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iron mike tryson
05-16-2006, 04:12 AM
Barcelona v Arsenal

Uefa Champions League final
Arsenal v Barcelona
Stade de France, Paris
Wednesday 17 May, 1945BST

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger could face a dilemma if central defender Philippe Senderos and stop-gap left-back Mathieu Flamini are declared fit.
Senderos (knee) and Flamini (hamstring) should be back from injury and will be challenging Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole for starting places.

Barcelona are giving forward Lionel Messi as much time as possible to recover from a thigh injury.

He has not played for two months because of the problem.



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BIG MATCH NOTES

Undefeated sides clash in Champions League final


When Arsenal and FC Barcelona meet in Saint-Dénis on Wednesday, two undefeated sides will contest the final of this season's Champions League.
The two teams have recorded eight victories and four draws each in their first 12 matches.
It is the third time since the competition began in 1992 that two teams have reached the final unbeaten.
This also occurred in 1992/93 and 93/94. In the former final, Olympique Marseille beat AC Milan by 1-0.
Milan made amends in style the next season by beating Barcelona 4-0.
Arsenal retain watertight defence in knockout phase


Arsenal have not conceded a Champions League goal since 27 September 2005.
The sequences of 10 consecutive clean sheets and 919 minutes without letting in a goal are both Champions League records.
Rijkaard can join exclusive club


Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard won the Champions League three times (1989, 1990 and 1995) as a player and hopes to join the short list of Champions Cup/Champions League winners as player and trainer.
Only four people have done this - Miguel Munoz, Giovanni Trapattoni, Johan Cruyff and Carlo Ancelotti.
Ancelotti was the last to accomplish the feat and he was one of the players who partnered Rijkaard as a player, winning the 1988/89 and 1989/90 Champions Cup trophies with AC Milan.
In the latter final, Rijkaard scored the only goal of the match as the 'rossoneri' overcame Benfica.
By 1995, Rijkaard had returned to the club where he started his professional career, Amsterdam-based side Ajax.
In the final against former employer AC Milan, he provided the assist for Patrick Kluivert's match winner.
Arsenal can complete a set of European silverware


If Arsenal beat Barcelona, they will add the missing piece in a set of European silverware.
In 1969/70, Arsenal's Fairs Cup win gave the Londoners their first European honours.
In 1993/94, the Gunners added the Cup Winners' Cup to their trophy cabinet.
Only four clubs, including Arsenal's opponents Barcelona, have won all three European competitions at least once.
Barca have won the Champions Cup/Champions League once, the Cup Winners' Cup four times and the Fairs Cup/Uefa Cup three times.
The other teams that have completed the set are Ajax, Bayern Munich and Juventus and therefore Arsenal can become the first English club to accomplish the feat.
Neither finalists have fond memories of shoot-outs deciding finals in European competition


In the 1979/80 Cup Winners' Cup final, Arsenal were denied by another Spanish side - Valencia - in a penalty shoot-out.
After 120 minutes of football, the match was scoreless. Valencia's Mario Kempes and Arsenal's Liam Brady both missed the opening spot-kicks.
The following nine were converted before Graham Rix saw his attempt parried by Valencia goalkeeper-turned-hero, Carlos Pereira.
Barcelona were involved in the most embarrassing penalty shoot-out, from the point of view of the takers at least, in the 1985/86 Champions Cup final.
Barca custodian Urruti saved the first two attempts by Steaua Bucharest, but surrendered two goals after that.
All four Barcelona penalties were saved by Steaua goalie Helmuth Ducadam, who became a European legend overnight.
In the final of the 1999/2000 Uefa Cup, Arsenal's shootout woes made Galatasaray the first ever Turkish winners of European silverware.
Gala goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel saw Arsenal's Davor Suker and Patrick Vieira both hit the woodwork, as his team mates made no mistake from the spot.


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Definitions of terms used:-

Champions League (CL) - only group phase matches and beyond of this competition which began in 1992/1993.
Champions Cup/Champions League - all matches played since it began in 1955/1956 including qualification matches.
European matches - all matches played in the major European tournaments (Fairs Cup, Uefa Cup, Cup Winners' Cup, Champions Cup, Champions League).
Uefa Super Cups, Intertoto Cups and the old Intercontinental Cup competition are excluded.

