1-800-MY-BOOKIE : Arsenal vs Barcelona

[Odysseus]

Tonite is the night!!! Who will win? Who will take home the cup.

Please place your bet here using Forum Dollar (FD$).......

My bet of FD$10,000 is on Barcelona to win 3-1
=================================================
After Champion League Final......

Odysseus +FD$10,000
RayHong +FD$10,000
Alfred98 -FD$1,000,000
JerryChoo RED REPO

[Rayhong]

FD$10,000 on barca as well... 2-0

[JC]

Got 2 Barca fellow, so, I'm going to support the Gunners!!! ;)

Bang! Bang! Bang! Barca sie liao.... :laugh:

[Rayhong]

apala lu... dun be an arse la... gunners game will be very anal when playing barca la... hmm :D arse-anal.... well if the shoe fits!

[JC]

Hahha... Barca supporter suan me oredi...
OK-lah... Loser pays for teh-o-limau-ais at NKS tonight...

Set?

[alfred98]

Arsenal!! Because I got Arsenal shirt leh.......

[JC]

I got supporter liao....
Alfred+JC... who can topple us?

[Odysseus]

Hahha... Barca supporter suan me oredi...
OK-lah... Loser pays for teh-o-limau-ais at NKS tonight...

Set?
For tonite, I buy u la.. since Barca is going to win anyway... BTW, the match is at 2:00AM Thursday :p

Set at 10PM?

[Odysseus]

Arsenal!! Because I got Arsenal shirt leh.......
What's your stake le...FD$?

[ungsutiong]

Someone bought the linesman already.
If someone buy supper, we come out beramai ramai & watch the game.

[Rayhong]

hallo mr. ball.. glad to see you still well and kicking... the other day after your meeting marathon, you face was white as snow la, haha... who do you support anyway? or just want excuse to makan only?

[JC]

10pm SET!!
All are welcomed especially those in DP... :)

Rayhong, long time no see. Come join us..

[Rayhong]

10pm SET!!
All are welcomed especially those in DP... :)

Rayhong, long time no see. Come join us..

tonight ka? but game at 2.. are you guys planning to watch at the mamak?

[alfred98]

What's your stake le...FD$?
Don't knoe leh...me just hamtam onli....One thing for sure I got a Arsenal shirt lor.....Me no foot ball fans mah.....

[JC]

tonight ka? but game at 2.. are you guys planning to watch at the mamak?
We mamak then go home and watch... ;)

[Rayhong]

We mamak then go home and watch... ;)

me NKS virgin la... how to go? ada thread which give directions?

[JC]

Rayhong can call me anytime to get directions.
Head on to Bandar Sri Damansara and break your virginity... :laugh:

Mana ini Or Tuk Si?? Oii!! You coming, right??

[jerrychoo2004]

got FD one meh? how to get it?
i bet FD$1M can ah? i take arsenal....barca let how many goals? 1 goal?
can bet repo bo? win get green, lose get red...LOL

[Rayhong]

got FD one meh? how to get it?
i bet FD$1M can ah? i take arsenal....barca let how many goals? 1 goal?
can bet repo bo? win get green, lose get red...LOL

... and suddenly, it all became very very interesting!!:eek:

[Voon Chan]

Arsenal will win tonight!!!!!!!!!

[JC]

Alright... VC sama geng... ;)

[Voon Chan]

I think Arsenal still got some fire in them. This is their last chance to win this yearAlright... VC sama geng... ;)

[jerrychoo2004]

yup arsenal still has a chance...i should say around 40% to win
so any takers to bet? wahahahaaa:laugh:

[Odysseus]

I think Arsenal still got some fire in them. This is their last chance to win this year
So confident ah? Place your bet in FD$, please.... also, predict the score.

[Odysseus]

Rayhong can call me anytime to get directions.
Head on to Bandar Sri Damansara and break your virginity... :laugh:

Mana ini Or Tuk Si?? Oii!! You coming, right??
I am the host le.. sure must come la...

