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| Champions League | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 1 2008, 07:30 AM (4,241 Views) | |
| Winslow | Oct 21 2008, 01:37 PM Post #76 |
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Tuesday's scores... . . . . . . . Group E: Aalborg 3, Villarreal 6; Man United 3, Celtic 0. Group F: Bayern Munich 3, Fiorentina 0; Steaua Bucharest 3, Lyon 5. Group G: Fenerbahce 2, Arsenal 5; Porto 0, Dynamo Kyiv 1. Group H: Juventus 2, Real Madrid 1; Zenit 1, BATE 1. The lads had their shooting boots on tonight, with two five-spots and a six-spot in these eight matches. The Battle of Britain was won by the officials, as Berbatov was offside on both of his goals while Rooney's first was called back when he was clearly onside (he scored again later and it counted). Llorente got a hat trick in Denmark, but the goal of the night was Capdevila's screamer from outside the area that went straight into the upper corner. Otherwise, Bayern and Arsenal led early and never looked back, while Lyon went back-and-forth with the Romanians; Benzema scored a pair. Porto hasn't won yet in the group stage. |
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| Simon | Oct 21 2008, 03:51 PM Post #77 |
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Brilliant night of football, 36 goals apparently is a joint record for one night of CL action. United played excellently tonight and Rooney was electric once again. Berbatov also really looks the part now and some of the movement and one-touch football we played was superb. All of which means that poor Tevez is having a sustained run on the bench which is unfortunate for him as he's a top player, but right now we can't change a winning formula. Tevez did have a 30 min cameo as a replacement for Berbatov. Winslow is right that it wasn't a great night for the officials but neither Strachan nor any of his players were hiding behind excuses. They all said that we're the best team in the world and the best they've ever played against, which I certainly don't mind hearing! As an interesting aside about Celtic's away form, they have 1 draw and 16 defeats from 17 CL away games, but apparently 12 of those games have been against European champions past or present and their last 4 away defeats prior to tonight have been by just 1-0 each time at Benfica, Barcelona, AC Milan and Villarreal. It just goes to show how many sharks swim in this CL sea! But yes, tonight's game between the team with the best home record in Europe and the team with the worst away record in Europe went to form, and even though Celtic were unlucky with the officials it looks like a UEFA Cup run is the best they can hope for this season. As for the other games, where to start? Arsenal made a mockery of their tough trip to Fenerbahce who hadn't previously lost a home game for 3 years. They kind of played their 'Carling Cup team' i.e. the team of kids they play in England's least important competition, the League Cup. We're used to seeing this great crop of youngsters (average age about 20) score hatfuls of goals in that competition but it's something else to do it in Istanbul in the CL! 17 year-old Welsh prodigy Aaron Ramsey played brilliantly and scored a fine goal, and it was only in January that he made his debut in senior football for Cardiff, played in the FA Cup Final for them and now he's scoring for Arsenal in the CL! One to look out for. The Gunners were glorious coming forward tonight, they scored five and it should have been more, but they were also vulnerable at the back and can be grateful that Guiza had a dreadful game. I'm also very impressed with Juve who put aside their injury crisis and secured an important win to continue what Libero mentions is their strong record against Real Madrid. It looked to me like Madrid stepped their game up in the second half when Robben came on, but other than Ruud's goal it didn't seem that they created any real chances and were reliant on long-range strikes from VDV and Sneijder, dangerous though some of those strikes were. So that's now one win in 10 CL away games for Real, is this something that concerns our Real contingent or is it they can work out in forthcoming matches? Great goal by Del Piero, by the way, and it's a pleasure to see one of my favourite players doing so well towards the end of his career. Couple of other observations, there was plenty of comical defending going on from all four teams involved in the Villarreal-Aalborg and Steaua-Lyon games, I hope the first two of those clubs keep that up towards the end of group play! Looks like Bayern clicked tonight at least, as they easily put Fiorentina away. Perhaps Toni won the 'battle of the number 9s' that Merengue highlighted, as although neither scored at least Toni was involved in the first two Bayern goals. Also, we were keenly anticipating whether Zenit could make the step up to CL level. Well, the evidence so far is that they can't. If they lose in Borisov (I take it that's the name of the city? Pardon my ignorance!) then it looks like won't even get to defend their UEFA Cup title. |
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| enganche | Oct 21 2008, 08:07 PM Post #78 |
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It is good to see the attacking football we saw at Euro 2008 has continued in the Champions League. As Simon wrote, Manchester United may have had some help from the officials with Berbatov's two goals but they were clearly superior to Celtic. Juventus with a much needed win and they took play early on to Real Madrid. That is what I like to see offensive football. The best way to keep the opponent from scoring is to make them defend! Juve created some problems for themselves when they sat back with their two goal lead. Porto are having a terrible Champions League. Looks like their policy of selling off stars and replacing them with equal quality players is not paying off now. I guess you cannot always find comparable replacements for the players you sell. |
