Barca & messi

[hfc rd]

Words just simply can't describe them. Absolutely Legandary and a joy to behold!

A different kettle of fish. Barcelona just seem to make opposition teams look like part time amateur's as you just saw tonight. So entertaining to watch that Real Madrid were frightened to close them down, especially in the 1st half and Cristiano Ronny was getting so frustrated like f*** as he was simply helpless along with the rest of his team mates. I simply can't remember witnessing the last time Real Madrid were chasing the game at home and their fans getting right on top of them. Like for instance when they played Arsenal at the Nou Camp earlier in the competition, Barca just made them look like a pub team and could and should have won by a cricket scoreline that night. My Englsih team is Man Utd and I can unfortunately see Man Utd getting humped in the CL final at Wembley if Barca play anywhere near or as half as good as they did tonight.

And what can you say about Messi?? A lot of things. He is simply beyond special as you saw with his 2nd goal for Barca tonight. I don't think you are ever going to come across a football fan (unless it is a mental Real Madrid fan) who thinks Messi is s**** unless they need brain surgery. The guy as we all know is simply someone who you can call a "one man team". Small, but as solid as a rock and can make the opposition look like marker cones when he goes past them. The best thing is that he is only 23 and is still going to get better and better.

[just_joe]

Messi is fantastic. At least there was one player out there who went out to play football tonight. The other players can learn from messi . He gets kicked up n down yet gets up and just gets on with it. a fantastic player with a fantastic attitude.

[hfc rd]

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Messi is fantastic. At least there was one player out there who went out to play football tonight. The other players can learn from messi . He gets kicked up n down yet gets up and just gets on with it. a fantastic player with a fantastic attitude.

Exactly mate. He is not the pathetic and greedy modern day footballer who is only interested in money and doesn't give a toss about the club or the fans. He just gets on with it regardless on how much he is earning, even though it is big, and just plays the sport he loves. A role model for all youngsters.

[Wotherspiniesta]

All this salivating over Messi is fair enough. The guy is the best player I've ever seen play the game.

But let's not get it confused here, Barca were an embarassment tonight. We hear so much about how wonderfully they knock the ball around, which is true. But tonight they got dragged down to Real Madrid's level and even stooped lower than them. Throwing themselves to the ground, clutching their faces when they got touched on the shoulder, hounding the referee after every tackle. And the only reason they won that game tonight, IMHO, was because they managed to get Pepe sent off. Madrid lost their shape and Barca exploited the space well.

I didn't think that Guardiola would get drawn into mind games with Mourinho, but Jose managed to sucker him in. Thankfully the game will be remembered for the great player that Messi is, other than the terrible sportsmanship and bad spirit the game was played in.

Bravo Messi, for shame Barcelona, and to a lesser extent Real Madrid.

[Sodje_18]

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Words just simply can't describe them. Absolutely Legandary and a joy to behold!

A different kettle of fish. Barcelona just seem to make opposition teams look like part time amateur's as you just saw tonight. So entertaining to watch that Real Madrid were frightened to close them down, especially in the 1st half and Cristiano Ronny was getting so frustrated like f*** as he was simply helpless along with the rest of his team mates. I simply can't remember witnessing the last time Real Madrid were chasing the game at home and their fans getting right on top of them. Like for instance when they played Arsenal at the Nou Camp earlier in the competition, Barca just made them look like a pub team and could and should have won by a cricket scoreline that night. My Englsih team is Man Utd and I can unfortunately see Man Utd getting humped in the CL final at Wembley if Barca play anywhere near or as half as good as they did tonight.

And what can you say about Messi?? A lot of things. He is simply beyond special as you saw with his 2nd goal for Barca tonight. I don't think you are ever going to come across a football fan (unless it is a mental Real Madrid fan) who thinks Messi is s**** unless they need brain surgery. The guy as we all know is simply someone who you can call a "one man team". Small, but as solid as a rock and can make the opposition look like marker cones when he goes past them. The best thing is that he is only 23 and is still going to get better and better.

