13 April 2011

SCHALKE 2 (Raul 45, Howedes 81)
INTER 1 (Motta 50)

Inter appeared to have more of the ball but it Schalke who had the better of the chances. Raul should have done better with a cross on 17 minutes. Motta gave away the ball in midfield and Schalke countered, Baumjohann passed to Jurado who waited for Raul to make a run between two defenders before playing him in, with his first touch he rounded Julio Cesar and with his second he tapped the ball into an empty net. Motta headed in the equaliser after Lucio flicked on a Sneijder corner. Howedes tackled Milito on the half way line and passed to Raul before making a run through a huge gap down Inter's left onto Raul's fantastic chipped pass and he slammed a half volley into the bottom right corner.

Schalke win 7-3 on aggregate.

Attendance : 58,612
Assists : Jurado, Lucio, Raul


TOTTENHAM 0
REAL MADRID 1 (Ronaldo 50)

There were early chances for both sides. Adebayor sent Ozil clear of the ridiculous Assou-Ekotto with a lovely pass on the turn but the German's awful finish didn't trouble Gomez. Xabi Alonso kicked Modric in the box as he tried to shot a loose ball after Casillas spilled from Bale, should have been a penalty. Pavlyuchenko fired over a Lennon cut back. Ronaldo took a pop from 25 yards, Gomez fumbled the ball and it bounced over his head and into the back of the net. He didn't play like that against Milan, bastard. Pavlyuchenko wasted the best chance to restore pride for the Londoners. Defoe headed against a post.

Spurs elimination is a blessing in disguise, I don't have to look at the ridiculous Assou-Ekotto anymore. Should they get into the Europa League I hope someone sneaks out behind him with a pair of shears and chops it off.

Real Madrid win 5-0 on aggregate.

Attendance : 34,326
Assist : Khedira


12 April 2011

MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (Hernandez 43, Park 77)
CHELSEA 1 (Drogba 77)

Things may have been different had Lampard not struck Malouda's centre with a feeble shot. Anelka charged down a clearance out of defence, raced upfield and couldn't even take the ball past 40 year old van der Sar as he ran yards out of his box and tackled a player 8 years his junior, absolutely pathetic (Anelka obviously not VDS). O'Shea played a ball in between Kalou and Anelka to Giggs on the overlap and Hernandez slid home his centre. Giggs should have headed in a second from a brilliant Rooney cross. The rubbish Ramires, another player Ancelotti didn't want, was shown a second yellow for a late foul on Nani who made sure the ref noticed with his usual theatrics. Drogba headed down an Essien longball, only thing on note Essien has done all season, turned and angled a shot wide of van der Sar but Park cut short the celebrations within a minute, taking a Giggs cross on his chest and firing into the corner, with Ivanovic, who should have been covering, nowhere.

Let's hope United's miserable knockout round record against German clubs continues in the next round.

Manchester United win 3-1 on aggregate.

Attendance : 75,000
Red Card : Ramires 70 (Chelsea)
Assists : Giggs, Essien, Giggs


SHAKHTAR DONETSK 0
BARCELONA 1 (Messi 43)

There was an early chance for Douglas Costa but Barca quickly took over. Messi threatened twice before he took an Alves centre, skipped a tackle and caught Pyatov by surprise with an early shot. Marcelo missed a late chance to preserve Shakhtar's proud unbeaten home record.

Barcelona win 6-1 on aggregate.

Attendance : 51,759
Assist : Alves


6 April 2011

CHELSEA 0
MANCHESTER UNITED 1 (Rooney 24)

Giggs flew pass Bosingwa, who is almost 10 years his junior, took Carrick's fabulous crossfield pass in his stride, pulled the ball back and that despicable lowlife Rooney tapped past a flat footed Chelsea defence. As an attacking force Chelsea were a non event until the last minute of the first half. Torres got the faintest of touches to a Drogba cross, the ball rebounded off the inside of the right post and Lampard's volley was hacked clear by Evra.

Ramires wasted another excellent Drogba delivery, heading towards the corner flag from the penalty spot. Van der Sar made a brilliant fingertip save to deny Torres his first Chelsea goal. In injury time Evra chopped down Ramires with a crude scissor tackle, should have been a penalty, and Torres ended another miserable outing for his new club, it was his best (which isn't saying much) when he picked up a booking for diving.

Given how Manchester United have defended Chelsea have a chance but desperately need Torres to catch fire and catch fire quickly. Drogba has been hopeless this year and Anelka is a flat track bully. A good performance for Essien would help. Over the past three years he's been about as effective as Steve Sidwell.