| Prefiero morir de pie que vivir arrodillado | |
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| historyman | Oct 21 2008, 09:34 PM Post #79 |
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It was a wonderful night of attacking, free-flowing football, and when I was reading the list of full-time scores it seemed like a collection of ice hockey results! As Simon highlighted, United were superb in some of their touch, vision and movement. Although the officials made a few big mistakes with their offside decisions, it would be a travesty to suggest that Celtic deserved to get something out of this game. They were, quite simply, outclassed. I loved Wayne Rooney's goal, how he was able to create a little bit of space for himself on the edge of the box and shoot so accurately past Boruc into the corner of the goal. His all round performance was excellent - when he lost possession near the end of the match he chased back thirty yards to win the ball back again. How many other players would do that if their team was 3-0 ahead? Interestingly, one of the pundits on Irish TV - Johnny Giles - compared Rooney to a rawer version of Bobby Charlton. He felt that if Rooney continued to improve his passing, shooting and vision then he could develop into a similar type of player. Giles played alongside Charlton for Man Utd in the early 60s, so it was an astute observation to make. Simon's point about Celtic's away form was noteworthy. Another example of how statistics can be manipulated to prove almost anything! They do show that the margin for error in the CL is so tight, which is one of the reasons why the quality of the football on display is often so high. I didn't see any highlights from the other games, but two results that stood out for me were Arsenal's 5-2 win in Istanbul. Considering that Wenger was complaining before the tournament about the travel distance involved, that scoreline was definitely a case of business well done. Good win for Juve over Real Madrid. That will hopefully give Claudio Ranieri some breathing space as he attempts to overcome their poor start to the season. |
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| Merengue | Oct 21 2008, 11:25 PM Post #80 |
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I didn't like the final result obviously but thought Juventus vs Real Madrid was a pretty good match. Juve did come out very strong and put Madrid under pressure from the opening whistle. They didn't have to wait long to score either as Cannavaro did not track Del Piero and he scored on a nice shot from outside the box after 5 minutes. Juve's 2nd came in the 2nd period on a deflection off of Heinze of an Amauri ehader. I give Juve credit for closing Madrid down in midfield well, Sissoko in particular played well but Madrid had their chances in the 2nd half other than van Nistelrooy's headed goal. A midfield of Sneijder, van der Vaart and Gago looks good on paper but they still have some work to do to coordinate their play although I thought Sneijder played well. Raul was not at his best in this one and I thought he rather than Higuain should have come off in the 2nd half. To answer Simon's question, yes I am somewhat concerned about Real Madrid's road struggles. Once the team reaches the knockout stages they will have to perform better. Curiously in domestic league play Madrid usually does quite well playing away from the Bernabeu but in Europe they are struggling. I watched Zenit's tie with BATE and it was an entertaining game. Zenit really should have won it as they hit the post and bar several times and were denied by some top notch saves from BATE's goalie. But we have a saying in Spanish, you don't deserve goals, you score them (OK it sound better in Spanish where it rhymes, los goles no se merecen, se hacen) and Zenit's draw could prove costly. As Simon wrote it looks like all that is left for them is to try an edge BATE out for the UEFA Cup slot from this group. Arsenal-Fenerbahce was a strange game, Arsenal were superb in attack with their speed and movement but they were also helped by some poor defending by Fenerbahce. But on the other end, Arsenal's substitute backline (they fielded 6 regular first teamers in their starting team) also gave Fener plenty of opportunities but Dani Guiza in particular blew so many opportunities to score. He got one in the match but could have easily had 3-4 goals, many of which were one on one against Almunia. To add to the bizarreness of the night, Villarreal with usually one of the tightest defenses around left Aalborg's attackers alone, enough where the Danes scored 3 times. And amazingly Villarreal, typically a low scoring team netted 6 goals in reply! Certain teams you can understand scoring 6 goals-Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, etc. Villarreal however is not one I'd expect to see scoring 6 unless they are playing a group of semi professionals. |
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| SuperEagle | Oct 22 2008, 06:50 AM Post #81 |
