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If you’re in a hurry, the goals from the Barcelona v Chelsea game, as well as Mourinho’s celebration, is at the end of this post.

Wow…

The fallout from last night’s game will take more than a few days to settle down - reminds me of Arsenal vs Manchester United a few years back, and if things continue as they are, the clubs might have to intervene and tone down the on-field / off-field rivalry.

Unfortunately, I missed the game and only caught the highlights, so I don’t feel comfortable in telling you what happened (yes, I have the goals, they’re at the end, hang on a minute, will ya? ). From the match accounts I’ve read though, here’s what I think:

• The on-pitch antics from both sides took away from the quality football that these two teams are capable off and showed in spurts. Our old friend Robbo thinks that it was Chelsea dragging down Barcelona to their level but the whole cycle of “they started it first” is tiresome, childish and absolutely boring.

  You expect better from champions.

• Mourinho, for all his faults, is a fantastic motivator of troops and he is, more than anyone else, responsible for the passion Chelsea display on the pitch. Terry’s performances for club and country are sometimes so chalk and cheese that you wonder if he’s missing Mourinho or not. Surely England could do much worse (and have, with Stevo) than pick Mourinho to be the manager.
• Lampard’s goal was NOT deliberate
• To me, Barcelona are not as psyched up about Chelsea as Chelsea are about them. Maybe it has to do with Barcelona having won the Champions League, or maybe it’s a difference in coaching philosophies. Maybe it’s just Chelsea’s o- and Mourinho’s - obsession with being the best.
• We really, really need to do something about the standard of officiating. Wenger’s making all the right noises, let’s hope they listen.

Goals

Surprise - YouTube has suspended my account! (Some background here) No worries though, as I’ve put up the download links below - if they don’t work after a few days, don’t blame me, just head over to FutbolFever or SoccerPulse and get the clips from there.

• Barcelona 1-0 Chelsea (Deco)
• Barcelona 1-1 Chelsea (Lampard)
• Barcelona 2-1 Chelsea (Gudjohnsen)
• Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea (Drogba)
• Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea (Mourinho celebration)

Note that forums require you to register before you can mess around, so you’ll have to do some work to get the vids. The links above should work for the next couple of days, so get em!