Head-to-Head

FC Barcelona and Arsenal have met each other twice in Europe. In the 1999/2000 Champions League first round group phase, these sides drew 1-1 at the Camp Nou, but the Spaniards won 2-4 in London.
Arsenal players Thierry Henry, Fredrik Ljungberg and Dennis Bergkamp were involved in both encounters. Barcelona's Gabri made one substitute appearance, whilst Xavi and Carles Puyol were on the bench for both legs.
Barcelona have played 51 European matches against clubs from England and have won 24, drawn 14 and lost 13. The Spaniards have outscored the English clubs by 101-63.
Barca have been eliminated from European competition by English clubs on six occasions. They have eliminated English clubs from the knock-out stages 12 times.
The Catalan-based club have met English opposition in three European finals. After winning the Fairs Cup in 1958 and 1960 by defeating London XI and Birmingham City respectively, the Catalans lost the final of the 1991 Cup Winners' Cup against Manchester United (2-1).
Arsenal have played 20 European matches against clubs from Spain and have won seven, drawn five and lost eight.
Arsenal have been eliminated from European competition by Spanish clubs on three occasions, including the lost Cup Winners' Cup finals to Valencia (1980) and Real Zaragoza (1995).
Arsenal have knocked out three Spanish clubs from European competition, including Real Madrid in this season's Champions League second round.

European history

The best result by Barcelona in the Champions League is finishing runners-up to AC Milan in 1993/94.
In 1992, Barcelona won the Champions Cup. They have also amassed four Cup Winners' Cups, three Uefa Cups and two European Super Cups.
This is Barca's 10th season in the Champions League.
Arsenal's best result in the Champions League is reaching the final of this year's competition.
The Londoners are making their eighth appearance in the CL main competition.
Arsenal's European trophies are the 1969/1970 Fairs Cup and the 1993/94 Cup Winners' Cup.

Current European form

Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 12 Champions League matches. Their last loss was the 4-2 defeat at Chelsea last season.
Barcelona's club record unbeaten run in the Champions League stands at 16 and was set between May 2002 and April 2003.
Barcelona have kept a clean sheet in their last four CL matches, thereby equalling the club record for most successive clean sheets in the Champions League which was set between February and March 2003.
Together with Arsenal, Barcelona are the only unbeaten team in this season's Champions League.
Arsenal's undefeated run in the Champions League is now 13 matches, which is a club record in the competition. The club record in European competition stands at 16 and was set between September 1993 and April 1995.
This Champions League season, the Gunners have so far won eight matches and drawn four, outscoring their opponents by 14-2.
The only players that have scored against Arsenal this CL season are Nelson Ferreira (FC Thun) and Markus Rosenberg (Ajax).
Arsenal have kept a clean sheet in each of their last 10 CL matches. The previous CL record was held by AC Milan, who kept seven clean sheets in the 2004/05 season.
The 10 consecutive clean sheets also mark an all-time record in all European competitions. The previous record of nine was set by Ajax in the late 1980s.
The 919 minutes without conceding a goal is also a Champions League record, clearly ahead of Ajax's run of 658 minutes without conceding a goal, set in 1996.

Player and disciplinary info

Rafael Marquez, Carles Puyol and Mark van Bommel (Barcelona) will be suspended if they receive a yellow card.
Arsenal's Kolo Habib Toure and Matthieu Flamini will be suspended if they receive a yellow card.
Xavi is the most experienced Barcelona player with 57 CL appearances.
The other players in the Barcelona squad with at least 50 Champions League matches are Carles Puyol (56) and Deco (52).
Ronaldinho and Deco are the most prolific goalscorers in Barcelona's squad with 11 career goals in the Champions League. Samuel Eto'o is on 10 goals.
Ronaldinho (seven) and Samuel Eto'o (five) are Barcelona's top scorers this Champions League season.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst is the only Barcelona player to have played in every Champions League match this season.
Van Bronckhorst was signed from Arsenal in 2003. He played 11 Champions League matches for the Gunners.
Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has been in goal for seven of the 10 clean sheet matches and also kept a clean sheet in his last match before this season's run - the 1-0 win against Bayern Munich.
In total, Lehmann has kept goal for Arsenal for 745 minutes without conceding a goal. This is a CL record previously held by Edwin van der Sar, who in the 1995/96 season did not concede a goal for 658 minutes while playing for Ajax.
The last player to score against Lehmann was Hasan Salihamidzic in the 65th minute of Bayern's 3-1 victory against Arsenal in last season's Champions League.
Thierry Henry is Arsenal's most experienced player and top scorer in this competition with 78 matches and 41 goals. His 69 matches for Arsenal in the competition are the most by an Arsenal player.
Henry has scored 49 goals in all European competitions and can become the seventh player to net 50 times if he scores against Barcelona.
Fredrik Ljungberg has made more appearances in the Champions League than any other Swede (59).
Kolo Toure (Ivory Coast, 36) and Lauren (Cameroon, 53) are also the CL record appearance makers for their countries.
Cesc Fabregas is the only Arsenal player to have appeared in every Champions League match this season.
Henry clinched his fourth English top scorer title this season by netting 27 goals in the Premiership.

