Not really, if he wins the final I'd say yes but we played a fairly average Valencia in the semi's, Atletico Madrid are a much better team.

Indeed ........ would have been a damn side better if we'd faced Frankfurt .The locals would be barracking for us remembering the last time the Germans decided to visit Baku ... in their Panzers

Our form against English sides of late doesn't inspire a lot of confidence
...still anything can happen in a final and I didn't think we had a prayer in the cup final against them a couple of years back

I thought he was the best of three also. Monreal had a poor game and Sokratis wasn't great either.

No, four light years behind Peter Simpson...

I just can't see what you saw in him today.

never saw it I have to admit . Stats can be made to prove or disprove anything .

Just tickled how you manage to shoehorn a mention of Per into every post .

Thinking on I wonder if Henry would have scored more goals if Mertesacker had been around back then ..... Bergkamp too might have risen to greater heights .

.
After being distracted skyping the son .... now watching the replay .... great isn't it knowing the result

Here's all their fans in full voice , their team looking all staunch and meaning business

...and yet all the while I know they are all going to be thoroughly pi&%sed off and distraught at the end .

I enjoyed this comment on the Valencia vs Arsenal write up...

"Where their opponents showed intensity, incisiveness and mutual awareness, Arsenal looked more like a charity side who had been introduced to each other just before kick off than a team contesting a European semi-final"

He said he was off the rum after his last bout ... I didn't think it would last long

We will be when we are playing the final. Many miles.

Can't see any reason for thinking that. His influence was on the defensive side of the game.

Alexis's goals to games ratio was 5 times as good for us as utd. So far in wages, he's cost them £10m per league goal. And has another 3 years left on his contract. Thats another £75m in wages!

Mhkitaryan may be overpaid and inconsistent, but he's got twice as many goals and 3 times as many assists in the same time.

I would advise you to lay of the rum and the Fox News, Kiwi. As we age, we need to keep our brains, like our livers, off the piss.

No chance. Barcelona walked the Spanish league this year. Messi has had another season of more goals than games, including 12 in 10 in the Champions League.

Ajax have not yet won the dutch league, and most of their squad have yet to win a domestic trophy, let along a European one, and their entire squad cost them about £60-90m. And as soon as long balls went to Llorente they couldn't cope and their heads went. Plus Ajax totally outplayed Spurs in both first halves, and were only outplayed in the last half of the tie. Liverpool were unlucky to lose in the Nou Camp (they got Messi'd) and played Barca off the park for the entire second leg.

If both teams match their semi-final performance levels, Spurs will get killed. Sadly it is unlikely...

Arsenal and Chelsea are both only getting around 6000 tickets each for the final. Disappointingly low, although assuming I can get a flight I will be going.

After being voted left back of the year in Germany...somehow...

Hauld on we had Atletico last season. Enough said.

Well little Decaf if you get your rocks off watching Ratchel Maddow , Whoopi Goldberg and Don Lemon and the rest of the half wits on CNN who am I to criticise .

Rum is a distant memory ... beer only these days .

See if we beat Chelsea we have a date with either Spurs or Liverpool in Istanbul on the 14 th August ....the Super Cup final .
Just what we need a pointless non event to fill the TV coffers just before the domestic season .

You might want think again about that one https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/48220247

What a misery guts post kiwi.
You're better than that .

... about what CNN , the rum , the Super Cup .....? get Melanie to give you a couple of pointers on being more succinct

Bloody Nora. The capacity of Baku Stadium is some 70k. So with the two clubs taking only 12k between them, 58k will go to other sources.

Not many hanger onners at UEFA then

Forgiven

If more of the players would bring up their own tempo to match these two. Only Ramsey, Guendoezi and Torreira can match them.

We are in an European Final !!!!!!!!!

You are right. We should be overjoyed because they don't come along that often at our club.

I should feel ecstatic and I can't help but feel like we are being set up for a heartbreak in the final. The last month of the season has showed me that given a chance, we will mess it up.

I am no where near confident we can beat Chelsea.

That said, Emery got us to the final. I just wish we could duplicate or away form from Europa to the league.

It's painfully obvious we are a lazy team. We want European nights and play well in European matches but we don't want to do what it takes to get in the competition. The squad wants CL football. Every footballer does, but this squad doesn't want to do the heavy lifting to get there.

There was no sense of urgency in the last 4 matches. CL football in their hands. They determined their own future and didn't show up. They only showed up for the European matches.

Even if we win the final, I won't think of this squad as deserving.

Someone I know is going by train. According to him you won't have time to get on a return flight and will have to come back next day or maybe even later .

Napoli are pretty good though and we despatched them 3-0 hits comfortably

Will Ramsey miss the final ?

Just read that for the first time in football history, the CL (European Cup) and Europa Cup (Cup Winners Cup/UEFA cup) are all from the same country.

Coincidence or is this a testament to just how strong the EPL is?

If god forbid Chelsea wins, they are already in the top 4 presumably so we don't get a 5th club in the EPL? I don't know the rules.

Not sure there has been a game I can recall that would feel so important to our immediately future.
Win the final and we bag a European trophy, we’re top seeds for the champions league and all the riches that come with that, we are able to attract better players, should have more money to spend in the summer and the squad players we want to keep have that belief and experience of winning things
Lose and we are back in the Europa league with all the other top 6 teams moving further and further away from us and it will be even more difficult to catch them next year

I bet you he picks Čech despite him being passed it. He’s terrible at penalty’s and looks all over the place these days. Also he’s joining chelsea next year as keeper coach

Chelsea wont play their reserve keeper that’s for sure

The ticket allocation is a disgrace.

In the after-match euphoria, I had every intention of going to Baku but in the cold light of day, it's a daunting prospect. Unless the club(s) arrange a fleet of planes, it's extremely difficult to get there by scheduled airlines.

Bear in mind it's half-term week in the UK so there's already pressure on flights - not that there are any direct flights to Baku. Long stop-over in Istanbul seems the only option. From my admittedly limited research, given the flight and stop-over times it seems difficult to get there and back in less than a week. The cost is likely to exceed £1,000 per head.

Whilst I could get one, to buy a ticket, I'd need to confirm my travel and accommodation plans - by Monday! And then there's the visa requirements - a quick $23 a pop. And the UEFA Law Enforcement forms that need to be filled in.

The Arse, and I assume the Chavs are making a big thing of their disappointment at their respective 6,000 allocation. The Arse, and I suspect the Chavs are actively seeking increases but unless they take the initiative, and it'd probably need Governmental interventions in the UK and Azerbaijan, it's going to be a logistical nightmare delivering 12,000 (pissed-up) Brits to Baku on a Wednesday night.

Nah. Few years ago maybe but this Final goes into the 'too difficult' file for me.

Mrs Kiwi ..... bless her little cotton socks .... when I ran it passed her ......
Mrs " where's Baku ... ?
Me ........ all Cool Hand Luke ; I was pretty damn sharp on geography in the day .........Azerbaijan
Mrs .... where's that ..?
Me .... near Turkey it's an old Soviet republic ... on the Caspian Sea
Mrs .... why would they have a final there ..?
Me ................