Attendance : 37,915
Assist : Giggs


BARCELONA 5 (Iniesta 2, Alves 34, Pique 53, Keita 60, Xavi 86)
SHAKHTAR DONETSK 1 (Rakytskyy 59)

Shakhtar had penalty appeals turned down, I didn't see a replay, before Barcelona raced upfield and promptly scored when Messi's deflected pass broke for Iniesta. Luiz Adriano ran through Barca's centre backs but shot wide and Willian missed an open goal after Valdez was caught yards off his line chasing down Alves' underhit backpass. Alves beat the offside trap onto Iniesta's terrific crossfield pass to score Barca's second.

Pique scored Barca's third via a deflection from a corner. Rakytskyy deftly volleyed in a free kick. Within seconds Keita restored Barca's three goal lead. Messi ran in from the left and as four Shakhtar players went with him, he rolled the ball square for the onrushing Keita to crash a first time shot into the top left corner. The pick of Barca's goals. Luiz Adriano hit the inside of Valdez's right post from a tight angle. Xavi side footed in Barca's 5th after good work by monstrously overrated Dani Alves.

Attendance : 86,847
Assists : n/a, Iniesta, n/a, Srna (fk), Messi, Alves


5 April 2011

REAL MADRID 4 (Adebayor 4, Adebayor 57, Di Maria 72, Ronaldo 87)
TOTTENHAM 0

Spurs suffered a triple early blow. Lennon had a panic attack and couldn't play then Gomes fumbled an Adebayor header and Crouch was shown a second yellow for diving into challenge Marcelo for a loose ball, and winning it cleanly. Having already been booked and playing in Spain that's how that goes. Real Madrid were robbed of a first half penalty for handball. Adebayor headed in his second from a Marcelo cross. Di Maria scored with a tremendous left foot shot from the edge of the box. Gomez, outstanding against Milan, ended how he began with another blunder.

Attendance : 80,000
Red Card : Crouch 15 (Tottenham)
Assists : Ozil (ck), Marcelo, Ozil, Kaka'


INTER 2 (Stankovic 1, Milito 34)
SCHALKE 5 (Matip 17, Edu 40, Raul 53, Ranocchia 57 og, Edu 75)

For the second consecutive game there was a goal inside the first minute at the San Siro (that has to be a record). Neuer headed out a longball under pressure from Milito, Stankovic, standing inside the centre circle, met the goalkeeper's clearance with a sensational first time volley. Schalke weren't at all phased by the goal and Raul had two chances before Matip scrambled the visitors level from a corner. Cambiasso headed a Sneijder cross back across goal and Milito beat the offside trap to restore Inter's lead. Edu ran between Zanetti, who couldn't catch him, and Chivu onto a through pass, Chivu dived into a tackle, deflecting the Brazilian's shot, Julio Cesar made a desperate save but Edu scrambled to his feet and volleyed in the rebound. Great finish.

Milito should have made it 3-2 inside the opening minute of the second half but having pulled down a great Sneijder pass with an equally great first touch he flashed wide of the left post. Farfan played a one-two with Jurado before flicking a pass to Raul, an exquisite first touch allowed him to turn Chivu and he still managed to find a gap between Julio Cesar and the near post as Ranocchia dived in with a tackle. It was the first time Schalke had lead on the night. Jurado ran into space down the right on a counter attack and Ranocchia turned his centre past his own 'keeper. Edu's theatrics earned Chivu a second yellow. Farfan nutmegged Ranocchia on the edge of the box, scuffed his shot, rounded Julio Cesar and shot again, the ball clipped Ranocchia's heals and bounced off a post, Cordoba failed to get good distance on his clearance, Papadopoulos headed the ball to Baumjohann and as Edu turned onto his pass he rifled a shot inside the left post. Brilliant goal, amazing game.

Raul was lost in the shuffle at Real Madrid but in a Schalke side without their level of household names he's outstanding, in Europe at least. Do I really need to repeat what I have been saying about Leonardo all season or the running count on the goals Inter have conceded? Rabbit killer. He has the dubious honour of leading both Milan clubs to heavy defeats in Europe. He's not first team coach material but he has the makings of a good assistant coach.

Attendance : 75,000
Red Card : Chivu 62 (Inter)
Assists : n/a, n/a, Cambiasso, n/a, Farfan, n/a, Baumjohann