We need a special thread for general (not Ajax-related) Champions League and UEFA Cup discussions, plus general talk about other football leagues than the Dutch Eredivisie...

So, here it is!

I just wanted to say: f#cking hell, Chelsea eliminating Arsenal is quite surprising given Arsenal's recent form, but who ever expected that Real Madrid were going to give away a 4-2 lead in the return leg at Monaco??? 3-1 to Monaco and they're out! Which is, quite obviously, totally flippin' hilarious!

On both occasions the team that was expected to be the better side (Arsenal and Real, respectively) thought they had booked a good result in the first game and thought they were on their way to the semis as they took a 1-0 lead in the return leg. But an arrogant Real Madrid side was torn apart by Monaco after the break, whereas Arsenal (1-1 away and 1-0 up at home), saw Chelsea equalize and score a 87th minute winner.

Truly spectacular developments and I must admit I find it highly amusing.



Thanks to Monaco in particular. They showed once again that major upsets are always possible in European football and that buying Beckham, Zidane, Figo and Ronaldo does not automatically bring you the 'big one'. Good to know.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AFCA 1900
... but who ever expected that Real Madrid were going to give away a 4-2 lead in the return leg at Monaco??? ...

---

[QUOTE=AFCA 1900]
I just wanted to say: f#cking hell, Chelsea eliminating Arsenal is quite surprising given Arsenal's recent form, but who ever expected that Real Madrid were going to give away a 4-2 lead in the return leg at Monaco??? 3-1 to Monaco and they're out! Which is, quite obviously, totally flippin' hilarious!

On both occasions the team that was expected to be the better side (Arsenal and Real, respectively) thought they had booked a good result in the first game and thought they were on their way to the semis as they took a 1-0 lead in the return leg. But an arrogant Real Madrid side was torn apart by Monaco after the break, whereas Arsenal (1-1 away and 1-0 up at home), saw Chelsea equalize and score a 87th minute winner.

Truly spectacular developments and I must admit I find it highly amusing.


[QUOTE]

Sorry if I don't share your excitement on this one AFCA 1900. The 2 teams that got knocked out were flair teams and a joy to watch.
Now we have the prospect of a CL final between 2 Italian teams, namely AC Milan and Chelski. Chelski are a typical Italian team built by an Italian manager. They are functional, efficient and about as exciting to watch as watching paint dry.
Whilst I believe that the situation surrounding the manager has been poorly dealt with and I like the cheeky chappie, there is no doubt that the powers to be at the Chelsea Kremlin have got it 100% correct when they criticised the team for a lack of flair and entertainment value.

Yeah, I must say I didn't really have a preference for Chelski or Arsenal (did not know that Chelski play so negatively, tho...). It was more that the elimination of Real Madrid made me smile. I mean: they have the ultimate football team, but they bought it for money they don't even have - so I find it very amusing indeed if it goes wrong for them. AS Monaco play highly attractive football, btw.

We are exactly on the same wavelength as far as AC Milan are confirmed, btw. They must go. Yuk.

I was delighted that Real Madrid were beaten but not Arsenal.Reason being both my sons support the Arsenal.My 14 year old has not spoken today he is in shock.

I have told him he should support a team that wins cups in Europe AJAX THE GREAT.


I am not looking forward to a Milan and Chelski final,what a bore it will be.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SPL

I am not looking forward to a Milan and Chelski final,what a bore it will be.

---

manneken, quite right, I would prefer Monaco-Depor to Chelski or Porto(even if they did beat both Man Utd. and Celtic)

The J.C. quote in your signature is quite apt for Deportivo. :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AFC Ajax
manneken, quite right, I would prefer Monaco-Depor to Chelski or Porto(even if they did beat both Man Utd. and Celtic)

The J.C. quote in your signature is quite apt for Deportivo. :D

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bertrand
La Coruna trashed Milan (Milan Milan, who the **** is Milan ???) 4-0, we'll have an exciting Monaco-Deportivo final

---

This is great!