If you want to watch in my house, please bring your astro card along hor.... I got decoder and antenna except no account with astro :p

[JC]

I got decoder and antenna except no account with astro :pSame here... hahaha :laugh:

[Voon Chan]

Arsenal win 2-1So confident ah? Place your bet in FD$, please.... also, predict the score.

[Rayhong]

Same here... hahaha :laugh:

ai yo yo.. now it would be a perfect world if i had 2 cards and no decoder right? :p

[Rayhong]

datanglah beramai-ramai ke NKS to watch me and ball devirginize ourselves tonight....! 10PM

[JC]

30 minutes to NKS timeout... Satay, Roti Canai, Teh Halia, Kopi Ginseng, Kopi Tongkat Ali... yummy :)

[Oddfather]

30 minutes to NKS timeout... Satay, Roti Canai, Teh Halia, Kopi Ginseng, Kopi Tongkat Ali... yummy :)
can send some over, ar?? :(

[KoChun]

I am predicting Barcelona to win, but not in 90 mins. Probably in the extra time, probably in the penalty shoot-out.

My prediction, 1-1 at full time.

[jstanly]

I am predicting Barcelona to win, but not in 90 mins. Probably in the extra time, probably in the penalty shoot-out.

My prediction, 1-1 at full time.

yeah agree!! 2-2 will be nice, more goals mah? But really unlikely? Going to be a park the bus at the goal post game?? hopefully not.

But unexpected can happen? Arsenal could ride on their luck in the CL competition and nick in a last minute and win the cup.

[KoChun]

May also end up 0-0. Normally, the final game will always be the anti-climax type, excluding last year's final in Istanbul.

[yee keong]

hot hot hot... 19mins, Jen Lehman sent off for professional foul on Eto. Pires sacrificed for keeper, and Ronaldinho just missed the free kick from the edge of the penalty box. looks like Barca are on advantage!

Barca Barca Barca!!

[yee keong]

half time now. unpredictably, Arsenal drew first blood with a header from SOL CAMPBELL!! although a good header, the free kick was given quite unfairly, as it did look like a dive. i mean, how can you fall in front when you get clip by the chest?? looks like Barca gonna rain shots on Arsenal's goal till it breaks for another 45 mins.

[jerrychoo2004]

well arsenal lasted until 76 min ...but then barca scored 2 goals
so ...its barca for CL
well, how i wonder things are going to turn out if lehman did not get send off

[Odysseus]

Final results : Barcelona 2 Arsenal 1

Campbell 35; Eto'o 77, Belletti 80

May 17, 2006

Barcelona: 1-Victor Valdes; 23-Oleguer, 4-Rafael Marquez, 5-Carles Puyol (c), 12-Giovanni van Bronckhorst; 20-Deco, 15-Edmilson, 17-Mark van Bommel; 8-Ludovic Giuly, 9-Samuel Eto'o, 10-Ronaldinho.
Subs: Jorquera, Belletti, Motta, Xavi, Larsson, Sylvinho, Iniesta.

Arsenal: 1-Jens Lehmann; 27-Emmanuel Eboue, 28-Kolo Toure, 23-Sol Campbell, 3-Ashley Cole; 7-Robert Pires, 19-Gilberto, 8-Fredrik Ljungberg, 15-Francesc Fabregas, 13-Alexandr Hleb; 14-Thierry Henry (c)
Subs: Almunia, Reyes,
Bergkamp, Van Persie, Flamini, Senderos, Clichy.

Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway)

Preamble

Well, here we are. Arsenal kicked off this year’s Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win over FC Thun that was as convincing as a sermon on The Importance Of Chivalry In The Workplace from Labour’s John Prescott. Since then the Gunners have gone from strength to strength and tonight marks the most important night in the history of the north London club. Arsenal go into the final on the back of 10 consecutive clean sheets in the Champions League, against teams such as Villarreal, Real Madrid, Juventus and Ajax, but Barcelona’s chief threat Ronaldinho has thrown down the gauntlet to the parsimonious defence by promising goals galore.

