Is this a sign?

[Tomo 21,733]

Barcelona are hugely hugely overrated, get amongst them at the midfield, play tight at the back and counter attack, Force Pedro and Villa to cut inside. The problem is Barca beat most teams before the game even starts.

Exactly!!!!!

Take the Messi factor out of this team i was much more scared of them when they had Ronaldinho and Eto'o back between 2004-2006. Infact i was shit scared of facing them back in those days for some reason im not at the moment.

Mark my words this Barca team peaked in the second half of the CL final, Madrid and Jose have got them this year, infact Barca look like they have something missing which is bad news for us because they might want Oriol back

[Shane 2,275]

Exactly!!!!!

Take the Messi factor out of this team i was much more scared of them when they had Ronaldinho and Eto'o back between 2004-2006. Infact i was shit scared of facing them back in those days for some reason im not at the moment.

Mark my words this Barca team peaked in the second half of the CL final, Madrid and Jose have got them this year, infact Barca look like they have something missing which is bad news for us because they might want Oriol back

I have faith that Romeu will stay with us. We gave him his big chance and he's not a started at the club, I know for me I would rather that then going back.

Romeu could be a huge part of what AVB's Chelsea is going to become, he has already surpassed Mikel. I don't think he misplaced one pass against Valencia. Quality, quality player, the type of player that only comes around once every decade for a club.

[Tomo 21,733]

I have faith that Romeu will stay with us. We gave him his big chance and he's not a started at the club, I know for me I would rather that then going back.

Romeu could be a huge part of what AVB's Chelsea is going to become, he has already surpassed Mikel. I don't think he misplaced one pass against Valencia. Quality, quality player, the type of player that only comes around once every decade for a club.

I hope you're right but the only problem is Catalan's are loyal to Barcelona.

This is what a FCB fan said on another forum

"""""I am a Catalan and it is difficult for outsiders to understand how important Barcelona is to Catalans and Catalonia. It's not just about the club, it is political. FC Barcelona represented us throughout what for us was a brutal dictatorship, it was our national pride and symbol. So while most players dream of playing for us because we are a huge club with huge traditions, it is a double draw for Catalans - it is playing for your club and country and national identity all in one.

At the moment nobody is saying anything about Oriol, but I have no doubts he'll return if we ant him. The first problem for Chelsea is that we all watched him play very well on TV against Valencia the other night. If Chelsea progress, he will get more exposure and then it will be difficult to keep him."""""

[Shane 2,275]

I hope you're right but the only problem is Catalan's are loyal to Barcelona.

This is what a FCB fan said on another forum

"""""I am a Catalan and it is difficult for outsiders to understand how important Barcelona is to Catalans and Catalonia. It's not just about the club, it is political. FC Barcelona represented us throughout what for us was a brutal dictatorship, it was our national pride and symbol. So while most players dream of playing for us because we are a huge club with huge traditions, it is a double draw for Catalans - it is playing for your club and country and national identity all in one.

At the moment nobody is saying anything about Oriol, but I have no doubts he'll return if we ant him. The first problem for Chelsea is that we all watched him play very well on TV against Valencia the other night. If Chelsea progress, he will get more exposure and then it will be difficult to keep him."""""

Hmm, That doesn't mean that EVERY Catalan wants to come back. Time will tell.

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

We're simply not good enough this season. You need luck to win the CL, but you still need a very strong side to win it, and in recent years only the strongest sides in Europe (teams that were going for doubles and trebles) were able to win it, and I expect the same this season. This season it will probably be Real Madrid... led by Mourinho.

[Ollie 4,400]

I don't even wanna think or make any judgement about winning the UCL. Every year it's "maybe this is the year" and we fall and fall whether its the round of 16 or the final with a penalty to win. I think it's Real Madrid's to lose. Barca can't win it every year, Real are probably better this year and the most in form, focused team atm.

If we get a favourable draw you never know if we get Real Madrid or Barca in a one off final, we could do it but i can't see us knocking either of them out in 2 legs, especially with our home form this season. And look what Arsenal did to us, i doubt we'd even knock them out.

Take each round as it comes because all these theories never seem to work anyway. The 2 spanish teams are a few levels ahead.

[The Big Drog 1,110]

What the game against Valencia proved is that when we want to, we can still revert back to being a very solid defensive unit, the same kind of unit Barcelona really struggled to breakdown over 2 legs a few years ago when we were under Hiddink. Playing in that way we would pose a threat and danger to any team left in the competition.

If the draws falls our way then anything can happen and there are few, if any, teams better at parking the bus than us but all in all the trophy is likely to be contested between Real Madrid and Barcelona. They are the two strongest teams in the world right now, they have the top players in the world playing at their respective clubs and at this moment in time they are on a different planet to all other club sides out there.

[Shane 2,275]

What the game against Valencia proved is that when we want to, we can still revert back to being a very solid defensive unit, the same kind of unit Barcelona really struggled to breakdown over 2 legs a few years ago when we were under Hiddink. Playing in that way we would pose a threat and danger to any team left in the competition.

If the draws falls our way then anything can happen and there are few, if any, teams better at parking the bus than us but all in all the trophy is likely to be contested between Real Madrid and Barcelona. They are the two strongest teams in the world right now, they have the top players in the world playing at their respective clubs and at this moment in time they are on a different planet to all other club sides out there.

Based on what? Barca are dropping points in the La Liga and Real were given a run for their money against AC Milan, and we're lucky to beat them on two occasions.

