Who thinks we're going through next Wednesday?

Originally Posted by TreeFiddy

Voted no and feel a bit guilty but I'm just very pessimistic after the performance in Munich and Rooney's injury.

Agree with that.

Yes the return leg is at Old Trafford, but Bayern Munich won't be arsed about that. Benfica will shit it when they go to Anfield next week with a 2-1 lead, but Bayern are made of stronger stuff.

Losing Rooney is an absolutely huge blow. It isn't just his goals it's his application & ability to occupy the opposition defence on his own.
Once he lays a ball off or flicks a header on he doesn't stand still, he spins & busts a gut to get into the box.
We don't have another player like that.

I think Bayern will score, meaning we need to get 3 goals at least...not sure where they're gonna come from tbf.
I'd happily take a nerve shredding 1-0 ala' Barcelona 08.

Originally Posted by MJ Ramone

Agree with that.

Yes the return leg is at Old Trafford, but Bayern Munich won't be arsed about that. Benfica will shit it when they go to Anfield next week with a 2-1 lead, but Bayern are made of stronger stuff.

Losing Rooney is an absolutely huge blow. It isn't just his goals it's his application & ability to occupy the opposition defence on his own.
Once he lays a ball off or flicks a header on he doesn't stand still, he spins & busts a gut to get into the box.
We don't have another player like that.

I think Bayern will score, meaning we need to get 3 goals at least...not sure where they're gonna come from tbf.
I'd happily take a nerve shredding 1-0 ala' Barcelona 08.

it's a 1-0 or we're out, imo.

nft.

bayern will play exactly the same as they did this week. they will still be big bastards and they will close down for 90 minutes. however, they also won't be that much of a threat if we don't £#%&! about and actually make the same effort they are making. of course, a ref who doesn't let di michelis and badstubder maul our forwards throughtout the game will help.

as usual, the only team that can beat united is united. if we play well, we'll win. we don't need rooney, we just need 100% effort from everyone who is playing. I wish hargreaves were fit, because he is exactly the energy in midfield that we need and won't get from scholes and carrick. let's see who is still standing after saturday.

A bit of adversity brings out the best in United...We always seem to raise our game for these matches....its the £#%&!ing games where everyone tips us to win that worry me. Time to circle the wagons .

We play better when we know we have to go out and win the game. None of this 'cat n mouse', dropping deep, 'who blinks first' shit.

Just be agressive from the start and put their defence under pressure. I'll bet they couldn't believe what an easy life they had in the first leg. Get the ball wide, get running at their full backs and get bodies in the box. Something which we really didn't do on tuesday.

running at them would be more likely with nani and valencia paired.

0-0.......4th official holds up 3 min added on at 90.

Edwin makes his way forward for a corner...................


HIHF

Originally Posted by jem

bayern will play exactly the same as they did this week. they will still be big bastards and they will close down for 90 minutes. however, they also won't be that much of a threat if we don't £#%&! about and actually make the same effort they are making. of course, a ref who doesn't let di michelis and badstubder maul our forwards throughtout the game will help.

as usual, the only team that can beat united is united. if we play well, we'll win. we don't need rooney, we just need 100% effort from everyone who is playing. I wish hargreaves were fit, because he is exactly the energy in midfield that we need and won't get from scholes and carrick. let's see who is still standing after saturday.

Hargreaves can't play Champions League this season.

nft.

LOU MACARI: I can't really agree with that. He's been missing for nine games already this season and United have gone on to win eight of those nine games. We all know how great a player he is, and the goals he has scored this season have been fantastic. But Manchester United at Old Trafford can still win this game and I believe they will win it.

JASON CUNDY: I think you guys had a stat actually, was it 45 per cent of (United's) goals in the last 10 games he's scored - you're going to miss that and he has carried Manchester United. The way you guys defended against Bayern Munich I don't think there's anything to be worried about. And with Didier Drogba up front I can see us scoring goals.

MACARI: Jason we're not going to defend the way Aston Villa did against you. I was at the game and for some reason they just laid down, something I've never seen before from a Martin O'Neill side.

CUNDY: Lou, I was at the match and they went into that game with the best defensive away record in the Premier League and Chelsea absolutely ripped them apart.


MACARI: I wouldn't say they ripped them apart, Villa just collapsed and the goals were laid on a plate.

CUNDY: I'll give you four reasons... Frank Lampard!

MACARI: I do wish Frank Lampard wasn't playing tomorrow because I do believe like Wayne Rooney he is Chelsea's best player by a mile. The lad has got a knack of getting into the box and he would be my biggest concern. But I think we've got somebody who can match him in midfield and will stick with him throughout the 90 minutes and that's Darren Fletcher. He's got the ability to go and go and go and of course Frank can do that and get in the opposition box, but I think every time he does he'll find Fletcher not too far away from him.

CUNDY: This is the best Chelsea side of the last three years to turn up at Old Trafford and with Wayne Rooney missing and Didier Drogba in the kind of form he's in, you guys should be worried.

MACARI: I don't think there's a great deal to worry about if I'm honest with you Jason. It's Old Trafford, big support there, most of them obviously favouring Manchester United and the importance of the game will lift the supporters to cheer the team on to victory. They realise Wayne Rooney is not going to play, they realise that they can play a major part in the game and I know we're talking about 11 v 11 on the pitch, but you know as an ex-player that the supporters can be a great help to you.

