Manchester United/Barcelona

TheRocker · May 6, 2009

I think Manchester United are great value at +104 to lift the trophy. (Pinnacle). Barcelona will definitely be without Abidal and Alves (their first choice left and right backs) due to suspension. Marquez will also be out with his injury.

They were extremely lucky to go through today against Chelsea and while anything can happen in any one mattch, Manchester United should be priced at around -150 here instead of plus money. Great investment opportunity there I think.

HPark1 · May 7, 2009

Barcelona is the best team in the world, they cannot be an underdog to anyone. Even with their defensive issues I still think they'll beat Utd and should be an even bigger favorite. Utd doesn't have the same strength in midfield that Chelsea had to disrupt Barcelona's relentless attack. Utd luckily scraped by Barcelona in last year's semi-finals but Barcelona is far better this year.

18677 · May 7, 2009

HPark1 said:
Barcelona is the best team in the world, they cannot be an underdog to anyone. Even with their defensive issues I still think they'll beat Utd and should be an even bigger favorite. Utd doesn't have the same strength in midfield that Chelsea had to disrupt Barcelona's relentless attack. Utd luckily scraped by Barcelona in last year's semi-finals but Barcelona is far better this year.

Agree 100%. Barca was -150 to win the CL before the semifinals and they should be at least that against Man U. I'm not sure who will win right now but value is with Barca -113

TheRocker · May 7, 2009

I watch Barcelona every weekend on GolTV. I don't think they are the best team in the world, not even close. They'd probably come in third or fourth if they were in the Premiership. They barely scraped by Chelsea yesterday and if you were being honest you'd admit that they didn't look the better side at any point of either leg.

TheSaint · May 7, 2009

great offense, shaky defense. when they play against tight defense like yesterday they're chanceless (but sometimes very lucky lol). in the primera they have many teams that play a very offensive 4-3-3, so barca can play their style of soccer, produce many goals and W's. when they play a team that breaks their rhytm, locks up their messi, eto'o and other individual classy players, they're nowhere. no way the best team in the world. manu will win this one.

HPark1 · May 7, 2009

The Rocker said:
I watch Barcelona every weekend on GolTV. I don't think they are the best team in the world, not even close. They'd probably come in third or fourth if they were in the Premiership. They barely scraped by Chelsea yesterday and if you were being honest you'd admit that they didn't look the better side at any point of either leg.

If you watch a lot of their games in La Liga and don't see a special team you need your eyes checked. This is a once in a generation type team. They could very well win the Champions League 3-4 times running with these players.

As I said Chelsea was always going to be the toughest match up for them with the physical, experienced midfield neutralizing their attack. And in the first game they did look the better side. Think why on earth is Chelsea (a top 5 team in the world currently led by the great Guus Hiddink) playing 10 men behind the ball and playing for 0-0? Its because they had to because Barcelona is such a devastating team.

Man Utd's weakest link is their midfield. It will not be able to match up with Barcelona's ridiculous talent.

TheRocker · May 7, 2009

HPark1 said:
If you watch a lot of their games in La Liga and don't see a special team you need your eyes checked. This is a once in a generation type team. They could very well win the Champions League 3-4 times running with these players.

As I said Chelsea was always going to be the toughest match up for them with the physical, experienced midfield neutralizing their attack. And in the first game they did look the better side. Think why on earth is Chelsea (a top 5 team in the world currently led by the great Guus Hiddink) playing 10 men behind the ball and playing for 0-0? Its because they had to because Barcelona is such a devastating team.

Man Utd's weakest link is their midfield. It will not be able to match up with Barcelona's ridiculous talent.

The level of competition in La Liga is terrible. Barcelona beat Real Madrid 6-2 on the weekend, but Liverpool beat them in both legs of the Champions League as well. They're the best team in a bad league - kind of like Celtic up in Scotland.

Manchester United will have better players in nine or ten of the eleven positions in this match. Sure, Abidal and Alves are much better than Evra and O'Shea, but neither of them will play. Ferdinand/Vidic is a better central defense pairing than Pique/Toure. Pique couldn't cut it at Man Utd and they offloaded him to Barcelona. Ronaldo is better than Messi, Rooney is better than Eto'o, Berbatov/Tevez are better than any other Barcelona striker. Henry plays wide left for Barca in a 4-3-3, but he's injured and he's not THAT much better than Park or Giggs or Nani. Scholes/Carrick/Anderson is a weaker central midfield than Xavi/Iniesta but really and truly, Valdes is the only clear cut Barca player that's better than his counterpart, van der Saar.

jwblue · May 7, 2009

HPark1 said:
Man Utd's weakest link is their midfield. It will not be able to match up with Barcelona's ridiculous talent.

It is not always about talent. If there is one sport where coaching and tactics can prevail, it is football.

HPark1 · May 7, 2009

The Rocker said:
The level of competition in La Liga is terrible. Barcelona beat Real Madrid 6-2 on the weekend, but Liverpool beat them in both legs of the Champions League as well. They're the best team in a bad league - kind of like Celtic up in Scotland.

