Hotting up nicely ahead of tonight's game

[Count Cookula]

... is it all going to kick off?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/apr/27/championsleague.liverpool

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/apr/30/chelsea.liverpool1


And did any one read this about the other Ronaldo's triple order of meat and two veg?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/feedarticle/7492143

[Little Beaver]

The weird thing about the first leg was how little Drogba did his usual dying swan act. I took that to be a pretty good indication that his commitment to the team was low, and that we are seeing the last of him at Chelsea. It was a though he was giving up on the whole thing.

[Major Dude]

And did any one read this about the other Ronaldo's triple order of meat and two veg?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/feedarticle/7492143

Ha ha

Love the excuse offered up. Natural side effect of knee surgery, obviously.

[Major Dude]

Think it might boil over on the pitch again tonight. Plenty of banter flying about.

Older joke re-jigged -

"Its been confirmed Drogba won't be attending Frank Lampard's mother's funeral after fears he may try to dive in the box."

[Count Cookula]

Ha ha

Love the excuse offered up. Natural side effect of knee surgery, obviously.

There's a joke in there about reflexes but I'm feeling lazy

[Major Dude]

What a game so far. Drama!

[Major Dude]

Magic. Enjoyed that immensely.

[lurkster]

Great match. Anyone reckon it's a negative that Premiereship greenbacks have led to two Blightly teams in the European final? I, for one, do.

Not unlike cheering on two companies in battle for a major contract, just happens to involve geezers running around after a bag of air for 100k per week.

What.

[Little Beaver]

What a fantastic game.

[Count Cookula]

Great match. Anyone reckon it's a negative that Premiereship greenbacks have led to two Blightly teams in the European final? I, for one, do.

Not unlike cheering on two companies in battle for a major contract, just happens to involve geezers running around after a bag of air for 100k per week.

What.

I agree to an extent, I can't get excited about it like I did 10 or 20 years ago, the way the commercialism has swept into the upper echelons of the English league is obscene... though what goes up must inevitably come down at some point.

On the other hand my team's blood courses through my veins and I'm thrilled to be in the final.

Despite our misgivings about all the corporate bollocks and finacial influence you can't deny that tonight's game was an absolute joy to watch, so finely poised, end to end, the balance of play and shifts of power in constant flux and the immense human drama at the heart of Lampard's penalty... no amount of money can completely rip the heart and soul from the beautiful game. Pure entertainment.

[I Robot]

Lets just hope the final is better than last yrs FA Cup final eh

Massive dilemma who to root for here

Does my Scouse bigotry against utd outweigh my loathing for Chelsea's lack of class

[Major Dude]

The past two Big Four™ games have been up there with the best, hopefully the final will be a cracker.

Still think the Mancs have got the double nailed on.

[Little Beaver]

I agree to an extent, I can't get excited about it like I did 10 or 20 years ago, the way the commercialism has swept into the upper echelons of the English league is obscene... though what goes up must inevitably come down at some point.

On the other hand my team's blood courses through my veins and I'm thrilled to be in the final.

Despite our misgivings about all the corporate bollocks and finacial influence you can't deny that tonight's game was an absolute joy to watch, so finely poised, end to end, the balance of play and shifts of power in constant flux and the immense human drama at the heart of Lampard's penalty... no amount of money can completely rip the heart and soul from the beautiful game. Pure entertainment.Agreed on all three counts, Count. The game has become devalued by its relentless commercialism and televised ubiquity. Despite all that, and despite the loathsome construct my beloved Chelsea has become, I'm a one-club man. I first went to the Bridge with my dad when I was six and am a lifelong Blue (actually, these days I'm more of a Pensioner.) But what a fucking game it was.

[iamrobd]

the immense human drama at the heart of Lampard's penalty... no amount of money can completely rip the heart and soul from the beautiful game. Pure entertainment.

I had to swallow something hard and jagged when I saw Lampard celebrate. Both the game and Lampard were fantastic from start to finish.

Surely the Scousers can't be supporting United in the final? I'm sure all the Gooners will be though...

[emmma]

good game, bad result, will be happy if they beat utd in the final. a 3-3 thriller with pens, thanks.

[terry nutkins]

what a breath of fresh air that was after the last few liverpool/chelsea semi final stalemates :cool:

as a liverpool fan i'm obviously disappointed with the result - although in a weird way i'm kind of relieved they didn't to the final as i'm 100% sure man utd would have beaten us and you can just IMAGINE how long you would hear about that for :)

not a lampard fan at all but it was genuinely emotional seeing him score the penalty and then seeing his dad in the crowd

drogba was immense last night, and a fantastic goal from torres - coincidentally i had literally just said that benayoun had been disappointing then he set up the goal superbly :oops:

some more odd decisions from benitez though - taking off torres? no crouch at the end?

i hope gareth barry joins liverpool over the summer

[poor_impulse_control]

I laughed solidly for minute when I saw Drogba score the first and then run 40 yards by himself to slide on his knees in front of Rafa. For such a big lad he can be so childish. The emotion when Lampard scored is what sport is all about.
I think Chelsea will win the final and i'd love to see Jose's face when they do.

[Contador]

although in a weird way i'm kind of relieved they didn't to the final as i'm 100% sure man utd would have beaten us and you can just IMAGINE how long you would hear about that fo

On the other hand, if we'd of got to the final and beaten our nemisis, IMAGINE how long we would of held bragging rights over them.

[Count Cookula]

On the other hand, if we'd of got to the final and beaten our nemisis, IMAGINE how long we would of held bragging rights over them.

Dream on

[RD]

i hope gareth barry joins liverpool over the summer


fck off-what would he want to do that for you might not even reach champions league proper.

if he goes i'll just have to remember how bad he can be when he's bad. really only the last year that he's been consistent.

[jungle slut]

I was lucky enough to be there, albeit at the very top of the east stand. What a brilliant match!
So, has Grant earned his spurs? Will everyone lay off him now that he's gone further than Mourinho did in Europe? I still find it hard to be enthusiastic about a man as uniquely lugubrious as Grant, but fair play to the guy.

[Major Dude]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkGzaoj6DuY

[I Robot]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkGzaoj6DuY


Class :-D :-D

[Little Beaver]

I think the final could be fantastic for the simple, and somewhat inexplicable, reason that Chelsea have started playing some rather gorgeous football. We were great (about 70% of the time) against United. We were great (about 70% of the time) against Liverpool. We were great (about 70% of the time) against Newcastle.

We've been shite, utter shite, all season. Suddenly we are passing to each other at pace and tearing teams apart. This doesn't mean we'll win the final, but providing neither team freezes into negativity, it could be a fantastic, open game.

[Major Dude]

Fingers crossed. The recent encounter at Stamford Bridge was excellent.