Madmax

Real had 9 players booked in the game against Sevilla!

You only need to read all the posts in this thread itself to see the unjustified (imo) stick he's got. I think part of that stems from the thought people have that 'Hey he is Brazilian, so he must have some flair etc' but Carlo himself has come out and said that he's not your average Selecao player. Also I think some fans are miffed with his price tag, which I cannot understand. It's the club's problem that they couldn't negotiate a better price, it's not Ramires' fault. Again, some of the frustration at not signing marquee players to replace the ones departed has been directed at R7. About your hypothesis, I think it's because he flourishes when he's given space to run into. In the second half against Zilina and the Spurs game, also the Arsenal game earlier in the season, he wasn't tightly marked or closed down very quickly/effectively. It's a fact that his first touch is poor currently and when he's denied space, this problem magnifies itself. But when given space to run into, he does well. I think he'll come good as he plays more and more games and acquaints himself with our style of play and starts understanding fully what the manager and the teammates around him want him to do.

Very true. We take a lot of things for granted

No you're not, I'm a fan too

The mother of Paul Konchesky has lashed out at Liverpool fans, calling them "Scouse scum" on her Facebook site. Carol Konchesky, whose son plays left-back for the club, took offence at criticism of the player who joined from Fulham for £4m last summer. She told Liverpool's fans to stop "living off the past" and described Roy Hodgson's side as "shit". One friend responded by telling her to ignore "dirty Scousers" and "clueless morons" while another said: "The Liverpool scum don't know class when it hits them in the face." The Facebook account was taken down when fans started sending in angry messages. A club spokesman told the Liverpool Echo: "Mrs Konchensky's comments are inappropriate and have already been removed from Facebook. This does remain, however, a private family matter." In an earlier post Mrs Konchesky, who lives in Dagenham, said the family would not be moving to Liverpool with their son as "we don't like the way they talk". the guardian

Very debatable. But certainly the best team in the world for the last 3 years or so ...

Forza Giallorossi!

I have faith in him too, I never said he's talentless. Fact is though, a lot of us are overhyping him, which is something he doesn't deserve, considering the performances he's put in this season when given a chance.

No Joe? He is similar to Messi afterall!

Sure fire rep earner

You sure you wanna play with just 10 men?

Hasn't been confirmed yet.

BUZZKILL! x(

What's the snow like in London? The Arsenal game has been called off, I hope ours isn't.

cough Kakuta cough

ON HIS EXIT "These things happen in football," he says. "Mr [Roman] Abramovich wanted to make a change, so he made a change. And when you've spent as much money as he has, then you're entitled to do so." "I'm very saddened by it," he says of his own recent exit. "My whole family is. We've been Chelsea-ites for years and years. But I'm realistic enough that football doesn't surprise me any more. So we'll just have to get on, and if the next challenge comes round the corner, we'll just have to see what it is." ON CHELSEA'S UCL CHANCES "They've got power, pace and a burning desire to succeed in Europe," he says. "They're geared to go the whole way, specially with the draw they've just had. I feel with Manchester United at the moment they look as though they might concede goals, and I haven't see that for a long time. They seem to be quite open in the way they're playing. They're undefeated in the Premier League, but when I've seen them they've looked as if they could ship a goal, whereas Chelsea are rock-solid, especially when everybody's fit – and Alex will be back at that point. So they'll have [branislav] Ivanovic, Alex, John Terry, Ashley Cole and [Petr] Cech in goal, and if there's a finer back five playing, I haven't seen it. "It's paramount in Europe, keeping that clean sheet. I love watching Tottenham play this year, and Arsenal, too, but they look as if they can concede a goal. Out of the four, it's only Chelsea I can see keeping a clean sheet if they really have to." ON THE UNITED GAME TOMORROW "It's come at a great time," he says. "We'll be in for a feast. It's a good game for Chelsea to have at the moment, coming off their performance at Tottenham last weekend, and they'll be buoyed by the prospect of Frank [Lampard] coming back. When you've got a guy whose scored 20 goals a season from midfield for the past six or seven years, it's a massive loss. Everybody has injury problems, but with Frank out they've lost goals from the middle of the field. When he's back to match tempo, he'll be a real threat again. They've had a lot of players unfit, and there have been some playing with injury. They've had a little bit of a bad period but the signs on Sunday were that they're coming through it. "The last six or seven years haven't been too successful for Man United at Stamford Bridge, but they always seemed to nullify each other away from home. Chelsea had the ability to take the ball off Man United at Old Trafford, and vice versa. But I've got a little feeling that Chelsea might nick this one on Sunday." ON HIS FUTURE PLANS The next challenge, however, is always the important one. "Hopefully it's not too far away. I want to get in there. I'm a football person. When I ended up playing for Orient and Wycombe, I was still waking up every morning so grateful that I was a footballer. I don't think there's a better life. I've been blessed. So you expect to get kicked in the proverbials every now and then." The Guardian

Guess who's the ref? Martin Atkinson

Great all-round draw for us. Some really big matches. Only 3 out of Arsenal, Bayern, Inter, Spurs, Milan and Barca will make it through to the quarters. I wouldn't put it past Marseille to sink United. We're the big winners in this draw today.

Marseille vs Man United WE'VE GOT COPENHAGEN!

Arsenal vs Barcelona

Olympique Lyonnais vs Real Madrid

Arsnela will get either Real or Barca

Internazionale vs Bayern Munich (repeat of last year's final)

Valencia CF vs Schalke 04