i agree a great pen much better than messi's but not goal of the week

I'm waiting to see spurs win the league though. I'm sick of seeing Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea win the league. They need new competition. If any, it's up to you guys, Everton, or Man City. All the best to these 3 teams. Please "knock them of their perch"

my dear fren possesion matter less :p

Some teams on purpose give aways the possession against other teams like MU does against big teams to comfort the opponent but when they make the mistake they get punished very badly so its not all about possession.

um no i dont think you would catch fergie say " oh lets let arsenal have lots of possession and make them feel comfortable" that does not happen. the great trevor brooking put it best " possession is nine tenths of the game"

if you want to talk about pressing tactics in certain areas of the pitch then you might have a point cause there is not so much harm in letting a team have possession in thier own half. yet i can assure you no manager wants to see his team wasting stamina chasing the ball.

oh yeah and one last point world cup winning spain whose game is all about possession and frustrating the other team in to error.

Look dude, I'm not blind. I voted rubbish for both. I expected much more out of both teams. the 5-0 drubbing we sufferred is something I preferred and I have mentioned it. this is not an El Classico and neither is the Copa Del Rey. These are the worst performances by both teams. Frankly, this game nor the Copa Del Rey is any match for Inter Vs Tottenham this season (that looked more like an El Classico)

So you claim English play worse, not with Tottenham dumbass.

sometimes two great teams will cancel each other out

Maybe you didn't know but there was no whistle!!!!

I don't give a damn either way. I care for players not the fans.

Dude i love the spirit! (NO sarcasm)

Personally I can't and wont take away ur right to criticize! Far from it! What i do however care for is for u to mind the way u do ur alleged ''critics''! Because criticizing is one thing and be disrespectful is another! And i believe u've been disrespectful towards a man who has undoubtedly given more to the madridista than most of u (RM fans) could possibly ever give!

Yet, because u disagree u would say ''f**k Di Stefano'', ''who the hell does he think he is''!? And so on....!

Now c'mon DUDE! Seriously!?

I'd agree he did a lot for the club. But he's RETIRED. Just a regular washed up old man. To me at least, I think old men should just watch and keep their mouths shut. Not unless they are still contributing. He may have been the greatest player, but it means nothing now. Unless he's still contributing the way Ferguson does at Man Utd, he and Sepp Blatter or Michel Platini for that matter should just keep their mouths shut.

lol nice sarcasm.

Where was torres against Man U???

I think Messi had a very good game came up with some great passes to Villa (who couldn't convert). Had two shots on target, the lobb wasn't the best but the other shot could have beaten Cassilas on another day.

Ronaldo also had a great game. The freekick, the header and the wonderful pass to Adebayor (who was dissapointing indeed).

Anybody who says, neither really produced much from open play must have been sleeping through the match.

Both of 'em are so damn good!

Wouldnt be so sure.

Now that Ronalod has broken his goalscoring duck vs Barca, I feel he may be the difference tomorrow.

Mourinho knows how to shackle Messi (this was his first goal vs a Mourinho side in about 8 games) and he certianly knows how to beat you guys.

As a neutral, I just hope for a great game. This game here was a bit underwhelming.

we will see man who wins !!!

The same can go for cr7!
By that i mean, cr7 in abt 6 or 7 games hasn't been able to score against Barca as well! Thus, Barca knows howda keep him at bay.

If in ur logic the fact that he's finally been able to unlock his run of goals against Barca means he now can be more decisive against us, then by all means so can Messi against Mourinho becoz he too has finally unlocked his run of gaols against Mourinho!

PS: And to only say that Mourinho knows howda beat us as if we dont know howda beat him sounds a bit bias becoz as i recall we've beaten him a couple of times as well! So, I would say it's a 50/50, but certainly not for long!

lol you lose

everyone's always saying messi's better than cr7 but to be honest a true great is measured by his ability to play and excel in another league other than the one he started in. look at all the greats and world stars in their time, pele,maradona,cruyff, van basten, zidane,ronaldo,cr7,van nistelrooy to name a few. these players were all uefa world players and they put their names in granite by excelling with various teams winning with more than one team. when people say that messi's better in what way is he better? he's more humble, he plays a more team game what else??? cr7 left epl dominating it and came to la liga and has dominated it as well remember cr7 has scored 73 goals in 80games for madrid does messi have such an impressive record at game #80????

HAHAHA! Yeah only you seem to think so. All the football pundits have different opinion though :)

Keep entertaining us with these funny comments.

Messi has had the easiest route to stardom at Barca.

Moved and settled in a beautiful city that is Barca (similar climate and language to his home country Argentina). Brought into a team containing the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Ronaldinho, Etoo, Deco etc. and now Villa, Alves etc.

