schalke was really bad and they can be glad they had a Manuel Neuer in absolute top form today. A GK can build his reputaion on games like these. If the ref would have NOT given Helton this red in the Bundesliga I wouldn't want to be him for sure (ref bashing is a huge trend here).

That was just terrible refereeing. But hey, it was an English referee, what else do you expect.

Thank you Madrid for making our elimination a bit sweeter

From Madrid-Roma match, I didn't watch it but I know Nistelrooy, Ramos, Robben, Sneijder weren't there and Pepe and Robinho are not in the best shape.

Anyway I'm happy for Italian football. And I'm happy Madrid now can concentrate on La Liga.

They were outplayed though, They should have done more. Anyway...

The would win it anyway... Messi out means Barcelona will start to lose points heavily again... he's half their team!

^^^

I hear Ronaldinho is getting his mojo back. True?

yap

Sure...

I downloaded it a few weeks ago.. a very well made film!! !!

-Arsenal
-Barcelona
-Roma
-Man Utd
-Schalke
-Fenerbahce
-Chelsea
-Liverpool/Inter (?)

From these 8, and hoping Liverpool won't get eliminated next Tuesday... all I hope is that Man Utd and Barcelona don't win the competition.

I hope Liverpool win it. If not them then Arsenal/Chelsea. As long as United or Barca don't win it, I wouldn't be too bothered.

agree with Porty and Kurt

Wonder what sort of odds I'd get for a Fenerbahce or Schalke win...

If they don't choke like they did last year, I think my pick of those teams still in the competition would be Roma.

Tomorrow we're all Reds. C'mon Liverpool! Don't let us down.

Congrats to Xabi and his girlfriend.

What will the midfield look like then? Kuyt - Lucas - Gerrard - Mascherano - Babel, with Torres up front on his own?

__________Reina___________
Arbeloa_Carra_Hyypia_Aurelio
____Mascherano_Lucas______
_Kuyt_____Gerrard____Babel
__________Torres__________


I'd say this will be the team tomorrow. Basically the same as in the 1st leg.

give or take a few retarted tactics by benitez and thats pretty much it.

There's a really nice article (with accompanying photogallery) in gazetta today about the thousands of happy (tipsy?) Scouser fans invading central Milan. There's been no trouble at all - thankfully.

There's one thing, though, that makes me . The Scousers are using my favourite pub in Milan as an alternate meeting point. There're even pictures of guys with Liverpool jerseys sitting where I like to sit in the pub.

It's been contaminated!

Just be thankful you aren't in Milan right now then, that pub to be exact. Otherwise you'd probably find you'd have no passport or money to get home!

Or hubcaps!

Inter starting with Burdisso and Rivas in center defence... how are they going to get a clean sheet?

not a single defender on the bench either.

They're all injured or suspended, Darunia. Zanetti can move back to defense if necessary and I imagine Vieira can too (if he stays in the game long enough to avoid a sending off).

Scousers with 1 striker (Torres) and a packed midfield (Babel, Gerrard, Kuyt).

Viera is playing, god help Inter

Forza Inter

real had a gift of a goal from the ref and their other goal was a fluke.

plus roma hitting the post twice.

roma clearly deserved the win

great shot by cruz , wonderfull save by reina

Shitty fk by Zlatan

pretty sad , not one italian on the field by inter ...

Inter are pressing but I have a feeling Liverpool will score first . if they do , Merda has to score 4

liverpool are dangerous on the counter , cmon score !!

OMG TORRES !!!! WHAT A CHANCE !!!!!!

Liverpool look really dangerous when they attack. I think they'll score the first goal.

Torres! nearly scored!

sellfish cruz ...

GREAT chance for Inter!!

What a pass by Ibrahimovic.

Yeah...

Rivas' balls