Quarter-finals

Not a bad draw after all

Arsenal-Liverpool: heard that there is a league game between those teams sandwiched between the CL games. Highly explosive situation here

MAnU-Roma: Another potential firework, after last year..Roma will come with the knife between the teeth.

Chelsea-Fenerbahce: The turks would produce a huge surprise if they won here, but maybe they can....

Barcelona-Schalke: On paper, Barca should be stronger, but they're so unpredictable that this matchup could go anywhere....

PRedictions?

arsenal - liverpool : two draws.. and they'll beat us in the epl game.. i expect them to advance, especially since gerrard wont be starting in the first leg.

manU - roma : well, another good match for manU .. they wont be as easy as Lyon, I expect a 1st leg draw.. and manU to win on the second leg... but i dont see another 7-1

Chelsea - fenerbachce: Fenerbahce to advance... i know it sounds funny.. but i believe they can do it.. turks are incredible when they play at home.. if then can pull off a draw in london, i think they'll knock chelsea out.

barca-Schakle : another surprise win for schalke i expect.. barca have been a total wreck in the league.. schalke CAN, i repeat they CAN beat them.... in both legs.

I really like your predictions, although I don't know if I'd go as far as predict a Chelsea loss. It would be fun to see both Fen and Schalke in the semis for sure

we'll see what happens... from now till the first leg, injuries can really tilt the predictions.

I don't really foresee any upsets personally.

the mighty alique has spoken..

care to wager on the results?

Arsenal-Liverpool:

Arsenal Home - 2 - 1 (win)

Arsenal Away - 0 -1 (win)

MAnU-Roma:

Mancs Home 2 - 0 (win)

Mancs Away - 0 - 2 (win)

Chelsea-Fenerbahce:

Chelsea Home - 3 - 0 (win)

Chelsea Away - 1 - 0 (loss)

Barcelona-Schalke:

Barcelona Home - 3 - 1 (win)

Barcelona Away - 1 - 0 (loss)

Arsenal-Liverpool:

Arsenal Home - 1-1 (draw)

Arsenal Away - 0-0 (draw)

MAnU-Roma:

Mancs Home 3-1 (win)

Mancs Away - 0-1 (loss)

Chelsea-Fenerbahce:

Chelsea Home - 2 - 0 (win)

Chelsea Away - 2 - 1 (loss)

Barcelona-Schalke:

Barcelona Home - 0 - 1 (loss)

Barcelona Away - 1 - 1 (draw)

Arsenal 1-0 1-1 on Livo
ManU 1-0 4-2 on Roma
Chelsea 1-1 2-1 On fenerbahce
Schalke 1-0 1-2 on Barca

So, i got the Man Utd result right...ALMOST the Arsenal one (should have been 2 - 1, grr) and predicted a Fenerbache win as well. I'm quite good at this aren't I?

then why arent u making some money for yourself....

new thread : Alique vs. The Bookies

keep us updated on your quest for a richer and better life.. through gambling

what is betting, technically... i mean, is it just simply gambling? like when you have a dice and you have 1/6 chances of getting the number right...

OR

its more complicated that than, i.e you know the players.. you know the club.. the team.. the way they play.. their opponents.. their strengths/weaknesses... and make your "bet" based on facts.

in that case.. isnt that similar to buying/selling stocks/shares?

or is it simply GAMBLING

Have you guys seen the lineup that SAF has put on the field today? Haven't seen the game, but with that B team winning, either Roma ain't worth shit or SAF is even more brilliant than people credit him for!

Anyway, next step is Barca!

a little of both...

roma are shit

and manu's B team is solid

next stop.... the finals for you guys

barca are a sorry excuse for a team

1-0 against schalke? pfff

Schalke are a decent side and more than capable of causing upsets.

we'll see if Don Alique's theory holds water :

IF barca beat manUtd

Well, if Pro Evo is anything to go by, my housemate was Man Utd and i was Barca and i beat him 4 - 0

LoL

which reminds me... pro evo sucks.. i cant believe how unstoppable they made Barca

not that im saying they're a weak team in reality...

but they took the whole henry-etoo-messi-ronaldinho combo to new unstopable levels.

i can barely beat them when im playing with pool..

makes me appreciate just how good rafa must be

They're not unstoppable. You've got to tighten the wings and play through the centre. There's certain teams which can rip Barca apart.

all i know is that pool sucks.. big time

but i cant bare chosing manU or chelsea ..

arsenal suck too.. for some reason.. they're not as good as theyre supposed to be

are you good at free kicks?

learn any new tricks in the game?

