Going to be quick and to the point, no fixture list or anything. I got 15 minutes of work left and wanted to create a thread for this weekend. We got City-Chelsea.
We got Inter-Milan.
We got PSG-L'Om (okay, not an also ran but Lyon is now going to have some free time to concentrate on closing that gap while PSG marches on in the CLeague).


United get to hammer QPR, Madrid get to hammer Depor.
Aston Villa get to crap all over Arsenal. Nothing really fun happening in Germany.

See you all later. If anyone wants to also make these every now and then, lets figure it out. Fridays are getting too busy for me, which I don't like.

Balotelli's return, Milan's good form... And that place always gets loud, should be fun

of course it's on at the same time as le Classico (with Beck's possible debut no less), so looks like the choice of what to watch has been made for me

Oh and PSG debuted its new logo today (http://s.psg.fr/psg/image/article/illustration_s/g/254/50646.jpg), looks like the unstoppable march toward the extinction of the Saint-Germain reference is confirmed (it's still on there, just much smaller). If we're really going after that Asian market I say we just rename ourselves to Louis Vuitton FC and call it a day. Re-use the away shirts from 06/07 (http://psg70.free.fr/maillot2007ext.jpg), print a whole bunch with Beckham's name on them and boom watch the profils roll in.

Nothing to do with it being LV either that tone is fantastic

It's a really great look. I'm not a PSG fan at all, but it works well.

such an easy campaign.

I was wondering why this sorry ass fixture was on ESPN2. Now I can't wait... something good to watch at the gym.

but what's a guy to do? Brek Shea is the best MLS prospect since ... sheeeeit ... since prolly Landon Donovan? I mean I'd easily rate him over Stu Holden (on his BEST day) so I'm really hoping he can showcase abroad.

so yeah -- I think I'm actually going to watch this terrible soccer game? it hurts, but it's what being an MLS fan entails...

only saw the Review Show highlights but the broken nose + Huth elbow were... entertaining

seriously, Stoke ... ugh. I dunno if it's really gonna help Brek being in that system ... but if he actually has the talent, he'll make it work. it's all up to him now.

I dunno how many of those games I can suffer, though, it was fucking bad...

damn.

he's gonna be a demon on our right side for the next 10 years.

i honestly think he could play forward if necessary. but he's curbed his attacking instincts to get better at defending, and now it's all coming together.

that goal was incredible. but that ball he put on a plate for rvp was beckham-esque.

so much sideways & backwards dribbling

Inverse relationship between squad quality and points clear.

If you hadn't watched a game all season and had never looked at the standings, then looked at the rosters of United, Chelsea, and City, would it be obvious that United would be 15 points clear at the top?

without really a weak link in the senior team (when healthy) and it's all settled and based on central seven or eight players and style, which you can't say about any of those teams you named. Plus, when you get 16, 17 players down the list for those teams, United's class and depth really start to show through.

Stylistically, they are underwhelming at times but it's just effective enough, which is what Fergie has been perfecting for years: be efficient and get wins. If the points race were close and goal difference mattered again, they may turn it up to the early class/style of last year, but why bother right now when in three competitions and winning the league handily?

Clearly I am mistaken.

most folks would tell you that.

which is part of what's driving this team.

didn't think it would take this long, but i'm glad it's finally happening.

this is not the same team that played so well against United. And as I type this, Kaka of 2006 showed up.

But still...Deportivo are horrible, yet Madrid couldn't bother to try for 70 minutes.

They weren't 70% full and as horrible as Depor have been this year, the fans haven't been in it. Their games against Atletico and Madrid earlier this year were two of the worst 1st division performances I've seen since Derby were relegated.

The Whites are marching in!

I think Real will take one of the games. Hopefully we'll manage a win in the midweek fixture.

We can win both... but our form has been the worst it's been all season in the past month. Terrible timing for such big games.

Edit: Just read the report from the realmad game... seems they played pretty shittily. This will be a very interesting week.

this is about when that always happens. gotta step it up. brutal stretch right now.

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It's only funny till someone gets mad. Then it's hilarious.

Rescind that shit

Santi bailed us out with 2 great strikes but cotdamn Aston was getting to any spot they wanted *until* they decided to play on their back-foot after leveling.

Lol @ the audacity to put Diaby in the same paragraph

Gave us some real toughness. Then Pep started favoring Busquets. Who is quietly VERY good (despite the diving)... But I preferred Yaya.

for fucking up your chances. That first half was ugly for Inter but as usual they came back from the dead.

unfortunately they just kinda went where the keeper was (the header was strong but too close so the keeper made a good quick reflex save).

I. thought we simply looked like we didn't have the juice in the second half to get a win after such a huge game this week. I really wish we had got three points today, but I have a hard time getting angry about getting a win against Barca in the CL and then a draw in the Derby. We're moving in the right direction for this year and beyond, no question.

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BOSTON BRUINS, 2011 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS

2010 OKAY COLLEGE FANTASY CHAMPION

KPB Been my favorite layer for a minute. But now with Alsharawy and Mario, man that's just a fun ass team

Will go out of my way to watch them as much as possible.

Now take care of business at camp nou

A young, Italian center back to anchor the squad is my biggest desire. It seems wrong to have a Milan without a couple standout defenders. I like Zapata, love De Sciglio, like Abate...get that one anchor in the back and I'm loving a team that has a mix of skill in the front three, Montolivo and KPB, and some grit with guys like Nocerino, De Jong, Muntari and Ambro.

Is it a Pirlo/Gattuso anchored midfield? Who knows, those two were brilliant together, but there is a lot to like if we just remain patient and add pieces to the nucleus. When we were at our best in recent years, we weren't really doing the "buy the big names" kind of thing, we were adding solid pieces to a good nucleus. There is that potential here.

Still should've never let Pirlo go, though. He should've been held on to until he wasn't good enough to play in Italy anymore.

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BOSTON BRUINS, 2011 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS

2010 OKAY COLLEGE FANTASY CHAMPION

but that's a great squad they're building

That said, I've been a Milan fan since Baggio was on the team, shit's just too ingrained now for me to change. I didn't give a fuck about politics or the world at large when I started following em. It makes me cringe to think that I support him to some extent by supporting Milan.

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BOSTON BRUINS, 2011 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS

2010 OKAY COLLEGE FANTASY CHAMPION

I root for Paris because I'm Parisian, even though their current owners are some assholes...not quite Berlusconi level assholes, but assholes enough to invite Sarkozy to sit next to them during the biggest league game of the year, which is some shameful shit like I said below. With that said, I'm not giving them any money.

as for Milan, it's a shame Berlusconi owns them, but their GMs have been outstanding over the years, they've always had some amazing teams. I was especially fond of the Rijkaard/Gullit/Van Basten era and then the Yugoslavian juggernaut with Prosinecki, Boban and Savicevic (not to mention the classy defenses); and as already mentioned, this year's team is really starting to look nice, too. Didn't know they had a promising teenage French forward on the bench either.

Waving inflated bananas and shit at Balotelli.

good to see el Gordo doing the kickoff, though. also good: winning against Marseille on two shit goals. Pretty nice chip from Spice on the second one, still. And thank you Salvatore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpLJwMXuc_o

thanks man

And climbing. Watch out Citeh.

If Levy asks for less than 199 million for Bale I'll be surprised.

really puts it in perspective how DOMINANT we've been in the league.

And the cotdamn west ham CB doesn't even try to force him back to his right foot...you cannot give this dude a window on his left foot when he's in the middle of the pitch.

How he gets the ball on his left foot as often as he does. All of his goals set up pretty much the same. The last few anyway.