Yeah but without KdB the match would have petered out maybe 3-0 to City.
Hopefully he can stay fit for next season as he takes City to a different level.
Well Vinny's leaving on a high to become player-manager at Anderlecht. A real class act.
I'm sure he'll make a brilliant manager. I don't think anyone would be surprised to see him back at City one day
Great players and captains don't always make great managers, but I do suspect Vinny will be. I had hoped he would stay within the city group and be prepared for management from within. But I think he wants to prove himself and develop his own managerial identity, before his triumphant homecoming a few years down the line.
I'm surprised they never sold him to New York City FC for £300 million
I’m in the doghouse tonight ....went to the F.A. Trophy final as a “guest” of Leyton orient.Little j is a fan. However I couldn’t help myself and supported the team from the north west that won! AFC Fylde.
I was there too, Dad was an O's fan..was there in his memory. On the way home I realised I've done 4 stadiums and 5 comps tis year. Wembley (spurs, prem, carabao, CL), NWHL (spurs, Prem) Stamford bridge (spurs, carabao) Brisbane road (the Os, National League)
Don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but by way of a PSA it looks like both this week's UEFA and CL finals will be streamed live on BT Sports YouTube channel (link).
Well ..bugger all of that ..the big news for me today is that Ashley has reportedly agreed to ( finally ) sell the club to the cousin of Sheikh Mansour ( Man City )for £ 350m
There have been so many false dawns that I really don't know if I should believe this ..but if its true ..Let the good times roll!😁
I'm still reeling from watching the Utd Legends game vs Bayern Munich (who were very good sports to do it!). Heartbreaking to be reminded how good the Utd team was back then compared to the utter sh*te they have now. Jaap Stam would be better on his own than Smalling and Jones together 🙂 A point which Ole made quite clearly and might wish he hadn't...
Plus - Beckam wtf?!! That lad could still play on the right wing for Utd; he's probably fitter than half the current first team! And those pinpoint cross-field passes were as good as anything I've seen in the prem this year
Is the game on Saturday available free to view anywhere or is it BT Sport subscribers only?
Pete - you can get it live on the bt sport you tube channel. Virgin customers can also get it. Same with Europa League final tonight.
What channel for Virgin customers? Never knew that!
Virgin media customers can also tune into Channel 100 (HD) or Channel 532 (4K UHD) to watch the match for free.
(from the radio times - applies to both the diddy final tonight and the real thing on Saturday!)
A European final between two massive clubs in front of a half empty stadium in the arse end of nowhere
Well done UEFA
*slow handclap*
To be honest, the game deserves a half empty ground. That was hard-watching wasn't it !
I concurred weeksy and wandered off to do a bit of fettling......cue 5 goals!
It got better. Well, for Chelsea anyway
No final of any competition should ever be allowed in a ground with an athletics track around it.
Yeah the location , number of fans, track, etc all really didn't help things at all.
I'm sure it was a great night for the players and fans, but it could and should have been so much more.
Rob Green went full John Terry
Great result for Chelsea. Shame the Europa league final was held in Asia but it's all about the money.
Apparently the Chelsea fans were chanting "F%ck you UEFA, Is this what you want?".
Onto this weekend and I hear that the Spanish police are worried about Sp*rs fans smuggling flares into the ground.
Cos that's what they were wearing the last time they were in a European final...
Should be a belter of a game tomorrow. Two teams who play great attacking football. Its going to be tight, I reckon. I doubt it'll be a scoreline like Chelski Arsenal the other night.
With regards to the other night, one of the commentators who worked on it said this morning that it was the weirdest match he's ever been too because it was a European final that had the atmosphere of a pre-season friendly.
Well done UEFA
While I expect the reason EUFA held it there was more to do with back handers than fairness, I do think that all countries who are eligible to compete in the tournament should also be eligible to hold the final. It can't be just be a stitch up for western europe to always hold the finals and treat everyone else like second class citizens.