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That is the beauty of what Arsenal accomplished last night. They went to a difficult stadium, played a team half of young subs and the rest normal starters and still won comfortably. Mikael Silvestre had a nightmare of a game defensively and he and Alex Song never seemed to get coordinated in their movements which allowed Guiza his opportunities but Almunia was there to stop many of those. In attack, Arsenal were devatstating and frankly to me they looked like they let up in the 2nd half. Adebayor appeared as if he could do whatever he wanted against Fenerbahce's defense. Fabregas was his usualy busy and incisive self but what really showed was how active Abou Diaby was. That form is what the Gunners will need from him as this season progresses. I am very happy with Arsenal's play last night and with a home match against Fenerbahce next up, Arsenal have taken a big step towards qualifying for the next round. You have to hand it to Wayne Rooney. He has really picked up his play this season and it has been needed with Berbatov settling in with a new club (that seems to be complete now by the way) and Ronaldo injured and still trying to recapture his form of last season. But Rooney has taken the tema on his shoulders and I find historyman's discussion of the comparisons between he and Bobby Charlton interesting. To me Charlton was a little deeper lying player but the passing and shooting ability is there. So much pressure was placed on Rooney as a "child prodigy" and the hopes of England but he seems to be starting to develop into the star which many predicted he'd become. |
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| Manzanares | Oct 22 2008, 07:07 AM Post #82 |
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I am of course looking forward to tonight's Atletico Madrid-Liverpool game. Atletico are going through a difficult portion of their calendar both domestically and in Europe and while Fernando Torres absence is disappointing, on one hand I am quite glad he won't be there. Obviosuly that takes away a lot of Liverpool's offense and I won't have the melancholy of watching him trying to scor eupon my club! UJfalusi will miss this game for Ateltico and that is a blow defensively especially against as tenacious a team as Liverpool. Aguero has been showing signs of wear and tear and it is possible he may begin this game on the bench. I'd be satisifed with a tie which would increase both Atleti's and Liverpool's chances of qualifying out of the group and help end Atletico's 3 match losing streak. Well done to Juventus last night. They came right after Real Madrid from the start and put them under pressure. That is how to beat Madrid, make them defend as they still are not comfortable doing that. And talking of defense, or lack thereof, what got into Villarreal? Merengue is correct they typically have the stingiest defense in Spain but Aalborg found the gaps in it. Still I would never have expected Villarreal to score 6 in reply. Since they play Atletico this weekend I'll be hoping they've used up all of their goals this week in last night's match!
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| Winslow | Oct 22 2008, 01:22 PM Post #83 |
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And Wednesday's scores... . . . . . . . Group A: Bordeaux 1, Cluj 0; Chelsea 1, Roma 0. Group B: Inter 1, Anorthosis 0; Panathinaikos 2, Werder Bremen 2. Group C: Basel 0, Barcelona 5; Shakhtar Donetsk 0, Sporting Lisbon 1. Group D: Atletico Madrid 1, Liverpool 1; PSV Eindhoven 2, Marseille 0. So, less scoreboard action this time, except for Barca's Swiss thumping and a spirited draw in Greece. The match at the Calderon featured more comical officiating, as both teams lost goals to bad offside calls and might've gotten away with fouls in the box. Cluj lost cruelly on an own goal, while Anorthosis battled bravely at the San Siro, losing on an Adriano header from close in. PSV scored twice late to get a very necessary win. |
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| Manzanares | Oct 22 2008, 01:57 PM Post #84 |
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Winslow is right it was absolutely horrible officiating at the Calderon. Liverpool scored a goal (by Keane) which was offside, then had a legit one called back, Atletico scored one which should have counted but was whistled for offsides, Forlan had a breakaway wrongly called offsides, each team could have had penalties, but instead were amazingly given yellow cards for simulation. It was not a good night for the Danish officiating crew. The game itslef also was sloppy with both clubs probably thinking more about their domestic battles coming up as they are comfortably in control of the group even after PSV won over Marseille tonight. Liverpool controlled the first part as Atletico, playing with 8 changes to the team which played against Real Madrid and starting two youth team players, Camacho and Dominguez, began nerviously. At the half Aguirre put Aguero on and took Luis Garcia off and that sparked the team as Forlan and Simao in particular came to life and it was Forlan capitalizing on a mistake by Carragher who fed Simao for the late tying goal. And unlike this weekend's derby, there were no subsequent Atletico mistakes to give the game away! In the end both Liverpool and Atletico are probably content with the point earned. |
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| Simon | Oct 22 2008, 02:11 PM Post #85 |
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Yep, last night's goals avalanche can't happen every time! As you said, Manzanares, prior to the game you'd be satisfied with a draw and especially so as it was a late equaliser for Atletico after Liverpool had led for most of the match, but I'm sure you're right that both teams are happy enough and certainly both will still be in the CL after Christmas. I thought both goals were pretty good, involving composure to pick a spot and fire the ball in from good passes by Steven Gerrard and Diego Forlan respectively. I thought Keane was just onside for his goal, though it was tight, perhaps I need to see it again. Forlan promised in a recent interview that he'd score against Liverpool tonight and dedicate the goal to Manchester United fans. Never mind Diego, good work setting Simao up tonight, now score us the winning goal at Anfield! Chelsea moved clear at the top of Group A, though it took them a time to put Roma away. Lampard's volley forced a fine save out of Doni, but the keeper was a spectator when Lampard's free-kick hit his crossbar. Another Lampard free-kick set Kalou up for a close-range header that Doni saved before finally