Read + Write + Report
Home | Start a blog | About Orble | FAQ | Sites | Writers | Advertise | My Orble | Login
Group A
A win by both Bordeaux and Roma leave things wide open in Group A where any team can now go through.

CFR Cluj – Bordeaux: 1-2

Roma – Chelsea: 3-1


Group B
Scolari wasn't the only one furious with his team Tuesday night as Mourinho's men were unable to defeat the intruder of the group, Anorthosis.

Anorthosis – Inter: 3-3

Bremen – Panathinaikos: 0-3

Group C
I managed to catch only bits and pieces of Barcelona's first half, and from what I've seen, they were simply going through the motions, not bothered at all by Basel.

Sporting – Shaktar: 1-0

Barcelona – Basel: 1-1

Group D



Liverpool – Atletico: 1-1

Marseille – PSV: 3-0

Group E
Aallborg – Villareal: 2-2

Celtic – Manchester United: 1-1

Group F
It seems like all the French teams are on the same wavelength. When one wins, they all win, when one loses, they all lose. That's pretty weird.

Fiorentina – Bayern: 1-1

Lyon – Steaua: 2-0

Group G
Perhaps it's time to shake things up at the Emirates. This disappointing result shows that the Gunners poor form isn't exclusive to the Premiership.

Arsenal – Fenerbahce: 0-0

Dynamo Kyiv – Porto: 1-2

Group H
How can anyone criticize Del Piero? The guy gets better with every year that passes. His two goals at the Bernabeu show that he is a real leader that can carry his team through hostile territory. Let's just hope he won't get exhausted by the end of the season. It's simply a delight to watch him play. What I don't understand though, is how the Madrid defenders could let him score from the exact same spot he scored in Matchday 3.

BATE – Zenit: 0-2

Real Madrid – Juventus: 0-2
29
Vote
Shared on
   


Group A

Bordeaux – CFR Cluj: 1-0

Chelsea – Roma: 1-0

It's a tight race for second place in this group. By losing against Chelsea, Roma are now in third place behind Cluj and tied with Bordeaux. They should be thankful that Bordeaux defeated the Romanians since a win by Cluj would've put a considerable gap between the teams. As it stands, Chelsea is the incontestable leader of the group while there's only one point separating Cluj from the other two teams.

Group B
Inter Milan – Anorthosis: 1-0

Panathinaikos – Werder Bremen: 2-2

Group C
Shaktar – Sporting: 0-1

Basel – Barcelona: 0-5

It was a walk in the park for Barca on Wednesday where they crushed Basel 5-0 despite resting Eto'o. The match was mostly a one-way affair as the visitors kept the ball firmly planted in Basel's end. Bojan had a strong game with two goals (he almost got an hat-trick but his lob over the keeper landed on the roof of the net) while Dani Alves is proving to be a very important acquisition. Hleb returned to action in this game and was great in the second half with nice runs on the left wing. After a wobbly start to their domestic campaign, we can now safely say that they're firing on all cylinders.

Group D
Atletico – Liverpool: 1-1

PSV – Marseille: 2-0

Group E
Villareal – Aallborg: 6-3

Manchester United – Celtic: 3-0

Two goals by Dimitar Berbatov (both times offside) got things going for the Red Devils who couldn't find a way through Celtic's crowded box in the opening stages. Rooney added a third one at the 75th minute, extending his streak to seven games.

Group F
Bayern – Fiorentina: 3-0

Steaua – Lyon: 3-5

Group G
Fenerbahce – Arsenal: 2-5

Porto – Dynamo Kyiv: 0-1

It's funny. When you expect Arsenal to have a tough game, they manage to play their best football, completely dominating their opponents in the process. When they're supposed to have easy games, they find a way to make life complicated for themselves. They're very unpredictable in both Europe and the Premiership. If they have serious ambitions, they should get themselves some consistency.

Group H
Zenit – BATE: 1-1

Juventus – Real Madrid: 2-1

We're only three games in the Champions League but one must wonder if the term 'overrated' doesn't apply to the Zenit St. Petersburg. They only have a point so far from a game that they should have won. Maybe rose too high too fast. Meanwhile an early goal in each half was enough for Juventus to defeat Real Madrid. Alessandro Del Piero seems to be getting better and better with age. It's a shame that he'll have to retire at some point. As for Madrid, I don't understand Schuster reasoning in putting Robben on the bench instead of on his starting eleven for a confrontation like this, especially with Heinze as the left-back. The same problem pops out every time it happens: Heinze is too slow to properly support the attack and to keep up with the other team's speedy wingers, and without Robben to counterbalance that weakness, Madrid's left flank becomes a vulnerability easily exploited.

