Monday 13 October 2008

Champions League Day 2 Results and Review


Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo ended Manchester United's training session yesterday with a game of keepy-uppy for the cameras - in which they only touched the ball with their chests and backs. AaB were apparently so excited about their visitors, they have put up signs around the town saying: "Man U are more than welcome here." Lovely.

When the teams were announced, I went like O'Shea... over Anderson or Park (or even Fletcher!)?!?! Are you kidding me?! My face lit up when I saw Rafael's name, and then turned negative when I saw O'Shea's name. I thought Fergie wasn't taking risks? O'Shea is not a midfielder, he is a defender. If you insist on playing him in midfield you need a midfielder who is willing to support the attack, and unfortunately Scholes doesn't have the legs to do that anymore. Strange, strange decision. Hopefuly I was not proven wrong.

With rival teams like Mumba's Royals roaring to 6 points from a possible six before kikc-off, Manchester needed to put their campaign on track and convincingly. With a strong team albeit with a few experiements as O'Shea played in midfield ahead of players like Fletcher and Anderson, and Rafael da Silva playing at right back ahead
of Brown, Manchester United claimed their first win in this year's competition thanks to two Dimitar Berbatov volleys and a Wayne Rooney slide home from a pass from Ryan Giggs against AaB Aalborg.

While Marcos Senna was helping Villarreal join United on top of the group with four points after through a brilliant curling free-kick, Manchester was left ruing the loss of Paul Scholes to injury (ligament damage so says Fergie); the loss of Scholes potentially until late November will be a significant blow to United. His replacement was not. Ironically it was Giggs failure to play with O'Shea in midfield
that led to the buying of the likes of Carrick and Andersson but today Giggs dictated play in midfield and laid Rooney through for the first goal.

Dimitar Berbatov finally broke his Manchester United duck as the Champions League holders swept aside Danish minnows Aalborg to kick-start their campaign. Berbatov, who made an undistinguished start with a dreadful miss after five minutes with an empty net waiting for him to volley in, opened his goal account when he took advantage of a defensive mix-up to score 10 minutes after half-time. He then volleyed
in Cristiano Ronaldo's cross for his second after 79 minutes. The miss followed Cristiano Ronaldo charging down the AaB keeper's kick and the ball spun to Dimitar Berbatov - who volleyed wide with the goal gaping. An absolute sitter.

It was a job well done by United - but at what cost in terms of injuries remains to be seen tomorrow; Wayne Rooney and full-back Rafael had to withdraw from the game with ankle and knee injuries as well. Not all was sad news. The youngster Rafael da Silva, the less impressive of the two teenager twins before Man Utd bought them,
produced a display beyond his years in a Euro debut that promises much. I am very impressed with Rafael Da Silva, he's only 18 and has got a pretty impressive shot! Like with the other Man Utd youngsters, I'm a bit unsure if he is on the same wavelength as the other players yet but I'm sure it won't take long to adjust.

As for Celtic, they are not bottom of Group E but qualification for knock-out stage looks difficult now. Their nightmare run away from home in Europe continues: one point from 16 matches.

Madrid . . .

Real Madrid were also given a tough battle by Zenit St Petersburg but maintained their 100% winning start thanks to Ruud van Nistelrooy's winner in Russia. An own goal by Zenit defender Tomas Hubocan, who put Rafael van der Vaart's low cross into his own net after about two minuts of the match, put Real ahead but Andrei Arshavin set up Danny to level before Van Nistelrooy's opportunistic strike gave Real a 2-1
victory - their first away win in Europe since October 2006. Danny stabbed in his second goal for his new club. The £24m striker got ahead of marker Gabriel Heinze, who rather foolishly attempted to clear with a diving header.

The second half saw Madrid outplayed by Zenit with Arshavin staring but Cassilas and the post saved Madrid. A penalty appeal was also turned down despite Pepe handling with ten minutes to go.

Maybe the shock news from Denmark that the Brazilian youngster Rafael started for Manchester United was because Madrid coach Bernd Schuster sprung a small surprise by leaving club legend Raul on the bench. The Zenit line up was as expected, with Andrei Arshavin returning to the line-up after missing their last game through suspension.

The Old Lady . . . .

Juventus needed two goals by Vincenzo Iaquinta to salvage a 2-2 draw in Belarus after trailing 2-0 against BATE Borisov. Igor Stasevich set up Sergei Kryvets for Borisov's first goal on 17 minutes and extended his side's lead soon afterwards. Iaquinta pulled one goal back when he headed home Sebastian Giovinco's cross and levelled from another Giovinco pass on the stroke of half-time.

Gunners . . . .

While Dynamo Kiev, who drew with the Gunners in their opening game, picked up another point in a 0-0 draw with Fenerbahce in Turkey, Arsenal eased past FC Porto with Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor both scoring two goals apiece in a routine 4-0 victory. Arsene Wenger's promised 'sweeping changes' involved replacing
Emmanuel Eboue with Samir Nasri only. No other changes were made. Does this mean English teams are just tough hence Hull's win over Arsenal? That was Porto's 10th defeat in 11 visits to England.

Apart from the impressive display by Arsenal, there were some moments for the cameras; like Theo Walcott volleying wide from six yards - prompting laughter from watching England coach Fabio Capello.Another moment was 'Hulk' coming in for Porto. That is actually what was written on the back of his shirt. Real name: Givanildo Vieira de Souza. Had it been Giovanni, the gunners would have been scared I
guess.

Arsenal could have had double figures, but four will do and that puts them top of Group G

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS

GROUP E
AaB 0-3 Man
Villarreal 1-0 Celtic

GROUP F
Bayern Munich 1-1 Lyon
Fiorentina 0-0 Steaua Bucuresti

GROUP G
Arsenal 4-0 FC Porto
Fenerbahce 0-0 Dynamo Kiev

GROUP H
BATE Borisov 2-2 Juventus
Zenit St Petersburg 1-2 Real Madrid

No comments: