Two unimaginable events took place in Manchester on Wednesday. First, Wayne Rooney got the start for Manchester United despite having originally been ruled out for several weeks with a serious ankle sprain. Second, Manchester United blew a two-goal lead at Old Trafford.
Bayern Munich overcame an three-goal blitz from Manchester United with two goals of their own, including a series-clinching beauty from Arjen Robben to help Bayern edge Manchester United on away goals after the two-leg quarterfinal series finished tied at 4-4.
Bayern will face Lyon in the semifinals after Lyon won the all-French quarterfinal vs. Bordeaux. Lyon's 3-1 first-leg victory held up as Bordeaux could only muster a 1-0 victory at home despite Lyon playing without several key players.
In case you missed it, here is Robben's series winner, a true thing of beauty:
What did you think of Wednesday's matches? Still shocked Manchester United lost, or did you see it coming? Starting to believe Lyon could be the surprise winner of this tournament, or are you convinced nobody is stopping Lionel Messi and Barcelona?
Share your thoughts below.
its just begun my friend.
yeah, i’ve played the video several times trying to figure out his facial expressions….he puts his palm to the back of his ear like saying “what? is that silence I hear”, then he motions his hand like he has touched something hot or painful, as if to say “ouch, i bet that hurt”…he might want to work a bit on the expressions, and maybe just stick to focusing on one after scoring amazing goals. hehe
Thank God there’s no more Mutd or Chelski this year. Mutd thought they could foul from behind all game long without it catching up to them. Bye-bye Rafael. Bye-bye Mutd.
CL Final: Barcelona 3 – 1 Olympique Lyonnais
Inter, sadly, will win ugly. But hope Barca does.
scoring one goal doesn’t change anything. robben is certainly one the most skilled wingers in the world, but his work rate and injury problems leave much to be desired.
I’m sorry for the perceived hyperbole, but that’s the best goal I’ve ever seen. Poise. Precision. Difficulty. Taking a ball out of mid-air like that? Jesus.
And somebody on an espnsoccernet article after the Dutch-US friendly commented that Arjen Robben wasn’t a “world-class” player…just goes to show that there are alot of people who have no clue what they’re talking about haha
Haha same!!!! Bayern Muchen has always been my team, and to see my least favorite team get knocked out by them was just absolute nirvana.
haha..Van Bommel skilled..haha..
oh, did you mean skilled in the art of chopping players down?
This Barca team isn’t even better than last year’s version. Eto’o, Henry & Messi plundering over 70 goals, Iniesta in the form of his life…they couldn’t be touched.
This year’s version is unbelievably good, but just a shade less than last year
Jerome, what was boring about Barca v Man U? Xavi controlling play and connecting on over 90% of his passes? Iniesta literally dancing around defenders? Messi, Eto’o scoring highlight reel goals?
FC Bayern, Stern des Südens!
Bavaria v Catalonia in the final would be EPIC.. except for fans of the EPL. HaHa!
I’m an intern at Fox Soccer/Fox Sports en Espanol On-Air Promotions and most at the office were bummed because ManU lost
No English team=lower ratings
I on the other hand loved every minute of it.
last years final was boring? You need to get yourself a different sport to follow or somehow learn to understand the game.
Mark these words, Barcelona vs Bayern
Bayern and Lyon are both underwhelming…it will take an incredible underachievement by Barca for someone else to capture the CL.
Former Chelsea boy sinks United! YES! If he wasn’t so injury prone I would wish he was still on Chelsea’s squad.
Well the CL is over for me. I hope someone uppercuts Rafael in Manchester!lol
I will root for Bayer or Lyon, which ever team makes it to the final. Barca & Inter diiiieeee!!!:)… I love Messi, I just can’t stand LA facil liga or BARCA!
Am I the only one or does Robben look a bit like Dr Evil at 13 seconds.
http://unrealitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/dr_evil.jpg
Maybe its just me. But I could imagine him giving the evil laugh to the United bench.
the look on Robben’s face is priceless! Like “I’m disgusted at how awesome I am right now.”