Note: I'm sorry for the lack of commentary this time around. If you guys noticed, I didn't even put up my reports of Serie A and Liga matches from Sunday. Studying for midterm exams is taking most of time now. I could only watch Manchester United and Juventus' games in their entirety. Everything should be back to normal by next week.
33
Vote
Shared on
   


Group A
Chelsea – CFR Cluj: 0-0
Cluj are continuing to impress everyone on the European stage. After defeating Roma 2-1 on Day 1, they held Chelsea to a scoreless draw which keeps them in second place. Granted, Chelsea didn't play very well. Without Joe Cole on the wing, they lacked the mobility necessary to stretch Cluj's compact defense. The Blues started with a 4-3-3 formation but suprisingly looked better with a 4-4-2 once Anelka came on in the second half. However, Drogba's injury before the hour-mark erased all the momentum they had at the start of the second period while Cluj gained in confidence as time went on. The Romanian even tested Cech late in the game but everyone could tell that they were equally satisfied with a draw.

Bordeaux – Roma: 1-3
In my previews, I had picked the French club to cause the surprise in this group. Instead, they seem to be really struggling while Cluj aren't intimated at all. It's a good thing that Roma took the opportunity to get all three points out of this match as it keeps them close to the two leaders.

Group B
Anorthosis – Panathinaikos: 3-1

Inter – Bremen: 1-1
Mourinho's men were held to a scoreless draw at the San Siro, but they still top their group, so we'll take that one as a slight misstep.

Group C
Sporting – Basel: 2-0

Shakhtar – Barcelona: 1-2


Group D
Liverpool – PSV: 3-1


Atletico – Marseille: 2-1

Group E
Aalborg – Manchester United: 0-3
Rooney opened the scoring and Berbatov scored a double (both goals assisted by Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney's came from Giggs' pass) to provide United a convincing win over the Danish club. There was a price to pay for those points however as the defending champions lost midfielder Paul Scholes for 10 weeks, striker Rooney who may miss their next league game, and youngster Rafael who put up an impressive display once again. Faced against flying fullbacks (Evra and Rafael), tricky wingers (Ronaldo and Nani), and dangerous strikers (Rooney and Berbatov), Aalborg were simply overwhelmed defensively. I still think that Nani is a defensive liability for United, he should work on helping out his teammates when they don't have possession.



Villareal – Celtic: 1-0

Group F
Fiorentina – Steaua: 0-0

Bayern – Lyon: 1-1

Group G
Arsenal – Porto: 4-0
After a disappointing performance in the Premiership, Arsenal schooled FC Porto to win 4-0. I expected a much tighter result between the two clubs. We'll see how it goes in the return leg.



Fenerbahce – Dynamo Kyiv: 0-0

Group H
Zenit – Real Madrid: 1-2
It looks like Zenit is already flaming out of this competition but it isn't for a lack of trying though. They had more scoring chances than Madrid on Tuesday but couldn't capitalize. I wonder if anyone can figure out Ruud Van Nistelrooy's ratio for goals/shots because the guy doesn't seem to miss very much. He is the complete opposite of Adebayor.



BATE – Juventus: 2-2
Juventus had quite a scare on Tuesday as they found themselves two goals down against newcomers BATE. Thankfully a double by Iaquinta salvaged a point for the Italians who will face Real Madrid on Matchday 3.

45
Vote
Shared on
   


23
Vote
Shared on
   


Ann 2's Blogs

7379 Vote(s)
25 Comment(s)
129 Post(s)
7399 Vote(s)
1122 Comment(s)
89 Post(s)
Moderated by Ann 2
Copyright © 2006 2007 2008 On Topic Media PTY LTD. All Rights Reserved. Design by Vimu.com.
On Topic Media ZPages: Sydney |  Melbourne |  Brisbane |  London |  Birmingham |  Leeds     [ Advertise ] [ Contact Us ] [ Privacy Policy ]