Champions League Stage 2 – Second Leg

With most games fairly nicely poised from the first legs a fortnight ago, all remaining 16 teams certainly fancied their chances at advancing into the last 8 of the most prestigious club tournament in the world. With Liverpool’s return match against Inter Milan postponed until next week (to save the pitch in the San Siro hosting two games back to back) four English teams strutted their stuff against the very best Europe has to offer, and despite Celtic losing to 2006 champions Barcelona, all four can be very proud of their week’s work.

Having now said goodbye to defending champions AC Milan, as well as historical powerhouses Real Madrid, the door is wide open for any of the remaining sides to show us just what they’ve got. Let’s try to avoid a repeat of last year’s semi-finals though; watching three English essentially all capitulate against Milan was pretty dull to say the least, but with the likes of Barcelona and Roma looking ominously back to their best, the rest of the competition should be very interesting indeed…

As ever, for goals and extended highlights check out our good friends over at 101 Great Goals.

Tuesday

We start of course in Milan, and a historic win for Arsenal which made them the first English team to ever beat AC in this competition on their own ground. After a tense first game in London that the Gunners will feel they should have won, the stage seemed set for Milan to kill off the under-strength Arsenal side and ease to victory. Cesc Fabregas however had other plans, and through a basically perfect all-round performance, he inspired them from the first whistle, dictating the game under the nose of Pirlo, Ambrosini and Gattuso. Flamini also deserves a mention as his steel behind Fabregas in the midfield was crucial to shutting down Milan’s major offensive threat, a guy named Kaka’ who you might have heard of. In spells the World Player of the Year sparkled, driving into the heart of the Arsenal defence several times, but that final telling pass or inch-perfect shot just alluded him on the night. Elsewhere Milan looked almost too relaxed and self-assure, never really pressing the tempo or offering sustained pressure. Saying Milan are over-the-hill or a shadow of their old selves is not to do Arsenal a disservice however, as very few teams in history have still ever dominated Milan the way they did. The opening goal eventually came just 6 minutes before the final whistle, with Fabregas firing a rocket of a drive past Kalac from 25 yards to essentially seal the tie, but the cherry on top was a last minute tap-in for Adebayor to finally give him his first Champions League goal in 15 attempts.

Buoyed by the last minute equalizer in France two weeks ago, Manchester United had to be feeling pretty confident at kick-off this week, knowing that one goal would more than likely be enough be see off Lyon. And one goal it was, scored by (who else) Cristiano Ronaldo just before half time, capitalizing on some disorganized Lyon defending to fire past Coupet with his left foot from 6 yards. The rest of the game was a tense affair, with few chances falling to either side in all honesty. Rooney found himself in a couple of glorious positions late on in the second half but failed to convert to make a score that would’ve somewhat flattered United on the night. Big prospect Benzema was kept unusually quiet and it was Keita who came closest for the visitors, beating van der Sar around the hour mark only to see the ball crash into the base of the post. Playmaker Juninho was kept under lock and key by the excellent Anderson, and United concentrated their attacks down both flanks through Ronaldo and Nani. The pace and guile of both Portuguese widemen caused constant problems for the Lyon wing-backs, considerably more used to attacking than defending in their national league.

Having lost 3 – 2 at home in the round’s first leg, Celtic were always going to need a miracle to turn over Barcelona in the Nou Camp. To make matters worse, Xavi scored after just 2 minutes for the Spanish side and to be honest everyone knew then that it was game over. Celtic put up a fight as you’d expect, but aside from a speculative Nakamura shot in the second half, never really looked like scoring unfortunately. Barce meanwhile were very much in second gear, happy to conserve energy and let the game play out as long as they still had the aggregate lead. Ronaldinho, Puyol and Deco came close, but solid saves from Boruc kept the scoreline more than respectable. It’s unfortunate for Celtic to once again face such tough opposition straight away after battling through the group stage, but over the season they’ve performed admirably against statistically two of the greatest all-time sides in Europe, Barcelona and AC Milan, so heads should be held high in Glasgow.

