Jase

And what was the stat comparison for then? Doesn't even seem to reflect/imply what you subsequently said...

Fabregas on Mourinho... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/barcelona/10649949/Jose-Mourinho-should-shut-up-says-Barcelonas-Cesc-Fabregas.html

Such stats are distorted and pointless given what happened in the game yesterday.

Chelsea transfer boost as agent says Edinson Cavani wants to quit PSG Best to take that with a pinch of salt...

United could move for Shaw in summer

Looking forward to Swansea v Napoli tonight. Garry Monk v Rafa Benitez. It just feels so odd. Maybe because he does it better and more consistently under Mourinho?

Out of the players you mentioned there, only Jese is playing in the same position as Hazard which is obviously on the LW. Bale and Di Maria has been playing on the RW while Isco not an out-and-out wide player and he's not too happy at Madrid at the moment because of his lack of playing game. Could well leave soon if things doesn't improve. Anyway, there is no certainly that Hazard will have to compete for minutes at Madrid (if it comes to that) when he could be guaranteed playing time and as a starter, though this will also depend on the situation with Ronaldo come then.

Dodgy or not, worth noting that Guardiola once again was involved in a high profile Champions League match in which the opposing team have a player sent off.

Agree with that. This passing thing with Guardiola really does seem OTT at times and can get boring. However, he does have a tad more options to play with and varied the style at Bayern than Barcelona.

True. It could work like last season where those factors arguably took us over the finishing line, despite playing a game every 3-4 days, with almost similar starting XI. Could still go either way but those 2 probably have a slight advantage over us at the moment.

I know the discussion is over but your point yesterday about the away side said tiring out the home one with possession is more applicable to this Arsenal v Bayern game. Though Bayern did have problems defensively, their passing and movement was good in moving Arsenal about, create chances and tiring them out, even at 11 v 11, and it got even more relentless with 11 v 10. Barcelona hardly did anything much of this yesterday.

Looks like Man City and Arsenal are pretty much out of the Champions League and this is a not so good news for us in the league, assuming we get past Galatasaray. The focus and extra preparation in which they can put in the league could well benefit those two a lot, almost similar to our situation in the 2009/10 season under Ancelotti.

Did I just watch City v Barcelona again?! It's so bloody similar. Home side goes down to 10 men, away side score an early goal in the 2nd half before netting another 2-3 minutes from time. Four first leg Champions League Last 16 matches played, all four won by the away side and none of them conceded. Leverkusen v PSG, Man City v Barca and Arsenal v Bayern ties all pretty much over. Only Milan v Atletico (0-1) still alive, if anything. Meh!

His save against Milan... http://youtu.be/ik7IwNk1T0g

And points extended at the top. Should also point that after we play our next 5 league games, Arsenal and Liverpool each will have a game in hand on us (Arsenal due to involvement in FA Cup, while one of Liverpool's upcoming opponents, Sunderland, are still in the competition as well) while City will have played 2 less than us then (because of their cup final and FA Cup involvement).

Would like to see where we are after we play our next 5 league games including 3 big ones at the Bridge - Everton, Fulham, Tottenham, Villa and Arsenal...

Wigan have confirmed that Ben Watson suffered a double leg break in Tuesday's win against Barnsley and is likely to miss the rest of the season Sad news for Watson and wish him well in his recovery but guess this is a chance for McEachran to shine then..

Get your point about such teams holding possession to tire teams out etc but not sure that can be applied at all to yesterday's game when what eventually tired City, if anything, was because they had to chase the game with 10 men for nearly 40 minutes. You're right in saying City are not necessarily used to playing on the counter, pressing and all that but despite that, they did pretty well till Demichelis's brainfart moment early in the second half which obviously changed the game. They only pressed once the one ball reached certain areas and it's not like Barcelona were relentlessly passing the ball around to really tire City out. Watching Barcelona at times, you do wonder if that is actually their purpose or are they just afraid of losing possession (given their obsession) and passing it around for the sake it (sterile possession) or doing so because there no space allowed by opposition for them to create (which was the case yesterday at 11 v 11).

DAVID LUIZ EXCLUSIVE: Premier League pressure? Don't make me laugh... winning the World Cup in Brazil, now that is enough to make you scared!

Gotta like how you just come in here, post 1-2 comments criticizing Mikel or other members' views and have no intention to debate/discuss points with people...

If this was the Barcelona 3-4 years ago, would have agreed 100% but since it's not, then not so much. Barcelona are still a good side but not as good as the one years ago and far less intense. Even an average side in Milan and Ajax managed to get a positive result against Barcelona (the former - draw - and latter - a win) earlier in the competition. They are not all THAT great like you're trying to make them out to be really. Everything only happened for them yesterday after the sending off and yet in the first half, for all their chances, they created nothing and only seem to bother to keep the ball without doing anything for the sake of it.

Pellegrini has finally cracked... http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1720568/pellegrini-vents-fury-swedish-ref-defeat?cc=4716

:lol:

A serious Tom? Me. Don't. Like.