"Finals are not normally games of many goals, except the last one between Liverpool and Milan,” the Brazilian said. “But we're going to try and change that and score goals like Sevilla did in the UEFA Cup final. They scored four goals and nobody expected that.”

Nobody, that is, except those of us familiar with the porous nature of Middlesbrough Football Club’s defence. But I digress - Arsenal and Barcelona arrive in Paris tonight on the back of League campaigns that are startling in contrast. The Catalan side wrapped up their second consecutive Primera División title on May 3, while Arsenal finished fourth in the Premiership - 24 points behind Chelsea. Despite this, Ronaldinho believes tonight’s opposition will be a much tougher proposition.

"It will be harder playing Arsenal than Chelsea," he said. "Against Chelsea we had the opportunity to put things right in our stadium if things didn't go well in the first game. We had luck and played well. The difference with Arsenal is there is no margin for error. This is the reason it will be more difficult. Also, Arsenal have not conceded a goal in ten European matches. That record is proof that we are playing a great team and we will have to make a huge effort. But we give nothing away in defence either.”

The world's most fickle stalker writes ... again

"My dearest, darling Barry," writes Paula Willow, who regular readers will know is a big and slightly disturbed fan of my work. "I greeted the news that you would be writing the minute-by-minute commentary this evening with nothing short of moist excitement. However, it is tinged with a certain sadness. You see, my Irish stallion, I will be out of the office. That means no shameless flirting and no saucy revelations. I am sorry, my love. I am choking up, so I say farewell. Yours for now, Paula Willow(-Glendenning?)."

How the "experts" see it

Having made an executive decision to follow this match on ITV rather than Sky, I find myself wondering what Ally McCoist means when he asks Andy Townsend how "we" are going to stop "them".

Who's we?

Who's them?

No more than myself, neither of those two bozos ever got within an ass's roar of a Champions League final. For anyone who's interested, Tikka-tinged Middlesbrough manager-in-waiting Terry Venables is in the studio with Gabby Yorath-Logan, who is wearing more mascara than you'd expect to see in the audience of a Cure concert.

Tel thinks Arsenal should "get at" Barcelona.

David Lewis writes

"Don't worry. If you were watching this on Sky Sports 1 you'd be wondering where Richard Keys spotted 'the back of Ronaldinho's face'," he sighs.

Pre-match niceties

As a middle-aged woman hugs Michel Platini in the crowd, a massive flag with lots of random dates on it is carried across the pitch. Now lots of people in white jump-suits are mincing around ... think Olympic opening ceremony, but without the longwinded speeches and schoolchildren dressed as trolls and/or woodland nymphs.

The teams emerge from the tunnel ...

Click-clack! Click-clack! Click-clack! Click-clack! Click-clack! Click-clack! Click-clack! Both teams file pass the plinth holding the Champions League trophy and line up for the trademark fancy music.

Barcelona are wearing the traditional home strip that needs no description, while Arsenal have dressed up for the most important night in their history in yellow jersies, black shorts and swirly yellow and black socks.

Thierry Henry wins the toss, I think. Arsenal will play from left to right; Barcelona will kick off. The ball, that is. They're not starting a fight.

1 min: A throw for Arsenal deep in their own half. Barcelona's Edmilson concedes the first free-kick of the game near the halfway line, for obstructing Cesc Fabregas.

Arsenal take it and apply some pressure to Barca in the final third, but the Catalan side clears comfortably.

2 mins: A horrific miss from Thierry Henry, who pulls away from his marker, controls with a fantastic first touch and shoots straight at Victor Valdez from all of seven yards. That's dreadful.

