Champions League 2018/19

[yuppie]

Would be pretty amazing to be in the stadium now.

[Gingerfinch]

Origi has had a couple of good days.

I still think he's average but well done to him. He'll be savouring this.

[yuppie]

he has had similar moments for Liverpool before. Going to be one of those players, right place right time.

Back to Back finals for Liverpool.

[GGAS]

Liverpool took 90 seconds to take a throw in, and the ref blows the game 10 seconds early....

Really weird ending. First Liverpool "injuries" and subs kill 5 mins between 80-90, then they similarly kill about 2 of the 5 added on the same fashion. In thr middle of this, when Barca actually get the ball, they just pass it around in midfield like they're winning. Strange.

[GGAS]

That Dembele miss at the end of the first leg....

[yuppie]

Liverpool took 90 seconds to take a throw in, and the ref blows the game 10 seconds early....

Really weird ending. First Liverpool "injuries" and subs kill 5 mins between 80-90, then they similarly kill about 2 of the 5 added on the same fashion. In thr middle of this, when Barca actually get the ball, they just pass it around in midfield like they're winning. Strange.

The other strange part was that they were blocking the quick free kicks. They just needed to get out the way.

[sussexpob]

Liverpool took 90 seconds to take a throw in, and the ref blows the game 10 seconds early....

Really weird ending. First Liverpool "injuries" and subs kill 5 mins between 80-90, then they similarly kill about 2 of the 5 added on the same fashion. In thr middle of this, when Barca actually get the ball, they just pass it around in midfield like they're winning. Strange.

Fact is, if they want to stop time wasting, then just add the time on. No ref ever does, and its frankly ridiculous. He gave 4 minutes injury time in the first half when there was one injury that didnt last long, then as you say, that free kick at the edge of the box on the 81st minute wasted 4 minutes (I timed it), straight after VVD throws himself on the floor for another 3m inutes, the game goes on for about 2 minutes before Fabinho goes to ground after fouling someone...... And then at the end, what was going on? Two Liverpool players had the ball at their feet having a chat before a throw on, it comes in, the ref blows before the alloted time.

There is nothing I hate more than time wasting, but refs just simply dont seem to care. The clock should stop after 90 with every stoppage imo, about time its kicked out the game.

Literally hardly got a kick for 15 minutes after Liverpool scored.

And yeah, I said at the time..... what were Barca doing?

[GGAS]

Completely agree SP. If you start stopping the clock in these situations and send the player feigning injury to the sidelines for the next restart, these instances will be minimised and minimised quickly.

[sussexpob]

Completely agree SP. If you start stopping the clock in these situations and send the player feigning injury to the sidelines for the next restart, these instances will be minimised and minimised quickly.

La Liga refs started to use interesting tactics by blowing for phantom fouls when this sort of thing happens a while back, but I think UEFA put a stop to it sadly. If a player went to the corner and held the ball, they just blew for a foul on a defender. If a player took too long to get the ball in, foul. Keeper wants to have a fag while taking a goal kick? Foul inside the box, penalty..... worked really well and instantly stopped it, but apparently using common sense was too much for UEFA

[GGAS]

Completely agree SP. If you start stopping the clock in these situations and send the player feigning injury to the sidelines for the next restart, these instances will be minimised and minimised quickly.

La Liga refs started to use interesting tactics by blowing for phantom fouls when this sort of thing happens a while back, but I think UEFA put a stop to it sadly. If a player went to the corner and held the ball, they just blew for a foul on a defender. If a player took too long to get the ball in, foul. Keeper wants to have a fag while taking a goal kick? Foul inside the box, penalty..... worked really well and instantly stopped it, but apparently using common sense was too much for UEFA

Uefa and common sense definitely don't go together. But yes, it seems a logical solution.

[bigfluffylemon]

Unbelievable what happened there. I'd written Liverpool off, as I'm sure most had, but coming back from 3-0 down to beat Barcelona, of all teams, 4-0, has to be one of the greatest comebacks in European history, right up there with the 2005 final.

Good on 'em. It would be pretty sad if after the season they've had, Liverpool win nothing. Now they've got a superb chance of taking home some silverware. Of course, they could still win a double. Odds aren't great of them taking the league title, but before tonight, I would have said that about them making the CL final...

Agree entirely with sussex about timewasting. But added time has always been a bit of a mystery in football - completely untransparent - the ref just adds on however much he thinks is appropriate. It often seems to bear no correlation to the actual amount of stoppage time.

A lot of other sports stop the clock when the ball goes out of play, and definitely if there is an extended delay for an injury. Football just has to be different.

I'm sure I remember reading an article during the World Cup that argued that depending on how you measure stoppage, most games should have far more added time, up to 15 minutes in some cases if you want there to be a full 45 minutes of live play in each half. I'll see if I can dig it up.

[bigfluffylemon]

Here it is. Worth a read. They argue that even if you allow a 'normal' length of time for stoppages like goal kicks, free kicks, corners, throw-ins etc. to be factored in (i.e. those events don't stop the clock unless the time taken is excessive), most refs underestimate the amount of stoppage time by 2-10 minutes.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/wo ... naccurate/

[Durhamfootman]

No!

surely not?

Wow.... well done them

Newcastle nearly beat a stronger version of this team a few days ago, so that must mean Newcastle are better than Barca.... I always knew it

[Durhamfootman]

Messi have a quiet one?

Suarez unable to get the teeth out or put the ball into the net with his hand because of his 'love' for the Liverpool fans?

[Durhamfootman]

what the hell happened there? The tv didt even catch up with the corner

A very clever training ground corner by Alexander Arnold caught Barcelona napping. Origi gets his second.

I think the ball boy also played his part in this.

BBC breakfast noted the speed at which the ball boy got the new ball to TAA and suggested that Liverpool should give him a couple of final tickets