I wouldn't say they were frightened but were just standing off them so they didn't expose space.
And he would be a one man team if he were anywhere else, although he is by far there most important player, I don't think we can call them a one man team. Apart from that, agree with everything else, there just extraordinary, when I seethe line ups I always think there teams so strong it's scary, best team in the world without a doubt

[hfc rd]

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All this salivating over Messi is fair enough. The guy is the best player I've ever seen play the game.

But let's not get it confused here, Barca were an embarassment tonight. We hear so much about how wonderfully they knock the ball around, which is true. But tonight they got dragged down to Real Madrid's level and even stooped lower than them. Throwing themselves to the ground, clutching their faces when they got touched on the shoulder, hounding the referee after every tackle. And the only reason they won that game tonight, IMHO, was because they managed to get Pepe sent off. Madrid lost their shape and Barca exploited the space well.

I didn't think that Guardiola would get drawn into mind games with Mourinho, but Jose managed to sucker him in. Thankfully the game will be remembered for the great player that Messi is, other than the terrible sportsmanship and bad spirit the game was played in.

Bravo Messi, for shame Barcelona, and to a lesser extent Real Madrid.

Yes I see your point, but then again Real Madrid started all of the silly behaviour of the game. Real just simply couldn't take it when they were getting outplayed and their fans were becoming very restless and bored that much, you could hear the small section of the Barca fans at the very top tier of the Bernabeu making some noise with their traditional "Himne Del FC Barcelona" song being sung. The Madrid players started turning this game dirty as they simply were finding it hard to win the ball.

The fiasco at half time was started by Real Madrid which led to the GK being sent off. It was basically Arbeloa saying something to Keita and that is how it all kicked off which led to Pinto being sent off despite some guy holding on to his throat. You never know what Arbeloa said but it must have been something very personal or racist to Keita which led to the big brawl. Keita isn't someone who is going to get very angry at a few words being said to him so it must have been something very personal. Yes the red card did change the game and Pepe did try to win the ball but if you are going to go in with your studs showing then you have to win the ball or risk being sent off. If that was a yam going in like that on a Hibs player, we would all be screaming for a red card to be shown.

Speaking about red cards, Marcelo should have been sent off for standing on Pedro's leg. He could so easily have snapped one of Pedro's bones and I doubt that was a wee small mistake.

Also let us not forget the silly dive from Di Maria in the first half in which he conned the ref and Dani Alves got booked for it. Stupidity of the highest standard.

[HibbyAndy]

They DID get beat at Arsenal.

[HibbyAndy]

Alves was cringeworthy to watch...Carried of in a stretcher to make sure Pepe was sent off then raced back on 2 minutes later..Half the Barca team were a joke to watch.

Great to watch and have the best player on the planet.. But cheating Barstewards.

[Haymaker]

Messi is alright I suppose...

[MGmick]

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Messi is alright I suppose...

Hmm! Maybe his lack of unseen work could hold him back?

[Sylar]

I've seen the replay of the red card a couple of times and can't understand why people are up in arms about it.

He lunged at Alves knee-high and caught him with his studs. The contact might not have been crunching, but the UEFA rules do state you can be sent off for intent and Pepe (not exactly an angel) was going for the player.

Busquets, Pedro and Mascherano were all poor in terms of their play-acting, and the unanimous surrounding of the referee at every decision was pathetic. However, you'd think from some of the comments on here that Barcelona were the only team "at it". Di Maria got Alves booked for a blatant dive, Marcello went to ground via the sniper route on 2 occasions that I saw and Arbeloa was lucky not to get a second yellow for 2 very late tackles (one just before and one just after the break). I also can't see why Pinto was sent off just before the interval - somebody grabs him by the throat, he throws them off of him and is subsequently dismissed. Perplexing indeed.

The wee man is by far the best player I've ever watched playing the game. Right up there with Maradona and Pele and apparently still very humble about it all.

[marinello59]

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Alves was cringeworthy to watch...Carried of in a stretcher to make sure Pepe was sent off then raced back on 2 minutes later..Half the Barca team were a joke to watch.

Great to watch and have the best player on the planet.. But cheating Barstewards.