I know how to do tricks, but i don't often. Arsenal are decent, but again, sometimes their back line is shocking.

Problem with the pool is they have no pace. Personally, i've kind of worked out how each team plays, so i wait for my opponent to pick a side and then choose one to counter act their general style. Seems to work most of the time.

bastard.. you're one of the "good players"

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=656100

Adebayor: Babel Penalty Was Like PlayStation



Emmanuel
Adebayor has revealed his horror at the events that unfolded in
Arsenal’s dramatic Champions League defeat to Liverpool on Tuesday
night


The Togolese striker had just scored for Arsenal to level the scores at
2-2 on the night, 3-3 on aggregate, with only seven minutes remaining
at Anfield – in other words, The Gunners looked through.

But only a minute later, Liverpool winger Ryan Babel darted into the box,
tumbled under the pressure of Kolo Toure, and won a penalty. Steven
Gerrard duly dispatched it, and that was it. Babel scored himself
shortly after to rub salt into the wound, and it finished 4-2. Arsenal
were out, Liverpool were through to yet another semi-final with Chelsea.

And Adebayor insists he can scarcely believe what went on, insisting it was
as though he was watching someone playing a video game, and claims it
was a huge opportunity missed by Arsenal.

Like PlayStation

"That penalty for Liverpool, to be honest, for me it was like I was watching
a video or a game on a PlayStation," he says. "Why? Because I just
couldn't believe it."

"We were trying to do something, to equalise and it was not easy and then six minutes from the end of the game we did it, we came back to 2-2. As a player you think, 'We came back to 2-2, we had a good chance and we lost'. You must know what I mean. We were in the Champions League semi-final and you can imagine how excited we must have been.

“If I remember, [Fernando] Torres passed the ball to somebody – maybe [Dirk] Kuyt? – and when they passed the ball to Babel I was praying and watching. Then I saw the penalty had been given and I was like 'oooofff'."

"To be five minutes. Away. From a semi-final. We didn't take that chance and to be honest that is very difficult to accept. At 2-1 you can understand [if you lose] but when you get it back to 2-2 and you are going through and all you need is to hang on for six minutes – I think that is even more painful."

Divine Intervention

The 24-year-old was still putting the final touches on his goalscoring celebration when Babel won the penalty – that is, he was praying.

Adebayor is devoted to his religion. He prays before kick-off and he prays at half-time, in the hope that the Almighty may look favourably he and his
team.

It was not to be on Tuesday night, however – nor the week prior, when Aleksandr Hleb appeared to be fouled in the box, only to have his penalty claim waved away.

But Adebayor, who has scored 25 goals so far this season, is not bitter.

"He can't help me out every single time – maybe Babel prays as well," he said.

Trophyless Again

Now out of Europe, dismissed from both domestic cups and lagging behind
Manchester United and Chelsea in the Premier League race, Arsenal’s
defeat at Anfield could well have signalled the end of their trophy
hopes this season.

The Gunners looked in prime position to secure the Premiership going into February, sporting a six-point lead at one stage. But a series of disappointing results has derailed their campaign to bring the Premier League crown back to North London, and Adebayor has pointed the finger squarely at their failure to beat supposedly beatable teams such as Middlesbrough, Birmingham City and Wigan.

"You can feel that those are the games that, no matter what happens, you have to win," he says. "When you see Birmingham or Aston Villa you see the team and inside you think, 'We can win 1-0, minimum'. You know what I mean? We had the penalty against Birmingham [which allowed James McFadden to equalise in the last minute], then there was Wigan. But at the end of the day those are the most difficult games you can play in England.

"You play against Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United, it's a different game, they are all big stars and they want to play football. Playing against them, most of the time it is easier playing against Manchester than Wigan because [against United] everyone is in position; they know what to do when they get the ball. When I get the ball [against United] I have a chance to get one against one because they play attacking football as well.
You match up and you have a lot of chances to score. It can be 2-2, 4-2.

"When you play against Wigan or Everton, I'm sorry, I respect them a lot but the first thing is they work hard defensively and then offensively it
is like, 'We will see what we can do'. It is always complicated, it is
always difficult.

“These are the games that are going to be most difficult as a player. To be a champion, no matter what happens, you have to win against Middlesbrough and Wigan and Everton. They are the teams that you have to beat. It's no good if you beat Manchester, Liverpool, Chelsea if you've have lost against Middlesbrough and Villa.

“In our heads we think games like Wigan are going to be easy and when we
step on the pitch it is not as easy as we think. It means that in our
heads we are not ready."


Mike Maguire

"He can't help me out every single time – maybe Babel prays as well," he said.

I CANT STOP LAUGHING