Archive for the ‘Champions’ Category
Is English football losing its lust in Europe?
What is going on? Last year three English sides were up for the title in quarter-finals. Now the reputation of English football relies only on Chelsea.
Manchester City and Manchester United did not pass the initial stages of the competition, and Arsenal was swept away by an amazing Milan lead by an even more amazing Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Of course, a second leg still remains to be played, but, frankly, even Arsène Wegner is pessimistic, saying that their performance, last Wednesday, was “the worst in Europe ever”. Something similar was said a few days ago when Chelsea´s manager Andre Villas-Boas stated that his team defeat to Everton (2-0) was the worst of the season so far. So let´s just way that right now it is difficult to have faith on Chelsea, the only English team alive in Champions. They will face Napoli next Tuesday in Stadio San Paolo.
If neither Arsenal nor Chelsea passes this round, it would mean the worst European Cup performance in 16 years by English teams.
On the other side, Italian football seems to be making a comeback. Napoli beat Manchester City, and Milan crashed Arsenal.
Could it be that Italians are back, and English teams are rapidly fading way? Or are we jumping to conclusions too soon?
Goals and Records
Plenty of goals and records in the last round of Champions League matches, all coming from FC Barcelona.
The highlight: Lionel Messi and his fabulous hat-trick, becoming the second 200 goal scorer in FC Barcelona´s history. It was also the day Pep Guardiola coached his 200th official game for Barça and goalkeeper Victor Valdes set a new Barcelona record for minutes without conceding a goal.
On Group G Zenit won Shakhtar Donetsk (1-0) with an only goal from Nicolas Lombaerts. And Apoel surprisingly remains the group´s leader after beating Porto (2-1)
On Group H an early and only goal from Ibrahimovic wasn´t enough for Milan, that had to settled with a draw against Bate Borisov (1-1). And now the match of records: Plzen players did whatever they could but still had to endure the whole force of FC Barcelona (hat-trick from Messi included ) losing (0-4)
On Group E Valencia beat Bayern Leverkusen (3-1) with one of the quickest goals to remember. The Brazilian Jonas scored after only 12 seconds from the start of the match. And Chelsea doesn’t seem to be at its best moment, getting just a draw with Genk (1-1)
On Group F there were few goals. Arsenal and Marseille finished with a draw (0-0). The euphoria after beating Chelsea (5-3) on the Premier did not last and even though they tried, Arsenal players did not score a single time.
The only goal in this group was from Borussia Dortmund ´s Kevin Grosskreutz, giving his team a victory over Olympiacos (1-0)
On Group A there were plenty of goals between Bayern and Napoli, (3-2) with a hat-trick from Mario Gomez that secured the victory for the Germans. On a sad note, Bastian Schwinsteiger fractured his collarbone in the 51st minute in an unfortunate collision with Gökhan Inler. Manchester City smashed Villarreal hopes, now eliminated from the tournament (0-3)
On Group B no goals in Turkey between Trabzonspor and CSKA Moskva (0-0). And Inter beat Lille (2-1), thanks to goals from Walter Samuel and Diego Milito.
On Group C Manchester United did their homework at Old Trafford beating Otelul Galati (2-0). Benfica got a home draw (1-1) against Basel, missing the opportunity to secure qualification.
On Group D Real Madrid did as expected of them in France, beating Olympique Lyonnais (0-2) with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice, thanks to a free-kick and and a penalty. Ajax also won easily, and with style, Dinamo Zagreb (4-0)
Next Champions activity on November 22nd and 23rd
No surprises in Champions
Another round of Champions League matches went by without surprises.
AC Milan, FC Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester, CSKA Moscow, Manchester United, Ajax, Real Madrid, and Olympiakos beat their opponents as expected. The highlights were Madrid´s easy win over Olympique Lyonnais (4-0) and Chelsea’s 5 goals against Genk, two of them from Fernando Torres.
Let´s start with Group H, were AC Milan and Barcelona both shared the same result beating their team (2-0). Milan went ahead with a strong Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and after that the whole match was a stroll for the Italians that won effortless against Bate Borisov. Barcelona had multiple occasions, mostly came from Messi, but at the end it was Iniesta and later on David Villa the ones that ended up scoring.
On Group A, Bayer Munich dropped their first points of the Champions League against Napoli (1-1) and Manchester City beat Villarreal only a few minutes away from the end, thanks to Sergio Aguero that scored the second goal for the City (2-1)
On Group C, Benfica beat Basel, (2-0) and Manchester United registered their first Champions League win of the season against SC Otelul Galati (2-0)
On Group B, CSKA Moskva beat Trabzonspor (3-0) with a stellar performance from Seydou Doumbia who scored twice. Inter Milan won over Lille (0-1)
On Group D, Real Madrid was the highlight of Tuesday night matches beating easily Olympique Lyonnais (4-0). Ajax won away against Dinamo Zagreb (0-2)
The following day, on Group E it was Chelsea’s turn to hit the net on multiple occasions beating Genk (5-0) with two goals from Fernando Torres. Bayer Leverkusen wiped off Valencia´s hope beating the Spanish team (2-1)
On Group F Arsenal beat Marseille (0-1) and Olympiakos won Dortmund (3-1)
On Group G there were two draws, Shakhtar Donetsk against Zenith (2-2) and FC Porto-Apoel Nicosia (1-1)
The first qualifying round will continue on November 1st and 2nd.