Both teams were at it to some extent. The best team by a country mile won though. Mourinho sends out his teams to spoil games, this time it backfired on him.
The sending off was the correct decision. Just because Alves reacted badly doesn't mean the ref got it wrong. Pepe was stupid and paid the price.

[nonshinyfinish]

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I've seen the replay of the red card a couple of times and can't understand why people are up in arms about it.

He lunged at Alves knee-high and caught him with his studs. The contact might not have been crunching, but the UEFA rules do state you can be sent off for intent and Pepe (not exactly an angel) was going for the player.

Agreed. To me it was borderline between yellow and red - after the replays I'd probably have said yellow - but it's certainly not an outrageous decision.

[heretoday]

The red card tackle looked bad at the time, even disregarding Alves' predictable overreaction, but it wasn't deserving of more than a yellow.

Don't buy the conspiracy stuff. Refs have enough to do without all that.

Messi scored the second with his right peg which is supposed to be in semi-retirement!

[johnrebus]

Real and the chosen one - much as I like him - got exactly what they deserved.

Anyway, Barca are not a team of saints. They only do what every other top European team does in terms of gamesmanship.

Besides, what about Adebayor? He should have been locked up for that assault, never mind a red card.

If I could afford it I would have a season ticket to the Neu Camp. (Only if Hibs were away, mind)

[easty]

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I've seen the replay of the red card a couple of times and can't understand why people are up in arms about it.

He lunged at Alves knee-high and caught him with his studs. The contact might not have been crunching, but the UEFA rules do state you can be sent off for intent and Pepe (not exactly an angel) was going for the player.

Busquets, Pedro and Mascherano were all poor in terms of their play-acting, and the unanimous surrounding of the referee at every decision was pathetic. However, you'd think from some of the comments on here that Barcelona were the only team "at it". Di Maria got Alves booked for a blatant dive, Marcello went to ground via the sniper route on 2 occasions that I saw and Arbeloa was lucky not to get a second yellow for 2 very late tackles (one just before and one just after the break). I also can't see why Pinto was sent off just before the interval - somebody grabs him by the throat, he throws them off of him and is subsequently dismissed. Perplexing indeed.

The wee man is by far the best player I've ever watched playing the game. Right up there with Maradona and Pele and apparently still very humble about it all.

That sums up exactly how I seen it as well.

[kennyh]

Messi ~ Not yet Hibs class !!

[JimBHibees]

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I've seen the replay of the red card a couple of times and can't understand why people are up in arms about it.

He lunged at Alves knee-high and caught him with his studs. The contact might not have been crunching, but the UEFA rules do state you can be sent off for intent and Pepe (not exactly an angel) was going for the player.

Busquets, Pedro and Mascherano were all poor in terms of their play-acting, and the unanimous surrounding of the referee at every decision was pathetic. However, you'd think from some of the comments on here that Barcelona were the only team "at it". Di Maria got Alves booked for a blatant dive, Marcello went to ground via the sniper route on 2 occasions that I saw and Arbeloa was lucky not to get a second yellow for 2 very late tackles (one just before and one just after the break). I also can't see why Pinto was sent off just before the interval - somebody grabs him by the throat, he throws them off of him and is subsequently dismissed. Perplexing indeed.

The wee man is by far the best player I've ever watched playing the game. Right up there with Maradona and Pele and apparently still very humble about it all.

Personally think it was a red card well over the ball and caught him with a straight leg, Alves made a meal of it but Real would have done exactly the same but thought it was a decent decision.

The behaviour of both teams was dreadful in their intimidation of the referee however the only team trying to play football won the game so am happy with that. Real are so cynical it is appalling to watch no doubt mimicing their managers attitude. Given the quality in their team it was depressing to see them play this way as Barcelona's defence was there to be got at especially their goalie.

Personally can see Mourinho be sacked by Real as they owners wont like seeijng their team play so defensively at home and still lose to their greatest rivals. Wonder what his odds are for the Man City job?

Messi was a breathe of fresh air and his goals particularly the second one was sheer genius and a beacon of light in a depressing night for football.