CUNDY: But come on Lou, It's like a morgue sometimes at Old Trafford!

MACARI: It won't be like that tomorrow. It'll be jumping. The supporters realise the importance of the game and they realise afterwards that there's only six games left and it can help Manchester United win the title. You may have been up there with Chelsea in the second or third game of the season in the past, with lots of points still to play for, but tomorrow with so much at stake the place won't be like a morgue, I can assure you that.

CUNDY: Chelsea are due a performance up at Old Trafford and having read some of the quotes in the newspapers from John Terry and the like, those guys are up for it. They know Old Trafford is a place they can go and win, certainly with Rooney. I like (Dimitar) Berbatov as a player, but he's nowhere near in the same league as Rooney.

MACARI: I'm banking on the home support tomorrow. The big loss is Wayne Rooney there's no doubt about that. If Frank Lampard wasn't playing for Chelsea I'd be delighted, so I can understand why Jason is pleased about that, but it still doesn't mean that Manchester United are not going to be equipped to win the game, they are. Old Trafford will be alive and kicking tomorrow and those supporters realise that a win for United, and they can play their part in it, will almost certainly guarantee the title.

CUNDY: For me this is a must-not-lose game for both sides. Of course Arsenal fans will be hoping for a draw and I guess that will be the most popular bet tomorrow. But Chelsea go there knowing they have to overturn Manchester United at some point and they will not get a better chance to win the league, with the injuries that have occurred at old Trafford and the Emirates. Chelsea have had their own injuries, but they can put out a damn good side tomorrow and they have the luxury of having someone up front like Didier Drogba and also Nicolas Anelka.

MACARI: I don't think it's a must win game, but I do think if United win they will go on to win the title and that's how important this game is. I'm predicting a 2-0 victory for United.

CUNDY: I'll go 2-1... I'll give United a goal!

How many times did that fat @#%&! axctually play for Chelsea?

Originally Posted by Whalefish

How many times did that fat @#%&! axctually play for Chelsea?

He's an absolute @#%&! isn't he?
him & his 'leather skinned' wife ('Proffesional' WAG apparently dear me)

Love his little dig at the Old Trafford atmosphere...as if 'The Bridge' is a heaving cauldron of noise..."You are shit, You are Shit" etc..

Originally Posted by Whalefish

How many times did that fat @#%&! axctually play for Chelsea?

i always think of him in a Spurs shirt.

nft.

Originally Posted by Whalefish

How many times did that fat @#%&! axctually play for Chelsea?

41

Originally Posted by thatsfuctit

41

He was a nothing player and is a nothing man, albeit the fat kind.

Someone turn his oxygen off.

41

They always refer to him on TalkSport & SSNews as "Chelsea Legend"

I always think of him as a Spurs player tbh.

Originally Posted by MJ Ramone

Yep, I think it'll be 1-1 too

We maybe take the lead, but concede late on.
That late winner in Munich was a £#%&!ing hammer blow

I've had a bad feeling since the draw was made, especially with so many behaving as if we were already in the final. Bayern are poor defensively, but I think they have quality in midfield and a great front line. They'll definitely score at OT (defensively we're not good enough to see out a 1-0) and without Rooney, I can't see us scoring three.

Need a big performance from the likes of Giggs and Berbatov if we're to do it imo

Originally Posted by The Watcher

I've had a bad feeling since the draw was made, especially with so many behaving as if we were already in the final. Bayern are poor defensively, but I think they have quality in midfield and a great front line. They'll definitely score at OT (defensively we're not good enough to see out a 1-0) and without Rooney, I can't see us scoring three.

Need a big performance from the likes of Giggs and Berbatov if we're to do it imo

Absolutely.

Astonishing levels of complacencey ahead of the tie, as if Bayern's form was any indication of how they'd play against us.
United V Bayern is a big game for them....they were always gonna raise their level.
They thoroughly deserved to beat us & it should have been more.

Agree that Giggsy will be important for the second leg.

Fingers crossed tomorrow that A. we win the match & B. there are no more £#%&!ing injuries

Originally Posted by MJ Ramone

Fingers crossed tomorrow that A. we win the match & B. there are no more £#%&!ing injuries

Originally Posted by Sparky***

that always winds me up tbh. Lost count of the amount of times we had the scenario of carrick recieving the ball, doing a half turn and passing it backwards eventually ending up with the goalkeeper launching it to nobody.

Carrick never looks comfortable when we play against sides that press aggressively, but in his defence, on numerous occasions he had very few options available to him. When a team plays like that against you, you have to pass the ball quickly, to areas of the pitch that the opposition has vacated to press the player on the ball. We just didn't do it, with predictable results.

I think the "we're already through" shtick when the draw was made was more from the media - building us up to knock us down, as ever - than from most of our own fans, tbf. I was never under any illusions it was going to be anything but tough

If you want a depressing scenario, how about - Bayern score early, we piss about wasting chance after chance until we bundle one in at around the 70 minute mark. More chances (including Berbie missing at least one sitter - guaranteed) until we score in injury time

Surely we are through now? Nope - we batter them for the extra half hour, but the ball won't go in

It goes to penalties. Against the Germans.........

Tough £#%&!er to call, can see them scoring though, we just ain't defending as well atm, then it is can we score three against a top side without Rooney?
Can see it going to extra time and maybe penalties myself yikes.