Wow - things have really turned around quite drastically in the return legs...

Milan and Madrid out... That's just awesome.

I totally agree with Aveslacker: we were ten seconds away from the semi final last year and this year Monaco and Porto will be in it. Which means we could accomplish that also. Everyone I talked to before the games shrugged shoulders and said: well, I hope Arsenal will win it, but it's probably gonna be a Real Madrid vs AC Milan final. They kind of lost interest because they did not see things develop differently. European football needed this upset. Very encouraging. Puts things into perspective.

Well, I guess you're right. Great that the 'smaller' team shows that even Real can be beaten. But, I know for sure that I find for example Real-Chelsea, Arsenal-Juve or Milan-ManU more interesting than, say, Depor-Porto. (maybe that's just 'cause I know too little about Depor and Porto...)

I'm sure the finals will be great and I know that all of the teams play great football, but I just think something is missing as the 'big' players are gone. Just like something was missing in the World Cup 2002.

Well anyway, now my favourites are Monaco!

I see what you mean, but I don't feel that way at all. I don't give a living crap about the 'names'. They don't make a game interested to me. In order to get me 'emotionally involved' in a football game Ajax will have to be one of the two teams on the pitch anyway. For the rest of it? I don't really care. And I will definitely not miss Zidane, Figo, Beckham and Ronaldo in the final.

How much would all of us give for Milwall to beat ManU in the cup final???

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Chugger
How much would all of us give for Milwall to beat ManU in the cup final???

---

For a long time I did not really understand why all of the English footie fans I talk to are so deeply disgusted by Man Utd. They hate that club. Almost all of them.

I didn't really understand why, except that Man Utd are succesful. I always thought: they have more superstars that they developed themselves than most other English clubs (Beckham at the time, plus Scholes and to a lesser extent Giggs). Okay: Keane is a total a$$hole, but other than that?

But then I went to London on a hot summer day last summer and I slowly started to understand. There were Man Utd jerseys everywhere. Kids, women - everyone seemed to wear a Beckham jersey and in many cases you could tell they'd never been to Old Trafford, were probably unable to even name eleven Man Utd players. Also: this was in London, but it was almost impossible to buy an Arsenal, Spurs or Chelsea jersey at the street stalls. All they had was Man Utd, Man Utd, Man Utd. Baggy and I were amazed by this. We decided to go for a beer and there were two tabloids on the table we were sat at. So I started turning the pages and both of these tabloids had articles of three, four pages on the Beckhams. I read one of 'em and the whole story was about absolutely nothing. When I'd finished it, I thought: so, what's the point then? What's the news? But they had nothing to say about the man whatsoever, except that Victoria had gone shopping or something.

Even though we were there for only a day I slowly started getting fed up with Beckham and Man Utd...

The thing is: you can't blame a club for being the biggest and most popular one. There's not much a club can do about it. This goes for Ajax in Holland, for Bayern Munich in Germany, for Anderlecht in Belgium, for Juventus in Italy, for Celtic in Scotland and for Real Madrid in Spain. In all of those cases the most popular club in a country is also the most hated one. That's inevitable and it's down to the narrow-mindedness of people in general - and football fans in particular.

But there is a difference between the clubs named above and Man Utd, namely that Man Utd is not historically England's greatest club. The fact that they have become so prominent is the result of a very deliberate, conscious and absolutely massive marketing campaign. You could say that they bought all the attention, which is a crucial difference with - for example - Ajax in The Netherlands. Ajax prominent position has developed in a 'natural' way, compared to Man Utd. It could not have been any other way, as Ajax has a very amateurish marketing strategy. They aren't even aware of what Man Utd are doing. They wouldn't know how to do it. So the media attention for Ajax is not a promotional circus the club itself helped creating.

The Man Utd stir was created and paid for by the club itself. Which is reason enough to think: leave me the f#ck alone.