The Barcelona goalkeeper saved well, but shouldn't have been given the opportunity to do so. It really was the easiest chance you'll ever see. Valdez tips the ball out for a corner, from which the ball falls to Henry about 25 yards out. His dipping shot brought another great save out of the Barcelona goalkeeper, who had to fling himself low and to his right. With just two minutes on the clock, Arsenal should be ahead.

5 mins: Arsenal go on the attack again - they're really bossing the early stages of this game, having rocked Barcelona back on their heels twice in the first five minutes. Henry's first effort was as near to a sitter as you'll get in a Champions League encounter in which Djimi Traore doesn't feature.

Barcelona finally get into the final third and the ball is fed to Ronaldinho. His first touch is uncharacteristically leaden-footed and he gives the ball away. He's a notorious big-game bottler, just like Thierry Henry. [Min-by-min reporter inserts tongue into cheek]

7 mins: For Barcelona, Ludovic Giuly picks up the ball on the right flank and shoots from a narrow angle. His rising drive stung the palms of Jens Lehmann at the near post, but never looked in too much danger of going in.

10 mins: Ronaldinho appeals for a free-kick after being brought down just outside the Arsenal penalty area. "He always plays with a smile on his face," declared Ally McCoist (or was it Andy T) before the game. He wasn't f**king smiling there.

11 mins: Free-kick for Barcelona, about 35 yards out, straight in front of goal. Ronaldinho whips it up, over the wall, but his effort fizzes left and wide.

"Djimi might bottle big games but he does have a Champions League medal unlike Thierry Henry," writes Adrian Richmond.

He's right you know - and to think this used to be such a prestigious competition.

13 mins: Arsenal free-kick, wide on the left. The ball is swung into the Barcelona box, where Sol Campbell is penalised for jumping in the same postal district as goalkeeper Victor Valdez. It makes no odds anyway, as the Barcelona stopper did very well to hold on to the ball after plucking it from the sky.

15 mins: Thierry Henry breaks from inside his own half, gallops down the left and attempts to thread the ball between two Barcelona defenders into the path of Robert Pires. He makes a pig's ear of his attempt ast a pass and Carles Puyol hacks clear.

Moments later, sloppy play by Gilberto results in Deco getting possession and trying a shot. In the Arsenal goal, Jens Lehmann treats his rising drive with the Teutonic contempt it deserves.

17 mins: Oh lordy! Barcelona score courtesy of Giuly, but the goal doesn't stand as the referee had blown his whistle to penalise and send off Jens Lehmann for bringing down Samuel Eto'o just outside the Arsenal box.

Ronaldinho had put the Barcelona striker through one-on-one against the curly-haired German, who charged off his goal and clattered Eto'o. The ball broke to Ludovic Giuly, who slotted the ball into the back of the Arsenal net, but much to his disgust his effort was disallowed by thie whistle-happy referee.

So Lehmann goes off, Robert Pires is substituted and Manuel Almunia comes on to go in goal. Barcelona have a free-kick about one foot outside the Asenal box, directly in front of goal.



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[Odysseus]

20 mins: Ronaldinho sends the consequent free-kick fizzing just wide of the left-hand upright. Arsenal are down to 10 men, with Lehmann being the first goalkeeper ever to be sent off in a Champions League final. If they're going to win this, they'll have to do it the hard way.

"Thanks to the Grauniad's revolving series of on-screen ads that appear on your minute-by-minute coverage, I am now considering replacing my kitchen countertops with DuPont Corian," writes Alex Cowell. "I am particularly drawn to the idea of giving my kitchen a whole new look in just a few days. Just thought I'd share that with you."

Thanks for that Alex - your email confirms that my work is done. I'm on comission you know - for every kitchen countertop sold, I get to spend walk another lap of the exercise yard.

24 mins: "I'm trying to follow this at work but my boss is watching. Any chance you could put your minute-by-minute report in an excel spreadsheet format for me please?" enquires Luke Crane.