To be honest, Man United make games exciting. With the Final being on national TV (channel 5) i was hoping for a Arsenal-Man U game but Messi is just tearign it up so i was praying for a Barca- man United game but this time unlike last year’s it is fast paced and not boring. Now, I hope it becomes Barca vs Bayern and breads high pace action and goals. If its not and its 1-0 and slow, Horrible it would be to relive 2009’s boring final again.
how many times has Robben haunted United since he turned down a move…
So true – I never understand Madrid. They always get rid of the best players they have. Think Makalele…
So who was it that said history has no bearing on soccer when I said Bayern would go through?
Man United failed to beat Bayern AGAIN (minus the 99 final, and what a fluke it was) and it’s a fantastic result for European soccer. I can’t tell you how happy I was to not have to see Chelsea and Liverpool again or Manchester Debt-nited in the final.
Thank you to all the teams who knocked out the English and made this an interesting competition again. You’ve got a darkhorse in Lyon, the underacheivers in Inter, old power Bayern back with a never say die attittude and the rockstars of Barcelona.
It’s a Bayern – Barca final.
Bayern has been mine – they are back to their best. So happy to see a non English Semi Final stage.
Haha. Real Madrid must be pissed as hell. Selling off Robben and Sneijder and they both helped their teams qualified for the CL Semi while Real crashed and burned. JUSTICE HAS BEEN DONE.
In Europe they can’t get the same kind of help from the refs that they get in the PL
I think the guy on the post would have been Rafael had he not been sent off
They got him sent off, it wasn’t his retaliation against Van Bommel or pulling Ribery by the shirt from behind LOL!
Okay Fergie……………….
I beleive Man Utd wins the game with 11 players
Bad foul by Rafael
I’m surprised, I wouldn’t say I’m shocked though. I thought Man U would pull it off the same way they always seem to pull ties like this off – but this team isn’t the same if Rooney isn’t running around being Superman. After that early barrage and Bayern Munich seemed to get a handle on things, this tie slipped away from the Red Devils.
Rafael getting tossed early in the second half really seemed to hand the momentum to FC Hollywood.
RE: Dutch at WC time
That Sneijder guy looked pretty good the other day as well
Barca vs. Lyonnais in the Final!!!!
Cocky Dutchmen… (amazing that such a small country has such ridiculously skilled players) robben, sneijder, van der vart, huntlaar, van bommel… very strong footballing nation… Now if only they had some world cup spine!!
Hah! You almost got me! I know you’re just being “that guy” that wants to discredit every goal on the grounds that slow motion replays give you enough time to be the best defender in the world. Internet sarcasm…really, you almost got me.
Are you KIDDING ME, Robben??? what the are you…that was mental
Agree
wow incredible strike and incredible victory for Bayern.. they proved me wrong.. Robben has been on fire of late, remember that goal to be Florentina? watch out for the Dutch come WC time.
In other news Nani took over the first half with some great goals proving the Man U is worth something (not much) w/o Rooney.
Bayern are unbelievable with there never giving up….crazyyy….
robben=grown up tommy pickles. Still, even as a UTD fan, I never thought they’d win with Ribery and Robben on the squad. Barca vs Fulham for Supercup. Liverpool Barca would be good to but, it’s liverpool.
Laser beam… beautiful strike
Cool goal. Looks like rec-league softball pitch on the delivery. Also, funny to see all the defenders just standing still and watching the ball go in the net. It seems like they were just assuming that there was no way it could go on target.
By the way, don’t you normally stick a defender on one or both posts? I’m not knowledgeable at all when it comes to tactics, but the positioning of the defense seems odd.
Its going to be Inter (by 1 goal) and Bayern (by away goals) through to the final. With Inter beating Bayern. And Jose will move to Man City in the summer.
Very good game which United dominated. Nani and Valencia made Lahm and Badstuber look uber bad. Robben has continuously moved Bayern forward in league and cup, with one goal after another. Ribery stopping play so a foul had to be called on Rafael was huge.
Other sites report SAF going off again, SAF, … “They were never getting through that tie … but they got him sent off, everyone sprinted towards the referee – typical Germans.”
Time to retire Alex. FA step up on this please.
Amazing goal.
wow
Oh my GOD that was Sick!
beautiful strike by Robben and love the “cry baby” celebration. Haha Fergie
If Inter doesn’t beat Barca (and they won’t) nobody does. This Barca team is arguably the best team ever.
I’m pulling for Barca vs Bayern. GO BAYERN!
Haha love seeing Man U and their American cheerleaders silenced.
Lyon has been my darkhorse since the group stage.