In perhaps the surprise Game of the Round, Seville crashed out of the competition to rank outsiders Fenerbahce in what was once again an absolute thriller of a game. Neither side waste any time with that defending rubbish so there were always going to be goals in this return leg, but I don’t think anyone expected the drama that unfolded. With a 3 – 2 deficit to overcome from the first leg, back-to-back UEFA Cup champions Sevilla had some work to do, but got plenty of help early on from some decidedly dodgy goalkeeping as Volkan Demirel let shots from Daniel Alves and Seydou Keita through his hands with less than 10 minutes on the clock. Brazilian star and former Obscure South American Deivid pulled one back for the Turkish champions, before Freddie Kanoute pounced at the other end to restore Sevilla’s two goal cushion. A last gasp Deivid poke leveled the tie 5 – 5 on aggregate, and after a fruitless extra time, it all came down to penalties where Demirel atoned for his earlier errors with three fantastic saves to send Zico’s all-star team through to the last 8.

Wednesday

Chelsea and Olympiakos always looked like a bit of a mismatch on paper, and having ground out a goalless draw a fortnight ago in Greece, a victory for the Blues was never in doubt at Stamford Bridge last night. The gulf in class between the two teams was huge, and unsurprisingly the match was over at 3 – 0 well before the hour mark. Ballack was instrumental in both first half goals, converting a dinked Lampard cross with a powerful header after just 6 minutes, and then smashing a powerful shot on target which was parried to Lampard for a tap-in just before the half hour mark. Kalou added some shine just 3 minutes into the second half, but overall Olympiakos were woefully disappointing, not once calling Chelsea keeper Carlo Cudicini into serious action.

To the famous Bernabeu then, where nine-time winners Real Madrid faced an impressive Roma side who had come out 2 – 1 winners on their home soil two weeks previously. From kick-off Roma were on top, dominating possession and creating serious problems down both Madrid flanks while the illustrious likes of Raul struggled to get a touch of the ball. Rising star Alberto Aquilani was phenomenal throughout for the Italians, peppering Casillas’ goal with shot after shot as Roma looked to kill the tie off early. Madrid held on, and while Baptista and Robinho looked promising, the absence through injury of both Robben and van Nistelrooy was telling. With twenty minutes to go, Madrid man a sending off. Almost instantly Taddei then scored for the visitors, but rather than accept defeat, Madrid went straight down the other end and equalized through Raul, although on closer look he was lucky to not be given offside. The final fifteen minutes were tense, with Chicano nearly scoring a catastrophic own goal, but the Spanish giants’ fate was sealed in the 92^nd minute when Vucinic rounded off a perfect 25 minute guest appearance by heading home a delightful Mancini cross.

Without doubt the least exciting tie of the round on paper, Porto and Schalke certainly both had a real go in Portugal, with the 2004 Champions needing to score at least one to level the 1 – 0 deficit from the first leg. The Portuguese side attacked with flair and intent, but found in their way a goalkeeper who was on absolutely top form. Manuel Neuer was called on almost every other minute, and produced one of the best saves you will see this year to acrobatically block a point blank Tarik Sektioui header just before the hour mark. As the clock ticked down Schalke had chances too, but seemed content that it was going to end in the stalemate which would be enough to send them through to the unchartered territory of the quarter-finals. Just 7 minutes from the end though, Argentinian star Lisandro Lopes picked up the ball on the edge of the Schalke box, turned sharply, and unleashed a wonder-strike into the far top right corner of Neuer’s net to send the game into extra-time. 10 man Porto (Jorge Fucile was red carded for a groin-high slide tackle in the 80^th minute) looked shattered, but continued to press, with Neuer forced into another fantastic save in the 102^nd minute when Queresma found himself one-on-one with the young German keeper. Asamoah came closest for the visitors when he fired a curling shot just over in the second period of extra-time, but the inevitability of penalties could not be shaken. As a German team, Schalke were obviously successful, with Neuer once again the hero as he defied physics to keep out Lopes’ deciding spotkick.