UEFA need to fine both teams before the return leg and make it clear the collective intimidation of refs will be punished severely.

[blackpoolhibs]

Only one team wanted to win that game last night, and one team was scared ****less about losing the game.

Both were play acting, both were putting their foot in, but the best team in the world won.

Hopefully they will run all over Manure in the final, and my summer holiday is paid in full from bet fred and sportingbet.

[ScottB]

Personally I'd have sent Adebayor off for those ridiculous pushing into players one after the other.

Madrid's tactics were pitiful, Mourinho looked broken and his rant after the game shows that too. They had no answer to the skill of Messi, Arsenal showed it possible to beat Barca without trying to stiffle the game, but then Mourinho's always been a negative barsteward.

[hfc rd]

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They DID get beat at Arsenal.

Yes arsenal did beat them at the emirates. In that game barca had their chances to win the game but never took them and the gooners did. So credit to them then.

But in the return leg barca showed what they were capable of and could and should have won by a much bigger margain than 3-1. Then again arsenal did defend well to keep the score down and scored from against the run of play when no one expected it after waves and waves of barca attacks but they were left helpless against that man Lionel Messi again who was ripping the arsenal backline to shreds. Overall the right team did manage to deservedly win the tie but it was Messi who once again stole the show especially at the Nou Camp.

[Makaveli]

Real Madrid at the moment sum up anti-football for me. One of the game's best players in decades along with several more top class attacking threats and they "play" like that. 23% possession at home, playing for a 0-0. Pathetic. Why buy Ozil, di Maria, Kaka etc if they're not going to try to go out and win games?

Barca had it tough in the previous two games against the spoiling tactics and last night they used all the tricks of the trade to come away with the victory. Mourihno brought it to this.

Two more points... the Spanish (not exclusively) have always been like this - Barca hounding the ref against Hibs in the 60s, famously play acting for decades etc. To suggest Real are somehow less guilty is as laughable as the English commentators saying "thanks goodness we don't see this at home" when Sergio went down unnecessarily. Lampard, Gerard, Joe Cole? The Man Utd fan critcising the hounding of the ref clearly doesn't do irony.

As for Mourihno's interview, what can you say? Bitter doesn't cover it. I must have forgot that Real Madrid's history is riddled with victimisation at the hands of the Catalan-controlled European establishment. He's just raging Pep was able to wrestle with a chimney sweep and come out clean.

[Ritchie]

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Alves was cringeworthy to watch...Carried of in a stretcher to make sure Pepe was sent off then raced back on 2 minutes later..Half the Barca team were a joke to watch.

Great to watch and have the best player on the planet.. But cheating Barstewards.

busquettes also.... he prides himself in being a self proclaimed hard man but rolls about clutching his face when no contact was made.

big blouse!!

[Pretty Boy]

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Real Madrid at the moment sum up anti-football for me. One of the game's best players in decades along with several more top class attacking threats and they "play" like that. 23% possession at home, playing for a 0-0. Pathetic. Why buy Ozil, di Maria, Kaka etc if they're not going to try to go out and win games?

Barca had it tough in the previous two games against the spoiling tactics and last night they used all the tricks of the trade to come away with the victory. Mourihno brought it to this.

Two more points... the Spanish (not exclusively) have always been like this - Barca hounding the ref against Hibs in the 60s, famously play acting for decades etc. To suggest Real are somehow less guilty is as laughable as the English commentators saying "thanks goodness we don't see this at home" when Sergio went down unnecessarily. Lampard, Gerard, Joe Cole? The Man Utd fan critcising the hounding of the ref clearly doesn't do irony.

As for Mourihno's interview, what can you say? Bitter doesn't cover it. I must have forgot that Real Madrid's history is riddled with victimisation at the hands of the Catalan-controlled European establishment. He's just raging Pep was able to wrestle with a chimney sweep and come out clean.

Of course Mourinho is bitter. He has prided himself on his teams bullying and, dare i say, cheating their way to victory for years. Last night he came up against not only a better football team but also a team who were able to exploit his bullying tactics to their own advantage.

He should just be grateful Marcelo wasn't sent off for his stamp on Pedro.