Other miscellaneous facts

FC Barcelona have already clinched the Spanish league title.
Arsenal ensured themselves of Champions League qualification by finishing fourth in the Premiership.
http://www.terreinknecht.nl/images/thierry_henry.jpg http://i.eurosport.com/2006/01/15/241896-963895-458-238.jpg

velik_m
05-16-2006, 08:03 AM
my two favourite teams!

after much though i decided i'm going to root for Arsenal, because they haven't won it yet. And Bergkamp is probably retiring and Henry is my favourite non-dutch player.

But i won't be depresed if Barca wins. :P

iron mike tryson
05-16-2006, 08:24 AM
Hope we see some magical play can`t wait.
I`m rooting for Arsenal(because they are English).
Barca probably win though?

TDMVPDPOY
05-16-2006, 10:34 AM
i want barca to win by a beating. 3-0

themvp
05-16-2006, 01:54 PM
I guarantee you that we will see great match. I am rooting for Barca, but I wont be sorry if Arsenal wins.

polandprzem
05-17-2006, 11:58 AM
IT should be one of the best final games in history.

To me Arsenal is prepared better from the tactic point of view, they are constant and have the best defense. But that agains the Ronaldinio the ofensive genius. It will be fun to watch.
I like Londons chance better and I want them to win. Just do it.

Manu'sMagicalLeftHand
05-17-2006, 12:08 PM
Too much previous talk about Henry and Ronaldinho, about how both teams play good attacking football; I feel both teams will take a conservative approach to the game.

This kind of games are usually decided by a fantastic moment of individual inspiration, or by an horrible defensive mistake.

I hope Barça wins, but this Arsenal team has understood that to be sucessful in European competition, you need to defend well.

I forsee:
0-0, 5-4 Arsenal on penalties

terzappi
05-17-2006, 12:18 PM
ONly Milan

DisgruntledLionFan#54,927
05-17-2006, 02:14 PM
Referee made a mistake. He should have let the goal stand and not given the red card to the keeper...

HD dropout is killing me...

SLOVENIAN 8
05-17-2006, 02:29 PM
Right now Arsenal lead 1-0 , with 1 player less on the game. Arsenal goalkeper got red card and they play with one player less and lead.

GO ARSENAL!!! :smokin

SLOVENIAN 8
05-17-2006, 03:22 PM
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/105740/ronaldinho10/

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/87520/ronaldinho_movie/

SLOVENIAN 8
05-17-2006, 03:30 PM
In 81 minute is 2-1 for Brcelona

polandprzem
05-17-2006, 03:44 PM
Referee made a mistake. He should have let the goal stand and not given the red card to the keeper...

HD dropout is killing me...

Even if he let the goal stand he must to pull the red card.

Dammit :pctoss I hate Barcelona and now they are winning the most important trophy in the world :cuss

Fuckin Lehman screw it

Manu'sMagicalLeftHand
05-17-2006, 03:44 PM
Barça champions!

velik_m
05-17-2006, 03:48 PM
Arsenal loses :(

Barca wins! :)

interesting game, though not to my taste...

velik_m
05-17-2006, 03:49 PM
Even if he let the goal stand he must to pull the red card.

