2011/2012 UEFA Champions League

[Marcos]

Every chance Benfica can nick this now!

[Lineker]

I want Chelsea to go through and get tonked by Barca!

[Lineker]

Aaaaand Meireles wraps it up.

[Colossus]

Again, this Chelsea team does not impress me.

And if Nelson Oliveira had passed that ball in the final minutes, god damn it would have been sweet

[The Future]

APOEL scored twice in the Bernabeau, hope we see them back next year!

[GoN_]

Yeap, this Chelsea team is pretty bad. We did what we could, we could have conceded 3 or 4 in the second half, but we could have won in the end.

Well, rooting for Real to beat Barça in the final, tbh.

[DavidMarrio]

I want Madrid or Bayern to win because A)It'll be someone different and B) Its Chelsea, I don't want them to win it. I think Chelsea have some weaknesses that Barca will exploit over two legs but I still think it'll be close,

Di Matteo has done a good job since he's been in charge. Just wondering Stoker what your thoughts are on whether he should be named permanent manager or would you prefer someone else come in next season and if possible Di Matteo stays at the club in some capacity.

[stokeriño]

Di Matteo has done a good job since he's been in charge. Just wondering Stoker what your thoughts are on whether he should be named permanent manager or would you prefer someone else come in next season and if possible Di Matteo stays at the club in some capacity.

The difficulty with the situation is that I don't really know what I want. Short of the following highly improbable exchange taking place...

Roman: "Oh José, let's never fight again. I want you to come back and do whatever awesome things you'd like to do with as much as my money as you can fit in a wheelbarrow."

José: "You present me with an offer I simply cannot refuse. Show me the dotted line."

...I am unable to pinpoint any other managers who I feel confident about doing a good job were they to come here.

Di Matteo has been doing a good job, certainly. My only concerns so far based on the evidence I've seen is that he has a tendency to be a bit flakey in his approach to defending leads. Our current tendency, apparently, is to drop off and play like we've got our backs to the wall with 5 minutes to go even if there are actually 30+ minutes to go, which inevitably invites goals.

Other than that, I can only speculate as to whether RDM is capable of managing the overhaul required in the Chelsea squad. I have no idea if he is. I have no idea if anyone else is either. Such are the uncertain times we live in.

In terms of RDM staying on at the club in some capacity under some other manager, while I would naturally like him and plenty of other of lovely people to be packed into the CFC staff, I must acknowledge that he has his own managerial career to think of and I wouldn't expect him to stay in those circumstances. The same applies to Gianfranco Zola, who I think CFC have been trying to get back in some kind of coaching capacity for a while now.

[stokeriño]

Of course, we'll see if we still have anything left to play for after these upcoming fixtures:

Wigan at home - 7th April

Fulham away - 9th April (evening)

Spurs Neutral - 15th April (evening)

Barcelona at home - 18th April

Arsenal away - 21st April

Barcelona away - 24th April

Fucking ouch.

[MJB]

At least Wigan at home should be okay, possibly Fulham aswell

[stokeriño]

To be honest those are only in there to bridge the gap between now and the other four.

[Colly]

I'll be honest, I like the look of those fixtures. Our position, though deserved, has hinged on teams slipping up and with that many games coming up for Chelsea there's always a chance. Just need to not bottle it at Swansea tomorrow and really put the pressure on.

[Lineker]

Take it for what it's worth, but Michael Platini may abolish the Europa League and extend the Champions League, according to the German newspaper 'Bild'.

[Adam]

Take it for what it's worth, but Michael Platini may abolish the Europa League and extend the Champions League, according to the German newspaper 'Bild'.

Not a bad idea if you ask me. The Europa League is full of teams who don't really care and would prefer to be either in the Champion's League or not in Europe at all.

[Lineker]

Take it for what it's worth, but Michael Platini may abolish the Europa League and extend the Champions League, according to the German newspaper 'Bild'.

Not a bad idea if you ask me. The Europa League is full of teams who don't really care and would prefer to be either in the Champion's League or not in Europe at all.

No.

[stokeriño]

So we'd probably end up with two group stages again, or similar...and everyone saying "oh the first half of the CL is pointless, wake me up when it's March" (not that it isn't a bit like that already). And, presumably, MORE MATCHES IN THE CALENDAR FOR EVERYBODY!

Sounds like a purely financial move to kill off a lagging 'brand' and trying to extend the one that gets the big sponsorship money.

[DavidMarrio]

Instead of scrapping the Europa League and merging it with the Champions League....Make it back into the UEFA Cup. Straight knockout tournament like it used to be, those were the good days.

[stokeriño]

But...that won't make UEFA more money. :/

[IAceI]

Michael Cox wrote a good article that pretty much echo'd my feelings of this tournament, I'll post the link. Worth a read.

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/story/_/id/7777957/michael-cox-europa-league-deserves-more-respect

[GoN_]

Take it for what it's worth, but Michael Platini may abolish the Europa League and extend the Champions League, according to the German newspaper 'Bild'.

Not a bad idea if you ask me. The Europa League is full of teams who don't really care and would prefer to be either in the Champion's League or not in Europe at all.

Not all of the teams in the Europa League are English Teams...