Barcelona - ManU Liveblog
Daryl of the Offside homepage will be doing a Liveblog of the game, so feel free to stop by and check it out. I already linked it once, but in case you didn’t know what the blue, underlined letters were, here it is again. As always, check out the Where to Watch page to find out [...]

Daryl of the Offside homepage will be doing a Liveblog of the game, so feel free to stop by and check it out. I already linked it once, but in case you didn’t know what the blue, underlined letters were, here it is again.

As always, check out the Where to Watch page to find out where other cules are currently drinking heavily and shouting at televisions.

Manchester United - Barcelona: Champions League, Tuesday 2:45pmEST
This. Is. It. There’s no tomorrow, no next match. We’re in it to win or we’re out on the street. The whole season, all the good and all the bad, have led up to this moment, this game, these 90 minutes. Everything bad can be forgiven with a glorious display or the last 4 games [...]

This. Is. It. There’s no tomorrow, no next match. We’re in it to win or we’re out on the street. The whole season, all the good and all the bad, have led up to this moment, this game, these 90 minutes. Everything bad can be forgiven with a glorious display or the last 4 games of misery can be compounded and turned into an absolute firestorm.

So where do we stand in this second leg away from home? It’s 0-0 on aggregate, so we’re definitely not behind, but neither are ahead. The advantage we have is a draw including goals means we advance on away goals. However, any loss whatsoever and we’re gone and a goalless draw (the least likely of the circumstances, I would think) leads to extra time.
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Gnus you all can use, including Brazilians and Frenchmen
Guess who’s coming to dinner at Old Trafford? Yes, lads and ladettes, it’s already been announced: Thierry Henry will be getting the start at Old Trafford next Tuesday, because of his fine legacy of bedeviling the Red Devils. Woot! No word on the rest of the starting lineup, but I’m already excited.

Guess who’s coming to dinner at Old Trafford?

Yes, lads and ladettes, it’s already been announced: Thierry Henry will be getting the start at Old Trafford next Tuesday, because of his fine legacy of bedeviling the Red Devils. Woot! No word on the rest of the starting lineup, but I’m already excited.

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State of the Liga Address
We have what amounts to a minibreak in Barcelona’s schedule as we wait for Espanyol’s arrival at the Camp Nou on Saturday (moved up from Sunday, FYI, due to the demands of the upcoming Champions League semifinal with ManU), so I thought I’d do a full league breakdown of where things stand with 6 matches [...]

We have what amounts to a minibreak in Barcelona’s schedule as we wait for Espanyol’s arrival at the Camp Nou on Saturday (moved up from Sunday, FYI, due to the demands of the upcoming Champions League semifinal with ManU), so I thought I’d do a full league breakdown of where things stand with 6 matches remaining.

Let’s go ahead and start off at the top, where Barcelona currently lies. It’s not exactly a dogfight for first, but someone’s going to have to take it and currently Real Madrid are in the top spot, 9 points up on Barcelona and 10 points up on Villarreal. The fourth Champions League spot is currently held by Atlético Madrid, 5 points behind Villarreal and only 1 point ahead of Racing Santander and 3 points ahead of Sevilla. That rounds out the UEFA Cup spots, after which there is a 6 point drop to Almeria in 7th. We can really discount them from European competition, I think, as you’ll see from the calculations/random guesses below.
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Barcelona - Espanyol: Saturday 2pmEST (GolTV)
So it’s another derby, another day, right? Weeellll, it’s more like we haven’t gotten the full measure of revenge for Tamudo scoring that title-destroying goal against us last year, so not only do we need to continue their losing streak (4 straight at the moment, with nary a goal to show for their so-called efforts) [...]

So it’s another derby, another day, right? Weeellll, it’s more like we haven’t gotten the full measure of revenge for Tamudo scoring that title-destroying goal against us last year, so not only do we need to continue their losing streak (4 straight at the moment, with nary a goal to show for their so-called efforts) and push them completely out of contention for a European spot. Am I bitter? Goddamned right I’m bitter. The periquitos can bite the big one, if you ask me, if only for the way they celebrated RM getting the title last year because of them. But obviously there’s mucho morbo involved in this match without that.
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Good news: I think we’re back, everyone
From the mouths of lions, no less. El Capitan, our penya, Carles Puyol, had some very interesting things to say after the Recreativo draw. “We need to think hard about this,” said Puyol. “We do the hard part, getting a lead, and then we stop creating chances. We have to get better in this respect because [...]

From the mouths of lions, no less. El Capitan, our penya, Carles Puyol, had some very interesting things to say after the Recreativo draw.

