CL ~ MAY 27 ~ Messi will burn Cristiano Ronaldo, reckons Xav
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Barcelona vs Manchester United UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL 2009
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Channel 23: - 2:45am "Live" - (Thur Morning)THE MAIN EVENT : Ronaldo v Messi - who will be the undisputed champion?
Tale of the tape: Who is the best player in the world?
Cristiano Ronaldo versus Lionel Messi in the Champions League Final on May 27. Two football gladiators doing battle in Rome. What a truly mouth-watering prospect.
So let's reignite a classic pub/water cooler/playground debate. Who is the best player in the world?
Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo and Barcelona's Messi are the two obvious candidates, although their performances in the semi-finals varied considerably.The Manchester United player was scintillating against Arsenal on Tuesday night, scoring two goals including a 41-yard screamer.
But Messi was quiet against Chelsea, although it was the Argentina player's ball that set up Indreas Iniesta's goal and kept Barcelona in the competition.
Both players have been accused of hiding in the matches that really matter, so Sportsmail decided to investigate. -
manutd has the defensive capabilities collectively to stop messi but that can hardly be said of ronaldo.But both of them just need one moment of genius to win the game for their teams.
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GO ronaldo!
i just don't support team that use hands to play the game!
ronaldo go go go!!
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Last year not Ronaldo vs Messi liao meh.
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it's puyol against bbt, tevez, rooney
it's vidic against eto'o, messi, henry
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Ronaldo VS Messi
Messi sure win coz Ronaldo a Diver ma
Then Messi use Maradona Style -
Originally posted by Bus&Soccer l0v3r (VO3x 1):
Ronaldo VS Messi
Messi sure win coz Ronaldo a Diver ma
Then Messi use Maradona StyleU mean Messi will use The Hand of God to win?
That's hand-ball all over again by Barca.
LOL
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Originally posted by youyayu:
GO ronaldo!
i just don't support team that use hands to play the game!
ronaldo go go go!!
Yes yes, I wanted to support Barca to win Chelsea at the semi too... but after watching them cheat their way to the final, I dont support them anymore!Ronaldo pls show Messi who is king and why you won the Balon D'or.
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The pound for pound footballer of the year 2009 goes to........?
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Originally posted by jgho83:
U mean Messi will use The Hand of God to win?
That's hand-ball all over again by Barca.
LOL
Well, he's done it once. not surprised if he does it again.
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Now that u mentioned it... diving by ronaldo to earn freekicks or penalty is not as bad as Messi using hand to score (and can even pretend he truly scored a legitimate goal) or using their hands to block the ball when they are not goalkeepers.
On the night against Chelsea, Barca had 4 goalkeepers on the pitch.
And the referee's whistle spoiled.
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Apparently manchester united fans can count on scholes to do a hand of god too... He's done it twice... against zenit and fulham but ...
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Originally posted by Trump_Card:
Apparently manchester united fans can count on scholes to do a hand of god too... He's done it twice... against zenit and fulham but ...
No way, Scholes cannot. He's not from a certain South American country. -
Ronaldo. No doubt.
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man utd fans beware
is in town -
And also watch out for the Paul Scholes "Hand of God" too
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Heh, the entire Barca first choice defence is out for this match.......
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No lah... 3 out of 4 only... But they have able replacements lah...
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Originally posted by zocoss:
No lah... 3 out of 4 only... But they have able replacements lah...
Not as able as Abidal and Alves for sure. And no one can replace Puyol. Hehe
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-.- why always labelled ronaldo v messi -.-
henry, marquez, abidal, alves, brown, scholes are out.
man utd fan here btw
i go for messi best player this year actually. and im a ronaldo fan =( sad for me haha. but messi definitely played better so far.
for the chelsea fans still complaining: out is out lah, stop spamming the entire internet full of your complaints. f**king irritating everything i see on champions league/chelsea/barca all full of the chelsea fans spamming "NOT FAIR" and wtf else. just f**king face the fact that you guys didn't win the tie (despite the ref being obviously rather stupid)
yes, you DO get stupid refs. @ that match, 2 penalties deserved, i agree. and abidal shldn't have been sent off. and @ manutd v arsenal we had fletcher sent off for nthn. i can tell you now that if we lose CL final cos fletcher isnt there and as a result xavi, toure, iniesta end up owning the shit out of scholes/carrick/park or whoever plays in there, i won't mention the ref sending off fletcher as the cause.
and in the first place, several more cards were deserved to go to chelsea players in the first leg @ camp nou. they didn't win the fouls then, you don't win the fouls now.
back to topic: man utd to win, but messi to outplay ronaldo(like the rest of the season, unfortunately). that's my choice at least.