So who’s your money on to win now then? This is how the experts (and by that I mean Bet365.com) see it:

Manchester United – 10/3

Barcelona – 10/3

Chelsea – 5/1

Arsenal – 5/1

Liverpool – 9/1

Roma – 10/1

Inter Milan – 16/1

Schalke – 25/1

Fenerbahce – 33/1

You can’t help but feel that an English winner is more than likely this year, especially if Liverpool can see off Inter Milan next week. Looking at the remaining sides, the dream final for the neutral has to be a replay of 2006’s epic Barcelona vs Arsenal match, and if that happens it would be a brave man to not bet that a certain Mr. Henry might well have the last laugh against his former employers…

The Secret of Cesc’s Success

Tongue-twisting titles aside, a recent quote from the mini midfield maestro has revealed that there may be hope for all fast-food fatties yet. When recently asked how he likes to relax, Senor Fabregas responded with the following verbals, suggesting that not all footballers are nutrient-shake-drinking, calorie-dodging ladies after all:

"Sometimes on a day off I go to the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop. When we play at home, I go there after the game and it's like a doughnut party! Everyone is eating doughnuts inside their cars - it's like a disco!"

No doubt Homer Simpson would be proud of his influence, but one has to fear a little for the Arsenal man’s social life if this Doughnut Disco excites him as much as it appears to. Sure Krispy Kreme’s are pretty banging on a Saturday night, but please Cesc, for the love of God, take advantage of your money and fame already and start sleeping with strippers!

Champions League – Group Stage 3

Another Tuesday and another cracking night for the three British clubs involved, with Rangers holding 2006 winners, and all round p.i.m.p.s, Barcelona 0-0 at home, while Arsenal and Manchester United scored for fun against Slavia Prague and Dynamo Kiev respectively.

Starting first out in the icy Ukraine, Man United got off to a flyer against the national champions and were 2-0 up within ten minutes. Things got interesting however when Kiev bagged a goal back not long after, due to some suspect marking from John O’Shea and some theatrics on the post from Ronaldo, but United were keen to push on. As the game developed Ronaldo became more and more involved, scoring United’s third with a sweet header before the break, and then notching up his team’s fourth from the penalty spot not long after halftime. Despite having a certain penalty denied themselves, Kiev were still eager to attack throughout the second half, and the useful Ismael Bangoura scored from distance with twenty minutes to play as they continued to press. On another night, it could’ve been 4-4 but United came away happy with another 3 points. Elsewhere in the group, Roma also continued to impress, beating Sorting Lisbon 2-1 in a hard fought tie in Italy. Mancini was tricky, and Totti a threat as ever, but it was substitute Mirko Vucinic who grabbed the winner twenty minutes from time for Spalletti's side.

Moving over to North London now, where Arsenal put on an unbelievable show, scoring 7 (seven) unanswered against an admittedly fairly weak Slavia Prague side. Still, you get the feeling that even against a Barcelona or a Milan, this kind of breathtaking performance would’ve been almost as dominant, such was the level of ability on display. As usual Fabregas was majestic, but special plaudits must go to Alexander Hleb and young Theo Woolcott who is finally starting to show he can handle life at this level. Every goal was beautiful, and at the final whistle, I think Prague were genuinely thrilled that they kept it under double figures. The other game in this group saw a resurgent Seville performing well against Steaua Bucharest, coming out on top 2-1 in a game that they were always in control of. Once more, Kanoute was on the scoresheet, but the real star of the show was Brazilian hitman Luis Fabiano who bagged his eighth goal in as many games for Spain’s third best team.

To Ibrox then, and Rangers’ continuation of their unbeaten start to the Champions League campaign against the orange-shirted Catalan giants. In a tight game, both teams had chances to win it, with Ronaldinho coming especially close from a freekick that had to be touched onto the bar by Allan McGregor. Little Leo Messi has criticized Rangers’ tactics of playing “anti-football” but to be honest, what did he expect? In the group’s other game, Lyon finally broke their duck against an awful looking Stuttgart side in Germany, coming out 2-0 winners, but is it already too late for the French champions?