Chelsea broke through with a nice John Terry header, again from Lampard's delivery. Chelsea should go on to win the group but the race for second place is still wide open behind them after Bordeaux registered their first points with that slightly fortunate win over Cluj. Anorthosis were far from disgraced at San Siro and as the other game was a draw they remain right in the hunt for a last 16 spot. Couple of good headers from Mantzios put Panathinaikos in the lead but Werder's late equaliser means the Greeks have just one point so far, not very useful for them. Basle were absolutely all over the place at the back and let Barca through far too easily, but Barca did their job efficiently and now have every prospect of winning their group. It looks grim though for Marseille, they paid for not picking up PSV's target man Koervermans and now they and Basle are the only two teams still without a point. |
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| Dr. Z | Oct 22 2008, 02:39 PM Post #86 |
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Basle were a weak team but Barcelona did carve them up. Watch for a replay of Daniel Alves pass with the outside of his boot to Messi for his angled volley into the goal for Barcelona's first tally. Then Xavi took over with his precision apssing, and shooting and Bojan also chipped in with two goals. Good show from Barcelona who were able to rest some starters and still won easily away from home. I thought a draw was a just result between Liverpool and Atletico. Like Manzanares I thought Atletico's starting team was abit strange but the addition of Aguero really did lift the team even if Aguero did not have his best game. I always enjoy watching midfielders like Gerrard and Xabi Alonso who work hard and make precise passes plus pack a good shot from distance. |
| Poniendo el pecho a las balas! | |
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| libero | Oct 22 2008, 07:08 PM Post #87 |
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I was thrilled with Juventus win althougha s somebody esle also noted they made it difficult for themselves in the last 1/4 of the match by sitting back and defending. Up till that moment they were going at Real madrid and creating danger. And there was some karma we Juventus fans think in Alex Del Piero scoring the club's first goal after running past Fabio Cannavaro. Good to see a player who stayed through our relegation and helped La Vecchia Signora get back into the Champions League get one up on a player who abandoned the club during it's darkest days! ![]() Fiorentina were exposed against Bayern Munich. They just aren't good enough in my opinion for this competition. Hopefully they'll finish third and get a chance at the UEFA Cup, a tournament they will have a chance in. Basle got taken out back and beaten by Barcelona but look at BATE drawing at Zenit and Anorthosis only losing 1-0 at Inter Milan. The underdogs are still doing quite well after 3 rounds. |
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| historyman | Oct 22 2008, 09:41 PM Post #88 |
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Coming on the back of the high profile mistakes in the Man Utd - Celtic game the previous day, some of the top officials in Europe have had a PR disaster. At least the decisions didn't affect the overall result of the two games. It was a much better performance from Atletico in the second half. Having read a few pieces in the media about how well they and Aguero are playing this season, I was looking forward to watching them live and seeing them for myself. At half-time I wondered what all the fuss was about, as Liverpool were clearly in control, and I still hadn't seen the Argentinean in action. But as you said, the introduction of Aguero for the second half sparked some life into Atletico and a draw was a fair result. |
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| Mr. Pither | Oct 23 2008, 09:58 PM Post #89 |
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Wow PSV actually won a match! They found in Marseille a team even more fragile than themselves. The Atletico-Liverpool draw actually helped PSV as would a draw in the return match between the two in Liverpool. A PSV win in France would then put them back in the race to qualify out of the group. But that is probably an overly ambitious dream for this year's version of PSV. A UEFA Cup spot is their real goal now. This team needs another season to rebuild before it is a candidate to advance out of a Champions League group. As others wrote the officiating was poor in this round of matches but historyman is probably corect it at least didn't effect the outcome of the matches. But that isn't to say that won't happen next time and hopefully the officiating will be better. I too found the comparison between Charlton and Rooney interesting. I viewed Charlton, from what I recall of him, as more of a deeper playing player than Rooney. But what I like about Rooney is he is now able to read a game much better and find the holes in a defense. And his ability to shoot well with either foot is a rare commodity in the modern game. |
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P-I-T-H-E-R ...as in Brotherhood, but with PI instead of the BRO and no HOOD | |
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| Manzanares | Oct 31 2008, 09:25 PM Post #90 |
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Atletico Madrid's stadium ban has been reduced, they will play their next home match, versus PSV, behind closed doors and they face a future ban if there are further problems. Meanwhile the fine levied on the club remains the same as does Javier Aguirre's two match touchline ban. So the coach will miss the Liverpool game next week and the PSV match later in November. I am satisifed with this punishment, it beats the initial 3 game ban. |
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