“We need to think hard about this,” said Puyol. “We do the hard part, getting a lead, and then we stop creating chances. We have to get better in this respect because when we take the lead our opponents ought to open up.”

“There are a lot of experienced players in the dressing room and we have to improve.”

Yes! The captain is calling out his mates, right? It’s as simple as that, or is it?

Victor Valdes, simultaneous hero and goat, said of the Recre match, “You can’t blame the ref.”

Exactly.

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Barcelona - ManU Liveblog
Daryl of the Offside homepage will be doing a Liveblog of the game, so feel free to stop by and check it out. I already linked it once, but in case you didn’t know what the blue, underlined letters were, here it is again. As always, check out the Where to Watch page to find out [...]

Daryl of the Offside homepage will be doing a Liveblog of the game, so feel free to stop by and check it out. I already linked it once, but in case you didn’t know what the blue, underlined letters were, here it is again.

As always, check out the Where to Watch page to find out where other cules are currently drinking heavily and shouting at televisions.

Barca v Man U, a.k.a. “The Big One” 1:30 p.m. CT, ESPN2
You know why this man is smiling? Because he is thinking about getting in some Red Devil ass, that’s why. Because this is it. The real deal, and he is the most pivotal player on the pitch for so many reasons, but most importantly, because they can’t score if they don’t have the ball. If [...]

You know why this man is smiling? Because he is thinking about getting in some Red Devil ass, that’s why. Because this is it. The real deal, and he is the most pivotal player on the pitch for so many reasons, but most importantly, because they can’t score if they don’t have the ball. If we are playing our possession game well, Yaya is a pivotal part, with his intelligent passes out of the back, deft footwork and physical presence.

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Barcelona - ManU Liveblog
Daryl of the Offside homepage will be doing a Liveblog of the game, so feel free to stop by and check it out. I already linked it once, but in case you didn’t know what the blue, underlined letters were, here it is again. As always, check out the Where to Watch page to find out [...]

Daryl of the Offside homepage will be doing a Liveblog of the game, so feel free to stop by and check it out. I already linked it once, but in case you didn’t know what the blue, underlined letters were, here it is again.

As always, check out the Where to Watch page to find out where other cules are currently drinking heavily and shouting at televisions.

Barca 0-Espanyol 0, a.k.a. “Making Kameni look good”
Let’s just give him a pedicure, a nap and a bottle while we’re at it. Repeat after me: If you shoot the damned ball where the keeper is, he’s probably going to make the save. Make sense? Feel better now? Good. Now. This match had the stink of a 0-0 just oozing from its pores. It was [...]

Let’s just give him a pedicure, a nap and a bottle while we’re at it. Repeat after me:

If you shoot the damned ball where the keeper is, he’s probably going to make the save.

Make sense? Feel better now? Good.

Now. This match had the stink of a 0-0 just oozing from its pores. It was clear that Espanyol had zero interest in scoring a goal, or doing anything except keeping what they came in with. Shameful, but that’s what makes this beautiful game ugly sometimes.

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Gnus you all can use, including Brazilians and Frenchmen
Guess who’s coming to dinner at Old Trafford? Yes, lads and ladettes, it’s already been announced: Thierry Henry will be getting the start at Old Trafford next Tuesday, because of his fine legacy of bedeviling the Red Devils. Woot! No word on the rest of the starting lineup, but I’m already excited.

Guess who’s coming to dinner at Old Trafford?

Yes, lads and ladettes, it’s already been announced: Thierry Henry will be getting the start at Old Trafford next Tuesday, because of his fine legacy of bedeviling the Red Devils. Woot! No word on the rest of the starting lineup, but I’m already excited.

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Barca v Deportivo La Coruna, or “She’s warming up….” Saturday, 1 p.m. CT, GolTV
Well, her song isn’t done, but you have to wonder. We’re in third place, one point behind Villarreal and eleven behind the Evil Empire, with five matches left to go. That’s fifteen points. Barring a massive collapse, alien abductions and the like, that’s a lotta points to make up, even if you count the three [...]

Well, her song isn’t done, but you have to wonder. We’re in third place, one point behind Villarreal and eleven behind the Evil Empire, with five matches left to go. That’s fifteen points. Barring a massive collapse, alien abductions and the like, that’s a lotta points to make up, even if you count the three we’re going to get at the Bernabeu.

Right now, I hope we’re thinking that “fewer matches are better” next season, and will play to overtake Villarreal for the automatic Champions League spot.

But standing in our way is Deportivo La Coruna.

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