And onto other news, with the proposed takeover of Newcastle, there is becoming a lot of competition in the market for players who won't insist on champions league football , but who are good enough to get you there. Some clubs could be slipping down the table after failing to realise history is constantly being written and past glories don't give them a right to current and future glories. ManU and the gunners need to get their acts together, and realise they are in a fight to stay where they are, and not just assume they are in a fight for the top 4.
Couldn’t agree more. I was only saying the other day how we’re the new Arsenal. Aiming for fourth-will-do but falling short. If Wolves, Leicester and Everton carry on improving we’re far more likely to be scrapping with them than City, Liverpool and Spurs
Anyway ... tonight? Any predictions? We’re in Mallorca and heading out to watch it hopefully in a bar 50/50 full of scousers and Spurs fans.
If the form of the bonkers CL games so far continues then someone to be 3 up by half time, before a mental comeback in the second half. A final score of 5-4 with the keeper coming up to head in the winner in the 97th minute!
Don’t ask me who’ll win it though. Could go either way. It’s certainly not going to be dull
I think Liverpool will be favourites to win in most peoples minds, iirc Liverpool have won both the premiership meet ups this season (the last one needing a bit of luck), but I think spurs are good enough to get one over on Liverpool once in three games, so maybe this is their turn.
I wouldn't put money on it though, just hope its a good game 3-4 to either team will do.
Edit: can't do it.
Nervous.
Watching it at home with junior J and his mate.
May be tears before bedtime.i think the long break plays into spurs hands tbh.
But I’m pessimistic about everything.
Not sure if this has been posted, but there's a free stream on YouTube
Wow..... not the start I expected.
That was as much a penalty as ours was against PSG. You’ll take ‘em every time
No VAR tonight?
That was a terrible penalty to be given, but consistent with quite a few I have seen given in European competitions this year.
Boring...
Until the streaker ran across yay!
The penalty was given after a VAR review. His arm was up, moved towards the ball and impeded it's progress across the box - definite penalty by the current rules.
Liverpool are playing very direct!
His arm was already up pointing, Mane kicked the ball into his arm IMO, knowing how the rules are currently being interpreted. It shouldn't be a penalty, but it looks like the refs have been told that any contact with the arm is a pen this year in Europe.
Is it me or is the Youtube feed awful - stuttery and blocky?
Have installed the BT App and am casting from that - that's better.
Yeah, I have struggled to get a decent feed, but it seems to have settled down now.
Not a great first half, quite a disappointment after the excitement of the semi's.
...and watching the half time replays, I am swinging more to that being a good penalty decision.
I have sympathy, as he wasn't particularly 'widening his body' by holding his arms out, he was actually gesturing for someone to cover inside him - but as soon as you hold your arms out for any reason you invite being penalised for ball to hand.
Interestingly (ok for retired referee rules geeks) the laws actually changed today - but this game's played under existing laws - but it'll still be a matter of interpretation.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48382254
The law remains that deliberate handball is an offence. But accidental handball will also be a free-kick if...
- the ball goes into the goal off an attacker
- a player gets the ball using his arm or hand and then scores, or creates a goalscoring opportunity
- a player's hand or arm has made their body "unnaturally bigger"
- the player's arm or hand is above their shoulder (unless the player has controlled the ball onto his own arm or hand)
But a handball will not be a free-kick if...
-
the ball is knocked on to a hand by the player in question or a nearby player
-
the arm or hand is close to their body and "has not made their body unnaturally bigger"
-
if a player is falling and the ball touches their hand or arm when it is between their body and the ground to support the body - but not extended to make the body bigger
But I'm reading that as it would not have been given next year, because it went onto his (raised / unnaturally positioned) arm from his chest, not directly.
Cheers Crispin - that’s better!
Is it me or is the Youtube feed awful – stuttery and blocky?
Apparently they were filming in 30fps and streaming in 25fps. Noobs!
Pretty poor game 78 minutes into it.
Have to feel sorry for Moura not starting after that semi final hat trick
Moura missed a decent chance at 1-0 though.
Van Dijk has been immense, as usual.
That was an awful match. Not exactly an advert for the English game.
The heat, the tension due to what’s at stake and three weeks without a game contributed to the standard I think.