[Dashing Bob S]

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Real Madrid at the moment sum up anti-football for me. One of the game's best players in decades along with several more top class attacking threats and they "play" like that. 23% possession at home, playing for a 0-0. Pathetic. Why buy Ozil, di Maria, Kaka etc if they're not going to try to go out and win games?

Barca had it tough in the previous two games against the spoiling tactics and last night they used all the tricks of the trade to come away with the victory. Mourihno brought it to this.

Two more points... the Spanish (not exclusively) have always been like this - Barca hounding the ref against Hibs in the 60s, famously play acting for decades etc. To suggest Real are somehow less guilty is as laughable as the English commentators saying "thanks goodness we don't see this at home" when Sergio went down unnecessarily. Lampard, Gerard, Joe Cole? The Man Utd fan critcising the hounding of the ref clearly doesn't do irony.

As for Mourihno's interview, what can you say? Bitter doesn't cover it. I must have forgot that Real Madrid's history is riddled with victimisation at the hands of the Catalan-controlled European establishment. He's just raging Pep was able to wrestle with a chimney sweep and come out clean.

Should it go tits-up for him in Madrid there's always a job waiting for Jose at Parkhead, or indeed Ibrox, or even, whisper it, the PBS, with that mindset.

[Lago]

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Messi is alright I suppose...

Not Hibs class

[TornadoHibby]

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All this salivating over Messi is fair enough. The guy is the best player I've ever seen play the game.

But let's not get it confused here, Barca were an embarassment tonight. We hear so much about how wonderfully they knock the ball around, which is true. But tonight they got dragged down to Real Madrid's level and even stooped lower than them. Throwing themselves to the ground, clutching their faces when they got touched on the shoulder, hounding the referee after every tackle. And the only reason they won that game tonight, IMHO, was because they managed to get Pepe sent off. Madrid lost their shape and Barca exploited the space well.
I didn't think that Guardiola would get drawn into mind games with Mourinho, but Jose managed to sucker him in. Thankfully the game will be remembered for the great player that Messi is, other than the terrible sportsmanship and bad spirit the game was played in.

Bravo Messi, for shame Barcelona, and to a lesser extent Real Madrid.

These guys are so good as players and as a team you have to wonder why they behave like cheats as they did against Real!

[Sir David Gray]

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I've seen the replay of the red card a couple of times and can't understand why people are up in arms about it.

He lunged at Alves knee-high and caught him with his studs. The contact might not have been crunching, but the UEFA rules do state you can be sent off for intent and Pepe (not exactly an angel) was going for the player.

Busquets, Pedro and Mascherano were all poor in terms of their play-acting, and the unanimous surrounding of the referee at every decision was pathetic. However, you'd think from some of the comments on here that Barcelona were the only team "at it". Di Maria got Alves booked for a blatant dive, Marcello went to ground via the sniper route on 2 occasions that I saw and Arbeloa was lucky not to get a second yellow for 2 very late tackles (one just before and one just after the break). I also can't see why Pinto was sent off just before the interval - somebody grabs him by the throat, he throws them off of him and is subsequently dismissed. Perplexing indeed.

The wee man is by far the best player I've ever watched playing the game. Right up there with Maradona and Pele and apparently still very humble about it all.

The way I saw the incident was that Pepe was going in for the ball, didn't time it spot on and slightly caught Alves. It was certainly a foul and probably a yellow card but if we're now handing down straight red cards for that kind of challenge then football is finished as a contact sport.

I do think he made a genuine attempt to go for the ball.

[Wotherspiniesta]

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These guys are so good as players and as a team you have to wonder why they behave like cheats as they did against Real!

Not hard to figure out when you consider the 2 games they previously had. Real used the same tactics in those 2 games aswell, trying to spoil the game. Madrid won one and drew the other.

I think Barcelona thought they had to try get someone sent off to spoil Madrids spoiling tactics, so to say.

Seems a bit of a crap thing to do considering they're being touted as the greatest team ever.

Hope Man United pump these cheats in the final.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Would Messi get a game for us if Sproule signs?







Only joking!