Alert: CL Round of 16. Real Madrid v. Manchester United, Wednesday, February 13th [R]

Sweet.

 

I have absolutely no clue how United will lineup in this.

 

Same.

Evra, Rio, Carrick, De Gea and RVP will start for sure but beyond that no idea.

 

De Gea, Ferdinand, Evra, Carrick, Rooney, Van Persie + 5 others in god knows what formation.

Edit: And Cevno beat me to it although I'm pretty sure Rooney will start too.

 

I have little expectations of us winning this tie (20% or so) so should be an entertaining watch with no nerves.

 

I always want us to win, I always hope we win even when put Anderson Giggs in midfield 2 and Young Valencia out wide, nothing different here.

 

Go for it.

--------------RVP
---Rooney--------------Nani
---------Clevs--Kagawa
------------Carrick
Evra------------------------Rafael
-------Evans----Ferdinand
-------------De Gea


Same for the home leg. If we go out we go out.

 

So hyped.

 

Ronaldo is the difference though.

If you take him out, I would actually put it as a 50/50 tie with almost all the key clashes equally matched - Rooney vs Alonso, Oezil vs Carrick, RvP vs their CBs, Benzema vs ours, our left flank vs their right.

 

I'm more optimistic, but if that's how you feel and you don't mind betting against United then Madrid to qualify are around 8/13, United 6/5.

I'm holding to the fact that we went and won at the Etihad, something that Dortmund and Madrid failed to do. Yeah, football doesn't work like that but so what? They've also lost to quite a few teams that quite frankly are a bit crap this season.

More up in the 40-50% range here.

 

I want the exact same lineup. That's probably the best team we could put out there. It's got our best goalscorers, our best winger and for some reason I think Kagawa should do really well in a game like this. His movement and passing could open up spaces, which we could exploit with the forwards we have.

We just need to keep our cool, have some confidence and play our game. I'd really rather we just concentrated on playing our own game instead of trying to be too clever in terms of tactics and formations.

We have neither the personnel nor the management to attempt something like we did against Barca in 08. If we've got the bottle and everyone turns up at their best, I do think we've got a chance. At the very least we'll be able to hold our head high.

 

If you take Ronaldo out, United would be a favourite and it wouldn't be 50:50 because without him they don't have a match winning player who would take the ball and score. Ozil usually needs others to run in space and their forwards are out of form. But of course he's going to play so it's a moot point.

EDIT: As for the team, I think Anderson is going to play a part after today's rest. I would go with 4-3-3 with Rooney and Nani on the wings and if Ronaldo starts to play well, put Rooney on the right to follow him. And Cleverley as the 3rd midfielder or Jones if he's not injured because he's in good form lately and could be needed for a typical tough away game.

 

Maybe I will. Let me see if I can get even odds out of someone from the office

I would have been a bit more confident if we has an in-form Nani or even Valencia.

Hate to admit it but I did make decent money by betting on Chelsea to win the league in 09-10.

 

Betting against United makes sense - if we end up winning, it's totally worth it, if not - at least you get some cash.

 

----------Rvp
Nani---------------
-------------Rooney
----Anderson----Clev
-----------Carrick
Back 5

 

Rooney------Chicharito-----RVP
--------------------------------------
Anderson---Cleverley----Carrick
---------------------------------------
Evra-----Evans---RIO---------Rafael
------------DDG--------------

 

One look at the game thread on the Madrid board and you would think they already won the 1st leg 15-0. They have said some of the most misinformed shit over there, it's actually quite funny. One poster said the one player he's worried about is VALENCIA! Hahahaha. I know they're the favorites, but I would love to send them crashing out just to watch that board have a meltdown.

 

Took off of work all week because of Mardi Gras before the fixture dates were released. Sometimes the planets allign properly....

 

Hi, i´m a spanish United fan. My spanish club is not Real so I will speak with no passion.

In Spain, people think Real is gonna rape ManUtd. Ronaldo is untouchable right now, and Pepe, Ramos, etc are back from injuries. In my opinion, United has a chance if you score two goals in Bernabeu. I hope that, but honestly, I´m not very optimistic. Manchester allows a lot of space between Carrick and his defense. Vidic is so slow in that movement (remember Messi in Wembley) and Ferdinand is old too. Evans is in good form but he has no experience. Too much work for Carrick. Ozil is great finding chances in that zone (always good performances vs Busquets) and United can´t do anything with that. Maybe three players in that area (Jones?) but if you spend a player here, Van Persie is gonna suffer against Pepe and Ramos.

Well, we keep on talking until wednesday. Good luck!!