***European Soccer Thread***

[Street Novelist]

Barcelona Beat Xerez 3-1

 

 

in beautiful HD

[Street Novelist]

Liverpool Beat Up Burnley 4-0

 

Gerrard scored 2 goals within a period of 7 minutes and Maxi Rodriguez and Ryan Babel each pitched in another to beat Burnley. This defeat ensures Burnley's relegation out of the Premier League.

[Street Novelist]

Chelsea Destroy Stoke 7-0

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd4Dsnaf4hM

 

Chelsea now lead Manchester United by 1 point for first place.

[Street Novelist]

Big games this week:

 

Tuesday 27 Bayern @ Lyon Champions League Semifinal 2nd Leg

 

Wednesday 28 Inter @ Barcelona Champions League Semifinal 2nd Leg

 

Thursday 29 Atletico Madrid @ Liverpool Europa League Semifinal 2nd Leg

Hamburg @ Fullham Europa League Semifinal 2nd Leg

 

Saturday May 1 Barcelona @ Villarreal

Roma @ Parma

 

Sunday May 2 Osasuna @ Real Madrid

Chelsea @ Liverpool

Man U @ Sunderland

Inter @ Lazio

[Street Novelist]

Previewing today's match between Bayern and Lyon...

 

Coach Louis Van Gaal told the media late last night Anatoliy Tymoshchuk is suffering from gastroenteritis and could not make the trip to France. Franck Ribery is suspended (straight red card last match) and Martin Demichelis, Daniel Van Buyten and Diego Contento all picked up injuries in practice this week.

 

It will be interesting to see who Van Gaal includes in Bayern's lineup.

[Street Novelist]

6:49 PM BST CONFIRMED LINE-UPS

 

Lyon (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Reveillere, Cris, Boumsong, Cissokho; Gonalons, Makoun; Govou, Delgado, Bastos; Lisandro Lopez.

Subs: Vercoutre, Kallstrom, Pjanic, Ederson, Gomis, Anderson, Gassama.

 

Bayern (4-4-2): Butt; Lahm, Van Buyten, Badstuber, Contento; Robben, Schweinsteiger, Van Bommel, Hamit Altintop; Mueller, Olic.

Subs: Rensing, Demichelis, Goerlitz, Klose, Alaba, Gomez.

[Street Novelist]

Bayern Beat Lyon 3-0

 

Ivica Olic's hat trick ensured Bayern their first Champions League final since 2001. In the 2nd minute, Muller missed a wide open shot when Olic passed the ball slightly behind him. Bayern scored first when, in the 26th minute, Robben passed the ball from the left into the penalty box where Olic spun Cissokho around with his arm and scored the opening goal. In the 31st minute, Bastos (standing right in front of the goal) missed a wide open shot for Lyon. In the 45th minute, Lyon had another opportunity when Delgado received a cross from the right, but waited too long to shoot. In the 50th minute, Lyon had yet another golden opportunity when Gomis booted the ball way over the crossbar. He should have taken more time as there was no defender around him.

 

In the 59th minute, hilarity ensued when Cris fouled Olic. Cris was given a yellow and sarcastically applauded the decision, which led the referee to immediately give him a red. Lyon had to play the rest of the match a man short.

 

In the 67th minute, Olic scored again from a pass by Altintop. In the 77th minute, Olic completed the hat trick with a header that was tipped by the keeper but still ended up in the net. In the 91st minute, Altintop should have added a fourth but he curled it over the top from close range.

[Street Novelist]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF0SxibFH6g&feature=player_embedded

[Street Novelist]

6:45 PM BST CONFIRMED LINE-UPS

 

FC Barcelona (4-3-3): Victor Valdes; Dani Alves, Pique, Yaya Toure, Milito; Xavi, Busquets, Keita; Messi, Ibrahimovic, Pedro.

 

Internazionale (4-2-1-3): Julio Cesar; Maicon, Lucio, Walter Samuel, Zanetti; Cambiasso, Thiago Motta; Sneijder; Eto'o, Milito, Pandev.

 

It's interesting seeing Maicon in the starting lineup when Messi knocked out several of his teeth in the last match. I wonder if he will wear a mouthpiece today?

[Street Novelist]

Barcelona Beat Inter 1-0 But Inter Advance To The Final

 

In front of 95,000 fans, Barcelona failed to deliver yet again with a last minute goal by Pique not enough to win them a spot in the final later in May. Inter's defense was thrown for a loop when Thiago Motta was given a straight red in the 28th minute when he stuck his hand in Sergio Busquets' face and pushed him down. But Inter managed to stave off every one of Barcelona's advances. Bojan missed a golden opportunity in the 81st minute when he headed a beautiful cross from Messi just wide of the post. As it turns out, that goal would have made the difference between playing in the final and staying at home.

[Street Novelist]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbKuHLQmRiU

[RockyMountainOySker]

Did you see Busquets flop like someone shot him in the face? If not here is a gif of him while he's lying on the ground "injured."

 

I swear half the reason why soccer is not mainstream yet is the way guys flop.....that's a different discussion though.

 

 

I thought this was going to be a tough game for Barca.

 

Thanks for posting highlights Street!

[Street Novelist]

Here are full highlights of the game from TVGOLO:

 

http://videos.sapo.pt/rTZlzp10NH58Q2g1C21K

[Street Novelist]

Atletico Madrid take on Liverpool in the second leg of a Europa League semifinal at 12:00 PST today.

 

From ESPN: "Strikers Dirk Kuyt and David Ngog are major doubts for Liverpool's Europa League semi-final second leg at home to Atletico Madrid...Kuyt sustained a calf injury in Sunday's 4-0 win at Burnley while Ngog has a hamstring strain which has developed as a result of a back problem which forced him off in the first leg in Madrid last week."

 

Atletico will welcome back striker Sergio Aguero, their leading scorer, who missed the first match.

[Street Novelist]

ESPN: "Dirk Kuyt has passed a fitness test on a calf injury to take his place up front, while David Ngog has recovered from a back complaint to sit on the bench."