Villareal the only real left in the competition

[jai john]

I know you all might be fed up with me and this Villareal crusade but everyone has his pet peave ....
Long gone are the Chelsea, Madrid and Ajax fans so there might be those who would now be wondering how Villareal is still there . Well I did say we would have preferred Inter and that was before the draw and before the final game against Ajax so I cant back down now.
The yellow submarines should not still be considered rank outsiders. I know someone posted a final 8 earlier and deliberately left out Villareal but I am sure they are wiser now.
This is a good team playing good football. You dont finish 3rd behind Barcelona and Real in the spanish league and not be a good team. You dont win a group which included manchester united and Benfica and be a weak team.
I chose inter because I want to see the match up between Veron and Riquelme. I still blame Veron for Argentina's loss in the last WC. Pekerman has not even given Veron a game during his stint in spite of Maradona and others who are plugging for him. It will be a battle of the Argentinians trying to impress Pekerman with Zanetti, Cambiaso, Veron, Cruz, Solari, Killy gonzalez vs Riquelme, Sorin, Gonzalo, Barbosa with the Argentinian born Arruabuena and Franco thrown in for good measure.
I expect everyone still in to hold on to their team so I say again ... be careful of the yellow submarines !

[morvant]

yellow???  dem does wear yellow??? i get cuss fuh wearing ah yellow timbs..

fire fuh that shyt side

[Auburn Trini]

I know you all might be fed up with me and this Villareal crusade but everyone has his pet peave ....
Long gone are the Chelsea, Madrid and Ajax fans so there might be those who would now be wondering how Villareal is still there . Well I did say we would have preferred Inter and that was before the draw and before the final game against Ajax so I cant back down now.
The yellow submarines should not still be considered rank outsiders. I know someone posted a final 8 earlier and deliberately left out Villareal but I am sure they are wiser now.
This is a good team playing good football. You dont finish 3rd behind Barcelona and Real in the spanish league and not be a good team. You dont win a group which included manchester united and Benfica and be a weak team.
I chose inter because I want to see the match up between Veron and Riquelme. I still blame Veron for Argentina's loss in the last WC. Pekerman has not even given Veron a game during his stint in spite of Maradona and others who are plugging for him. It will be a battle of the Argentinians trying to impress Pekerman with Zanetti, Cambiaso, Veron, Cruz, Solari, Killy gonzalez vs Riquelme, Sorin, Gonzalo, Barbosa with the Argentinian born Arruabuena and Franco thrown in for good measure.
I expect everyone still in to hold on to their team so I say again ... be careful of the yellow submarines !

I agree wit yuh dey a much better side than ppl give them credit....
is all BIG NAMES callin!!!!!
Watch Benefica... few people woulda predict them lickin up Liverpool

good side... yuh never know... a side would be stupid to overlook them

[Trini Madness]

I know you all might be fed up with me and this Villareal crusade but everyone has his pet peave ....
Long gone are the Chelsea, Madrid and Ajax fans so there might be those who would now be wondering how Villareal is still there . Well I did say we would have preferred Inter and that was before the draw and before the final game against Ajax so I cant back down now.
The yellow submarines should not still be considered rank outsiders. I know someone posted a final 8 earlier and deliberately left out Villareal but I am sure they are wiser now.
This is a good team playing good football. You dont finish 3rd behind Barcelona and Real in the spanish league and not be a good team. You dont win a group which included manchester united and Benfica and be a weak team.
I chose inter because I want to see the match up between Veron and Riquelme. I still blame Veron for Argentina's loss in the last WC. Pekerman has not even given Veron a game during his stint in spite of Maradona and others who are plugging for him. It will be a battle of the Argentinians trying to impress Pekerman with Zanetti, Cambiaso, Veron, Cruz, Solari, Killy gonzalez vs Riquelme, Sorin, Gonzalo, Barbosa with the Argentinian born Arruabuena and Franco thrown in for good measure.
I expect everyone still in to hold on to their team so I say again ... be careful of the yellow submarines !

