We have to take semis into consideration too, and start playing key players less and less minutes, kuz against bayern,,, our players looked dead last season in semis.

Die Borussen wrote:1-1 home 2-2 away, didnt beat gala, still in the semis

trololol

Technically we would beat them on the away goals rule.

it will be an interesting two games ahead

benzema played more than 90 mins for France, Higuain didn't play vs Bolivia so its only natural that he will play our next game but he is the one who should start vs galatasaray so Mou has a very decisive decision to make ahead

another one is marcelo getting back into shape which means for me an automatic starter vs galatasaray. he is one of our few irreplaceable players

lastly iker is back in full training

This will be easy game.

Coentrao's been in good form recently, so it would be kinda unfair for him to be dropped.

so has Diego Lopez but the players they are standing in for are simply better altho Iker looked a little shaky before his injury

Game is tomorrow and a lot of the Gala players have been running their mouths. Hope we give them a reality check

Goalkeepers: Diego López, Adán and Jesús.
Defenders: Ramos, Arbeloa, Varane, Coentrão, Marcelo and Pepe.
Midfielders: Alonso, Khedira, Özil, Essien, Modric, Kaká and Di María.
Strikers: Higuaín, Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema.

Marca saying that Mourinho has made it clear to the team that the main objective is keeping a clean sheet over 180 minutes. I'd personally just try to focus on creating as many chances as possible and taking advantage of them but when you consider that we have yet to keep a clean sheet in the CL this season you can see Jose's point.

it will be a tough game no doubt. its only normal for them to run their mouth because if they lose it will have been a successful season for them anyways. I just want our players to be focused and play as a team. we do that and we will brush them aside no doubt

I don't know whether their level of organisation will mirror that of United but they will play similarly we have to reduce them to long shots. I hope we can keep a clean sheet but thats unlikely so we should focus on winning by a margin of two goals to give us the best possible scenario for the return leg

Dream scenario is a win by a 3 goal margin. I think that would make the second leg a non factor if we score an away goal.

exactly and I think that should be our priority for the first leg, score an early goal, keep a clean sheet and the wait patiently for the second. 2-0 and we are effectively through. 1-1 and we are pretty screwed. our team can't even handle the noise of Levante fans imagine Gala's

Don't let that propaganda get to you. Any atmosphere will be a non-factor in this tie. The Turks are amazing at supporting their team but let's be real their fans are not going to be on the pitch playing with them.

its no propaganda its the mere fact that their fans are loud and our players have a habit of losing it when crowd turns hostile against them. imagine if they actually have a chance of going through?? they will be even louder and they won't be playing bursapor, they will be playing us. extra motivation to get behind their team

I think you're just drinking their Kool aid tbh

Our players are used to loud away games so it's not going to be a big deal. Our opponents are the 11 on the field and we are better than them and should be able to beat them over two legs. So long as we focus and remember that, no amount of screaming will help Gala go through.

Galatasaray only just beat Schalke.

The tie ended up being 50-50 and Schalke could have gone through. I think we'll end up being too much to handle for Galatasaray.

you really think Gala will play like that against us?? they will hoof it to Drogba and Yilmaz and defend for dear life

Zeal even if their fans won't influence our players....... how many away games have we actually won this season. I know of only 2 in CL, one against our whipping boys and the other after they went a man down. for me its clear, a draw will be a great result away from home which is why we need to finish it at home

halamadrid2 wrote:you really think Gala will play like that against us?? they will hoof it to Drogba and Yilmaz and defend for dear life

Clearly you're not familiar with Fatih Terim, they will come to score goals tomorrow. Even if they don't attack they don't have the players to park the bus effectively which would just make things easier for us.

halamadrid2 wrote:Zeal even if their fans won't influence our players....... how many away games have we actually won this season. I know of only 2 in CL, one against our whipping boys and the other after they went a man down. for me its clear, a draw will be a great result away from home which is why we need to finish it at home

This team has shown that it can get results when it has absolutely needed to. I've trusted this team against much better teams than Galatasaray, there is no reason for me to stop now.

