I never knew Lazarus wss a Catalan?
Delighted. Never liked PSG.
My Twitter feed still has smoke coming out of its ears.
Just when you couldnāt dislike Luis Suarez any more, he dives likes heās been shot to win that 2nd penalty.
The ref played a real homer tonight, Di Maria should have had a penalty too.
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Analyst (non-Catalan obviously 
) on Spanish TV admitted that that shouldāve been his ticket out of the game (2nd yellow). All the diving that went on will be lost in the dramatic outcome, of course. Whoād be a ref?!
Both Barca penalties were very dodgy and felt PSG shouldāve had one. Glad all the same not a big fan of PSG.
Amazing stuff. Hairs breath for offside for the winning goal, great composure by the free-taker and scorer though. 3 goals from 88 minutes on, crowd still very subdued after 4th goal went in, looked all over. PSG goal shouldāve been a killer, especially coming when it did. Good riddance to them anyway!
Agree the penos were very dodgy, funny enough I read somewhere that Lāequipe said both were penos.,But I think PSG shot themselves in the foot, they had a 4-0 lead and didn`t need to sit back so much, inviting teams into your area is looking for trouble in soccer, most players go down nowadays with the slightest contact.
Cheating is now an accepted tactic in football and Barca used it to great affect. Donāt blame Suarez, if he didnāt do it another player would. Bar what was an amazing comeback the game at the top has become thoroughly unlikeable in my view.
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I think the first was a definite penalty, took the man out, albeit not deliberately, but the second was definitely a case of Suarez hitting the deck with the lightest touch.
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Not a great fan of the game, but I like to watch it played at the highest level as it tends to occasionally produce cracking moments of brilliance etc. Last night was vulgar in the way cheating was celebrated, but my word, an absolutely amazing drama from start to finish. And while I know he wasnāt brilliant last night, I could watch Lionel Messi all day long. Heās set such a high standard for himself that even though he was very good last night, you kind of feel disappointed when he doesnāt set the game alight. Last night was Neymarās turn! For those couple of players alone, I find it hard to dislike Barca. The spectacle of Messi turning defenders inside out is unmatched on the stage at present, is something Iāll never get sick of seeing. Heās the best footballer Iāve ever seen.
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Donāt think he took him out, Neymar kind of āmade sureā he āfellā over him. Seems the dude beside the goal (5th/6th official?) gave it, even though heād a worse view of it than the ref. Iāve never understood why those dude stand on the same side of the goal that the linesman is already covering? Surely they should cover the other side?
Wouldnāt agree he had a worse view of it, the ref initially said it wasnāt a peno and after consulting with other guy he changed his mind, whether it was a peno or not I think it is good that the ref has the help of the other officials.
I am not in favour of diving or whatever, but I never really got why there is general uproar when a guy dives as it is considered cheating, but if a guy makes an intional foul it is considered a foul and no more than that, surely both are cheatring. I mean players get commended for taking a card for the team, is it not a case of double standards?
Iāve wondered that myself before. You are spot on (no pun intended).
One reason given:
"The process has been closely monitored by UEFA and FIFA with input from referees, managers, players. league managers association etc.
One of the problems highlighted by referees was the need to modify their usual diagonal running pattern to accommodate the extra officials. In games with the AAR in the original position the referee had to make an unusual running move off his diagonal which no doubt went against years of practise doing it the traditional way.
As a result the AAR was moved across to the ARās side which personally I think is not a good idea as
- The blind spot to the left of the goal is now missed
- The AAR can get in the way of the ARās view.
- There are two sets on eyes on one side with none on the other.
It probably was decided that as one of the main functions of the AAR is goal line decisions and incidents inside the goal area the change made little difference yet it did help referees continue with the traditional diagonal running pattern. Personally I still think that the diagonal path could have been allowed for.
A final decision on the experiment will be made this summer. If goal line technology is introduced the need for the AAR may be removed."
Stone waller imo. The defender was unlucky that he slipped but at the end of the day the attacking player is under no obligation to avoid a defenders mistimed challenge and whether he meant it or not, he stopped prevented Neymar from getting to the ball.
That was different imo to a player flicking his leg out and catching a defender then going down. Neymar was clever but if he had avoided the defender he wouldnāt have reached the ball before it ran out of play. Peno all day for me.
Suarez one was dodgy
You get punished for fouls. Last night Barcelona were rewarded for cheating.
It takes the gloss off it in my view unless of course you accept that cheating is part and parcel of the product. If so fair enough.
Agree . . . I was sickened by the cheating that went on in that game. They even have a name for it āSimilationā . . . What message does it send to young followers of the wendyball game
Sure if you watch any U10 game youāll see plenty of it ā¦ that message was sent a long time ago.
When they say he took one for the team the general insinuation is that the reward outweighs the punishment. Every time a player intentionally fouls another player he is cheating and they donāt always get punished for it, but yet there is never the same uproar as there is for a dive. I am not justifying the diving, just wondering why there are double standards in this regard.
Integrity ā¦