I agree wit yuh dey a much better side than ppl give them credit....
is all BIG NAMES callin!!!!!
Watch Benefica... few people woulda predict them lickin up Liverpool

good side... yuh never know... a side would be stupid to overlook them

i done say that already. benfica will be de team to beat.

[Blue]

Jai, I'm an Inter fan, but I eh go lie....Riqeulme is easily better than Veron. That's not really going to be much of a contest. Veron is hugely overrated. Thank God he is leaving at d end of d season.

If we talkin 11 v 11 tho.... Inter already through to d semis 

[Peong]

Last season still cloudin jai john judgement.
This season Villareal are 7th in La Liga.
Forlan eh scorin.
Villareal doin well but they will be lucky to progress.

[jai john]

Last season still cloudin jai john judgement.
This season Villareal are 7th in La Liga.
Forlan eh scorin.
Villareal doin well but they will be lucky to progress.

Forlan eh scorin as much ! barcelona however are lining him up to replace Larson ...why Riquelme however is still knocking them in . Read the reports about Villareal this year, when they have their players all fit,  most teams want to avoid them. Because they dont have a strong bench they cant concentrate on more than one tournament so even though they are 7th so far this year their target is at least 6th place to qualify for EUFA next year and a place in the semis of EUFA. They know this is their best oopportunity for glory as I expect to see their best players moving on after this season.
The playmaker is a genius though ...none better at what he does and has won many a game with one pass.

[Filho]

Because they dont have a strong bench they cant concentrate on more than one tournament ....

This is an excellent point...very few teams can challenge on all fronts...you need a really deep team. Few of the 'outsiders' who qualify for the CL do it 2 seasons in a row because their league form suffers from having European fixtures. For Villareal to be this far in the CL and still within striking distance of a top 4 finish in La Liga speaks volumes. Benfica is tearing it up in the CL but struggling in Portugal beacuse they cannot sustain too many fronts.

Look at Real Betis....finished one place behind Villareal last season, but because of being stretched thin by the CL they are flirting with relegation this year...and they were struggling in the league before Oliveira got hurt.

Celta Vigo got relegated the season after the qualified for the CL
Real Sociedad barely avoided the drop the year after they qualified for the CL.
Moral...watch out for Villareal. League form is often independent of CL form...Arsenal this year and Liverpool last year are even better examples of this.

[jai john]

yellow???  dem does wear yellow??? i get cuss fuh wearing ah yellow timbs..

fire fuh that shyt side

Like you need to get out some more morvant...do you know that barcelona´s away strip is yellow ??
have you not seen Messi and ronaldinho in yellow ?? What is your team in the champions league ..by the way ... and dont tell me its Barcelona because you dont know much about them !
Villareal is known as the yellow submarines and if you dont like the colour yellow then i guess you dont support brazil, cameroon, Germany etc. I am sure tallman could provide you with a list of the countries which incorporate the colour yellow in their uniform.
For your info. Villareal is among only 4 teams which have played unbeaten in the competition so far..... not bad for a shyte side

[Jahyouth]

yellow???  dem does wear yellow??? i get cuss fuh wearing ah yellow timbs..

fire fuh that shyt side

Like you need to get out some more morvant...do you know that barcelona´s away strip is yellow ??
have you not seen Messi and ronaldinho in yellow ?? What is your team in the champions league ..by the way ... and dont tell me its Barcelona because you dont know much about them !

Barca's away colours are a flourescent green/yellow.  not a straight yellow.  wicked jersey still.

[jai john]

yellow???  dem does wear yellow??? i get cuss fuh wearing ah yellow timbs..

fire fuh that shyt side

Like you need to get out some more morvant...do you know that barcelona´s away strip is yellow ??
have you not seen Messi and ronaldinho in yellow ?? What is your team in the champions league ..by the way ... and dont tell me its Barcelona because you dont know much about them !

Barca's away colours are a flourescent green/yellow.  not a straight yellow.  wicked jersey still.

Doh give morvant a way out ah waiting for his reply...I still want to know who he supporting. I really didn´t want to give him a long list but I wear a Boca juniors jersey and a big yellow pepsi ensigna is on the front...dat is a shyte side too I suppose ....wearing yellow !!!

