last season i was LIVID with CSKAs cheating against us. i was sure wed get our revenge in the CL. but the manner in which we dumped Chelski out of the CL semi was to say the least…PERFECT! a single, highly questionable goal deciding the match was as good as it could possibly get for a Red! later footage showed the ball didnt cross the line! fat lampards tackle was disgusting, i remembr at the time Andy Gray was also questioning his motives! wether Fat meant it or not, he only knows!
i agree, it would be great for the Red Army to seriously compete against the big 3. but the summer transfer policy and lack of action and lack of exploitation of the CL success (for financial gains) has made it a summer to forget. Owen going to the barcodes has made it worse. big things were expected this summer. and with less than 30 hours remaining, i cant see any HUGE coups happening. a VERY dissapointed Red here, signing off…
Real Madrid starting the campaign in a similar way to the last one when they lost 3-0 away from home to bayern leverkusen. Juninho's free kicks were a treat to watch. Raul missed a host of clear cut chances and it is clear his best days are past him. I for one am hoping that likes of Robinho can transoform their attack because their defence is in shambles as usual.
Best game of the night was between Real betis and Liverpool which Liverpool won with a slender margin but it was entertaining and exciting. With this important win away from home Liverpool have given themselves a great chance of qualitification in this trough group.
Gerard 'Oulllier humbling the mighty Fake Madrid on the same night as Liverpool FC beat Betis in their back yard is as good as it can get!:D
great display by the mighty Red Army in the first half. Sinamas goal was a delight to watch! Luey Garcias goal wonderfully taken! couldve been lot worse for Los VerdiBlancos no thanks to their dodgy defence! but credit, they fought back and pulled back a deserved their goal.
That Liverpool game was really exciting. Lots of wasted oppurtunites by Betis, along with some really good counter attack chances wasted by Liverpool (Cisoko kicking it at Cisse, Cisse with a weak pass to Luis Garcia who was right in front of him).
At the same time i was watching the Milan game aswell. Nothing really exciting, the usual stuff you would expect from an Italian club. I managed to catch that goal by Kaka, which was pretty good.
Milan's game was the best of the first day, though their defense allowed Fenerbache to score a goal ( :( ). They need to work around defense a bit more. Inter won away game in an Italian way with 1-0. Liverpool were lucky to survive, thanks to the poor attack of Betis.
Madrid-Lyon clash was the toughest of the day and Madrid suffered.
Looking forward for the biggest clash: Barcelona vs Bremen
^ Both Bremen and Barcelona are in good form and are able to win. Last season Bremen topped Bundesliga for so long, but slipped to Bayern, Barcelona were Spannish leaders for most of the season and they won it in the end.
Villareal on the other hand is is not enjoying a good form this season. Last season neither Villareal nor ManU were able to impress in their leagues and in Champions League.
If the clash is the toughest cause it involves ManU, then the Biggest clash is Juventus vs Brugge.
^ The clash isnt toughest because it involves ManU. It is toughest because it involves one of the msot technical teams in Villareal and one of the most energetic teams in ManU. Plus Forlan is banging in goals left right and center since leaving manU so it will be interesting to see how he fares against his old club.
and La Liga is barely two weeks old. How can you say that Villareal is not enjoying a good form?
All leagues have started and most of them have played less than 5 games. Out of their 2 games, Villareal has not managed to win a single. What a bad run.
On the ther hand both ManU and Villareal were not even close to challenge the champions last season in their leagues. ManU never challenged Chelsea and Villareal were never conasidered challengers by Barca.
Barca are the Spanish Champions and they will face Bremen who was one of the contender for the German tiltle.
Bruge is Belgium champion and they will play against Italian Champions, Juve.
A run consits of five, six games. Not just two games.
and yes Villareal were not threatning the title and only a CL spot yet they were the only team to beat and draw against Barca.
Belgian Champions and Italian champions?? yeah this match has my attention for sure. After all Belgian league is second to none ability wise with superstars flocking in to play there.
FYI, Bremen’s defence of Bundes Liga last season was over before christmas. Make no mistake, I dont mean to say that they are not a good team. They are an okay team. But i will be first one to acknoeldge if they give Barca a run for their money.
ManU villareal couldnt live upto its billing as villareal's msot dangerous player Riquelme was ruled out and when Rooney pulled out a stunf of his own to be red-carded, this match was going nowhere. Rooney is so stupid at times that its hillariuos. Expected winners elsewhere except for Ajax who couldnt snatch a win as expected. Other matches had expected winners.
