At Stamford Bridge in the second game of the UEFA Champions League, Chelsea was up 1-0 and on their way to the final versus Premier League rival Manchester United. In the third minute of injury time, Andres Iniesta beat star goalie Petr Cech to tie the game 1-1. With a few questionable calls with fouls on Barcelona in their own 18, the Chelsea players got in the face of the ref as if they were Ron Artest on Kobe Bryant. The aggregate score was 1-1, and instead of an overtime period or shoot-out, the away goal weighs more and Barcelona advances. We at Kotite's although soccer fans, do not understand this rule and know something like this would not fly in American sports. All of that being said, it was a great game and we are pumped that Barcelona advanced to the finals. Right now Barca and Man U are the two hottest teams in soccer and it should make for a great game on May 27th in Rome.
6 comments:
So, basically, an "away" tie in this tourney is equivalent to a win?! And I thought the NHL's awarding of a point for an OT loss was Mickey Mouse! No wonder this has all the drama and interest of a Tiddlywinks tournament for the vast majority of (real) Americans. Aside from the painfully infrequent scoring in most futbol contests (1-1 is a veritable score-fest!), the sight of some guy in shorts falling to the ground after being barely brushed by an opponent, writhing in apparent agony, and being carted off the field on a stretcher, only to immediately bounce to his feet on the sidelines and run back onto the "pitch" is a complete joke. The WWE is a more sophisticated and entertaining -- not to mention strenuous -- athletic event.
I wanted to make a comment, but my feelings and thoughts on soccer could not possibly be stated any better than Dr. G already has. Seriously, an away goal is weighted more than a home goal? That is just absurd. The more amazing part is someone had to think of this rule, other people had to agree with it, and it had to be voted on. Seriously, Europeans may kick our ass when it comes to fashion (Hollywood loves him some Euro fashion) but when it comes to sports, they should stop being such vaginas. I wonder if the same person who created this rule also taught all Euro bball players to flop backwards everytime a brush of contact is made?
the away goal weighs more in a tie-breaker situation.
hollywood you would like euro fashion, go get your chest waxed and move to italy
Elanor, we know the rule, we just think it blows.
I dont give a shit what sport or what country, simple rule of competition is to beat the opponent you must score more than them/him. Its that simple. Let em play 50 ots if it takes that many. You should never win on a tie, its a simple as that.
They play two games, and the overall score of both games combined determines the winner. They tied 0-0 at FC Barcelona, and tied 1-1 at Chelsea, but since Barcelona scored a goal on the road, that is the tiebreaker. That is ridiculous.
This gets more ridiculous as more information is posted. So, rather than advancing by winning games (e.g., 3 out of 5), the "winner" is decided by most total goals over2 games?! Applying this, say, to the Stanley Cup playoffs, we could have The Flyboys win the first game 2-1, and the Penguins take the second 3-1, with the Pens then being declared the victor and moving on. This completely misses the compelling drama of team playoff competition, and in fact basically reduces the exercise to a 2-day shoot-out in which the games themselves have no meaning. This is precisely why Euros should stay away from developing their own sports and occupy themselves with something they're good at -- like allowing other countries to invade them...
Post a Comment