[True_Blue 469]

We can beat all of the teams left in the draw.We didn't really had that much chances to play Madrid but we have beaten Barcelona when they where untouchable,even in their prime they just managed to draw us twice and advance on pure luck and referee shit decisions.When we play well we are unplayable and we can defeat every team on every pitch.Even though this season doesn't really look brilliant i have a silly feeling that we will win a major trophy and keep track on the others until the final day.

What can i say i am the forever optimistic one.

[YankinBlue42 72]

You only need to beat the teams you face, we don't have to beat every team in Europe. If we get a favorable draw, we might only have to beat 1 great team like Barca or Madrid.

And that can be done! They are not unbeatable in one game. Anything can happen in one game. Look how close we were in 2009 over 2 legs.

[francozola 2,040]

We have bigger things to worry about atm. Lets just take the CL one step at a time. Lets first see which team we get next Friday. There's a two month long break before we even have to play them. Who knows what kind of form we may be in then.

Like others have said though, it may come to us this season simply because we don't expect to win it for the first time since Jose arrived. Even under Carlo last year when we were struggling so much in the Prem, but there still was tremendous pressure on him and the players to do well in the CL.

This season, it is obvious that Roman is willing to let AVB take things slow but steady. We won't be under the same pressure as we are used to.

Doesn't mean we should get our hopes up, lol. We aren't good enough to win but doesn't mean that we can't. If we do get past the round of 16, and if luck is on our side, we can end up on the "easier" half of the draw with a few of the "better" teams on the other side knocking each other out.

The other 15 teams that are still in this competition: Bayern, Napoli, Leverkusen, Inter, CSKA, Arsenal, Marseille, Benfica, Basel, APOEL, Zenit, Real, Lyon, Barca & Milan

That has definitely got to be one of the weakest group of teams that have made it to this stage in recent memory. The highlighted teams are the biggest threats. With luck, a couple of them will immediately face each other in the next round. Then if we get lucky in the quarters and end up on the good half of the draw, who knows?

[Kezza 1,965]

^^Agree..

We are fortunate with the final 15.

Hope we only have to plough through one or two of europes greats, With two of England heaveyweights out of the League we have a chance.

But with convosations of Drogba leaving for Spurs, it may be a bit of a mission.

Just gotta seize the opportunity

[gary gordon 1,777]

Nice topic. In a way i believe that once United took an exit from the comp our boys got a lot more confident of winning it. Lets face it, United have been our fiercest rivals since Roman took over and now that they are out of the picture, winning this competition won't seem like so much of a daunting task.. I would love to think our boys will be there come may 2012, but I'm a pessimist, I never hope for the best. I just hope we can put together a few wins this month and enjoy some really good holiday football!

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Just so that we are clear, this is a sign:

While this, is a good result:

Chelsea 3:0 Valencia

I think we will probably need the second more than the first if we are to ever win the Champion's League.

[The Big Drog 1,110]

Based on what? Barca are dropping points in the La Liga and Real were given a run for their money against AC Milan, and we're lucky to beat them on two occasions.

Based on quality. There can be no doubt about it, these are the two strongest teams on the planet. Barcelona are the team of their generation and will rightly go down in the history books as one of the very best teams ever created in the history of the game. Real Madrid have made giant strides under Mourinho and are now in a position where they can challenge Barcelona, more so this season than last thanks to Mourinho's introduction of the Barcelona style pressing game and some individual changes (Sergio Ramos to centre back, Kaka's revival, Benzema and Higuain both in stunning form). Mourinho always said Madrid would be better in his second season and that is exactly what has occurred, for me they are currently the best side in the worldand this Saturday's El Classico could prove exactly that. Sorry mate but there is no denying it, the best players in the world play for these two clubs, the two best managers in the world manage both clubs, both clubs have a glittering history, a massive fanbase and I personally believe that they play in the best league in the world. Ilker Casillas put it best last season when he said that Barcelona got a lot of plaudits for how they took Man Utd apart in the Champions League final at Wembley but had it been Real Madrid playing Man Utd, they would have done the exact same thing to the English club and I tend to believe Ilker, the two Spanish giants are on a different level to all other teams.

[Krypt 241]

Lets not get too carried away

I hate playing English Teams in the CL we always seem to go out to them though we will most likely get past the last 16 then play Aresnal its obvious.

[Kojo 4,676]

Seriousley, they arent unbeatable. Getafe beat barcelona...etc. I know they are very good, but if u play very defensive and use counterattacking u can beat them. Sorta like we did against valencia.

It also has something to do with Complacency, didn't Barcelona get beat by the team what came last and got relegated last season?, i could of sworn that was there only loss in the league. When they know they have to put a performance on they do, they got beat against Inter, but Inter were very lucky and got a lot of decisions there way, had Bojans goal of been counted (which it should have because Toure did not handball it) then Barcelona would of won on away goals, not to mention they should of easily of had at least 2 penalties in my opinion. However it's weird that, very rare you see teh decisions go against Barcelona, however against us i still think they would dominate.

[Kojo 4,676]

Lets not get too carried away

I hate playing English Teams in the CL we always seem to go out to them though we will most likely get past the last 16 then play Aresnal its obvious.

No doubt, they usually don't like english teams to do well so they always play them against each other to make it a 'must' that one of them will have to go out, and if we manage to get through that we would play Real Madrid easily, i can even see it now, Student takes on Master, jesus christ papers are going to be loving it.