[kicker]

On their day, Villareal is as good as any...I don't see them going all the way, but they will be a handfull for any opponent.

About Riquelme and Veron, I'm a bigger fan of Inter, but I'll give Riquelme the edge. In my opinion, he is one of the few classic central midfielders in the modern day game who can single handedly dominate a game, dictate the pace and pull the strings. In today's increasingly physical, tactical & speedy game, Riquelme is one of a kind.

[jai john]

On their day, Villareal is as good as any...I don't see them going all the way, but they will be a handfull for any opponent.

About Riquelme and Veron, I'm a bigger fan of Inter, but I'll give Riquelme the edge. In my opinion, he is one of the few classic central midfielders in the modern day game who can single handedly dominate a game, dictate the pace and pull the strings. In today's increasingly physical, tactical & speedy game, Riquelme is one of a kind.

I am just waiting for the valencia game on wednesday when Riquelme returns from suspension. He will be up against Aimar then. For me Riquelme is the best player in the world. Go ahead kill me folks ...just my opinion...we wont have to wait long to see that.
In head to head against Ronaldinho for Brazil and Argentina they are even. I rate players head to head...sure when you are surrounded by good players you can look good. when you make ordinary players look good then you show your class. top of Manchester united´s list he is ...but will he go ..i dont know.
last season riquelme riped apart barcelona in a 3-0 victory...this season ronaldinho evened the score. In argentina Riquelme destroyed Brazil in the WC qualifier. Ronaldinho did the same to Argentina in the confed cup..
Exciting times ahead folks ...
Go villareal !!!!

[Marcos]

Riquelme plays a slightly different role to Ronaldinho. I think he plays a lil deeper whereas Ronaldinho spends most of his time in the opponents half.
Forgive the analogy but I find Ronaldinho to be more like Latas and Riquelme more like Nakhid (although he has more dribbling ability)

[kicker]

Riquelme plays a slightly different role to Ronaldinho. I think he plays a lil deeper whereas Ronaldinho spends most of his time in the opponents half.
Forgive the analogy but I find Ronaldinho to be more like Latas and Riquelme more like Nakhid (although he has more dribbling ability)

Ronaldinho is an attacking midfielder/forward....Riquelme is more of a classic central midfielder

[Marcos]

You disagree with my comparison?

[kicker]

You disagree with my comparison?

yes I disagree.

Latas in his prime played alot deeper than Ronaldinho. He (Latapy) was actually more similar to Riquelme.....a classic "middle of the field" central midfielder, a general as many would call it...........

Latapy's role in this campaign in his old age (especially against Guatemala) was similar to Ronaldinho's role (very attack minded, and not necessarily responsible for stringing the passes together and dictating the pace) ...but that's not how I would typically brand Latapy.

The Riquelme-Nakhid comparison is a lil off too in my opinion. Nakhid was more of a stabilizer, always supporting the play, most times from behind...........Riquelme is more of a creative spark than Nakhid was.......

That's just how I saw it, some may beg to differ.....

[Filho]

Nakhid was more like a classic holding midfielder who supported the creative midfielder (Latas). Both are different types of midfield generals..dictating the tempo and rythm of the game in different ways. I would not class Nakhid as a defensive mid like Emerson, Cambiasso, Makalele or Motta. More of an Edmilson, or Xabi Alonso.

Latas in his prime is more comparable to Riquelme. Few defensive responsibilities, license to roam and the focal point of all attacks...this is not quite Ronaldinho's role (Latas performs more of a Ronaldinho-type role now). At Barca, the Riquelme role is most closely mirrored by Deco, while Xavi (and now Edmilson) perform the Nakhid role (for example). Ronaldinho is basically a withdrawn forward. The closest thing Brazil has to a traditional midfield general right now is Juninho Pernambucano (and he warms the bench). Brazil plays with two holding mids-Emerson and Ze Roberto (or Edmilson, Gilberto Silva, Renato), two withdrawn forwards-Kaka, Ronaldinho (or Robinho) and one 'true' forward - Ronaldo (or Adriano)

[jai john]

Nakhid was more like a classic holding midfielder who supported the creative midfielder (Latas). Both are different types of midfield generals..dictating the tempo and rythm of the game in different ways. I would not class Nakhid as a defensive mid like Emerson, Cambiasso, Makalele or Motta. More of an Edmilson, or Xabi Alonso.