Manchester United will have better players in nine or ten of the eleven positions in this match. Sure, Abidal and Alves are much better than Evra and O'Shea, but neither of them will play. Ferdinand/Vidic is a better central defense pairing than Pique/Toure. Pique couldn't cut it at Man Utd and they offloaded him to Barcelona. Ronaldo is better than Messi, Rooney is better than Eto'o, Berbatov/Tevez are better than any other Barcelona striker. Henry plays wide left for Barca in a 4-3-3, but he's injured and he's not THAT much better than Park or Giggs or Nani. Scholes/Carrick/Anderson is a weaker central midfield than Xavi/Iniesta but really and truly, Valdes is the only clear cut Barca player that's better than his counterpart, van der Saar.

This notion the EPL is far greater than the La Liga is pure fiction. Yes the top 4 in the EPL are very strong teams and currently SLIGHTLY better then the top 4-5 teams in Spain (except Barca of course). But to suggest the general level of competition is on a different level is ridiculous. Barcelona is making the league look like its below par because they are special team. Even suggesting the Celtic comparison is mind blowing.

Now your assessment Man U will have better players in 9/10 positions is sheer insanity. I don't know how to respond to this. Almost everything you say is backwards. Valdes is probably the weakest link on Barca!

Even if the case can be made for a few positions the fact you admit Barca have the stronger midfield but don't seem concerned is baffling. Games between top teams are won and lost in midfield. And as usual Barcelona will dominate this area and boss possession. While the Ferdinand/Vidic central defensive pairing is world class their skills will be somewhat neutralized as Barca doesn't pump balls into the box. Its better to have more mobile players in the center of defense against Barca's penetrating balls.

Did you watch this match up last year when they met in the semi's? Now this year's version of Barca would destroy last year's version. Do the math.

TheRocker · May 7, 2009

La Liga is somewhere below the Bundesliga, Serie A, and of course the Premiership. Just look at the wagers players are earning!

HPark1 · May 7, 2009

The Rocker said:
La Liga is somewhere below the Bundesliga, Serie A, and of course the Premiership. Just look at the wagers players are earning!

Please tell me you're joking.

Yes Wolfsburg, Hamburg, Bayern, Hertha and Stuttgart are stronger than teams like Barcelona, Real, Sevilla, Atletico, Valencia and Villareal.

I cannot continue this foolishness any longer.

pitpit · May 8, 2009

La Liga is a joke this year. Name one good team other than Barca. You can't really. Some of them have some good players, but as was clearly shown, they've all been bounced from respective European competitions. Real Madrid is absolutely terrible compared to where they've been in past years. HPark1, did you REALLY try to use Sevilla, Athletico, and Valencia as examples of better teams than some of those German clubs? I'd much rather see my club play them than the likes of Wolfsburg, Munchen, or Berlin. And I'm still undecided on how I feel about Villareal. They show up for some matches, but look absolutely dreadful in others.

Now, as a United supporter I'll try to stay out of the Barca/United game, but I don't think it will be very close. I'd say probably 2-1 to United. United's defense is on top form again. People seem to forget that United went 12 matches with their top team and DIDN'T concede one goal. The back four are just ridiculously good. 5 goals allowed in the whole competition by United... FIVE. And one was a penalty to Arsenal that Arsene Wenger even said was not. Anyways, I can't imagine Barca having a very good offensive outing against another EPL team. They have shown over the past few years that they are a cut above the rest and will show it in Rome. Thank you.

DickGozina · May 8, 2009

Manchester United is the better team and from a far better league. Barcelona was lucky to get by Chelsea. If you matched up the teams from the Premiership to the teams in La Liga in relation to their place in the table, the Premiership would go about 17-3 or 16-4. The talent gap is that wide between the leagues.

game2win2009 · May 8, 2009

Man U, no doubt

Mobdeeper7239 · May 8, 2009

barca a bunch of babies, man u too physical

ronaldo and man u lift it again

HPark1 · May 8, 2009

Dick Gozina said:
If you matched up the teams from the Premiership to the teams in La Liga in relation to their place in the table, the Premiership would go about 17-3 or 16-4. The talent gap is that wide between the leagues.

This is by far the most ridiculous statement in this thread (and that is quite an accomplishment).

pitpit said:
HPark1, did you REALLY try to use Sevilla, Athletico, and Valencia as examples of better teams than some of those German clubs?

I cannot believe some people actually believe the Bundesliga possesses better teams than La Liga.

Its like bizarro world on this thread, everything is upside down and backwards.

alense · May 8, 2009

HPark1 said:
This is by far the most ridiculous statement in this thread (and that is quite an accomplishment).

I cannot believe some people actually believe the Bundesliga possesses better teams than La Liga.

Its like bizarro world on this thread, everything is upside down and backwards.

Tell me about it. And it isnt only consigned to this thread. Most of the posters in this forum seem to have no clue about football.

18677 · May 8, 2009

This thread is too funny. Thanks for laughs people.:toast:

pitpit · May 8, 2009

Spain classically has great teams. Not this year. A great history doesn't make a great football team, just ask Arsenal.

TheRocker · May 8, 2009

La Liga is terrible this year. Barcelona only win every week because they're playing crap teams all the time. Take out Barcelona, Real Madrid, Valencia and Villareal. How many of the other sixteen teams in La Liga wouldn't be in a relegation battle if they were in the Premiership? All of them would.

Players in the Premiership make, on average, 186% more money than their La Liga counterparts. There's a reason for this: the Premiership get the best players because they can afford to pay them through the TV revenue.