I'm afraid there isn't Luke, but I can advise you that you could do worse than replace your kitchen countertops with DuPont Corian.

25 mins: There's a break in play as a Barcelona player goes down injured, which affords me the opportunity to observe that Luke Crane doesn't need to worry about getting sacked as he works for a company called Innovative Employee Solutions.

Is it just me, or does anyone else suspect that's an incredibly pretentious way of describing a Job Centre?

28 mins: "Fabregas has to hold his ground with Gilberto," says my Guardian colleague David Pleat on ITV, and who am I to disagree? He also wonders if Arsenal would prefer a one-goal deficit with 11 men to their current predicament.
31 mins: "Not that I expect you to actually know the answer to this, but why are they playing with a ball covered in hot pink stars?" asks Scott Burghart, who's clearly isn't aware that tonight's match-ball has been sponsored by Elton John and David Furnish.

There's been little in the way of chances since Jens Lehmann got his marching order, with both teams trying to adapt to the changed circumstances.

33 mins Ronaldinho picks up the ball in midfield, gallops forward and slips the ball through to Ludovic Giuly, who had split the Arsenal defence. He hadn't reckoned on Kolo Toure, however, and the big Ivorian put him off his stride while Manuel Almunia dived at his feet to retrieve the ball.

Moments later, Ronaldinho picked out another darting run by Giuly, but this time Ashley Cole was alert to the danger and put a stop to the Frenchman's gallop.

35 mins - GOAL!!!! Emmanuel Eboue wins a free-kick for Arsenal in the flank between the Barcelona penalty area and the touchline after not being touched by Carles Puyol. It was a blatant dive, but the referee fell for it.

Thierry Henry floats in the free-kick and an unmarked Sol Campbell sends a thumping header past Victor Valdez into the Barcelona goal.

38 mins: Now we have ourselves a game of football - that was the easiest goal you'll ever see scored. Oleguer's marking was shocking.

Meanwhile, this from Isabel O'Doherty. "I'll be your new stalker," she declares. "Any chance of a picture?"

That's the kind of shallowness I expect from Willow - is my scintillating personality not reason enough to devote your life to following me around and thinking up new and more innovative ways of breaking into my house at night so that you can sit in my room watching me sleep.

42 mins: Great play by Kolo Toure and Alexandr Hleb, who string together a series of short neat passes, in the process clearing the Arsenal lines while simultaneously creating a kind of imaginary double-helix corkscrew shape. See - reading this is like being in Paris ... discussing existentialism in a Latin Quarter cafe.

Arsenal aren't resting on their laurels here by the way - they're surging forward in a bid to go two goals up and finish this game as a contest ... much like, er, West Ham did in the FA Cup final last Saturday.

According to Clive Tyldesley on ITV (he hasn't mentioned "that famous night in 1999" yet, you know) Arsenal have now gone 16 hours of Champions League football without conceding a goal.

I really should have some interesting facts and statistics at my fingertips like the proper commentators do.

Hold on, here's one - the monarch butterfly's sense of taste is about 12,000 times more sensitive than a human's.

44 mins: You get the feeling it's not going to be Barcelona's night. They attack and Ronaldinho picks out Samuel Eto'o in the Arsenal box. The Cameroon striker pulls away from Campbell, turns and strikes a left-footed thunderbolt. Manuel Almunia gets fingertip to it and sends it onto his right upright, which will be rattling for the rest of the evening, such was the power of the shot. A magnificent save.

Half-time analysis

"Alex Cowell (20 mins) should count himself lucky it's only a kitchen ad," writes Bill Stair. "For the past few weeks GU has been presenting me with gruesome Republican ads asking if I think Condaleeza Rice should be president or if I think the smirking chimp is doing a good job. I've tried re-registering from an English address, but they just keep on coming."