Villareal continued their bad start as ManU reduced to 10-men (after Rooney was awarded a red card in 64th minute) secured a point against them. Despite controlling most of the game, Villareal failed to create a single excellant chance and their long-range efforts were not enough to trouble ManU.
Italian POWERHOUSE, Udinese secured 3 points by beating Panathinaikos 3-0. Iaquinta scored first Hat-trick of this CL season.
Juventus secured 3 points by beating Brugge 2-1. Vierra continued his "style-of-play and was awarded a red card.
Bara secured 3 poits against Bremen with a scoreline of 2-0.
Please tell me you watched Vander Sar’s excellent save to deny a goal and Forlan’ s gloariuos chance with just Van der Sar to beat?? I think you did not. Because thats two chances which si more than a single excelletn chance :-p
ManU’s most influential player Roy Keane was missing too. So that must be kept into account. He is as important to ManU as Riquelme can be to Villareal. I know Riquelme is a play-maker cum striker and he is a quality player and is very different from Keane but Keane is central to ManU as well.
Bremen were without their star striker Klose.
Madrid were missing Ronaldo and Zidane through suspension and injuiry and they lost 3-0.
Oh God. When participating in big competetions it is manager’s responsibility to keep players fit and available. In case this cannot be achieved, there must be enough quality players sitting on the bench. This is one thing that is perhaps better achieved by Italians.
Yes I did see, no effort really challanged Van der Sar as he was able to deny them from his STANDING position. Freekick during last minutes that was deflected by Ferdinand’s head was perhaps the only shot that might have been out-of-range for Van Der Sar, but it hit the pole and went out.
keanes absense and Henizes possibly injury could mean good news for Liverpool FC!
the merseysiders should be confident after another asured display in Espana!
anyone see Kaka’s 2nd goal against Fenerbahce? being compared to Diego Maradona in his heydey!
to think, he cost just £6m from Sao Paulo!
what a player!
Yes that was an excellant effort by Kaka, but comparing this goal to Maradona's great goal is like comparing Rooney with Pele (that was done more than once on BBC).
Milan usually has a good record of getting quality players at a relatively less fee. They got Tomasson and Vierri for almost no transfer fee. Rivaldo is another example of how Milan can get quality players for so less. Even the greatest player to play at Milan (that is Marco Van Basten) was transfered from Ajax at almost no transfer fee regarding what he did at Milan.
Players’ chief Gordon Taylor has urged Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney to seek professional help in an effort to curb his temper.
The 19-year-old was sent off for his mock applause of Danish referee Kim Milton Nielsen against Villarreal on Wednesday night, just a week after he reacted badly to a yellow card while on England duty against Northern Ireland in Belfast.
Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Taylor believes Rooney could benefit from some form of counseling, and possibly follow in the footsteps of troubled Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton and visit Tony Adams’ Sporting Chance clinic.
…
Referee Nielsen described Rooney’s actions as ‘stupid’ and believes his indiscipline could put his career in jeopardy.
Ajax v Arsenal
Arseanal facing a lot of injuries and will miss many regulars like Bergkamp, Gilberto, Lehman, Senderos, van Persie. Henry is out for long. Pires can return to action.
Against the historic Amsterdam club, well-known for their home record but only managed 10 points from 6 games this season, things look difficult for Wenger.
Ajax are also not at their best. Last year, their coach left the club by stating the club lacks quality players and they are not able to win competitions. Things have not changed much after that and it is almost the same Ajax team that faced Arsenal last year.
Barcelona v Udinese
Ronaldhino and Deco will return to Barca team.
Vincenzo Iaquinta, the best striker for Udinese, was reported to have clashes with the management and he was out of the aquad for Serie A games.
Unlike Barca who have a long history of playing in the Champions League, Udinese are new-comers and most people will bet on the score-line.
Other clashes
Man Utd v Benfica
ManU won their first European title when they defeated Benfica. They will start their game without Rooney.
Juventus v Rapid Vienna
Buffon is still out and Abiati will defend the goal for Juve. Viera will also miss this game through a red card.
Bayern Munich v Club Brugge
Both Munich and Brugge lost their league games during the weekend. Munich will miss Ballack in this game, I guess.
Panathinaikos v Werder Bremen Lille v Villarreal FC Thun v Sparta Prague
fat lampards tackle was disgusting, i remembr at the time Andy Gray was also questioning his motives! wether Fat meant it or not, he only knows!
