***European Soccer Thread***

[Street Novelist]

Inter Beat Barcelona 3-1

 

 

terrible outing from Barcelona...Messi was invisible the entire match (have to give Zanetti props for his coverage). Pique, Puyol and Dani Alves each picked up a yellow card, and since Puyol entered the match on a yellow, he will miss the second leg of the semifinals at Camp Nou.

 

From the other side, great match for Inter. Milito was on his game the entire match. What he missed in scoring opportunities he made up for in his passing game, setting up his teammates. Inter's keeper, Julio Cesar, also played well, blocking a curving free kick from Messi in the 79th minute.

[Street Novelist]

Lyon @ Bayern 11:45 PST on Fox Soccer Channel today...first leg of Champions League semifinal

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Glad that Bayern escaped with a lead, Schweinsteiger played ok but he can play better. Also I noticed that Cissokho from Lyon looks strikingly similar to Miss Jay Alexander from America's Next Top Model. (Yes I get stuck watching NTM from time to time)

[Street Novelist]

Bayern Beat Lyon 1-0

 

 

Robben's goal off the back of Muller's head was the decider, but more importantly, Ribery was given a straight red card and will miss the next leg at Lyon.

[Street Novelist]

Ribery's red card was warranted, given the fact he came in high with his spikes on Lisandro Lopez' ankle who was in a defenseless position after kicking the ball. But there's no way Toulalan deserved the second yellow on the challenge to Schweinsteiger. Both Schweinsteiger and Toulalan made high kicks, meeting foot with foot. After Ribery's sending off, I think the referee lost control and let the fans sway the outcome. I think he played it extremely conservative after ejecting Ribery, arguably Bayern's best player (you could say Robben is their best player, given his clutch performances recently in the Champions League). The fact that Lyon could not score one away goal means they will have to win big next week and not allow Bayern to score.

[RussianHuskerKCMO]

Looking forward to next weeks Barca Inter match-up

[Street Novelist]

Liverpool is set to take on Atletico Madrid in the first leg of a Europa League semifinal at 12:00 PST today. Fernando Torres is out for the rest of the season, and Sergio Aguero, Atletico's top striker, is out for the match. watch on justin.tv as there will be no channel in America showing this game live

[Street Novelist]

Atletico Madrid wins 1-0 on an early goal from striker Diego Forlan. Jose Jurado crossed the ball to the center of the penalty box where Forlan headed it into the ground but got a second chance when he kicked it off of Pepe Reina (Liverpool's goalkeeper) and into the net.

[Street Novelist]

Alright peeps! There are some great games slated for this weekend. Manchester United is only 1 point behind Chelsea in the Premier League and Real Madrid is only 1 point behind Barcelona in La Liga. These have to be two of the closest races in recent soccer history. All of the times are listed in PST.

 

Saturday:

 

4:45 Tottenham @ Man U ESPN 2

9:00 Xerez @ Barcelona Goltv

11:00 Real Madrid @ Zaragoza ESPN Deportes

 

Sunday:

 

7:00 Liverpool @ Burnley Fox Soccer Channel Plus

8:00 Stoke @ Chelsea Fox Soccer Channel

[Street Novelist]

Here are full highlights of the Liverpool @ Atletico Madrid Europa League Semifinal game:

 

http://videos.sapo.pt/Bv4f56YrHeylwFfSGNfk

[Street Novelist]

Manchester United Beat Tottenham 3-1

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2lj-lVCkvM&feature=player_embedded#!

 

Giggs scored 2 goals on penalty kicks in the 58th and 86th minute and Nani dinked it over the head of Tottenham's keeper in the 81st minute. King scored in the 70th minute off a header from a corner kick, beating Rafael to the far post who badly misjudged it. Patrice Evra came off in the second half after vomiting multiple times. It appeared he was severely dehydrated as the commentators kept mentioning it was the hottest day in England all year.

 

With the win, Manchester United are now 2 points ahead of Chelsea for first place with two games remaining.

 

Note: Wayne Rooney missed the game with a groin injury and after the game, Sir Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports he will probably miss the remainder of the season.

[Street Novelist]

Real Madrid Beat Zaragoza 2-1

 

Raul and Kaka, two players just coming back from injuries, scored a goal a piece in this crazy 2-1 match, involving several girls streaking at the end (security was not fast enough to catch them as they ran the width of the field and jumped the gate separating the fans from the field). Raul netted the first goal of the match in the 50th minute when Ronaldo's close range shot bounced off Zaragoza's keeper and right into the path of surging Raul. However, Raul came off a minute later as he appeared to be limping. In the 52nd minute, Matteo Contini was given a straight red for a blatant elbow to Higuain's head. This almost broke out into a huge fight as players from Real Madrid had to be restrained. Playing a man short, Zaragoza evened it up at the 61st minute when Adrián Colunga drilled it past Casillas. But in the 82nd minute, fresh off of a groin injury which sidelined him for the past 6 weeks, Kaka picked up a pass from Ronaldo and netted it inside the far post.

[Street Novelist]

Raul 50'

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcOQlQbarmM&feature=player_embedded

[Street Novelist]

Colunga 61′

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50D--2gM5Eo&feature=player_embedded#!

[Street Novelist]

Kaka 82′

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAgDoDiVfxc&feature=player_embedded