cosmicway

I think it's Real v. Pool/Atletico in the semi. Is n't it ?

The final is Real v. Pep. Probably Pep's turn to celebrate.

They were lucky to find this break and Modridge ball.

Mandy's giveaway was the whole story.

I don't really see why. There is ten multibillionaires now fighting it out. Our Panathinaikos in the same position ten years ago found a fake Arab seikh, a fake sardine factory owner who was a ticket boy in Panama and a fake again building society from Chicago - so had to relegate for two years in the end !

Our defense was impenetrable until 5 days ago. We had scoring problems and Lukaku problems but not this. Even Pool and City could not score against us.

Me too. If Real is good they deserve it - and in any case one day soon they 'll be as good as before, when they had Ronaldo. But I am losing sleep because of the way we approached the game. No defense, like as if we were already 2-0 down or as if the opponent was a championship team. And there was the Brentford warning too.

He knows his defenders do not have the fast returns needed. He saw it against Brentford three days ago. Yet he commits everybody to the attack, like as if the opponent was Preston Northend. Maybe we are not good enough to eliminate Real Madrid this year but it was a Tuchel howler 100%. Mendy was the last straw but in any case we did not score a second goal. Real Madrid is not like Atletico. Atletico and teams like Atletico can shoot a long ball and perhaps manage two counters in an entire match. But Real Madrid knows how to move the ball downfield better and be clinical better than most.

Not to mention Morata, Iguain, Pato, Falcao. Also we had the man for such jobs: Olivier Giroud.

We couldna have known. I had spotted some dismal performances with Belgium (the semi against France most notably) but overall there were not many candidates last year: Haaland, Lewandowski, him and Ronaldo. Haaland we know the story, Lew was not for sale in the end, Ronaldo well - he went to his childhood love. It's the scouting team who are supposed to know better.

We need a scouting team. The no one priority is good scouting team and the second priority is to have the budget. The one we have now brought Kai but Werner ? Lukaku ?

Those are 180 minute affairs. The days when visiting teams were numbed by the stadium roar are gone - since uncle Tom Cobley's time. Tuchel made a mess.

What away goals ? The away goals would be in their favour. Forget it. It was not Xamax or Young Boys who managed to beat as 3-1 in a first leg match. It's Real.

Look first of all you have to admit Real Madrid is the eternal team. When your grandchildren have grandchildren they will be still winning trophies. The 4-0 defeat against Barcelona maybe was a blinder as Ancelloti fielded an experimental team. I don't fancy us. I might slightly if it was 2-3 or stayed 1-2 or a 2-2 draw. Also I believe Tuchel's system was disastrous. Against Brentford the same, but maybe he did n't care. But tonight ? Allow all those free runs to Madrid ?

Lukaku is definitely sh*t (bring back Pato). But the defensive formation still intrigues me. Why those open spaces ??? In a match like this Mou would endeavour to secure the clean sheet as the first priority.

The player on his right, Thiago, was by far the safest option to pass the ball than Rudiger. He also miskicked and Rudiger who had a yellow card could not afford to foul Benzema. Now really, that was from the days of Jugoslavia - Zair 10-0 with commentator Malcolm Allison saying nasty things about Zair.

Submarine will lift this cup.

Mendy's mistake was the exact copy of the one against Brentford. In the other two goals I don't think you can blame any individual player, Mendy or Christensen or Thiago. The same for the goals we conceded against Brentford. It was the defensive formation. Real attackers were having a party. Was that the way Chelsea defended last year in the final against City ? Somehow Tuchel thought Real was like Orient or Krasnodar.

Half expected this. Apart from Mendy, it was Tuchel who bottled it big way. He approached the match as if it was Orient we were playing with.

Real too conceded four.

I believed they were going to return stronger after the international break. These men were partying everyday.

Clearly there was no defense present.

So we owe it and have to pay back in 2199 (if Abramovitch plays ball that is).

He says because of Benzema's absence Ancelotti mixed up the positions of the players so horribly no one knows where he is on the pitch.

The Spanish commentator says it is. Anyway they seem to have settled for four.