"I am at work in Canada," writes Matthew Salter. "My boss says I can follow your commentary providing you mention the Ice Hockey playoffs, and especially how wonderful the Edmonton Oilers are.
Help me out here please!"

"The Lehmann sending off incident is identical to that of Cech in last year's semi-final against Liverpool," writes Perry Fung. "However that refereee had common sense while this referee has ruined a potentially spectacular game."

Too true, Perry. Damn those pesky referees for applying the rules of the game. Andy and Ally will be up in arms about this at half-time.

It's the Andy and Ally show ...

Andy and Ally are up in arms about the referee's terrible decisino to send off Jens Lehmann. Is it beyond the wit of some Arsenal fan to organise a half-time chant which allows us, the viewers, to hear 35,000 people mocking this buffoonish double-act in song simultaneously?

"It's going to be a long 45 minutes," says Ally. So now you know.

More incisive analysis

"Any chance of asking David Pleat to re-create his famous 1983 on-pitch dance if Arsenal win the match?" asks David Lewis.

"Tell Alex Cowell to forget Corian," says Andy Garrido. "If you want to make your kitchen spanking cool get granite."

"I don't work in the dole office," counters Luke Crane from Innovative Employee Solutions. "We are a payrolling company for the transient workforce."

Hangdammit! Half-time is over and I had neither a Nicotine Replacement Solution nor a Caffeine Rplacement Solution. I did, however, scoff a couple of tasty Foreign Chocolate Wafer Biscuit Solutions.

45 mins: Arsenal get the second half underway. Within seconds, Freddie Ljungberg wins a free-kick when Giovanni van Bronckhorst brings him down in the centre-circle. Barcelona have made one change at half-time - Iniesta is on for Edmilson.

"I'm following this in France," writes Paul O'Sullivan. "In a bid to avoid their commentary (we get mentions of Robert Pires going off in tears every 10 seconds) I'm reading your rubbishy
one instead. And because the wonderful Grauniad site figures out I'm in France, they don't show me ads for fitted kitchens - it's boring old crap about buying the last 2 weeks of the Guardian Digital Edition. How desperate can you get?"

Don't knock it until you've tried it, Paul. It's just the thing to enjoy with a big green bag of Balocco Wafers.

48 mins: "What’s all this about counter-tops?" wonders Neville Wardle. "I’m being urged to consider a flight to London on BA this autumn with the lure of some sort of a pass to get into the Palace. If they’d got into the Premiership it might have been worth it. Oh."

As you may have guessed, folks, there's not much going on in the Stade de France at the ... oh, hold on. Thierry Henry surges forward, is dispossessed by Howard Marks lookalike Carles Puyol and promptly wins the ball back. Moments later, he's booked for a late lunge on Mark van Bommel.


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[Odysseus]

51 mins: Barcelona break and their substitute Iniesta shoots low and hard from about 20 yards. Despite the greasy surface (it's raining heavily), Almunia gets down quickly and holds on to the ball.

53 mins: Barcelona win a very central free-kick about 30 yards out, when Kolo Toure brings down Ronaldinho. The Brazilian stands over the ball with his hands on his hips and gives the goal the old "Jedi mind-trick" stink-eye. It's to no avail, as he cannons the ball into the Arsenal wall. Whether it's the correct decision or not, the referee awards Arsenal a goal-kick.

"We don't get any adverts flashed up here in Norway," moans Simon Porter in Oslo. "It's probably because everything's so expensive here. I pay £5 for a pint on a Friday after work and that's
the only time I can afford a drink."

Ah, but think of all the death metal you get to listen to played by Oslo's disaffected, suicidal and satanist youth.

58 mins: Gio van Bronckhorst sends a hanging cross into the Arsenal box, which Manuel Almunia does well to hold on to. He's played ever so well since coming on.

Corner for Arsenal, won by Thierry Henry off Carles Puyol. It's send into the box and Barcelona clear. An attempted counter-attack by Samuel Eto'o is foiled by Sol Campbell.

