Inter Milan v Bayern Munich, Champions League Final: Open Thread

Ladies and gentlemen, this is it. Although there are no English clubs in the Champions League Final, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan are ready to fight for victory in one of the biggest club competition finals in the sport of soccer.

While many eyes will be fixed to what happens on the field, I’ll be particularly interested in seeing how the Fox Network pulls off the first live telecast of a Champions League Final on US network television. From 1 to 2:30pm ET, Fox Soccer Channel will feature Bobby McMahon, Warren Barton, Eric Wynalda and Jeremy St. Louis live from Madrid for the pre-game show. And then the telecast moves to the Fox Network at 2:30pm ET for the game itself which will be presented by Curt Menefee alongside Bruce Arena.

Before, during and after the game, feel free to add your comments into the section below. Let’s hope it’s a spectacular final!

2:17pm ET: Bobby McMahon and Warren Barton sign off from their pregame duties to make room for Curt Menefee and Bruce Arena. Fair play to McMahon and Barton who have done a brilliant job all season and have yet again done a superb job today. No pressure Arena and Menefee. But the nation is watching!

2:33pm ET: Lovely. Menefee, Arena and Wynalda spend the first 1-2 minutes basically convincing those American viewers at home why they shouldn’t change the channel. Let the soccer do the talking rather than your words, gentlemen. Don’t sound so desperate.

2:44pm ET: First FAIL from Fox. The presenter and analysts were discussing the formations, but Fox failed to put them up on screen until a couple of minutes later. A little slow on the trigger button from Fox.

2:45pm ET: Not a smooth transition from the presenter/analysts to Martin Tyler and Andy Gray. Thankfully, Tyler and Gray will be in charge here for the next 45 minutes.

2:46pm ET: So much for the Champions League Final being shown in HD as it has been promised. It’s supposed to be in HD, but either the HD picture is poor for me (and others) or it’s in SD. It’s definitely not high quality HD.

3:19pm ET: Route one football, and Inter Milan’s Diego Milito scores to make it 1-0 to the Italians. Will that be the only goal of the game?

4:13pm ET: Diego Milito makes it 2-0. Jose Mourinho just increased his salary offer from Real Madrid.

4:35pm ET: Full-time. Inter 2-0 Bayern Munich. Congratulations to Inter Milan on a convincing win. But where was Bayern Munich today? At times, it was a lame performance by the German team who couldn’t seem to break down the Italian team. No surprises here. Congratulations to Jose Mourinho.

4;44pm ET: Nerves or a flub? Menefee pronounces Mourinho as “Ma-ran-yo”