Latas in his prime is more comparable to Riquelme. Few defensive responsibilities, license to roam and the focal point of all attacks...this is not quite Ronaldinho's role (Latas performs more of a Ronaldinho-type role now). At Barca, the Riquelme role is most closely mirrored by Deco, while Xavi (and now Edmilson) perform the Nakhid role (for example). Ronaldinho is basically a withdrawn forward. The closest thing Brazil has to a traditional midfield general right now is Juninho Pernambucano (and he warms the bench). Brazil plays with two holding mids-Emerson and Ze Roberto (or Edmilson, Gilberto Silva, Renato), two withdrawn forwards-Kaka, Ronaldinho (or Robinho) and one 'true' forward - Ronaldo (or Adriano)

In a recent interview Cambiasso described ' Roman ' as he prefers to be called as the player who controlls the rhythm of the game. he can change the pace whenever he wishes. this is what i guess you call the classic midfielder. He is also lethal at free kicks scoring direct from a corner this season and adding several penalties already this season. i remember ledley king saying ...people say he is slow but i couldn't get near him ...this from the man chosen as england's holding midfielder. It was always amazing to see how a player devoid of natural speed control a game, and yes Latapy was the same as a young player... not much speed yet able to dictate the pace of a game.
Dinho is more of a destroyer. his job is to destroy the opposition...there is none better at doing that. although effecteive his movements are jerky while roman is pure poetry in motion. no wonder he was voted most artistic player in spain last season. he is not a PR person and admitted that he was probably the last argentinian to get a shoe endorsemant deal playing with black sides to his boots for years. he prefers to say little but is a real team player. even though he did not excel at barca he was a crowd favourite. he was often applauded on the field for his incicive passing ability. When he was benched by van gal, who told him on arrival from Argentina...' You were not my choice ' the crowd would usually chant RI.... quel....me until he was put on. never seen that before !
The yellow submarines will try to keep him and might, but he is carrying an injured lower back ...a football killer. let see how he goes tomorrow against the second placed team valencia.

[capodetutticapi]

de game is being played on espn2 at 2:30 tuesday.look like villa goin home.

[trinidad badboy]

yupp. 

[kicker]

I wouldn't count dem chickens just yet....

all Villareal needs is a 1-0 victory, and they're playing at home....not too much of an uphill task if you ask me. I've seen Villareal completely dismantle teams (Barcelona for eg.) on their home pitch......

In Milan, based on the highlights (I didn't see the entire game), it seems like they (Villareal) could have come away with a point......

I think this game is wide wide open....we'll see.

[Disgruntled_Trini]

doubt it
we all know Inter capable of locking up shop and VIlla eh going nowhere

[Blue]

I wouldn't count dem chickens just yet....

all Villareal needs is a 1-0 victory, and they're playing at home....not too much of an uphill task if you ask me. I've seen Villareal completely dismantle teams (Barcelona for eg.) on their home pitch......

In Milan, based on the highlights (I didn't see the entire game), it seems like they (Villareal) could have come away with a point......

I think this game is wide wide open....we'll see.

Inter dominated first leg. They were spectacular for most of the second half, and really it could have been 4 or 5.

I reckon 2-2 tonight, Cambiasso and Martins to score for Inter

Forza Inter!

[kicker]

Villareal has taken the lead 1-0........

as it stands right now, both Milans are on their way out.....(Milan & Lyon are still deadlocked at one a piece)...

[lickslikefire]

let we go villareal......where jai john.....

[Blue]

Honestly, I feel sick 

Another f**kin useless season

[kicker]

Villareal & Milan are through..........

Inter and Lyon.......out

[jai john]

let we go villareal......where jai john.....

just relaxing 

[kicker]

just relaxing 

haha big up yuhself Jai.......your time to coast...