Barcelona substitution: Larsson on, van Bommel (I think) off.

61 mins: He always plays with a smile on his face, but at the moment it looks more like a rictus grin - the ball sits up nicely for Ronaldinho, who scuffs and slices it horribly wide.

From the kick-out, Arsenal launch a sortie deep into Barcelona territory, courtesy of Messrs Henry, Fabregas and Hleb. With the Barcelona defence stretched to breaking point, Hleb shoots low and wide.

63 mins: "Perhaps this Norwegian ref has been listening to a lot of death metal - he certainly seems determined to kill the game of football with his unbelievably bad decisions," writes David Lewis.

Yes, Mr Hauge has made quite a few odd calls this evening. He hasn't got anything horribly wrong yet, but his errors appear to be cancelling each other out.

66 mins: Thierry Henry takes the ball down the left wing, with Carles Puyol sprinting alongside him. The Frenchman promptly moves up a gear, leaving his marker in the dust. Cutting inside, he pokes the ball a bit too far ahead of him and allows Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdez to snatch it from his feet.

Moments later, there's another Arsenal attack down the left flank. Freddie Ljungberg cuts inside, shoots from a narrow angle and brings a smart save out of Valdez.

68 mins: Thierry Henry misses another sitter. Having been put through one-on-one against Victor Valdez, he scuffs a low, weak shot straight at the goalkeeper from about 14 yards out. It was a feeble effort. Immediately afterwards, Ronaldinho shoots narrowly wide of Manuel Almunia's right-hand upright.

70 mins: Barcelona substitution: Oleguer, who has had a shocker, off. Belletti on.

72 mins: After picking up a pass from Deco, Ronaldinho tries to force his way past Ashley Cole down the right-hand side of Arsenal's penalty area. The defender does enough to force him wide and the Brazilian's low shot doesn't trouble Almunia. He should have crossed. Greedy boy.

73 mins: Arsenal substitution: Cesc Fabregas off, Mathieu Flamini on.

Arsenal have a corner, which Thierry Henry whips into the box only to see it headed clear. The Nine-banded Armadillo or Peba always produces a litter of either four male or four female little Pebas.

75 mins: GOAL!!!! Samuel Eto'o equalises for Barcelona. "The sight is in end (sic)," said Clive Tyldesley not ten seconds ago. Now he claims "it was only a matter of time" before Barcelona scored. It was a wonderful goal from the Cameroon striker. The ball was sent low and hard down the left flank by Deco, Larsson flicked it into the path of Eto'o, who made a fool of Eboue, left him in his dust and sent a low drive past Almunia at the near post.

Not many teams can score goals at that kind of breakneck speed - Arsenal are one of them, Barcelona are another.

80 mins: GOAL!!! Full-back Belletti puts Barcelona 2-1 up with his first goal in two years. It was another peach, set-up once again by a great pass from Henrik Larsson. The Swede had the ball on the right flank, saw Belletti galloping into the Arsenal box and picked him out perfectly with a weighted cross. Belletti ran onto the ball about 10 yards out, took a couple of strides and promptly smashed a low diagonal drive between the legs of a horribly-exposed (oh behave!) Almunia at the near post.

83 mins: Kolo Toure fouls Deco with a desperate lunge. Arsenal substitution: Hleb off, Reyes on.

"Being, as I am, in the market for counter-tops, I can only read with envy the adverts being targetted at readers in the UK," writes Damian. "I'm in Denmark where I'm being alternately enticed to visit an American computer store and contribute (I assume) to the United Negro College Fund."

86 mins: It's lashing rain in Paris with four minutes to go, and 10-man Arsenal are in all sorts of bother. At the moment they're having trouble just winning possession from Barcelona, who are frustrating them with their trademark possession football.

