I was impressed with Malaga. that was one of the better 0-0 games you will come across. I shouldnt have sounded so sure of the Dortmund tie. I feel like Dortmund's class will get them the win. But certainly Malaga is capable. Very good young talent on the team, and they dont seem the type of group that will come in and park the bus.

Yes, I agree that was one of the better 0-0 games I've watched in recent years. The real question for Malaga is really, where are the goals going to come from if in fact Dortmund scores first.

_________________

Malaga with the goal... Dortmund with work to do

Yes indeed. Dortmund just seem a bit out of place, lots of bad passes.

_________________

Game on. Great goal. this will be a fun 2nd half

Absolutely, Reus's pass was amazing.

_________________

tremendous save keeps Malaga in it. 15 to go..

wow! and another!

That should do it... although Malaga scorer was offside there.

Still, well earned

or... shocking!

I hate it. How the heck did Malaga allowed 2 goals so late.

_________________

So what match ups do we want to see in the semis?

Barca v Dortmund
Real v Bayern


Not sure they'll have that though, I think they'd rather see each league get one rep in the final, so it'll probably be Barca v Real, Dortmund v Bayern. Should all be fantastic matches no matter what way you slice it.

_________________
Rzzzzz...

Derby semis would be great for all involved, probably more epic than a derby final.

but, i imagine we will see Spain against Germany in the semis

Well, Bayern - Barcelona match up should produce lots of excitement. I am also interested to see whether Real can manage to overcome the results against Dortmund in the group stage. I would think they would but you never know.

_________________

Would have preferred Bayern-Real, Barca-Dortmund... but still quality semis. Going to be good. I like Bayern and Real

I actually think it'll be an all-Kraut derby for the final. I just fancy Dortmund to beat Real over the two legs.

_________________
Rzzzzz...

They took 4 points of 6 in the group stage so its a good call.

4-0 Munich in the first leg, and it looks like not even Messi and Ronaldo combined would be able to save Barca now.

And here's something you don't see every day either:

Though in his defense it was Ribery that did it.

Yes, that was absolutely terrible performance by Barcelona. Bayern looked very good but I wouldn't crown them champions just yet.

_________________

Dortmund and Madrid playing for the right to lose to Bayern in the final. Would like to see Dortmund pull through though.

Bayern look the part, but don't count out some silly performance from Barca. I reckon a Dortmund/Bayern final would be a cracker, though. Loving the Bundesliga these days. Racism and all.

_________________
Rzzzzz...

Would love to see the Bundesliga in the US on a network other than GOL TV.

I get that Barca will be fighting for their lives on the return leg, but I don't see Bayern crapping the bed that bad to let 4 goals past. Especially without a 100% fit Messi.

This is a rant.. so bear with

Bayern showed the class that is the Bundesliga. They have been quickly building (not just as a team, as a league) with fantastic players, coaches and style. The destruction of Barcelona showed today that Bayern is quite capable of playing Barca style better, stronger, faster than even they can. Ruthless defending, speed and power in the counter, clinical finishing and such wonderful and stylistic and free flowing attacks. And now they add Pep and Goetze? I feel Dortmund will show us something tomorrow as well, the same approach. Just not the same players.

Germany is going to be the place to play in the very near future. And here I go. The FA need to be careful about its treatment of Suarez and others or they will find the better players more than happy to ply their craft in Germany. Schalke, Dortmund, Bayern all visited the final 8. Others are close by. Germany is no La Liga, and it certainly lacks the depth of the PL. But its gaining in notoriety and popularity while.possible having the three of 5 top teams in the world.

Such is my feeling on today

Germany is not going to be the place to play in near future. Whoever pays the most will get the players. Bundesliga won't surpass EPL as the most exciting and popular league in Europe. I just don't see it happening.

_________________

I can see Bayern choke again in the final.

_________________

It already is surpassing it. Sure you can follow the paper trail of team finances, but its no secret that the PL teams are losing money. And while Fox and ESPN love to focus on the PL the best players in the world are leaving. If Bale and Suarez leave, both real possibilities, then what World Class footballer is left? British teams are falling further behind, and its no accident.

Just my opinion. I'm pretty pissed right now. but the PL and the FA look ridiculous against the court of common sense today. As a world class player, why deal with an organization that allows knee high tackles, elbows to the face and stamping with little to no repudiation but will go 10 games for a bite?

German football putting the pain in Spain.

Wow.

_________________
Rzzzzz...

That was a crazy game. I'm still baffled by Real's defense, Reus was absolutely slicing it with his long runs.

_________________

How good is the pool of players available to play for Germany in the next world cup...

Marin, Reus, Gotze, podolski Bittencourt, muller, holtby, hummels, der stegan, schweinstiger, ozil, draxler, leitner, merckel, khadera, and on and on and on

Doesn't sound like a German team.

_________________

Did I screw up the names?

Tbh I'm not exactly sure if they all are part of the german pool

No you didn't. What I was implying is that some of the players don't even sound German. But I agree with the fact that have a great squad and should be very good for more than just one World Cup. I grew up rooting for England, so I pretty much always was disappointed.

_________________

I fully agree that the FA and Premier League need to pull their collective heads out of their arses but kind of disagree about the German onslaught, or at least think that it is overstated. There are only 2 good teams in Germany and while I don't see them getting worse in a hurry I also don't necessarily see Schalke, Werder Bremen etc being able to draw, or afford, big name players in a hurry, just as Valencia, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla etc haven't (in any numbers anyway).

I am loving seeing the Spanish giants get thrashed. I don't really care who does it. In fact I love that Dortmund does it, but really, Bayern Munich should be as likely as anyone else with their transfer and wage budget.

The English league really needs to lift its game though. No doubt about it. For me the media is equally culpable. Give me Brock and Danny and some intelligent, thought-provoking analysis rather than yet another conversation about diving/handshakes/poppies/racism/minute's silence/singing the national anthem/Ferguson. Football coverage in England is so dull I've completely tuned out apart from going to Spurs every now and again and checking out the game online whenever I can (about 50% of games).

I'm not really too sure about thew individual players' here but when I was at high school we learned about (some) Germans resistance to Turkish and Polish immigration even back then. There will be a lot of England players with similar names before too long too.

Ozil is hated in Turkey because of his decision to play for the German national team over Turkey.

If I were Turkish I'd be gutted too, but he was born in Germany and lived his whole life there. Same with Khedira.

If a player was born in my country and lived there all of his life then in my opinion they should only be allowed to play for that county.

_________________

Yip.

Interesting timing on this article on ESPN.... obviously the statistical analysis only factors in goal differential and can be argued that increases come at the expense of mediocre teams in the league.

However, I think if you couple it with the teams we saw in the Champs League final 8 (and in turn the players that exist on those teams) we can see a shift, atleast in the top, of which leagues are getting better verse worse.

all speculation, but i dont think anyone can argue that if anything the German nation is overtaking Spain and Holland in producing the worlds very best footballers overall... which league is better is debatable. I will always be aligned with Liverpool, and therefore the PL. However I'm blown away but what ive seen from Bayern, Dortmund and Schalke the last two years.

Love some thoughts... as we go to the summer transfer window, it will be really interesting where the top end players settle in. (with Gotze and Lewandowski shunning Real and Manchester United respectively to move from 2nd to 1st in the Bundesliga)

http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/relegationzone/id/755?cc=5901

Whatever the fee for Lewandowski (Bayern or otherwise) is likely not enough.

Echte Liebe! Hopefully tomorrows match provides as much drama and hopefully a little more finishing.