2011 UEFA Champions League Final

A little history first with Wikipedia's help. The 2011 UEFA Champions League Final will be the final match of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League the 56th season of the UEFA Champions League football tournament, and the 19th in the Champions League era. The match will be played on 28 May 2011 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, which will be hosting a record sixth European Cup final after the 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978 and 1992 finals (although the previous five were held at the old Wembley Stadium).

There is guaranteed to be a Spanish team in the 2011 final, as Barcelona and Real Madrid are contesting the second semi-final. The other semi-final is between Manchester United and Schalke 04. If Manchester United make it through, it will be their third final in four years, including the 2009 final against Barcelona, while Schalke have never played in a European Cup final before. As well as their victorious final appearance in 2009, in recent years Barcelona have also been involved in the 2006 final against Arsenal, which they also won. Real Madrid have been in the European Cup final 12 times, winning their three most recent appearances in 1998, 2000 and 2002.

Semi finals are played today and tomorrow and this kind of matches are fun to bet online for. Let's start with my prediction for the first leg of this round.

Schalke 04 vs Manchester United

Sir Alex Ferguson rested a number of key players for Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Everton, to give his side the best possible chance of securing a positive result in Germany. But the Gelsenkirchen is a formidable place to go and get a result and Die Konigsblauen have won all 5 Champions League games there, scoring 13 and conceding just 3 goals along the way. The Red Devils did not conceding an away goal in Europe, winning 4 out of 5 games and it would be no surprise to see even Chicharito drop to the bench. Goals have dominated Schalke’s knockout games, but a semi-final is a semi-final. I would expect to see less than 3 goals being scored with most probable result a 1-1 draw.

Real Madrid vs Barcelona

Yet another El Clasico meeting this month as Real Madrid host Barcelona at the Bernabeu. Barcelona hammered Real Madrid at the Nou Camp back in November 5-0, but since then Jose Mourinho has gained an edge and advantage, drawing 1-1 in La Liga and winning the Copa del Rey most recently. ‘The Special One’ knows all about stifling Barcelona in Europe. Mourinho navigated past Barcelona at the semi-final stage last year, first at the San Siro with Inter winning 3-1, before a narrow loss in the return at the Nou Camp with a late Pique goal. I'd go with a narrow win (1-0) for Real because Jose breathes for this kind of games.

I will make my prediction for the second leg next week.

What is your prediction for the first leg of the semis? Have you placed any online bets on those matches?

Well, I think that you're right with the El Classico; Mourinho will tell his team to sit back and soak the presseure, and hit Barca on the break. Much like they did in the Copa del Rey.

About the Schalke 04 - Man Utd game, I reckon that it will be a 0-0 draw. As much as it it SO one-sided, Neuer is in such good form he will keep them out.

EDIT: there goes my 0-0 prediction

Lol, even the best keepers have to concede to poor defence.

Easy win for united, schalke just rolled over apart from neuer.

At least I was right for expecting an 'under' for goals.
It was a fair result too and if it wasn't for Neuer it could be worse for Schalke.

I didn't follow the game closely, but I have to say that every time I looked up when I heard a cheer, I saw Neuer holding the ball with both hands.

As van der Sar said after the game: Neuer is quite a good keeper.
I wonder if he will go to Bayern or follow up Edwin at Manchester United, next season.

But with this score (and performance) Manchester United will surely not give away their spot in the finals.

As for the rest of the Champions League at the moment:
I believe it could definitely go either way between Barcelona and Real Madrid. After the 5-0 victory, Barcelona would have been my favorite to reach the final. But Real Madrid (or maybe I should say 'Mourinho') has now shown to be capable of beating barcelona, especially in the first half of the Copa del Rey final, where Barcelona did not even manage to get a single effort on goal. And only Valdes' performance, or should I say Ronaldo's shooting, kept them in the game.

And now Iniesta is said to be injured, however Guardiola could be doing the same thing as he did with Puyol last week who was said to be "Out for at least a few weeks".

To conclude, I could not see Schalke 04 qualifying for the final (I really hope for them that they won't get slaughtered in Old Trafford, though) and Real Madrid will definitely have to win tomorrow, as I don't see them winning in Camp Nou. And I am really looking forward to what tricks The Special One will be pulling out of his magic hat

Man U/Barca final, with Barca to win the final 3-1

In final I think it will be Man Utd and Real Madrid and I think Man Utd will win it 1-0.

I reckon Cristiano Robnaldo will score a late goal against Man Utd in the final to win 1-0. That's just how it works when a player plays his old team.