Rafael Marquez finally miscontrols the ball and knocks it wide - gifting possession to Arsenal, who win a throw-in halfway inside the Barcelona half. The eyesight of the Sparrowhawk is about eight times more acute than that of a human.

88 mins: Barcelona win a corner. Ronaldinho tips the ball to Deco and Barcelona's players begin stroking it around between them again. The camera pans on the King of Spain, who is in the crowd. That's King Juan Carlos I, who is a direct descendant of many famous European rulers, such as Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ... not his equally regal counterpart the hip-knacked English wheelie-bin impersonator Ashley Giles.

90+1 mins It's all Barcelona at the moment, which is not good news for Arsenal fans. Belletti finds Ludovic Giuly with a delightful little dink, but the Frenchman shoots straight at Almunia. Larsson obstructs the goalkeeper as he tries to punt the ball down the field, so the referee awards Arsenal a free-kick from their own penalty area. It's wellied down the field, but Arsenal clear their lines.

90+3mins Peep! Peep! Peep! The referee draws proceedings to a close with three shrill blasts on his whistle, prompting raucous celebrations from the Barcelona players.

Those who believe Thierry Henry has a habit of going missing in big games have been armed with yet another big stick with which to beat the Arsenal striker. Has he played his last game for Arsenal? Will Barcelona want him anymore after seeing the two easy chances he squandered this evening? More importantly, has a female European Eagle Owl ever been recorded as living to the age of 68?

So many questions, so little time.

Post-match niceties ...

"Not meaning to be a pedant or anything," writes Mael Cronic. "But King Juan Carlos is actually a descendant of the French Bourbons (Louis XIV to be precise), not the Hapsburgs of Charles V. Quite fitting for this game really."

The presentation

As assorted Arsenal players stand around looking glum, the Barcelona players collect their medals and gather on the podium that's just been erected in the middle of the field. There, Lennart Johansson present the trophy to Carles Puyol, who was born and reared in Catalonia. It's the kind of touching scene that would bring a tear to a glass eye.

Please refer to Post 1 for your account

[ungsutiong]

Odisi, excellent post. Thanks for sharing.

[jerrychoo2004]

oh well the season is over with CL winner barca
now we can gear up towards world cup

[Odysseus]

oh well the season is over with CL winner barca
now we can gear up towards world cup
How u wanna pay your RED repo ah?

[LiLiaN]

if you get one and you think it's an abuse, report it to admin/mod...
however do remember forummers have right to rep as they see fit...
otherwise, can we not get into repo issues again? thank you.

by the way, feel sorry for the gunner fans out here...
but to have 10 men only on the pitch, that was tough...
good play though, to lead for most part of the match...

[Odysseus]

if you get one and you think it's an abuse, report it to admin/mod...
however do remember forummers have right to rep as they see fit...
otherwise, can we not get into repo issues again? thank you.

by the way, feel sorry for the gunner fans out here...
but to have 10 men only on the pitch, that was tough...
good play though, to lead for most part of the match...
Lilian, I don;t think we have any issue here with Repo here. Jerry was juz joking if you read his post somewhere in this thread...

[LiLiaN]

then good, move on. :)

[Rayhong]

odisi... where is my FD$10,000??

[Odysseus]

odisi... where is my FD$10,000??
Let me engage Ah Long Debt Collection Services to collect the FD$1M from loctor first. Then, I pay u with 100% interest la....

[Rayhong]

Let me engage Ah Long Debt Collection Services to collect the FD$1M from loctor first. Then, I pay u with 100% interest la....

Ah Long Debt Collection charge very high interest la... ask JCWong & Ball firm to do it la... unless they are 'disbarred' :p

[alfred98]

Let me engage Ah Long Debt Collection Services to collect the FD$1M from loctor first. Then, I pay u with 100% interest la....
U forgot loctor are bigger Ah Long lah.....

[Odysseus]

U forgot loctor are bigger Ah Long lah.....
My ah long from kuala lumpur mali hoor... no scare ah?