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No la actually they must beware of Scholes
got one time the Iceland Striker from Barcelona (His name dun know how to spell) say Beware of Scholes then Scholes scored the onli goal so must beware of him too -
It will be all white on the night for United as champions prepare to battle Barcelona in third strip
The white stuff: Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo will take on Barcelona in their third strip next week
Manchester United turned the tables on Barcelona before the Champions League final by electing to wear a Real Madrid-style all-white kit after their opponents were awarded home-team status.
The red of United's home strip and the blue of the away kit both clash with Barca's famous shirts. As well as wearing the same kit as Barcelona's big rivals, white was the colour United wore when they beat the Catalans 2-1 in the 1991 Cup Winners Cup final in Rotterdam.
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Ferguson hails world's best duo
Sir Alex Ferguson has hailed Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the world's most gifted players ahead of the Champions League final.
The Manchester United manager believes the two stars' work ethic allied to their natural ability sets them apart from anyone else in world football.
Ferguson, who rates the quality in the Champions League as even higher than in the World Cup, also rates AC Milan's Kaka to an extent "although he has never really taken my breath away".
He told the latest issue of UEFA publication The Technician: "There are some players, such as Kaka, Messi and Ronaldo who are innately gifted.
"But this is not enough, and there is a practice element which becomes very important.
"If you watch Cristiano Ronaldo, he practises after every squad training session, and quite a few others do the same.
"As a coach, we dedicate parts of the training to improving touch, movement, passing and speed of play, but the special quality, the detail, depends on the player being willing to sacrifice himself after training - this is a hallmark of the great players.
"If the big talents only rely on their natural ability, they won't have that extra edge. They must do something extra on their own."
Asked which opposition players he rated highest, Ferguson replied: "When I think of the current generation, Lionel Messi is top level and, although he has never really taken my breath away, Kaka has impressed."
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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
Barca deserve to win in Rome, claims Messi
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi believes the ''mental strength'' his team showed to get past Chelsea shows they deserve to win the Champions League
Andres Iniesta's stoppage-time equaliser at Stamford Bridge earlier this month saw Pep Guardiola's side eliminate the Blues on away goals in the semi-finals to earn a final date with defending champions Manchester United in Rome next Wednesday.
And Messi reckons the fact his side never gave up when they looked to be heading out in west London will stand them in good stead in the Italian capital. He told Champions magazine: ''We were suffering right up until stoppage time at Stamford Bridge. But that's one more proof that we deserve to win the Champions League.
''The fact we beat Chelsea, and the manner in which we did it, shows Barcelona aren't just a good team - we have impressive mental strength too.
''In Spain, Chelsea gave us no space. They put four or five men in defence and we couldn't score past them. But that didn't make us give up.
''We were at their place and we were losing from early on but we gave them a fight right to the end. That last move was just glorious - my heart nearly exploded when I saw Iniesta's shot go in.''
Since that night at the Bridge, Barca have clinched Copa del Rey and Primera Division glory and Messi is desperately hoping they can complete phase three of a historic treble next week.
''Winning the Champions League interests me more than anything,'' he said. ''I'm dreaming of Barcelona becoming the Champions League winners. And, at least until 27 May, no-one can take that dream away from me.
''The Champions League final will be the most fantastic thing that has happened to me in all my life. These are incredible moments you can't really explain with words; in a match like the one in Rome, the whole world is hanging on your every move.''
The match pits Messi against 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo, but the South American knows United are far from a one-man team.
''They're a great team, Manchester,'' he said. ''If you go through the whole squad, you'd be hard pushed to know which player to choose if you had to pick just one.
''But clearly you have to start with Cristiano, a great forward who can gambetea [a South American term for dribbling with feints/checks/swerves/tricks] with speed and ease.
''And he has a great medium-range shot. We're conscious that in Rome we can't give him time to think or get a shot in from distance. He's a great footballer.''
Still, Barca will be focusing on their own game and trying to finish off an already-memorable first season under rookie coach Guardiola in style.
''Guardiola is a piece of history, so he understood straight away how to speak to the players about the way to play football at this club,'' Messi said of the 38-year-old, who took up the Nou Camp reins last summer.
''So we were soon in tune with his playing style. For example, a couple of times he played me in positions where I didn't think I'd be able to give my maximum, like when I played as a deep-lying number nine against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu [Messi scored twice as Barca won 6-2 on May 2].
''But he explained to me that I could play there - and in that area, a few metres deeper than where a number nine usually operates, I was going to hurt Real. And he was right. Pep knows a lot. You can tell that very quickly. He's very hard-working, modest and optimistic.''