Finally on Tuesday, in the “other” group (i.e. one of the two without British interest) Inter Milan were victorious in Russia against the mighty Sneeze Moscow, with Crespo expertly poaching the opener, while PSV hosted a 0-0 thriller against Fenerbahce. The highlight was genuinely STT favourite Deivid getting sent off for a pretty shocking two-footed lunge.

Moving onto Wednesday then, and not such a good night for our three representatives. While Chelsea earned a resilient 2-0 win against Schalke, Celtic (1-0 to Benfica) and Liverpool (2-1 to Besiktas) both suffered dehabilitating defeats on the road.

And its in Instanbul that we shall start, where another dismal performance from Rafa Benitez’s men leave them languishing at the bottom of their group with just one point on the board and everything to do in the remaining three matches. Biscuits are not exactly a great side but the Scousers just posed no threat and genuinely did not look like scoring from open play the whole game. Team morale was not helped by the farcical defending that led to game’s opener, with multiple ricochets wrong-footing Pepe Reina just 13 minutes in, but there was simply no urgency from the 2005 winners as the game slowly slipped away from them. Elsewhere in their group, Marseilles and Porto shared a point in France, leaving both sides fairly confident of qualification at the halfway stage.

To sunny Portugal then and a great game between Celtic and Benfica, both of whom will feel they had the chances to claim the points well before Oscar Cardozo stole in behind the Celtic backline to slot home with just three minutes left on the clock. Celtic keeper Artur Boruc produced several world class saves from Cardozo and the excellent Rui Costa but once more, concentration seemed to let down the Scottish club. Meanwhile in Milan, defending champions A.C. faced off against Shakhtar Donetsk's 100% record in the competition, eager to make amends for their defeat at Celtic Park a fortnight ago. And make amends they did, running out 4-1 winners, buoyed by world-class performances from STT personal heroes Clarence Seedorf and Ricky Kaka’.

Over to West London next, where Chelsea finally established themselves in command of Group B after a relatively comfortable victory against a fairly uninspiring German side. An early howler from young keeper Manuel Neuer set the tone, as Malouda’s virtual backpass squirmed between his legs but overall Chelsea were decent, with Drogba putting himself in the shop window with a great attacking performance. Sad face for trying to bite Ronaldinho’s trick of passing off his back though, even Eider Gudjohnson was laughing at you Diddles and he likes everyone. The group’s other game saw a wonderful victory for Norwegian side Rosenborg against normally impressive Spanish outfit Valencia, winning 2-0 in the icy plains and keeping themselves as outside contenders for qualification.

And so finally to the other “other” group. A decent Werder Bremen side claimed a 2-1 victory over Lazio, inspired by pint-sized Brazilian whizzkid Diego, and it looks like they should have no problems making it into the knockout stages if they give a good performance in Italy in a fortnight’s time. Along with them I fully expect Real Madrid to go through as well. Despite going 2-1 down at home to the ten men of Olympiakos, the Spanish giants bounced back to finish 4-2 victors in a game that could’ve gone either way at the death. Robinho was excellent (big dance moves too!), but it was Iker Casillas’ late heroics which proved crucial in Madrid’s success, somehow clawing away a last minute header from Darko Kovacevic which would’ve made it 3-3.

Goal of the Round – Several of the Arsenal seven were just sublime team goals, that few other teams in the world could have produced but I’ve got to give this to Clarence Seedorf for his second against Olympiakos, perfectly volleying into the top corner over the stranded visiting keeper from 25 yards. Legend.

Player of the Round – Alexander Hleb, although you could just take your pick from the whole Arsenal midfield as they were all on song. Elsewhere, Kaka didn’t have a bad game for Milan either…

Surpirse Package of the Round – Rosenberg for putting the hotly tipped Valencia to the sword. The Norwegians had gone six years without winning on home turf in the group phase, but had too much for the rather lacklustre looking Spaniards.