They'll be sacrificing sheep in the streets of Karagandy tonight - Champions League 2013/14

That Welbeck miss was horrible to watch, you just knew he was gonna fluff it. Enjoying this - Bayern haven't been good enough yet to really dent Utd's optimism and Old Trafford is getting lairy, but what with Fellaini losing the ball every five minutes and Jones skittering about as if the pitch were an ice rink, there's a wonderful sense of impending disaster about this whole thing.

Comfortable and mostly unthreatening. They should be creating more with such possession.

not watching bayern but that is what guardiola teams do in later stage away games in the champions league, with the exception of the 2-2 vs arsenal in 2010, they mostly just circulate possession endlessly as a defensive stratagem and then try for a late goal once the opposition are shot

barca atleti not that high in quality, one messi pass to iniesta aside, pinto is a disgrace as usual and piqué and costa have both left with injuries, bartra looks fast and quickwitted but diego ribas for atleti is so different to costa that their entire game has had to change

Just got home. Have I missed anything of note?

Not much. Welbeck missed a doozy, but otherwise kinda boring. There's a result here for Utd if they can keep their discipline at the back.

What a header

Moyes in

LIQUID FOOTBALL

Charlton scored against Leeds at *exactly* the same moment as that went in :D

amazing goal by diego

pinto shit but even so

If Carl doesn't cash his bet out this second he's a fool.

aw what a shame for the bairns

Pick that out, Carl

that schweinsteiger goal !

Great technique keeping that down

so satisfyingly roofed

it feels like all bayern players around the box got a touch of the ball in the 5s preceding the goal

cesc off alexis on neymar goes left, much prefer this formation

He'll be off for that

Or not, what do I know

chickenshit refereeing at its best

That Iniesta pass! Fucking hell.

yeah

neymar twice the player on the left

Wau @ that Diego goal.

rooney dived

looked a reasonable yellow to me but i only saw it once, more outraged at Valencia staying on

Utd did really well tonight, I confess I did not see that coming

better than i expected, wdn't go as far as "really well"

Your accountant will be shifting nervously in his seat

laid it off on Arsenal to win the Prem

atletico madrid are so difficult to play against when they are shelling like that

messi had a couple of excellent throughballs and a good fk but he wasn't as good as he needs to be for barcelona to win really difficult games

tata probably should have gone with three forwards to begin with, or played alexis from the start because neymar off the right is the worst sort of compromise

lol "Transmission"

Barca-Atleti part 4 was a lot better than the 3 previous versions this season. Pleasantly surprised. Messi seems more like a #10 lately than a false 9.

Banned for the next two transfer windows. I'm sure they'll get out of it

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned the Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF) and Spanish club FC Barcelona for breaches relating to the international transfer and registration of players under the age of 18.

The sanctions follow investigations initially conducted by FIFA Transfer Matching System GmbH (FIFA TMS) over the course of last year and subsequently by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee as part of disciplinary proceedings. The RFEF and FC Barcelona were found to have violated several provisions concerning the international transfer and first registration of non-Spanish minors with the club, as well as other relevant regulations with regard to the registration and participation of certain players in national competitions. The investigations concerned several minor players who were registered and participated in competitions with the club over various periods between 2009 and 2013.

With regard to the case in question, FC Barcelona has been found to be in breach of art. 19 of the Regulations in the case of ten minor players and to have committed several other concurrent infringements in the context of other players, including under Annexe 2 of the Regulations.

The Disciplinary Committee regarded the infringements as serious and decided to sanction the club with a transfer ban at both national and international level for two complete and consecutive transfer periods, together with a fine of CHF 450,000. Additionally, the club was granted a period of 90 days in which to regularise the situation of all minor players concerned.

What happens if Ter-Stegen has already agreed to go there? Pinto for a full season!

Halilovic too, maybe?

really happy we can have a few more stress free summers. fuck barca.

can they still get free transfers? can they sell players?

One summer.
But really who would they possibly want from the current arsenal squad?

At least they've got an excuse not to buy a CB now.

well you wouldnt think they wanted hleb and song but they just really like buying from us

United were well organised but essentially dogshit, they played like a Champo team in the FA Cup, park the bus and hope to get something from a setpiece, which of course they did. Fellaini and Carrick gave the ball away so often, it's only because they were playing eight people behind the ball most of the time that Bayern started shooting from range and wasting chances.

and it was our best performance of the season!

seriously though, Fellaini has GOT to go. Can't tackle, can't pass, just ambles about like he hasn't got a care in the world (Bayern's goal was almost entirely his fault). He's not even good in the air and he does absolutely fuck all at corners. Sadly, I think it would take a new manager coming in to get rid of him (like Rodgers did with Carroll)

Moyes can make all the excuses he wants about the squad but he had his chance to get a midfielder and he bought that

There was one episode in the first half where he emerged at pace from your own box, diagonally, and pursued the ball, touching it every couple of seconds, for sixty yards in a straight line until it went out of play near the halfway line. It was magnificent.

Fellaini was very prominently poor last night I thought.

There was one episode in the first half where he emerged at pace from your own box, diagonally, and pursued the ball, touching it every couple of seconds, for sixty yards in a straight line until it went out of play near the halfway line. It was magnificent.

I think I know which moment you mean, haha it looked like how I used to play Kick Off on the Amiga unable to stop myself from running in a straight line in case I lost the ball.

Was laughing so hard at that incident, think he was trying to beat Kroos or someone, but he didn't really have a plan for getting past him other than just running dead straight on a random bearing. The only successful passes he made all evening were short backwards ones iirc.

Squawka Football ‏@Squawka 19h
Marouane Fellaini key stats: Won 1 of his 7 headed duels, completed 75% of his passes & failed to win a tackle.

Quite clearly remember the one he won cause the home fans cheered ironically.