He's never played a game without world class players around him, even at international level where he plays with Higuain, Tevez, Di Maria, Milito, Aguero

PLayed in the same team, league, coutry all his life and for the greatets team on the planet. Ronaldo has had to play in England at the age of 18 away from his fmaliy and he excelled there. mEssi would beg to be subbed off. Messi on a cold's winter day, raining away at Blackburn....dont make me laugh. Hed cry

All this is irrelevant bullshit. On footballing skills I think both are on the same level.

Anyway admire both these players, why do you have to compare.

I don't think so guys. You don't have to go to different league just to prove that your the best. It's like your telling Kobe Bryant to go to Miami Heat or Boston Celtic just to measure if he is the best or not. If I were Messi, I won't care what people says, Messi is the only person who can judge himself. Who can tell if he's the best or not.

"Messi is no where near the level of Ronaldo, Messi has the easiest route to stardom? seriously? When Ronaldo started playing at ManUtd, he is sorrounded with world class players too. Remember?! So, stop comparing guys.


I prefer to have players who has loyalty to his club.

no don't compare football to basketball because though both are the same when u look at rule books. in basketball the only diff is the skill of the individual players, but in football u can see the difference in style of play. in the differing football leagues u can see the preferred style of play,in epl they play a fast, physical game where they use their wingers alot,in spain they move the ball around more they also have wingers but to be honest which team has wingers in spain that really utilise them by sending them out to get behind the defense to provide crosses. compare the type of goals scored in epl by way of headers from wing crosses and corners and then compare that to spain. so it still comes down to style in each league as u can clearly see the diffences. that's y some players when moving from one league to another do not look as comfortable playing for the new team. tell me y is it that hen some players leave a team playing well and don't instantly click with his new team that the comments always made are that he's in a new country, new language still at the hotel not climitised yet??? so ur use of basket ball is pointless as in basketball ur individual skill will always be there. remember it's harder to score a goal in football than it is to shoot and score a basket in basketball.and by the way in the EPL there are more games played in a season than there are in spain and as u've said the football pundits will write about conditions in epl when it's either weather,amount of games,etc and remember in the epl the ref don't blow the whistle for every touch a player receives like in spain!!!!!

Your such a smarty pants!

@Bilboy, All i can say abt all this is that those players u site that have been playing along with Messi are not the ones that makes Messi's incredible runs with the ball. They are not the ones that give themselves assists on goals and certainly are not the ones that makes him a very smart player. Knowing howda make some runs and score goals!

So the logic on team mates has nothing whatsoever to do with an individual player but all to do with the performances of a TEAM! So if u dont mind my saying, i think such arguments are for those who are just desperate to prove one that cr7 is better than Messi! But the facts are there to prove the contrary with Messi having won the individual titles a player can win more than cr7! FACT! and period!

@Bilboy Messi's route to stardom was easy when he had a growth hormone defect at age 12 and because he lived in nice weather? you think he can't do anything in other leagues? have you seen him in the champions league? the level of play isn't all that different between leagues, but if you're convinced that it is, barcelona have beaten arsenal, manchester united, chelsea, and many others with thanks to leo.

Why are you guys still comparing these two players. They are great in their own ways. it doesn't matter what team they played for. And EPL games are not in faster pace, they just tackle each other lot more, which in my point view, was not really meant for football. quite frankly, I think EPL games are sometimes very boring because of all the tackles. If I really wanted to see some tackles, I would put on NFL network and watch American football. So, stop your shits on who's better! you guys are not the experts in the first place and your contemplation is quite ridicules.

I caused a argument..LOL..Sorry guys not because I'm portuguese but Ronaldo probably will move to AC Milan one day because they are even worse on the money spending and he will suceed there as well while Messi will still be in Barcelona...HAHAHA...

BARCA is MESSI's WooooooOOOOrlD!

Id love to see how Messi would perform with the likes of Carrick and Anderson supplying him at a rainy, cold Britannia stadium vs Stoke.

Of course you want Messi at ManU. Everybody wants him in their team. Who knows he might go to epl at 26(ronaldo's age).

I certainly hope he stays though.

lol anderson and carrick? you're naming a world class player to play along side one of the world's worst players?

Get your head out of The Sun's arse and smell the air.

Pedmar, stop talking nonsence. I do not see anybody complaining about how Real Madrid played. Are you schizophrenic or what.

May be the Madrid press and former Madrid managers are most vocal about it.

Are u crazy u must be the schizophrenic one. are u telling me that since that game on saturday, that u have not read ANY comments saying that madrid played negative, anti-football against barca by leaving ozil and kaka on the bench to play pepe in the middle????? johan cruyff, di stefano and a barca forum on this same site FULL of ur fans ALL saying the same thing and i'm the schizophrenic one???

*really*

well if u wanna look pretty LOSING then go ahead, i'd prefer playing tactical football against a stronger opponent looking UGLY doing it and getting a RESULT!!!!!

at the end of the day there's 0 points for passing 500+ times,flicks,tiki taka, u name all the tricks and flicks in football to my knowledge there's still 0 points for that!!!!