If we can't beat Gala over two legs then we have no right to dream about a 10th Champions League.

over two legs of course we can but having been nothing short of dreadfup away all season I don't expect this amazing performance from our team away and would accept a dtaw with grace

as for their tactics their coach is too smart to try and play offensive when thats exactoy what we want. I am not expecting him to stay true to his tradition this far into the competition. I for one never expected united to play that deep against us but they did. no doubt their coach will have watched that tape and will try to emulate it. Gala are not on our level and never will be it doesn't make sense for them to take the game to us. I dont expect that

Again you are making too big a deal of away games, especially when we got some huge away results this season. I just don't think playing Gala away is the worst thing in the world and so long as the team stays focused and plays to the best of their ability we will beat Gala in both games.

Terim said his team will try to attack because that's the only way his team know how to play. I believe him because Galatasaray already pretty much achieved their goal in the CL and that is reach the quarters which is why they will play the same way, they have nothing to lose.

Who says parking the bus against us works anyway? It didn't work for United, they needed a goal from an incorrectly given corner and an own goal that had an offside not given in the build up. We had a goal incorrectly disallowed and a pen not given.

I'd like to see Gala try and park the bus, it might work but I don't think it will. We aren't Barca, we have more options than many of us think against teams that want to try what United tried (and failed) to do.

Zeal my friend you are being too lenient on our team this season

A reason why Barca won the league as early as November was due to our away form. I didn't see our team step up to the plate this season early October where we even lost against Getafe.

And save for Ronaldo our attackers have actually failed to deliver this season which is a reason for why we have been so god damn poor and to the point that Mou has pondered whether to play Ronaldo as CF because of the others forms.

I really hope they do attack but I sincerely doubt it. I haven't watched them this season mind you but I know for a fact that other teams successfully defend and counter against us, I see no reason for them to do any different.

At home we SHOULD be able to finish the job but I am worried we might shoot ourselves in the foot if we don't. We have a habit of not winning away in CL and there is no shame in that, what the real mission is to beat a team over two legs which our team are great at doing. so I am confident

The atmosphere would have had an effect if Real Madrid weren't accustomed to hostile grounds. Fortunately, the team is pretty acclimatized to such things. As for the Gala's tactics, they can park the bus and to all we know, it might prove successful but they honestly need to score a goal in the Bernabeu.

Knowing Terim, he'll probably go for a more attack minded showing and why not, Real Madrid midfield is not as strong as one might think (shit, I think all coaches should know this by now). Our loses against La Liga and UCL opposition have come from teams who don't park the bus anyway. They just basically nullify Alonso and pick us on set pieces or build up plays with the occasional countering here and there.

If Gala parks the bus, I guarantee we would win comfortably.

Well good thing it's not October huh?

I'm just saying I think this team can achieve something special. They have all the tools needed and I really believe in them because they made Madrid a serious club again.

The match will be an interesting one but I have little doubt Real Madrid will win comfortably, the most important thing is that Varane would be returning to CB, I'd prefer him to pair with Pepe at centre back, the two in my opinion are the best centre backs at the club. Benzema should also start ahead of Higuain, he probably would be rested after playing the last league game.

My line up:
Lopez
Arbeloa - Varane - Pepe - Coentrao
Khedira - Alonso
Ozil - Modric - Ronaldo
Benzema

If Arbeloa is having a bad game Ramos should replace him at right back.

Di Maria and Higuain should probably be rested considering their South American trip. We don't want them getting what Messi and Mascherano got.

Higuain should probably start as he didn't play against Bolivia which is where all exhaustions have come from imo

DiMaria could do with a rest tho, he looked alittle out of sync against Zaragoza due to the very demanding game against bolivia but having him benched could prove costly

I think we should start our tried and tested line up and make early subs. DiMaria should never have played against Zaragoza grr. But then again these guys are professionals they should be able to handle two games in three days we managed it last year. no reason why we won't this year