Fuckin Lehman screw it

Yes, the german screw it (lets hope this is a bad day for germans ;)), the ref helped Arsenal

polandprzem
05-17-2006, 03:52 PM
Yes, the german screw it (lets hope this is a bad day for germans ;)), the ref helped Arsenal

Yeah it would be better if bad days come in 3 weeks or so :) ;)

iron mike tryson
05-17-2006, 04:26 PM
Norwegian ref not big enough for the occasion.11 against 10 now we will never know?

alamo50
05-17-2006, 04:44 PM
Sad birthday for Tony watching his friend Henry getting defeated.
On top of that one of the best strikers of the 90's didn't get a chance to play in his very final match before retirement: Dennis Bergkamp (I know all Argentinians in here know him well, LOL).

But for Barça it was great for the dutch coach Rijkaard and his dutch assistant Ten Cate (who will coach AJAX Amsterdam next year).
Rijkaard now joins a select group of people who have won the Euro Cup 1 both as a player and a coach. The other dutch guy to do it was Johan Cruijff, also being a coach for Barça.

Barça the best soccer team in the world.

Manu'sMagicalLeftHand
05-17-2006, 06:20 PM
Sad birthday for Tony watching his friend Henry getting defeated.
On top of that one of the best strikers of the 90's didn't get a chance to play in his very final match before retirement: Dennis Bergkamp (I know all Argentinians in here know him well, LOL).

But for Barça it was great for the dutch coach Rijkaard and his dutch assistant Ten Cate (who will coach AJAX Amsterdam next year).
Rijkaard now joins a select group of people who have won the Euro Cup 1 both as a player and a coach. The other dutch guy to do it was Johan Cruijff, also being a coach for Barça.

Barça the best soccer team in the world.

The match was commentated for Latin America by Mario Kempes, I wonder if you've heard of him... :spin

alamo50
05-19-2006, 06:07 PM
Offcourse!

makedamnsure
05-19-2006, 11:17 PM
That was a performance to be proud of. Playing with 10 men for 70 minutes against Barcelona? I am damn proud of my London boys

themvp
05-20-2006, 05:14 AM
That was a performance to be proud of. Playing with 10 men for 70 minutes against Barcelona? I am damn proud of my London boys


It was a pity, because otherwise we could watch more interesting match with Lehman and 11 men.

Duncan21
05-20-2006, 07:11 AM
the referee was crap, but im happy. i won 150 euro on barca winning in 90 mins.

themvp
05-20-2006, 01:03 PM
the referee was crap, but im happy. i won 150 euro on barca winning in 90 mins.


Yes, referee knew himselg he was a crap.


Good for you.

Texas_Ranger
05-20-2006, 02:51 PM
the referee was crap, but im happy. i won 150 euro on barca winning in 90 mins.



Refs sucked :madrun

MaNuMaNiAc
05-21-2006, 12:00 AM
Refs sucked :madrun
please! Barça won a fair match, they were the better team

velik_m
05-21-2006, 03:37 AM
please! Barça won a fair match, they were the better team

sure, but refs still sucked.

makedamnsure
05-24-2006, 11:45 PM
please! Barça won a fair match, they were the better team

Didn't mean to bring this back but you can't seriously tell yourself that Barca were the better team. Arsenal played about as great as you can against the best offense in the world with only 10 men and held that lead as much as they could.

Barca's two goals in 4 minutes reminded me of the lucky ass Mancs in 1999 who got those 2 injury time goals.

Barca didn't score till between the 70th and 80th minute didn't they?? Lehmann got sent off in the 20th minute. almost an hour in between it all.

velik_m
05-25-2006, 04:35 AM
Didn't mean to bring this back but you can't seriously tell yourself that Barca were the better team. Arsenal played about as great as you can against the best offense in the world with only 10 men and held that lead as much as they could.

Barca's two goals in 4 minutes reminded me of the lucky ass Mancs in 1999 who got those 2 injury time goals.

Barca didn't score till between the 70th and 80th minute didn't they?? Lehmann got sent off in the 20th minute. almost an hour in between it all.

Arsenal have nobody but themselfs to blame (or more to the point: nobody but Lehmann). Barca won fair and square, it's not their fault Lehmann fauled their attacker and got send off, and there was nothing lucky about their goals.

TDMVPDPOY
05-25-2006, 08:39 AM
Arsenal have nobody but themselfs to blame (or more to the point: nobody but Lehmann). Barca won fair and square, it's not their fault Lehmann fauled their attacker and got send off, and there was nothing lucky about their goals.

BARCA wanted the goal instead of the red foul. but the refs decided to send the man anyway.

barca won fair n square.