For their first match in the Champions League, Bordeaux looked very nervous. I managed to watch the first half, and all I saw was a team overwhelmed by the opposition's superiority. The French club had a lot of trouble getting through Chelsea's midfield and were unable to deal with the Blues' crosses. Heck, Malouda got a goal. That says it all. A special mention goes to Jose Bosingwa who was a machine on Chelsea's left-hand side.
Roma CFR: 1-2
In the first upset of the tournament, CFR Cluj defeated AS Roma. The Italians were the first to open the scoring, and were probably too confident in their capacities. CFR set things straight with two beautiful goals. This group won't be as easy as I expected especially if CFR manage to defeat Bordeaux, and Bordeaux gets a win against Roma.
Guardiola bought himself some time by putting on the field a more attack-minded squad. Now, let's hope they'll show the same form in the doemstic league.
A second effort from Torres save the Reds from disaster on Tuesday. His team down 1-0, the Spanish striker fought for the ball in the opposition's half. His hard work led to Gerrard's first goal of the night. Later on, Stevie G. gave his team the lead by converting a penalty.
Group E
Manchester United Villareal: 0-0
Sir Alex Ferguson surprised everyone Wednesday by starting several players who hadn't seen much, if any, action so far in the season. Vidic was out as SAF prepared Jonny Evans for Sunday's match against Chelsea. Neville took Brown's place on the right, and the midfield consisted of Park, Fletcher, Hargreaves, and Nani. With Berbatov already injured, Rooney and Tevez paired up in front. Cristiano Ronaldo made an appearance as a substitute late in the game, but he couldn't change things as the teams ended with a 0-0 draw.
Celtic Aalborg: 0-0
I'm surprised Celtic didn't win this, especially since they were at home. So, nothing changed in this group. Everyone picked up a point.
Juventus Zenit: 1-0
Juventus celebrated their return to the Champions League in style, with captain Del Piero scoring the only goal of the match on a superb free-kick.
Gosh, I meant to write this post so much earlier this week. Returning to university completely screwed up my writing process.
So, there was a lot of movement in the European soccer world on Monday, the deadline for summer transfers. Most of the important transfers took place in the EPL, but Serie A teams were also pretty busy including Inter and Juventus who both picked up a new player.
First, Jose Mourinho's club signed Portuguese midfielder Ricardo Quaresma from FC Porto for a fee ranging between 18.6m and 24m (both figures were given by different sources, so I can't confirm on either one) and promising Portuguese midfielder Pele. Quaresma will add more skills and pace to Inter's flanks which already include newcomer Mancini and aging veteran Luis Figo.
Juventus made a relatively minor signing by going after one of Barcelona's youngsters, Spanish midfielder Falque Silva Yago. This signing is not such a big deal but knowing the talent coming from Barca's youth teams (Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta just to name a few), Ranieri might have a budding playmaker in his hands.
Up in England, Monday was spent in a frenzy as several teams picked up new players (mostly strikers) to help their cause. Here are the most noticeable transfers.
First up, Arsenal. Wenger stayed true to his word which was to look for another midfielder by signing French-Portuguese midfielder Amaury Bischoff from Werder Bremen. Problem is, Bischoff is another youngster who doesn't have a lot of experience (21 years old, no apperances on Werder Bremen's first team), and is injury-prone. Basically, the Gunners are staying in the same situation as before, and will remain the same until winter transfers. Liverpool also made a minor signing by getting Spanish winger Albert Riera from RCD Espanyol. In the grand scheme of things, the new signing looks small but it is a huge deal for Benitez who had to play Robbie Keane on the left-wing in the last match even though Keane is a more central player.
Berbatov's 'dream' comes true
To no one's surprise, Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov signed with Manchester United despite Manchester City's last-minute higher offer. The striker wasn't part of Tottenham's squad since the beginning of the season, so his departure seemed guaranteed anyways. To get him, United payed a fee of 30.75m and sent Fraizier Campbell on loan for the rest of the season. I feel bad for the youngster though. He turned down several offers during the summer, opting for a chance to break out at Old Trafford, and here he is on loan. I hope he'll get some playing time over there. Berbatov's arrival also allowed Ferguson to let go of Louis Saha. For the past two years, the striker has spent more time in the infirmary than on the field. He now gets a fresh start at Everton.
Back to Tottenham for a minute. The deal with Spartak Moscow for Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko finally went through as the Spurs payed a 17m fee to get him. Tottenham is looking decidedly younger even though most players have had some experience on the international stage. Now, all they have to do is wait for everyone to gel together.
The Brazilian moves to the EPL
The big splash of the day though was Robinho's move from Real Madrid to Manchester City for 42m right under Chelsea's nose. My first reaction upon seeing the news was to laugh out loud at the situation. Here was a club (Real) whose owner spent all the summer trying lure Cristiano Ronaldo in their camp and letting everybody know that as soon as they got the talented winger, Robinho would be on the market. Back at Chelsea, new coach Scolari wants Robinho to strengthen the Blues' offense. Madrid make it clear that the Blues won't have him unless they (Madrid) get Ronaldo. Now, not only were the Spanish champions unable to land C. Ronaldo, Robinho (who was a major player probably their best - in their success last year) leaves for middle-of-the-table club Manchester City, leaving Chelsea dumbfounded. Can I just say BURN!!!?
As a player, I understand Robinho's point of view. Here I am after what was probably my best season, and instead of rewarding me, my club announces to the world that as soon as another player comes, I'll be the one to go. I'm sorry but I'd be asking to leave right away. What I don't understand is why he picked City. Sure, he got a big fat contract thanks to the new owners but Manchester's ' other club is still far from competing with the big four except perhaps Liverpool (of course Reds fans could also argue that Arsenal doesn't look good right now either, so whatever). Underneath all of this, people seem to have forgotten that City also got English striker Shaun Wright-Phillips from Chelsea for 12.4m. Sure, he's not an impact player but he has shown great form during pre-season, and will probably get his chance on the starting line-up.
All in all, the biggest losers this week are Real Madrid and Chelsea. Madrid have signed only one player in the off-season and that is Rafael Van der Vaart. They've been turned down by several players and now, Sneijder's absence is having a huge impact on the team's performance. Meanwhile, Chelsea need another right-winger. They're not as desperate as Arsenal who still need a defensive mid, but right now they only have Essien and Joe Cole on that wing.
Add Comments
