Unreal game for Diego Alves. Another superb save

Incredible, thought that had crossed the line.

What a beautiful goal. What a game.

5 minutes 😆 if there's any justice in this world Valencia score the winner

Yup. If they don't advance in the Champions League next week, this season will be a fiasco in Real Madrid terms.

General Mirth wrote:

I've never seen Ronaldo miss a penalty.

He has missed some big ones down the years.

Spain will most probably have five teams in the next year's Champions League. Must be the first time ever that one country has five teams in the competition?

The year Liverpool won, they cried their way into the competition even though they finished 5th. They changed the rules and Everton had to qualify even though they were 4th, and didn't make it to the group stages. 

Would be nice if the 4th or 5th placed Spanish team had to play Man Utd in August. Maybe all of Van Gaal's £70m signings won't have gelled by then.

Ronaldo missed a pen in Champions League final against Chelsea.

And in the Champions League semi-final against Bayern. And in the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.

I hope we don't get Casillas. Rumor has followed us for years. He's a couple of notches above Szczesny level. No longer special.
Madrid are really hurting from the Modric injury. His absence has left the team without real control of midfield.

He's above Szczesny level? I think you meant below.

He is a couple of notches above. That isn't enough to make him a good replacement.

I disagree. He's so bad the past 3 seasons. Make the easiest of mistakes from simple shots. It's insane how Spain and Madrid still play him due to his past contributions. He's the single biggest reason why Spain went out of the world cup so early in Brazil and almost costed Madrid the UCL Final.

The biggest reason Spain went out was because they weren't good enough.

That said, Casillas hasn't been his old self for several seasons now, and even back then he always struggled with the high ball. More than any top keeper I can think of his reputation has always been about great reflexes.

Klaus wrote:

The biggest reason Spain went out was because they weren't good enough.

If they drew against Chile they would have been through. He was absolutely awful for both goals, as well as 3 of the goals against Netherlands.

I lost count of how many times Madrid conceded in the past 2 seasons because of him.

They could have scored more goals too, or defended better, but they didn't. Their goal difference in the group was -3! Like I said, they weren't good enough, and it was not just because of Casillas. Even if they would have wormed their way through somehow they would have been beaten by Brzazil.

Yes, but I don't care whether Spain strikers are toothless or not. We are discussing about Casillas and my point that he's shite still stands. Nothing else matters.

You said he was the 'single biggest reason' Spain went out. That's not true and that's what Klaus is arguing.

I'm with Clrnc, del Bosque stinked the place out too but Casillas was the main reason they went out. Against Holland Spain were clearly the better side until he started to gift them goals all over the place.

General Mirth wrote:

You said he was the 'single biggest reason' Spain went out. That's not true and that's what Klaus is arguing.

It is. The keyword is single. It's not their defence. It's not their midfield. It's not their attack.

Dunno, I thought Diego Costa gave him a run for his money. Spain only scored their first goal from open play once they dropped him.

In fact, Costa's only scored once while playing for Spain so far.

The only person worse than Costa for Spain was del Bosque and that was for picking him.
The man was shocking and his only saving grace was Fred outdoing him for shitness.

Del Bosque was definitely the worst one. Picking players based on their entire careers instead of their current form.

Campbell scored the winner for Villarreal yesterday. Not a great goal, but he really needed it.

That's a great stream. It's a Champions League match, though!

5 days later

That touch immediately before scoring :drool:

after ronaldo scores in the other game, of course.

neymar fluffs again, man he's so wasteful and luky to be in barcelona during his crucial development days. Messi so unselfsih again,

What a miss by Neymar, after a bit of subtle genius from Messi to set him up.

How the fuck does he conjure a goal from that? There's literally nothing on when he first gets the ball.