UEFA Champions League (December 2014)
The final sixteen. The Tories and UKip might want to hustle Britain out of the EU- and then where will we play? Have you thought of that, hmm? FML. But until that happens. English clubs up here in UEFA, yeah!
David Silva expresses how I feel about English clubs being in this party. Ain't no party...
A table showing the probably of the teams. chrysa explained the Math behind the draw here here
Chatter from the sidelines
- Ring the Alarm! Raheem Sterling is balking at signing a new contract for LFC a sub I know will be going into meltdown
- Sharks in the Water (fire in the sky! - oh, wrong lyric)- Mourinho warns the watchword for the next round
- AFC Wimbledon refuse to cash in on FA Cup glamour tie with Premier League Liverpool... with tickets as cheap as £4! Well,tbf, that's what our performances are worth now
- Who is Chelsea teenager Ruben Loftus-Cheek? Made in Chelsea
- Valdés beats Courtois to La Liga's greatest keeper crown Not San Iker. Praise.
- Arbeloa: "Real Madrid are held to higher standards than other clubs" but you get undeserved penalties.Suck it up, princess.
- The Spanish football league has denounced abusive chants heard at this weekend's matches stamping stuff down
- La Liga: Barcelona teenager Munir El Haddadi pens new contract buy out clause: £28 million. His contract isn't extended; just more money in his wage packet, and an increased value to his buy out clause
- Emmanuel Adebayor pulled out of Besiktas match over personal issue he has a LOT of personal issues at the moment
- TEN THINGS ABOUT MITCHELL LANGERAK Langerak getting some shine. Good
The socceroo in question - ALLIANZ ARENA SET FOR EXPANSION paid it off sixteen years earlier than scheduled, now they're going to expand! Because they are one of the venues for Euro 2020. Splendid.
- PornHub sponsorship banned from university football team shirts after being deemed 'totally unacceptable' times are hard *I am 12*
- Exclusive: Liverpool Are Already Looking for Brendan Rodgers' Replacement we will see
Social/Social Media
Marcello and Pepe (UGH at Pepe. The. Worst.) at Real's Christmas party
You wear light coloured/ day suits to formal events before six pm Sergio, because - oh, never mind
Resplendent wear, Lord Pique. Wilt thou avail thyself of our offerings, sire?
Of course, there's a meme
Navas has been here for a year in England and still uses a translator. Boo, why? It's been over a year?
Lampard goes on about his salad days
Pictures
Messi and Zlatan. They meet again. Once teammates, still rivals
Suarez got his first goal at Camp Nou. Neymar celebrates because he got another goal too.
Greizmann has the most interesting barnet in the footie world right now
Barca, Barca, BAAARRRCCCCAAA
Why so pensive Silva? You're captain of one team and still qualified for the second round in the CL!
Pogba, an English homegrown player putting the work in for Juventus, and plays under the French flag. Oy.
For a big man, Zlatan can move. His physical prowess is daunting as all get out
Zabaleta going through extreme measures to make sure that ball gets into the back of the net. Manchester City stepped up for Kun Aguero. Hopefully he should be healed come Feb. Good vibes to your knee, Kun!
Huzzah, the spectre of the disgrace in Dijon is averted, as Bayern put Moscow away
It seems that Messi gets on with the Brazilian guys just fine. I gotta say, David Luiz has one of the sweetest dispositions in the sport that I've ever seen, to be fair. Him and James just seem to be decent lads in a sport filled with chavs
The best looking picture of Xabi Alonso I could find at this moment in his life. It's as if Bayern sucked all the hotness out of you, Alonso. Oh, you're assured trophies, you say? Ah, that's all right, then.
Porto are through, iirc
Jose Mourinho. I like the fact that he loves football. He doesn't smile as much as he used to, not after his brush with Real Madrid, but when he thinks the cameras are off, Mou still softens at the process and magic of the sport that shines despite his machinations.
This. Is. Not. A. Drill. Man stations! Ruben Luftus Cheek came on in the last eight minutes, and in the first minute, set up a teammate for a goal (didn't happen, silly teammate). Already, showing his class. OMG *jp wordsalads all over your monitor* Mourinho debuted an ENGLISH PLAYER (none of this woolly, hand-waving 'homegrown' nonsense) to a Chelsea XI! Not since John Terry this has happened back in 2004. Callooh, Callay, what a glorious day! Hail Britannia up in this.
Here is hoping that Reuben Loftus Cheek is given opportunities to do more, and that he does well. Mourinho said that if he gave him this opportunity, Loftus Cheek had to buy him a bottle of good wine. Loftus-Cheek assured him that he would. Fire up that Virgin wine subscription, then
Schurrle got a goal, iirc. So he's proper hype. Sorry about the lack of accents, I'm on a PC and the ALT codes elude me
Today I Learnt (TIL): only three teams go through this stage undefeated: Real Madrid, Porto and Chelsea fc
Nasri stepped up. One goal, one assist. Look at you, acting like the lyrics to a Kanye West song! Goals and assists up in this.
This might be Nasri's O face. Hah, you'll never unsee that sentence. My job is done here
Joe Hart was working like a man who got a new contract with improved terms last night. Made two superlative saves, then just held the line, because City's defence was shaky. That's what a good goal keeper looks like :*)'
David Silva and Pablo Zabaleta. Silva didn't see much pitch time in the end.
Zabaleta kisses the badge, his eyes welling with tears. The Citizens love him! When he got sent off for a red earlier this season (effing Costa), the supporters applauded him as he stepped off the pitch. Zabaleta and Aguero always play to the line. You're lucky, Manchester City fans, cherish them
Atletico Madrid and Juventus drew last night. Both are through to the next round
I look forward to seeing you in the finals of the CL, El Cholo. Coach bae <3
The Old Lady hangs on for another round. Turnt up for what? The Champions League!
Kolo and Pirlo doing that Hong Kong Phooey chop. Please tell me that you watched that cartoon please?
Juventus are through. Yasss Buffon
OP here: will add more to the post later as pictures go up, updated news comes in, etc re: UEFA Champions League. I've tried to make this post as comprehensive as possible, since this will be the last of action (bar the draw on Monday) for the while. It's been a pleasure doing these posts. The hope is that there will be time to come back to this around Feb, 2015, but we will see. Thank you as always, for reading, correcting, calling out my blindspots at every turn, and making each post a hotbed of interesting conversation and topics. Cheers again for showing up, every time! All the warmest, best, complements of the season to you and yours, whatever you celebrate! Wherever you are!